Phone lines are open. You've got questions.
We've got answers. 866-348-7884. Any subject that is appropriate for public Christian radio, as long as it relates in some way, shape, size, or form to the line of fire or to me or any ministry we've done, phone lines are open. Friends, critics alike can call. Skeptics, mockers, you're all welcome.
866-348-7884. This is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, a time when traditional Jews around the world will be fasting, praying through the night, through the day, in the synagogue for many, many hours. Others, even more secular Jews, will be praying, going to synagogue, even fasting. It's a wonderful time to be praying that God would open the hearts of Jewish people around the world to the mercy he's had through Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah.
But before we go to the phones, I want to share something with you. There is a practice still carried out by countless thousands of traditional Jews around the world called kaparot. It is the plural for the word kapara, so kaparot, kaparot, depending on the pronunciation, meaning atonement. And it is a rite that is dismissed by some, a ritual that is dismissed by some, but one, as I said, that has been practiced for centuries and is practiced by multiplied tens of thousands of traditional Jews today.
And I just want to read to you from the Sforia website about this practice. So this is explained in a particular prayer book. The traditional ritual of kaparos, atonement, is mentioned in the writings of the Arizal and the shalach hakodesh.
So these were great mystical teaching rabbis, famous in Judaism, 4,500 years back to the Arizal, etc. It is the custom on the morning of the eve of the day of atonement, or even a day before, to ritually slaughter a chicken as a symbol of atonement. It is customary for a male to use a rooster and a female to use a hen. According to some, the slaughtered chickens are given to the poor, but others hold that it is more appropriate to give them the value of the chicken rather than the actual chickens.
If there is no possibility of observing the ritual of kaparos with live chickens, you may use money instead and present the money to the poor. The following verses, which introduce the ritual itself, are taken from Psalm 107, 10, 14, 17, and 21, and the last two verses are from Job 33, verses 23 and 24. These verses portray the misery and affliction which man creates for himself through his disobedience to God. Though his path of sin leads to self-destruction, God stands ready to save him and heal him if he but cries out in repentance. And then it lists the verses from Psalm 107, the affliction of humanity, the children of Israel falling into sin, needing to be rescued and delivered by God, and then from Job 33, verses, the verses that were cited, 23, 24, 24, if there be for him an angel, one interceding angel among a thousand, to vouch for man's uprightness, then God is gracious unto him and says, Redeem him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom for him. In Hebrew, matzah tikofer, I found a ransom. Then it says, a man should make the following declarations each time you say, this is my revolved rooster around your head. So if a woman says one thing, so you take the rooster, you wave it around your head. And this is what a man would say, zechalifati, zetimurati, zekaparati, zehatargol, yelechlimitava, ani ekaneis ve'eleicht chayim tovim, aruchim ul-shalom, this is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement, this rooster shall go to its death, and I shall proceed to a good long life and peace. In some cases, you even say, chayim takhet chayim, life in place of life. In other words, this animal symbolically is taking my place. Friends, even though many traditional Jews will say there's no connection with that and the concept of substitutionary atonement, it is written all over it. It is a reminder that something is missing in the Jewish psyche, even though many traditional Jews would say, I'm reading it in. I say this reflects that right.
And there have been traditional Jews who said, yes, that is true. Ultimately, there is a need for a substitute. The good news is Messiah came into the world on his own volition, sent by the Father by his own volition, to die for our sins. He is our exchange. He is our substitute. He is our atonement. When we turn to God and repentance through him, we will be forgiven. 866-34-TRUTH.
Let's start off with Paul in Minnesota. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you for taking my call.
Sure thing. Rosaria Butterfield has recently called out Campus Crusade, or CRU, for compromising on issues related to sexuality and gender. I'm wondering if you've weighed in on this. Has CRU gone too far? Can we still support this ministry?
Yeah, it's a big question. So CRU was originally Campus Crusade for Christ, founded by Dr. Bill Bright. God's used Campus Crusade for Christ for decades on campuses around the world. And of course, it's out of this movement, the Jesus film, which has been seen more probably than any film ever, all around the world, based on the gospels, that came out of the same ministry from Dr.
Bright. When they changed their name to CRU some years ago, no issue. Campus Crusade for Christ fit at a certain time. It would convey something different today.
It would not be the best message. No problem with the name change, but there has been a battle for quite a few years now. I've not spoken much about it publicly. I have colleagues that are involved more behind the scenes, and they're trying to make an impact, but it's a big organization, and I believe it's made some real missteps in terms of softening some of its language about homosexuality.
It hasn't sold out or compromised. It's still preaching Jesus and the need for people to be saved, and it may vary from campus to campus. There is a larger battle going on for the future direction of CRU. I was asked to come down to Kona in Hawaii last year by Youth with a Mission to speak to a large gathering of their discipleship schools at one time, so maybe 600 students plus 600 leaders, just large gatherings together, and to pour in on these very issues.
What the Bible says about homosexual practice, transgender issues, how we can have hearts of compassion with backbones of steel. Those were recorded and then sent to 3,000-plus YWAM bases. Then I was asked to come back again, just with 200 of the most senior leaders from 60 or 70 nations, to what was called strengthening the steel.
So they had a couple days just on moral issues, a couple days I think on financial integrity, and then a couple days with me to make sure that the next generation would carry this out. Some years back, World Vision made a real misstep on this. I called it out. Others called it out.
They immediately turned back from that misstep. CRU right now is in a critical place, so I believe to the extent they're preaching the gospel on campuses, they should be supported and encouraged, but I think supporters should say, we've heard these concerns. Rosaria Butterfield is a serious voice. We've heard these concerns, and we need to hear from you. Do you explicitly hold that same-sex unions are always wrong in God's sight? Do you hold to standards for leaders regarding these issues? What are your stances in terms of your bylaws? What is allowed within your organization? We've heard concerns.
We hope they are not real, but we need to hear from you. And I would do that. We want to support you, but we need to know where you stand on these issues. If you can't get clear answers, there are other fine campus groups to support. So that's my long answer.
It's a serious question, and at some point I may have to weigh in publicly more. Thank you very much. You are very welcome. 866-34-TRUTH. Let us go to Gino in Orlando. Welcome to the line of fire.
Hello, Dr. Brown. Thank you for taking my call. Sure thing. My question is in regards to 1 Timothy chapter 3, the qualifications of an overseer. My question is if a pastor has been arrested on serious felony charges like grand larceny, insurance fraud, and then his release on bond, is he disqualified at that point?
Does he need to step down until the court proceedings are over? Okay. So let's say we don't know if they're false charges or not.
Okay. So in other words, he hasn't pled guilty. He's denying them, or there's more to the story. Because of the uncertainty, because of the question that would be hanging over his head, even if the charges are false, it would be a distraction if he was ministering.
There could be problems because of it. Now, I'm going to make an exception in a moment. But it would just be wise so that there's no distraction and there's no potential reproach and people aren't associating the gospel. So we're talking about a minister here, an overseer. They're not associating the gospel with fraud or larceny or extortion or something like that.
Then it's wisest to say until this is settled, I'm going to turn public ministry over to others who step back. Now, I would only make an exception if the entire leadership of the church, together with independent attorneys who investigated, said this is a complete libelous case. This is defamatory.
When this is turned around, they're going to be major damages. And this is simply an attack on a good person. I could see an exception there. In other words, if people are going to lie about you, you can't step back because of a lie.
Now, let's say it was all true. And the person ended up going to jail for two years paying fines. Maybe they got out of jail and went through a restoration process for several years and now demonstrated godly character. I do believe restoration is possible.
So that's a separate question that you didn't ask. I do believe with repentance, restoration is possible in certain cases. Now, in other cases, it's not just because of people. In other words, if a pedophile got saved in jail, radically transformed, completely delivered, was one of the purest people on the planet, got out of jail, they'll never do children's ministry. Even if in God's sight they were clean, it is too much reproach, too much question, and the possibility of temptation. So there are certain things where lines are crossed and because of humanity, we can't get full restoration. But that would be my answer. If there's a cloud, best to step away unless it is a clear, slanderous defamatory attack that others, independent attorneys, other Christian leaders have verified.
Then I could see the person continuing and saying, we're going to fight this and expose it. So hopefully that answers your question. Yes, thank you, Dr. Brown. I always appreciate your opinion.
Yeah, you're very welcome. 866-342. We've got one phone line open. We'll be right back. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Tributa Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend, James Robison, and most all of you will know of him. He and his wife, Betty, host the Life Today television program. Now here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend, Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40 year plus best friends.
Well, let me just say this to you. I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain, without it hurting me. I couldn't pick up something to drink, a glass of tea or anything.
It was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap. And then Michael shared the nopal cactus juice with me, nopal. I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day. And in three months, I was a different person. I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain, not better. Well, I have no joint pain. I am telling you, it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable. That's just my testimony. But that's been more than 10 years with no pain.
Matter of fact, if I miss for some foolish reason, a few days, I can feel it creeping back that fast. So give it a try. See if it helps relieve your pain.
I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me. 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. Thanks for joining us on The Line of Fire. Thanks again to our great co-sponsor, Trivita. If you are not getting our frontline newsletter, just wrote the main lead article about the church and the elections. We've got a great testimony in there. Really neat Hebrew word study. Going to have some excerpts from my book, The Political Seduction of the Church.
A great quote. All kinds of good material. It's free.
It's digital. And we'll send it right out to you early next week. Go to thelineoffire.org. Thelineoffire.org. Click subscribe and then go look in your spam folder, your junk folder, because we'll be reaching out to you and letting you know all the resources we have, the ways that we can serve you.
And this way you can make sure you don't miss those emails. That's thelineoffire.org. Click subscribe to get our frontline newsletter. It comes out digitally once a month. All right. We go over to Bob in Tennessee. Welcome to The Line of Fire.
Hey, thank you, Michael. I had a question about a tool that people who study ancient literature, especially the Bible, use. It's called the Law of First Mention. And I just wondered, do you put any stock in that at all? And the reason I'm asking, I've been talking to some Muslims on their YouTube channel and I brought up the fact that Abraham actually sacrificed Isaac and not Ishmael. And in their Qur'an they say that Noah had a son that drowned. And there is no other literature that I know of that says that. And so these things came thousands and hundreds of years before the Qur'an was written. I brought that Law of First Mention up and they didn't seem to know what it was. I know you heard of it.
Do you put much stock in it? So the Law of First Mention is actually a little different than what you'd be referring to. It means that the first time something is mentioned in the Bible, you should pay attention to it. If someone is mentioned the first time in a very negative light, then the Bible wants you to understand that if a subject is mentioned in a certain light the first time it comes up, you should pay attention to it. On the one hand, there was certainly not in the mind of the authors because we don't have the Bible today in chronological order. In other words, it's not like every book follows another book so that you have certain books written before others, certain Psalms written before others. So we have to trust that in the wisdom and mind of God, with Scripture as we ultimately have it, that when something is mentioned the first time that we should put some stock in it.
So I wouldn't say it's a law, but I'd say it's something that's worth considering. What you're actually raising in this case is something that's more important, which is historical precedent. That we know that the biblical writings are far closer to the events described than the Qur'an by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, in some cases by over a thousand years or even two thousand years. So you ask a question, if you have events about Muhammad's life recorded, say, fifty years after his life, should we listen to those witnesses or someone writing in the year two thousand who now has new information about Muhammad's life? They'd say, no, you listen to the witnesses from back then. We say the same thing, that the biblical accounts are hundreds or even thousands of years closer to the events described than what's in the Qur'an. So when the Qur'an denies the crucifixion and eyewitnesses to the crucifixion write about it, you listen to the eyewitnesses in the same way.
We have no ancient tradition other than that Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac. We have no ancient textual tradition anywhere in any language that says anything different. The first time we hear anything different is almost three thousand years after the event, or over twenty-five hundred years after the event. So it's not the law of first mention, it's what you'd call the science of historical precedence, that the closer you get to the original sources and the original events, the better. So your argument is well taken, and of course they have no historical textual data to support it.
They would just claim the Bible has contradictions and the Qur'an was uniquely inspired or genuinely given by God, but no factual evidence for it, no historical evidence to support it. So your argument is well placed. So what do you call that again, the historical argument? Just the argument based on historical sources, it's not like a name, but historical sources, or proximity, closeness to the events recorded. And you just ask the question. Alright Michael, thank you sir.
Yeah, whatever the subject is, just ask the question, do we believe the people that were closer to the events and recorded them, and then those accounts were not challenged for centuries, or do you listen to someone five hundred thousand years after with no actual connection to the events? Hey thank you, keep plugging away. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Randy in Georgia. Welcome to the line of fire.
Hello from Georgia. Donald Trump opposes a federal ban on abortion. Most pro-life groups support the idea. What's your take on it? Well it's a terrible mistake for him to say that he would not sign it into law. Well he said the law in Florida, the six week ban in Florida was a terrible mistake. Right, and then he backed away from where he would stand with the vote in Florida. But in point of fact he's disappointed many by saying that he would not sign a federal abortion ban into law.
Here's why it's a big mistake for him to say that. The only way that that could become law, that they could get to his desk to sign, would be two thirds of Congress would have to vote for it, and then 75% of the state governments would have to vote for it. So this would be an overwhelming consensus from the American people saying this is what we want. This is what we want, therefore President Trump should have said, if it's the will of the people, the great majority of the will of the people, of course I'll sign it into law, I'm here to serve the people.
Now would it work right now? No it wouldn't work. There would be a revolution, we couldn't enforce it now, we couldn't make it happen. But if the numbers were there, if we could convince sufficient amount of Americans of the sanctity of life in the womb so that we could ultimately ban abortion, of course we should, if we're able to. But we've got a massive amount of work to do to change hearts and lives, and for women who've known this their entire lives and their kids' entire lives, this to them is an ultimate assault on their own rights, so hearts and minds really have to be changed. Well I agree with you that the popular opinion is opposed to it, but I look at it and say I support the idea as most pro-choice groups do, because under the Fifth Amendment to deprive the unborn of their right to life is already in the Constitution, so I support it on that basis. Yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely with you of course in supporting it. I'm simply saying it couldn't happen now because of what it takes to actually get something like that passed, and if somehow it could be forced on people, the pushback would be dramatic. So of course, in theory, yes, it's sinful, it's wrong, it's destructive, it should be banned.
100%, I'm with you, just like slavery was banned, just like other things were banned. However, my response was also the pragmatic one to say what has to happen, and then how Trump could have better answered the question. Hey, thank you sir, I appreciate the call. 866-348-7884. All right, I've only got a minute before our next break. Do I have a card? No, I think I gave it away.
Okay, my newest book just came out. I don't have a copy to hold up a picture. If you're listening, picture it.
If you're watching, picture it, because I'm holding up nothing. Hearts of Compassion, Backbones of Steel. We have been getting tremendous reports from readers saying this book is just what we need.
For these very reasons, the difficult subject of abortion, the difficult subject of, hey, I was born this way, I'm attracted to the same sex like you're attracted to the opposite sex, what's the big deal? The difficult divide we have over race issues and how as followers of Jesus we can be peacemakers and reconcilers, how we can have tremendous compassion and kindness without softening our views. I believe the book will be tremendously helpful.
It's practical. We even talk about how to deal with rejection for the gospel and for moral stands. So, wherever you get your books, go ahead and order a copy of Hearts of Compassion, Backbones of Steel. And if you enjoy the read, share it with your friends, post a review. I believe it's a timely book that the Lord had me write. The publisher really wanted me to get it out. I believe there's a good reason for it. So, check it out.
It's also out in audio and in e-book form. Hearts of Compassion, Backbones of Steel. We'll be right back. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Trivita Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend, James Robison. And most all of you will know of him. He and his wife, Betty, host the Life Today television program. Now, here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend, Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40-year-plus best friends.
Well, let me just say this to you. I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain, without it hurting me. I couldn't pick up something to drink, a glass of tea or anything.
It was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap. And then, Michael shared the NOPA cactus juice with me, NOPA left. I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day. And in three months, I was a different person. I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain. Not better, well, I have no joint pain. I am telling you, it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable. Now, that's just my testimony. But that's been more than 10 years with no pain.
Matter of fact, if I miss for some foolish reason, a few days, I can feel it creeping back that fast. So, give it a try. See if it helps relieve your pain. I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me.
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Call 800-771-5584 or go online to TriVita. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-344-TRUTH.
Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on the line of fire. We aired a video of an interview that I did with Todd White a couple weeks ago in Texas and talked about his testimony and praying for the sick and then the question of why pray for people's legs to grow out, if they have back problems, etc. So, I knew the video would generate tremendous controversy and I'd be criticized for doing the interview. No problem with that.
I fully understood that going in. But what I want to do is share some things with you next week on a broadcast where I explain how seeing a pastor allegedly growing legs in the 70s was one of the things that caused me to question Pentecostalism. One of the things that helped me try to become a cessationist.
Why I'm very skeptical of many claims to this day. And then I want you to be able to call in and share with me why you have an issue with the interview. So, I want to have a constructive conversation with everyone. So, look forward to it.
God willing, one day next week. Alright, we go to Terry in an undisclosed location. Welcome to the line of fire. Yes, Michael. I wanted to know, I was going to ask you a question about once saved, always saved, but before I ask you that question, I don't want to waste my question on something when I can just find it on like an article or something. Did you ever talk about that on YouTube? Yeah, many, many, many times. Just go to TheLineOfFire.org or go to YouTube and on YouTube just put in Dr. Brown, once saved, always saved.
Yeah, we've done short shows, long shows, discussions, or you go to TheLineOfFire.org, type in once saved, always saved. So, that's what I would have referred you to anyway. So, go ahead.
Don't waste your question on that. Okay, I've got a question. I do want to appreciate you for trying to understand, because when I was reading, I used to think it was like David as the Messiah got confused. But then I was talking to traditional Jews and just you in general with the Isaiah 9-6 bachelor was kind of helpful a little bit. But to keep it short, I have two questions I wanted to ask you. If you want to just do one, we can just do one question. Yeah, go ahead.
Go with the first one. Go ahead. I've been dealing with Muslims, and they seem to have in the Qur'an chapter 4, 157, where the crucifixion story, the substitution is found in there. And it doesn't seem to match any of the four Gospels. I personally don't think they need a crucifixion story in the middle of the Qur'an because they don't accept Isaiah 53.
Like, no Isaiah 53, no substitution. It just doesn't make any sense. That's my first question.
And my second question was... We'll tell you what, just to be fair to other callers, because our phone lines have been jammed. So, the bottom line is, the Islamic version of Jesus doesn't die on the cross. The Islamic version of the Injil, the Gospel, does not include salvation through the blood. So the central message of the Gospel, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, has no relevance to Islam. And if it's true, then you don't need Muhammad. So there has to be a fundamental undermining of the Gospel truth, and then even to paint a different picture of Jesus. And there's really some quotes from Jesus. There's really not the person of Jesus, Yeshua, in the Qur'an. Which is why it's always great to get a Muslim to read the Gospels, to actually find out who He actually is, like, oh, I didn't know that about Him. If you've never gone to the website Answering-Islam.org, Answering-Islam.org, you'll find a lot of really good info there that I trust will be a blessing.
So fundamentally, Muhammad, either just based on demonic deception, or based on misinformation that was passed on to him through various sources... Does that make any sense to you? What makes sense is there has to be... When they mention substitution, though, when they're saying, like, it was only made to appear that way to them. That's not like a substitution. Like, you can't boast about a body.
You need a body in order to boast. Right, right, right. And it makes no sense, like, why substitution if Isaiah 53 is...
Right, right. No, the point is that they're not talking about substitutionary atonement. They're talking about someone took his place on the cross. That's completely different. That's fabrication, not substitution. So, anyway, fundamentally, though, Quran has to ignore the truth of the Gospel or rewrite it.
That's the fundamental reality. Hey, thank you, sir, for the question. Let's go over to Brad in Chicago. Brad, you're on the line of fire. Brad, you're on the line of fire.
Good afternoon, Dr. Brown. Thank you for all that you do. My question is, what Old Testament passages would have informed Jesus about what he needed to accomplish to fulfill the law? Yeah, so, in terms of, remember he says in Matthew 5.17, I didn't come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill. So even though the emphasis in the words immediately following is on the law of the Torah, the fact is he's talking about fulfilling that which was written in Scripture.
So, on the one hand, in terms of fulfilling the law, obviously he had to fulfill its righteous requirements and walk in perfect obedience. But then, as he would be reading the Scriptures and his own self-consciousness would become aware of his mission, I believe many passages would come alive to him that he would have to offer himself up as a sacrifice, as God's one and only Son, to fulfill what Isaac did not do and could not do. That he would have seen himself foreshadowed in the animal sacrifices. For example, in Psalm 40, the psalmist says, he gets this revelation, he didn't want sin offerings, burnt offerings, that's not what you wanted. He says, then he said, He said, it's written about me in the volume of the book, I come to do your will, and your Torah is written in my heart.
What he's saying is, I get it, I see it. That which is written there in Scripture about sacrifice, you want me, you want my life. So he fulfills Psalm 40. I believe as he'd read the suffering servant passages, he would see his destiny in that. When he'd see the role of the high priest, he'd see his medatorial role. So all the things that we draw on from Messianic prophecy, the foreshadowing, I believe as he'd read them, that by the Spirit, the Father opened his heart and mind to understand, because he laid aside his divine prerogatives, he had to learn to walk and talk like everyone else. So I believe there was a consciousness that developed within his own spirit as to who he was, what his mission was. And just as we read the Scriptures now, and talk about how he fulfilled them, notice when I'm dealing with a rabbi, I'm talking about Messianic prophecy, and how he brings to fulfillment the shadows and types of the law, that he would read it and see himself in it. But Psalm 40 is somewhat revelatory in that regard, and it's quoted in that way in Hebrews 10.
So hopefully that can be helpful for you. All right, I appreciate the call. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Cassidy in Tennessee. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown.
I'm actually calling from Kentucky. Oh, you know what? Okay. Either way. That's okay.
Either way. Yeah, no, that's okay. Well, hang on.
On behalf of all of our female callers, we normally get men on Fridays, so thank you for being a female caller. Appreciate it. Yeah, I'm excited to ask you this question. First of all, just a little bit of background. I've got a really good, solid foundation and a good amount of biblical knowledge, so by saying that, my question is actually going to be a personal question, and it's something that came up, and I can't get past it.
It's like I can't move forward in my study because I can't get it out of my head. So I'm going to ask you and see if you can kind of help me out. So I go to visit my daughter and her kids in Florida. My grandson is six years old. He's very intelligent, very analytical, and he did something, I don't remember, something he shouldn't have done probably, and I say to him, hey, buddy, you shouldn't do that because that will make Jesus sad, and we never want to make Jesus sad because he loves us. And my six-year-old grandson looks at me and says, Jesus isn't real. And I say, whoa, yes he is.
Why would you think that? And he said, well, where is he? And I said, well, he's in heaven with the Father God.
Where's heaven? I tell him, you know, it's there, and he says to me, prove it. And I try to explain to him maybe what faith is, but talking to a six-year-old who's really smart, and he just continues to say, prove it. Prove to me that he's real. He's six years old. So it's a super simple question, but it's something that I can't get past. I don't know how to explain to him Jesus is real. It's really bothering me. That's what I'm calling you to see if you can just help me with it, something personal.
Yeah, great. I often find children's questions to be far away the hardest. So first thing, I would ask him, does he trust his mommy? I'm trusting, is mom's a believer? Is she a believer? She's been saved and baptized, but she's analytical as well, and she's been pushing back on me a little bit with some things. So I'm kind of dealing with her, which I got her handled, but this is the one I'm concerned about.
Right, right, right. So, you know, the challenges with a six-year-old, it's not like a rational discussion or argument. So I would ask him, do you trust grandma? Yeah, and then you could say, well, you testify to what Jesus did in your life. And you could say, you know, I didn't know if he was real till he changed my life.
And he did this and this and this and this. And, you know, when your mommy says there's certain things you have to do, you do it because mommy knows best. So same with grandma, you know, and you could talk to any other people that he knows who are believers. You know that Jesus changed this one, this one, this one, this one. And, you know, when you go to the doctor and the doctor says take this medicine and you'll feel better.
Well, you're just taking the, I don't know, but then you take it, you feel better. So the same way when we asked Jesus into our lives, he changed us. So that's the one thing, your own testimony, that's something he can relate to, right? Here's the other thing, to say Jesus said if you really seek him, he will reveal himself to you, but you have to be really serious because he's really smart and he knows when you're serious or not. So he's everywhere, but you can't see him, but he can see you. So every day, every day you say, Jesus, make yourself real to me because I don't know if you're really there. And if you'll do it every day and you mean it, he's going to make himself real to you. So put it on him.
Jesus gave the conditions and try that method and then pray for him as well. Again, I'm no expert on six-year-old psychology and if I was really sharp, I could give you creation things for a six-year-old. You might want to go, though, to reasons.org. Honestly, I think your advice for him is perfect.
It's simple, but I couldn't get past it to even think. I think those are great, great points. Great, great, good. And for others that might be helpful.
Thank you so much. Reasons.org is Reasons to Believe. They've got a lot of material for children, creation relief, so maybe even little kids. All right. Praise God. He helped us give an answer there. The Lord touched this boy and his mom.
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Call 800-771-5584 or go online to TriVita. 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. Thanks so much for joining us on the line of fire. 866-34-TRUTH is the number to call. Let's go to Carl in Idaho. Welcome to the line of fire.
Morning, Dr. Brown. I listened to your broadcast yesterday about the blood atonement. And you made the point that the Old Testament points ahead to Jesus and that the blood atonement in Yom Kippur is pointed ahead. And then you had the first and second temple and in 70 AD the second temple was destroyed. And you commented that for 2,000 years now there hasn't been another temple built. Either God prevented it or God just didn't allow it to happen because, you know, the once and for all atonement in Christ has been made. Why would that be any different now when we're talking about, you know, we're speculating on whether a third temple is going to be built in our day or before the end, before Jesus comes back? Totally fair question.
What's different now is my question. If in fact a third temple is built before Jesus returns, which you could make a scriptural argument for, although in the natural I still don't know how it could happen. But let's say it did happen. To me this would be part of a final time period, a short period of time right in the midst of or leading up to the Antichrist. And that many Jews would say we have our temple back, everything's fine, but it would be false, just like a false sense of peace. That the temple would be rebuilt but it will not be the final glorious temple that Jewish people would be hoping for.
And that it would be during the final, leading up to the final cataclysmic times. In other words, I don't see a third temple built and several centuries go on with history with the third temple. If it is built, I see it as one of the final events before the Lord's return and a time when Jewish people think, see, everything's fallen into place.
We have our temple back, we have our atonement system back, we can perform all the mitzvoth, the commandments we haven't been able to perform only to be sorely disappointed. Because Jews like everyone else I believe will be deceived by a false messiah. The bigger question, so yours is a perfectly legitimate question, the bigger question to me is will there be a temple built in the millennial kingdom when Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom on the earth?
I believe there will be a millennial kingdom in a thousand year reign as I understand scripture. One answer is no, it's all just metaphorical language, it's just spiritual language, there won't be a third temple. Another answer is there will be, but the temple sacrifices will be looking back to the cross like the previous ones looked towards the cross. Or a third answer is that the sacrifices are simply similar to Old Testament sacrifices, their only power will be outward ritual cleansing, not actually transformation of the life that only comes through the cross. But that's all just speculative, you know what I'm saying?
That's future and speculative. Now there's a very small minority of believers I've run into over the years who think that we should pray for the rebuilding of the temple, that we should be excited about it. And that it would be just like the second temple, that the apostles still participated in the temple rites even though they knew that our atonement comes through the blood of the cross, they were still participating in the rites and that we should be excited about this. And just like the Jewish people coming back to the lamb was good, the rebuilding of the temple would be a good thing that we should pray for and celebrate. But that's not my view, especially for the reasons that you raised in terms of people who say, you see, we don't need Messiah's blood, what are you talking about?
And then we tell them, friends, it's not going to last, it's not going to last because this whole system is going to be based on falsehood. So, yeah, that's my answer, sir. Would rebuilding a temple like you just mentioned, that's your latter part of your comment, would that be kind of crossing into the Hebrew 6 place where you're going back to something that's no longer... In other words, traditional Jews, so Hebrew 6, 4, 3, 6, traditional Jews wouldn't be going back because they haven't come over to our side yet. However, it could apply if a Jewish believer, the similar context would be a Jewish believer saying, I don't need Messiah's blood anymore, I have the blood sacrifice.
That would be a perfect example of Hebrew 6 because Hebrews was written while the temple was still standing. Hey, I appreciate the question, sir. Thank you so much.
Okay, very good, thank you. Alright, 866-34-TRUTH, let's go over to Dallas. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Debbie, thanks for calling.
Hey, Dr. Brown. In Jewish theology or in the Old Testament, is there an idea of a second coming of the Messiah or even an idea of the Antichrist coming on the scene, as it mentioned in the mission? In the Old Testament, you would have to deduce ideas of an Antichrist in a secondary way.
You could potentially get them from some passages in Daniel and things like that, but it's not as prominent a theme. However, Judaism over the centuries does teach and believe in an Antichrist figure. I was rebutting a traditional rabbi who claimed that this was something that was borrowed, that it's not actually Jewish, it comes in from other religions, but if you just go online, type in Jewish encyclopedia, and then Antichrist, Jewish encyclopedia, Antichrist, you'll see that there are many, many Jewish traditions that talk about a final end time wicked ruler. Is there anything in the Hebrew Bible that explicitly speaks of a first and second coming?
Not in that way, but it does speak of two completely different aspects to the Messiah's work, and later rabbinic Judaism, even in the Talmud, recognizes this. It speaks of the Messiah coming meek and lowly riding on a donkey in Zechariah 9. It speaks of the Messiah coming in the clouds of heaven in Daniel 7.
And the Talmud asks, which will it be? And the answer is, if we're unworthy, he'll come meek and lowly on a donkey. If we're worthy, he'll come in the clouds of heaven.
Our answer is no first on a donkey, then on the clouds of heaven. Or Isaiah 52, 13 through Isaiah 53, 12. The Messiah will be highly exalted, but first he will suffer terribly. So we see the two different aspects of his work, even the fact that he'll come in a priestly way, and he'll come in a royal way. We see different aspects of his coming tying in with his first and second coming. Traditional Jews don't see that. However, traditional Jews recognize potentially different aspects of his coming, and there is a traditional Jewish teaching that there'll be two Messiahs at the end of the age, one who will suffer and die in the last great war, and the other who will rule and reign.
We say no, not two Messiahs, one Messiah, two different comings. Well, great. Thank you so much. You are very welcome. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Rita in Arkansas. Welcome to the Line of Fire.
Hi, Dr. Brown. Thank you for taking my call. I was hoping you could tackle Revelation 5 and 6. It's my understanding that God is one. However, according to that verse, it mentions seven spirits, plural, of God. So if you could explain that to me and I'll take my answer off the air. Thank you.
Sure thing. So when you read it, it says seven spirits. The best way to understand it, Rita, is the sevenfold Spirit of God. We convey things one way in Hebrew, in Greek, in English. We may say something in one language.
In another language, we could have a different connotation. But to speak of the seven spirits of God is a legitimate way of describing seven different aspects of the Spirit of God. Excuse me, some would even point to Isaiah, the 11th chapter, Isaiah, the 11th chapter, where it speaks about the Spirit being on the Messiah and gives a sevenfold description there.
Some even think that's where it's coming from. So it means the sevenfold Spirit of God, which is represented by seven spirits. So seven spirits representing seven different aspects of the Holy Spirit. For sure, through the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is one entity. Hebrews nine refers to him as the eternal spirit.
Look forward. Jesus says the Spirit is upon me. First Corinthians 12. The Spirit works in the distribution of the gifts.
Acts five. You lied to the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is always individualized, is never thought of in multiple ways. But God is one and yet is Father, Son and Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is sevenfold in terms of its aspects in some of his work.
And that's what's being spoken of, the sevenfold aspect of the Spirit. Thank you for asking the question. All right, friends, we are out of time. But one more reminder, if you're not getting the Frontline newsletter and our weekly updates with my latest articles and videos. So much going on in the world, the elections, things happening in Israel. We work hard to supply up to the minute information, videos, articles, sometimes eight to 10 new resources every week, all of them free.
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