Thanks for joining us today on the Line of Fires.
We begin a brand new series, Michael Brown, here to equip you, to empower you, to help you to engage on the front lines. Every one of us today, if we are followers of Jesus, we are in the Line of Fire, but we are together. We are moving forward.
We are taking ground. The light is shining in the darkness, and just like in John's Gospel, the first chapter, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. Truth will triumph.
Paul wrote it in 2 Corinthians 3. We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth, and it is the truth of the Gospel that will set people free. We begin a brand new series that will continue all through this next month. It will be perhaps the most eye-opening teaching you have ever heard in your life.
It will help with some new-fangled revelation, not because of me or insights I have, but simply making you aware of truths in the Bible and history that you may not be aware of. Before we get started, and I introduce this brand new series, if you are not getting my front-line newsletter, the first one has gotten really, really great responses, just went out last month. By all means, sign up for our e-mails. It is absolutely free. The front-line newsletter is free. You can use the newsletter once a month, and then every week we will also let you know about my latest articles and videos dealing with cutting-edge issues in our society and world today. Go to TheLineOfFire.org.
TheLineOfFire.org and sign up today. We are going to begin a brand new series on the Jewish roots of the faith. We are going to talk about why Israel's salvation should matter. We are going to talk about why the Gospel is to the Jew first.
We are going to deal with common misconceptions about believers and the law. And again, as Jesus said, the truth will set us free. We are going to dig into the Word together. If I share things with you that may surprise you or sound new, dig and study with me, and I believe you will find what we are saying is grounded in the Word and grounded in historical truth. Our textbook, along with Scripture, will be my book, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood, The Tragic Story of the Church and the Jewish People. I have written almost 50 books now, but in certain ways I can say that this was the single most important book that I wrote that has had an eye-opening impact on readers now for over 30 years.
The first edition came out in 1992 and it was continuously in print and then we updated it in 2019 and expanded it. You will find it amazingly relevant and, as I said, eye-opening. I don't use those words lightly, but I was talking with a young man who has been involved with a Jewish ministry for years now.
He recently read the book and he said to me, half of what is in the book I never even knew, even though I have been involved in doing this. As we open this up, I believe it is going to give you a greater appreciation for the God of Israel. I believe it is going to give you a greater understanding into who our Savior and Messiah and Lord is. I believe it is going to give you a greater burden to pray for the salvation of the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
But let's ask this fundamental question. Why should we even care about these things? Why should we care about Jewish roots of the faith? Why should we care about the salvation of Israel? After all, Jesus shed his blood for every single human being. John 3.16 is eternally true. It was God's love for the whole world that caused him to send his Son. And Paul writes plainly in Romans the 10th chapter and the 12th verse that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile when it comes to salvation.
He said the same Lord is Lord of all, richly blessing all those who call on him. And Paul wrote to the Galatians who had wrongly been taught, the Gentile believers in Galatia had wrongly been taught that they had to become Jewish. That in order to be right with the God of Israel and follow the Messiah of Israel, they themselves had to become Jewish. They had to be circumcised and submit to the law of Moses. And Paul blatantly contradicted that. He rebuked it strongly. He said that's another gospel. And then he said that in Jesus that there is neither Jew nor Gentile. There's neither slave nor free. There's neither male nor female.
What does that actually mean though? Let me ask you a question. When you went to your church building recently for service, presuming that you did, did you have a men's bathroom and a woman's bathroom? Oh, you still did. Well, let's do a little survey of everyone listening. How many men out there, biological males, gave birth to babies?
Oh, that would be zero. How many of us had a biological mother? Well, that would be all of us because only women can be mothers. My point is there are still men and there are still women. You have men's meetings at your church. You have women's meetings at your church.
Right? So what does Paul mean when he said there's neither male nor female? It's the same thing with neither Jew nor Gentile. Jews and Gentiles still exist, but there is no class distinction in Jesus. There is no caste system in Jesus. We are equal, men and women, Jew and Gentile, equal status, equal standing in God.
Nonetheless, there are Jews and there are Gentiles and there are right and wrong ways of reading the Scriptures. And many times we are accustomed to reading them through our own background, our own tradition. For example, we as Americans think individualistically more than corporately and we are fiercely independent as Americans. Whereas if you go over, say, to Africa, there's much more of a tribal understanding, much more of a corporate understanding. That would be closer to the way people thought in biblical times, especially in ancient Israel, where there was much more corporate understanding, much more tribal solidarity. Or even people living off the land, understanding the importance of the seasons of rain just for subsistence and things like that. Whereas in the West, we don't live off the land to that same degree and our culture is not based on that. So depending on where you live, when you live, you'll be able to relate to things in Scripture more closely. Well, what about the Jewish roots of the faith? Again, we're not talking about making a separation in the body. We're not talking about that.
We're not talking about one group being higher than another group. We're simply talking about biblical truth. So tell me what comes to mind when you hear this. Jesus Christ, the son of the Virgin Mary. Does that sound Jewish or Christian? I know I'm making a distinction that's a little bit too broad because there's overlap between Judaism and Christianity.
We understand that. But when you hear Jesus Christ, son of the Virgin Mary, what does that sound like? A question, right? If I say Yeshua the Messiah, son of the Virgin Miriam, does that sound Jewish or Christian? Well, it sounds a lot more Jewish, doesn't it?
But here's what you have to understand. There are many Jews who, when they come to faith, think that Jesus was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Christ. I have friends of mine who are Jewish believers, when they came to faith years ago, they thought Jesus was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Christ.
I mean, why wouldn't they think like that? After all, it just seemed like a last name, Jesus Christ. And you can't even talk to your average, quote, Christian on the street, someone that believes the basic things about Christianity, and say, What does Christ mean? And they, well, they know it's not Jesus' last name necessarily, but it's like, is it a title?
What does it mean? Not that many really understand that it means Messiah. He was called Christos, anointed in Greek because that's the equivalent of Hebrew Mashiach. Hebrew Mashiach is Greek Christos.
He's called Christos Christ because he's the Messiah, the anointed one. And his name in Hebrew slash Aramaic was Yeshua. Yeshua. It comes into English as Jesus because it goes from Yeshua in Hebrew as Jesus in Greek, and then through Latin ultimately comes into English, then with our J sound, Jesus, like in Italian it's Jesu, but his name was Yeshua. His name was Yeshua and his mother's name was Miriam. Not Mary, Miriam. Now again, we get Mary from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English, but her name was Miriam. Miriam in Hebrew. Yeshua ben Miriam, if you want to get his mother's name. Jesus, son of Mary. And his earthly father was Yosef, Joseph, Yosef, Miriam and Yosef with their son Yeshua.
Now let's take this a little further. He was called Rabbi, not Reverend. He was not Reverend Christ, but Rabbi Yeshua. Why was he called Rabbi? Well, it was not a formal title of ordination yet.
That didn't happen for another generation or so. But it was a title of honor, a title of respect for a teacher or leader. Rabbi, my master, my teacher. So he was Rabbi Yeshua. And what about John the Baptist? Well, he wasn't a, it was no such thing as Baptist in those days. He was a baptizer.
He immersed people in water. And his name in Hebrew would have been Yohanan. Yohanan the Immerser sounds a lot different than John the Baptist, doesn't it?
So let's just think for a minute. Yohanan the Immerser came preaching a message of repentance to prepare the way for the coming of Mashiach, Messiah. And then Yeshua came, son of the virgin Miriam, with his earthly father Yosef.
It changes the feel of things, doesn't it? Let's go a little bit further here. Here are the names of the twelve apostles. But I'm going to read them to you from the Jewish New Testament. Alright, this is a David Stern translation, the Jewish New Testament, or the complete Jewish Bible.
Let's hear how it sounds as it would have been closer to the original. Matthew 10 verses 2 to 4. These are the names of the twelve emissaries. First, Shimon, called Kepha, and Andrew, or Andrai, his brother. Yaakov ben Zavdai, and Yohanan, his brother. Philip and Bartalmai, Taoma and Matijahu, the tax collector. Yaakov bar Chalfai, and Taddai.
Shimon the Zealot, and Yehuda from Creote, who betrayed him. You say, what in the world? Oh! We are just getting started.
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Call 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584, or online at triveda.com. All right, let me read that for you once again. These are the names of the 12 emissaries. So we hear apostles, but emissaries explains what it is.
They were men sent on a mission, and apostles, once sent on a mission, and they have specific function in the early church, of course. But these are the 12 emissaries. First, Shimon. Well, that's Simon. Shimon called Kepha. You mean Cephas?
Yeah, yeah. Kepha, Aramaic for rock. And Andrew, his brother. So Andrew wouldn't have been a Hebrew name. It would have been a Greek name.
Hence, hence, the Jewish New Testament putting it like this. Yaakov ben Zavdi and Yohanan's brother. Yeah, who's Yaakov? James. James. In Greek, it's Yaakov. Look it up. If you can read Greek, look it up.
It's not a mystery here. It's Yaakov. Yeah, Jacob.
How do we get James? Okay, so it goes from Hebrew into Greek into Latin. It's Jacobus in Latin. At a certain point, the Latin changed to Jacobus, and then becomes James in English. It's not because of King James and his influence.
That's the course that it took. But in Greek, it's Jacob. As in the letter of Jacob.
You say, where's that? We call it the Epistle of James. It's the letter of Jacob. Yaakov ben Zavdi and Yohanan's brother. Philip, which would have been another Greek name, and Bartolomai. Bartholomew? Yeah, Bartolomai.
Taoma. You mean Thomas? Uh-huh. And Matijahu.
Huh? That's Matthew. Yaakov Bar Chalfai. That's another James.
Jacob. And Taddai. Thaddeus?
Yep. Shimon the Zealot. Simon the Zealot. And Yehuda from Creote. You mean Judas Iscariot? Iscariot is not his last name. No, it's the Ish, the man from Creote.
From the town of Creote. Yehuda, Judas, Yehuda from Creote. You ever read the letter of Yehuda? The letter of Judah? You say, no I haven't.
Sure you have. It's called Jude. See, originally these are all Jewish men. And this is part of a Jewish movement. And they're following the Jewish Messiah. Yeah, again, this is just basic stuff, but we have massively lost sight of it over the years.
Let's just keep going. Tell me if you agree with this statement. Saul was a Jew, persecuted Christians, then he became, he got converted, he became a Christian, and he changed his name to Paul. Is that correct? No, it's not correct. It's not correct. Saul was a Jew.
Correct. Shaul in Hebrew. He was persecuted Christians, though they weren't called Christians yet. His story of encountering the Messiah comes in Acts the 9th chapter. And the believers are not called Christians for the first time until the 11th chapter of Acts. And that term Christian only occurs three times in the entire New Testament.
Only three times in the entire New Testament. And it was, from what we can tell, an outsider name that was given, a derogatory name. What are these followers of Christos? What is that? To the Greek speakers, it didn't really make any sense.
What is that? They weren't familiar with the messianic concepts, so it was these Christ followers. It would be like negatively calling people to listen to the show Brownies or Brownites. That's what they were doing. But in any case, they weren't called Christians, and there was certainly not a new religion called Christianity at that point.
No, not for a split second. It was a Jewish faith among Jewish people that was now going to the Gentile world. That was the shocker. So, Shaul, Saul, the Jew, is persecuting fellow Jews who believe that Yeshua was the Messiah. Did he get converted to Christianity?
No, there was not a new religion to convert to. There was a recognition that Yeshua was the Messiah and Lord. Right? And then he becomes Paul. No, he doesn't become Paul. He comes to his encounter with the Messiah and acts in the ninth chapter.
Right? Then you pick up the narrative with him again in the thirteenth chapter. Chapters ten, eleven, and twelve get back to issues in the life of Peter. Chapter thirteen, it's still talking about Saul. The beginning of the chapter is talking about Barnabas and Saul. And then they're sent out on their mission to the Gentiles, Saul and Barnabas. And then once he goes out to the Gentiles, he's called by his Gentile name. You see, Paul, Saul, was a Jew born in Tarsus as a Roman citizen. So from birth, he would have had a Hebrew name, Shaul, and a Greek or Latin name, Paulus. So from birth, he was Saul Paul. And as the account talks about him persecuting his fellow Jews, he's referred to as Saul. As he now goes on his mission to the Gentiles, he's now called Paul. And as he writes to the Gentiles, he identifies himself as Paul. But you see, the way we hear it, Saul, Jew, bad, Paul, Christian, good, it's not the contrast at all.
It's not there at all. Acts fifteen has been turned upside down. As Gentiles began to come to faith in this Jewish Messiah, it raised questions. Oh, okay. You're going to be part of the same spiritual family as us?
Hang on. You're going to join our spiritual family as fellow heirs of the Messiah, fellow children of God, our brothers and sisters, but you're not going to live like Jews? You're not going to take on all the six hundred thirteen commandments? Doesn't a Gentile have to become a Jew before they can follow the Jewish Messiah?
And it created a big controversy. So they meet, they discuss it, they get the mind of God through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, the wisdom God's given them, and they say, no, no, no. Gentiles do not have to become Jews in order to follow the Jewish Messiah.
They just follow certain basic commandments and we can be one in Yeshua. Wonderful. Well, over the centuries, that got completely turned upside down. It got completely turned on its head. How so?
Simply this. It now became the understanding that in order for a Jew to follow this Jesus Christ, this one, the head of the church, for a Jew to follow Jesus, you have to become a Gentile. That's how it's been through history. I have friends of mine, when they came to faith, they were given pork sandwiches in order to prove that they were really following Jesus.
I'm serious. And in my book, our hands are stained with blood. Everything I covered so far today, we've got in the book, so fear not. But I have baptismal formulas from the Middle Ages that will shock you. I mean, you'll say, no, no, this never happened.
Someone made it up. These are historically known and documented where for a Jew to be baptized, they would have to renounce their people. They would have to renounce Sabbath, circumcision, Passover. They would have to swear allegiance to Mary. They would have to curse the rabbis.
They would have to pledge to eat pork in order to be part of the church. How in the world did this happen? Okay, we are just getting started with this month long series on the Jewish roots of the faith, why Israel's salvation should matter. This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to TheLineOfFire.org, TheLineOfFire.org and click donate.
