Shalom, shalom! Welcome back to the line of fire as we focus on Jewish roots and God's purposes for Israel this month. This is Michael Brown, delighted to be with you and help equip you, help empower you so you can stand strong on the front line, so you can engage the controversies of the culture, you can engage the controversies of the church and you can do it with grace and with truth.
As we always say, hearts of compassion, backbones of steel. We want to help you stand strong based on the truth of God's word. Make sure you're getting our front line newsletter, equipping, eye-opening newsletter coming out once a month. We've got our next edition we're working on right now. Be sure to subscribe. If you're not getting our emails, it's absolutely free.
Go to thelineoffire.org and sign up for our emails right there on the home page. So this month as we talk about why Israel's salvation should matter to the church, everything that I'm teaching is something that should matter to you as a follower of Yeshua, as a follower of Jesus. In other words, it's not just abstract theology. It's not just a discussion that has no relevance on us today. The world in which we're living is a world right on the edge of World War III, literally. In fact, even as I'm speaking, there are events that could be taking place around the world that could be so explosive that World War III just breaks out. That all the big players, America and Russia and China, are all drawn in. And that there's even talk of nuclear war and Israel bombing Iran or America bombing Iran or all kinds of things exploding.
In fact, as I'm recording this broadcast a few days before it goes live, by the time you're hearing this, there could be explosive things going on. And almost all of it ultimately surrounds Israel. Almost all of it ultimately comes down to Israel's presence in the world and the Middle East, which is why Zechariah 12 and Zechariah 14 speak of the day when all the nations will come up against Jerusalem.
And we'll look at those passages later on in our series. So along with scripture, our textbook, our hands, our stainless blood, the tragic story of the church and the Jewish people, eye-opening book, a must-read, and we'll tell you more about it a little later in the broadcast. What I want to do today is focus more on this question of the Jewish people and the land of Israel. So our topic today, the Jewish people and the land of Israel. For many Christians, it is self-evident that God brought the Jewish people back to the land.
For many Christians, as you look at modern history, as you look at the horrors of the Holocaust, the annihilation of two out of every three Jews in Germany, the cold-blooded murder of one and a half million babies and children, the horrific nature of things that many Jews were killed. They'd have to dig these giant graves, these giant pits, and then they just stand by the side and then just be shot in the head and then thrown in. And then when there are enough bodies, they begin to set them on fire.
So you'd have this massive pyre, massive burning with the fuel of human bodies. And sometimes, just to save a bullet, babies would just be thrown in. Babies just tossed in. Why shoot the baby in the head? Just toss it into the fire.
It can't go anywhere. I mean, horrors that are so mind-boggling, we can't begin to communicate them. Out of the ashes of the Holocaust, the modern state of Israel is born. Just that alone is sufficient to tell many people God did it.
This was the hand of God. And then when the five surrounding Arab nations attack Israel in its infancy and Israel survives, it's another evidence of God's hand. The fact that the UN, which over the decades has become a hostile anti-Israel body, the Security Council, for every one issue it will raise against other nations, it could raise two or three against Israel. I mean, it's extraordinary. A panel, a couple straight years with the UN, that looks at women's rights and suffering of women around the world, wrote special reports, and singled out Israel as the worst nation. It's like, what?
The bias is mind-boggling. You go to a website like UNwatch.org, it's documented. And in our hands just stand with blood, we document it.
I documented it from 30 years ago, and then I updated it in the new edition. So you'll see, whoa, this has been a steady pattern. And yet the UN was the body that gave official recognition to Israel. Russia voted for the state of Israel. So just that, and then surviving the attack of the five surrounding nations.
And then the Six-Day War in 1967, which seemed miraculous. For many Christians, this was more than enough evidence that God had brought the Jewish people back. Plus, there were Christians who for decades, and I'm not just talking about dispensational Christians who believe in a pre-trib rapture, there are Christians who, for centuries, were saying that God would bring the Jewish people back to the land. I've got explicit quotes in our hands that stand with blood.
We'll be sharing some of those in the days ahead, but when you get the book, you'll read all of them. So for centuries, long before there was such a thing known as dispensationalism, or teaching on a pre-trib rapture in the modern church, saying that there will be a physical regathering of the Jewish people back to the land. That this will be part of what God does. That there will be a physical regathering of the Jewish people back to the land, followed by a spiritual regathering where they recognize the Messiah.
So the simple fact that it happened was more than enough for millions of Christians to recognize to this day that God brought the Jewish people back to the land. And I'm going to read from Psalm 105 in a moment. But you'll hear me say this many times, I'm going to say it again. And find a flaw, alright? See if you can find a flaw in my scriptural logic, alright? When God blesses, no one can curse. If he says to a person or an individual, you are blessed, then no one has the power to curse them. If he says, Balaam found out when he was hired by Balak, so Bilaam in Hebrew, hired by King Balak of Moab, when he was hired to curse Israel, he couldn't because God had blessed them. So when God blesses, no one can curse. Would we agree with that?
Okay. When God curses, he puts someone under a curse. Let's say he curses a disobedient woman with barrenness. Or he curses a disobedient man with inability to procreate.
No one can reverse that curse. If he curses a nation with drought, then no one can turn that around except God. So when he blesses, no one can curse. When he curses, no one can bless. Would we agree with that?
Okay. Jesus tells the Church of Philadelphia, I'm going to set before you an open door that no one can close. Would you agree with the principle, if God sets an open door before you, no one can close it? Would you agree with that? Conversely, if God closes a door before you, no one can open it. Would you agree?
Alright. Deuteronomy 28, the Blessings and the Curses, God speaks of cursing Israel and its disobedience with diseases that cannot be cured. Would you agree with the principle that if God smites, no one can cure, no one can heal? Conversely, when he says in Exodus 15, 26 and other passages to Israel, if you'll obey me, if you'll obey me, then I will take sickness out of your midst. I will be your healer.
I won't put the diseases on you I put on Egypt. That if God heals, then no one can smite. Would you agree with that principle? Okay.
Next principle. One of the greatest judgments on Israel in history was scattering. Scattering and judgment. I will scatter you from the land. I will drive you out of the land and you will languish in exile or you will die among the nations. If God scatters, no one could regather. Otherwise you could overrule God, right? I set before you an open door that no one can shut. Well, people just shut it.
No, no, no. You can't overrule God. He's going to curse someone with an incurable disease. All the medical help in the world can't cure that person. And conversely, if God says he's going to bless you and no one can touch you, then all the witch doctors in the world could try to curse you and it wouldn't touch you.
So are we in agreement? When God blesses, no one can curse. When he curses, no one can bless. When he opens the door, no one can shut it.
When he shuts the door, no one can open it. When he smites, no one can heal. When he heals, no one can smite. When he scatters, no one can regather.
When he regathers, no one can scatter. It's just simple. Simple biblical logic. In all my years of talking about this with scholars, with theologians, with polemicists, with others, I've yet to hear from a single person who could refute that simple biblical logic. So if God scattered the Jewish people in judgment, scattered us around the world to the nations as he said he would, if he disciplined us there and reduced our numbers there as he said he would, then how are we back in the land of Israel? How is it that we've been regathered except that God did it? And you say, well, today's Jews are not really Jews, Ashkenazi Jews. Aside from that nonsense, let's put Ashkenazi Jews aside.
All the Sephardic Jews, all the Yemenite Jews and the other Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Jews that have lived in the Middle East for centuries but were scattered from the land and lived in different parts of Africa and other surrounding nations, they've never been regathered. Who did that? We were scattered in judgment. Who regathered us? God did. Now I've heard people say, yes, he regathered the Jews back to the land to slaughter them at the end.
Okay, we'll deal with that libelous charge as well. But simple logic, the very fact that we're there, the very fact we're back in the land is an indication that God brought us back. Otherwise it couldn't happen. Well, the UN didn't have the power to overrule God. Well, the Jewish people decided that the Jewish people don't have the power to overrule God. All the nations of the earth, all the military of the earth, all the governments of the earth, all the powers of the earth, all demonic power, all angelic, all power in the universe does not have the power to overrule God. If God said you're scattered from the land, then we're scattered. If God said you're regathered, we're regathered. It is his sovereign hand that did it. The God who scattered is the God who regathered.
It is that simple and that straightforward. And if it troubles you, you're angry because it messes with your theology, hey, don't get mad at me. I'm here to provoke you. I'm here to help you. I'm here to make enemies. I'm here to build up the body.
But ask yourself, why is it bothering you? Could it be that you need a theological adjustment? I've had to make them over the decades in the Lord. Maybe this is one you have to make as well.
We're going to get into Psalm 105 when we come back first, an important announcement. I'm Paul Burnett, a board-certified doctor of holistic health. I have never met anyone deficient in caffeine or sugar, but I have met many people deficient in energy-supporting vitamin B12. Unlike other oral B12 supplements, Alfred Libby's slow-dissolve Super B12 is fast-acting because the formula is scientifically developed to dissolve under the tongue, bypassing the digestive process, making it immediately available for use in the body. Alfred Libby's slow-dissolve Super B12 is also formulated with other natural energy-supporting ingredients, such as folate, ginseng root, and other natural ingredients. You deserve to live with greater energy and mental clarity, and now, like millions of others, you can with Alfred Libby's slow-dissolve Super B12 sold only by your wellness partner, Trivita. To order Alfred Libby's B12 for yourself, call 1-800-771-5584 or online at trivita.com. Order today and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order. As a new customer, 100% of your order proceeds from your first order will go to support the Line of Fire radio broadcast.
Call 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584, or online at trivita.com. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the Line of Fire. It is my profound joy to come your way five days a week on this great station and share these truths with you. Another reminder, if you're not getting my front-line equipping newsletter, please sign up today.
Go to thelineoffire.org. You'll be blessed. You will look forward eagerly to these. In fact, I've lined up an amazing testimony from a former Muslim that we're going to share, stories from the Gospel being preached in mosques in the Middle East, spiritual sons, people that we've been close to over the years involved firsthand, a great edifying message that's going to help you in your own walk with the Lord. And I haven't figured out yet what we're going to do for the Hebrew word of the month, but it's going to be great. Okay, Psalm 105. Praise the Lord, call on His name, proclaim His deeds among the people, sing praises to Him, speak of His wondrous acts, exalt in His holy name, let all who seek the Lord rejoice, turn to the Lord to His might, seek His presence constantly, remember the wonders He has done, His portents and the judgments He has pronounced, O offspring of Abraham his servant, O descendants of Jacob his chosen one. So it's speaking of the Jewish people, speaking of the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and those who through conversion to the God of Israel like Rahab and Ruth have joined in, this remnant from the nations that have joined in, but it is the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to whom God gave promises.
All right, now look at this. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are throughout the earth. He is ever mindful of His covenant. So covenant is a sacred agreement between two parties. He is ever mindful of His covenant. The promise He gave for a thousand generations. So notice it's called a covenant, so a sacred agreement. This is one that God is making. It's a promise. You know when you're a little kid and you're trying to tell your mommy you didn't eat the cookie, I promise mommy I crossed my heart and hope to die.
You know you say all these different things and you know to try to convince your mother you're telling the truth. This is God talking. This is God talking. Just like we saw last week, Paul wanted to express the pain in his heart that he had for his Jewish people not knowing the Messiah in five different ways. He said I'm not exaggerating.
I'm really telling you the truth because it seems so extreme. Here God, all God has to say is yes or no and it's one million percent sure because God said it. And we can stake our eternity on it. Well then He says well it's a covenant.
Whoa, okay, all the more. Oh no, it's not just a covenant, it's a promise. God is really trying to make a point here. The promise He gave for a thousand generations. So how long is a thousand generations? Let's just say, you can say a generation in the Bible is often 40 years. Let's just say that on average from someone being born to someone having a child, let's just say it's 25 years for a generation. We're going to use a smaller number. Even though you might say 40 is a common number in the Bible.
We'll use 25, okay. So 10 generations is how long? 250 years. A hundred generations is how long? 2,500 years. How long is a thousand generations? That's 20,500 years or 40,000 years if we wanted to make it 40.
So in other words, much, much, much, much longer than the human race has been here over and over and over. That's how long the promise is for. He is ever mindful of His covenant. The promise He gave for a thousand generations that He made with Abraham swore to Isaac and confirmed in a decree for Jacob for Israel as an eternal covenant.
So let's notice this. He swore it to Isaac. So it's even stronger than a covenant and a promise. It's an oath. It's something God swore. So how could God make Himself any more clear?
How could He state this? If you said, Lord, are you telling me to do this? And He said, yes. Okay, that's enough. If He says, yes, and I will make a covenant with you to confirm it.
Wow, okay, that's more than I need. Yes, I will make a covenant and you have my promise. And you have my oath. And it's for thousands and tens of thousands of years. Oh no, not only so, I'm going to confirm it in a decree.
I'm going to make it an actual statute. And for how long? Forever. Eternal.
What is it? What's the punchline? Let's get to the punchline. Saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan as your allotted heritage.
That's the punchline? That the promise, the covenant, the oath, the decree for tens of thousands of years forever? Is that God will give the land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? That the land belongs to Israel? Yes. Yes. I ask you, how could God have made it any more clear?
So what did we talk about yesterday? If you missed the show, simple recap, God's faithful. If he kept his promises to Israel, all the more will he keep his promises to you as a follower of his son Jesus, the Messiah. He can be trusted.
Now we have the physical proof in front of our eyes. And that's why the devil so hates the modern state of Israel. You say, Dr. Brown, doesn't Israel make mistakes?
Absolutely. Jews like everybody else. Good qualities, bad qualities. I say that we're like everybody else except more so. It seems our good qualities are exaggerated, our bad qualities are exaggerated. And that's because of a calling of God that was put on us to be world changers. And we get it right, it's amazing, we get it wrong, it's awful. But these, friends, are divine realities.
And you want the actual proof. Remember in the Gospels where Yeshua heals the man that's laying, that's brought down through the roof of the house where he's teaching? And he says to him, get up and walk. Right, why does he say get up and walk? Well, he said to him first, your sins are forgiven.
And why? They have the power to do it. He didn't say that. How would he say that? No person has the power to forgive sins, only God. So Yeshua says, okay, you want to see who I am?
Get up and walk. What's easier to say, your sins are forgiven or get up and walk? But so you can know that I have authority to forgive sins, get up and walk.
In other words, I'm going to show you in the natural my power in the spiritual. The fact that the Jewish people are in the land today is the living proof in front of our physical eyes of the faithfulness of God and the tenacity of God. And that's why conversely Satan hates the Jewish people being in the land. That's why he hates the promises to Israel being fulfilled because it demonstrates the character of God. It demonstrates the goodness of God.
It demonstrates the faithful of God for the whole world to see. So remember, God promised the Jewish people no matter what you do, I'm going to preserve you. So what does Satan want to do? He wants to wipe out the Jewish people.
Why? To make God into a liar? Because Jews have a certain calling, he hates the Jewish people. Just like he hates followers of Jesus because of our calling.
That's number one. Number two, Jesus is coming back to a Jewish Jerusalem. Well, by all means then, if you can't destroy the Jewish people, you want to keep them out of the land of Israel because God's promised to bring them back to the land. And if they get back to the land of Israel, you want to keep Jerusalem out of Jewish hands. At all costs, you want to keep Jerusalem out of Jewish hands. If you can't do that, what's your last resort if you're the devil? Keep Jewish people away from Jesus, Yeshua.
Because the Jewish people will welcome him back. We'll open up those scriptures in this series as well. And if you want to jump ahead and dig in more, all the information in our hands are stained with blood. So, I'm just looking at the plain sense of Psalm 105. If you say, well, God changed that, then you throw out the Bible. Then the whole Bible can't be trusted. If God could say that clearly. If you say, well, no, it's a spiritual. Jesus has become the land.
You know what that's like? When you're a refugee from the Holocaust or expelled from the surrounding nations around Israel in 1947, 1948, the surrounding Muslim Arab nations expelling the Jewish population. You say, well, Jesus is your homeland. That's like telling a starving person Jesus is your bread. Give that person a piece of bread and tell them about Yeshua as well. The same way God brought our Jewish people back to the land and here we share more about Jesus Yeshua.
Okay, 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. And click Donate.
