Dr. Brown Answers Your Biggest and Best Questions

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network.

That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome to the line of fire. Let's go to Eddie in Madison, Connecticut. Welcome to the line of fire.

That's what happens with New Yorkers in Connecticut. That's trouble. Dr. Brown, I said to them, according to Jesus, guys, I said, there's nobody in heaven right now. So they said, what are you talking about? I said, well, listen to what he said. He said, in my father's house are many mansions.

I go prepare a place for you. He said, I'll come back and get you and receive you so that where I am, you'll be also. So I said, did Jesus come back?

Yes. So how can we be there? He said, I'm coming back to get you and take you that where I am and where's the ease in heaven. You will be there also. So I said, does that put the nail in the coffin?

Yeah, actually, your friends are right on this one and you read too much into it. Number one, we read Paul talking about to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord in 2 Corinthians 5. And remember what Jesus said to the thief on the cross, today you'll be with me in paradise. So that someone's going to be with him in paradise in the world to come. We read in Revelation 6 about those who were martyred, who martyred for their faith and they're crying out, and they're before the throne of God in heaven, crying out how long.

So you read too much into that, but really it's a spiritual application. That word that we translate, mansions or rooms, what's interesting is it only occurs twice in the New Testament in Greek, and both times it's in John the 14th chapter. And what it's talking about, Jesus when he comes, he's not talking about a physical second coming, but in God's spiritual house making room for us. So if you go down a little bit in the chapter, he says verse 15, If you love me, keep my commands and I will ask the Father and He'll give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. John 14 verse 17, In the spirit of truth the world cannot accept Him because neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.

How? By the spirit. He doesn't mean second coming here. I will come to you. Before long the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.

Because I live, you will also live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love them and show myself to them. And then he says, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.

So it's the same concept. There are many rooms in my Father's house. He's going to come returning to us by His Spirit. So this is where John 14 is fulfilled spiritually as we dwell with Him. One other verse though that refutes your idea about no one in heaven.

Look in Hebrews chapter 12 and let's see verse 22. You've come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. You've come to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. So righteous saints, the saints of the past are there in the presence of God and waiting for the physical resurrection.

Yes, so heaven's very, very busy with a lot going on there and with believers there enjoying the presence of God. Hey, this is why you have a Bible study. You can tell them I said that they were right this time because other times I've said that you were right, but they were right this time. Right, God bless. 866-34-TRUTH.

We retry Joe in Ontario, Canada. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Braun. Can you hear me now?

Yes, I can. Okay, thank you very much for taking my call. God bless you for the ministry and the work you're doing. I followed a couple of video clips from the debates of yours in regards to healing on YouTube, and I am with you on most of it, but there is one aspect that kind of caught my attention. I'm not 100% sure if I understand it right. It's in regards to you made a similarity between our sins and our diseases, sicknesses, and you said that as we still have sins now on earth, that's why we have diseases as well. So basically, going by the verse in Isaiah where it says we're healed, you're saying that, yeah, we are healed, but we still have sicknesses as we have sins as well. This kind of confuses me, and it kind of gets me into a position I was forgiven for my sins, right? By what Jesus did.

Yes, sir. When I see you now today, the Bible is telling me that I have a faithful and just father, and I go before him and ask forgiveness, and he is just to forgive me, right? Is that applying the same way with sickness, with disease?

All right, so I appreciate the question. Let me say exactly what I do believe and understand, and then I'll do my best to explain specifically the answer to the question you're asking. I believe that Jesus did not die for our sins and then separately suffer for our sicknesses.

I don't believe that. My understanding is that his death on the cross paid for our sins and ultimately for everything that sin brought to us, so the destruction it brought to our minds, to our spirits, to our bodies, and that ultimately being resurrected and with God forever and ever and ever was all paid for at the cross, right? We won't receive our resurrected bodies yet. We'll still die physically, but we can be set free from sin.

Of course, we're forgiven. We can receive emotional healing. We can receive physical healing. In other words, at the cost of his wounds, there is healing for us.

It's all now made available through the cross. Do we have full power to live above sin through what Jesus has done? Yes, and yet we still don't because we're in this world.

We don't live perfectly. We are free from habitual sin, and yet we still need cleansing and washing by the blood of Jesus because we're still in this world. That's how I see it with healing, that ultimately we will die physically, but that healing has been provided at the cross through the atonement.

It is available to us, but we don't always see everything realized in this world. So just as we don't see perfect victory over sin in this world, even though it's purchased for us, we don't experience perfect healing of our bodies in this world, even though it's purchased for us. Last thing, I don't believe the right way to read the text, by his stripes you were healed, means I was already physically healed at the cross, and now I just have to appropriate that. I don't see that.

I see that the cost, the price was paid to make it all available, and as I take hold of it by faith, by the Spirit, I can experience it in my life. I understand. The only thing that kind of sets me a little bit off is the fact, again the similarity, if I go right now before Christ and I say, Jesus, I sinned. As you say, we still sin, and I agree, we still sin. I lied yesterday. Please forgive me. Do I believe on the spot that you forgave me?

Yes. I believe that and I think that I'm forgiven, right? Is that applying the same way with sickness?

I go and say, God, I have this huge headache. Please heal me. Is it doing the same way as the sin?

Or should I doubt that you forgive my sin? No, it's the opposite. In other words, you're still going to die physically, correct? Unless Jesus returns first, we're all going to die physically. So our bodies are not yet fully redeemed. Our spirits, when we're born again, they are fully redeemed. So forgiveness is a hundred percent, because that's a spiritual transaction that's been made.

But the things that pertain to this world, we're still in this world here. We're instantly born again and declared righteous by God and made holy the moment we're saved. And then we're called to live righteously and to live holy lives and to renew our mind. And then we also have to discipline the flesh. So even though we've been born from above, even though we have eternal life and are perfectly justified in God's sight, yet we have to renew our minds.

We have to discipline our bodies. So the same way, everything has been purchased at the cross, but we don't see the full realization of all of it in this world. So I do not believe that we question forgiveness, not for a split second. But I do not believe that we go around saying, well, I'm already healed. In other words, someone's dying of cancer and we say, well, they're already healed. They're already healed at the cross and it just has to manifest. And then when they die, well, what has to manifest then? So to me, that's where people get into denial and misinterpret Scripture.

So I mean, we're within an inch of each other overall. But bottom line is, think of it like this. At the cross, everything we need for life and godliness was purchased from here through eternity. And much of it we will experience in this world, the forgiveness of sins, justification, fellowship with God, victory over sin, breakthroughs from demonic oppression, healing of disease, but we don't see it perfectly in this world because we're in this world and ultimately we're going to physically die. I mean, theoretically, we could just be healed forever, right?

But we know that's not going to happen. That being said, I believe that if we'll press into God and take hold of his promises and persevere and speak his word as true, that we will see breakthroughs and results far beyond anything we've seen thus far. At the cost of his wounds, there's healing for us, spirit, soul, body, and then ultimately eternal resurrection life. Hey, I appreciate the call, my brother, and keep processing these things and see where you land.

Ultimately, you may come to a different scriptural conclusion than me on this. God bless you. 866-34-TRUTH. We go straight to your calls when we come back. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire, 866-34-TRUTH. Hey, if you appreciate what we're doing, want to become part of our support team, go to AskDrBrown.org, A-S-K-D-R Brown.org. Click on Donate, and there are options to support us with a one-time gift or to become a monthly torchbearer, monthly supporter, and we pour back into our monthly supporters in many ways every month, our way of saying thank you and pouring back into you. If you're watching on Facebook, there's a donate button you can click on.

Watching on YouTube, there's a dollar sign at the bottom of the chat box. So however you can help or you feel prompted to stand with us, that would be awesome. All right, back to the phones. Let's go to Budapest, Hungary.

Benjamin, welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Brown. How are you, sir?

Doing well. You know, I've only been to Budapest twice to speak at Faith Church with Pastor Sandor, but what an amazingly beautiful city, and what a great group at the church there. I saw your teaching recently about the real kosher Jesus.

I really enjoyed it, but I was kind of disappointed at the end because you were about to tell a joke, but they cut off the recording, so I didn't get to hear it. Well, I don't know what the joke was, otherwise I would tell it to you now. Sorry. Yeah, but go ahead, sir.

Yeah. I saw your debate with the gentleman, I don't remember his name, about preterism, and there was a question I think you didn't address, but I was quite interested about it. This is a quote from the ES3 translation from Matthew and Luke, Luke's Gospel. Jesus says, Truly I say to you there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom, or in Luke's, until they see the kingdom of God.

And I wanted to ask, what does this mean? What did Jesus mean about that some will not taste death? Yes, so the preterist view, for those listening that are not familiar with this, the preterist view says that many of the things we are still looking forward to, the second coming of Jesus, etc., they already took place, that when Jesus talked about coming in power or spoke about the Son of Man coming, He was talking about coming to destroy Jerusalem in the year 70, and that was the end of that era. And then a full preterist, which really has a heretical position, says that there will be no physical resurrection of the dead, that's already happened spiritually, that we are now living in the new heavens and the new earth.

So that's an extreme position. Most that hold to preterism are partial preterists, so they would say some of the future prophecies have already been fulfilled, and of course I differ with them there. So this would be a text that would be used by preterists to say, Jesus is telling people right then and there that they're going to be alive when He returns, and that's obviously speaking of coming in power, coming with the clouds in the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. So the easiest way to refute that, sir, is just to look at all three gospels, and here's what's really interesting. You know if you read through the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that they have a few things in the same order, but most things are in different order, right?

This teaching here next to this event here, this parable here next to this other teaching and event, but in this case they all have the exact same thing. So we go to Matthew 16, 28, Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Next verse, 17, 1, After six days, Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, led them up on a high mountain by themselves, and He was transfigured before them.

So that's the next verse. Now we go over to Mark 9, where the same account is found. Let me just get the right, excuse me, Mark, the end of the eighth chapter, and we're going to have the exact same situation here. Mark, the end of the eighth chapter, last verse says this, Truly I tell you, excuse me, Mark 9, 1, Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God has come with power. Next verse, 9, 2, After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him, led them on the mountain, there He was transfigured. It's the same thing now in Luke, the ninth chapter. Exact same account, exact same teaching, Jesus says the same thing, here are the words, Truly I tell you, 9, 27, Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God, 9, 28, but eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John, and James with Him, went up on the mountain, He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning, etc. So there's no question in the Synoptic Gospels, Benjamin, that this is talking about the Transfiguration event. All three record the exact same thing, Jesus says this, and about a week later, He goes up on the mountain, He's transfigured, and they see Him in glory. That's what He was talking about. And that's how the Gospels make it very plain.

Yeah, all three. Same order, same saying, exactly. Thank you, Dr. Rowe. You are very welcome, sir.

86634, Truth. You know, sometimes, when I say this, it has meaning, things are as clear as the notes on our hearts. It's the same thing. And when I say this, it has meaning, things are as clear as the notes on our face. And I got a note, right? So that's, sometimes, it's right there.

You may not notice it because Matthew 16 ends and then chapter 17 begins, but it's this one straight thing in Greek. There's no break there. All right, let us go over to Anthony in New York City. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Thank you for taking my call.

You bet. I have a question about remaining single. A dear friend of mine, we had a conversation a couple of days ago, and she stated that, you know, it's not always God's will for someone to, you know, to get married, you know, then, you know, sometimes it's God's will for, you know, certain people to remain single. And I said, well, you know, I, you know, I reject that, you know, God said, you know, it's not good for men to be alone, and He meant that for women and men. You know, yeah, there are, you know, I told her, yeah, there are men in the Bible that have, you know, that remain single, for example, Elijah, Daniel, John the Baptist, and, you know, Paul does speak about, you know, he wishes that, you know, some men were like him, you know, they remain single, but because of the flesh, the weakness of the flesh, you know, every man to be, you know, to find a woman. I told her, if you want to, if you want to remain single, that's your choice, but it is not God's will. So I just wanted to get your thought on that.

Yeah, I appreciate your reasoning and looking at it. It is God's will for some, in other words, just like God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 16 to never marry. Matthew 19, Jesus says that there are some who are eunuchs, they've made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God, meaning they will not marry or have sexual relations just to be devoted to the kingdom of God.

And then 1 Corinthians 7 that you were referencing, Paul says not everyone has this gift. So to those who have it, some do, there are some who by divine calling are called to be single. And maybe, you know, they keep trying to have a relationship and it never works out and the more they pursue the Lord, the Lord just shows them that he's taking that desire away and that he has a call to singleness. Now, there are some people that just put off marriage because they're afraid to get married, right? And then the younger generation is putting off marriage much more than my generation did, you know, waiting to get married into their 30s instead of in their early 20s or late teens. So that's just kind of a social thing that's happening. So if someone feels called to be single, then they're not going to constantly be wishing and yearning to be in a relationship and fighting sexual desires and always feeling left out. They'll feel, hey, I'm blessed.

Maybe it's for all my life or maybe it's now, but I'm blessed to be single. It's my calling. So, yeah, it's not the calling for most, but it is the calling for some. And I would dare say that if a person feels that strongly that they want to be single and just be devoted to the Lord and his work, then it's probably God who put it in their heart. You know, John Hyde, known as Praying Hyde, one of the great men of prayer late 1800s, early 1900s missionary to India, he did not want anyone to share his affections except the Lord. He did not want anyone to have his heart except Jesus. So he chose to never marry and just sought God earnestly in prayer and gave himself to ministry in very difficult ways, risking his life. But I believe it was God that put that in his heart. So that's how to work it out, that yes, some do make the choice, but it could well be that God put it in their heart to make the choice. But for sure, either way, there are definitely some that God calls to be single.

It's their calling and there's grace to do it and they're as content single as someone else's content marriage. It's not the norm, but it's definitely calling for some. Hey, appreciate the call, my brother. Thanks for checking in. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to Christian in Toledo, Ohio. Welcome to the line of fire. What's going on, Dr. Brown?

Hey, man. I've got a question. You remember when I did the verse for you, if you want me to, remember when Jesus was talking that he basically said no one knows when he will come, not the angels nor the sun, you know. And I heard arguments, people say that was just human nature talking, got a divine nature and human nature. I want to get your input on this.

What do you think about, and Jewish customs were, I'm sure you know a lot about this because you were a Jew, where basically the father knew the exact time he was going to send his son to get his bride. Would you go with that argument? No, it's a bogus argument.

Some try to argue that it has to do with Jewish feasts and the Feast of Trumpets and no one knew the day or the hour. It's not accurate. I've searched every Jewish source. I know how to search. It's not accurate.

It's an internet myth. Rather, there were things Jesus didn't know on earth. In other words, things were revealed to him by the Spirit. He willingly laid aside divine prerogatives.

He physically had to sleep. I'm sure he had to learn to read and things like that. So he knew what he knew by the Spirit. He did what he did by the Spirit because he willingly laid aside his divine prerogatives while remaining fully God. So I do believe, I do agree with that, sir, that it's while he was on the earth that there were certain things he didn't know.

That was one of them. Of course, after his death and resurrection, then he regains, takes back his divine prerogatives. So they were always there available, but he laid them aside. So I do agree with that view and I wouldn't go the way of Jewish tradition.

I don't believe it helps in that verse. Thank you, sir, for a great question. Here's a special announcement on a Friday.

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We go to Foley, Alabama. Brian, welcome to the Line of Fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, can you hear me good? Yeah, I can. Okay, hey.

Thank you for taking the call, Dr. Brown. Just had a quick question. So where do you think, or if you know, where does the betrayal of Jesus being a white male, long hair, blue eyes come from? And why is it, dare I say, popular amongst, still popular amongst America today? Yeah, so basically it comes from European artists who painted Jesus to look like themselves. What's really interesting is if you'll go around the world and look at Chinese Christian art, you'll see Jesus looking like he's Chinese.

I've seen different images. I remember I was visiting with a friend in college in pretty much an all-black church in Brooklyn. We walked in, there was a mural on the wall, and it was Jesus and the disciples, all black. So it's very much that in the culture in which we live, we project it and see Jesus like that, whereas he would have most likely been, you know, brown-skinned Middle Eastern man. But yeah, these European artists began to paint pictures of Jesus making him look European, which he absolutely wasn't.

He was not, you know, a Caucasian, you know, blonde, whatever, blonde hair, blue eyes, Caucasian man, certainly not. But that's how they started to paint him. Some were anti-Semitic, and they would try to make him look one way and then make the Jews look ugly and disfigured. But basically it's just some would paint him wearing clothes that were similar to the clothes they would wear, you know, just because that's what they were used to in their culture.

And the reason that it's popular still in certain circles, you know, white circles be in Europe, be in America, is that's what people got used to. And, you know, when they think of Jesus, they think of him, they don't really think it through, but they think of him as if he was white. But you'll see it in artwork all around the world that people paint Jesus to look like them.

So the good thing is we know, hey, he relates to me, I can relate to him. The bad thing is he wasn't, you know, a white European or a white American, and that gives the idea it's the white man's religion. And in certain parts of the world that's how it's perceived.

You know, you go to India and it's perceived as the white man's religion. And, you know, that's something that has to be overcome by showing who he really was. Right, right.

And one more quick question if you don't mind. No, go ahead. So is that like, I don't think it is, and I've heard many cases of why, not like you walk in church and you see a figure or some kind of figure that represents God or Jesus or whomever. And I believe that I don't think it's healthy because it's almost like worshiping or, you know, because when you worship you tend to, I guess, turn to that whatever figure, you know, and I don't think it's like, you know, a good idea to be doing it because it's almost like an idol because that figure isn't God himself or Jesus himself. So do you believe that having a figure is an ideal thing in a household or in a church or whatever?

Definitely an ideal. No, first I'm not into Jesus pictures in general. In other words, I don't think that you should be making images. Look, you're doing a movie about Jesus.

Someone has to play him. I understand that, you know, you're doing a high school play and someone's playing Jesus. I understand you have an image, but everyone understands that's not Jesus. So I'm not into the pictures. I'm not going to go tearing them down if I'm in somebody's house, but I'm not into that personally in terms of, you know, or even stained glass windows with depicting Jesus.

I'm not into that either. But if you take it one step further and now you have statues, even if you say, well, I'm not praying to the statue, I mean, to me it's plainly forbidden in the Ten Commandments to make a statue representing God in any way. And then ultimately, look, people do give special attention to that statue. For example, if you had a statue of Jesus in a church building and people knelt down in front of it and they said, well, I'm not praying to the statue. It just reminds me of Jesus. Okay, you'd be far more if that statue was broken than if just some piece of pottery in the building was broken because you attach sacredness to it on some level.

So I definitely, when you ask the question very gently, is it not ideal, it's absolutely not ideal and I would not have that in buildings where I was worshiping God. Hey, Brian, thanks for the question. I appreciate it. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go over to Greg in Mooresville, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire.

Thank you, Dr. Brown. I have a question from 2 Samuel, chapter 22, verse 44. I know that it says from the first verse of chapter 22 that it's representing David being thankful for God delivering him from all his situation with Saul and King Saul and the other situations with that.

But I'm wondering, in that verse, it's speaking of heat. Is it speaking about, do you think it's speaking about David or is it speaking about Jesus as far as... Right, when he says, you've appointed me as Rosh Goyim, the head of nations or ruler of nations, no, he actually did rule over several of the surrounding countries. He and then Solomon did. He had a small empire where they had to pay tribute to him and things like that.

He defeated them militarily and they had to pay tribute to him. So I believe he's speaking of himself, that he literally was made a ruler of several nations in the region and that even... The heathens were literally the heathens, right? Yeah, when you say heathens, I don't know what translation you're reading from, but... Well, I think it was the New King James said heathens. I will tell you what, let me check that.

I can easily do that. In point of fact, though, the Hebrew is just peoples and nations. So, either way, that's what he's... He would not be referring to them necessarily as heathens, but peoples, the nations, the surrounding nations, he did rule over several of those smaller kingdoms. So, yeah, that would fit.

There are many things in David's life that anticipate the Messiah and that are prophetic of the Messiah, but I would only see this as literally applying to him and then ultimately he's the forerunner of the Messiah, what he does in small part, Messiah does on massive scale. So, you could apply it like that. But no, it really did happen in his life, for sure. Thanks a lot for clearing that up for me. I wasn't sure, I didn't realize, you know, about that he was ruler of other nations and stuff like that.

I never really thought about that. Yeah, if you read through 2 Samuel, you'll see the military victories he had and then different places were subjected to him. Then under Solomon, when Solomon fell into sin and idolatry more, then they started to break away. But certainly, there was rulership that they had. There was, you could say, a small empire. So, he didn't rule over a large country like Egypt or something like that, but you had these small countries Moab and Ammon and Edom and these others. So, there are different ones that with military victory, now he could demand tribute and honor and things like that.

So, like paying taxes to him. So, for sure, did have its fulfillment. Hey, appreciate the call. Let me just show, I'm going to do this really quickly for everyone. 866-34-TRUTH. That was a great time to get in. We still have time to get to your calls today. For those that don't have any kind of Bible software, sometimes we'll do this when we're doing our YouTube chat because it's not live calls or radio.

We don't have commercial breaks and things, so we just kind of chill a little bit more. I'm going to make this a teachable moment here. Go to BibleGateway.com. BibleGateway.com. Now, we were just looking at 2 Samuel, so I'm going to type it in, 2 Samuel 22, 44. So, the NIV, you have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples. You've preserved me as the head of nations.

People that I did not know now serve me. We'll say, well, I want to check that out in the New King James. So, then you just scroll there on the right and you have the New King James, click search. You've also delivered me from the striving of my people.

You've kept me as the head of the nations. Hmm, it doesn't say heathens there either. That's why I asked the specific version. So, now I clicked out on the bottom, 2 Samuel 22, 44 in all English translations.

So, this is all the ones on the site there. So, I'll just slide down to KJV. Thou hast also delivered me from the strivings of my people that has kept me to be the head of the nations. Thou hast also delivered me from the strivings of my people that has kept me to be the head of the heathen.

So, there you go. So, it's in King James, but here's the problem. It says head of the heathen, and this is what led our caller to his question. You would get the idea that that meant head of all non-believing nations, non-Israelite nations, head of all the heathen, but that's not accurate.

It's plural. It's nations. So, that's the way it should read, and that's why the New King James reads properly there. The MEV, which is an update of the King James, you've kept me as the head of the nations. NASB kept me as head of the nations. NET preserved me as the leader of nations. New King James, again, you have kept me as the head of the nations. So, that's the way it should be understood. All right, 866-34-TRUTH, back to the phones.

Let's go to Brandon in Washington. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hi, Dr. Brown, thank you for taking my call.

Sure. So, my question is, ultimately, I'm a Christian and I've never really dug too deep into prophecy, especially in the Old Testament. A lot of times when I'm reading the New Testament, and I'll see quotations back to the Old Testament, I'll just kind of say, oh, okay, this is what it means, but I've never actually gone through the exercise of testing the prophecies. So, that's what I'm trying to do now, and I thank you yesterday for answering my question about the 65-year prophecy. Ah, okay, on the YouTube chat, that was you, got it.

Yes, yes, I appreciate that, thank you. My question today is also about Isaiah 7, but it's a different part of it. Basically, if I jump over to Deuteronomy 18, what I see in verse 21 is God says that, and if you say in your heart, how may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken, then the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.

When I jump over to Isaiah 7, what I see is it says in verse 10, again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord your God, let it be deep as Sheol, or high as heaven. Well tell you what, stay right there, we'll finish on the other side of the break. Don't want to miss this. It's the Line of Fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into the Line of Fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Welcome back to the Line of Fire, Michael Brown, delighted to be with you, and we go straight back to Brandon and Washington. So reading from Isaiah 7, then the question is going to be if Isaiah prophesied a particular thing is going to happen and it seems to be imminent, and then it ultimately doesn't happen for 700 something years, wouldn't we assume then that that generation would have branded him a false prophet? Would that be the basic question? Yeah, well that's the basic question, and then also in addition to that, I don't know, I don't understand what verse 15 means either when it's basically saying he shall eat the curds and honey before he knows how to refuse evil and choose good.

I don't know what that language means exactly, so that as well I'd like to understand better. Right, so let's look at the first thing, that there are verses that are quoted in the New Testament as fulfilling Messianic prophecy that are quite direct. You know, for example, Isaiah 53, speaking of the Messiah's atoning death, is quoted in the New Testament and that is a Messianic prophecy for sure. There are other things that say are, talking about Israel's history and the point of the New Testament writer is as it happened to Israel, so what happened to the Messiah? So for example, Hosea 11 one is quoted in Matthew 2 15, out of Egypt I called my son, when Jesus as a baby was brought into Egypt and then is called out as a young boy.

Out of Egypt I called my son. When you read Hosea 11 one, it's not a prophecy at all, it's talking about Israel's past history. When Israel was a child, God says, then I loved him and I called my son out of Egypt, but the more I called, the more he rebelled. So it's talking about Israel, God's firstborn son, in its infancy, went into Egypt and God called his son out of Egypt and Matthew is saying, as it happened to Israel, God's firstborn son, in its infancy, so also it happened to the Messiah.

The same way the attempt to kill the baby boys when Jesus was born parallels what happens to Moses. So you have lots of different things Psalm 41, where David talks about being betrayed by a friend, as it happened to David, so it happens to Jesus. So certain things are direct prophecies, certain things are analogies, or you would say, excuse me, types is normally the better word, foreshadowing, so as it happened to one, Moses, Israel, David, so also it happens with the Messiah.

So the question is, what happens to the Messiah? So the question is, where does Isaiah 7-14 fit in? The prophecy of the Alma, the young maiden virgin who is going to give birth to a son and call his name Immanuel. To me, the best way to read that is that Matthew is finding a deeper significance in that prophecy, that it had some reference to that day. The Hebrew even seems to speak of imminence, either she's about to conceive and have a child or she is pregnant and is going to have a child and the child will be named Immanuel, which is God with us. So here's a promise, even in the midst of the storm, but then the verses that follow actually speak of coming judgment.

So it's an interesting thing. In other words, 7-15 seems to be speaking of provision, but as you keep reading, it's talking about the judgment coming of the king of Assyria. So if you dig deep, in Matthew's gospel, you'll see that he's looking at Isaiah 7-11, the beginning of the ninth chapter he quotes in the fourth chapter and that's a strong Messianic passage about the Messianic king to come. And then the eleventh chapter, the Messiah being just a shoot from the stump of Jesse that seems to be a play on words in Isaiah 7-11. It seems to be a play on words in a passage that Matthew quotes in the second chapter. So it seems that he's looking at this whole section and seeing, and this is what I understand interpretively, is that he sees promises to the house of David or attacks on the house of David because remember in context here, Isaiah now is destined to speak to Ahab, but he speaks, Ahab, excuse me, but to the house of David as a whole and chastises them and there's an attack to try to remove him from the throne and put someone else on the throne and God's answer is, I'm going to put my man on the throne.

I'm going to raise up my man. Well, who is that? Well, we never really find out. There is no real reference to this Immanuel. He just kind of disappears and yet we then read in the ninth chapter the rejoicing because the Messiah's been born, well, it was maybe Hezekiah, but he wasn't the Messiah. So something happens with an earthly king. There's great excitement and expectation that he's not the one.

They know now the one is yet to come. So I kind of unpacked a lot in terms of Messianic hermeneutics, but based on your question, I thought that might be helpful for you to process. If you get volume three of my series Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus or just look for, I teach on that on YouTube as well, we get into like prophecy after prophecy and break down the principles, but in terms of my overall response, where does that leave you now?

Well, I appreciate that. Well, I guess my question then would be for King Ahaz, what do you think he would have done with this sign when he was given? I mean, because I can imagine if I put myself in his shoes, I know that he wasn't really a believer in God and he was kind of sarcastic about asking for the sign or not wanting to test God, but at the same time, you know, just from his perspective, he thinks that he's about to undergo an attack and I can imagine he's quite fearful and when he's given this sign, it's like, okay, I didn't really ask for it, but here we go. All right, what am I looking for, right?

That's the thing I don't understand is what would he have looked for then based on that information. Right, right, so there's going to be a birth of significance, something significant, even supernatural, unexpected, you know, for someone that age. So something's going to happen. The child is going to be named Emmanuel, but on the heels of this, within a very few years, there's going to be a major attack that comes your way and, of course, that's what, see, here's the deal. He did not want to believe God. He wanted to go his own way and basically from what we glean reading between the lines, he was going to hire the king of Assyria to help fight on his behalf, you know, or try to bribe whatever, and he's looking because he's out, you know, checking out.

Okay, here's the water. Here's if we come under attack, and God's saying, actually, the one I'm going to send against you is the king of Assyria. So the coming judgment's like, you don't want Assyria to help you fight off Israel and Aram because I'm going to send the king of Assyria in judgment. So he'd be expecting some birth or some supernatural attached to it, which we would understand happened. It's just not recorded in terms of any depth after that, and then he would be expecting fearful judgment and shaking, and that certainly does happen, and then, of course, the invasion of Judah under Hezekiah, you know, which is just, you know, years after this. So it does unfold in that regard. The question is, how does Matthew use it?

I believe he sees the greater fulfillment coming through Jesus and the fullness of the miracle, but that's often how prophecy works. Hey, I'm going to grab another call, but we'll continue to interact on this. Chew on it, we'll go from there.

Let's see, Mark in Fort Mills, South Carolina. Thanks for holding. Dive right into your question, sir. Thanks, Dr. Brown. I grew up in a church that dealt a lot with prophecy, and there's something that I've never really understood. Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, all are the story where the disciples asked Jesus, you know, what are the signs of your coming? And he told the same story in each one of those, and it's very simple. It's very straightforward. But Revelation goes at the... Well, hang on. Why do you think it's straightforward? Because they ask him three questions, basically.

You know, when will this happen? The destruction of the temple, what's the sign of your coming, and the end of the age? They thought they were all three the same. So it's actually, they're kind of complex, woven together, an answer for the destruction of the temple and an answer for the final second coming.

So there are two things that are woven together. Luke 21 kind of separates them most clearly. Well, I meant like his responses were straightforward. And he basically said, you know, there's going to be these signs, and then the end will come. But Revelation goes into all this detail about all these different things happening, and I've never understood how they, you know, how his responses relate to what's going on in Revelation.

Yeah, so Revelation, you know, Nancy and I were talking about Revelation last night, and I said, by the way, don't ask me a lot of questions about Revelation, because even after almost 50 years there's still a lot I don't understand. The simple answer, though, Mark, the real short answer is it's different types of literature. One is he's explaining things prophetically. The other is it's apocalyptic literature, which describes the spiritual battle of the hour as a cosmic conflict between good and evil and the culmination of the eternal battle with like the explosion of the universe. And it's the nature of the literature. So number one, Revelation has to have relevance for that first generation that heard it.

There had to be something relevant in the midst of persecution and suffering, a message from Jesus, and some of it must have had some application to Nero and the madman that he was and the judgment that came. And then on a certain level it has to have a spiritual application that every generation can read it and it has meaning, and then especially the final generation, the last generation then reads it and it has to have special meaning. So it's a different type of literature. It would be comparing a headline to a sermon, right, you know, or poetry to sports scores. There are different literary genres and in that setting Jesus is giving a straightforward prophetic answer. Yes, it's complex, but you're right, a straightforward prophetic answer and the nature of Revelation is apocalyptic and this imagery. Here, another analogy, it's the difference between someone just giving you a message, meet me at 4 p.m., a dozen such, and having a dream and you try to interpret what this dream means. Different types of literature, different types of communication, each then must be read differently.

So you don't read Revelation as if you're reading news headlines in advance. Hey, thanks for the questions. Friends, visit our website, askdr.brown.org. Be sure to sign up for my emails if you're not getting them, you want to. God bless. Another program powered by the Truth Network.