Dr. Brown Answers Your Best Questions

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. Well, thanks for joining us on the Friday edition of The Line of Fire. That means you've got questions, we've got answers, whatever day or night you're watching, listening, I hope you enjoy the broadcast. But if you're listening live, give us a call, any question of any kind, looking at our board. We actually have a couple of lines open. Often we start the show with every phone line filled, so great time to call now, 866-348-7884.

One quick thing, then I'm going to the phones. There has been a bit of an uproar over the fact that President Joe Biden issuing the annual proclamation on the National Day of Prayer left out one little, one tiny little omission, namely God. Now, I don't mean he mentioned Jesus Lord, but he didn't say God. I mean reference to the deity got left out, failed to mention that on the National Day of Prayer. That would be, you know, the day when we're thinking of our veterans, right? And we're talking about, you know, we just want to remember different people who've sacrificed over the years. It's like, no, no, there's a specific class of people who sacrificed, or a holiday on July 4th. It's a great day around the world for independence.

No, it's specifically an American holiday, or I now pronounce you husband and something missing, or come Mother's Day and just happy day to all the important people in our lives. No, you don't leave out God on the National Day of Prayer. We pray to God. You know, his failure to mention God and to then speak of himself as a devout Catholic is kind of like Donald Trump holding up his grandmother's Bible, saying this Bible was given to him and so on. And when asked, you know, what's a favorite verse of the Bible, of course, he can't quote a verse from the Bible. So just a little reminder that the President of the United States is not the spiritual leader of the United States.

Not Joe Biden, not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama, not others before them. So rather than looking for them to lead the way in prayer, I say we lead the way in praying for them. All right, with that, we go to the phones.

And let's start with Peter in southern Illinois. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, how are you doing? Very well, thanks. So my question basically is, I was reading things from a...he's a professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University, and I was reading things by him, and he was just tearing the Bible to pieces. He was saying, you know, Moses didn't write the Pentateuch, the Exodus didn't happen, and then also that he said the Israelite religion was just a copy of the Canaanite religions and the pagan religions. And so my question basically is, first of all, could you point me to any resources that I could read that could answer those?

And then secondly, specifically, what do you say about the claim that the Israelite religion is just a copy or a knockoff of the pagan Canaanite religion? Yeah, so the professor in question, what was his name? I think it was Dr. Joel Baden. Yeah, so this is the environment in which I did all my studies. In other words, going to New York University, studying under top Semitic professors and Old Testament scholars, and then in my Hebrew studies in college, even my first ancient history class, it was a professor with these exact views, one of my first classes in college. So that's the environment in which I did all of my academic work. So none of this is new, okay? This is the environment I was exposed to starting in the 70s into the 80s. So none of it is new.

Nothing's being said there is new whatsoever. The simplest answer to the big question as to Israelite religion being just like Canaanite religion is read through the book of Isaiah, for example. You know, read through Isaiah 40 through 48 where God is distinguished from the other gods. And then get online and look up Ugaritic literature or Egyptian mythology or so Ugaritic literature to be northern Canaanite or Mesopotamian religion and or just read the creation accounts from the ancient world. The moment you do that, it's two different universes. You read Genesis 1 and 2, the creation accounts there, and then compare that to the creation accounts from ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia.

And you're shocked by what you read. I mean, you've got all kinds of crazy polytheism. You've got battles between the gods. You've got sexually immoral gods. You've got petty jealousies and every kind of earthly thing now projected on the deities and worse because they have all this power. And then you compare it to Genesis 1. You think, where did this come from?

How do you get something so totally different? You know, I once met someone and I said to Nancy, boy, she looks just like one of our daughters. Nancy, are you kidding me? And then you put the pictures next to each other. It's like, yikes. No, no, look at it like that.

You're right. So here are a couple of resources that you'll find really helpful by top Biblical and or Semitic and or Egyptological scholars. Okay, I'm just going to give you two references. One is a book by Kenneth A.

Kitchen. Kenneth Kitchen, one of the premier Egyptologists, still alive and old man, but one of the world's premier Egyptologists. So massively respected for his work on the Third Intermediate Period in Egypt. Get his book on the reliability of the Old Testament. He goes through the historical issues. He goes through the attacks on the credibility of scripture. So it's Kenneth Kitchen on the reliability of the Old Testament. Probably about 500 something pages. The other one is John Oswald, O-S-W-A-L-T. John Oswald, The Bible Among the Myths.

The Bible Among the Myths, and the subtitle, Unique Revelation to Just Ancient Literature. Let me see how many pages that one is. That's a couple hundred pages.

That's an easier read. He's a respected Biblical Hebrew scholar. He's written commentaries on Isaiah and things like that.

So he's reliable, solid, and you'll find really ample information here. When you compare them side by side, it's absolutely shocking. It's very edifying, actually. In my book, Saving a Sick America, when I was talking about the uniqueness of scripture, I contrasted Genesis 1 with some of the ancient creation accounts, especially from Mesopotamia. And you think, okay, they came out of the same ancient world. It's like a couple. They're each the husband and wife. He's five foot. She's four foot 11. They have four kids, and the kids are all their size. And then they have another kid named Shaquille O'Neal. It's like, where'd he come from? How did you get a kid that big? And they're a white couple, right? So how'd you get a black kid that's a giant basketball player compared to the other little white kid? It's that.

Where'd it come from? And it's very edifying, because you think, wow, that must've been inspired by God. So those resources will really help you, okay? Okay, and is the main reason that we believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch, is that mainly because Jesus said it, or is it kind of like a thing where the book of Hebrews, where we don't know, but it's not, I guess, that big of a deal, if he did write it, or...?

Right. Jesus speaks of Moses writing it, not necessarily based on divine revelation, but on based on what everyone believed at that time. And they got that from what's written in the Old Testament that talks about Moses writing things down. You know, in the 24th chapter, he writes things down. In the end of Deuteronomy, he writes it all down. And then you have in Joshua 1 the book of the law, and then throughout the Old Testament, the law of Moses, the law of Moses, the law of Moses, the law of Moses. And then the entire ancient Jewish world, any sect, any group that believed in Scripture, they all believed that Moses wrote it. Can we prove he wrote it?

No, of course not. We don't have the physical texts, the original texts going back that far. Can you make a good argument that the core of it comes from Moses, and that there may have been other things supplemented and added to it?

Yeah, that could be. That's not a deal breaker. That's not a battle to fight. We know that the truth of it was given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, that the foundations of written Torah are exactly what we have. But you have a verse like Genesis 12, it says the Canaanite was then in the land. When was that written? Well, it was written after the children of Israel took the Promised Land, right? But you have conservative scholars like from the 1800s, staunch believers in the inspiration of Scripture, like Robert Tic Wilson, who said that you have inspired additions to the Pentateuch like that. So nothing to battle over.

Know that the law of Moses is the law of Moses, but did he have to write every word of it? No, you don't have to make that battle. Anyway, good talking with you, Peter. Thank you, I appreciate it. Not a fight to get into.

Alright, 866-34-TRUTH. We go to David in San Diego, California. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hello, David.

David's gone! And there was a question about sarcasm. Yeah, I love sarcasm.

It has to be used rightly. We go to Chellise in Silver Spring, Michigan. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Alright, we— Hello, Dr. Brown? Hello?

There you are. Okay, didn't hear you for a second. Oh, you said—I think they got my—I said, I said, Merlyn, they said, Michigan. I think he got my name wrong. So it's Chelsea from Silver Spring, Maryland. You know what, I think we've got somebody new manning the phones today.

I think that's what's happening, and that would explain a little of what's going on. Oh, okay. Yeah, I think Chellise, that's an interesting name. Chelsea from Silver—and Silver Spring, I used to live in Olney, so I know Silver Spring. Yeah. But, alright, let's restart.

Chelsea from Silver Spring, Maryland. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Thank you, thank you. So I know you've already talked about this in countless videos, but I just, I'm having a debate, I guess, not debate, but conversation with some other Christians on Facebook, and I just wanted to find out from you what is the best way to explain this. So basically somebody asked the question, is it—or should we not be eating unclean foods? And it turned into some Christians saying, some of them saying—I shouldn't say Christians, I don't know—but some of them saying that, oh, we really should be trying to follow all the laws. And these are supposed to be, you know, Christians. Oh, we're supposed to be following all the laws in the Old Testament, like, you know, marriage laws, all the different laws, that they had sex laws, stuff like that.

Like, we should be trying to follow all of them, except for the ones that had to do with sacrifice. Now, I— Tell you what, stay right there. We'll come back on the other side of the break. We'll get the rest of your question, and I'm ready to answer. Welcome back, friends, to The Line of Fire. This is Michael Brown. You've got questions, we've got answers, 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go back to Chelsea in Silver Spring, Maryland. So you were saying, talking with your friends about, should we keep the dietary laws? And some were saying, well, not just that, but everything in the law, except for that which had to do with sacrifice, which Jesus fulfilled, we should try to keep all of it. So, go ahead, you're going to finish saying something else. Yeah, I mean, that was, that's basically my question is, how, like, how do we best, how do we best explain to other Christians who believe that, that that's not correct? Like, you know, like, you don't have to follow those laws.

So I would, I would do it on three different levels, okay? First, I would say, do you agree that since Jesus fulfills everything having to do with sacrifice, priesthood, etc., that there have been major changes? So they have to agree with that, right? And Hebrews 7 even says the fact that Jesus serves as a priest and he's not from the tribe of Aaron means there had to be a change. So, would you agree that, you know, hundreds of verses that talk about sacrifice and offering and coming to Jerusalem and offering this, that, that that's changed?

So let's, let's first get that agreement, it's changed, okay? Yes. Second question, should we stone people who don't observe the seventh-day Sabbath? If you have a disobedient and rebellious son, should you stone him? Should we burn sorcerers and witches, burn them to death?

Just start asking those questions. If, if a man is married and his brother is married and his brother dies before having any children, should he then be required to marry his brother's sister so, so she can have children through him? So once you start raising a few of these, almost everyone will agree, no, that's not for today. So you say, okay, we are under a new and better covenant. The New Testament says that Jesus fulfills the law and now brings us into a new and better covenant. We're in a new covenant and how do you know how to live by that? Well, just keep reading the New Testament that lays it out for us. It reinforces the universal truths of the Old Testament and shows us how to live for all believers in the New Testament.

So that leads to a final point. What about the dietary laws? Simple explanation. God gave certain laws to Israel to keep them separate from the nations but they weren't for moral reasons, they were just to keep them separate. Just like, just like you, you couldn't wear two types of garments together, two types of fabric together.

Or you couldn't sow different seeds in the same field. That was to teach them separation. There's nothing moral about it, right?

Or you know, don't, don't, don't cut your beard a certain way the way pagans do in mourning for the dead. It wasn't a moral issue, it was a separation issue. There are other things that are moral because they're given to everybody. Like don't commit adultery, that's wrong for everybody.

Don't murder, that's wrong for everybody. And it's repeated in the New Testament. So the universal moral principles of the law apply to us to this day and Jesus takes them even to a higher level. The laws of separation and purity that they were given to Israel for a purpose. So you're free to keep them, no one's stopping you, no one's, you're free to, to keep the dietary laws, you're free to, to keep the purity, whatever, that's fine. But you're not under it.

You're not required to because a change has come in our relationship. Okay, great. That, that helps so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, sure thing. And also when you get a chance, read through Matthew 15 and Mark 7, Matthew 15 and Mark 7 because there Jesus gives us the spiritual principle.

That's what, what is in our hearts, what is in our hearts does not, that's what defiles us, not the food that goes into our mouths. 866-34-TRUTH. Let us go to Cassie in Toronto.

Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, hi Dr. Brown. I called before. Yeah, Cassie, did you call last week by chance? Another week before. Oh, okay.

Right, right. Yeah, listen, I just, I want to, I want to pray for you. Unfortunately, we're unable to give personal psychological and pastoral counseling on the air here.

I apologize for that. I wish that we could take calls on a regular basis and keep going over the same areas in life. And I do remember the call actually in some of the torment you're experiencing. So I just want to pray that, that you would find some good solid pastoral counselors in your area that can really help you get through these things. I know you, you felt that you may have blasphemed the spirit and don't, if you need deliverance. But again, as I just see the nature of the call, I'm, I'm, I'm unable to, I'm unable to offer ongoing pastoral counseling here about the same issue on the air.

So Lord, I just pray for Cassie that you'd help her, that you give her grace, that you'd be with her and that you give her solid friends and counselors with her in her local church that can help her find freedom. In Jesus name. Amen. 866-3-4. Truth.

Let's go to Simone in Orlando, Florida. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, how are you doing?

Doing well, thanks. And I'm sorry if you've answered this before and I'm, I'm, you know, thank you so much for all that you do. And you, you may have somewhat answered this with the first caller, but I'm having trouble finding out like how we know that the New Testament is inspired like the Old Testament. Like it seems that when, when scripture is stated as the word of God, it seems like it's always referring to the Old Testament. And I'm not sure how we know that the New Testament is just as inspired or, um, you know, God breathed or Great question. Great question. So, so here's the, here's the issue then that we have to think through. Uh, how, how do we know, how do we know that the Old Testament is the word of God?

We start there. So how do we know that the promises given to Abraham were real? How do we know that previous revelation was real?

How do we know that? Well, we know it because God acted in history, right? Uh, God acted in history and while acting in history at the Exodus, he demonstrated that he was the one true God, that he was the God of nature and greater than any other so-called God. He spoke to the whole nation, gave them his, his laws and then brought them into the promised land.

So that vindicates and verifies everything that comes before it, right? And then afterwards we have the prophets raised up and they speak on God's behalf and you have a community of Israel that were spoken to at Mount Sinai that now recognize this ongoing revelation as it unfolds, even if it's only a remnant that is living this out. Then the prophets tell us of the one who is to come. The prophets tell us when he is to come.

The prophets speak of his death and his resurrection and his rejection by his own people and his acceptance by the Gentiles. So they lay that all out and now just as God acted in history with the Exodus, God acts in history through Jesus, miracles, signs, wonders for three years, all of the confirmation. Then Jesus rises from the dead and sends his spirit on the apostles and they continue the ministry and now they write these things out. So the same way that there was verification and vindication of the Old Testament by God's actions and then continuing those through the prophets, now the prophets point to Jesus.

So it's like the next link in the chain, right? And now Jesus is vindicated by God, rises from the dead, the spirit is sent. Now the apostles continue to demonstrate the reality of Jesus and they are inspired to write and now you have a community of believers that recognizes that as well. So it's kind of a parallel to what happened with the Exodus now through the prophets, pointing to the Messiah. Now the Messiah through the apostles brings us the final stage of revelation.

Does that make sense? Yeah, so basically we're, I mean, I don't want to use the word assuming, but basically because you know, Jesus spent time with these people for three years and they're, and then you know, he said he's sending the helper and they're inspired and then they're writing and I guess we're just supposed to, is there, I guess it's more of a common sense than a... Well no, it's not just that, it's that God continued to work these same miracles through the apostles and then the early believers, Jesus said, so we know that Jesus is real and true, Jesus then said that he was sending them and the Holy Spirit would speak through them, and then the early believers followed their teaching. In other words, the same way, remember, God never said when 1 Samuel was being written or Job was being written, Psalms written, anything like that, God never said, it's never that God said to the whole community, I am telling you all from Mount Sinai again, this is the Bible.

Rather, the community of believers and the community of Israel recognized by God's sovereign plan. In other words, God put it in their hearts to recognize it, the same way the early church quickly recognized, hey, we've got these accounts from the apostles, we've got these, the accounts of the death of Jesus and his resurrection, his life for the people that were there and from their immediate associates and we've got these letters and then it's not like there was a voice from heaven saying, 1 Corinthians is part of the Bible, but the letter Paul wrote to the Laodiceans is not, it's that God caused it to be recognized the same way. And then we have the ongoing testimony of faith, so it's more than common sense, it's that God acted in community and that community recognized the reality of this, but the two linchpins would be the Exodus in the Old Testament and the miraculous ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus and sending in the Spirit in the New Testament. Those are the miraculous confirmations and then the ones that are the witnesses to those events become the writers of the Scriptures and then their disciples in the next generations, the same here. And so there is, the one thing I would say is there is the recognition that God causes his community to accept Scripture and then it has that same verifying power. God works through it to supernaturally change lives. And you could have asked this question just as well if you live like 300 years before Jesus. How do we know the rest of these books are part of it?

Well, then they get confirmed by what follows. Hey, I appreciate the question. It's a great one.

Thanks. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into The Line of Fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on The Line of Fire. You've got questions, we've got answers. I'm going straight to the phones and we'll start with Tammy in Arkansas. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Hello, how are you? Doing well, thank you.

Good. Well, I just wanted to ask the question, if a person is born again but they have not been in church for 20 plus years, if they pass away in that state without being a tither, I don't even know if that matters, but without being a tither, but they're not going to church, they are born again but not going to church, they pass away in that state, will they inherit eternal life? You know, if they're truly born again, they inherit eternal life. Jesus never put a qualification on it, only if you're a member of a local church or only if you're giving a certain amount of money. However, for sure, they'll be lacking in terms of their own spiritual development vastly.

They'll be lacking in terms of what they were supposed to offer to others in the body. I do believe that there are rewards for our service here and it could well be that they will be massively lacking in rewards because if they were not part of a local body, it's probably they weren't that active in their own spiritual lives, but if that person was genuinely born again, genuinely asked for forgiveness, and sought to live as a believer in other areas of life, yeah, they'd be saved. They just haven't obeyed in certain areas or gotten plugged in in certain areas. Now, it's one thing if you live in an isolated area, there's no church within a hundred miles, you know, and you don't have a vehicle, that's one thing. But if you had the opportunity to be part of a local church, yeah, how come this... So, for sure, if the person is generally born again, they're born again, they inherit eternal life, what was their reason for never becoming part of a church? Right, so we can assume that this person has every capability of going, but they just choose not to, so... Got it.

With that in mind, still... Yeah, so there's something wrong that's deeper, and I wonder if someone... Here, if this person prayed a prayer 20 years ago, and asked Jesus into their life, but then never showed any evidence of being born again, never showed a transformed life, never showed a relationship with God, never showed a hunger for God, never showed a conviction of sin, or a desire for holiness, or a desire to serve the Lord, I'd say they were never born again. They prayed a prayer, but they were never born again. And the reason they never went to church is because they're never born again, and they kept resisting God. If it's something else... Again, I don't know the situation in depth, but here, if God was dealing with me for 20 years to do something, I kept saying, no, about that same thing, it's questionable whether I'm a believer. Or it's questionable if I am a believer, if I've turned away and now walked away from God and refused Him. But God only knows the situation. I have no idea what happened in the person's life. You may have someone that was abused by a Catholic priest when they were eight, and I never set forth in a church building again. It's like, well, you're comparing apples with oranges, like, God, I'm just going to have my own relationship with God.

God knows the heart. So, last question for you... What if it's just pure laziness? I don't want to get in my car.

I don't want to drive there, but I can. Well, it's questionable if someone has a real relationship with God that for 20 years they could be that lazy, that disobedient, no desire to be in fellowship with others, no need to be in fellowship with others. That makes me question whether they're really born again. So my last question for you is, on what basis do you say that this person was born again? Well, I know this person is born again.

It's my mother. But she just doesn't... She's been out of church for 20-plus years, and I know she's born again. I know she's a Lord, but she's just not going to go to church. She doesn't want to.

She's 69, and so, you know, I just bring the question. You are born again, you know? You're not dying. You don't have church attendance.

That wouldn't be the same as the falling away, or, you know, what kind of... Yes, so just encourage her. At least, well, pray for her. Pray for her fire in her heart. I would show her Hebrews 10 25 and ask her what she does with it. I know people for various reasons are not in active fellowship with...

They're in fellowship with other believers. But show her Hebrews 10 25, ask her what she makes of it, and encourage her that she needs the body and the body needs her. And then just pray for a fire, desire in her heart.

At the very least, that she connects with believers online and gets involved in services in that way. May the Lord do it. Let's try to reconnect with David in San Diego. Sorry we missed you the first time, but hopefully the connection is here. Can you hear me now? I can, yep.

Awesome. My phone was on mute earlier, and I was trying to say hi. Ah, all right.

Glad you got back through. Yeah, well, I'm here now. And a question about sarcasm. Yeah, that's an interesting one. I've been having an ongoing conversation about sarcasm in the life of a disciple of Jesus, and how appropriate it is. Obviously, it's not inappropriate, but it's just more so using sarcasm as a message, as a tool to kind of attack a foolish or absurd idea like you did earlier this week with the Snow White thing.

Yeah, and I was kind of... It was actually in line with that, because, you know, it was brought up that, you know, sarcasm is very closely linked to pride. And I'm just curious of, like, is there such a thing, as I've heard you say before in the past, is there such a thing as sanctified sarcasm? I don't know if you were just joking about that or not.

No, no, no. Well, I'm joking, but I'm serious. I'm joking with the term sanctified sarcasm, and I'm serious about the use of it. So first, I am not aware of a Hebrew or Greek word in the Bible that would be translated sarcasm or sarcastic. I can't think of anything for sure in Hebrew. My knowledge of Greek is less, of course, but I can't think of a Bible translation that uses the word sarcasm.

So we have to look for examples or ask, what is sarcasm? So it can be used as a powerful tool to expose error, as Elijah does on Mount Carmel, when he mocks the prophets of Baal and says, well, maybe, you know, keep crying out. Maybe he's on a journey somewhere. Or maybe it is debate about one Hebrew word, but he could be saying maybe he's relieving himself. You know, maybe he's in the bathroom. That's why he's not answering.

Keep crying out. Oh, he's a real God. Sure. Oh, yeah, right. So you do have sometimes in the prophets, they'll say, oh, Israel, you, you are the God's seekers. Yeah, right, while you do this and that. So, you know, sarcasm is basically saying the opposite of of what you mean to drill a point home. You know, like if I thought your question was stupid, I'd say, oh, this is the best question of the week, man.

Nobody's asked me a question this smart. You are, you know, so I became aware as a New York Jew for whom sarcasm ran in my blood and then growing up reading like Mad Magazine, which was full of sarcasm, snappy answers to stupid questions were just, you know, dripping with sarcasm. And yeah, I kind of cut my teeth on that. And that was just in our culture, New York culture. You kind of if you like people, you insult them. You know, you have fun with each other in that in that way.

And when I started getting around other people and other cultures, there is, OK, this works a little differently here. And then I got a letter once from a friend who was a supporter of our ministry and she was a very, very sincere believer. And she asked me to please not be so sarcastic.

She said, you know, I'm hanging on every word that you're speaking when I'm listening to your messages. And then I realized you're just being sarcastic. It didn't really mean that. It's very jarring.

And I thought, OK, let me let me just think about being more selective in my use of sarcasm. So I'll say this. Number one, on a friendly, fun level, if it's part of your culture, you're just having fun. You know, it's not you know, you know, if if if I'm playing ball with with with my sons in law and grandsons, you know, and somebody really flubs the play, it's like, man, best. But you are a hero, a champion. Yes.

You were just ranking on each other. Just good fun. That's one thing. Second thing is if it's used in the right way to really illustrate folly of something or the wrongness of something and there's a constructive reason for it or a constructive outlet for it. Great.

Use it. And in that sense, it can be, quote, sanctified sarcasm. And I'm sure as I'm writing sometimes that I'm feeling really grip with it. And there's extreme sarcasm like I'm trying to make a point here, trying to make a point. On the other hand, so lastly, it can be cruel.

It can I don't necessarily associate it with pride, but just with cruelty. So quick story. Some years ago, one of our staff members working in the missions department sent me an email about something and then ended it with smiley face, lol. And then how's that for sarcasm? So I wrote back, I said, you you don't put smiley face, lol, when you're being sarcastic.

She's very, very sweet. And she said, Dr. Brown, I don't understand sarcasm. So I'm trying to explain.

So I actually found this old book I had, you know, and it was it was for Mad magazine or I may have even bought it, whatever. But either way, it was all of these snaps, snap, stupid, snappy answers to stupid questions. So I start showing her and her assistant was was even nice because I said, you never get sarcasm because you're too nice. You know, you're both too nice. And they find the light finally went on that you're basically saying something very the opposite of what you mean to someone to insult them, to be cruel. And they finally got it.

They said, Dr. Brown, that's not nice. Exactly. That's why you're not able to practice it. So there is a cruel sarcasm that is cutting, you know, as the word would indicate, demeaning, insulting. And maybe someone could say it's prideful because of the the demeaning nature of it that we need to be careful with. And when our when our grandkids were growing up and and we saw that they could be very sarcastic as little kids already, I asked I asked our daughter, you know, with with these grandkids, I said, did they understand, like, what you sarcasm? And she said, oh, yeah, they know it's only only for the home. You never speak to a teacher or somebody like that.

So within proper bounds can be powerful in light circles. You have fun with it. But otherwise, you know, I've I've gone way back on sarcasm.

That may surprise some. But trust me, I've dealt way back because there are different cultures and something just is insulting or cruel or it's going to hurt someone. So I try to I try to use it rightly unless I'm just having fun with friends in New York. You just let it fly is the culture. But but, you know, New York, you know, someone really likes you but they jokingly insult you.

It's like that means they really like you. But otherwise, let's use it as a powerful tool when we use it and let's use it to really expose the folly of error. Let's use it for good purpose if we do. All right. Thanks for the question. We'll be right back with your calls. 866-34-TRUTH. 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. Thanks for joining us on the line of fire. Hey, if you don't get my emails, you want to don't want to miss out. Find out about all the latest articles, latest video special resources that we have for you. And when you sign up right off the bat, we'll send you some emails with more of my story from LSD to PhD, more about the three R's of our ministry and all the ways that we can be of service to you.

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Let us go to Camilo in Columbia, South America. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. How are you doing today? Very well, thank you. Okay, before my question, I just want to say that I really appreciate what you and the other leaders have done in the prophetic standard statement, and I just saw today that it's in Spanish now, so that's very helpful, and yeah, and we really need more of your books to translate it into Spanish.

Well, thank you, and hopefully, yeah, I believe playing with holy fire is in Spanish, and that of course deals with, yeah, okay, yeah, so we have a few, but hopefully we get a bunch more out, but thank you for the good work. Yeah, thank you, and my question is regarding the baptism in the Old Testament, and I mean, it's obviously very important practice by the time of Jesus and the apostles, but I don't know if I'm missing something, but I can't really see where that's coming from. I mean, I don't find that practice in the Old Testament, and if it's not in the law or, you know, a command from God in the Old Testament, why is it so important for Jesus and that time?

I love the question. So don't think baptism, think ritual washing, okay? Think ritual washing. So first, if you were doing priestly ministry, things like that, you know, you would have to bathe your whole body with water at certain times. When you would go to, you had what King James is the laver and its foot, so the base there, the laver and its base, there would be a ritual washing, at least of the hands, before doing certain things within the tabernacle, for the priest, but for other people. But with many other laws, let's say that you touch an unclean animal accidentally, or you stumble on a corpse, because you have to stay outside the camp, you're unclean overnight, then you ritually wash, then you can come back in the camp.

You know, various things. After, you know, sexual act or a woman with her monthly period, there would be the ritual washing that would take place. So this was common in many, many, many different ways in ancient Israel. It was a part of life that at certain times this would be required for various states of uncleanness, you know, and vows being made, and then the ritual washing, and it's kind of like a re-entry thing, you know, cleansing for re-entry.

So it then, so that's the foundation of it, that's where you see it all over the place. It then developed into what we see in the New Testament with John the Immerser and others, that this was new dedication. It was, I'm freshly dedicating myself to God, I'm turning away from sin, and the outward washing is symbolizing the inward cleansing. And because it was such a well-known, widely practiced rite in ancient Judaism at that time, in different Jewish expressions, it was widely practiced. It now makes perfect sense for that to be the physical sign of entry into this new covenant life in the Messiah.

So A, foundations, ritual washing, part of dedication, cleansing in the Old Testament, B, this widely practiced in conjunction with repentance and rededication, C, the logical thing for the New Testament to build on. Okay, great, fantastic. Thank you very much. All right, thank you, sir, God bless, and again, thanks for the good words from South America. All right, let us go to Joseph in Santa Monica, California. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi Dr. Brandt, thank you so much for taking my call. Sure thing.

So here's my question. So I'm currently an undergraduate student at a major university, and I was recently baptized into the Orthodox Christian faith, and I'm having some difficulties because I've recently been exposed to a lot of Jewish Christian debates. I actually have a lot of Jewish roots, Jewish Christian debates, for which you've been very helpful. And I find myself sometimes getting lost in the weeds because there is just so much to study, and there's so many different differences, and a lot of them can get very minute, and I don't have the time, resources, energy, and it's really parsed through these questions.

It can take a whole lifetime and maybe three more after that. And through these debates, I find my face slipping. So here's my question to you, Dr. Brandt. How can a person get out of these kind of deep theological weeds back into the simple message of Christ? What would you recommend to someone whose eyes are too close to the book, and through these books are losing that light of Christ that they originally had? What would you say to get their eyes back up? First, I'm so glad you're catching this now before it's too late, and you're seeing the tendency in yourself to get hyper-theological, intellectual, and move away from the beauty and simplicity of faith.

On my end, even though I was challenged by the rabbis almost from day one as a believer—I mean, within the early weeks of being saved, appointments were being made for me to meet with the local rabbi and things like that—but I got saved in a really simple church. I mean, really simple. I mean, it was back to the basics and only the basics, and you never moved away from the basics.

And don't read other books for the first year or two. Just read the Bible. So I spent hours with Laura. I was in church services constantly. I was praying all the time. I was telling everyone about Jesus. I was memorizing Scripture. And so I was growing in God in leaps and bounds, and then start dealing with Jehovah's Witnesses, and then more so with the rabbis.

And so there were questions around me all the time, but those roots were put down so deep that that sustained me. So what I encourage you to do is what Jesus says in Revelation 2, speaking to the church in Ephesus, that had lost its first love. Do what you did at first.

It's like, you know, you'll hear about a husband and wife, and they have a date night to kind of rekindle things or keep their relationship strong because life gets so busy and kids and work and all that, you kind of drift apart. So what I want to encourage you to do is don't watch those videos, don't read those books for a while, until it's helpful, all right? And read the word, read it in multiple different translations. Just try to drink it in and breathe it in. If you find yourself getting on a rabbit trail, just jot a note down, come back to that later, and try to take it in as the living word. Spend time just worshiping the Lord, or there's songs that really minister to you, or there's certain spiritual realities that really minister to you.

Focus on that. Get yourself spiritually healthy by spending quality time with God. And let texts like John 15, one through nine, about abiding in the vine, let that be foundational in your life.

And like I said, when a million theological questions, well the Protestants do this, Eastern Orthodox do this, it's like, put that aside, put that aside, and just drink in the word. Say, Jesus, what are you saying to me? Talk to the Lord as you're reading the word. Lord, how can I grow here?

I've got a million questions. Make it interactive, make it communal. And again, quality time in prayer, sharing your heart with the Lord, talking to Him like you're talking to me, telling Him how you just want to love Him and know Him, and ask Him to work in your life and to fill your fresh with His Spirit and be real to you.

And then like I said, the hymns, the choruses, the songs that really minister to you, sing them, worship them, play that music. And the questions will be there 10 years from now. You can always deal with them later, you know. But it's almost like an athlete who's had a serious injury, a serious car injury, and bad accident, and they're in rehab.

Okay, first you have to learn to walk again before you can worry about the Olympics. So you've got to get the foundation strong, major on the majors, and just know that there are brilliant people, intellectual people, people who've wrestled with the questions and come up with solid answers, but there's a time and place for it. And for me, I had a wrong emphasis for some years when I got so immersed in learning the languages and just studying all of that day and night that I started to read the Bible more to work on my Hebrew and to learn Greek as opposed to learn from God and grow in God and feed on the Word. So do that, do what you did at first, recover that first love, and then maybe the Lord will call you one day into the theological debates and those things will sharpen you, or maybe it's like, nah, you've got to just feed the poor.

Go overseas and help hurting people. You know, your ministry and calling may go in a very different direction. And then don't get hung up on Greek Orthodox issues. If you find you're in the right place, great. If you spend more time in the Word and prayer, you realize, you know, this was well-intentioned but not best. Just keep moving forward.

Does that make sense to you? Yes, thank you so much, Dr. Brown. Really, that means a lot. And since I'm out of time and I can't take another call, I just want to pray, Lord, light a fresh fire in Joseph's heart. A fresh fire of your love.

Light it afresh, reignite a passion for you, and make yourself so real to Him that He'll just weep with joy in your presence. And others in His shoes now, Lord, answer the same way. Hey, God bless.

Great being with you. Remember, friends, to sign up for my emails if you don't get them. AskDrBrown.org. Another program powered by the Truth Network.