The Meaning of the Hebrew Root Rapha

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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome friends to our thoroughly Jewish Thursday broadcast, 866-34-TRUTH. Really blessed today to come into the studio and see the Hebrew translations of the real kosher Jesus are in. We had a bunch sent over from Israel, folks that had contributed to the project early on. We want to send it out as a thank you gift to them, but I'll tell you more about that later. I shared when it was officially released in Israel.

Now I've got copies, so excited about that. We're going to dig into the Hebrew Scriptures, open up the Hebrew language together. Yeah, and any Jewish-related, Hebrew-related, Israel-related question of any kind, by all means give me a call. 866-34-TRUTH.

866-34-8-7-8-8-4 IS number to call. Some interesting news relating to Israel and the Olympics. We'll talk about that as well.

Okay. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the Hebrew root rafa, normally translated to heal, which is the primary usage of the root and the way it's used right up to this day. If you go to a doctor, it's a rofe from that same root. But I felt as I dug deeper that the fundamental meaning of the root was to restore, make whole, out of which flowed varied different meanings, including healing. Now the reason I wrote my doctoral dissertation on this was I came to faith in a Pentecostal church that believed in praying for the sick and that said miracles were for today. And for sure, I saw God do some things, some of that very powerful, supernatural and real.

But the biggest things, the toughest things, the things that meant the most in terms of miraculous healing or seeing cripples walk or blind see, I didn't see that. After some years, I began to question what the Scriptures taught about this, not based on the Bible as much as based on my experience. To be honest, I began to question things because what I believed the Scripture said I wasn't seeing.

And once I was in college and then grad school, my view shifted. My view shifted as I studied more, read more, looked at more theology, broadened my perspective outside of my Pentecostal circles, outside of just reading the Scriptures day and night. And what happened really was rather than just digging in the Word, digging in the Word, digging in the Word, yeah, I dug in the Word, but I also allowed myself to be influenced by the negative experiences I had had in terms of not seeing people healed. And I allowed myself to be influenced by what a lot of other theologians and scholars thought.

After all, they knew a lot more than I knew at that time. So, as I continued studying the Scriptures, God began to work in my heart. God began to bring me to repentance for having left my first love.

This was taking place in 1982. And then the Holy Spirit moved on me dramatically that year after months of repentance and soul searching, used me to bring an outpouring of the Spirit that touched many in our church. And during that time, people began to pray for the sick more, and people began to testify of being healed. But in my view, they were misusing the Scriptures. In my view, they were misinterpreting the Scriptures, and yet seeing healing.

So, here I'm trying to figure this out. It seemed the ones with the right theology weren't getting the results in terms of manifestations of God's power in people's lives. The people with the wrong theology were getting the results, but you don't base your theology on results.

On the other hand, if you're lining up with the Word, you should see results. So, I really began to pray earnestly, sought the Lord. I'd been working on a different doctoral thesis at that time at NYU in the field of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. I laid that down. I sought the Lord over a period of about nine months, prayed, fasted, finally felt it was right to pick up my doctoral work again because it had become an idol in my life, you know, the pride of knowledge and all that.

So, I had to lay it down so it became a tool instead. And one day, I was on my knees. I was reading the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, Chris, let's pull up 2 Chronicles 7.14.

I want to start there. I was on my knees. I had my Hebrew concordance open. I was looking at this root rafa and the 60 plus times it occurs verbally in a few nominal forms, a few noun forms. I was thinking about how it was used in other Semitic languages that I'd been learning and studying along the way. And it's like the light went on. Like, oh, wait a second.

Wait a second. This word has a broader usage. This word has a wider range of usage than I realize. So, 2 Chronicles 7.14, well-known verse. If my people, called by my name, humble themselves, pray, seek my favor, turn from their evil ways, I will hear in my heavenly abode and forgive their sins and I will heal their land. I will heal their land. So, in other words, the image would be that the land is sick, that the land is sick through locusts invading the land, the land is sick through famine and drought and foreign nations overrunning it.

It's sick and needs to be healed. On the other hand, in English, would it be appropriate to say, I will heal your land? Only if you understand the metaphor before it.

A better way to say this, I will restore your land. If we were thinking in English and conveying the meaning of this. I began to dig deeper and that's when I concluded that the root meaning of rafa was not to heal, but rather to restore, make whole. And out of that root meaning, all the other meanings came naturally.

They flowed out of that naturally and it explained even the usage in some of the other Semitic languages, Arabic and South Arabian, Old South Arabian and Ethiopic and Aramaic, some limited usage in Aramaic and Ugaritic, Canaanite, Northern Canaanite dialect. It fell into place. It made a lot of sense. So, I wrote my dissertation on that. I'm the Lord your healer, a philosophical study of the root rafa in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. And then, so that came out, I finished that in 85. And then 10 years later, after working on this from 92 to 94, I published a volume with Zondervan, Israel's Divine Healer.

It's still in print. Israel's Divine Healer, it was in the studies in Old Testament biblical theology monograph series. So, that's detailed, that's in depth. I took about, oh, about 20% of it is drawn from my dissertation and the rest of it was new writing, expanding beyond the issue of just rafa, looking at the larger theology of sickness, healing, even going to culminate in the New Testament, miracles in the New Testament and how this relates to God the healer, etc.

So, that's still available but it's a technical work, just to warn you. The conclusions in the last chapter lay things out so that you can follow them clearly. The book itself is fairly dense.

It's about 80,000 words of text and 85,000 words of endnotes. And then, ended up writing the article on rafa in the 15-volume series Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. So, that's an authoritative work that's read by critical liberal scholars as well as by conservatives. Got to write the article on rafa in that. And then, in the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, a marvelous conservative work, five volumes, that is, there were two Syrian students of the Scriptures. And then, along with them, I then took the article and wrote the article on rafa for that work as well. So, if you go to either of these major reference works, you'll find my findings there.

If you dig into Israel's Divine Healer, you'll find them. In other words, it seems that there has been some level of acceptance, some level of agreement, or at least people saying, hey, some good points here. So, we've been able to get this out more widely, and it, to me, is in harmony with the revelation of the rest of Scripture.

Here, let me give you an example. Conceptually, I'm going to move from Old Testament to New and from a Hebrew word to a Greek word. The Greek word sodzo, it's a verb meaning to save, to deliver. So, it could be used, let's say someone's drowning. Save me! Or you're in a burning building. Save me! Or you realize you're a lost sinner. Save me!

Or you're dying of a disease. Doc, can you save me? It means save, deliver, and it can be used in a wide range of meanings in the New Testament. So, in just a couple of chapters in Luke's Gospel, it's used for being saved from sin, being saved from demons, being saved from sickness, and being saved from death. In Jacob, James, the fifth chapter, sodzo is used, the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well, hence the King James will save the sick.

So, am I being saved from sickness and potential death in that context? Well, the noun from this, so that's the Greek word sodzo, to save, deliver, the noun is soter. And who is the soter? The savior, Jesus. But you have to understand, he is the savior in a holistic sense. He is the savior and the deliverer. He is the one who saves from sin, who saves from demonic control, who saves from sickness, and ultimately saves from death.

He is the soter. When God revealed himself to Israel as the Hophae, it didn't only mean physical sickness. Oh yes, that's a primary meaning, and obviously that's a life and death issue in the course of the history of a nation. But it was not only that, it was something broader. He was the one that restored and made whole.

It can be used in a spiritual sense as well, of spiritual healing as well as physical, and it can be used in other ways physically beyond healing. So, I want to take you on a little journey, then I'm going to go to your calls, 866-3-4-TRUTH. Some of my team was asking before the show, hey, Dr. Brown, how do you decide on what subjects to get into? I said, well, you know, some days there's major news, and that's going to drive things for me. Or Thursday there's major Israel-related news, or we have a key interview.

Other times it's kind of wide open. I'm not in the midst of any kind of series, there's nothing in particular earth-shattering going on that we need to address. I'll just pray and give it thought, and often Thursday is a good day to teach, because we know you're here for Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Many times you want to dig deeper into the Word with me, so that's what we're going to do. We're going to look at a bunch of scriptures on the other side of the break, and then I'm going to go straight to your calls, 866-3-4-TRUTH.

May I encourage you to pray with us. By God's grace we really are on the front lines in reaching the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Our materials are used by workers around the world, in English, in Hebrew, in Russian, in Spanish, in Portuguese, training Jewish, African Jews in Africa. Yeah, literally. African Jews, you know, in countries like Zimbabwe.

Our materials are used, our courses have been translated. So pray with us that the Word of the Lord will bear much fruit in bringing the salvation of many Jewish people. All right, back with the scriptures and your calls.

Stay right here. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. 866-3-4-TRUTH. In a little while I'm going to get to your Jewish-related questions, Hebrew-related, Israel-related.

Love to do it on Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Okay, we start in Exodus chapter 15 verse 26, a well-known verse to those who pray for the sick and believe that healing is for today, or just know how God revealed himself to Israel. So Exodus chapter 15, 26. God has brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.

He's brought the plagues on Egypt, yes. He has now brought his people through the sea. They've been at the waters of Marah, which are bitter waters they couldn't drink. God instructs Moses, throw a tree into the waters. When he does, the waters are sweetened.

They can now drink. And then it says, verse 26, Vayomim shamot yishmala kol nalhecha. So it begins, if you heed the Lord your God diligently doing what's upright in sight, giving you your worst commandments, keeping all those laws, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians.

Notice this, kol ha-machalosh yisakim yisram. None of the diseases. In Hebrew, literally, all the disease.

So you say it the opposite. I will not bring on you all the diseases, and none of the diseases. Well, diseases, there were plagues.

There are all kinds of different things, but this is under the heading of makhalah, disease, because it's an affliction. I won't bring them on you, ki aniadonai rofecha, because I am the Lord your rofeh. I am the Lord your rofeh. So he's saying, I'm the Lord your healer. I don't translate just with physician, doctor, because in our minds, it's a bit more limiting.

Healer is a little bit different expression for us, and to me, expands the breadth of God's work. Okay, now, this doesn't use the same root here, but I want to take you over to another promise, Exodus chapter 23, verses 25 and 26, beginning with va-va-ra-tema to the nalhel hecha. You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, va-hasiroti makhalah mi kirbecha, and I will remove sickness from your midst. And then it goes on, no woman in your land shall miscarry or be barren.

I will let you enjoy the full count of your days. So here's a promise to Israel that if the children of Israel will worship and serve the Lord, turn away from all the idols and gods of the nations, and worship and serve the Lord alone, he'll bless their food and drink, he'll extend their lifespan, the women will be able to reproduce. These are all the essentials for maintaining life, and I'll remove sickness from your midst. God would have removed sickness from the nation of Israel if they had obeyed as a nation.

Of course, that never happened, but if they had obeyed as a nation, he would have done that on a national level. This is repeated in Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy chapter 7, verses 14 and 15, they are baruch tihiyeh mikol ha-amim, you'll be blessed above all other peoples. There shall be no sterile male or female among you or among your livestock, so everything able to reproduce.

Ve-hesir adana mincha kol choli, ve-chol madvei mitzrayim ha-cha'im asher yadata. The Lord will ward off from you or remove from you all sickness. There it is again. He will not bring on you any of the dreadful diseases of Egypt. This is a different word for diseases there, about which you know, but will inflict them upon all your enemies. So, once again, we see sickness, disease, as a curse used in judgment. God forbid you think that anyone that's sick today must therefore be in a divine judgment.

That's not what it's saying. But God would use this in judgment. God would use this in bringing destruction on his enemies and, at the same time, promised healing. Healing was a blessing. Healing is a good thing. It remains a good thing. It remains a grace from God. And even though there are godly people who are sick, and there are many reasons for sickness in the world today, and sometimes the most righteous people on the planet are sick, sickness in and of itself is negative.

Healing in and of itself is positive. Okay, let's get back to the usage of the Hebrew root rafa. 1 Kings 18, verse 30. 1 Kings 18, verse 30, Elijah on Mount Carmel.

So, he says to all the people, Come close to me. Then it says this, Vayigape et misbacha denai heharus. He repaired the damaged altar of the Lord. Now, what's interesting, it's the same Hebrew root.

Different verbal form, but the same Hebrew root, vayigape. There it is again, rafa, that root. He repaired the damaged altar of the Lord. Really?

Hang on. So, this word that can be used for healing a sick body can also be used for repairing a broken altar. You even have some translations that say he healed the altar. You don't heal an altar.

You don't use that word in English. He repaired the altar, the same root. Okay, let's take a look in 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 2. 2 Kings chapter 2, this is with Elisha and their undrinkable waters, actually waters causing death. So, he went to the spring and threw salt into it, and he said, Thus said the Lord, rippiti la'mayim ha'ele, I heal this water.

No longer shall death and bereavement come from it, vayirafu hamayim ad hayomazeh. The waters remain wholesome to this day in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha. Now, this is a terrific translation I'm reading from the new JPS version which came out in the 1980s, but notice that same root, rafa, spelling variance from verses 21 to 22, but that same root, rafa, is used in both verses, but in the one place it says heal, second place, remain wholesome. You use the same word, and you don't heal water, just like you don't heal an altar. No, it means make wholesome. God says, I've made this water wholesome, and it has remained wholesome to this day.

So, here we have the same root used for healing sick bodies, we have the same root used for repairing a broken down altar, we have the same root used for making wholesome, undrinkable waters. Let's take a look in Jeremiah chapter 19. Jeremiah chapter 19 and verse 11. Jeremiah is acting out a word of judgment on Jerusalem, and the Lord says to him, so he takes a piece of pottery and he's supposed to smash it on the ground and break it. Thus said the Lord of hosts, so will I smash this people and this city as one smashes a potter's vessel. Then it says this, which can never be mended or never be fixed. Same root, they shall bury in tophat until no room is left for burying. What do you think of that? So, let's review. Same root used for healing a sick body, same root used for repairing a broken down altar, same root used for making wholesome, undrinkable waters, same root used here for fixing a shattered piece of pottery.

Can't fix it. Same root used, we saw in 2 Chronicles 7.14, for restoring the ravaged land. How about this one? Leviticus chapter 14. Leviticus chapter 14. Chapters 13 and 14 of Leviticus deal with nega, a plague in the body, a severe skin disease, translated as leprosy, but not the leprosy we know today, a different severe skin disease. So, severe skin disease in the body, or nega babayet, a severe skin, excuse me, a severe disease in the house. Mildew, mildew. So, it's a plague, it's a plague in the body, it's a plague in the house. It's a spreading plague, okay? So, notice this. Several times earlier, chapters 13 and 14, as we get into this, the root rafa is used for the skin condition being healed. Okay, that works, right?

But look at this. If, however, the priest comes and sees that the plague has not spread in the house after the house was replastered, the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the plague has healed. The plague has healed.

Isn't that an odd way of saying it? Because it's mildew. The mildew is healed. You know, some person comes over, you know, and they look through your house and they give you a report, okay, this is wrong, you've got mold here, okay, we've got to pull these walls out, we've got to do this and that, and they come back and say, okay, mold is all healed. You don't heal mold? Are you a doctor? No, I do this and such.

Okay, you don't heal mold. But that's the word to choose. Why? Because rafa has a broader usage. Yeah, in Hebrew, the concepts are related. In English, we have to use different words.

So, what's the point? When God revealed himself as Israel's rofe, it did not simply mean the one who healed sick bodies. It did not simply mean the one who forgave sins, although they are closely interrelated in many ways. And often, physical healing was the sign of forgiveness, or forgiveness led to healing.

The concepts go hand in hand. When the psalmist knew that he was sick because of sin, there are times when we are sick because of sin, right? Hence, Jacob James, the fifth chapter says, if the man is sin, the person you're praying for, the man or woman, has sin they'll be forgiven. It may be unrelated to sin, totally unrelated to personal sin, or maybe directly related to personal sin, but with the healing is forgiveness. So, sometimes the psalmist will say, heal me, Lord, for I've sinned against you. Like in Psalm 6, Psalm 30, this type of theology is there. Heal me, for I've sinned against you.

What's the meaning? The meaning is, I know I'm sick because of my sin. I'm asking you to heal me as a sign of your forgiveness, and it's all intertwined. When God said, I'm the Lord, you're a healer, it was comprehensive.

It was wide-ranging. And when God caused Israel to suffer under its enemies, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and others, and they were smitten, and God said, I will smite you, but I will heal you. The healing must be just as literal as the smiting. So, whatever the smiting was and the destruction of the nation, the healing must equally restore. And then, of course, in Isaiah 53, by his wounds were healed.

First and foremost, there is talking about spiritual restoration, but the vision of the prophets was the whole person, wholly healed. All right, there's about a decade's of work condensed into a few short minutes. We'll be back with your calls on the other side of the break. Thanks for joining us on Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. I'm so blessed to be alive in the service of the Lord. My foolishness as a drug abuser, as a teenager. I truly believe if God didn't turn my heart to Him when I was 16 years old, that I would not have lived to be 18. Was I suicidal then?

No. Self-destructive. Well, not in the way that I wanted to hurt myself, but crazy with drug abuse.

Crazy with playing with overdosing just to see how high I could get. And if I had a driver's license or even a permit at that point, with the drugs I was using and the recklessness and the feeling of being indestructible, I probably would have just been out driving and gotten killed. But wow, mercy of God to save us, preserve us. Some of you are nodding your head because you know you're alive only by the grace of God. Let's make our lives count. And then from there, to be forgiven of all my sins, to be cleansed, to be given new life through the Messiah, to have a relationship with God where I can talk to Him like a man talks to his friend or to his dad and know his nearness and his closeness no matter what's happening in this world. Wow. And then to get to tell everybody about Him, to tell the world that Jesus the Messiah has come. Amazing.

Amazing grace. 866, 3, 4 Truths. Okay, I've got two really neat book announcements to make to you.

One for Israel, one for here in America. I'll do that shortly. I want to get to the phones now, and we will start with Elijah in Indian Trail, North Carolina. Thanks for joining us on the Line of Fire. Hi, Dr. Brown. Hey.

Glad to be here. Hey. All right, so my question is concerning the Hebrew word, arabah, which is the one that Moses uses in Leviticus and Exodus in his prescriptions with the Israelites about you shall not uncover the nakedness, you shall not be naked, and et cetera.

Yep. My question is really because me and a friend of mine are having this little debate about what can be considered naked biblically, and my idea, looking at the concordance, is that arabah is, although it has ties to female genitalia, it is crime, it is also understood as, like, honorable, as a dishonorable and shameful appearance. So I think of nakedness as more conceptual, and therefore it can change a little bit by society. And he thinks of it more as, his philosophy is that the understanding of the Israelite, how they would have understood nakedness, because it's a little bit more general of a word, because the way they would understand nakedness and the way they would understand modesty in their culture is the abiding principle for all cultures.

And I don't think that, I don't think it's completely subjective. I think that when you look at what God prescribed for the Levites, for the Aaron and his sons, those priests, they had to cover their naked flesh with, like, sort of like boxers, I guess, and I think that there is an inherent part, which is the groin area for both sexes, but then everything else is subjective, and I guess, where would you come in and what would you use your expertise on deducing from there? Well, first, I love the fact that you and your friend are digging into the Hebrew and having a serious discussion about the word, and that you want to honor the Lord and do what's right. Number one, so the Hebrew erevah, meaning nakedness, you're not going to deduce anything by digging deeper into that word. In other words, it's not going to yield further meanings that are helpful here, and it's used in the context of when you mention uncovering nakedness, that means having sexual relations with someone. So to uncover the nakedness of someone is an idiom for having sexual relations with them. So yes, of course, it would be shameful for a man to come into a room where, say, his sister was sleeping and she wasn't dressed and he took the blanket off of her. That would be shameful, but it's talking about more than that. It's talking about having sexual relations. That's what the idiom is. So certainly, in biblical culture, modesty was important.

We understand that. Certainly, if people in biblical days were in America today, they'd be shocked by the way folks dress even in a church service in terms of, you know, what we consider modesty in America would be shocking. You know, it'd be shocking in much of the Muslim world or the religious Jewish world, you know, to this day. And in many parts of the Christian world, the way we dress Christians in America, Europe, Australia, or you're going to the beach, you know, in bikinis and that kind of thing, that would be shocking for many Christians around the world, let alone Christians through history.

And with Aaron, it was more like tights that he was wearing. So if he was going up on the steps, then there would be no nakedness exposed. But to be perfectly candid, I don't believe that the specific words used can really answer the questions that you're asking. In other words, they're the right questions, but you're going to have to look to see, are there any more specifics about dress?

You know, for example, when Paul's talking about women wearing veils in 1 Corinthians 11, or head coverings, is very common in different parts of the ancient world and in some parts of the world to this day that a married woman would never go in public with her with her hair showing, that she'd always have something over it, because that was only for her husband to see or the immediate family. It was a non-sexual thing. So, you know, standards are going to vary. But what I would do is deduce principles, deduce principles of modesty, ask the question of the purpose of clothing. As someone said, the purpose of clothing is what you're trying to cover up, not what you're trying to reveal. I would look at principles of, does this draw sexual attention to me?

If I wear this outfit or put this on, will that draw sexual attention to me or attention to the sexual parts of my body? In that case, you're potentially putting a stumbling block before someone. You're not being considerate of others for male or for female.

So I'd look for the larger principles, and I would not press the meaning of the specific words here, because you're just, what you're going to end up with is your opinion read in as opposed to truth read out. So I wish I could be of more help in that regard, but that's the honest answer. So, by the way, I would have gladly settled the dispute for you or for your friend, but I couldn't settle it for either of you. All right? All right. Thank you. All right. God bless you.

You bet. 866-34-TRUTH. Let us go to David in Zebulun, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hey, Dr. Brown. How are you doing? Doing well, thank you.

Good, good. My question's about Deuteronomy 32a in the translation there. I think I was at NASB, and then the ESV, and it says, When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel, and that was NASB. And then in the ESV, it says, according to the number of the sons of God.

Right. And, yeah, it would seem a drastically different interpretation based on a different translation. Now, have you looked over at Hebrews chapter 1?

Oh, um, no, no, I haven't. Okay, so in Hebrews chapter 1, it says that when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God's angels worship him. And you say, okay, where is that written? Nobody would take that as referencing back to Deuteronomy, the 32nd chapter.

So, here's the issue, and Dr. Michael Heiser has written about this a lot, talked about it a lot. The Hebrew tradition that we have preserved in what's called the Masoretic text, or the Masoretic textual tradition, is the one that has been attested as far back as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and is the one that's reflected when you're reading, say, the Talmud, early rabbinic literature, they're citing from a similar text. And in any modern translation of the Bible, that's what they're translating from, the Masoretic textual tradition.

But there are other variants. For example, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, you'll find ancient Hebrew texts that here and there have different words. Or the Septuagint, which is an early translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, will reflect different readings. So, in this case, the question is, does it say that he divided it according to the number of the sons of Israel, Yisra'el, or just the sons of El, the sons of God, meaning angels?

That's the difference between the NASB and the ESV. The NASB is following the Masoretic textual tradition that, for example, any Hebrew Bible I have printed, that's what's there. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls attest to a different reading.

The sons of God, meaning the angels, so he divided the nations, giving an angel a portion for each one versus he divided the nations based on the land he was going to give to Israel. The Septuagint, which is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, that translates with sons of God as well. So, that's why some translations like the ESV now read differently. So, it's a very small difference in Hebrew, Yisra'el versus El, and you have both attested in antiquity. So, it's a matter of which did we think is the more original. You have the same with the New Testament at times that you'll have different readings and you're trying to say, okay, we've got a lot of manuscripts.

That's the good news. We have so much evidence, now we have to sift it through and make a decision as to what makes the most sense in context, what's the best attested in terms of ancient manuscripts, what did the ancient translators see when they translated it, and then scholars are going to wrestle and come to a different conclusion. You may see more and more saying sons of God, because this also seems to be reflected in Hebrews, the first chapter as well, but it's one of those things you have to, whatever you have in the main text, you have to have a note saying, or it could be this, because there's honestly a debate, and it's not something, even if I lean one way, you can't be dogmatic about it either way. So, you say, okay, what do I do with it? Well, what you do is you say, okay, if it says this, it means this, if it says this, it means this, and both are probably true based on scripture, you know, that God portioned out the whole world, but made sure Israel had this plot, and when he portioned out the nations, he assigned an angel over each one of them.

So, that's my understanding, but you can't be dogmatic, but that explains the differences for you. All right? All right, thank you very much.

You bet. 86634, truth is the number to call. So, I mentioned at the outset of the broadcast, Real Kosher Jesus, I can't hold it up, the Hebrew, because the color won't work with our screen behind us. You'll miss some of it, but it's out in Hebrew.

I'm holding it in my hands. This was years of work, fundraising, translating, printing, thousands of copies printed to give away to seeking Jews, seeking Israelis. Believe God with me that it'll get in the hands of religious Jews too.

They'll read it secretly and God will open their eyes. 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 86634, truth. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Thanks friends for joining us on The Line of Fire. Hey, for you on Facebook, you say Muslim people tell and believe that Holy Bible has changed how Jewish people can follow that by, oh, you've been totally misinformed. You have been totally misinformed. It's the Qur'an that's changed dramatically. It's the Qur'an where there were so many different variations that they had to destroy all the others and just try to save one. And when ancient discoveries have been made of some Qur'an manuscripts, they differ from what you're used to.

Oh, no, it's quite the opposite. If you look at how well the Hebrew Bible and New Testament have been preserved in terms of evidence and manuscripts going back to the early days, pile them up, up, up, up, up all the evidence and compare it to evidence for Qur'an way, way, way, way down. Oh, sir, you have been terribly misinformed, but if you follow the truth, I pray God will give you the courage to follow the truth. If you do it, it will set you free.

Okay, another big announcement, then back to your calls. 1985, while I was doing my doctoral work, got some questions from my sister-in-law. She had been miraculously healed a few years earlier and was going to a Bible school that taught very strongly about healing for today and things like that, but they were teaching some things that raised questions for her. You know, was it true that in the Hebrew Bible where it said, you know, God's, I'll smite you, I'll do this and that, I'll put sickness on you, that the Hebrew didn't actually say that, but rather I will allow you to be smitten or I will allow sickness to come on you, some type of a permissive sense. And all these things about the book of Job and so on. And she said, you know, I'm just having questions about what I'm being taught, so I started to write her a letter, you know, in those days by hand, started to write her a letter, and it got longer and longer and longer, and it became my first book, Compassionate Father or Consuming Fire, Who is the God of the Old Testament? So we put it out, we used it to teach, instruct, got it out to students for years, but it's basically been out of distribution, out of print for many, many years in terms of the, it was printed early on, and that was that. Well, the contents of the book are super relevant to this moment. Questions come into our ministry constantly about some of the very questions in that book. So I felt some time back, let me update it, let me write it in a way that can reach even more people, let me update it, let me add some things to it, and then a new publisher working with a new TV show that I'm on, new TV network Awakening, AWKNG, where I'm doing these debate shows every week, they approached me about putting out a book.

I said, what do you think of this one? We'll put out a new edition. So they began to read it, loved it. In fact, I want to be honest with you, I was surprised by how excited they were about the book. I thought the content was really good, but I was surprised that they were so super excited. I thought, what? Cool.

I guess the content really hits home. So the books do out next week. I don't have copies yet, but what they did, it's not a big fat book, it's a shorter book, but they put it out in a really beautiful hardcover edition. So it's a little more expensive, but it's like a coffee table, really nice edition just you leave out.

And then for everyone who orders through our website, not only are you getting a signed numbered copy of the first printing, but I put together a whole teaching DVD where I give the history of the book, I share background more, I go through the chapters and give you more content, and that's our gift when you order on our website. So the new title, Compassionate Father or Consuming Fire, Engaging the God of the Old Testament. So it's the new revised updated edition from my first book, which first came out in 1930, 1935, 20 years before I was born, 1985. I was computing in my head how long that is today, right? So over 35 years ago. So Compassionate Father or Consuming Fire, Engaging the God of the Old Testament.

I think I find it really helpful. What about the slaughter of the Canaanites? What about the book of Job? How do these things relate to our day? How did Jesus bring in the Jubilee? What does that mean? So that's all in the book. Okay, last thing and back to your calls.

That's on our website, AskDrBrown.org if you want to get it with the gift DVD. So Israel does not win a lot of medals. Israel leads the way in technology and many other developments, agricultural things worldwide, but Israel does not win a lot of medals in the Olympics. And when they do, it's normally someone's move from Russia, another country, you know, and now they're in Israel, et cetera. So they win a gold medal. I mean, this is rare.

They win a gold medal. But the fellow is not Jewish. He lives in Israel. He's an Israeli citizen, but he's not Jewish. Because he's not Jewish, he can't marry in Israel because all the weddings are official Jewish weddings overseen by the rabbis. They have no civil marriage there.

It's one of the big arguments with the religious leadership. So a lot of Israelis will just go to Cyprus in the neighboring island, get married there, and they come back married. So Israel recognizes the marriage, but it's created some controversy. It is like, here the guy wins a gold medal, but he can't get married in Israel because he's not Jewish. So anyway, always interesting when it comes to Israel news. With that, we go back to the phones.

Let's go to Joe in Sydney, Ohio. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Yes, my dear brother, it's a pleasure to talk to you. It's a wonderful blessing to me to talk to Messianic believers. I've been associated with Messianic believers since 1973. It's been my privilege.

That's the year, of course, that Moshe Rosen instituted the JF Jews for Jesus program. So I'm kind of an old timer. Great. Well, good. Glad to hear it.

Glad you're still here with us. So what's your question, sir? I, over the years, studied with two gentlemen.

The first gentleman started his studies in 1975, and then I started studying with his son-in-law in 74, I believe it was. And he's passed now. But anyway, we kept the Scriptures in a Jewish setting, and I wanted to express something about the two witnesses there in Revelation, if I may, and get your opinion. In Matthew 10-23, you shall not be able to go over the cities of Israel until the Son of Man be come. From that Scripture, we predicted an end-time move in the last days among the Jewish people, and going towards their Messiah, of course, recognizing Jesus as Messiah. And then with that, we went to Revelations, the eleventh chapter, which discusses the two witnesses and the two olive trees. And I'm of the opinion that the two witnesses are the Jewish believers that originally started the Church under Jesus' ministry, of course. And then the second witness period are the Messianic believers that are now and will finish out the Church Age as we know it.

How far off am I on that? Okay, so, first, I see Matthew 10-23 in a way similar to you. Those who are preterists who believe that aspects of the Second Coming are past say, well, when Jesus said you won't finish going to the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes, that is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. But I read it the way you do as well, that that mission wasn't finished then and it still isn't finished now, that there's still plenty of places to be reached within Israel, and that that will be the ongoing mission right up until he returns. Where I would differ, sir, in terms of Revelation 11, bear in mind, of course, there is symbolism throughout the book of Revelation, as we understand, and it had to be relevant to the first century readers that received it. It had to speak to them, so the two witnesses had to have meaning in their day, and then through the centuries it has to have spiritual meaning, and then at the end of the age, special meaning.

So I agree with you also that there is special significance of the book of Revelation for the first generation of readers that receives it and for the last generation before the Lord returns. But I don't see the two witnesses as referring to periods of time. I don't see that at all. I see them being there on the scene, whoever they are or whatever they represent, being there on the scene at the same time. So that's where I would differ with your interpretation. But the principle of having Jewish believers active at the beginning and at the end, and the mission to Israel important at the beginning and at the end, and this activity continuing until Jesus returns, I agree with you on all that.

I just wouldn't see the two witnesses in Revelation referring to two separate time periods. If it's individuals, if they represent companies of people, I see them there at the same time. But hey, thank you for the call. Listen, friends, obviously didn't get to all of your calls today, but if you call on a Thursday and we don't get to, when you call on Friday, we do our best to get to you first. So tomorrow, of course, we'll be taking your questions. And 16 minutes from now, yeah, 4.15 Eastern Time, 4.15 Eastern Time, we'll be right back here. So 16 minutes from now, we'll be right back on our YouTube channel, Ask Dr. Brown, A.S.K., D.R.

Brown. Join us. I'm just going to answer your questions for 45 minutes or an hour. That's all we're going to do. Answer your questions that you post on YouTube. So join me over there, less than 16 minutes, A.S.K., D.R. Brown on YouTube. May the Lord bless you.