What Does the Old Testament Say about Sickness and Healing

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

So what does the Hebrew Bible have to say about sickness and health? It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Well, here we are. We're going to give it a shot to be live today, getting stronger each day. My wife and I both getting stronger about 10 days out from getting COVID. I just had this cough that's come on the last couple of days and we were all ready to go live yesterday and my voice was just weak. I thought, OK, no reason to even try, but hopefully stronger today and hopefully we can make it through with minimal or no coughing.

But I thought it'd be better to give it a try to be live with all of you today. It's Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Good time to talk about what the Hebrew Bible says concerning sickness and health. And here's the number to call, but I'm going to open the phone lines wider than normal. 866-34-TRUTH. 866-34-8-7-8-8-4.

Any Jewish related question, of course, you can call. That is always good. But also, as we started the conversation a couple of days ago, have your own views changed on COVID? Maybe you were against vaccinations. You had concerns about them. Maybe you got COVID. Maybe you lost a loved one to COVID. Maybe your views have shifted. Maybe your views have shifted even more strongly against vaccinations. But what's your own experience?

We're not talking about mandates, but we're talking about your own view on this today. 866-34-8-7-8-8-4. That's the number to call. So, many of you know my own story when it comes to my views on healing. I came to faith in an Italian Pentecostal church that believed in praying for the sick, that believed that God healed today.

It was not taught in systematic theological ways as much as, hey, the Bible says this, this, and this, and the Holy Spirit is for today, and therefore we pray for the sick. After a number of years, five, six years, I became skeptical about a lot of this. I questioned what the Bible really said. I became part of another church. We were strongly Calvinistic. We were barely charismatic. And I changed a lot of my views about healing then.

I questioned whether it was for today. I saw so much flaky stuff on Christian TV. The cases that we had really prayed for healing, the people had died, you know, cancer and that kind of thing.

So, I really questioned it, but when I was kind of forced to study the scriptures and fresh, long story. And as I did, I was absolutely struck by the fact that healing throughout the Bible, Old Testament and new, was a good thing, a gift from God. That sickness in and of itself was always negative, was always bad. That sickness in the Old Testament, talking about extreme illness and that kind of thing, would be directly associated with divine judgment, divine discipline, divine curses. Whereas healing would consistently be associated with God's grace and goodness. That when you get over to the New Testament, that sickness is commonly associated with demons, with Satan, and healing is connected directly with Jesus and his ministry.

He went around making people well, not smiting them with sickness. And I ended up writing my doctoral dissertation on the Hebrew word for healing. And what was happening was, I was watching people who were praying for the sick, and seeing results, but I thought their theology was really bad. I thought their theology was totally off, and yet they were seeing people healed. Here I thought I had right theology, I wasn't seeing anyone healed.

But ultimately the question is, what does the word say? So I ended up switching my doctoral dissertation and writing on the Hebrew word for healing, rafa. That then was published in an expanded form. We're talking about the book Israel's Divine Healer.

About 20% of that was my doctoral thesis and the other 80% new material. But the more I studied, the clearer it was that God in his goodness reveals himself as the healer. That again, sickness in and of itself is a bad thing, healing in and of itself is a good thing. If you have two categories, God at the top of one, Satan at the top of the other, or blessing at the top of one, cursing at the top of the other, or good things according to the word at the top of one, and bad things at the top of the other list, then without question, on the God good side, the blessing side, would be healing and health.

And on the bad side, the Satan side, the destructive side, would be sickness and disease. This was after years and years of the most in-depth study I knew to do. And you'll still see my 1995 monograph, Israel's Divine Healer, is widely cited as the definitive study that came out up to the time in English. That doesn't mean that I always see healing come. It doesn't mean that you can't grow while sick. It doesn't mean that if you're godly, you'll always be healthy. Some of the godliest people on the planet are chronically ill. Some of the healthiest people on the planet are completely godless. I understand that. I'm simply saying what the word says is very clear.

And it's what we know fundamentally. You know, just dealing with the aftermath of COVID, and again, thankfully, thanks for praying, as we're getting stronger each day, it's just a miserable thing. I could not do so much of what I would normally do in ministry. I couldn't be there for others. Even just my prayer life was just negligible because I was just weak. And all you're thinking about is just trying to get better and get strength. So I didn't feel pressure like, oh, I have to be there to perform.

Everybody needs me. I don't mean that. But if you're a mom, and you've got three little kids running around the house, and you're sick as a dog, you know, you can't care for your kids. You can't go into work and do your normal job. If you're preparing to minister to others or help others or serve others, and you're so sick you can barely move, I mean, the thing itself is debilitating.

And that's why sickness would be part of a curse, not part of a blessing. And nothing changes through the Bible on this. This is consistent. Consistent. 866-34-TRUTH. We'll share more about this, but let's go to some of your calls.

We'll start with Jeanette in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Thank you. Can you hear me?

Yeah, I can. Well, I just wanted to share a little bit. I've been listening for a couple of days, and it's just a real topic to me.

First of all, I love the Lord, and thank you for answering my call. I'm a registered nurse. I've worked with COVID patients, and I also contracted COVID. And my granddaughter is 10 years old, and she contracted COVID. And my 36-year-old contracted COVID, and she had a blood clot in her lungs, and she had a stroke, and she had a blood infection, and she had COVID pneumonia.

And COVID made her wheelchair bound. So in August, I had a perfectly fine 36-year-old, and she was on a ventilator on one floor. I was on a floor beneath her, laying on my stomach for 10 days.

They told me, Ms. Bellum, if you don't turn over on your stomach, you're going to be put on the ventilator. So my daughter was up above me, and I see you. I didn't know she was going to make it while I was one floor beneath her, trying to hold it together by God's grace in the bed.

And our Heavenly Father is so faithful, and I'm so grateful. He raised my daughter up after 16 days on the ventilator. She learned how to feed herself, and the last thing she's left with is a little numbness in her foot, and so we need your prayers that the Lord would raise her up.

Her name is Deena. And my granddaughter didn't have any symptoms at all, and for me, I was on oxygen for six weeks, and I prayed and prayed and prayed. And one morning I woke up, I didn't have to put it on, and I thank God for raising my family back up, because me and my daughter almost died. And my daughter, she just was so despondent, and she's still cheerful about being wheelchair bound, because it's all new to her. When I was in the hospital recuperating, I would sit up on the side of my bed on 15 liters of oxygen, because I could not breathe. But when I would start to read my Bible, my oxygen would go up to 97 and 100.

And one time the doctor... I'm not sure what happened, we just lost you there for a moment, but may the Lord finish his healing work in your daughter, and I'm so glad you both made it. Obviously, many others don't make it, and right now we've got friends we're praying for for miracles in their lives, but I'll tell you what, I've heard a lot of miracle stories in the last couple of weeks since we've been posting special prayer requests for my friend Brad to be healed of COVID, or now the aftermath of COVID as he's in the hospital and we continue to trust God.

People have been posting their own stories, and boy, I mean, there are real miraculous stories where the doctors said, it's over, it's over, it's not a matter of if, but when it's over, your loving is not going to make it. And yes, we have lost loved ones, we have lost friends, we know that reality, and I was acutely aware of that reality, I've just become acutely aware of even more answers to prayer than I was aware of, even more miraculous deliverances from death than I was aware of. And again, God revealed himself to Israel, he said, I am the Lord, your, excuse me, your healer, and he's the healer, whether I'm coughing or not, and that was as a fruit of national obedience that God would bring healing to the nation, as a fruit of national disobedience, he would bring judgment, which included plagues, which included exile, all of those things are negative. It doesn't mean that when you catch a cold, you're in your divine judgment, or if you get COVID, you're in your divine judgment, not at all.

It's simply saying that these things, which are negative in themselves, when God brings them by way of judgment, doesn't bring healing by way of judgment, he brings debilitating disease by way of judgment, and Jesus comes into the world to lift those things off of us. We'll be right back with your call. Stay right here. 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.

All right. I was waiting for our thoroughly Jewish music there, but I guess it didn't get inserted today. Welcome to the broadcast 866-348-7884. Let us go over to Todd in Mississippi. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Oh, thank you, Dr. Brown. God bless you, sir, and thank you for your ministry.

It's so powerful. You're a national treasure. May God continue to bless you and your ministry.

My question is not dealing with Old Testament healing, but it is a Jewish question. Is that okay? Yeah, of course. Okay, yes, sir.

Yes, sir. It has to do with the origin of the name Hebrew. I know in Genesis it does say that Abraham was a Hebrew, but apart from that, he came from the land of the Chaldeans, and so he's a Hebrew. And it connects also to the book of Hebrews. I know we don't know who the writer of that is, but why did he address it to the Hebrews? Why not to the Jews or to the Israelites?

Right. Right, so there's a lot of debate about the origin of the term Hebrew. It's in the Old Testament normally spoken, he's fleeing, and Abraham is a Hebrew, you know, coming into a foreign land. There are some who connect it with a group of people that we have in the ancient Near East, tested as Habiru or Haperu, and the question is how exactly would that tie in with Abraham and others, question mark. Others have said the original meaning is simply the Hebrew Ever, and Hebrew is Iveri, so that the Hebrew Ever has to do with the root Avar, which is to pass over, so that they were the ones that passed over, that crossed over, that came from another region into the land of Canaan. That's another possibility, and then ultimately though it simply became associated with the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, that they became the preeminent people known as Hebrews.

So as to the letter to the Hebrews, why it was given that name versus the Jews or the Israelites, I don't know that there's a definitive answer to it. It's an interesting question, but I don't know that there's a definitive answer to it. So unfortunately I don't have more information than that, but appreciate it and appreciate your kind words. Thank you.

866-34-TRUTH. And again, friends, I'd love to hear from you today as well. Give my voice a rest too, the more of you that call in, but what's your own experience with COVID been? Have your views changed about it?

Have your views changed about vaccinations? Are there things that you've passed through that you think would be helpful for others to know? 866-348-7884.

All right, let's go over to Paul in Connecticut. Welcome to the line of fire. Yes.

How are you doing this? I appreciate your service. I have a few. Well, about the COVID thing, I put it off getting a shot for like six months because, you know, they usually test drugs for a long time. So and then I was being nagged to death by my brother lives with me and taking the shot. So I took the shot for the COVID.

But I did get I think I got the new virus because I had a bad cold for like four weeks and I had a headache that might have been the new virus. But I'm over that now. But I do take a lot of items.

I know tea is very important and think and all that. So I'm overdosing on vitamins. So right now I'm good about that. Got it.

So your question today. My question is, you know, I'm an ex JW and I believe in in, you know, that Jesus is God. I studied it a thousand hours. I've seen your video talking about the the Old Testament, about the word is used describing Jesus in the Old Testament. But it's changed in the in in the in the New Testament. So I didn't understand why it was changed from you saying it was Aramaic was Jesus was the word and they are mad.

Can you explain that more? Because that's a little confusing to me. Sure. So number one, we agree clearly that Jesus is the eternal son of God and that he is the word incarnate, that he is God incarnate. So John writes in Greek and says that that Jesus was the Logos.

Right. So was he using that word the way Philo, a contemporary little bit older Jewish philosopher, was using it in terms of of an aspect of deity that was now being revealed? Was he using it just to speak of the word of God more broadly? Was he using it the way the Aramaic term Memra was used at that time?

Memra simply means word. And it was a way that some of the the Targums, the Jewish translations and paraphrases, would speak of God when he was drawing near to people where there was intimate contact. So for example, Jacob makes a vow to the word of the Lord that if the word of the Lord will be with me, then the word of the Lord will be my God. Or in Numbers 10, when the children of Israel would march out, the Targum says, arise, O word of the Lord, return, O word of the Lord.

So all I was saying is this could be some of the background, the ideological or the conceptual background. So we know that John is written in Greek. We know the Old Testament was written almost all in Hebrew. And we have the revelation of the word in Hebrew, like God sends his word and heals. That's the word davar in Hebrew. So whether it is davar in Hebrew or logos in Greek or Memra in Aramaic, it's all the same thing. It's this revelation of the nature is God.

And it is that word that took on human form. So hopefully that helps to clarify. Thank you, sir, for the questions. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go over to Sean in Knightdale, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hey, so I just want to talk about my experience with COVID.

Go ahead. I think you had said something about you had colds in the past, the beer colds in the past that were worse than the experience you had with COVID. Not as long as though, right? Yeah, so before I started eating healthily, when I would get bad colds like in the past, the worst of the symptoms were worse than any one symptom I've had with COVID. COVID has dragged on longer. It's been miserable in that respect. But as far as like the really bad symptoms you can get with like a bad flu or really bad cold, those were those severe symptoms than anything I've had with COVID. COVID has just dragged on. That's been the miserable part of it.

And that's my experience, too. I mean, getting COVID, it was like the symptoms, they were different than anything I probably felt before, but it wasn't worse than anything I felt before. And I mean, I can't, I'm not going to make a judgment on COVID because obviously it affects people totally different. I seriously do believe one of the main things is health. I mean, in the first beginning, when they were first talking about it, it was mainly like, they mainly spoke about health and elderly people, right?

Like in the first, first beginning. So as time goes on, I mean, I really didn't see too much different other than it just affecting unhealthy people in a different way. Maybe obesity, maybe just bad eating in general. Once again, how many people really fast in the world? You know, like the green diet.

How many people really eat a lot of greens to really detox their body? You know what I'm saying? So still hanging on that health thing. I mean, but I think it's a little bit deeper than that in a way though, because if you look around the world, it's actually a lot going on other than COVID. Like a lot going on other than COVID.

And that's just my opinion. I think it's a little bit more than just COVID, but that's just my own personal opinion. Yeah, you know, for sure, Sean, everyone is affected differently. And we know people who were otherwise healthy that were really, really suffered terribly through COVID and barely made it out. Others that had some issues like obesity, diabetes, and were at the edge of death and an answer to prayer, they made it. But for sure, this much we know. And it's not to condemn us, not to criticize, because I've been eating super healthily seven and a half years every day without exception. And yet still got COVID and it's still dragged on now with the 10th day.

But obviously, thankfully, you know, minor compared to what others have experienced. But for sure, healthy living is the right thing to do. Healthy eating is the right thing to do. There is absolutely no question that we must be good stewards of our body, that most of us in America eat very unhealthy diets, that many of us are addicted to all kinds of unhealthy foods and on every level that messes us up, on every level.

So I'm even more committed than ever to healthy living. Hey, thank you for the call. We'll be right back. Stay with us. 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. Welcome to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday.

It is Michael Brown. We are live. And thankfully, my voice is holding up pretty well today towards the, I don't know, like maybe eight days into having COVID, I started to develop this cough and we were ready to try to do live radio yesterday. All set up with a remote studio from my home and my voice was just too weak, but today felt stronger, so we're going for it.

866-348-7884. Trust me, I'm resting a lot. I am not pushing. I'm continuing to pour healthy things into my body and additional vitamins and everything like that. If you want to take advantage of some of the same healthy supplements I use as well, go to vitaminmission.com, vitaminmission.com. Order for yourselves and your families and take advantage of the special discount. Yeah, all at vitaminmission.com. The other thing I'm trying to do is there's a radio voice, which is my natural way of talking on the radio, but it's a more energetic voice than just like a subdued kind of quiet conversation, so I'm trying not to use so much of the radio voice because it pushes me a little too hard.

So if I'm a little, voice is a little weak, spirit's strong, everything else is strong. 866-344-TRUTH. By the way, before we go back to your calls. So the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is now under attack from cultural commentator, comedian Jon Stewart over the depiction of the bankers in the Harry Potter movies that they are, according to her, according to Stewart, these underground bankers, these greedy, avaricious men, they are Jewish. And there's somebody talking about Jews, they're just goblins, what are you talking about? And others have said J.K. Rowling is not an anti-Semite. And then plus the way they come out in the movie does not necessarily agree with the way they're depicted in the books, but I'm probably going to write about that. I don't think that's an anti-Semitic trope there, to be honest.

I'm happy to expose them when I see them, but I don't think that's one of them. Okay, so we're taking Jewish-related questions, as always, but I'm opening the phones more broadly to any other questions because we haven't been live as much recently. And if you've gone through COVID yourself, if you have experienced it, if your views have changed about vaccines, pro or con, after having COVID, perhaps after seeing people close to suffer or die, I'd like to hear from you as well.

866-344-TRUTH. And Nancy made the comment, she'd heard from others that had gone through COVID, that it really felt demonic. Something about it just felt especially evil or wrong.

And I'd made that comment as well. It does feel demonic. There's some negative, destructive, drag thing about it. And others have used that same word. So regardless of the origins, in other words, was it manufactured in a lab, was it intentionally released, are there more natural explanations for it, there's something very much demonic about it. And that certainly it is not the blessing and the smile of a loving father on his children saying, hey, have some COVID. Have some COVID.

That's just not a scriptural concept. All right, let's go to the phone's mic in Greensboro. We lost you. All right, let's go to Erin in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, thank you. I think you sound wonderful. But I do understand what you're going through, by the way.

Well, thank you. I can comment on the COVID thing. The vaccine, I wasn't for it before I had COVID. I'm still not for it after having COVID and seeing people around me suffer. Just thought I'd share that just to stay relevant to the show. But let me ask you, how long ago did you get COVID and how bad was it?

It was July of last year, so July 21. And I was in the bed for four and a half to five days. I would try to get up a little bit and walk around.

I think my maximum amount of time was about 20 minutes. But my energy level was completely depleted. And it did come back. And I had this nagging cough that lasted for about... What happened? All right, well, 866-34-TRUTH is number to call.

Not sure what happened, how we lost that call. But we will do our best to get reconnected with everybody here. And so, you know what? When I talk about sickness, disease, when I talk about blessing and curse, I am not building my theology, friends, on experience. I'm building it on scripture. I'm building my theology on scripture, not experience. When my experience confirms scripture, wonderful. But I don't believe in divine healing primarily because I see healing. I believe in divine healing primarily because I see it in the Bible.

All right. So in my book, Authentic Fire, which was the response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire, I have a chapter called Sola Scriptura and therefore Charismatic. In other words, I base my views on scripture and scripture alone. And if my experience lines up with that, wonderful.

If not, I try to bring my experience up to the word, rather than dragging the word down based on my experience or building theology on experience. All right, let's go back to Erin. Somehow we lost you there. Yeah, so how long were you sick for, Erin? I was really in the bed for four to five days. And then I was able to, you know, move around again. But I didn't feel like moving around again. I just knew that I could.

So I tried to. And lasted for including the cough and the fatigue, I'd say probably five or so, five, maybe six weeks. And then your energy levels, it just comes back and the cost just goes away.

I mean, it just ends like anything else, right? It's like, you know, how bronchitis hangs around for about six weeks or so. COVID, that's how it treated me. It just continued to linger. But it goes away and you feel great again. And it's just, you know, a closed chapter in my book, as it will be in yours, I'm sure.

So it's just annoying, really. And but you said you didn't change your views on vaccines. No, absolutely not getting a vaccine before. Same way I felt before I had it.

I feel the same way now. And my mom suffers chronic leukemia known as CLL. And she went to the hospital when she got COVID. And I really thought I was going to lose her. She's fine now. But, you know, the statistics don't look good for people who do suffer. Yeah, really. And so she's doing really well now.

But that was really, really scary. But it never changed my opinion of the vaccine. All of her doctors, oncologists, everybody is all for it. They, you know, want her to be vaccinated. But she is also against it. So I mean, my entire family, we all suffer through the COVID and none of us are vaccinated.

And we won't be vaccinated. Got it. All right. Well, I appreciate your calling. So you had a question as well, right? I do.

I do. So the church I attend is on board with female deacons. And I'm concerned that because there seems to be people on both sides of that, for and against. And I'm familiar with First Timothy, I understand that, you know, husbands of one wife, it does that explicitly. And then beyond that, it says women likewise. And so I think people who believe female deacons are okay, will use that to kind of boost and support their argument and perhaps Phoebe as a servant slash deacon, I guess, depending on the translation you're looking at. And maybe some scripture out of Titus as well to support that. But it seems to me that the argument could be made stronger for women should not be deacons.

So I guess I want to ask you what's right and what's wrong. Right. So you're definitely familiar with the key verses, Erin. Yeah, you're familiar with the key verses.

So you're aware of the translation issues. Does it talk about deacons' wives or does it talk about female deacons, etc., and how Phoebe is described? I'm 100% for female deacons. This is not a governmental headship role. This is not women being the head of a ministry over men. This is a servant role. And the deacons themselves are under the directives of the pastor and elders. So for women to play that servant role, absolutely, 100%. And it's commonly been done in church history. And the Dorcas-type women that provided for the needs of others, those were deaconesses in action, you could say, whether they had the title or not. So I see this as completely separate from the question of women as pastors, completely separate even from the question of women as elders. I see this as 100% legitimate right and with no scripture against it. Okay.

All right. So that brings me to my next question. Our pastor is considered the elder and the associate pastor. And the associate pastor, they are the two elders. We have unofficial elders in our church. These are not named elders.

It just happens to be the people that just kind of fit into that role. Does that make sense? Is that uncommon? Or is that not? Is that biblical? It's not uncommon. Yeah, Aaron, it's not uncommon, but it's not ideal. And in other words, there is a sacred calling and responsibility in being an elder in the body, and it is something that should be recognized that people who've been proven over a period of time are recognized that hands are laid on them, that they're set apart in that regard, and that the congregation knows that these are some of the people you can go to in this spiritual capacity and that they are trustworthy in their leadership.

So it's good that people just function in different unofficial capacities in the body, but especially if it's a church of several hundred people or more, you really do need a team of functioning elders named and designated as such. Well, thank you. God bless you, Aaron. We'll be right back with your calls. 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, friends, to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday.

This is Michael Brown. And by God's grace, we've made it through this hour. Well, we've got about 12, 13 minutes to go. My voice is held up, and thanks for your patience as we get our way back from COVID.

Looking forward to being 100% full strength on every level in the days ahead. Let's go to Preston in Ohio. You are on The Line of Fire. Hello?

Yes, go ahead, please. Oh, how are you doing? I was just calling, and I've been listening to your radio station for a while. I listen to it on the way to work. I'm oriented at a hospital in Ohio.

Yes. I just want to ask for you guys to pray for all the healthcare providers. A lot of us are broken.

We've seen a lot of people pass from this disease. How has it affected you personally, Preston? I struggle with my past because of it.

How so? With my past, I accept Christ as my Savior. When you see a lot of people pass over two years, I apologize for the first time I ever called into a TV show. Over the past two years, watching people pass from this disease, it's brought up a lot of reflecting upon my own past and my own sins and the loved ones that I've lost over the years. So it's kind of like a trauma. It's a form of trauma. I guess the best way I can put it, and these people in there need prayer. So just seeing so much suffering, so many people dying in ways you're just not used to, has been overwhelming. I've heard even medical professionals talk about compassion burnout, that they're just so exhausted and so worn out that you almost just go about things in a matter-of-fact way because you're just so tired from this. Hey, Preston, the one thing is the devil is a liar and the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin.

That never changed. It doesn't matter what trauma you're experiencing now and how that somehow digs up the past and how the enemy is trying to use that to bring condemnation as if there's something wrong with you. You're on the front lines serving. You're on the front lines trying to make a difference and the Lord is not condemning you and the Lord is not bringing up past memories. It could be your own mind and because of exhaustion it's hard to fight.

It could be demonic attack. But right now, Lord, we pray for Preston and we pray for his colleagues and these many other frontline healthcare workers, some of whom are beyond exhausted, beyond burnt out. May Preston, may each of them experience their own refreshing, their own renewal. May your love flood his heart like never before and may light begin to shine out of the miracle out of the miserable darkness of this COVID pandemic. In Jesus' name, amen.

Hey, Preston, we're with you, man, and thank you for being there on the front lines and know that the blood of Jesus is not double-minded. You've been cleansed. You've been cleansed.

You've been cleansed and God declares you righteous as his child. Hey, thank you for the call. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to Ashley in Arkansas. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Brown. How are you? Well, getting better. Little by little. Thank you. Yeah, I'm sorry you're sick.

I will be praying for you. I had a, it's probably a simple question, but it's just something I was pondering. I was reading Leviticus 26, verse 43. The context is we're talking about Israel's disobedience and God's correction for it. And there's one section in there where it talks about the land will be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbath. And it really just made me wonder what exactly is the Sabbath.

And I mean, I feel like there's probably still a representation of that that can be applied whether, I don't know if it's just like this, I know there's clearly a physical Sabbath, but is there also a spiritual side to it as well? Well, just in that context, Ashley, there was to be a seventh year sabbatical where the land would not be developed and it would lie fallow for one year. It was a total test of faith for Israel because they had to have really three years supply because you would not work the land in the seventh year.

And then in the eighth year you work it and that's another year before it's fully yielding again. So this was to be a test of faith for Israel and a way for them to lean on the Lord and grow. And basically it didn't happen through Israel's history, so God says, okay, I'm going to take all those sevens when it never happened and now you're just going to be in exile for 70 years, so the land is just going to lie fallow for 70 years straight, which would be like 490 years of Sabbaths.

So that's what happened. Is God requiring that of the church or Christians around the world to have a sabbatical for the land? No, but the principles of Sabbath rest are very important for believers. How they get incorporated is going to vary from community to community because God gave the seventh day specifically to Israel as a sign.

It was never imposed on the early church as far as Gentile believers, but you know, the Jewish and Gentile would worship together as one in the midst of their different customs and practices, as Romans 14 even speaks about. But whatever principle we can learn from this in terms of honoring God, setting aside time just to be with him, resting from our labors, that's important. And we have to ask the Lord how that works out in our lives. Hey, thank you for the call. Let's go to Paula in North Carolina.

Welcome to the line of fire. Are you there? Hello? Yes, go ahead, Paula. Go ahead. Okay, sorry. Yes, I was just going to comment on COVID.

Please. I had it and I was one of the supposedly at-risk because I was 67 and two months before the husband and I both got it, we started on the regimen of the supplements, you know, assuming that most people are deficient. I must be too. So I did the vitamin C, D, made sure my D-level was above 60 and zinc at 25 micrograms, not the normal 15 that's recommended, you know, by the RDA.

RDA and selenium and quercetin. And it's still there. It really go ahead. Yes.

Hello? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. So it works.

It works. And what it did, it made all our symptoms milder. Not that I wasn't in pain.

I had two days of laying in the bed with eggs, body ache, but I never got respiratory stuff and I did lose my sense of taste and smell. So, you know, for three months, but that I breezed through it and the FDA called me and did a 45 minute interview trying to figure out, well, how come I'm not in the hospital to die? Which I thought was interesting. So how did they contact you? They called me on the phone. Just random? Out of the blue. How interesting? Yes, and it alerted me. And then I called my own doctor, my family physician of a very well-known practice in Greensboro and told him. And he said they call the meeting of their office because they had not heard that we were being tracked somehow. And he didn't know anything about this. And so they had a meeting about it. Very interesting.

Two days after I called him. Yes, I thought it was extremely interesting. Well, I'm glad you and your husband made it through. What's your view on vaccines after having COVID? I'm totally against them, except for elderly people who have comorbidities.

I really think they should just go ahead and do it because I have this defining line. If you're older and you have comorbidities, you should. Otherwise, I don't do it.

And now that I've had it, I actually think that it's more going to be more harmful if I ever do get vaccinated. Got it. Hey, Paula, I appreciate your input as well. 866. What? Okay, we got like seconds to go. Sorry for the number again.

Just my old habit. Hey, I am not here to give medical advice. I can tell you about God the healer.

I can give you scriptural advice. I can encourage you to get the supplements and check them out at vitaminmission.com that we found very beneficial. We want to pass that benefit on to you. And then Dr. Stangler, in turn, not only gives you a discount, but blesses our ministry with a donation every time you order. So go to vitaminmission.com. Check that out. But I'm not here to sit in judgment on callers or make definitive statements. But vaccines, I'm asking for your input, your background, your experience to share that with others who can hear from one another. God willing, we'll be back with you live tomorrow. Another program powered by the Truth Network.