Dr. Brown Answers Your Best Questions

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Phone lines are wide open. You've got questions. We've got answers. All right. Thanks a lot. Thank you. It's time for the line of fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on the line of fire. And now here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us today on the line of fire. You got a special treat. You got to hear someone from the Truth Studio as we prerecord that little intro to the show.

Looks like they also prerecorded say they got it. And thank you for me. So behind the scenes at the line of fire, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. Any question of any kind on any subject, whether you're friendly or hostile, that relates in any way to anything we ever cover on the line of fire or anything I ever talk or write about on any level or a rumor you want to get set straight, give us a call. 866-348-7884. That is number to call. We go straight to the phones, starting with Eric in Mesa, Arizona.

Welcome to the line of fire. Great. Good afternoon, Dr. Brown. Thank you so much for taking my call. It's an honor to be able to speak to you. My joy.

Wonderful. So I just want to preface my question by telling you that I do struggle with a lot of doubt. I've always struggled with it throughout my life.

I don't know if that's the way I'm wired, but let's get to my question. It deals with the prophecies against Egypt, specifically Ezekiel 29 and 30 and Jeremiah 43. So in Ezekiel 29, 11, it states, the foot of neither man nor beast will pass through it, no one will live there for 40 years. So, Dr. Brown, we know from the historical record that Egypt has never been desolate for 40 years.

Nebuchadnezzar never conquered Egypt. So I did some research. I came across an article that was titled Did Nebuchadnezzar Conquer Egypt by an individual named Chris. He has a PhD in biblical and ancient Near Eastern archaeology. And he's also a pastor.

So he pretty much sets the stage. And he goes to Jeremiah 18, verse nine, in which the Lord states, And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. So what he does is he takes that Jeremiah 18, nine passage, and he links it to Daniel chapter four, would Nebuchadnezzar's madness, where God punishes him.

So he comes to the conclusion that he believes that Nebuchadnezzar didn't conquer Egypt because God pretty much reneged on his promise because of Nebuchadnezzar's behavior. So my question to you is, in your opinion, why didn't this prophecy come true? And as a man such as yourself that has such strong faith, doesn't it bother you that such a specific prophecy didn't come true? I mean, I already suffer from doubt.

And then I look at a prophecy like this and it's like, wow, what sort of God promises something so specific and then just doesn't come through, you know? Right. It's a great question. And it's a totally valid question. And you shouldn't fault yourself for asking it.

In other words, it's a natural question for someone studying and digging. And on my behalf, because I wrote a commentary on Jeremiah, so as you were talking, I was I was looking for my actual notes here in terms of whether it was fulfilled, the details, et cetera. So I'm going to read to you in a moment what I wrote, but I have a question for you on this.

OK, yes, yes, yes. Why do you think that this was recorded, these words were recorded in the Bible and preserved long after these prophecies were apparently not fulfilled? Yes, you know, and I've thought about that also because people say that the Bible was edited. This will prove to you that it wasn't because scribes later on would have looked back and said, wait, Egypt has never been desolate for 40 years. We need to erase this because it's going to make our people, the Jewish people and the prophets look bad.

So that's proof that it wasn't edited, my opinion. But at the same time, the prophecies still didn't come true. I mean, from what we know, the prophecies didn't come true. But we also know that Egypt has a habit of not not being honest with things because they never wrote anything about the Exodus. Right, right.

In other words, Egypt is famous for not recording negative things. So you could in terms of their own history. So I'm going to give you a couple of direct answers and then a bigger answer about the subject of doubt.

All right. So one is the fact that biblical authors and then you certainly have editors copying things, maybe putting things in a certain order, the fact that they all put this here and you have other prophecies like this, like the fall of Babylon was supposed to be tremendously dramatic and it ended up they just capitulated to the Persians, the Medo-Persians, they just capitulated. And a lot of the destruction didn't happen.

And yet it's still recording these chapters there. So that would mean that the biblical authors slash editors were completely at home with this. They weren't troubled by it. They weren't trying to hide it or shove it away. So they could have very well been used to conditionality, as in Jeremiah 18.

There are always things here. What if you only read Jonah saying Nineveh is going to be destroyed? That's all you read. We didn't have the details of the Book of Jonah in terms of the repentance. He prophesized it and it doesn't happen.

You think, well, where is the problem? Well, we know something was going on behind the scenes, so it's very plausible. Nebuchadnezzar sin or something happening within Egypt stopped this from happening as promised. But it was recorded because it was a threat. It was something God was going to do, if not for other circumstances. And Jeremiah 18 does cover that. Again, it's not like someone's trying to hide it.

This is recorded in the Bible through the generations. A second way of looking at it is we don't have all the details. We know that Nebuchadnezzar did have an incursion into into Egypt. You know, we've got notes on that from other ancient historians and we don't know the extent of it. And yes, Egyptian historians are not going to record the conquests and the negative. They're famous for not doing that.

You could have archaeological data to see was a place inhabited for periods of time, etc. But what's interesting and what I note in my commentary, it's interesting to note that 33 years later, 525 B.C., Cambyses, the Persian king, wrought havoc on Egypt, actually counted some of the things Jeremiah prophesied in Chapter 46. Thus the question can be asked, is it possible that the biblical mentality would allow for some sense of fulfillment through Cambyses, a later successor to Nebuchadnezzar in terms of being the head of the next empire, also invading from the north? Now, one of the things to throw out, God tells Elijah that he's given three commissions, that he's to anoint Hazael, he's to anoint Jehu, and he's to anoint Elisha, right? He only anoints Elisha. Elisha in turn anoints Hazael and Elisha sends someone else to anoint Jehu. So if you were looking for a literal fulfillment, it doesn't happen like that, but everything does unfold as promised.

So I'm just going to read a bit more than the larger doubt question. So I note for some commentators that it is essential to find literal or still future fulfillment for Jeremiah's prophecy, otherwise he would have to be classified as a false prophet under God's word would be unreliable. For others, like Thompson, Jeremiah commentator, the fact that such a prophecy was preserved even after it was only partially fulfilled proves that the prophecy was genuine and not the work of a later editor who reworked the words. But is this acceptable for evangelicals in light of the strong, defined assurances that these words would be literally fulfilled in chapter forty six versus thirteen to twenty six? Perhaps given the lack of definite negative evidence, it is best to assume that later editors preserved these words accurately because there was sufficient historical fulfillment through Nebuchadnezzar and or Cambyses within the normal parameters of prophetic language and hyperbole, so that the prophecy caused no embarrassment for readers. So if you were there in the ancient world, you'd see enough happened over a period of time to us.

OK, this prophecy, the threat really did come to pass. What what works for me, Eric, is that my life was so radically, dramatically transformed by the Lord in 1971, the way he he dealt with me before I was saved, the way he brought me to himself, the dramatic way that he saved and delivered me, the extraordinary things he did in my life in those early years, coupled with over 50 years now of watching the faithfulness of God, of seeing things that cannot possibly be explained rationally, other than divine intervention, the fellowship and communion I have with God to this day, that's real enough that I'm happy to live with questions. You know what I'm saying? I'm happy to say, OK, I haven't figured this out yet, but it's not going to trouble me in the early days. All of these troubled me.

If I had to get an answer, which makes sense, you're new. But I also knew Jesus has changed me and there's no denying that. There's no possible denying what he's done in his reality. So when I would talk to the rabbis in the old days before the objections, when I would talk to the rabbis, it the questions were strong and they troubled me, but God was so real to me that that drove out any doubt. Now it's a matter of, OK, let me get answers. Let's see where the truth will lead. So this is some people faith comes easier for them. Right.

And as you said, you know, maybe wider certain way. Some people have different traumatic experiences in God. But I can assure you, if you will really pursue him earnestly, say, OK, I'm not 100 percent sure sometimes of what I'm doing, but I in my heart of my heart, I do believe and want to believe God will make himself so real to you that the places where we're lacking information won't trouble you. It'll just be, oh, can I have an answer to that? But I'm sure there is one and I'll get it in due time. So it's not sticking your head in the sand.

It's taking hold of absolute reality in such a way that the more minor things disappear. So, Eric, do you have my book? Has God failed you finding faith when you're not even sure God is real? No, I do not. Would you read it if I send you a gift copy? Sure, sure. Absolutely. Absolutely.

All right. So listen, stay right there. And our call screener is going to jump on. He's doing it already. So, team, we want to send a copy of Has God Failed You to Eric? And I believe if you're struggling, too, you'll find this really, really helpful. Next week, we're going to talk about a brand new resource to have.

You'll get to order it in advance. That'll be a real faith builder as we examine why so many Christians have left the faith. Maybe things you're struggling with and how we can help them on the path back.

So let's pray for Eric that God would just give him such a certainty, the knowledge of God, that these very excellent and legitimate questions, questions which are perfectly fair to ask, would resolve themselves even before all the answers come. All right. We come back. We go straight to the phones.

Let's see. Anna, David, Jeremiah, you're next. And we've got a couple of lines that are open right now. Perfect time to call. It's six, six, three, four. Truth.

We will be right back on the other side of the break. And if you don't have my app, what are you waiting for? It's free with all kinds of resources at your fingertips. Ask Dr. Brown Ministries. Ask Dr. Brown Ministries. Put those two words in.

You'll find that on Apple or Android. We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, get on the line of fire by calling eight, six, six, three, four. Truth.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for joining us, you know, hearing John Cooper's voice there at Skillet just got some text from moments ago, we're going back and forth like that's my buddy there. All right. We go straight back to the phones and we start with Anna in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you.

Thank you so much. My question, please, is on the Apocryphal Works, which I agree are not scripture. But I did have a question, please. So I understand that they were never in the Hebrew text. Is that correct?

Right. The book called Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Ben Sira, we have in Greek and the Septuagint, and we know that there was an original Hebrew because it says so, and that original Hebrew has been found at Masada after the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. This was found. But no, there's no Hebrew canon that includes any of the Apocryphal books in Hebrew as part of the Bible. And so then we were able to basically segregate those, those Apocryphal books in between the Testaments or at the end or wherever anybody wanted to put them. But the ones that then get confusing are the ones that have editions like Esther and Daniel. How were those indicated like this part scripture, this bit isn't, this bit is?

Right. So, Anna, those were segregated just as well. In other words, those were never appended in Protestant Bibles. Those were never appended to Daniel or appended to Esther.

We're taking this having the same authority. When Protestant Bibles were printed in the days when the Apocrypha would be in the middle between the Old and New Testament, those books would be in the middle along with, say, 1 Maccabees or Bensirah or Tobit or something like that. And it was understood that they are edifying to read and you can learn from them, but they have no scriptural authority and they're not to use to be used for doctrine. So they put the editions, oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. The editions were separate books that were in the Apocrypha as opposed to, OK, you've finished Daniel and now here's the edition to Daniel. You finish Esther, here's the edition to Esther. No, it's never like that in Protestant Bibles. And off the top of my head, I don't think it's like that in Catholic Bibles either. I think the order is different. I could be wrong, but either way, it was not, to my knowledge, ever printed like that in Protestant Bibles.

There was never confusion that these were legitimate, equally inspired editions. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. You are very welcome. Thank you for your precise question. 866-34-TRUTH. We go to David in Nashville, Tennessee. Welcome to the Line of Fire.

Hello, Dr. Brown. Just appreciate being on here. Just a quick question. Well, sort of a big theological and practical question. How much does God care about our secondary doctrine, that which doesn't pertain to the Gospel or salvation? Because I know we make a big deal out of it, you know, in our debates and arguments. But, you know, we would still say we're all Christians.

Right. So would we say that God might not put as much importance to it as we do? Yes, I would say that unless it really affects our view of God or really affects the way that we live, I would say that we often put way more emphasis on it than God would. Let me give you an example.

Well, yeah, go ahead. Well, because like an example would be Calvinism and Arminianism, both of those make massive claims about the character and the nature of God. And yet we would look at it only as a secondary difference to the Gospel. Right. So on the one hand, the Calvinists and Arminians say like John Wesley and George Whitefield both acknowledged the other salvation and God being with them and God using them, right? But you do have extremes on each side that say that the others are not saved.

Right. You know, unless you're a, you know, five point sin out of Dort Calvinist saying the same way you're not saved or unless you're an extreme Arminian, you're not saved. But for the most part, we recognize that we that we're each brothers and sisters and that being said, it shouldn't be a big enough difference that we divide over it.

But these things are worth exploring for the very reasons that I said. It affects how we look at God and it affects how we live. So if, for example, I understand predestination and election in a certain way that I know that whether I'm obedient to the Great Commission or not, God is still going to save whom he saves, right, because that's that's preordained. And you might say, well, he's ordained my service. Well, if I choose not to, he I could still say, well, I I know he's going to save.

He's going to save. That could affect the burden that I carry or how live. Conversely, someone could say, if you think it's all on you to save the loss, then you can't even sleep at night because there are people who don't know the Lord and you have to share.

You know, you have to can't even sleep. You have to preach the gospel day and night. So how we process a doctrine is going to affect our view of God is going to affect how we live, for example, end times, if you believe that the rapture is any moment and you could be out of here any moment and it's only going to get worse from here on in, that will affect your world view and how you live. If you think, hey, we got ten thousand years before Jesus returns, that's going to affect how you live.

So I think, though, there are many things where we nitpick. OK, so it's healthy to look at the different the different viewpoints. And I try to glean truth on a practical level from wherever I can. Like my five years as a Calvinist reinforced something to me that even though it wasn't a religious Jew, still kind of had in me as a Jew about God being God and his sovereignty. Although I don't see it as a Calvinist would.

I could never swing, say the word of faith way, which is like God's over here and the devil's over here and you cast the deciding vote. So there was something healthy about Calvinism, even though I reject it. And hopefully a Calvinist could see, OK, there's there's a burden we should carry. There's an urgency we should feel that maybe in our meeting we feel more. We should feel also is Calvinist. But go ahead. Go ahead.

Going back to the original question, you do think that sometimes we make a bigger deal out of these secondary issues than we should? Yes, so the example I was going to give you was I was interacting with a former charismatic, now a cessationist, a very deep theological thinker, a serious theological thinker. And we were discussing the so-called kenotic heresy and getting into nitpicking aspects of it. And you had to say it exactly right. And I said to him, I don't even think the early believers, the early apostles would understand this debate. And then then I sent him a video. One of our missionaries has been in Mexico over 20 years. And he's he's reached this unreached village.

And now these people living in abject poverty, you know, sleeping on the dirt, basically, are now worshipping the Lord and sending praises to Jesus. I said, do you think you think God's like it? Well, do they have the exact data right about this, about that? So, you know, let's major on the majors. It's fine to discuss and learn and grow.

But absolutely. We often put way too much stress on this to the point of dividing, to the point of theological arrogance, to the point of judging. And for the most part, God said, OK, you hold to the basics. How are you living? How's your relationship with God? How's your relationship with your family and your neighbor?

He's majoring on the majors while we sometimes get all caught up on the minors. Absolutely. All right, well, thank you so much for that discussion.

You are very, very welcome. 866-348-7884. Oh, tell you what.

Yeah, we'll start the question, see if we can finish before the break. Jeremiah in Southern California, welcome to the line of fire. Hello, God bless you, sir. Hey. So, yeah, I'm 19 years old and I'm just trying to grow my faith in Yeshua through the Old Testament, and I heard in one of your videos that you talked about the coming of the Messiah, that it had to be before the destruction of the Second Temple, and I pretty much wanted to know, like, where can I find that? Yes, sir. OK, so and God bless you for growing and seeking God.

To me, it's a threefold argument that we have. OK, that in Daniel nine, so Daniel chapter nine versus twenty four to twenty seven, God shows Daniel a period of seventy sevens, which we understand to be seventy sevens of years, 490 years in which the children of Israel will come out of captivity in Babylon, the temple will be rebuilt, various redemptive things will happen, sin will be atoned for everlasting righteousness brought in, and then it will culminate with the Second Temple being destroyed, right? So that's that's the first thing. So first temple is now destroyed. They come out of exile. Second Temple is rebuilt before that's destroyed.

All these things have to happen. It's Daniel nine, twenty four to twenty seven. Then Malachi chapter three, Malachi chapter three. The first verses say that the Lord Haadon in Hebrew, always speaking of God, the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. So the Lord himself must come and he's going to come as a refiner's fire and he's going to purge and judge the people, especially the religious leaders. So that's second evidence.

Third is Haggai. The second chapter says that the glory of the Second Temple will be greater than the glory of the first. God will fill it with glory. Now, part of that refers to it being beautified and refurbished, which Herod did. But the words fill with glory when they're used in Exodus, when they're used in Chronicles for the dedication of the tabernacle and the first temple, those are always speaking of the glory of God. And that was his manifest presence, the Shekhinah, the cloud, the visible presence, the power of God there. So how was the glory of the Second Temple greater than the glory of the first temple when the first temple had that visible presence, had the cloud, had the fire falling and consuming the sacrifices?

Even the rabbis in the Talmud say, how was it greater the second temple in the first when the Second Temple didn't have all these elements? So the answer the one answer is the Messiah came. He came and accomplished this work of redemption before the Second Temple was destroyed, he the Lord visited the temple and his presence and the miracles and then is pouring out the spirit of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. That was greater glory than the first temple. And it's interesting that there's even rabbinic speculation recorded in the Talmud that says that the Messiah was expected within that that first century of this era. It's very interesting.

If you want to see I have it in writing, volume two of answering Jewish objections to Jesus, volume two, objection two point one, if I'm correct. Hey, God bless you, Jeremiah. Let us know how we can be of help to you in the future. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, get on the line of fire by calling eight, six, six, three, four truth. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire.

Eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seven, eight, eight, four. You've got questions. We've got answers.

I had a three minute break there. Answer the detailed question that was sent to me by an apologist friend, Muslim fellow, this Muslim apologetics. Remember, God willing, March 20th in London, don't have the location yet. I'll be debating Zakir Hussain on the question. Is Mohammed prophesied in the Bible?

Yeah. Talk about a great subject to debate. And then should be later in the week, a live stream online debating a black Hebrew Israelite leader on who are the authentic Jews, Ashkenazi Jews or the 12 tribe chart.

Oh, yeah, the 12 tribe chart is really out there. But the goal is not to give credence to this, but to demolish it for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. OK, going back to the phones in one moment, eight, six, six, three, four truth. You know, just about every day, Nancy and I talk about health, about healthy living, about healthy eating. We want to be good stewards over our bodies.

We want to honor the Lord. We want to be able to run our races long term. You know, why is it that a two year old gets up in the morning and bounces around the house, you know, wears out mom's bouncing, running, just wears out, dad gets home.

Everybody's worn out. Right. And but that is ever being cute. That kid really has nothing to offer.

Right. They can't teach you. They can't they they they can't lead something.

They can't predict this plan. They're just having fun. Why is it when we're older and we have so much to offer and so much to give that we're too worn out to get it now? Some it has nothing to do with us. We've lived the healthiest and best that we can and just been overtaken by sickness or an accident or something. So God be with each one where they are in help. But most of it for most of us is in our hands, is in our control. And we can choose whether we want to have those extra potato chips or ice cream or a burger and fries or whatever it is, if we want to have that or if we want to say no to the flesh and honor the Lord and have more years and have more productive years and have more energy. So I'm here to encourage you in that regard. Right. And then add in some healthy supplements along with that.

Or maybe just where you are. If you just need to get some strength from the supplements and let that push you towards healthy eating. So remember, our partner, our new sponsor, Trivita. I'm currently using no playa, which deals with all kinds of inflammation issues.

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We go to Bob in Groton, Massachusetts. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you very much, Michael. I appreciate you taking my call. Sure. Thanks, sir. So I have one more than one question, but if you can't take them, I understand.

My first one. Is about what just appears to be straight up polygamy in the Old Testament. I you know, I mean, the Proverbs put such a severe thing about sexual sin and so much warning about sexual sin. And the New Testament talks about your body being the temple of the Holy Spirit and the home of the Lord, and and yet it just you know, it just seems like it's just missing any kind of rebuke on, you know, Solomon and David and so many who took so many wives and then had affairs with a few hundred on the side besides the hundreds of wives and and then I always use the example and then he takes Aiken and he swallows him and his whole family up for having a little booty under his tent, I don't I don't get that I don't understand and I don't know how to and I'm for me, it's just like the Lord God is God and Jesus is his son and praise God and there's no moving me from that.

This is more like stuff that I just get nailed with when I'm in conversations with unbelievers. Yeah, well, first, as for polygamy, Solomon is condemned for what he did. The Bible over and over speaks against his excesses, speaks against him marrying so many women. It was forbidden by the Torah to do what he did. Deuteronomy 17 says the king cannot multiply wives to have many wives. Well, what David does cost him dearly. It ends up with splits.

It ends up with people dying. So even though the Bible the Bible condemns him for adultery, of course, but it doesn't condemn him for the multiple wives. But it talks about all the bad fruit. I mean, some of his kids actually die because there is so many wives and so many kids who are rivals for the throne and other sibling issues that some of his kids actually die or kill each other because of these issues. And then with Solomon, he is explicitly called out for it. I mean, God says, I'm going to divide the kingdom because your heart went after other gods and the foreign women led you astray.

And Nehemiah 13 says that even Solomon, as wise as he was, was led astray by other women. So he's explicitly condemned for his polygamy itself. It's never sanctioned as a good thing in the Old Testament, just like divorce was given under the law.

Jesus said that was because of the hardness of your hearts, but it was never God's ideal. So God's ideal was always one man, one woman joined together for life. And then Jesus reinforces that in Matthew 19, saying it's one man, one woman joined together for life. And then Paul lays out in the church that that the only ones that can lead men can only have one wife.

So it's pretty categorical there. And you see the polygamy was never his goal or ideal. Otherwise, God would have created Adam and Eve and Yvette and Yvonne.

He didn't do that. So that deals with the polygamy issue. As for Aiken, remember that a whole generation perished in the wilderness for their rebellion and refused to obey God.

Now it's a whole new generation. God mercifully brings him into the land. Now, remember, he splits the Jordan for them to walk through and then he miraculously gives them Jericho and says, don't touch anything in it. That belongs to God. When you do something on that level, there better be severe consequences, because otherwise it's everything's going to explode worse. If God doesn't deal with it decisively, then it just lets it go before you know it. You have complete chaos and anarchy.

So the severity is because of the nearness of God and because of the consequences. OK, that's a good answer. Yeah. All right. You got time for one more. Go ahead. Fantastic. So I want to handle this one delicately.

I am a faculty spouse at a private school in New England. I don't obviously want to name which one, but the, like, Universalist-type chaplain having to only be able to address, like, all faith as equal, brought up how kids are hurt and maligned for their sexual preferences and homosexuality and gay. And if any of our Christian audience wants to really learn about what the Bible really says, please come and sit with me and I will give you a lesson of what the Hebrew really says in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy. And I was like, wow. So, I mean, I never took her up on it. I would love to, but I don't know Hebrew very well.

And I don't know what to expect. Do you have any idea what she's setting that up for? It could be any number of things, but I would assume it's to deny what the Bible plainly says. And the best thing to do is say, you know, there are hundreds of scholarly translations of Leviticus and and scores of the whole Bible. Can you support that?

You know, and then just say, why is it that all the top Hebrew scholars in the world and two thousand years of reading the text, three thousand years of reading the text have yielded different results and just just push back? You know, we have lots of material on it, but get your answer and then call in or write in and we'll set the record straight. OK, thank you, Michael. Sure thing. All right. Eight, six, six, three, four, truth.

We have an anonymous caller from North Carolina. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, I appreciate what you do and speaking truth and love, and also I think you have a teachable spirit yourself and I just really appreciate what you do every day. And I've spoken to you once about this.

And I'll be glad to give my name and where I'm at to your call, but that's OK. Well, we've spoken once before a lady I run into that. Taken part of a Saturday Bible study about the Torah and the law and how she just gleaned when she's talking about the law and since then, there's more people in my area that got involved in this and my friend back in November. I was speaking with and as soon as he started talking about it, I knew what was going on and and I luckily I was going down the road and my Bible to Galatians and just told him a few things, but he kept wanting to shoot things back at me and everything he shot to me kind of contradicted what he was trying to point out to me. But I guess what it is, is there are several churches, people I know that that's that's going to this meeting and what I've figured out, the common denominator is that the doctor who's helped people get off their meds. And I guess they feel obligated to believe everything he says now that he's helping them with the medical issues. But it's all about the Torah and the law.

And it's really dangerous. And, you know, I mean, you spoke to before and I'm just trying to put the one my pastor friends this morning. And is there any information, any word that even this guy mentioned, he needs to listen to you and he said, well, can I come have him speak to this guy and debate?

I was like, you know, he just don't realize who you are and the platform you have. But I just need to help with this because this has really been grieving me in the mornings. I mean, it's after Galatians, just time after time, you just see, well, you know, how we're under a new covenant and. Right. So what would be their strongest verse claiming that all Christians are commanded in the New Testament to live under the Sinai covenant or to observe the entire Torah as much as possible? What what verse do they point to in the New Testament? Well, he texted me something that says, what is the law of Christ and says Galatians 6, 2 and 1 Corinthians 9, 21. And I'm going down the road and I'm thinking exactly that contradicts those verses, contradict, contradict, I'm thinking, do you know what you just.

Yeah, I was like, really? And I didn't even respond. Yep. Stay right there. And we'll be right back. OK. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire. So just back to our caller in North Carolina. The first thing you need to say is show me explicitly in the New Testament where Gentile Christians are commanded to keep the law of Moses. We're commanded to do many things, right? We command all believers.

When I say general Christians, all believers are committed to do many things in the New Testament, to live a certain way, read through the letters. Don't do this. Do this. Put this aside.

So just go through them and say, OK, here, I'm reading. I'm a Gentile believer. I get the writings of Paul.

I'm in Thessalonica. I'm reading it and it tells me do this, do this. This wasn't saying anything about why doesn't Paul ever deal with any of the churches and say you're not observing the seventh day Sabbath, he deals with them about sexual immorality. He deals with them about doctrinal error, about the resurrection. He deals with them about gossip and lack of brotherly love. He deals with all kinds of things and moral conduct. How can he never deals with that?

Because that was never an issue. And when it does come up, like in Rome, where you have Jewish and Gentile believers side by side, he says, don't judge over disputable matters through your reading or which day you're setting aside, especially holy, don't judge one another over disputable matters. So that's where you have to push back and say, say, give me something explicit because they have nothing. And then when you push back, we're under a new and better covenant. And we see the contents of that by what's laid out in the New Testament in terms of how we're called to live.

Push back there. And the other thing is ask them in the scriptures, in the New Testament, what is central, the Torah or the Messiah? If they say, well, the Messiah is the Torah. Well, that's a false statement.

That's a exaggerated statement. Just say, OK, what is God's purpose? That God's purpose now is the exaltation of a son, Jesus, the Messiah, so that every knee bows to him and every time confesses his Lord to the glory of the Father. And ask, is that your central message or is your central message?

We should keep the law. What Jesus said, if you let me keep my commandments, what are his commandments? Read the New Testament. Look at his commandments.

He lays them out. Read John, where every time it speaks of his commandments, it's not something about the Ten Commandments. It's talking about love one another and do the things I'm calling you to do. So you really have to push it back on them and then say, what is central for you when you witness to the lost, what is your message? What is the what is the means of salvation? And if they say, well, it's believing in Jesus and observing the Torah. Now they have added to the gospel. Now that is a dangerous heresy. If they say it's through faith, it's by grace. But we just believe that these are good things and we can learn from them. OK, God bless you.

Go ahead. But keep keep Yeshua central and keep outreach to the lost central. I would dare say that if you went to one of their worship services, the singing about the cross and the resurrection and the glories of Yeshua, Jesus would not be central as well, because people tend to get fixated on these things and end up witnessing less. They're having less devotional prayer. I probably shared that with you before. Less Christ centered in worship. It's inevitable. So you got to warn them, you're drifting.

You're drifting, friend. Yeah, and I know at Love Life this past year, a guy showed up, had good intentions. He was against abortion, but he had it was some Torah. He had something Torah on the back of his shirt, you know, and he assumed what he had didn't have the New Testament in it. Now, if these guys are reading from something that doesn't have the New Testament in it, then we're we're on a totally different ground. But if it was just a you know, we have to be Torah centric as opposed to Jesus centric, someone like that will end up being divisive over time. If that's one thing, just wear a T-shirt.

You don't necessarily read something into that. Yeah. But yeah, anyway, if any more questions come up, you can always write to our website, say, hey, I was asked this, this, this, this, this, and one of our team is expert in this will respond directly. So just go to ask Dr. Brown dot org and you'll see where you can contact and send in further questions. But if you keep the main things, the main things, it's so simple to me, you won't get caught up in the weeds, thank God for every syllable of what's written, and we learn much from every word of Torah.

But the idea that specifically Gentile Christians are required by God to obey the law of Moses in the New Testament is a destructive and false doctrine. Hey, thank you for the call very much. And let's go to David in Lomita, California. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, I appreciate all that you do, brother.

Thank you. Yeah, I have a question about Exodus 21 verses twenty-two to twenty-three. So from my understanding, as I'm reading this, I tend to understand it as it could be referring to the mother or the baby or both. Should I read the text or?

No, no, no. It's a standard text in the question about abortion. And it really has to do with how we translate a particular word, right?

Sure, yeah, yeah. I mean, I've come across, you know, I'm doing a paper for my school. And so as I looked at the text, I've seen mainly from, well, only from what I've seen, liberal scholars or, you know, commenters, that it would refer to being less, you know, the baby being less valuable than the woman.

Trying to say that, that if no harm comes to the woman, that the husband could just, you know, impose a fine on the person that caused the harm. Right, so here's some really good resources for you, OK? All right. One is go to netbible.org. That's the New English translation, netbible.org. And just go to the verse and you'll see detailed Hebrew translation notes scholarly and not like diehard fundamentalist.

It has to be a certain way. Evangelical scholars, but that'll give you a good idea of what's going on. Right. Is it talking about if she miscarries and there's no harm to the baby or she miscarries, but there's no harm to her, then there's a fine. But if there's harm to her, I too for truth. Or is it saying if the child is born and the child is born and is healthy, then it's a fine. However, if the child is injured or dies, then it's I for truth. You'll get a good strong arguments there in terms of an evangelical understanding that that it is talking about the value of the baby in the womb. The other thing is I just typed in Coca Cola, as in great Coca Cola, you will great Coca Cola, Exodus twenty one abortion, just as you're talking, I did a search for that. I read an article that that Greg has on the stand to reason website some years ago and and he does a very nice job of laying this out. So type in great Coca Cola, you k l and then Exodus twenty one abortion should be the first thing, one of the first thing that comes up and he gets into good detail and he does a good, fair job of that.

So that should reinforce give you enough academic data to reinforce the view that it's talking about the baby and the value of the baby's life. All right. Yeah, thank you.

So I'm assuming you take that position. Yes, I do. Yes. OK, great. All right.

I'm going to refer you on this paper. Sure thing. Yeah, you bet.

God bless. All right, brother. All right. All right.

Ezekiel in Long South Carolina, we literally have two and a half minutes. Can you ask the question quickly? All right, quick question. So like when it comes to the Jews, they say that Jesus began to the Samaritan woman said, we Jews, we know who we worship, and they say that the Jews didn't worship the Trinitarian God. So how can Christians worship Trinity when Jesus said the Jews know what they worship, but they don't worship the Trinity? It's a great question. Yeah, a great, short question. So short answer, Jews worship the God of the Hebrew Bible.

Right. And the God of the Hebrew Bible reveals himself as hidden and yet seen as near and touchable and yet untouchable that he is at times here on earth in a physical bodily way, like Genesis 18, while still enthroned in heaven. And it speaks of the Messiah, not just the Son of God, but as God himself.

And it speaks of the Ruach, the spirit teaching, leading, instructing, being grieved. So it lays out all the fundamental doctrines of the Trinity. God is seen and unseen.

So no one can see God. And yet that's what Exodus tells us. And yet people see God and live within Exodus. So when you put the evidence of the Hebrew Bible together, that's the God that we worship over a period of time. Christian leaders call the Trinity. But that's the God that we worship is the God of the Hebrew Bible.

The other thing that I'd point to is say, OK, who was saying that? Jesus was saying that. So he said, OK, do you do you take what Jesus said? Seriously, right now, he said, we Jews know who we worship. So do you take his word seriously?

OK, well, then here's what he also says. He says, before Abraham was, I am he says, I and the Father are one. The works that I do is the Father dwelling in me. If you see me, you've seen the Father. And I'm going to go to the Father and send the Spirit.

And the Spirit will instruct you and bring things to remembrance, et cetera. So in any in any case, the one that's talking to us, if we take his word seriously, is the very one that is the divine son is God in the flesh and is the one when Thomas fell down and worshiped him and said, my Lord and my God. Jesus didn't rebuke him.

So now you believe you finally got it now. So that's kind of the worst text to quote, because the one speaking is is the very divine son himself. But yeah, I would Ezekiel gladly discuss debate with a with a rabbi or a Jewish scholar who is the God of the Hebrew Bible. And let's agree to worship that God. And from there I can open up God's Trinitarian or or triune nature.

I like to refer to his complex unity because the great emphasis in scriptures, there's one God, one God only. Hey, make sure you have our app. We've got some really big, important articles coming out. We want you to be the first to have them. Download the app. Ask D.R. Brown Ministries. Ask Dr. Brown Ministries. Another program powered by the Truth Network.