Why Is Jesus Coming Back to Jerusalem?

Well, if God is finished with Israel and there are no national promises for the Jewish people, that's 86634Truth.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Yet another round of elections about to take place in Israel. It's always chaotic. Election after election without things being settled. The nation divided in unusual ways. How to pray?

Pray for God's will. God, have your way in the elections. All these different parties running. And you think we've got two main parties in America. You may have two main parties in Israel, but there are two of like 12 or 15 or 20, however many are running.

And then each one needs the other to form coalitions. If you're not familiar with how things run in Israeli politics, the Knesset, so it's like the Israeli Parliament or Congress, the Knesset has 120 seats. So to have a governing majority, you need 61 of the 120 seats. But no party will get that many seats. So let's say that the two primary parties of last time were Likud and Blue and White. And let's say they each got theoretically 38 seats. So now you need 23 more seats to get to your 61. Well, maybe another party got 10 seats. Maybe this party, maybe Merritt's got this, and Shas got this, and United Tour of Judaism got this, and then the combined Arab parties got this. So you got to make deals now.

Who are you going to make a deal with? Well, okay, we need you and you, but hang on. To get you in, you have a demand. Well, you only have four seats. That's all you have is four seats. That's all your party won, because you vote for parties, not candidates. Even though the candidates have leaders, you vote for parties in Israel. And then the party puts forward the leader to lead. So you only got four seats. Yeah, but you need me, and without me, you can't form the coalition.

And this is what I demand. So that's how it works out. So you end up with various compromises, and then power brokers who don't have that much power in terms of total seats, but they have power in terms of you need me for your coalition. And then who's going to go further to the left? Who's going to go further to the right?

What will the rest of the constituency accept? And it becomes a very interesting situation there, and one that almost always has somebody unhappy. I don't mean the large-scale votes that your party didn't get in, but I mean even when you vote for your party, they're almost always going to make a deal with somebody somewhere that you're not going to like.

But that's just kind of the price of doing business. And you think things get intense with vitriol and attack in America? Trust me, Israel's quite used to that.

Quite used to that. 866-34-truth. Before I go to the phones, I want to open up the subject of the importance of Jerusalem. Why is it that Yeshua is coming back to Jerusalem if, as some people believe, God is finished with national Israel? Individual Jews, they would say, can be saved, but Israel as a whole has no covenantal promises. Modern Israel today has no connection to biblical prophecy. That's what some would allege.

Of course, I categorically reject those ideas. There are promises that remain for the Jewish people as a nation. There will be a national turning of Israel to the Messiah at the end of the age, and the Jewish people are back in the land by the sovereign hand of God.

The one who's scattered is the one who regathered. So those who don't agree and say, no, modern Israel today just happened. It has statehood and UN and Western imperialism and getting involved in the Middle East and all that. And that's what it is. It has nothing to do with prophecy. Okay, I can easily rebut that scripturally, but let's say someone holds to that. And yes, individual Jews can be saved, but there's not significance for the Jewish people as a whole. Well, what do you do with the fact that Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem? Why is he coming back there to set up his kingdom?

And why are the scriptures so literal and detailed about this very thing? So just this week, a couple days out now, my brand new book, Christian Anti-Semitism Confronted the Lies in Today's Church. As I've said repeatedly, it's the book I wish I didn't have to write.

I wish my book, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood, which came out in 92 and now the updated edition in 2019. I wish that would be enough. Just that would be enough because we cover church history and some things that have happened today. But that'd be enough, except there is an ugly stream that is growing in intensity and force of Jew hatred among professing Christians.

Thankfully, the vast majority of believers I know, all the believers I work with in America and around the world are great lovers of the Jewish people and lovers of Israel. But this is an ugly spiritual cancer that must be identified and excised. And we do it by speaking the truth. We do it by exposing. We name names in the book. We name names.

We call people out. We give the quotes. We give the documents. We give the links to the videos. They're all here.

It's all documented. The last chapter of the book is entitled O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And I want to read just a little bit from this to give you a sampling of where we go in the book. So this is Chapter 11 of Christian Antisemitism Confronted the Lies in Today's Church. Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem as the angels said to the disciples as they watched the Lord ascend to heaven from the Mount of Olives, men of Galilee. Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Acts 111. Yes, in the same way he left visibly bodily from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, he will return visibly bodily to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. As Bible teacher David Pawson noted, once you accept that this return will be physical as well as personal, tangible as well as visible, in a word bodily, then another adjective has to be added. It will be local. Once that has been said, the location needs to be identified. I've never heard anyone claim that it would be Rome or Geneva or Canterbury or Moscow. Every opinion I have come across plumps for Jerusalem. But, this is not really a matter of opinion, Zechariah 14 confirms this explicitly, stating that on that day he will set his feet on the Mount of Olives, speaking of God himself, near Jerusalem on the east, Zechariah 14. It's an indication also of the divine nature of the Messiah.

It is also confirmed by other passages which we'll examine shortly, affirming the essential importance of Jerusalem during the Lord's millennial reign. But, Pawson continues, that raises real problems for the anti-Zionist, as one of their basic axioms that the land of Israel and its capital city have long since ceased to have any significance for the Lord, even if he still has plans for the Jewish people. The question, why on earth would Jesus return to Jerusalem of all places, becomes a real embarrassment. The only possible answer is that the place, as well as the people, is still integral to his purposes. So that's the end of Pawson's quote.

Exactly! Why would Jesus return to Jerusalem if the city no longer has significance? We're going to turn this question around, to what other location would the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the King of the Jews return? One of the most famous prophecies in the Bible is found on the lips of the prophet Isaiah, presenting a glorious picture of the Messianic reign. Isaiah chapter 2, the word that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it.

And many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they'll beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Again Isaiah 2 verses 1 through 4. How beautiful this day will be and how this hope has inspired millions through the centuries. No more war, no more strife. The nations of the world worshiping the God of Israel, the Messiah ruling and reigning with justice and with truth, and all of this will flow out of Jerusalem.

Peter in Acts 3 says these promises will be fulfilled when Jesus returns. So Christians who demonize the Jews have taken a very different view. In the words of Rick Wiles, True News, a broadcast that puts out all kinds of anti-Semitic misinformation, and to whom we've tried to debate and reach out, have on his show, me on his, has worked. For the record, he says, I totally reject evangelical Zionism. John Nelson Darby was an occultist.

Cyrus Schofield was a lying, deceiving swindler and con man. I'm not a religious Zionist or a secular Zionist. I am a new Zionist. Old Jerusalem is not my eternal capital. Old Jerusalem is the harlot, the great city, Sodom and Egypt, the city that killed our Lord. It will be completely destroyed by fire when Jesus Christ returns to establish his everlasting kingdom on the new earth. Unlike today's evangelical Zionist, he said, I do not idolize the state of Israel.

I desire a better country that is heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called my God, for he has prepared for me a city. Using biblical language to try to denigrate and deny the promises God gave to Israel. Other Christians who are fearful of a Jewish utopia have raised similar concerns. Many point to Dan Loper, who writes in Kabbalah, secrets Christians should need to know. Nearly 10 years ago, when the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me out of the scriptures, the mysteries of the great city, Jerusalem, I made efforts to share this information with pastors. In every instance, I received the same answer. They could not or would not acknowledge the biblical evidence pointing to Jerusalem as mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots.

The silver open response is based in tightly held traditions of men and is often rooted in fear. No. God says in his word to pray for Jerusalem, Isaiah 62 seven until it is the praise of all the earth. Now, I'm glad we'll stop there, but I'm glad that when Dan Loper tried to share this false revelation that she believes she got from God, try to share it with different pastors one after another after another shut it down. That's what she recounts.

Why? Because the Bible is just too clear. Verse after verse after verse, speaking of a glorious future for Jerusalem, the city to which Messiah will return and to the people of Jerusalem as they turn to God in repentance and recognize Yeshua as Messiah, as God promised it will come to pass. Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem because God is not finished with the Jewish people. His promises remain. Israel will turn.

All Israel will be safe. OK, we go to your phone calls when we come back. It's Thoroughly Jewish Thursday, 866-342. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-342. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Yeah, just had a panel discussion yesterday, including my dear friend Paul Wilberg singing there, the New Zealand passion for the Lord.

866-342. This is Michael Brown, the line of fire, Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Let us start with Mary in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hello, Mary. Hi, can you hear me? Yeah, if you speak, I can hear you. Can you hear me?

Yeah, go ahead. Just speak and we're good. Can you hear me? I tell you what, Mary doesn't seem to know that we can hear her. So Rachel will check things out with her in a moment. Let's go over to Nathan in Houston, Texas. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hello, Dr. Brown. So I have a question regarding Isaiah, and just to preface this a little bit, I've been doing a deep study into this book for two months every early in the morning, and I'm not even halfway done with the book because of how deep it is. But my question regards, I want to get your insight into Isaiah 19, especially starting from verse 16. In other words, the second half of the chapter, how you see this having some kind of, like, how would you see this fulfilled, whether partially or still yet future? And do you see overlapping connections between this section and the last section in Daniel 11.40, starting from there, where it seems like Egypt plays a role there as well?

So that may be too broad of a question, but I do want to get your insight. I'm working on my commentary on the book of Isaiah, but just in the early chapters, and of course it is a rich and beautiful and extraordinary book. And the events of Isaiah 19 are quite extraordinary. It's the only time in Isaiah where the word Ammi, my people, does not refer to Israel, Judah. It refers to Egypt.

And the culmination, let's just get to the end of the chapter, verse 23. On that day, there'll be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will go to Egypt, Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria. On that day, Israel will form a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing within the land.

The Lord of hosts will bless them, saying, Egypt, my people, Assyria, my handiwork, and Israel, my inheritance, are blessed. So this extraordinary picture where these lands, which today are Muslim lands, and in biblical days were polytheistic lands, will turn on a national level, and together with Israel, will all worship the Lord. But prior to that is the smiting.

Prior to that is the judgment. So as we get to the end of this age, and then the Messiah's return and the setting up of his kingdom on the earth, we don't know exactly how these things will unfold. It does mention God smiting and then healing with Egypt, which is a divine pattern.

So there's definitely going to be judgment poured out. We know that Zechariah 14 tells us that all the nations of the earth will be gathered to attack Jerusalem, and God will fight for Jerusalem. And then the survivors of the nations that attack will come to worship the Lord of hosts at that time. So it would seem that there will be a major turning of Egypt and Assyria, which would include at least Iraq today at the end of the age, turning to the Lord after severe judgment. So exactly how it will unfold, I mean, we don't know.

You know what I'm saying? It's future. But I see all of it certainly as future. None of it has come to pass yet in terms of what's prophesied here. And even the way where everyone worships together, it seems clear that when Messiah returns and sets up his kingdom, that there'll be these supernatural highways.

That it won't just be metaphorical, but it seems there'll actually be these ways for people to just come and worship and for Jewish exiles that are still scattered to be brought in together. I have not, in my studies, looked carefully to do the comparison with Daniel 11. I've never, in cursory readings and just looking at it in its own context, made those connections. You do have, beginning in verse 40, as you mentioned, the king of the south in battle.

Not even the land of Egypt will escape. So it could be, speaking of that final judgment as well, singing out Egypt, what it doesn't mention is the salvific part. It emphasizes more the judgment, whereas Isaiah is emphasizing the salvific part as well.

But you could make a case for them being parallel for sure. Yeah, so if I may add, because when it talks about Egypt being stricken in Isaiah 19, it almost sounds like it could be divine judgment, but I was thinking, could this also be like they're suffering under some sort of tribulation, which maybe the Antichrist and Daniel 11 plays a role in that, and that kind of pushes them, similar to how it will with Israel, to seek the Lord? Yeah, I mean, it's clear that God is doing the judging, right?

I mean, it says it quite explicitly in the 19th chapter. So there'll be the altar to the Lord, and here, verse 22, the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will return to the Lord. He will hear their prayers and heal them.

But that can happen, of course, through an oppressive ruler. God struck Israel, Judah, and Isaiah 10, he refers to Assyria as the rod of my anger, right? So he used a nation-strike Nebuchadnezzar that brought judgment on Judah and Jerusalem. It's called my servant Nebuchadnezzar. But we have similar language, though, if you go to, for example, Isaiah 30, so I know you're not there yet. Oh, I just read 31 this morning.

Okay, got it. So, verse 26, the moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, the sunlight will be seven times brighter like the light of seven days on the day. The Lord bandages his people's injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted. So there's divine judgment, and then the healing and something more beautiful comes out of that. So, yeah, it could be direct outpouring of wrath, as depicted, say, in the book of Revelation. It could be wrath expressed through an oppressive ruler, and that's part of divine judgment, giving people over to what they desire.

So there are all different ways that it could come to pass. It's not just amazing that it's going to happen, but it's amazing it's in the Hebrew Bible. It's another indication of divine inspiration because a patriot doesn't really think like that. A nationalist doesn't really think like that, especially when you see the idolatry of the nations and how Egypt in the past has been an enemy of Israel.

Syria is a current enemy of Israel, and yet Isaiah is seeing this vision where they'll all worship God together, the one true God. It's an extraordinary account. Yeah, so, good questions. I appreciate it.

Keep studying and keep digging. And thank you that you're doing a commentary on Isaiah. That's the first I hear of that. I look forward to it. Yeah, there's actually a bunch of Pentecostal scholars have signed on with publisher Whiffenstock that puts out a lot of cutting-edge books and good academic biblical books. And there are a bunch of different scholars that are all taking different books. Some are ready to come out pretty soon, or they've already been submitted to the publishers, and others will be years down the line.

So I don't have a tight deadline that I have to hurry getting out. The problem is, it's a little longer than expected, so I've already talked with the Old Testament editor and said, Hey, are we okay with flexing a bit here, you know, and going over the page lines? Because there's so much in it. So much in it. Well, I'm so young, so I can wait. So have a good day, Dr. Brown. God bless. We'll let it know when we get the word out when it's out. In the meantime, I've got commentaries on Jeremiah and Job.

You can enjoy those. All right, let's try to go back to Mary in West Des Moines, Iowa. Go ahead, you're on the line of fire. Thank you. Are you the doctor Michael Brown that spoke with the people of Atlanta and future Israel when you spoke about that relationship to the land? Yeah, I've got I've got a chapter in that book. Correct.

Yes. All right, Mary, I apologize, but I can barely hear you. I don't know what happened, but I see a note here. We should be praying for our Jewish brothers and sisters.

So, yeah, I'm not sure what's up with your connection, but we're unable to see it's almost like a whisper. But listen, the prayers of the church are key for God's blessing on the lost sheep of the House of Israel and for the salvation of the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Use me as an example. God's grace me to to do some things in outreach to our people, to write a five volume series on answering Jewish objections to Jesus, to do many debates with rabbis. There probably been more public debates with rabbis and put out more apologetics material than than any Jewish believer on the planet today by God's grace. So we've been able to make some contribution and videos and DVDs and series and teachings and different schools where I've been able to teach and lay some of these foundations. So by God's grace, we've done some good in that respect, all to his glory and all to his credit.

And we've also put materials out that have helped awaken the church to anti-Semitic strains that have been there through the centuries. But I'm in the Lord because the prayers of the church. I'm in the Lord because people prayed me into the kingdom when I was the lost rebellious sinner.

I'm in the Lord because God heard the persistent prayers of his people. And what carries me and strengthens me to this day is the prayers of God's people. So there's nothing more powerful you can do than to pray for the salvation of the lost sheep of the House of Israel and for God's blessing on the lost sheep of the House of Israel and protection. Your prayers make a difference.

So Mary, even though we couldn't quite talk, thank you for your sentiments. We come back, we'll start with our friend Manny in Brooklyn, 866-34-TRUTH. The phone line is open for your Jewish related questions. Thanks for joining us on Thoroughly Truth Thursday on the Line of Fire.

This is Michael Brown, and that is the voice of Misha Goetz, Marty and his daughter Misha. 866-34-TRUTH is the number to call. All right, we continue our discussion with our friend Manny in Brooklyn. Welcome back to the Line of Fire.

Thank you, Dr. Brown. Hey, just a quick question for you. As we've continued our dialogue some, and you've read some of the things I've sent you, what's your main incentive in having these conversations? Well, I think I want to dig a little bit more deeper down, you know, to see what's it called? A little bit deeper, because I do notice that some of your material is very different than other missionaries.

Like, certain missionaries are very into being... they don't care so much about truth, they're much more focused on a... what's it called? Just putting out the message, right? I see you actually a little bit much more honest in your approach, and I'm thinking maybe there's hope for you. Do you think there might be hope for you? Oh, certainly. I hope there is hope for me, yeah. All right, and that'll come from pursuing the truth wherever it leads, correct? That's right.

Got it. So, and we'll get to your question in a moment, but one more question for you. Have you ever, in your life, made life decisions where you had to go against the grain of your community or family because of your own convictions, or have you pretty much always stayed right in the middle with the community you've had and your family beliefs and things like that? Well, so, as you know, I grew up in more of a Hasidic background, and I would say recently, about maybe a few years ago, I recently started to become a little bit more... I started to drop lots of ideas that very ultra-Orthodox Jews keep dear to them. I am questioning different things now regarding what many people in the Yeshiva world would never question, you know?

Is it intellectual honesty that drives you? Yeah, I mean, like, put it this way. I mean, everyone's born into their own environment, but, you know, that doesn't mean it's true just because you're born to parents who believe certain things. Right.

So, logically, that has to be self-evident because one's born in an atheist family, another Hindu family, another Muslim, another Christian, another Hasidic, so they can't all be... some of them are mutually exclusive. Right. So, I'm with you on that, and so we share that in common.

We are God-fearing Jews that are pursuing the truth as best as we know how, and that's the foundation for our discussion. Yes? Mm-hmm. All right.

Yeah, so over to you. So, I wanted to ask you about your views on Daniel Mine, and I guess maybe you want to make an introduction about it. Basically, the argument usually you use is from verse 24 about the 490-year period. Somewhere during that period, the Messiah had to come. Yes. Basically, it starts with the terminus aquo, the time from which it starts, has been debated, rabbinic scholars, Christian scholars debate when it begins, but somewhere in the 6th or 5th century BCE, and then it ends, the terminus ad quem, the time up to which it goes is the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, which is spoken of in 927. So, that 490-year period is fulfilled there, and within that time, Messiah must come and make atonement for our sins. Yes.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, just to comment on the end time, the end of it, I have a little, maybe a minority opinion that I think it might end in the year 73 at the fall of Masada, but that's just, you know, that's the way I interpret it. I want to focus on verse 24, where you say that it has to be during this period. I actually see that this 490 years are periods of somewhat light, but somewhat pain and suffering to atone for sin.

Okay, so let's just back up. Daniel 9.1 and following, Daniel is praying. He's in exile. He's been in exile.

He was one to go in one of the first waves of exiles, so 19 years before the destruction of Jerusalem. And he is praying because he sees that Jeremiah wrote, Jeremiah 25, for example, that the exile would last 70 years. So he's going to God, confessing sin, and saying, hey, isn't it time for the exiles to return? And then God says, actually, I'm going to talk to you about a period not just of 7 years, but of 70 times 7, 490 years. So are we in harmony on that point? Oh, yeah, I mean, but I think what we're not in harmony is, it seems to me that these are not wonderful years. It seems to me that these are years of suffering in order to atone for sin, and only after the sin is fully atoned, after the period of 490 years, can the messianic age begin.

Okay, but there's the terminus ad clem of 70 or with you 73. So somehow, whatever takes place during that period is that which ushers in the messianic age? Yeah, it's supposed to usher in the messianic age, but it's not going to usher in the messianic age by having the Messiah come during that time. It's going to be by having these laid out sufferings, which talk about that the city will be rebuilt in troubled times, that the anointed one will be cut off, and then it talks about the destruction of the temple. Those are years of suffering that are inflicted upon Israel to cleanse it of its sin, and only once it's done and clean of its sin, only then the messianic age could start.

Alright, so let's say I agree with you, which I don't, but let's say I agree with you. That was 2,000 years ago, and we've had all types of suffering, exile, right up to the Holocaust, and we've continued to sin all this time. So what's the use of, it's almost like the whole table is set, and now the whole table is empty, and everybody's scattered from the dinner table again. What was the point of setting the table? What did that actually accomplish then? Well, once we set the table, we accomplished setting the table.

Now we just have to get people to come to it. But why have we kept suffering through the ages? Well, we kept suffering because we are self-inflicting wounds on ourselves, and we are keeping on creating new sins. But this was a time when we were supposed to finish the sins of, in my view, the sins of the First Temple period, the sins of the intermediate part, where we're what's called the sin during the exile, and that's why we had to be multiplied by seven times. And also the sin, in my view, of the eras of the gaps that many scholars say are between the 490s, those are the sins for the Second Temple period. So now, we don't have to atone for any old sins, we just have to atone for our current sins, and we just have to, you know, get our act together.

Okay, but basically then, what you're saying is, we had a massive debt, we paid off the debt, now we've fallen back into massive debt again. What did it actually accomplish? It didn't stop the Holocaust, it didn't stop the Khmelnyki massacres, it didn't stop all the suffering through the ages and all the terrorist attacks that have been endured, and all we've done is accumulated a new set of sins, and maybe even worse than the old set of sins, so what actually happened? So, as I said, this 490 years is to atone for a specific sin. If you look in verse 24, the Hebrew that I have informed me says, lechale hapeshah, to end the sin with a hei hayeduah, you know, a definite article. The idea is that it's a specific type of sin, in my view. Well, why can't hapeshah also mean as it would, that the definite article is transgression, broadly, as, for example, let me just read it from the New Jewish Publications Society version on the Sepharia website, so a Jewish website, Jewish translation, 70 weeks have been decreed for your people in your holy city, until the measure of transgression is filled, so there'd have to be a certain amount of disobedience that takes place, and that of sin complete, until iniquity is expiated, and eternal righteousness ushered in, and prophetic vision ratified, and the Holy of Holies anointed.

So these are distinct things that must take place. The level of sin, the nation sinning on a certain level, has to reach its culmination, and everlasting righteousness has to be brought in, sin atoned for, obviously, a once for all way, and the prophetic vision ratified. That makes perfect sense, especially when it references Mashiach being cut off and having nothing, that this is all describing what takes place at the cross, and this is what takes place within that 490 year period, before the second temple is destroyed, and Israel reaches the culmination of sin by rejecting the Messiah, that sin is atoned for on the cross, and through faith in him everlasting righteousness brought in, but the prophet spoke of ratified, and you know the Holy of Holies one time in Chronicles, and Yivar Hayyamim is referring to an individual, a priest, so that could speak of the anointing on Yeshua, but it all happened through him, and it's even mentioning Mashiach anointing on being cut off, whereas your version, really nothing happened, and Israel, for Israel to atone for sin, Israel would have had to be righteous, whereas it's speaking of Israel committing the culminating sin, or transgression, so it seems to be the opposite of what you're saying.

Well, I mean, I can hear where you're coming from, in a sense, but I do think, first of all, that you have a little bit of a problem, if you interpret verse 26, that the Mashiach there is the Messiah, and the question is, what significance does the last week entail? What's the point of the destruction? How's the destruction tied into forgiving of the sin? The old system is done. God brings judgment on the old system, the temple destroyed, but there's no more need for a temple.

In other words, atonement has been made, everlasting righteousness has been ushered in, and with that, judgment coming, because remember, Messiah has been rejected, so there is national judgment that falls, but God in his redemptive grace has made another way. Hey, let me ask you this, because we have a break coming up, but you know I give you extra time when you call. Can you be totally candid with me? You've argued different points, we've gone back and forth with some give and take. Do you think this might be one of your weaker arguments, honestly, in your heart of hearts?

No, not at all. Because then you have to say that there's actually two themes, two types of sins coming in here at the whole time, where my view is, it's a 490-year period, and it's all about one type of major sin. It's not about a progressive thing. Also, it doesn't say here anywhere in the verse that this is going to be the final end to all sin, and that Israel will never sin anymore after this. All it's saying is that this is a 400-year period for an atonement process. And everlasting righteousness was brought in. Everlasting righteousness? No, the 490-year period was in order to bring in an everlasting righteousness.

That was the purpose of it. But it hasn't happened. Two thousand years later, it hasn't happened. Hey, listen, we're out of time. God willing, we'll continue the conversation.

But really, honestly, based on our discussion from Haggai 2, it's much more textual, I challenge you to go back and really think about this honestly, and then relook at the Messianic interpretation. All right, thanks for the call. 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 866-342. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome, welcome to our thoroughly Jewish Thursday broadcast.

Michael Brown, delighted and blessed to be with you. Hey, when we have over the years religious Jewish callers, I always do my best to give extra time for the conversation for two reasons. One, I'm thrilled they're taking the time to call and have a conversation, and obviously I long to see them come to know Yeshua as Messiah.

And two, I want it to be educational for you to hear a Jewish person who's a thinking person and a student of Scripture to argue out their viewpoint or to hear their perspective. So it can be educational for you as well. So I know I do take some extra time with these calls, but it's with real purpose, and it's a great joy to do it. And if you're watching, you're listening, you're a Haredi, you're a Hasidic, you're a Yeshivas, whatever your background is, you're a religious Jew, and you have questions, but you don't want to call. You don't want your voice to be heard.

That's just great. Just write to us. Write to us.

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AskDrBrown.org. Okay, with that, let's go to Roy in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Thanks for holding. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Good afternoon, Dr. Brown. I appreciate you taking my call. Sure thing. And certainly appreciate you being on the front lines. As we go through these challenging times, having you at the, what I feel like on the front end of the war, really is a blessing and an encouragement. So your program has meant a lot to me. Well, thank you. I'm blessed to know that that's what we're here for, so thank you.

You're welcome. So my question is more of a curiosity one, but in Leviticus 8, it talks about the ram of ordination, and Moses takes the blood and puts it on the lobe and the thumb and the toe of Aaron. And I'm just curious, is there anything in Jewish culture that makes it more impactful that it's those specific body parts? So it just makes me wonder, what's the significance? Yeah, Roy, my own opinion is that whatever we would deduce from the text, rabbinic tradition would as well. In other words, in terms of the right earlobe, so, you know, signifying what you're hearing and then the right thumb. So, you know, what you're touching, handling the right big toe where your feet are carrying you, just symbolic of the consecration of the entire person over to God.

I don't believe that there are rabbinic traditions that have been preserved that we would go all the way back to the time of Moses. That would give us insight beyond that. So what you'll find is, you know, interesting interpretations, you know, interesting hermeneutical interpretations.

And one thing you can do if you want to check this out for yourself. So there's a website, Sepharia, S-E-F-A-R-I-A. So it's basically a book meaning in Hebrew Sepharia dot org. And it is a compilation of all principal rabbinic literature, Bible and rabbinic literature all in one place. You know, they get all these books in libraries, which I've accumulated over the years. I mean, it's massive amounts of books where to buy them on software was a lot of money.

And now amazingly through people's donations, it's there. So, you know, what is the Mishnah about? What is the Talmud about? What's Midrash?

It doesn't give you all the background and information, but it does give the actual text. What are Jewish prayer books look like? Liturgy.

So let's say I want to study this. Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible. T-A-N-A-K-H. The T stands for Torah, the five books of Moses. Nivi'im, which is called the prophets, that's there earlier and latter. So some of the historical books, some of the prophetic books.

And in the last decade stands for Ketuvim, which is writings, which is everything else. But if you put it so that it will be in English. So you'll have Genesis Exodus, you'll have the actual English op rather than the Hebrew. And then you go to the top of the page, you go to Leviticus 8. And then you'll see here it is in English. There's Hebrew translation and then there's English. And then if you click on the, if you're on your computer, you click on the number of the verse. If you're on your cell phone, you click on the verse itself.

It will then call up on the side commentary. Now, some of it's not translated into English yet, but some of it is. And you can actually see what some of the rabbinic commentary is. So as I'm looking, going through this in Leviticus, the eighth chapter, and then with the application of blood. So as we go down a little bit further in the chapter, this happens. The blood is dashed and so on and so forth.

So when you get to this, it would be verse 23. So I click on that and then commentary comes up. And Rashi, who's the principal, first commentary you go to, he doesn't have anything specifically on it. Ibn Ezra gets into some descriptions here. But again, nothing there that would really illuminate, like, wow, this is a new insight.

More just kind of like interesting application, like a preacher might make, in my opinion, anyway. Well, and when you described it, it almost sounded like an American phraseology in the sense that we could say a person is all in there from head to toe. Yeah, head to toe. That works back.

From ear to toe, that works. But I know that you have to take things from their context first before you bring them into modern-day context. Yeah, but then think of this, though. In another way, you have, for example, in Mark 9, which echoes what's found in Matthew 5 and Matthew 18, where Jesus says if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, throw it away so the things you see. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, throw it away so the things you touch and do. If your right foot causes you to sin, cut it off, throw it away so the place where you go.

So you have that similar kind of head to toe imagery there. Hey, Roy, thank you for the call. I appreciate it. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to William in Portland, Oregon. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you, Dr. Brown, for your time so much.

You're welcome. So my question is, to keep a long story short, I went through a journey in my faith that kind of had me, at some point, really doubting most of the New Testament, but really believing in the Old, still believing in the Messiah. Rabbi Singer had a lot to do with that. And I guess my question is, now that I've kind of worked through it again, or kind of harmonized them together, is I find myself, as a Gentile, I should say, being drawn to the Sabbath and stuff. And I'm not talking about an Acts 15 Pharisee kind of way, but I guess my question is, I want to start a YouTube channel that would be kind of like a Jewish outreach channel, because I feel like my journey kind of prepared me for those objections, because I kind of sympathized with what they thought about Paul or whatever, about the law. So I guess my question is, would it come off wrong to a Jew as a Gentile to be kind of focusing on Jews?

Like, would it come off as kind of like baity or deceptive, you know? No, no, if you state who you are, as a Christian who loves the Jewish people, and you're forthright, that's the biggest thing for a Jewish person. If they felt you grow your beard out, and you're trying to look like a rabbi, or claim to be something that you're not, you know, that's disingenuous. Now, obviously, most people don't appreciate efforts to convert them, that's how they see it, you know, to another religion. But what the real objection normally with the Jewish community is, aside from, you know, don't stuff things down our throats, any community is going to feel like that, you know, that's not welcomed. But it's the idea that you're being deceptive, that you're claiming to be something you're not, you're using terms and saying things a certain way to give the impression that you're really Jewish, or you know things you don't know, if instead you're like, okay, I'm a Christian that loves the Jewish people, and loves the God of Israel, and I want to share my faith and answer questions, objections.

Yeah, and yeah, why not? If the Lord blesses it and gives you people that watch, it'll be educational for Christians, you know, if you do things right, and potentially can reach Jewish people. And yes, the key thing is to be honest.

Don't do anything that is deceptive or appears deceptive. Be who you are, and Jewish people will appreciate that. Right, I guess my fear is that I do observe, like, the Sabbath and the feast days and stuff, and I genuinely do that, when before I ever thought about, you know, reaching the Jewish community.

Yeah, but that's fine, though. You can just say, look, I'm a Christian that loves the Jewish people, that loves the biblical calendar, I enjoy the Sabbath, you know, et cetera, but you're not trying to prove Jewishness through it. It's just your identification with the Jewish people. Just be who you are, but you'll be, do not respond to human pressure. All right, in other words, when you feel pressure from one group, well, you have to distance yourself from this, or you feel pressure from, you know, I got to look more Jewish or prove, no, no, that's never helpful. And you cannot be moved by human opinion. If you have a YouTube channel or social media outlet, you really have to pray, do your best to get God's mind, be in touch with local leaders, you know, other believing leaders that you can get counsel from and input from, and then don't be moved by human opinion. Now, you may see objections that are raised. Someone may find out about your YouTube channel and start to attack, and that may cause you to reflect more deeply or come up with more solid answers. But that's great. Just, you know, be challenged by it to go even deeper.

And William, I hope you've taken advantage. We've released three very specific demolitions of misinformation of Rabbi Tovia Singer thus far on our website, AskDrBrown. Or just, excuse me, AskDrBrown.org or YouTube channel, AskDrBrown. Check those out. We've got three more already recorded, about to record three more. I want to get as many of these out so that people can be set free with the truth. Hey, Jordan, Scott, others, try to give us a call tomorrow and we'll put you at the top of the list. God bless.