The Election of Israel and Answers to Your Biblical Questions

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. We are about to dig into the Word of God together and answer a whole bunch of important questions about what the Bible really says. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown.

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All right. First, I want to answer a question about the meaning of Israel's election in Romans 11, 28, and 29. I dealt with this at some length when I responded to my colleague, Jeff Durbin's comments on Apologia Radio, where I took exception to some of his comments about who is a Jew today and Israel today, while fully affirming that in Jesus, Jew and Gentile are equal, and while fully affirming that the only eternal election that saves is election in Jesus, and that even though I argue plainly based on the universal testimony of Scripture, Old Testament, New Testament, that Israel, the Jewish people, remain a chosen people, still that is chosen as a nation for service. Salvation only comes on an individual basis through Jesus.

So being born a Jew does not save you any more than being born into a Christian home saves you unless you come to know God for yourself through Jesus. What I want to do is just share some selections from different commentaries with you on these verses, Romans 11, 28, and 29. First, Joseph Fitzmaier in the Anchor Bible series. Dr. Fitzmaier was a top New Testament and Semitic scholar.

This is what he says. I'm going to focus on verse 28, the second half of the verse. As far as election is concerned, there are beloved of God because of the patriarchs. So even though they are enemies of the gospel, Paul says for your sake to the Gentiles, because through their rejection of the gospel that has now gone to you, they are still loved as far as election, as far as there being a chosen people, they're still loved on account of the patriarchs. Fitzmaier writes this, the election of Israel is irrevocable in human history manifest in the favor shown to its patriarchs, a claim that Gentiles lack. So Leviticus 26 42, Fitzmaier cites were in the midst of the curses and judgments on the Jewish people scattered around the world, the people of Israel scattered around the world, God says, I will remember my covenant.

I'll remember my promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I'll remember the land because that dates to before the Sinai covenant. And he says the two parts of this verse express the tension between the gospel and the election of Israel. He said what Paul admits in this verse creates a problem for his generic thesis about justification and salvation through faith, which he is defending globally in chapters nine through 11, because he seems to admit another principle of salvation, one somehow tied to an ethnic condition and based on God's love for the patriarchs. But he phrases the matter in this way because he is interested in the contrast of Israel as enemies and as beloved. Paul insists that its former condition does not wipe out the latter.

So even if individual Jews oppose the gospel, even if they are those who are very hostile to the gospel, even if they are those who would militantly work against someone like me, a Jewish believer, reaching out to my Jewish people, and therefore they are lost and in need of salvation, yet at the same time they are part of this people that is still chosen and elect with a mission and a purpose in the earth. That's what Paul is saying. Let's go over to Charles Hodge. Charles Hodge, one of the great reformed theologians, his systematic theology is still used to this day in reformed circles. He was also a biblical commentator. So listen to what Hodge has to say on Romans 11 verses 28 and 29. In this and the few following verses, the apostle sums up what he had previously taught.

The Jews, he said, were now, as far as the gospel was concerned, regarded and treated as enemies for the benefit of the Gentiles. But in reference to the election, and Hodge wrote this over 100 years ago, in reference to the election, they were still regarded as the peculiar people of God on account of their connection with the patriarchs. So all of my reformed friends, all my Calvinist friends, all those that hold to covenant theology, et cetera, and other theologies that would differ with mine when it comes to Israel, maybe you're not premillennial, et cetera, just hear what Hodge is saying. This is not a dispensationalist position.

It's the only ones who hold to it. That's why I'm quoting these different scholars from wide backgrounds. He says, they are enemies, whether of the gospel of the apostle or of God is not expressed and therefore depends on the context.

Each view of the cause has its advocates. The last is the correct one because they're enemies to him by whom on one account they are beloved. But then he goes on to say this, that as it regards the election or the covenant of God, they are still regarded with peculiar favor because descended from those patriarchs to whom and to whose seed the promises were made. This is by expressing in a different form the idea which the apostle had previously presented, namely that the covenant made with Abraham was inconsistent with the final rejection of the Jews as a people. God foresaw and predicted their temporary defection and rejection from his kingdom but never contemplated their being forever excluded.

How is that for being loud and clear? The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Hodge says this, the gifts of God in general and specifically the calling of God. God is not a man that he should change having chosen the Jews as his people. The purpose which he had in view in that choice can never be altered and as it was his purpose that they should ever remain his people, their future restoration to his favor and kingdom is certain.

That's what Charles Hodge wrote. Now all I believe he's doing is rightly explaining what scripture states but I want you to hear this from a non-dispensationalist, from a Calvinist, a highly respected theologian of 100 years ago. How about Leon Morris, one of the top New Testament scholars, evangelical scholars of the last generation, highly respected New Testament scholar. He writes this on verse 28, Paul is emphasizing the divine plan through Israel that though Israel had been faithless and thus the object of God's hostility, God had nevertheless worked through this faithfulness to bring about his will and he had not forgotten that Israel was his people. The refusal to accept the gospel did not alter the fact that he had chosen them to be in a special relationship to him, the people through whom he would make his revelation and to whom he would send his son. Election is an important concept even when the nation had not lived up to all that it is involved in its calling. An election means that they are loved on account of the patriarchs. It does not mean that they are all elected to eternal salvation. Paul is talking about the place of the nation in God's plan, not the fate of individuals. Verse 29, 4 introduces a reason for what Paul has just said.

There is a logical basis for his position. In Greek, the first word of the verse is irrevocable. God does not change his mind after he has made gifts or issued calls.

He does not take them back. What God has done and said stands. Paul speaks specifically of God's gifts, a very general term, and he goes on further and says this, Israel was a special people and had special gifts accordingly, gifts like covenants, adoption and the like which are not to be thought of as individual or racial endowments. With this, Paul links God's call. Some consider this is more or less equivalent to gifts, but the two words are distinct. As Cranfield points out, aspects of call like commission, function and tasks are not gifts. God gives gifts then and calls peoples and nations and he does not go back on either. God can be relied on.

I could give you quote after quote from scholars who are not dispensationalist, scholars who are widely recognized as exegetes of the Greek, as solid theological thinkers, and one after another will say the same thing. I've got lengthy quotes here from C.K. Barrett who wrote one of the top commentaries on Romans. How about R.C. Sproul?

How about that? How about a strong cessationist, Reformed thinker, one of the most respected Reformed thinkers in recent years, now with the Lord. He said today Israel and the church are not on friendly terms, focusing on what Paul wrote here. Romans 11, 28 and 29. God made a covenant with his people and he made promises to save them as a nation. In his electing grace he will keep that covenant and will bring about the restoration of the Jewish people. This is what R.C.

Sproul said. God chose the Jews as his people and the purpose which he had in view can never be altered. It was his purpose that they should be his people forever and for that to take place there must be a future restoration and their inclusion in his kingdom. This covenant of God will be fully and finally accomplished.

See how God's plan works out? The Jews are given the blessing, they reject the blessing and the blessing is given to the Gentiles. The Gentiles are brought in but then after that the Jews are brought back. So it's not a comment about the Jewish people being restored to the physical land. I'm not reading that into any of these comments here or implying that they would hold to a position or held to a position saying yes Israel today is fulfillment of prophecy.

I'm simply saying that every one of them and I could list commentator after commentator after commentator with similar comments. John Stott, one of the most respected evangelical commentators of the last generation. Colin Cruz, highly respected New Testament scholar and on and on. Luke Timothy Johnson, a top Catholic scholar.

William Barclay. So all ranges of opinion and views. All recognizing that the Jewish people remain chosen and elect in God's sight because he doesn't go back on his word even though if there is not guaranteed the salvation of a single individual Jew living today all must come through the cross, all must come through Jesus. It still says the Jewish people remain chosen to this day.

It is written and so it is and that should encourage God to not go back on his word. Yes, I'm calling all of the rest of it. In a world filled with many health challenges your immune system is your shield, your protector to fight off viruses, infections and foreign invaders. This is Michael Ellison founder of TriVita Wellness. Fortifying your immune system defense is crucial especially this time of year to help keep you healthy and vibrant through the winter months. I would like to introduce to you TriVita's elderberry supplement with zinc and vitamin C. It's a power packed weapon to support your immune defense and elderberry has been used for centuries to support overall wellness. Now we've harnessed its incredible antioxidant health benefits along with zinc and vitamin C. Zinc is known as the immune gatekeeper with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to help regulate immune function.

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We're going to keep your faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front line. So on our broadcast at the end of the week we do our best to dive into the Word together, answer your questions together, field a wide range of subjects that come in and I'm answering questions specifically on individual verses or Hebrew or Greek words. If you have the app Ask Dr. Brown Ministries just scroll down on it and there's a search line. Type in what you're looking for. You'll find tons of your questions already answered. The same thing on our website AskDrBrown.org.

Take advantage of the resources we have out there. All right some specific questions. Sean wants to know about the Greek word zeteo for seek as in seek and you will find. It really means seek. I don't know that there are all kinds of nuances in it.

When I see it I would just translate it like that. If you're looking for information you're seeking information in the sense of inquiring but otherwise it basically means seek. It's not one of those things where wow when you dig in the Hebrew or Greek you find out all kinds of special meanings.

There seek means seek. Scott, what is the book of Acts of the Apostles have examples of water baptism where they said the name of Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus and the name of the Lord. What are they saying the name of Jesus instead of Matthew 28 19 form. I'm sure you've had this discussed somewhere in the past but I've not found it yet. I have discussed it.

I don't believe there's a special article or show where we have it so it might not come up if it's being searched for. Those who hold to what's called Jesus only or oneness Pentecostalism say that when it says in Matthew 28 19 to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that that name is Jesus. That Jesus is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and that's why you see it as it is in the book of Acts. That's really a misinterpretation of the Greek.

In the name of means in that sense not one individual name but in this formula using this speech and it is in the name of the Father and in the name of the Son and in the name of the Spirit. When you have early church literature like the Dake which is known as the teaching of the 12 apostles which is probably early 2nd century so one of the earliest church documents it does reflect that custom of baptizing and using that formula in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What's interesting is that in the Greek you have variations in the book of Acts. You have baptism in the name of Jesus, baptism into the name of Jesus, baptism upon the name of Jesus.

So different ways of saying it in Greek if someone was saying well what's the exact right formula that's not the point of it. They were either calling on the name of Jesus at baptism so the person being baptized was calling on his name or it meant they were being baptized into Jesus, into this Jesus faith. They were now being immersed into the body of Christ and into Jesus.

It could mean that as well. So it doesn't seem to be giving you the formula that Matthew does as much as the spiritual reality of what's happening. Now interestingly when I was baptized which was February 4th of 1972 our pastor wanted to make sure he covered all the bases so I was baptized in the name of the Father and Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit.

That's how he would baptize to make sure that he covered the bases and did it as recorded in Matthew and as reflected in Acts which I appreciate his heart in doing that but I believe ultimately what's clear is that in the book of Acts it's not a specific formula hence the different wording in the Greek as much as a spiritual principle of what is taking place. Thomas has this question. I'm wondering how Ezekiel 3.18 applies to us today. Are we under that same mandate or is it for a specific calling such as a watchman?

Please help shed some light on this. It's been weighing on me heavily. Thank you for all you do Dr. Brown. I love you sir. Thomas you are very welcome and thank you for the good word. So we know Ezekiel 3 and then Ezekiel 33 he's given the commission as a watchman and God gives very strong words to the watchman so I want to read Ezekiel 3.18 to you. Let's back up actually to verse 17. Son of man I've made you a watchman for the people of Israel so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me when I say to a wicked person you will surely die and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life that wicked person will die for their sin and I will hold you accountable for their blood but if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways they will die for their sin but you will have saved yourself again when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil and I put a stumbling block before them they will die since you did not warn them they will die for their sin the righteous things that person did will not be remembered and I will hold you accountable for their blood but if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin they will surely live because they took warning and you will have saved yourself.

So to what extent does that apply to us? Let me say what it is not telling us. It is not telling us that if you do not witness to every person you meet and they die and go to hell that their blood is on your hand. It is not telling you that. It is not telling you that you are responsible for the salvation or the warning of every person in your neighborhood or in your community or even in your family. Now it directly falls on you and if you fall short in warning adequately and they are lost or they suffer that now you are accountable for their blood.

It is not saying that. However, here is what I believe does apply as a principle. First to those of us who are watchmen there is a calling on my life to be a watchman on a certain level and to sound the alarm and if God shows me something the trouble is coming or problems are coming or issues are coming and I have got to stand and speak then there is a holy responsibility with it and if I fail to do that then lives are at stake. It does not mean that if they die I die or if they are lost I am lost. It does not mean that but it does not mean there is accountability. But for sure for all of us who are believers if the Lord clearly spoke to you this is a matter of individual obedience. If the word of God jumped out at you one day and you knew or the Holy Spirit spoke to you clearly and you knew I must warn my friend, I must warn someone that trouble is coming, I must warn someone that the enemy wants to take them out or they need to repent and get right and you refuse to do it then there is accountability.

Yes, it is failing in a mission but it would be like many, many other missions. If God sends you, if God calls you to do something and that is going to be life saving for a person and you fail to do it and they have consequences before, let's just say that you notice a colleague of yours, you are talking to them and you are driving behind them, you are on the phone with them and you notice their car kind of like what is going on wobbling around and you realize they are texting and driving and they almost get in an accident and you think what in the world is going on and you know I better tell them you got to watch yourself. No, they are not going to like me if I say that or they may take it personally and then you hear they get in a mild accident.

What happened? Man, I was texting and driving and they say it to you and you are like I better say something that I knew I had to warn you about it and please be careful and you still don't say anything and then they get in a really bad accident. Yeah, there is some degree of accountability if you know and if God has given you a burden. So it is not a matter of feeling this oh no, oh no, I sat next to someone on the plane and I didn't share the gospel with them. Oh no, someone came by my house, a sales person and I didn't share the gospel with them. Oh no, I was at work today and I didn't share the gospel with everybody at work.

No, that is a paranoid way of living and it will drive you crazy and it won't help in your witness either. But when you know the Lord wants you to share, when you know I have got to share the gospel with this person, I have got to share the gospel with this person and you refuse either fear of man or desire to please people or whatever it is then yes there is accountability. And pastors, shepherds, leaders to the extent that you are called to be watchmen for your flock or over the areas that God has given you some type of spiritual commission and calling. Yes, we are responsible if we see error and we know we need to confront it and we don't because we don't want to lose followers or lose donors. We are accountable. It doesn't mean we go to hell. We are accountable.

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All right. Fire and Ice on Twitter asked this. The Greek word Ekbalo, the same word used for casting out demons is used in Matthew nine to send out workers into the harvest. What's the connection?

It's very interesting. Ekbalo does mean to cast out, to drive out. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, it's used sometimes when Israel drove out the Canaanites. In the New Testament, it's the common word for driving out demons.

It's also used in Mark one when Jesus is sent out into the wilderness for his time of testing and trial. It's Ekbalo there. He's pushed out. There's a forceful pushing to it. So we are to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into his harvest.

It's a strong sending. Yeah, so it's not driving out violently as demons would be driven out with a certain intensive force, but it is a very strong word. And that's what Jesus tells us to pray, that the Lord would thrust forth. That's a good word to use. That gets the feel of it. He would thrust forth laborers into the harvest.

And sometimes that's what it takes to get people out on the field and to get us out of our comfort zone. So, Lord, do it again. Thrust forth laborers into the harvest. The harvest remains ripe, and the laborers remain few. Upstater asks, what does it mean to be drunk? The Bible condemns drunkenness, but Psalm 104 15 speaks positively of wine, saying it gladdens the heart. What is the difference?

Great question. Number one, the best we can tell, and I'm not a scholar in this field, but as best as I've studied and understand, wine in biblical times was not as fermented as wine today. So the intoxicating qualities of it were lesser.

You know what would be a parallel? I don't mean an exact parallel, but many of you know my testimony. I was a heavy drug user for two years before I came to faith.

So from 1969 to 1971, then got wonderfully born again, the end of 71. So I smoked pot a lot. I did other things like shoot heroin and cocaine and speed, etc. But pot just got added in and smoked pot all the time. Well, as pot is now being legalized in different states now, as we've discussed this over the air and why I've said I don't think it's a good idea, people have called in and said, by the way, Dr. Brown, pot today is not like pot in your day. In other words, it is much, much more potent now than it was back then.

So a lower quantity could get you higher. So it's the same with wine, that wine was part of the culture. I've been to Italy, what, 27 times ministering there, and it's part of the culture. I've been in many Christian homes or Christian meetings where everyone's eating together, and these are godly people. They love holiness.

They love purity. They love living honorably before the Lord, and they have wine with their meals. And many of them have never been drunk once in their life.

Same with other European countries. So wine was more part of life in ancient Israel. And remember, Paul told Timothy to drink wine, not just water, because it was stomach ailments, apparently wine having some medicinal qualities. So there would be a drinking of wine that would be celebratory, and you enjoy the flavor of it, and it kind of just had a positive feel with it versus getting drunk where you're now influenced by it, where you're not thinking clearly, where you are impaired in some way. And just like there are legal limits, okay, you are now intoxicated because you have an alcohol level of such and such in your blood, and certain people can drink more than others without getting intoxicated, drunkenness is intoxication. Drunkenness is you're out of control, or your thinking process, your critical thinking is impaired.

So someone that just had a little wine, enjoyed the meal, and just like the food gave you a certain good feeling, the wine gave you a certain good feeling, and enlightened things a little, that would be one thing. Another thing entirely would be that you can't drive well, that your reflexes are impaired, that your thinking is impaired, that your moral senses are impaired because you're drunk. And that's always sinful. What I would caution though is this. Never look to wine or to anything else to do what God is supposed to do. Never look to drink to get you in a certain mood, whereas it should be your relationship with God, and making biblical choices, and following biblical principles that gets you in that right mood. Otherwise you could become dependent.

Otherwise this could now become a crutch, and I've seen it all too often, and now opens the door to more drink, and then to harder drink. I've seen it over and over. I'm not being some old prude.

I've seen it for decades without fail. So caution when it comes to that. SMH. Is the Petra Petros point a good and reasonable argument to make when discussing an upon this rock I will build my church? So in Matthew 16, if you are a Catholic reader, you understand that Peter, the little rock, is called by that name because Jesus says on this rock I will build my church. So Peter would then be the first pope, and the church built on that foundation. So yes, on Jesus, but the pope would have a special role.

And non-Catholics would read it differently and say, okay, you have just confessed Jesus. You have just said, when he says, who do you say I am? You are the Messiah, the son of the living God. Okay, you are Peter, so you are a part of the rock. You are a small rock. And on this rock, namely the rock of the confession of faith, that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God, I will build my church. So that's I would, as a non-Catholic, interpret it in the latter way.

Mike. In Andy Stanley's I Love My Church sermon, at about 45 minutes in, he says that struggling with sexual identity is a struggle like no other. Is this struggle special, as Andy says, and therefore deserves its own category?

No, it does not deserve its own category. And many of you know that I interacted with Andy Stanley quite extensively on these issues on and off over the last eight years. And when I went on the air to say that I absolutely rejected his position and find it terribly, terribly dangerous, he can say what he says about the Bible says certain things are sin, etc.

But when he refers to men married, quote, married to other men or women married to other women as Christians, as followers of Christ, he is in serious error and is seriously leading his people in error. And before the show that day we interacted and I said, here's everything I'm going to say. If you feel anything is unfair, let me know. If you want to come on my show to rebut, let me know. So I've been as open and forthright as I can. So here's what we need to understand.

Struggles with sexual identity or gender identity can go very, very deep. And in that sense can be deeper than certain temptations that we have. For example, I was a heavy drug user, I said, for two years. And when I got saved, I got instantly set free.

And it was not a big deal to uproot it. The work of God in my life was so deep and wonderful and glorious, the conviction of sin so intense that when salvation came and I surrendered, I was set free. Other things went very, very quickly. My terrible, horrific temper, that took some time. Other things, just dealing with lusts of the flesh, heterosexual desires. That is a lifetime issue in terms of, yes, I live a godly life, submit it to the Lord, but I always have to be aware of how we are wired and where temptation can be. Or say pride or something else. These are things that can be more deep-seated. So not everything is the same. For some person, being an alcoholic is deep-seated and very deep in the core of their being.

And their parents were alcoholics. And it's a deep-seated work of the Spirit to get them free. And for others, it's like me with drugs.

Get free and you walk away from it. So these struggles can be very deep in many ways. But there are other struggles that can be very deep in many ways.

And that's one of the errors when we put this in a special category. It's the same cross. It's the same denial of self. It's the same blood of Jesus. It's the same power of the Spirit.

It's the same Word of God. It's the same grace of God that enables us to change. And there are rotten elements to the core of our being.

Every one of us is human beings fallen outside of Jesus. And the Lord wants to redeem us and do a work in us to the very core of our being. So what we need to do is take hold of that supernatural and glorious grace and apply it in every single area of life.

Now let me say this last thing. When you're ministering to someone who is same-sex attracted and now they come to faith, the first goal is not to turn them into a heterosexual. The goal is to introduce them to really know the Lord, get deeper in God, and grow in holiness. Be holy, the Lord says, for I the Lord your God am holy. So that's the goal, to help them grow in holiness, in the character of Jesus, in depth of relationship with the Lord. And now as they do, now you can help them maybe get to the root of that same-sex attraction. Sometimes that can come through counsel or prayer or ministry. Sometimes it's a matter of simply saying no and growing in God. And other times it's simply a matter of saying I resist this, I don't yield to it. But the first goal is not heterosexuality.

The first goal is holiness, Christ-likeness, conformity to his character, and then out of that there could be inner healing, freedom, deliverance, transformation that can then take on a whole range of changes, including changing into heterosexual for men. Are you tired of feeling run-down, constantly battling colds, flu, and infections? Trivita's Elderberry with Zinc and Vitamin C is here to give your immune system the boost it needs. Trivita's Elderberry Zinc and Vitamin C supplement is a three-in-one capsule scientifically formulated to support your immune system naturally. Did you know that black elderberry fruit possesses powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral compounds? Because of its natural properties, elderberry has been shown to reduce the severity and duration of respiratory infections such as the cold and influenza. Vitamin C and zinc are powerful antioxidants that help protect our cells from oxidative stress and damage caused by free radicals. Immune cells are particularly susceptible to oxidative stress, so maintaining optimal vitamin C and zinc levels helps support the healthy immune cell function. Elderberries have been cherished for centuries for their wellness benefits, and now Trivita has harnessed the immune system's supporting power in every bottle of Trivita's Elderberry enhanced with zinc and vitamin C to help you fight off colds, flu, and infections. Now is the time to boost your immune system and the immune systems of those you love with Trivita's three-in-one Elderberry Zinc and Vitamin C supplement today.

To order Elderberry with Zinc and Vitamin C for yourself, call 1-800-771-5584 or online at Trivita.com. Order today and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order. As a new customer, 100% of your order proceeds from your first order will go to support the Line of Fire radio broadcast, 1-800-771-5584 or online at Trivita.com. 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. Alright, one more segment to answer your Bible-based questions today.

We go back over to Facebook. The N asks, what about the word begotten, describing Jesus as the only begotten of the Father? It depends on which Greek manuscript tradition is being followed, but the tradition that I believe is the most accurate and the understanding that is the most accurate speaks of him as not begotten as much as the one and only, the unique Son. The whole question of the begetting of the Son or the eternal begetting of the Son is very fascinating. In Psalm 2, God says, this day I've given you birth. Well, that's a coronation psalm.

That is as the King is being installed and then ultimately in a messianic sense, Paul applies it to the resurrection of Jesus in Acts 13. As to when the Son became, was the Son always the Son, Father, Son, Spirit, so therefore eternally begotten, what does that even mean eternally begotten? These things are deep spiritual mysteries, but the simple thing is that in this Greek New Testament context like John 1, for example, I believe it should be translated the one and only. That's what it means there, the one and only, the unique Son of God.

Alright, let's see here. George, Revelation 14, 13, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors for their deeds follow with them. The literal meaning of the Greek appears to be blessed are the dead who have died in the Lord. They rest from their labors and their deeds follow after them. The main difference being that every translation I checked as a version of from now on being future and in the context, it makes much more sense that it's those who have died in the Lord and now rest.

Okay, I've never really looked at that in a way in terms of, how can I say, I've never looked at that as an issue or a difference. What I want to do is I'm going to read from the New English translation. The NET is really good because it gives you a lot of background notes. It has over 60,000 translation notes. You can read it for free at netbible.org. Revelation 14, 13, then I heard a voice from saying, write this, blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on. Yes, says the Spirit, so they can rest from their hard work because their deeds will follow them.

I'm not really sure if there's any dispute. There's not even a translation note on from this moment on. So, from here on, as things are unfolding in history in the Book of Revelation, blessed are those who have died in the Lord from this moment on.

Obviously, there's been trial, test, tribulation, now they get to rest and things are intensifying. But I'm not sure I'm seeing the point to the nuance you're making. My apologies. Vince, why isn't the cross sufficient to cleanse us from all sin? I find that teaching odd.

It is. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Every sin we've ever committed, the ugliest, most wretched, horrific sins are all cleansed by the blood. Even at our ongoing walk with the Lord, so there's the once for all forgiveness that brings us into right relationship with God. Then the cleansing as our feet get dirty in this world, it's all by the blood of Jesus.

That never changes. Those who blaspheme the Spirit can never be forgiven because they've rejected the forgiveness, because they've cast it off, because they've refused it. The blood of Jesus can cleanse and does cleanse every single sin, but if we reject it, there is no forgiveness. That particular sin is an ongoing rejection of who Jesus is and what he's done, and therefore there is no cleansing.

Joy, love, peace. Asks the prodigal daughter and son, the book of Esther, what means God is not mentioned. I don't grow up reading the Bible and I'm trying to read, English is not my first language. Okay, so when we talk about the prodigal son, it's the son who went away and the son who turned away from the father's household and spent all his money in a wasteful way. And so he turns away and he wastes what he has. He is prodigal. It's the son that turns away and turns back.

It just becomes famous in that term, the prodigal son. In the book of Esther, God is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible, excuse me, anywhere in the Bible, anywhere in Esther. The one place in the Bible where God is not mentioned. In other words, it never says God, it never says Lord, it doesn't even mention prayer, it mentions fasting.

Now, it's implied his presence is as clear in the book of Esther as anywhere because he is clearly acting and clearly working supernaturally on behalf of his people, and the fasting is clearly turning to him in desperation. There's even a Jewish phrase, hamakom, which means the place. And hamakom is another way that God is referred to in Judaism. A religious Jew can refer to God as hamakom, the place. You say, what does that mean? Well, it's for the book of Esther.

If you don't act, help will come from another place. Well, that place being God, hamakom, the place. But God is not explicitly mentioned within the book of Esther. David, how can we better understand the rhema, spoken word of God, as in the sword of the Spirit is the word rhema of God? Does that mean we pray the word of God? What about making proclamations with the word declaring God's promises?

Ah, okay. This is a standard misconception that rhema is spoken word and logos is written word. That's not accurate. It's a popular teaching. It's a common teaching.

It's not accurate. They both mean word. If I say, what's the difference between words and speech or speaking and saying? Well, there are different words in English, but is there really a big difference between this? This is what he spoke. This is what he said. There's really not a big difference between these things. Let me give you the words that he spoke.

Here's his speech. It's very similar. So there's not a major distinction in the use of logos or rhema, just like there's not a major distinction, like I said, between speaking and saying in English. So the word of God, the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. It doesn't mean the spoken word. It just is the word of God. And the word of God, of course, is first and foremost written. The Bible is written.

It is a word. It is revealed and now put in writing. So it's spoken. When the prophet spoke, when Jesus spoke, these were God's words and now written becomes the written word of God.

So we can do many things with the word of God. We can proclaim it. We can repeat the promises.

We can pray it to God. Lord, it is written. Lord, you promised, etc. Lord, you told us to ask, etc. You can do all that, but it is not the spoken word that is the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6. That would be reading something into the Greek that is not actually there. All right, let me scroll down and see if I've got another question here.

All right, let's jump back over to our Twitter account and let me look at other questions that have come in there. Holy days from Victoria and how they've been fulfilled and will be fulfilled in Christ. So the Sabbath first points to the rest that we find in the Messiah. The Passover and unleavened bread point to the Messiah's death on the cross and the purging and cleansing of his soul. First fruits within the Passover holiday, that points to the resurrection of the Messiah. Pentecost Shavuot Feast of Weeks to the outpouring of the Spirit. Feast of Trumpets, which is still a future feast to be fulfilled.

So those are the spring feasts, the fall feasts. Feast of Trumpets points to the return of the Messiah with the blast of the trumpet as we have in Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, Revelation 11, the Messiah returning with the sound of the trumpet, the last trumpet, the seventh of seven trumpets. And then that leads to Yom Kippur Day of Atonement, national cleansing for Israel. So the Messiah returns in Zechariah 12, cleansing for Israel in Zechariah 13, 1. Then Sukkot Tabernacles points to the ingathering of the nations. That is the final, the grand finale, the ingathering of the nations which we then see in Zechariah 14, all the nations streaming to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel, survivors of the nations that attacked Jerusalem. We see the same picture in Isaiah chapter 2.

Reformed to Rome. I'd love to hear your personal view on Colossians 1.24. Colossians 1.24, Paul writes there, Now I rejoice. It's a fascinating verse.

I just talked about it teaching yesterday at the Global Awakening Theological Seminary. Now I rejoice in what I'm suffering for you, and I fell up in my flesh with a still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the church. So there's nothing lacking in what the Messiah did for the salvation of our souls. And for forgiveness of sins.

I was paid for once and for all, in full, complete, 100% at the cross. But there are sufferings that are attached to the Messiah, the birth pangs of the Messiah in Jewish thought. That there was a certain amount of suffering associated with him that still must be accomplished on the earth.

And this is where we join in with him. A reproach that comes, a persecution that comes, a hardship that comes, an agony of prayer that comes that is associated with the advent of the Messiah. So it is his sufferings that are experienced by his people on the earth in solidarity with him. And as we're persecuted, as we're hated, as we're rejected, as we groan in prayer and carry the reproach of the cross and the suffering that that brings, sometimes physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, right up to martyrdom.

That as we do that, we are filling up what still remains. He suffered as he did on the earth. We suffer with him. We join together. We're treated as he was treated. And when that comes to its culmination, one of the things that has to finally occur then leads up to his return as those things are fulfilled.

So the suffering church plays that important role in God's plan of redemption. Hey, thank you for joining us. Just a reminder, I encourage you to make a good investment in your own health. If you haven't called TriVita or co-sponsor, I encourage you to do it. Find out about the amazing wellness products and remember 100% of your first order goes to the line of fire. You can call 800-771-5584 to find out more. Another program powered by the Truth Network.