Does Matthew 21:43 Support Replacement Theology?

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Does Matthew 21 43 teach replacement theology? We'll answer that and take your calls right here. It's time for the Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown.

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Get our emails, AskDr.Brown.org, and you will automatically get the Frontline newsletter starting in January. Okay, that's number one. Number two, does Matthew 21 43 teach replacement theology? If any text is frequently quoted in this regard, it's that text. There Jesus says to the Jewish people, as we understand it, as it's commonly quoted, and let's put it up for those that are watching, Matthew 21 43, it says this, and I'm going to read it when the chief, excuse me, Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces. Anyone on whom it falls will be crushed. So I tell you who the Jewish people, that's how it's normally understood, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

You say, well that's obvious. There is a replacement there. Like it or not, God is replacing Israel with the church. So the Jewish people, the nation of Israel with the church, another people, largely gentile, some Jews as well, but largely gentile, no longer Jewish, no longer Israel, the church. The church has replaced Israel.

Really? Are you sure that's what it says? Now this is at the end of a series of parables that Jesus has been giving, and he's been calling out the religious leadership. And the last parable about the wicked tenants who will not pay up to the landowner, and ultimately when he sends his son they kill his son. So what happens to them when Jesus says, okay, what should be done to those tenants? They answer, he will bring those wretches to a wretched end and he will rent a vineyard to other tenants and will give away, give him his share of the crop at harvest time. Who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time? So in other words, the Jewish vineyard owners are out and they'll be destroyed. That happened with the destruction of the temple in the year 70, and now there'll be new owners, the Christian owners, and they will give him his due.

So the kingdom will be taken from you and given to others. Is that what it's saying? Well how about if we keep reading? I mean it's been a series of parables, you see he's been addressing the religious leadership, but how about if we keep reading? Is that okay, that we just keep reading? So how about we go down to verse 45.

Are you ready? Matthew 21 45. We just keep reading. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Yeshua's parables, they knew he was talking about them. Not the Jewish people as a whole, the corrupt leadership. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Yeshua's parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd. What crowd? The Jewish crowd. Because the people held that he was a prophet. The Jewish people, the people as a whole, thought that he was a prophet.

It was the leadership that was rejecting him, the leadership that he was rebuking, and what happened? The kingdom was taken from them, the leadership was taken from them, and given to the Jewish apostles. It has nothing to do with the church replacing Israel.

It has to do with getting rid of the corrupt leadership and replacing it with new leadership. In this case, getting rid of the corrupt Jewish leadership and replacing it with new Jewish leadership. That's all that the verse says, and it's constantly quoted. See, the temple is destroyed, God's through with Israel, God put Israel under the curse, there's nothing, no national promises that remain. The kingdom was taken from them, given to the church. That's not what it says at all, and the context is explicit.

So drop that. Throw that out as a verse teaching that God was finished with the Jewish people or took the kingdom away from the Jews and gave it to the church. Doesn't say that? Doesn't hint at that?

Not a syllable! He took it away from the corrupt Jewish leadership and gave it to new Jewish leadership that represented the crowds of Jewish people that thought Jesus was a prophet. Pretty clear. Read the whole context, read all of Matthew 21, and read right up to the end.

It is indisputable in terms of what is being said. All right, with that, we go to the phones, and we start with Kenneth in Boston. Welcome to the line of fire.

Are you there? Hello, Dr. Braun. Hey, go ahead, sir. Yes, Dr. Braun.

It's a pleasure to speak to you again. I have a question, and my question is, who exactly is the bride of Christ? Is it the church?

Is it Israel? The bride of Christ in Scripture is presented as the church in the New Testament. God likens his relationship to Israel in the Old Testament as the relationship of a husband and a wife, so that relationship is there. But in terms of the image of the church as the bride in Ephesians 5, that is all of God's people, Jew and Gentile, in Jesus.

So there's overlap in the images. You know, some argue that Israel in the Old Testament is the wife, and the church in the New Testament is the bride, or Israel in the Old Testament is the wife of the Father, metaphorically speaking, and the church in the New Testament is the bride of Christ. So that would be a more precise way of saying it, but if you look at passages like Jeremiah 2 and 3 or Ezekiel 16, you'll see that God likened his relationship to Israel as the relationship of a husband and wife, hence terms like adultery and divorce come up. But the clear imagery of the New Testament now is that the church, all believers in Jesus, become the bride. Now, there is the image in Revelation 21 about the New Jerusalem being adorned as a bride, but that would be a different image.

So you could say Old Testament Israel was as a wife to the Father, New Testament church as a bride to the Messiah. That's how I would explain it. All right, thank you. You are very welcome, sir. I appreciate the call. 866-348-7884.

Let's go to Jim in Chicago. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Oh, thank you. Merry Christmas season. So, my question here is on Deuteronomy 18, 22.

I like your program, and I just love listening to Bible teachers in general. But a good friend of yours who you love and respect, he had a take on this, and I hadn't thought of it like this, but I just wanted to bounce it off you. It says here that the prophet that has spoken, it presumptuously do not be afraid of him. I mean, there's a little bit before and then after it. But what the man was saying is that presumptuously here doesn't necessarily just mean that he missed the mark a little bit. It even speaks on the level of an attitude that kind of like he might have been like rebellious.

It wasn't just a good intended man who had a dream and said, hey, I had this dream and it didn't come to pass. This man who's, I don't know if I want to mention him. I know you know him.

You guys are great friends. But he said there's attitudinally he felt like there was something. You could mention the name. That's fine.

Oh, Dr. Craig Keener. Yeah, yeah. All right, so of course we've discussed this. So number one, I agree with him wholeheartedly. The text is explicit.

Oh, good. But we would both emphasize this, that because Old Testament prophets were leading the nation into life and death situations and were Yahweh's representatives, and the Spirit was not given to everyone the same way, there was a stringency in terms of accuracy. In the New Testament, we would say that because anyone could potentially prophesy, then everything has to be tested and judged. In other words, we're not stoning people.

But we will recognize if someone claims to be speaking for God and they're not and say, no, that's not from the Lord and you should be silent. But the key thing that is, and there's a question whether the death penalty was implemented for that in the Old Testament or not, but let's just say plainly. Number one, the text uses the Hebrew verb, so the participial form being mezid, someone who acts presumptuously.

It's a wicked term. It's what Israel does in Numbers 14 when they have sinned and they're not going to go into the Promised Land and then God speaks judgment over them. They said, all right, now we're going to go take the land. They acted presumptuously. They explicitly disobeyed God. Now, let's say you don't know Hebrew. It's not hard to deduce that contextually, not only from the word presumption, but because it gives two options, speaking in the name of a false God or speaking presumptuously, bringing a word that God hadn't spoken. In other words, this is not an innocent mistake. This is someone who's either going to lead Israel astray into idolatry or who is deciding, I'm going to speak for God.

So it's not an innocent mistake. So if, let's say, a Jeremiah or Ezekiel or an Isaiah had said, the Lord showed me this and it wasn't true, now that would totally discredit them, totally discredit them for sure. And that was not acceptable in the Old Testament. It was acceptable in Old Testament prophecy, for sure. Would they have been good at it?

Just one fast follow-up. Would Hananiah, like in Jeremiah, be a good example of that? Perfect example. Hananiah, the false prophets in Jeremiah 27 saying that the rest of the vessels, the temple's not going to be taken, the rest of the vessels will not be taken. Jeremiah said, well, tell you what, why don't you pray that the vessels that have already been taken will be brought back? And then Hananiah takes the yoke off Jeremiah's shoulders in the 28th chapter and says, break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar this whole bit. And Jeremiah says, that'd be wonderful if it was true, but it's not.

And then you're going to die this year, which he does. So it's a perfect example. It's, again, there's no room for someone in the Old Testament saying God said, and they were wrong. It's like, oops, I missed it.

There's no room for that because of their role and the responsibility they had within Israel. And it's a very different setting than the New Testament, with all of us having the Word and the Spirit, et cetera, and anyone potentially being able to prophesy. But for sure, it is a serious attitudinal error. It is someone deciding on their own, not making an honest mistake, but someone deciding on their own, I'm going to speak, I'm going to get my message out. I feel that I have the right word here. That's one. And then two, the other error would be speaking in the name of another God.

So God's just like, oops, I said, Satan said it, I meant to say the word. No, no, it's serious. Hey, thank you for the call, sir. God bless. Thank you.

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Let's go to Brady in New York. Thank you for calling the line of fire. Thank you. First of all, I just want to say thank you for your debates with Tobiah. They're awesome, and I appreciate your ministry.

What you may not realize is that you're actually a replacement theologist. You don't believe that the congregation replaces Israel, but what you do believe is that the tribe of Judah, which represents the southern kingdom, has replaced all of Israel, and that is what is missing today. Also, the Messianic Jewish Alliance also thinks the same way you do. The tribe of Judah represents the southern kingdom. Right, but who's talking about the tribe of Judah? I'm talking about the Jewish people which have within them all 12 tribes. No, they do not have within them the whole tribes. I've been to Israel six times, and Orthodox Jews get up early in the morning, and they pray for the return of the northern kingdom. The northern kingdom is represented by Ephraim. It says Ephraim will become a fullness of Gentiles.

Well, it can't be referred to... No, no, no, no, it's a mistranslation. That's what it says, a fullness of nations. Right, nations, not Gentiles.

So here's the thing, Brady, let me help you on this, okay? When James Jacob writes in Jacob chapter one to Jewish believers, right, who does he say? To the 12 tribes scattered abroad. That's because within the Jewish people are remnants of all the 12 tribes. Now, there are remnants scattered in different parts of the world, some in Africa, some in India, China, perhaps, we don't know. There are remnants still scattered, and some even unknown. Even behind the Hebrew Israelite movement, as wacky as so much of it can be, there is the truth that there were scattered remnants in Africa. So there's still scattered remnants that we pray for the return of.

We continue to pray for that. But, explicit, if you just read through First and Second Chronicles carefully, for example, you'll see that some of the northern tribes made their way down to Judah, plus Judah was Judah and Benjamin, and then within Judah also Simeon. Part of Simeon became incorporated. So there has always been more, you know, Anna in the New Testament is from the tribe of Asher, right? So there have always been remnants of the 12 tribes represented in the Jewish people. It's never just been the tribe of Judah. So maybe a few did go down there, but the bulk of the northern kingdom is represented in Ephraim, and it says in Scripture that Ephraim will become a fullness of nations, and this is what is missing in the conversation about who is Israel.

I reject that, though. I reject that, because Romans, number one, I've gone through this exhaustively, exhaustively, checking every reference to Ephraim, Israel, Jacob, in the Hebrew Bible, and it completely breaks down. It's constantly talking about Israel, not Gentiles.

It's constantly making distinction between Ephraim, Israel, Judah, on the one hand, and the rest of the nations on the other. That's number one. I've done it exhaustively, exhaustively, and I did my Jeremiah commentary.

I got into as much possible depth as I could. That's number one. Number two, Paul is explicit. In Romans 11 25, it's on the heels of the fullness of the Gentiles, the nations coming in, that all Israel is saved. So all Israel is the corporate Jewish people worldwide turning to the Messiah.

That's on the heels of the fullness of the Gentiles coming in, and that unit, the fullness of the Gentiles, and all Israel includes the 12 tribes, and those of you who have been grafted in, and you can figure that out, because in the book of Revelation, it talks about the 12 tribes, but there's no reference to the congregation because the congregation has been the same thing in the New Testament and the Old Testament. Brady, look, this teaching's been around for decades, and I've rejected it for decades, that Ephraim is the Gentiles. I've rejected it explicitly based on Scripture, going through every single relevant reference. I did it decades ago, I redid it going through when I did my Jeremiah commentary.

I've even revisited it many times, but here's what I encourage you to do, okay, and I believe you're a sincere seeker, you sound sincere and passionate, but here's what I encourage you to do. Read through Romans 9 through 11 explicitly, where Paul says, I'm writing to you Gentiles. Now according to you, that's Ephraim.

According to you, that's Ephraim there. I'm writing to you Gentiles, and as much as I'm the apostle to the Gentiles, because I'm trying to provoke my own people, Israel, to envy. So it's your role as Gentile believers, as believers of the nations, it's your role now to provoke Israel to envy. He doesn't say you become Israel, he doesn't say you become Ephraim, he doesn't say that at all.

No, to the contrary, it's the role of the Gentile ecclesia, the Gentile congregation worldwide, Gentile believers who are equal to Jewish believers in Jesus, we are one family, one body in that regard, there's no caste system, there's no class system, we're all saved the same way through the blood of Jesus, Yeshua. It's the role of Gentile believers to provoke Israel, the Jewish people worldwide, to spiritual envy. So that, remember Romans 11 25, the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, he doesn't call that Israel, he doesn't call that Ephraim, the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, and provoked by that, and on the heels of that, and so all Israel will be saved. And he's used Israel repeatedly over and over, after 9 6, when he says there's an Israel within Israel, every time Paul talks about Israel, and the rest of Romans 9 10 11, he's explicit, it is the nation as a whole, the nation as a whole. And who is he speaking of? Romans 11 25 makes clear, the ones that are hardened in part, they are hardened in part, who? The Jewish people worldwide, they are the ones that constitute all Israel, and as F.F.

Bruce, one of the great New Testament scholars of the last generation said, you can't separate the Israel of Romans 11 25, which is hardened in part, from the Israel of Romans 11 26, part of all Israel will be saved. Hey, thank you for the call, I appreciate the disagreement, but I can't accept your argument. Hey friends, Dr. Michael Brown here. Do you remember when people thought I was crazy, when I said it's not too late for America, that God can still do something in our country, that there is going to be a pushback, a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution? And do you remember when people thought that you were crazy, because you felt the same way, because you believed what I was saying, and already felt it in your heart? Well friends, that pushback is here. The gospel-based moral and cultural revolution we've been talking about for 25 years is unfolding, and we are right in the thick of it, and the line of fire broadcast is divinely positioned for such a time as this. Friends, you would be so gratified and blessed as I hear, if you can hear what I hear, testimony after testimony as leaders, young people, old people, moms, dads, students, people from all backgrounds come up to me and say, Dr. Brown, you're providing a template for us, you're providing a blueprint for us, you're showing us how to do this, how to have hearts of compassion, backbones of steel, but friends, it's a joint effort.

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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to the Line of Fire. Listen, if you've never read Our Hands Are Stained with Blood, the tragic story of the Church and the Jewish people, I urge you to get a copy. Ask someone to get a copy of it for Christmas, and get the 2019 edition, the revised updated edition, all the excellent contents of the 1992 edition are there, but with some expansion and updating. It's a must-read. Everyone that's been reading it recently has been writing to me, leaders, national leaders, writing to me, thanking me for the book. They'd never read it before. Pastors say, okay, everything's falling into place now. I see it.

I get it. It's an essential read. That's why I wrote it, and I urge you to get a copy of the book, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood.

Ask someone to get it for you as a holiday present. Buy a copy for your pastor. It's essential reading. It's absolutely essential. Change your life. It'll change your perspective dramatically, dramatically. 866-34-TRUTH.

We go to Elizabeth in Howell, Michigan. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Dr. Brown, thank you so much for taking my call.

I'm a 61-year-old. My English is not very good, but I have a question, Dr. Brown. I just recently bought your book, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood. I'm currently in Chapter 10. I'm a Jewish believer in Yeshua, and it's a very hard reading, especially right now. I have lost a lot of friends because of Christian anti-Semitism, and I don't know how to move forward.

The book is speaking. I'm enjoying it, but I'm very afraid of it. Elizabeth, in terms of trying to move forward, what do you mean? It's very painful. It's horrific to know some of church history that many have forgotten or never knew about. It's shocking to see the things we warned about decades ago happening in front of our eyes worldwide. It's painful to see the amount of Jew hatred that exists worldwide. It goes beyond criticism of Israel. I'm talking about outright Jew hatred, and then many Christians coming down on the wrong side of issues now and expressing ugly things towards Jewish people. Very, very concerning. What is it that you're having a hard time doing?

Just handle this emotionally or knowing how to deal with it? Yes, my father blessed it with his memory. He told us never to say we're Jewish.

I'm a third generation of Holocaust survivors, so reading this book brings a lot of emotion, and the same way I'm seeing Christian anti-Semitism against the Jewish people, I don't want in my heart to have that sentiment towards Christianity. Yes, so I think I can help. What country did your grandparents or great-grandparents come from? From Russia, Israel, Poland, and Austria. And then where were you raised? I was raised in Mexico City, Dr. Brown. We don't even know our last name because my Seide and Bobbe, they didn't want to talk to us about what happened. Yeah, my last name Brown, like other Jewish people in America with the name Brown, it was shortened at Ellis Island when grandparents on my father's side came over, and just the longer Russian names, other names were shortened sometimes that were harder to pronounce.

So that's what we came up around, but I don't know the original family name. So Elizabeth, I'd encourage you in these two ways to handle this emotionally. Number one, know that around the world by the tens of millions and hundreds of millions that the best friends that Israel has are Christians. That all over America there are millions of Christians standing with Israel fighting against anti-semitism, and around the world you would be blown away to see what I've seen in India, in Africa, in country after country overseas, different continents, what I've seen face to face in different parts of Europe, in Mexico of Christians with incredible hearts for Israel and the Jewish people. In some cases I was the first Jew they ever saw on that. The nation of Israel, the government of Israel recognizes that evangelical Christians, Bible-believing Christians are the best friends that they have in the world. So there is a true Christian spirit just on philo-semitism on the third chapter in the book, Our Hands Are Standing With Blood. I talk about some of this beautiful history. So be encouraged by that. You may not hear their voices as loudly but they are there all around the world in large numbers.

That's number one. Number two, the pain that you carry enables you in a unique way to pray and feel the heart of Yeshua. It enables you in a unique way to intercede for brothers and sisters who through wrong theology and teaching are on the wrong side of this issue or who themselves have been polluted with an anti-semitic spirit or attitude. It enables your prayers to be all the more powerful. So sometimes we have to take the pain and now take that to the Lord, Lord I'm hurting and I know you're hurting and I want to pray for those who are hurting us. I want to pray for those who misunderstand and your prayers can be very effective. So don't run from the pain, embrace it and turn that into intercession. Does that make sense? Can you grasp that?

Yes, Dr. Brown, absolutely. Yes, so it's that heart of prayer, that's the redemptive. The redemptive heart, rather than strike back, we take it to prayer and we pray for those who oppose and you'd be encouraged. I can't tell you how many times I've met pastors and leaders who said I was on the wrong side of this issue and I had wrong theology and I read our hands to stand with blood and my eyes were opened and now I'm a great friend of Israel. Look, you know this means we're not enemies of the Palestinians.

It means, it doesn't mean that everything Israel does is right but it means that we understand God's eternal purposes for Israel and we recognize the dangers of erroneous theology and the power of Jew hatred. May the Lord use your unique heritage to position you in prayer in a way that can affect many lives. May it be so. Thank you for calling and I hope that helps. Thank you so much. You are very, very welcome. Thank you so much, Dr. Brown. God bless you, God bless you.

Thank you, same to you. You know, friends, when I urge you to read our hands to stand with blood, I didn't know that that's what this call was going to start with. I was not aware of that at all. All I knew is it had to do with Jewish believer and the comment about Christian anti-semitism. So, in any case, take that as further encouragement and hear this heart. This is what many Jewish believers are going through right now, feeling isolated, wondering what's going on and you may say, well, that's not the only side of the story.

No, it's one side of the story, very important side of the story. 866-3-4-TRUTH. We go to Rick in Franklin Square, not far from where I went to high school in West Hempstead. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Hi, Dr. Brown, this is your old student from Christ of the Nation, Stony Brook.

Oh, come on! Great to meet you. Yeah, I met you in the summer of 1989. You were teaching Giants of the Faith and then did a course on Israel. Yeah, the deal was that I was full-time there 83-87 in Stony Brook, out in Suffolk County on the North Shore, and then came in at least once a year and would teach right up through 91 when the school closed.

So that's where we intersected, 89. Well, you had quite an impact. You had a great impact because I was only 18 years old when I was sitting in your summer school class, and you made an indelible mark on me. Thank you. I appreciate your ministry.

At that point, I was at the ripe old age of about 34, so yeah. Yeah, and the Lord was visiting the sanctuary when you were up there preaching, I'll tell you that, the Lord was with you. Praise God. Thank you.

You made an indelible mark, so I appreciate you very much. So I think we asked this question back at CFNI Stony Brook, Matthew 19 28. In the New World, you will sit, you who have followed me, will sit on 12 thrones judging the tribes of Israel.

Yeah. Can you explain what this prophecy is all about? Is this something in the future that's going to take place? Yes, as best as I understand it, the renewal of all things is speaking of the Millennial Kingdom. So Jesus returns, sets up his kingdom on the earth, which I hold to as a historic premillennialist. Others who are dispensationalists expect something similar, but this has been a church teaching from the early church that there'll be a thousand year reign of the Lord on the earth, so that he returns, sets up his kingdom, and then believers, that's what he says, you have authority over five cities, ten cities, the survivors of the nations that attack Jerusalem, and it could be renewed Israel now, comes into the Millennial Kingdom, which ultimately the earth will be massively populated, because it's not going to be early death and things like that, and believers will have a role in governing under Yeshua, and it seems that the 12 apostles and the replacement of Judas, the 12 apostles would then serve and adjudicate over the 12 tribes of Israel. So I expect that to literally happen in the Millennial Kingdom, and that's that's a fairly standard interpretation for those of us who are premillennial.

Yeah, I mean that that sounds pretty exciting. I didn't, you know, that he's going to be delegating this authority out, you know, and I'd have to... Yeah, Rick, that's the only time I can see where in some of the parables where it says you rule over this and this, where I could see it literally happening. I don't see it happening eternally, right? In the eternal age, I don't see that structure, but we don't know. I mean, we don't know what's coming and how God is going to govern his family universally, etc. But for sure in the Millennial Kingdom, during that thousand years, that would be a ripe time for delegated authority, where God can then work through different ones of us. You know, when Paul says you're going to judge angels in 1 Corinthians 6, you know, when does that happen? You know, is that just we're working with him in a judgment seat capacity? That's even more mysterious. But for sure, that's how I understand this.

Okay, next question. The meek shall inherit the earth. Is this another situation where he's going to be delegating portions of the earth to the meek servants of the Lord? It definitely seems to be parallel in Matthew 5, where Jesus is quoting from Psalm 37, that the meek shall inherit the earth, the Millennial Kingdom. Now on the one hand, 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says to believers, the whole world is yours. So in that sense, all believers inherit the world. But it seems the meek inheriting the earth, the followers of Yeshua, and the Millennial Kingdom, now this is our territory, and we're ruling and reigning with him over the rest of the world.

Yeah, that's what I expect to happen, and certainly it's our possession. So that's where I take it. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Trivita Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend, James Robison, and most all of you will know of him. He and his wife, Betty, host the Life Today television program. Now here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend, Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40-year-plus best friends.

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Call 800-771-5584 or go online to TriVita.com. This is how we rise up. 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. One other reminder for those just tuning in on radio and missing part of the broadcast, or just skipping around on the podcast. If you're not getting my newsletters, my emails, please sign up today at AskDr.Brown.org.

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We go over to Tori in Dallas, Texas. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Brown. It's nice to speak with you. Thank you. I just wanted to say to the elderly lady that called earlier, this Christian loves you with all my heart. I love the Jews. I have listened to your program. I listened to Rabbi Schneider. I've learned so much about the Jewish people. I've read my Bible. I'm learning so much about the Jewish people. When I was a kid, I thought I was kind of jealous of the Jewish people because they were God's chosen. But now I understand what they're chosen for. And I just want you to know that God has won this Christian over wholeheartedly.

I love them all. I wish I could protect them all. Well, Tori, your love.

Thank you. Your love goes a long way and your prayers go a long way. So yes, that chosen to salvation, that's through Jesus, the Messiah. He remains the only way so chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. However, you parse that, whatever your beliefs about predestination, what we agree on is that only through Jesus is the salvation. So we are chosen in Him for eternal life.

But yes, absolutely. There's a national choosing of Israel for divine purposes. And those divine purposes remain. And that choosing remains, which is why God says in Romans 11, even though they're now enemies of the gospel for your sake, for Gentiles sake, they are still beloved of the fathers. Why? Because of election. So as far as election, they're beloved because of the fathers.

So yeah, that remains, the choosing remains. And I'm sure your love and your prayers are making a difference. Thank you so much for calling. Thank you. All right, God bless. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to CJ in Columbus, Ohio. Welcome to The Line of Fire.

Hello, Dr. Brown. I wanted to just call with a question that I want to see if you could kind of help me flesh some things out or try to understand. My wife and I were going over some passages in Leviticus, and we kind of got somewhat stumped over Leviticus 1531, because as we were going through and we're looking at some of the purification laws and things and sort of reflecting back, well, let me just go back to 31, 1531, where it says that God tells Moses to tell the people that Israel, you must keep the Israelites from the uncleanness so that they do not die by defiling my tabernacle, that is among them. And so we were kind of just reflecting on how, you know, the garden within Eden was like the original Holy of Holies. And if Adam and Eve were, you know, prior to the fall originally fit for that sacred space and proximity to God, the call to fulfill the Edenic mandate to be fruitful and multiply, you know, I guess we were wondering, like, you know, so as we, like Leviticus 12, you know, talking about the uncleanness dealing with childbirth and these type of things, we were just wondering, is there something different about how procreation looked prior to the fall versus what we have now?

Got it, I understand. So let me first comment on Leviticus 15, 31. We know that in various legislation God would tell Moses to tell Aaron and his sons, don't do this or you'll die. In other words, you are caring for the holy place, the most holy place, and you can't play games with it.

So Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6 dies when he goes to steady the ark with his hands like, no, you're a leaver. You don't touch it. You don't touch. So you just can't mess with things. So if the Israelites got defiled through ritual uncleanness, okay, there's no death penalty for that. But now if they go and defile the holy place, they go defile the tabernacle and defy God's laws, now the whole thing is unclean. Now judgment could come on the people individually or the nations.

So that much is clear. But your question would be if, say according to Leviticus 12, there were always purification rights for childbirth, there was some type of uncleanness, then with Adam and Eve, if there was procreation and growth if they hadn't sinned, then how could that be worldwide? How could they have done it even in the Garden of Eden without defilement? So yeah, the answer is it was before the fall. And if there had not been the fall, then procreation would have had nothing unclean ritually attached to it, nor would there have been pain. The curse of pain in childbirth, just like the cursing of the ground so that it has thorns and thistles and things like that.

Looks like you get the call there. So anyway, that can happen. So that's the world that we live in. And there is ritual uncleanness associated with different things. Certain foods were ritually unclean. The animal kingdom was affected by the fall. But if there had not been a fall, we wouldn't have been eating animals. If there had not been a fall, childbirth would have no ritual uncleanness associated with it. If there had not been a fall, there would be no pain in childbirth associated with it.

So yes, this is all post-fall legislation. And what a lot of it says to us today, where we don't have the same ritual purity requirements, is to understand the importance of separation to God. In other words, the spiritual lesson for us today is one of just as these outward things defiled, now we must be aware of spiritual defilement. Just as Israel couldn't touch unclean things, now spiritually we can't touch unclean things.

That's the spiritual application. Okay, so it doesn't necessarily mean that it would have looked different, or it would have actually been a different experience? Well, it would have been pain-free, right?

And like I said, nothing of ritual defilement connected with it. Would it have looked different? I don't know. I don't know. That's pure speculation, right? Would a lion have looked different before the fall? You know, no teeth, claws, et cetera. Those are all interesting questions.

But certainly it wouldn't have been a painful experience, and there'd be nothing ritual unclean associated with it. Hey, thank you for the call. Much appreciated. Let's just see here.

Let's go over to Greensboro, North Carolina. Mike, welcome to the line of fire. I'm sorry, Marie, I apologize. Marie, who?

What? Where did I get Mike? There's not even a Mike on the board.

Where did I get Mike from? I don't know how that happened. That's okay. Marie, I'm so sorry. Go ahead.

That's okay. Thank you so much for taking my call. I try to listen to you every day. Sometimes I miss a day, but I do.

I have learned a lot from your program, and I do appreciate that. I grew up in Florida when I was growing up as a young person and a teenager, and one of my best friends was Jewish. We talked about the differences in our religion, even as children, and she was a good friend. I was so envious of the Jewish people, because they were God's chosen people, that when I was young, probably 10, 12, in that age range, I got our encyclopedia down and I tried to teach myself to speak Yiddish.

It didn't work very well. That's cute, though. That's very cute.

But I just wanted to say, too, I've had many friends over the years that were Jewish, and they're the kindest people and most generous people. I don't understand all the hatred. I really don't. It's just Satan.

I mean, it's the devil. There's no question. Hey, thank you for the call. That's very sweet that you took time to call in with that. Trying to learn Yiddish out of an encyclopedia out of love for the Jewish people. I've been around for a while, but that's the first I heard that.

I'll remember, especially after getting your name wrong. But here's the deal. At its root, anti-Semitism is demonic.

It's that simple. It's the Jewish people being called by God, chosen by God for a special mission and identified as his son, his firstborn, and therefore, Satan wanted to wipe them off the planet. As long as we're here, it testifies to the truth of God.

This word of Satan could wipe us out or would make God into a liar. Jewish Jerusalem must welcome the Messiah back. That's why there's so much world controversy over this.

It's not a mystery. The fact is, though, you have bad Jews and good Jews like everybody else. I've said for many years, Jews are like everybody else, except more so. It seems our good qualities really shine and our bad qualities are really bad. So we're like everybody else. But all you have to do is focus on the bad and attribute that to everybody. You find plenty of bad apples in every group, every people, every religion. You focus on them.

You make them the norm. You demonize the people as a whole. That's what anti-Semitism does. That's what Jew hatred does. Jew hatred looks at Israel, and instead of bringing valid and fair criticism of Israel, which you get, you want to get criticism of Israel. Go to Israel. You want to hear criticism of Israel? Listen to Israeli politicians. You want to hear criticism of Netanyahu? Live in Israel. You want to read constant assaults on the right wing in Israel? Go to Israel. You'll hear more criticism of Israel there than anywhere. And have at it. Have at it. But if you demonize the nation as a whole, and you demonize the nation as a whole, and say they're committing ethnic cleansing and genocide and so on, that's Jew hatred. Hey, may the blessed liberal Lord be with you. Be sure to go to AskDr.Brown.org and you'll get tons of answers to your questions. And have a great weekend. Another program powered by the Truth Network.