Dr. Brown speaks with Dr. Jeffrey Feinberg, one of the main translators for the new Tree of Life Version of the Bible, shares some important Jewish and Israel updates, and then takes your Jewish-related calls. Listen live here 2-4 pm EST, and call into the show at (866) 348 7884 with your questions and comments.
Hour 1:
Dr. Brown’s Bottom Line: Watch what’s happening in the world. Step back and ask, “what’s the spiritual explanation for Israel and its treatment?” The answer will help enlighten you.
Hour 2:
Dr. Brown’s Bottom Line: The world is filled with ways of death and destruction, confusion and pain. God’s ways bring life when we submit and obey.
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Dr. Brown,
Abortion is a sacrament. That is, a Satanic sacrament. In the same vein, that we have “sacramentalized” sodomy by enforcing the concept that marriage can exist between two men or two women, we have encouraged the inauguration of an entire system of Satanic rites. This is the religion of Antichrist. Whereas Baptism and Marriage bring God into the lives of those receiving these sacraments, the Devil, in a certain sense, indwells those who seek their antitypes–infanticide and sexual deviance. What’s even more egregious is that these things are now being actively encouraged within mainline Christian denominations. For instance, you can go into any Presbyterian church and pick up a tract on marriage and you’ll see same sex couples pictured. And in the Episcopal Church, abortion is vigorously promoted.
>> And in the Episcopal Church, abortion is vigorously promoted.
I attend an Episcopalian church and – never, ever, ever — have I heard abortion “vigorously promoted.”
Literally — I can’t remember it ever being mentioned.
May I remind you… it is a sin to bear false witness.
On today’s show Dr. Brown’s show he told a caller that the church is not the new Israel. (I forget the exact terms used. Spiritual Israel? … sorry)
Dr. Brown seems very adamant to refute this thinking. Two question came to mind.
1) Why does it matter if a Christian identifies with being Jewish? I’m Swedish and I couldn’t care less if someone “adopts” my ethnicity. It’s a little flattering, actually.
2) Does the bible define who is a “real” Jew or Hebrew? I think tradition does. But does the bible? If so, what is the definition?
I believe that ethnicity is more self-perception than DNA, anyway.
Sorry for such simple questions. I do have a Jewish wing of my family but they don’t identify much with being Jewish, so I haven’t given these subjects much thought.
Greg,
Abortion and sodomy are both encouraged in the Episcopal Church, and specifically by Bishop Schori. She has gone on record on numerous occasions. If she leads the Episcopalians, then I think she speaks for them.
Nicholas,
You said that the Episcopalians “vigorously promoted” abortion.
It sure seems like you committed the sin of false witness with that one.
But, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Surely you have some sort of quote where she “vigorously promotes” abortion.
If not, I think you may have some repentance to do.
By the way, I want to explain something about Episcopalians — we tolerate diversity in a way that many Evangelicals do not. (I find this generally true for the mainline churches.)
Last week, Dr. Brown made the assertion that anti-gay Christian would not be welcome in a liberal church.
That certainly is not true in my church! Although we have openly-gay members, the main man who sponsored our state’s “defense of marriage initiative” (which passed) is also a member.
In this regard, I think the mainline denominations are much more obedient to Jesus’ call to Christian unity than are the factional, conservative denominations.
Greg flattering? It might seem flattering at first, but imagine a holocaust and that is not very flattering.
Greg,
Christian unity without purity is not something to be proud about. It is the opposite of holiness.
Luke 6
26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Hebrews 12
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Revelation 18
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Homosexuality and abortion are very much roots of bitterness that defile many. They are the opposite of holiness and righteousness. Any church that does not speak out against such abominations is part of Babylon and real believers need to leave that place for their own good before the root of bitterness effects them and their families…before they become partakers of her plagues.
Bo,
So, while you guys are obsessed with homosexuality and gays, God chose to mention bearing false witness in the Ten Commandment instead.
Yet, it sure seems like Nicholas is willing to commit one sin to refute another.
Likewise Christian unity is a loud-and-clear commandment of Jesus and you rationalize it away because of issues that you think are important but Jesus is silent about.
This kind of selective obedience to the commandments of Jesus are the classic sign that this whole debate is non-biblical.
IMHO, this is more about the GOP agenda than the biblical agenda.
—-
John 17
23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
– – –
Notice how Christian unity is linked directly to the world knowing Jesus.
And, I believe that integrating the “left vs right” politics into the church the great heresy of the American church.
And… a great impediment to the Gospel.
If you doubt me, walk out your front door and start asking people what they hate about the church.
Goodness, I am growing weary of the abortion and gay debate.
When I try to raise a non-gay, non-abortion issues, nobody responds!
The bible is so rich, beautiful, instructive and fascinating but you guys focus on two issues?
Anyone care to respond to my questions in #3?
I really do want to know — what is the biblical definition of a Jew? Is there anything in the bible which disallows gentile Christians from deciding they want to be Jewish as well?
And, by the way, I have no agenda with my questions about Jewish identity.
As I have mentioned before, this kind of Christian-Jewish hybrid faith that Dr. Brown practices is something I know little about. I’ve seen the “Jews for Jesus” people around but that’s about it.
It’s fascinating that they even have their own hybrid translation of the bible. And I’m not against it, BTW. It seems like we have customized translations for everybody else, why not this group?
I might bickers with someone if they made Paul too Jewish. He, personally, was Jew of course. But, obviously, his focus was on establishing the Gentile wing of the faith, famously out-of-sync with the Jewish believers at times.
I can not show anyone explicitly where the Bible says marriage is not between two people of the same sex, and neither can I show explicitly where anyone other than Jewish believers are called Israel.
Yet, I am sure God is against marriage between people of the same sex, just as he has always been.
Here’s one way the word Israel is used:
7. any group of Christians regarding themselves as chosen by God.
That’s from my English dictionary. I suppose we could say that that is how the world, or some of the world might use the word, but it’s not in the Bible.
I suppose we could also say that God might use the term that way. Why couldn’t he?
Religion wants to put limitations on God, doesn’t it?
Greg, in answer to one of your questions in #3 above:
It seems to me that Romans 2:29 is saying that one might be of the uncircumcision (a Gentile) and yet be inwardly a Jew, which seems to count more by definition of a what a real Jew is, than anything concerning an outward (even clear) observation.
This brings up the question then, from what we can learn from the teaching of the gospel, from the Bible, from an authorized apostle of Christ, would it always be wrong to refer to a group of Christians who are called of God and are aware of it, who are by definition of what is contained in Paul’s gospel, Jews, collectively, “Israel”?
Or are we to say that although individuals who are not Jewish, but were raised being Gentile, and have come to Christ through faith and keep the commandments of God, following Christ, these may be called Jews, at times, but a collection of these together, they may never be called “Israel”?
By what rule? By what authority? Are we under such a law? Where does it say that in the Bible?
Ray,
THANK YOU for engaging me in a different issue!
Dr. Brown was quite adamant in his distinction between “Israel” and “Jews” but, to be honest, this is lost on me.
Aren’t Jews two tribes of Israel? Presumably, there are millions of Muslims and other Gentiles in that region who have the “Abraham gene.”
Is that that distinction that matters to Dr. Brown? Is the true lineage only through the two tribes? If the “lost tribes” are also allowed to be Jews, this would be a profound re-definition of Israel. The same if any Christian can just declare themselves a Jew.
Ethnicity and religious-identity means something so differently to me, personally, that I have a hard time understanding how Jews think of it.
PS:
>>By what rule? By what authority? Are we under such a law? Where does it say that in the Bible?
The matriarchal definition of being Jewish is not Biblical, is it?
I have never done a search but considering how patriarchal the bible is, it’s hard to imagine a matriarchal definition.
Greg,
“Likewise Christian unity is a loud-and-clear commandment of Jesus and you rationalize it away because of issues that you think are important but Jesus is silent about.”
Oh but Messiah was not silent about it, you just refuse to accept the details of what He said. A case in point is that you left out the part about holiness/sanctification in you quoting of scripture above. I wonder why? You also will not look at the details about Messiah’s conception and birth of about Messiahs’ words about marriage because the details of truth are not on your side. So it looks like my statements hold a lot more water than yours. Here is the part you failed to mention in your quote above:
John 17
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
How are the Father and the Son one…they both are 100% agreement on what constitutes the truth…YHWH’s word. And that word is against abortion and homosexuality. Paul says that anyone living in a homosexual lifestyle should be removed from the church. He says that it is wrong to try to be in unity with such people that call themselves, or who are called brothers. Why? Because without truth and purity there is no Biblical oneness or holiness. And that uncleanness will infect the church with the root of bitterness that causes YHWH to bring judgment upon us.
Being “one” in the Father and the Son and as they are one absolutely requires our living in repentance from sin. We are supposed to be sanctified by truth, not ignore truth for the sake of unity. YHWH’s word is truth. You can read the passage above if you do not believe me. YHWH’s word forbids homosexuality and murdering unborn children. We can never be one in YHWH/Y’shua with any compromise in these matters. So even if we came into unity as far as putting up with each other, we would not be one in the Father and the Son, we would not be holy and we would not sanctified by the truth.
Greg,
You wrote:
“IMHO, this is more about the GOP agenda than the biblical agenda.”
Somehow every time someone uses “IMHO” it is never really humble and they think that their opinion should be yours. Greg, I am not a Republican nor do I vote. I have never argued their points, but only from the scripture. The statement above adds nothing to finding the truth. It does keep you from receiving it readily, though. You think that you are being apposed on political grounds, when in reality it is on Biblical grounds and your humble opinion looks to be not so humble, but set in stone and entrenched for war against any other opinion, though it come right out of the mouth of YHWH.
Greg,
I think the Bible does define who a Jew is. of course in the Jewish community this is a very debated issue. Here’s an interesting article:
————————–
A. Jewishness: Who Is A Jew?
We come then to the issue of who is a Jew. There are few topics in the Jewish world that have been more debated than this one. To this day, there is no consistent definition.
1. A Public Opinion Poll
A public opinion poll was conducted in order to try to determine what the definition of a Jew would be as Jewish people understood it. Fifteen hundred Jewish families were canvassed with the following results:
12% declared that a Jew is a person whose father or mother is Jewish or who has a Jewish spouse.
23% claimed that a Jew is a person who considers himself a Jew.
19% held that a man born to a Jewish mother or who converts to Judaism is a Jew.
13% said a Jew is one who lives in Israel or who identifies with the Jewish State.
13% stated that a Jew is one who observes the Jewish religious practices.
11% answered that a Jew is one who is raised and educated as a Jew.
9% said they could not define it.
These results were recorded in the Jerusalem Post of November 25, 1968. Of the definitions listed, only one excludes the Messianic Jew, but at the same time, it also excludes a large number of other Jews who do not observe Jewish religious practices. The other five definitions would by no means rule out the Messianic Jew.
2. The Hebrew Christian or Messianic Jewish Definition:
The Messianic Jewish definition has an objective standard; it goes back to the very source of Jewishness, the Scriptures. The further any definition departs from the Scriptures, the foggier it gets. The Messianic Jew is forced to define Jewishness in the biblical sense of the term, for to him, the Scriptures are the source of authority. Hence, the Messianic Jewish definition can also be called the biblical definition.
The biblical basis for defining Jewishness lies in the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12:1-3: Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, unto the land that I will show you: and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and be you a blessing; and I will bless them that bless you, and him that curses you will I curse: and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
It is further described in two other passages.
Genesis 13:15-16: for all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth: So that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may your seed also be numbered.
Genesis 15:4-5: And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be your heir; But he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if you be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall your seed be.
Later, the Abrahamic Covenant is confirmed through Isaac in Genesis 26:2-5: And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell you of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For unto you, and unto your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham your father. And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these lands. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Verse 24 states: And Jehovah appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.
After Isaac, it is reconfirmed through Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15: And, behold, Jehovah stood above it, and said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you, whithersoever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken to you of.
From the Abrahamic Covenant a simple definition of Jewishness can be deduced. It lies in the repeated statement that a nation will come through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and thus defines Israelis, this nationality is not confined to the State of Israel alone; it includes all the Jewish people no matter where they are. It is a nationality based on descent.
Biblically speaking, the Jewish people are a nation. Today we are a scattered nation but we are, nevertheless, a nation. We are a nation because we are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The implication of this definition is that no matter what a Jew does, he can never become a non-Jew; no matter what the individual Jew may believe or disbelieve, he remains a Jew. An African who is a believer, Moslem, or Buddhist remains an African. An Asian who becomes a believer remains Asian; an Asian who remains a Buddhist also remains Asian. The same is true of the Jew, whether Orthodox, Reform, atheist, or communist. If a Jew chooses to believe that Yeshua is his Messiah, he, too, remains a Jew. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can change the fact that he is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
At this point, the problem comes up of children of mixed marriages. These children are usually designated half-Jewish and half-Gentile. The theology of Judaism teaches that Jewishness is determined by the mother: if the mother is Jewish, then the children are Jewish. But again, this is a departure from the biblical norm and is therefore rejected by Messianic Jewishness. In the Scriptures, it is not the mother who determines Jewishness but the father; consequently, the genealogies of both the Old and New Testaments list the names of the men and not of the women, except in cases where a mother was notable in Jewish history. Thus, if the father is Jewish, the children are Jewish. King David was definitely Jewish although his great-grandmother, Ruth, and his great-great-grandmother, Rahab, were both Gentiles.
Greg,
If you don’t feel that Bishop Schori’s stance on abortion constitutes a promotion of infanticide (and that’s what abortion is, and it’s no better than sacrifice to Moloch, in point of fact, which the Bible does indeed condemn), then we have to agree to disagree. I would say that the Episcopal Church and most mainline denominations promote abortion. They don’t discourage it. Moreover, if they don’t discourage this abominable practice, they “vigorously” defend it. I chose that word. It may be hyperbole on my part, but I rest my case. I did not intend to bear any false witness. Of course, if I am in error, I apologize, but I did not in good conscience mean to misrepresent anyone. The mainline denominations, once a force for absolute good in this nation, have fallen into miserable evil. This has to be elucidated.