Hour 2: Our Kitchen Table Bible Study

​Each Saturday, Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik gives you an opportunity to study the Scriptures around the radio kitchen table and find answers to your Bible questions. Join us with your questions this weekend.

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The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy
Chosen People Ministries free gift
FEBC podcast
Moody Bible Commentary

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Teaching to Change Lives by Howard Hendricks

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:09):
Hello friends. It's time for the second hour of Open
Line with Doctor Michael Ray Moody Radio's Bible Study Across America.
We're talking about your questions about the Bible, God and
the spiritual life. My name is Michael Ray. I'm so
glad to be with you live sitting around the radio
kitchen table taking your questions. So give me a call.

(00:32):
Now's a great time to call. The lines are always
clear at the bottom of the hour when we first
start at the beginning of the program. So give me
a call. The phone number is [phone]. Let me give
that to you again a little slower. [phone]. If you've

(00:54):
always had trouble getting through. Well, I understand that the
lines fill up, but at the beginning of the hour.
That's when to call again. [phone]. If you can't call,
you can go to our website. Uh, to Hera and
Lisa are here making sure that even if you send

(01:14):
something in right now, uh, maybe we'll be able to
pick it up in the program. The the way to
do that is to go to open line radio.org. You'll
see a link there that says ask Michael a question
and then click on that and you can fill it
out and send your question in that way. I hope
you have your second cup of coffee. I have mine

(01:35):
and mine says, uh, open line radio, kitchen table partner.
It's a really cool cup that our kitchen table partners
receive when they sign up. Anyway, I've got that here
with my second cup of coffee. I hope you have yours.
I hope you have your Bible open, because we're going
to talk about the scriptures and we're going to start

(01:56):
with Mike In Alabama, uh, listening online. Hey, Mike, how
can I help you today?

S2 (02:04):
Hey, uh, good to talk with you. I've been listening
for a long time. I really appreciate your show. Thank you. So.

S1 (02:15):
Oh, Mike, I think we just lost you. What happened there?

S2 (02:23):
Genesis chapter.

S1 (02:24):
Two. Mike, just start your question again, because we blipped
out there for a second.

S2 (02:30):
Okay? So, uh, in in Genesis chapter two, verse 15, um,
my version says that, uh, uh, the Lord God took
the man and put him in the Garden of Eden
to work it and keep it. And then, uh, most
a lot of other translations will say to cultivate and
keep it. So in the Moody Bible Commentary, it said

(02:52):
that the proper translation of the second part of verse
15 would be to worship and obey, which is totally different.
So I guess my question is, uh, you know, not
knowing anything about Hebrew, the Hebrew language, why wouldn't it
be translated that way in other, other versions?

S1 (03:14):
Uh. Okay, here's the, uh, let's see if I can
make this simple, uh, to work it and to keep it. Uh, okay. Um,
that's that's how or to cultivate it and keep it
as how the normal translation is, uh, the the word

(03:40):
it is supplied with a dot in the last letter
of those two infinitive verbs. Just a dot. Now, the
dots are not in the original text of the Bible. Uh,
they they were added in the Middle Ages by, uh,

(04:02):
Jewish scribes. Okay.

S2 (04:05):
Mhm.

S1 (04:06):
Uh, so we don't have to worry about so the
it part is, uh, just a, a medieval edition. How's that.
Is that the word it for those two verbs. Is
that is that clear. Okay. Uh, secondly, the Hebrew verbs, uh,

(04:32):
are to match the, uh, the gender. The. It should
match the word. It should match the gender of the
word garden, because that's what it's working and it doesn't.
So it's very, very questionable. Now the words there In

(04:54):
Genesis 215. It's, uh. Lev duh. Uh, those are the
Hebrew words. And, uh, the word for to work is
also a word for worship. Same word in Hebrew. And

(05:15):
the word uh, to keep it is the same word
for someone who obeys where, where it says, uh, you
shall obey the Lord your God in Deuteronomy six. It's
the word to keep it. Okay? So it's just as
valid if we don't think that. And I don't think
that that word, it was part of the original text

(05:39):
of the Bible. And so we take that out and
then what's it saying? The Lord placed the human being
in the garden. Adam and Eve, he placed them. Adam
there in the garden. Why? To worship him. To worship
and obey. That's why that makes a lot more sense

(06:00):
in that context. Uh, those words, by the way, used
of the Levites in the rest of the Pentateuch that
their work was to worship and obey. Uh, so, uh,
that's that's how I understand it as well. The first
commentator that I ever noticed had it was a great
Old Testament Hebrew Bible scholar, uh, from an Orthodox Jewish

(06:24):
background named Cassuto at Hebrew University. He did a very,
very detailed commentary on Genesis. And then the great evangelical scholar, uh,
who was my favorite doctoral professor, John Sailhamer also, uh,
taught that as well in his commentary on the Pentateuch
as narrative. And so if you want to read more,

(06:46):
you could probably, uh, pick up, uh, thalheimer's Pentateuch as narrative,
one of the best commentaries I've ever read. So, uh,
does that help at all?

S2 (06:56):
Yeah. It does. So if I'm, uh, I teach Sunday
school off and on. If I was teaching Sunday school,
would I be better to say to worship and obey their, uh.
You know, I wrote a note in my Bible about that,
and I was just kind of curious, like, would that be.

S1 (07:12):
I would read him. I would read him. What's in
the moody commentary? That's what I would do. Yeah.

S2 (07:17):
Okay.

S1 (07:18):
That's it.

S2 (07:19):
Yeah, that clears it up.

S1 (07:21):
Good. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. Uh. Uh, we're
going to talk to Ray in Dayton, Ohio. Listen on Wfcr.
Welcome to Open Line, Ray. How can I help you?

S3 (07:37):
Okay, my question is kind of weird. Uh.

S1 (07:41):
Okay, then. Um, listen, I'm not accepting any weird questions. Ray.
We're going to have to. No, I'm just joking. You
go ahead.

S3 (07:47):
Um, numbers 22. Verse 23 and following. Uh, it's the
story of Balaam and his talking donkey. Um, the Bible
says that God opened the mouth of the donkey, and, uh,

(08:07):
the Bible says that God opened the eyes of Balaam,
but it does not say that God opened the eyes
of the donkey to where he could first see the angel.
Is there anything in, uh, the Hebrew that implies that, uh,

(08:28):
God did that? Or does it just say that the
donkey saw that?

S1 (08:34):
Well, obviously the donkey saw it. He didn't want to go.
She didn't want to go forward. Uh, but, uh, I'm
sure even a donkey wouldn't have seen that. Except that
God opened the the eyes of the donkey to see
the angel of the Lord. I mean, that's just implied,

(08:57):
but I think the bigger surprise is that God opened
the mouth of the donkey. Really? Can you imagine? Yeah.

S3 (09:06):
And I'm surprised of Balaam's reaction. You know, he just
starts talking to him, uh, like it was a common thing, but.

S1 (09:16):
Well, yeah, but that, uh, again, that's. It's a mistake
to assume that the text of the Bible reveals everything
that actually happened in the event. Okay, this is this
is this is written down. And if the author didn't
think it was important that he said, what? How did
you learn how to talk or anything like that, then

(09:38):
he's not going to put it in. It's irrelevant. He's
telling it as briefly and as quickly as he can.
I think that's one of the things that people do
Sometimes when they read biblical narratives, they think if something
isn't mentioned, it didn't happen or that it should have
happened and the author should have mentioned it. And that's

(09:59):
just not the case. The author's going to say what
he thinks is what's significant, and he's not sitting around thinking, oh,
what are they going to say? What? What did Balaam
what did Eve think when the serpent talked to her?
Moses didn't care about that. Moses doesn't care about how
Balaam's going to respond to the to the donkey? No.

S3 (10:22):
Okay.

S1 (10:22):
What? He what he wants. This is what he wants
us to learn. Okay. And I think sometimes we read
this narrative because what happens in chapters 23 and 24,
the next two chapters, you get four prophetic oracles by Balaam. Now,
Balaam is not a good guy. And in numbers 31,
we find out he's the one that led Israel astray

(10:44):
with a moabite and Midianite women and idolatry. He's not
a good guy. So I'm reading this book, and I think,
how in the world can I trust what Balaam is saying?
If he's a bad guy, isn't he a false prophet?
And Moses point is, he sets it up with the

(11:06):
narrative of the donkey. Basically, it's saying, If God can
open the mouth of this donkey here in chapter 22,
then he can open the mouth of that donkey in
chapters 23 and 24. And that that's that's the point
of that. So, yeah. Uh, okay. Does that help?

S3 (11:24):
Um, yes it does.

S1 (11:26):
Yeah. Good. Well, I'm so grateful you called. Uh, we're
going to come back in just a bit with more
of your questions. The phone number here, [phone]. My name
is Michael Melnick, and I am having a great time
talking with you about the scriptures, so stay with us.
More coming up straight ahead. Thanks for listening to Open Line.

(12:05):
I'm so grateful that we get together for this Bible
study every week. And, you know, people ask me why.
Why in the world? I was just talking with Omar
on the break and I said, I've been doing this
for 13 years, and I have a number of colleagues
of mine. When I was a full time professor at
Moody all these years, they said, why in the world

(12:28):
would you give up all your Saturdays to do this?
And the reason is, I love teaching the word, and
I don't just love. I didn't just love teaching it
in the classroom. I love teaching it in the congregation.
I love teaching the word to people who are not
college students, but also just people who want to understand

(12:51):
the Bible more. And I just love teaching the word.
And I think that that came to me, uh, the
Lord gave me that heart. I know that, you know,
it's not something that that came in and of myself.
But then when I became a student in grad school,
I took a course on how to study the Bible

(13:12):
with Howard Hendricks. He was just such a phenomenal teacher.
And he talked about the joy we have when we
study and teach the word and and that's true. And
and that's why I picked our current resource because it
was written by Professor Hendricks. It's called Teaching to Change Lives. And,

(13:32):
you know, he was such a great professor, such a
great teacher. Uh, if you talk to a Dallas grad
and he's, you know, Prof. Hendricks is now with the Lord.
But if you say Prof said, everyone knows you're not
talking about any prof. You're talking about Prof. Hendricks because
he was such a great teacher. And then he took
what was in his heart about teaching to change lives,
put it in this book, and we're all teachers someplace.

(13:55):
We all are. Whether it's our kids, our our neighbors,
home group, Sunday school class, uh, getting to preach occasionally.
I don't know what we're doing, but we're all teaching
in some context. And what Prof. Hendricks did was he
taught in this book about teaching that we need to
teach heart to heart, not just head to head, that, uh,

(14:17):
we need to get students involved in the word and
so they can have the most important transformation happening by
God in their life. And so that's our current resource,
teaching to change lives. And if you'd like a copy,
we'd like to send you it as a thank you
for a gift of any size. And we sure do
appreciate the gifts, especially if you've never given a gift before. Boy, uh,

(14:38):
we so appreciate you helping keeping open Line on the
air with your gift. And we want to say thanks
by sending you a copy of Teaching to Change Lives
by Howard Hendricks. Uh, to give call [phone] or go
to online radio.org. And remember, when you give ask for
teaching to change lives. We're going to talk to Larry

(14:59):
and Seymour, Indiana right now listening on 88.1. Welcome to
Open Line Larry. How can I help you.

S4 (15:07):
I've been wondering about the Jewish, uh, folks I know
to to believe in Christ, to go to heaven, to
be with the Savior. We have to accept Him as
He is, and he's been resurrected. How do the Jewish
people do that? How do they get there?

S1 (15:27):
Well, I'm going to read you, uh, two verses from
the Gospel of John, which the Lord Jesus spoke to
Jewish people. Okay. In John eight verse 24, speaking to
Jewish people, the Lord Jesus says, therefore I told you

(15:50):
that you will die in your sins. For if you
do not believe that I am, you will die in
your sins. So the only way to experience forgiveness, the
Lord Jesus told Jewish people, was to believe that the
words he uses that he said that I am, which

(16:10):
is an affirmation of his deity. It's rooted in the
Old Testament. Now some versions say, unless you believe that
I am he, but the the Hebrew just says, the
Greek just says, unless you believe that I am. Unless
you believe my deity. Uh, you're still in your sins.

(16:30):
And that's what he said to Jewish people. Then the
same verse, same verse, same book in the Gospel of John.
This is what the Lord Jesus said in John 14
and verse six. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to me, comes to
the father except through me. That's what he says in

(16:54):
John 14 six. So here's the thing. Jewish people are
just like everyone else, just like Greeks, French, Americans, whatever
nationality we can be. Jewish people have to believe that
Jesus died for their sins and rose again. Uh, and, uh,

(17:14):
that's that's what I would say. Uh, it's why I
have been so zealous for, oh, let's see, 53 years
of being a follower of Jesus, telling my own Jewish people,
my own Jewish friends, uh, my family about Jesus, the Messiah,
that he's the promised one of Israel. Okay.

S4 (17:35):
Yeah, well, I'm. I'm not a saint. I believe in
the Lord Jesus. Uh, I was just hoping there was
some way that all the Jewish people would be awake
or awakened.

S1 (17:50):
Well, uh, maybe God has put Jewish people into your
path so that you can fulfill the Gentile great Commission.
The Gentile great. You know, the Great Commission in Matthew
28 is make disciples of the nations, right? But the
Gentile Great Commission is what God says to Gentiles, people
who are not Jewish. It says that the Jewish people
have not stumbled so as to fall. This is Romans 1111.

(18:13):
Jewish people have not stumbled so as to fall. That
means they haven't stumbled, rejected the Messiah so they can't
get back up again. They it's not that impossible for
Jewish people to believe, but by their transgression, by their
rejection of the Messiah, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
God opened the door so that the gospel would go
forth to the Gentiles Else so that, uh. Why, it

(18:36):
says to make them jealous, to make them desire what
rightfully belongs to them by giving it to someone else.
That's what to make them jealous means. And so, uh,
you know, the Lord has given you the gospel. Your
life needs to be so enticing in your walk with

(18:56):
the Lord. Uh, and your opportunity to talk about the
Lord with Jewish people. If you are a Gentile, that's
how we can express our concern for Jewish people to
do our best, to provoke them to jealousy, not to
provoke them to anger, but to provoke them to rightfully
to want what we have which rightfully belongs to them. Okay.

S4 (19:18):
Great.

S1 (19:19):
Okay. Thank you. Larry. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks so much. Okay. Uh,
we're going to speak to a that's a good name. AG, uh,
Cape Coral, Florida, listening on keys. Hey AG, what is
AG stand for?

S4 (19:36):
Always good.

S1 (19:38):
Ah. That's good. Well, how can I help you today?

S4 (19:44):
Well, thank you for taking my call. I'd like to
know if first Corinthians one two and first Corinthians 611
are indicating that sanctification can be achieved while you're still

(20:06):
physically alive.

S1 (20:09):
Well, first Corinthians one two says to God's church in Corinth,
to those who are sanctified in the Messiah Jesus, and
called as saints words that are related to each other
with all those in every place who call on the
name of Jesus our Lord. And then in first Corinthians six,

(20:32):
It says. I'll read you that. Verse two. Just so
you know, it says there in verse 11, and some
of you used to be like this, straying from the Lord,
but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified

(20:53):
in the name of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and
by the spirit of our God. Now here's my question
for you. Are you talking about entire sanctification?

S4 (21:05):
Full well, perfect perfection? Well, I don't think he, the God,
does anything partially so. I guess I'm saying that.

S1 (21:15):
Uh, wait, wait a minute. What do you mean? That
God doesn't do anything? Partially.

S4 (21:20):
Well, usually everything he does is complete.

S1 (21:25):
So he created the world in one day.

S4 (21:28):
No, no, I didn't say that.

S1 (21:30):
Okay, okay. Wait wait wait. When Jesus healed the man
who was born blind in John nine, did he just
touch him and heal him instantly?

S4 (21:43):
Um, if that's where he told him to go and
wash his.

S1 (21:48):
Oh, yeah. That's he. Exactly. He he made, uh, he
made some mud, put it on his eye and told
him to go wash. Everything isn't instantaneous.

S4 (21:59):
No, no, no, I'm not indicating instantaneous. And I've got
a problem with a monitor. I'll have to call you
back if you.

S1 (22:10):
No, no, you stay with me, AG. It's okay. You
just stay. I'm going to answer your question right now. Okay? Okay.

S4 (22:16):
Okay. Here's the point. I don't think.

S1 (22:18):
I understand your point. I understand your point. Let me
just say this. The Bible teaches that there are three
aspects to sanctification. The first aspect is we were sanctified.
That's associated with in the past. That's that's sort of
like justified when we were declared righteous. Uh, the word

(22:40):
sanctified is commonly used in the book of Hebrews in
a way that Paul uses the word justified, that God
imputed righteousness to us by faith in Jesus. So we
are declared righteous or we're sanctified in God's eyes. We're
perfectly holy because of the holiness of Jesus. Secondly, there's

(23:02):
a contemporary sanctification. God is working in our lives, and
he is making us more and more holy. He is
working in our lives. I mean, I just look at
at my own life, my own life. I've been a
believer 50 some years. He is still working in my
life to make me more holy. Uh, it's not like

(23:23):
I've arrived. Paul says that in Philippians three. Not that
I have arrived, but he continues to work in us
and that is the process of sanctification, and it's what
we all experience. And then finally, there's ultimate sanctification that's
comparable to glorification when we go to heaven. And it

(23:44):
says in Scripture that when we see him, we shall
be like him. In first John we shall. When we
see him, we shall be like him. Uh, and and
we are no longer, uh, constrained by our sinful bodies,
but rather we've been transformed into the likeness of his
son completely. And we are perfectly obedient and no longer

(24:08):
in need of sanctification because we are fully sanctified. That
happens when we see the Lord. So we were sanctified,
we are sanctified, and we will be sanctified. That's what
the Bible teaches. Does that help at all? AG.

S4 (24:25):
Um, well, it just brings up a whole bunch of
other questions. Um, and I'm not I'm not going to
take your time now, but. Okay. It's the. I'll call
in another time and.

S1 (24:38):
Okay.

S4 (24:39):
This this conversation, if you don't mind. Okay.

S1 (24:43):
I don't mind, I don't mind. Thanks for your call,
I appreciate it. You know, uh, there is a mistaken
idea out there. Uh, it's taught by some denominations that
we can experience entire sanctification or or sinless perfection in

(25:04):
this life. I just don't think that that's possible. It
says in first John chapter five that John was writing
to believers. I write. He says that right there in
first John five. He says, I'm writing to you who
have believed in the name of the Son of God. Uh,
he says that in chapter five. But then in first

(25:28):
John chapter one, he says, if we say we have
no sin, we are deceiving ourselves. Verse eight, verse ten,
if we say we don't have any sin, we make
him a liar. No, we confess our sins and he
is faithful and just to restore fellowship, to forgive our sins.
We'll be back with more of your questions in just
a bit. Right here on Open Line with Michael Ray.
Dolnick Mailbags coming right up. And we're back. I am

(26:09):
so grateful that Far Eastern Broadcasting Company partners with Moody
Radio to bring you Open Line and the weekly Febc mailbag.
Uh Febc is a wonderful organization. They bring the gospel
to people Through media and also through personal engagement. I
think you should check out their podcast and their website.

(26:30):
The website is febc. The podcast is called Until all
I've Heard. It features Ed Cannon, and you can get
it by going to their website. Or you can just
go to your favorite podcast app on your on your
smartphone and you can listen to it. Joining me with
the Febc mailbag is Tricia McMillan, producer of Open Line. Hey, Tricia. Hello. So,

(26:57):
you know, I so appreciate you being here. And also, Omar,
for making sure that we sound right. I, I appreciate
to Hera and Lisa and all the people that make
this program work. It's a real team effort. I appreciate
the listeners. They are part of the team too. And
I know that we we both, we all of us

(27:17):
appreciate our kitchen table partners because they're part of the team.
They give monthly so we could be on the air weekly.
One of the things that we like to do is
we produce a special audio Bible study designed exclusively for
our kitchen table partners. It's about eight minutes or so,
maybe ten sometimes if I talk too long. But, uh,

(27:41):
but we we produce that and send it out every
other week. If people are listening and you've maybe even
given but never even considered giving on a monthly basis.
We'd appreciate it if you would consider that, uh, the
way to become a kitchen table partner is by calling [phone],

(28:01):
or just go to open line radio.org. And if you
consider it, pray about it and decide that's what you'd
like to do. We sure would appreciate it. Okay, Tricia,
let's see how many of these we can do this
this time.

S5 (28:13):
All right. Our first question is from Kristin in Indiana,
listens to WGN. I am reading the Song of Solomon.
Can you please help me understand the point of the book?
I'm having a hard time with it.

S1 (28:26):
Well, first of all, get the Moody Bible Commentary. It's
a pretty good commentary on Song of Solomon. Okay. Uh, that's.
I think that's a good thing. I would say the
Moody Bible Commentary. Uh, it was written by, uh, two
people that commentary, Tim Sigler and Michael Ray Zelnick. And, uh,
the second thing is I it's part of the wisdom books,

(28:49):
and it emphasizes wisdom in marriage, in romance. And so
I think that you have to read it that way.
And the structure, as you find it in the moody commentary,
shows how it goes from courtship to marriage to trouble
in marriage and resolution. And it's it's written poetically, but

(29:11):
that's sort of the structure of, of the book. And
then ultimately, I think every book in the Old Testament
has to ultimately point to the Messiah. And I think
this is written by Solomon, and he certainly wasn't the
ideal bridegroom. You know, he was. But it's written as

(29:32):
if that the king and this is the ideal bridegroom.
The emphasis, I believe, is that the true ideal bridegroom
is the messianic king. That king. And so, in a sense,
it does indeed point to the Messiah in that way.
James Hamilton wrote a wonderful article in the Moody Handbook

(29:53):
of Messianic Prophecy on how to see the Messiah in
the Song of Solomon, recognizing that it's a book that's
not an allegory, it's not an allegorical interpretation, but that
the the narrative, the way the stories are put together,
point to an ideal king. And that ideal king is

(30:13):
the Messiah. Hmm.

S5 (30:15):
Okay, I hope that's helpful. Kristen. Um, and you said
that was in the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy.

S1 (30:22):
Prophecy.

S5 (30:23):
Okay.

S1 (30:23):
The author is James Hamilton. Yeah.

S5 (30:25):
Of that article, because you edited you co-edited that one, right?

S1 (30:28):
Yeah. And I picked that article. Yeah.

S5 (30:30):
Okay. All right. So so both of those are linked
on our website. If you want to find out more
about either the Moody Bible Commentary or the Moody Handbook
of Messianic Prophecy, um, they're both linked on our website,
so you can learn more there. Okay. Our next question
is from Mary. She says we are studying the Sabbath
year in the year of Jubilee in a Bible study

(30:52):
at church. Were these laws observed in Israel's history?

S1 (30:58):
Well, it seems to me. Let's see if I can.
I think it's in. I can't pull the verse up,
but it does say that Israel would go into captivity
for 70 years. And the reason was that they missed
70 celebrations of the sabbatical year. So when you think

(31:25):
about it for 490 year period before the. Captivity. Now
let me give you Israel becomes a nation at about
1400 BC, and then David becomes king about 1000 BC.

(31:46):
And the captivity begins at 586 BC. That's when Babylon
conquers Judah and takes them into captivity. And the text
tells us that for basically 490. Or let's round it
off to 500 years, Israel did not carry out or
keep the 77th year sabbatical, so that would put it

(32:09):
back around, uh, 1100 BC, that they didn't. So maybe
the first few years of, uh, after the conquest, they
did keep the sabbatical year, but for almost 500 years
they did not. 70 times seven every seventh year. And
so they went into the God told them that he
would rest the land for 70 years because they missed

(32:34):
those 70 sabbatical years.

S5 (32:36):
Okay. So it didn't happen under David? No. If I'm
doing my math right and and didn't happen under Solomon either.

S1 (32:45):
Didn't happen under any of the monarchy. Okay. None of.

S5 (32:48):
Them. All right. Just just taking that blame off, like. Wait.
So did David not. No, no, no. It was after
the monarchy. Once they got into the divided kingdom then. Mhm. Okay. Yeah.
They weren't keeping it.

S1 (33:00):
That they weren't keeping it David. It goes back to
about 1100 BC that they did not carry it out.

S5 (33:07):
Wow.

S1 (33:07):
So.

S5 (33:08):
So sometimes you don't see those immediate consequences. Um And sometimes.
Sometimes it feels even worse then. Yeah.

S1 (33:17):
So they wrested the land for 70 years. Okay. That's it.

S5 (33:21):
All right.

S1 (33:21):
70 year captivity.

S5 (33:22):
All right, well, thank you for that. And that is
in the Old Testament that that that happens, right? I
mean that, by the way. See that?

S1 (33:30):
Yeah. I just I think there are people who want
this is important. Um, there are some biblical teachers that
want to say that judgment's going to fall in America
because we're not keeping the sabbatical year.

S5 (33:42):
Mhm.

S1 (33:43):
But the Constitution of Israel was written for the theocratic
state of Israel, not for the United States of America.
And we don't have to keep a sabbatical year here
in America. And so, so if you've read or heard
about prophetic teachers saying, oh, judgment is coming this year
because we've had this many sabbatical years and we haven't

(34:03):
kept it, and no, no, no, that's that's not does
not apply to us.

S5 (34:10):
So, Okay.

S1 (34:11):
The United States, I mean.

S5 (34:13):
Okay. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Our next question is
from Roy in Ohio. Listens to surf. Is spiritual discernment
a spiritual gift?

S1 (34:24):
Mm. Well, I thought through the gifts, uh, passages, if
we look at Ephesians four, Romans 12, first Corinthians 14,
each of those chapters have lists of gifts and some
of them overlap. But I would say that if we
look at these first Corinthians 12, which has a list

(34:44):
of gifts. Romans 12. Ephesians four. Did I say that right? Uh,
when when we look at first Corinthians 12, verse eight,
it says to one is given a message of wisdom
through the spirit. To another, a message of knowledge. Well,
it seems to me that that's in the list of gifts.

(35:06):
And so wisdom is a gift. And discernment is just
a synonym for wisdom. And so I would say there's
a gift of wisdom. And if a person has the
gift of wisdom, they have discernment. Spiritual. You know, you
can have discernment. Just naturally read the book of Proverbs.

(35:28):
You'll become more wise. But, uh, the actual spiritual gift
is sort of a special outpouring of discernment and wisdom
that would come and that and you get that gift
when you first come to faith. But we still have
to exercise wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. Everyone has to exercise wisdom. Uh, just

(35:52):
like the Bible teaches that there's a gift of giving.
Doesn't mean that only the people with the gift of
giving give. You know, it's it's, uh. We're all supposed
to be wise and grow up in wisdom. But there
are people who have a special, spiritually endowed gift of giving.

S5 (36:08):
Okay, so. But everyone is called to give.

S1 (36:12):
Yeah. And and and wisdom and wisdom. Everyone is called
to be wise.

S5 (36:16):
Don't live like a fool.

S1 (36:18):
Exactly.

S5 (36:19):
Just because you don't have the gift of wisdom. Yeah. Okay.

S1 (36:22):
Yeah.

S5 (36:22):
That's it. All right. All right. Thank you.

S1 (36:25):
Let's take a break here. All right. And, uh, Trisha,
thanks for putting these questions together. You're welcome. Uh, you know,
you can always send your question in as well. We'll
be doing a mailbag program coming up, uh, next week. But, uh,
you can always send yours by going to npr.org and
clicking on Ask Michael a question. Fill out your question
there and it'll go into the mailbag. We'll be right

(36:46):
back with more of your questions in just a moment.
This is Michael Zelnick. That was Tricia McMillan. And we're
coming right back with more questions straight ahead. Welcome back

(37:07):
to Open Line. So many of you call or write
with questions about Jewish people, and particularly how you can
share your faith with your Jewish friends. One of the
best ways to do that is to help your friends
understand the marvelous prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 53.
And if you struggle to understand it yourself. Chosen People Ministries,

(37:29):
one of our ministry partners, is offering online listeners a
free book called Isaiah 53 explained. As you read this book.
You'll get a better grasp of this really pivotal passage,
and you'll be able to share its remarkable truth with
your Jewish friends. Or you can pass it on to
your Jewish friend so he or she can read it

(37:50):
for her or himself. Uh, to get your free copy
of Isaiah 53 explained, just go to our website openlibrary.org.
Scroll down, you'll see a link that says A free
gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that and you'll
be taken to a page where you can sign up
for your very own copy of Isaiah 53 explained. We're

(38:11):
going to try and see if we can get some
calls in right here in our last segment. Uh, it's
the lightning round. Let's talk to Paul in Chicago. Listening
on WNBA. Welcome to Open Line, Paul. How can I
help you today?

S6 (38:25):
How are you?

S1 (38:27):
Um, thanks. I'm well.

S6 (38:29):
Good. So, uh, I'm a volunteer confirmation teacher, and, you know,
12 year olds always have a lot of questions, and
a lot of them come, I'm sure, from parents and
current events. And one of the questions that comes up
a lot now, uh, relates to the, the Jewish people,

(38:52):
and it's basically is being Jewish or religion or race
or nationality. And they have a lot of examples that
they try to bring. And I was wondering your thoughts
on what I should be telling them and what the
right thing is to say.

S1 (39:11):
The very first thing to say is it's not a race.
That was one of the terrible errors and malicious things
that the Nazi government determined that Jewish people had unchangeable
biological features that made them diabolical. Jewish people are not
a race. In fact, I think that categorizing people by

(39:32):
biology has been discredited. If you can read that in
the Dictionary of Sociology, however, it is an ethnicity. Uh,
and as an ethnicity, uh, it is the Jewish people.
That's what we would call it. It's a people group.
It's an ethnic group. Uh, and it has a religion

(39:56):
associated with, with it, which is Judaism. But all Jewish
people do not practice Judaism. So it is an ethnicity.
Jewish people with a religion. Judaism. Okay.

S6 (40:11):
That works.

S1 (40:12):
Great. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. We're going to
talk with Carla in Arlington Heights, listening also on Wmbi,
our flagship station. Hey, Carla, how can I help you today?

S7 (40:23):
Hi, Michael. I was reading Michael Heiser's book, The Unseen Realm,
and in Psalm 82 it talks about God sitting among
the other gods. And I read in the Moody Bible Commentary.
And so I'm just confused. Are there other gods?

S1 (40:42):
No, I would I just don't buy Michael Heiser's theory.
I would. I think it's a waste of time to
read that book. Uh, in Psalm 82 it says. How
will you how long will you judge unjustly and show
partiality to. I'm sorry. I'm reading verse two. I should

(41:04):
be reading verse one. Here we go. God takes his
stand in his own congregation. He judges in the midst
of the rulers. That's how the new American standard translates it.
I think that's a good translation. Uh, it uses the
word Elohim, but that that's kind of an interesting thing. Elohim.
We often think, oh, it's gods small G or God

(41:27):
capital G, but the reality is that because gods, because
judges or rulers sat in the place of God. And
I think if you read this whole Psalm, it makes
perfect sense that he's talking about earthly judges, uh, sitting
in the place of God to make judgments. And they
they have to be accountable to God for that. Uh,

(41:50):
that's why in the Hebrew Bible, sometimes the word Elohim
is used for judges. I'll give you an exact place
where you can see that in Exodus chapter 21, when
someone was an indentured servant and the time came for
him to be freed from his servitude if he loves

(42:12):
his master. It says that he is to us. It
says in verse five, Exodus 21 five, if the slave declares,
I love my master, my wife, and my children, I
do not want to leave as a free man his master.
Now verse six, is to bring him to the judges

(42:36):
and then bring him to the door doorpost. And they
they pierce his ear. Are you aware of that passage
in Exodus 21? But that verse, yeah, that verse where
it says, bring him to the judges. It's the same
Hebrew word, Elohim. Bring him to God. That's that's it.

(42:57):
So read Psalm 82 to be about judges, not about
a pantheon of gods. Okay. Thank you. Carla. Yeah. Thanks
for your call. Appreciate it. Uh, we're going to talk
to Nadine. Listening in Canada, foreign country listening on the
mobile app. Hey, Nadine. Thanks for listening. How can I

(43:19):
help you?

S8 (43:20):
Yeah, I listen every Saturday to you. Thank you. Okay.
So quickly. Uh, I'm a Christian, and my son is
married to a Jewish girl. Uh, she is, um, not
practicing Jew, really, but she, uh, does all the traditions.
Hanukkah and etc.. Passover. Just just to please her parents. Um,

(43:42):
my son is, uh, not a well-established Christian. I say
he's not, he's not. He's nominal. So I am as
a grandmother, I'm trying to plant the seed of knowing
Jesus and make the name of Jesus familiar and their house, um, and, uh, so,

(44:02):
so two questions I tried all these past few years. Uh,
the kids are still young. I try to.

S1 (44:10):
Wait. Let me ask you this. Have you asked your
son and daughter in law if it's okay for you
to talk about the Lord with your with their kids?

S8 (44:18):
Uh, yes, they are. Okay. But I think the the
the the wife is like, she's monitoring. Uh. Uh. Okay. Yeah.

S1 (44:27):
I just didn't want you to do it behind their
back is, you know, that's important.

S8 (44:31):
Yeah. She knows. She knows I'm trying, but I don't
think she's very happy.

S1 (44:35):
But she hasn't forbidden it, though.

S8 (44:38):
No she hasn't. She hasn't forbidden it. When we visit them,
they live in another city. I take them to the church.
And she didn't. She never said no. And she. She
always does her, uh, traditions with them also. Um. Good. Okay.
First question. I tried the past few years to be
familiar with the Messianic Jews, because my plan was to

(45:00):
kind of, in the future, um, guide them and, and
make them, uh, join a messianic Jewish community. Um, but, uh.

S1 (45:12):
You know what? If you could just ask a question
because we're running out of time.

S8 (45:16):
Okay, so two preachers alerted me and they said, I'm
doing a big mistake because Messianic Jews are similar to
those Judaizers in the Bible that Apostle Paul didn't approve
because they kind of in a gray area. And.

S1 (45:32):
You know, Nadine, they obviously misunderstand what Messianic Jews are.

S8 (45:38):
Uh, one of them is actually has written books, he
said about, uh, about his experience with. So I'm not sure.

S1 (45:45):
I'm a messianic Jew. Uh, I'm not a judaizer. I've
never asked anyone to judaize. So. Okay. Uh, which I
the term Is a crazy term.

S8 (45:56):
Yeah. So is is, um, is sticking to these traditions. Uh, uh,
does it negate what Jesus did on the cross?

S1 (46:05):
And let me I'm going to just give you a
quick answer. When we celebrate holidays, we do it with
Jesus at the center and we celebrate him. But thank
you for your call, Nadine. Call. Call back again. We'll
talk further. That's the program for the week. Thanks for
listening everyone. Especially thanks for all of you who called
or wrote in. Thanks for asking your questions and especially
thanks to Lisa, Tahira, Omar and Reina Raheem. I can't

(46:30):
even say it. Rihanna uh, for uh, helping out today
and being part of the team. Keep in touch with
us by going to our website. Check that out during
the week. Keep reading the Bible and we'll talk about
it next week. Open line with Doctor Michael Melnick is
a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute,
and we'll see you next week.