We've been riveted to our TV sets, watching the news, watching reports of Israel's strike against Iran and Iran's ballistic missile attacks against Israel. How should we think about this biblically, and how should we pray? Stay with me as I speak with a friend from Israel, Israel, about all this. Hello, friends. Welcome to Open Line, Moody Radio's Bible study Across America. My name is Michael Wright. I'm the academic dean and professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute.
I'm so grateful to be joining you around the radio kitchen table. We're sitting around talking about your questions about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life. If you have a question and you'd like to call the phone number here 5483675. Let me give you that again. (877) 548-3675. You
can write it down and uh, (877) 548-3675. You can also go to open Line radio.org and click on the link that says Ask Michael a question, and your questions will be written down and put into the mailbag for future, uh, segment on the Febc mailbag to Hera and Lisa are producing today. Tricia is away for the day and hoping she has a great time. Uh, Omar Mendoza is our producer or our engineer today. Uh, and I have a special guest again, the phone number (877) 548-3675. Go get yourself
a cup of coffee and open your Bible. We're going to listen to about listen to Israel, the stories about what's going on in Israel. But also we're going to talk about this biblically. So you need to have your Bible ready. Uh, now I want to introduce my friend. He's, uh, an expert on all things Israel. He lives in Israel. We've been friends for over 50 years. Uh, one of my dearest friends. We went to Moody together for a while. We went to Dallas Theological Seminary. Uh, and his name
is Avner. Uh, Avner has lived in the land of Israel for about 40 years. I believe I'm going to get that straight. And, uh, he is a music ministry there and a worship ministry and, uh, a teaching ministry in Israel. Uh, his, uh, his kids have at least two of them have come to Moody Bible Institute, for which we're really grateful, uh, and graduated from Moody Bible Institute. He is married to the lovely Rachel, who is one of my favorite people. Dearest hearts in the whole world
are grateful for you being with me. Avner, thank you for joining me right now.
What a joy. Michael, always a joy to be with you.
Yeah. I appreciate you so much. You know, I, I don't know quite how to describe you. You do everything. You teach, you sing, you write music, you, uh, you're even a tour guide if necessary. So thank you so much, Avner. Thank you for joining me.
I do do juggling and playing the piano at the same time, but not successfully.
Yeah, I know you try that. That's great. Well, thank you, Avner, for, uh, this. You know, I have been, uh, become sort of, like, frenetic in watching TV news, uh, scrolling on, going on to my phone and scrolling constantly for The Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel. Uh, I'm watching my news feeds constantly because of the strike against Iran. And then, of course, the ballistic missile retaliation by Iran. So people are wondering why in the world now, why did Israel
do this now? Uh, just a couple nights ago and start this, uh, strike against the Iranian nuclear facilities. Tell me about.
That. Mike, you and I once had a professor who we called Prof. It was Howard Hendricks. Sure. And he. He always used to say a text without a context is a pretext. He was quoting, I think, probably from David Cooper. Um, but the point I'm raising that is because a lot of people don't remember what's going on historically. They might know the issue of the Prince of Persia from the Book of Daniel. And certainly there's a spiritual
dynamic that one could trace and work on. But basically, um, the original perspective that Muhammad had back in the six hundreds was, uh, to conquer the world, uh, for what he believed was a revelation from God. It wasn't it was from a God who didn't have the biblical name, but that meant to take over the world and to make everyone believers, whether they like it or not. And
if not, then to become second class citizens. So even though in America most people don't believe that or live with that awareness, in the Middle East it's very strong. And Iran specifically is the Shiite stream. It's about 20% of Islam, and they're ruled by people who are actually geopolitically trying to make something called the Shiite Crescent that would go from Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen. Of course, Syria has gone through some changes now, but their goal is basically
to tie down the Middle East. And their second goal is to destroy Israel. And they're very, very clear about it. Most Americans might not remember that Iran was involved in things like the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut, where 63 people were murdered, or the bombing of the marine barracks where 241 were murdered in Beirut, or the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. All these things were done
by Iranian terrorism. So that same jihadi, uh, evil uh, is directed very, very clearly at Israel, where the leaders are saying, hey, we're going to eliminate you. You cannot win this conflict. We will destroy you. So we've been dealing with this since the mid 80s, since the mid 80s, and it's gotten worse and worse. And Israel's always been telling the world, hey, this is a new Hitler. And he's going to start with us, but he's not going to end with us. He's going to end with America.
But a lot of people are not tuned into that
and forget about that. So to give you two very, very short examples here, uh, back in January 2020, America took out the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, who was involved in his biggest master terrorist in the world, in, um, December, just after the October 7th, um, attack on Gaza, the famous, uh, infamous Hamas attack, the same Islamic Revolutionary Guard said that we're attacking Israel with this huge, uh, uh, ballistic missile
attacks in revenge for America killing Qassem Soleimani. Now, Israel's not upset about the fact that America killed Soleimani. We were very happy about that. He was an enemy. And Psalm 139 talks about what God feels about the enemies of Israel. But here we are with the same enemy. America and Israel. And the enemy doesn't understand the Bible, doesn't understand Psalm 83 or Ezekiel 38 and 39, where Iran is mentioned, at least in the second passage, as
having a factor. So what's happened basically is they are trying to destroy us and have done so for years. They've sent all the money to Hamas. They've sent money to Hezbollah in Lebanon. They've sent money to the Houthis, who are, uh, rocketing American ships. They sent money to Iraq, which has been attacking US bases. So this is a
big problem. And Israel basically got got to the point where we said we have to deal with this because they were close to completing a primitive nuclear device and had about eight more in the pipeline.
You know, uh, a lot of people think that Israel started this assault on Iran, uh, this strike. However, I believe that the violent assault actually began on October 7th when a proxy of Iran attacked Israel and committed the worst atrocities since the Holocaust. That was the attack by Hamas. And then immediately afterwards, Hezbollah, the northern uh, from Lebanon, that proxy of Iran, began to fire rockets and missiles into Israel. And then, of course, the Houthis are involved.
They're firing missiles into Israel. All these things are happening. And there was a seven front war that began. But only one of those fronts is Iran. But this began more than two years ago. This began or almost two years ago, uh, in October of 23. That's when it began. When the most recent assault. I agree with you about the broader context, but this recent assault was begun when
Iran began the strike. And now, with Iran so close to getting nuclear weapons, I don't think Israel could have helped by not striking that it would have been no good not to strike the the head of the snake, so to speak, that wants to see the destruction of Israel. Now, you and I, we both are linked to the Holocaust. I know both my parents survived and I lost half brothers and a sister. Mr.. Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh, did you, uh, have family?
Yeah, from my Polish family. 92 of 95, uh, were, uh, murdered in the camps.
Yeah. See, this is why I think people don't realize that now Israel has a solemn duty to protect the Jewish people, and they cannot abide by Iran getting a nuclear weapon and then committing a second Holocaust. So it is Israel's government's responsibility to protect the nation of Israel, the Jewish state, from this kind of genocidal attack that that Iran is planning. I think that's so important that we recognize this. Anyway, uh, Avner, can you stay with me? Another segment?
Sure.
Okay. Uh, we're going to be right back, folks. We're going to take a break here. And, uh, when we come back, we're going to talk about some ways to think biblically about this continuing war between Iran and Israel, and also how we can pray. What should we be praying about this? My guest is Avner Boesky. I'm Michael Redlick. Stay with me. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael Rey. Dominik. Joining me for this first half hour of the program is my friend Avner
Boesky from Israel. Avner is an expert on all things Israel and scripture and uh, also, uh, what God is, how God is moving in the land of Israel. So, uh, Avner, thank you for for being with us at short notice. I really appreciate it. We're talking about what's going on with Iran. I want to know how has Israel responded? How are the people of Israel responding to the retaliation with the ballistic missiles that are landing around Israel? Tell me about that.
Yes. Sometimes people call me up and they say, is it safe to come to Israel? I say, I don't know, I just live here. Uh, one of the things that happens here is that we've been going through wars. We've been birthed in war since 1948. And so every Israeli goes into the army for 2 to 3 years, depending if they're a man or a woman. So we've seen this, uh, we haven't seen missiles landing on civilians. The first time that happened, I was in the Israeli army, and I
was in 91 from Saddam Hussein, the desert storms. But right now we have, uh, you know, people with the 2000 missiles in their inventory shooting at us. And, uh, we found that if we go into shelters in our house, every house has a shelter. If you go into the shelter 99 times out of 100, you're going to be fine. 2 or 3 people were killed. Murdered yesterday by an Iranian missile. And they weren't in a shelter in their
in their safe room, I guess you would call it. Uh, so, yeah, but Israelis really feel that, uh, we are, um, we can deal with it, but we know all of us, uh, a great sobriety because we know that, uh, these, uh, £1,000 bombs can really do a lot of damage when they hit. And, uh, Israel right now, of course, is, uh, controlling the skies over Iran. And that's an amazing thing. 100 drones were shot at us just a day ago.
And we, with some American help, shut down nearly all of the 100 drones, something unheard of in military history. But we're talking about the largest ballistic missile attacks that Israel is facing in the world in the history of the world. Happened yesterday. And, uh, so, yeah, but there's a great sobriety.
So people are wondering, uh, I know believers are saying, is this Armageddon? Is this the end of the world? Is this the last battle? Where does this fit prophetically, do you think?
Well, again, if we're looking at Armageddon, you know, we're looking, uh, not just to, let's say Ezekiel 38 and 39, where Persia is mentioned, uh, in verse five. So Persia is going to be around, Iran is going to be around for a while. They're not out of the picture. Uh, but the principle of Psalm 83, the people who make shrewd plans against your people and say, let's wipe them out as a nation, That's what we're dealing with. Armageddon talks about all the nations of the world. And so
we're not dealing with that. We're dealing with one nation primarily at this point with 5 or 6 proxies.
You know, one of the things I say, people ask me all the time, are we in the last battle? And I point out the very same thing. But I do think that what we're seeing as more and more nations turn against Israel, even Western nations that were supposed to be supportive. Correct? Yes. I think that we're seeing it getting closer and closer to those days when all nations will gather against Jerusalem. Thank God it's not happening just yet. But we do see they're gathering in the U.N., so to speak.
Uh, yeah. And there's.
Two.
Things, I think if you go to Psalm 83, verse six through eight, you'll see that just about all of those nations are right now involved in attacking Israel. That's very, very close to what Psalm 83 is talking about. But the other side to us is, uh oh. Now, what was I about to say on that?
It's okay. Here's here's the question. I do think that the the nations will gather against Israel. Uh, I tell you, today I got a very encouraging, uh, uh, picture and text message from a professor at Moody who happens to be in Seoul, Korea. And what he sent me was a a sign. I don't even know where the sign was. A big banner was hanging up, and, uh, it says, uh, thank you, Israel, for fighting for the free world. And then Korea stands with Israel and had an Israeli flag
that was encouraging. I think it was at a church that they did this. So, uh, I think that it's important I think this is what a believer's response should be, in my opinion. What would you encourage believers to think about these kinds of events today?
I would say compare it to what happened in Germany in the 30s. We're dealing with people who wanted to destroy not only Israel, but the whole world. The chant that goes on in Iran all the time is death to Israel, death to America. And then the Houthis add on a third line and cursed be Israel. Which brings us right into Genesis 12 three. That those who curse Israel will themselves be cursed by the God of Israel. So I think it's real important to be praying. It's
important for us if you pray. So if the listeners are listening, do pray for Israel's safety and protection. And that the Lord would give us, like he gave to King David, victory on the battle, and that he would bring us to know the God of Israel personally. Mhm.
Yeah, I think that's true. I think we need to be praying. You know, when we say pray for the peace of Jerusalem, I pray for the peace of Jerusalem all the time. But I at this point, as there's war with Hamas, uh, continuing and this war now with, uh, Iran, I pray for the victory of Israel. And that's how
there will be peace. Now, it's not the final peace that will come when the Prince of Peace returns, but at least temporal peace, uh, and that peace will come through the surrender of Hamas and, uh, the the final defeat of this nuclear program at, uh, in Iran. I think that that's crucial to understand. Uh, so we're praying for peace in that way. Uh, any other areas specifically that we should be praying for Israel?
David's son Solomon said there's a time for peace and a time for war.
And of course.
The birds. The birds sang that in their famous, uh, Pete Seeger song. turn, turn, turn. Yeah. I think it's so, so, so important, uh, to really be praying for the salvation and the protection of Israel. Uh, to me, that's just about the most important thing. One good thing and might be encouraging to people is that because of pressure, C.S. Lewis used to say, God whispers in our pleasures, and he shouts in our pains. It's his megaphone to raise
a deaf world. There is greater openness spiritually in Israel today across the board. People are seeking, you know, they say there are no atheists in foxholes. That's happening in Israel. Uh, it's not overwhelming. And we're not seeing, you know, a Billy Graham meeting here, uh, in terms of amounts of people. But there is a much greater openness. And so that's worth praying for, that people will find the God who they've been looking for and his Messiah.
Yeah. You know, yesterday, uh, a mom of a of a there's a Jewish believer who has sent several of her children to Moody. One is coming this fall. In fact, several are graduates already, three, I believe. Uh, she sent me a link to a CBN report. News report, uh, where they were there was a video that they showed and then interviewed someone of a group of Jewish believers gathering in a shelter during the ballistic missile assault. And they were engaged in singing and worship. And I saw
three moody grads in that video. Um, and they they were there in Israel and, and worshiping and I, I pray that these young people that they will continue to speak up with other Israelis, uh, that the Israelis who are, I think it's fair to say, pretty stressed with this war. We'll find peace and and rest and emotional well-being through the Prince of Peace by coming to know Yeshua Jesus. Yeah.
I think I think.
One really good point is the issue of the heart, that it's not just a chess game, of course, with various pieces, Israeli pieces, Iranian pieces, but God's heart in Isaiah 62 and 63 is bound to the Jewish people. And when they suffer, it says he suffers. And so that's so important. We're touching something very precious and deep
to the heart of God. And as we pray and intercede, it's not only for prophetic fulfillment, but it's for something which is really touching the love and the passion and the heart of God.
Yeah. You know, that's a verse that I find very helpful when people ask me and they I'm sure they ask you this where was God during the Holocaust? I always tell them, uh, in Isaiah 63 nine, in all their suffering and all their afflictions, he was afflicted. And I think that when Israel suffers, God suffers with Israel. Um, and, uh, I think that sometimes we lose sight of that, that
what breaks the heart of God. Uh, I don't know if you know this story, but, uh, you know, the person I'm going to tell you about, uh, your daughter in law, uh.
When she was not your daughter.
In.
Law.
She, uh, she said to me she was going to study this summer. Uh, it was a summer a number of years ago. Uh, and she said, I'm going to study on my summer break. She was a student at Moody, and I'm going to see what breaks the heart of God. And, uh, so she came back, and she was not a Jewish studies major. She came and she said, I discovered what breaks the heart of God. And that's the ministry I'm
going to be in. And I said, what's that? And she said, I saw the two places where Yeshua wept in the Gospels, and both places it was over the unbelief of Israel.
In.
Luke 19 and in John 11. And the unbelief of Israel is what breaks God's heart and breaks my heart. And and lo and behold, she listened to that leading of the Holy Spirit through his word and and ended up wisely marrying your son.
And that's how.
She's listening to this broadcast right now.
Yeah. Now that to me, uh, that understanding that the Lord is with Israel and all their afflictions and, uh, that he is, uh, he, he cares deeply and weeps at the unbelief of Israel. Avner. Uh, what last things can you tell me, uh, tell our audience. How would you like them to? What kind of action? What kind of steps can they take? At this point.
I would say two things, even three things. One is, uh, we're probably, uh, in for, uh, some very heavy ballistic missile attacks, uh, usually at night. They only come out at night. They can refuel better at night. So I think it's very worth praying for Israel's safety and for the Israeli and American soldiers, airmen who are interdicting these things. The third missiles. The arrow missiles. That's the first point. The second point is it says in Romans 116, don't
leave the gospel out. It's supposed to go to the Jewish people. It's our Messiah. Bring it with priority first to the Jew. And third of all, uh, one of the signs you mentioned, uh, Michael, is anti-Semitism increasing, and it doesn't only increase on the media, it increases next door. And so when you run into that, it's time to speak up and to stand for your Jewish neighbors. And when you know Jewish people, let them know that you're not buying into that.
Hey.
Thank you so much for joining me on Open Line. Uh, it's, uh, very insightful, very helpful. We'll be praying for you. Uh, friends, we're going to be right back with the Febc mailbag, so stay with us. This is open line with Michael Radonich. And that was my guest, Avner Boesky. And we're back. So glad to be with you this Saturday morning. And I'm really grateful to the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company for partnering with Open Line to bring the weekly Febc mailbag.
Febc far Eastern Broadcasting Company is a terrific organization, and they bring the gospel to people all over the world through media and through personal engagement. I think that's so crucial. Yeah, to to see what they're doing. Check out the Febc podcast. It's called Until All Have Heard. You'll find it at their website, febc. Uh, check that out. Well, joining me right now with the Febc mailbag is Tricia McMillan. She's the queen of the questions. The person that puts all
those questions into the mailbag. And you know, the way these questions come, Tricia, is, I mean, people send them all different ways, but I want to encourage people. The best way to send a question is to go to our website, openline radio.org. Click on that, and when you get there, there's a link that says Ask Michael a question. That's a great way to get your question in. So yes it is. And the the reason is, you know, it's so hard when people are sending it to Facebook
or to different kinds of things. Instagram. The the result is that that you're trying to drag it from all over the place.
Which I do. So if you do send it there, I do see those, just not maybe not quite as instantly as I do because the other ones go straight to my email inbox. Yeah. And so it's just easier. But I do find the others if you have put one there. Yeah I will.
It may take a time. And that's why people write me and say, I asked this question about a month ago, but I haven't, you know.
That's right.
So I'm just looking out for you, Tricia. Thank you. Uh, well, let's go ahead with the question.
All right. Our first question is from Mike in Indiana. Listens to. Could you please explain the dietary prohibitions found in. He gives three different references. Exodus 2319, Exodus 3426, and Deuteronomy 1421. Many thanks for your faithfulness and help in our biblical growth and understanding. Now, the first two Exodus verses are both very similar, almost identical, but they say something to the effect of bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord
your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. And then the Deuteronomy 1421 passage includes the part about do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. But before that it says, you are not to eat any carcass. You may give it to a temporary resident living within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. You must not boil a young goat in
its mother's milk. So we have two different prohibitions that don't eat any carcass, but you can give it to a temporary resident. And don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Right? Okay, so there's a lot to say about this. First of all, there's a whole aspect of kashrut or Jewish kosher law based on this, uh, this law. It's why Jewish people don't mix milk with meat because they thought, don't take a baby goat. This is how the rabbis developed this. Don't take a baby goat and boil it in its mother's milk. But then you might take, uh, another goat and baby goat. And it's not its own mother's milk. You think that's what it is? So it's okay,
but it turns out to be it's mother's milk. You make a mistake. So they built a fence. No goat? No. No mother's milk at all. And then they said, well, you may think you're bringing a calf, not a goat. Turns out it is a goat, or it is, you know, and the next thing you know, they're building further and further out. Uh, no meat, no milk together. And then even more, even poultry and milk, you know? No. No chicken and milk at all. And you can't eat them together.
If you eat meat, you have to wait a certain amount of hours for it to digest before you can eat a dairy product. Jewish people based on this law have separate sets of dishes, dairy dishes and meat dishes. And then of course, at Passover you have Passover dairy dishes and Passover meat dishes and utensils and things like that. So many Orthodox Jewish homes have like two ovens, two refrigerators.
They cook them separately.
To keep dairy and meat separately.
Okay. Pots and pans?
Yes.
Okay.
Absolutely.
Okay.
And so, uh, that's a whole set of laws which is filling out the rabbinic law of building fences around the law. The idea is you build a fence so that you can't break the actual law. You build more laws and laws and laws outside of it. And and so that's going on. I don't think that's the right
way to interpret this verse. Many people think, I think mistakenly, that this is a verse that about not boiling a baby goat in its mother's milk is about, uh, a Canaanite practice that's pagan, and that, uh, what Moses was forbidding here was to engage in Canaanite worship practices. The problem is that the earliest record we have of a pagan using this kind of baby goat, or baby animal in its own mother's milk, goes to the seventh century BC. Moses is writing at 1400 BC, and so it's unlikely
that that was in his mind. I think the best interpretation of that verse is as part of your worship practice, you know, firstfruits. People think, okay, I bring my first fruit. Uh, maybe I would bring the firstborn baby. Uh, also as a sacrifice. Mhm. And basically what that is saying don't boil a baby goat and it uses an idiom in its mother's milk, meaning unweaned still nursing. Don't bring a baby goat that is unweaned as a sacrifice. And the
reason is to show compassion on both the well. Compassion primarily on on the mother goat. You don't rip the baby from her and offer it. And so that to me is what I think is the best interpretation of that. And then the, the principle that would abide is to show compassion and concern for animals, not just treat them as as nothing or not having concern for them. Uh, a person cares for the life of his beast. That's the Proverbs teach. And so that's the principle, I think,
that governs us. As for the animal, there's a based on the, the, the carcass of an animal. If an animal dies of its own accord, the law prohibited eating it. And it's still today in Judaism. You cannot eat an animal that that died some other way other than through ritual slaughter. And so that's always been the case. And the reason was for protection, health of the individual not
to use a carcass. And, uh, there has to be also concern for the animal with the ritual slaughter done in the most humane possible way and most humane way possible. And so. But God does say like. And you. I think when we were talking about this once, Tricia, you said so, uh, Israel would not have been allowed to eat. Uh. What did you say?
A deer? A deer that got hit by a car on the side of the road.
Yeah, couldn't do that. But if someone else hits a deer, they get to pack it up and. Yeah. And so it was against the law for Israelites.
Okay. And even I think within that verse in Deuteronomy 1421, it says, for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God, that there is this is why, you know, it's not just a random rule that God was putting into place, but there was a reason for this specific law. And even all of the laws that he was giving them.
All the kosher laws were designed to make Israel distinct in how they ate. That's where we get the verse in Leviticus 11. After the kosher laws were given, you are to be holy, for I am holy. So it's it was. You're to be distinct. Different because I am separate. That's it.
And you are to be separate also.
Let's do another one. All right. Let's see if we.
Can get one more question here. Let's try. Um, Lois in Illinois listens to WNBA. Uh, this summer, we will be having a family reunion weekend for our large family. Two of the couples attending are believers in Jesus, but living together without the benefit of marriage. I read first Corinthians five nine through 11, and I want to know how I should handle this situation in light of that which says, I wrote to you in a letter not
to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters. Otherwise you would have to leave the world. But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer, who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler do not even eat with such a person.
Yeah, I think it would be. It's important, I important. I think I would be slow to answer this on the radio. I'll give some opinions, but I think mostly this is a question to talk about with someone personally, like a pastor, because I would ask more questions, I would want to know more. But first of all, I think when Paul gives this limitation, it's believers who are openly professing their faith in church, and they're now under
church discipline for their behavior. As far as I can tell, these people that are being spoken of, that are living together are not in church, and they are not under church discipline. So that's one thing. Also, when you read that verse in first Corinthians five, it says, anyone professing to be a believer, anyone who claims to be a believer. Now she says, I think they're believers, but are they claiming it any longer? I don't know, that's a question
I would ask. And also, if all those things were true, I'm not sure that it applies to family. It may apply to someone that you go to church with, but not necessarily a family member that there are. You know, we have to engage with family in a different way, for example, than we would with just general people in the church. And so there are a lot of questions
that I would have. And just on the surface, I would say that it's okay to go to the wedding because I'm not sure this verse applies in this circumstance or.
To the family reunion. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A wedding or whatever event that they're going to go to.
Okay.
All right. Family reunion.
All right. Okay.
Thank you. Well, listen, thank you for being part of the team. I think it's one of my favorite aspects of doing Open Line is doing it together with you and others. It's such a great benefit and blessing to me. And I love every member of the team. Everyone that listens. I appreciate meeting our kitchen table partners. I was in an event last week with a bunch of people and they all said that, oh, not all, but many of them there said, I'm a kitchen table partner. I'm a
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kitchen table partner. Uh, call (888) 644-7122 or go to open line radio.org. Well, thanks for bringing those questions in, Tricia. And being part of the team, we're going to be back next hour with more questions. This is that was Tricia McMillan. I'm Michael Rudnick, and we'll be back with more of your questions in just a moment. Stay with us. Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael Rey Dominik, glad to be with you. A couple of things I need
to mention before we go back to the phones. I just want to mention real quickly, it's the end of the fiscal year for Moody Bible Institute and your help at this time with your generous gift will be go a long way to making Moodie solvent and strong for the future. Really appreciate all the generosity, but the main reason I appreciate gifts is because I get to send you something. Our current resource is just so terrific. Uh,
it's called the Ultimate Bible Dictionary. When you are reading the Bible and you see a name or a place or an event and you think, what's that about? Everyone should have a Bible study library. And the Ultimate Bible Dictionary is a real handy little book that you can look those things up, you can find those items, and it's what we want to send you as a thank you for any gift that you send. And we're so appreciative of your your generosity that we want to give
you this as a thank you. If you'd like to give a gift for a gift of any size, we'll send you the Ultimate Bible Dictionary. Just call 44. 7122 or go to our website openline. radio.org. And as I mentioned in the first and second segments of the program today, if you didn't listen to it, my interview with Avner Boesky, you can go back and listen to the podcast or listen on the Moody Radio app, or go online and listen by going to Openline radio org. There's all sorts
of ways you can catch those first two segments. But Israel's in a war, a war that the nation didn't want. And as I see the images of Iranian ballistic missiles landing in Tel Aviv, it breaks my heart. And I wonder, what's the future? Well Chosen People Ministries, one of our partners, is offering a book called Israel's Glorious Future. The book shows God's faithfulness to Israel as found in the Bible, and gives a great picture of what the future holds
for Israel, despite its current difficulties. If you'd like a free copy of Israel's Glorious Future. Just go to Open Line radio.org. That's our website, Open Line radio.org. Click on the link that says a free gift from Chosen People Ministries, and you'll be sent to a page where you can sign up for your own copy of Israel's Glorious Future. We're going to talk to Dan in Scottsdale, Arizona, listening on Wmbi. Well, online. Welcome to Open Line. Dan, how can I help you today?
Yes. My question is about the Pentateuch, the Torah. Um, is that the only book that the Jewish people have, or do they have more of, like the books from the Old Testament of the Bible?
Yeah, Jewish people have the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, we call it, uh, Jewish people call it the Hebrew Bible or the Tanakh. They take the first part of it, the Torah, take the T from that. Uh, then prophets Nevi'im is the Hebrew word. Take the n from that, and then to Veeam. And that's the writings. And they say they take those three letters and they make the word Tanakh, and that's the Hebrew Bible. In addition, they
have the Mishnah and the Gemara, which are that's rabbinic literature. Uh, they have the Midrash, which are rabbinic commentaries. Uh, they have many other books, targums which are rabbinic paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible. So there's a great deal. That's why the Jewish people are obviously the people of the book. Okay. Dan.
Okay. And they do have the book of Isaiah, too.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Okay. Yeah. Okay.
Great.
Yeah. That's why Dan, uh uh, we I often will point out messianic prophecy in the Hebrew Bible to my Jewish family and friends. Uh, it shows them that it reveals Yeshua Jesus as the Messiah, and I use the Hebrew Bible to do that. Uh, thanks for your call, Dan. We're going to talk to Tanya and Joel, two people, uh, listening in Ohio. Welcome to Open Line, Tanya. How can I help you today?
So Joel's talking to you.
Okay, great. Okay.
What's our proper understanding of Mordecai and Hadassah? Um, are they heroes of the faith? Are they functional atheists in a pagan society that manages to be used by God anyway?
Why would you think that they're atheists?
That's what our pastor is preaching through right now in the book of Esther.
And that's what he said.
Yes.
Uh, you know what your dear pastor, I think is misunderstanding the book. Uh, the point of this book. The point of the book is to teach the providence of God. Providence is God's care and protection and action on behalf of those who who love him. Working everything out even when he's using normal human events. It's the great coincidences of life. Like Mordecai overhearing about the plot against the king,
or Esther finding favor and all those different ways. So if they were functional atheists, she would not have called for a fast. Mordecai would not have called for her to take a stand for her people. Esther's people. So, uh, the thing is, it's a literary device to leave God's name out, that even when the nation of Israel had forgotten God, and generally speaking, the people in captivity were assimilating and not really being a tight, tight in their
following of the Lord. Even when that happens, God still stays with his people when people forget God. God does not forget them when he's got covenant promises. So that's the point of the book. But don't make spiritual judgments about Mordecai and Esther because no, they they were obviously committed followers of the God of Israel. Well, that's the first hour, folks. Second hour of Open Line is coming
up on most of these stations. Hope you can listen in. Uh, if if you can't on your station, you can always check out Open Line radio.org or or the Moody Radio app. The Bible study across America will continue in just a moment, so stay with us. Open line with Doctor Michael Melnick is a production of Moody Radio, the ministry of Moody Bible Institute. We'll be right back. So stay right there.