Ep 1301 | 'The Jews Killed Jesus': Blood Libel or Biblical Truth?

Jesus was killed by the Roman Empire for threatening state power. No, the Jews killed Jesus. Well, neither of these statements is exactly correct. We are going to explore this debate thoroughly on today's episode of Relatable, but we've got so much more for you two answering your theological questions. If you love this show, please subscribe on YouTube. Leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to. and this episode is brought to you by our friends at Olive, making America healthy again, knowing what is really in the food that you are buying at the grocery store. Download the Olive app on the App Store today. Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. To start off your week, we've got a really amazing announcement. God's eternal plan of redemption is going off without a hitch. Can you believe it? I'm so excited about that. There's so much craziness and chaos going on in the world, and God's eternal plan of redemption is going off without a snag because he is sovereign over all of it. He's never surprised, never taken aback, never looking down and saying, oh my gosh, how did you guys get yourselves into this mess? He He is always working out His will in accordance with the perfect plan that was set in motion before time began. Every single one of our days was set for us before any of them came to be, which means we are immortal until God calls us home. So we can be courageous. We can share the gospel boldly. We can obey Him boldly. And most of the time, actually every time, that just means doing the next right thing and faith with excellence and for the glory of God, whether that's changing a diaper, sending an email, or some big public act of courage. The Holy Spirit empowers you to do all of those things. The kingdom of God moves forth with the mostly unseen and unsung small acts of obedience, and God uses all of that to His glory and for our good. Now, I have another announcement. Tickets for Share the Arrows, our Christian Women's Conference will be available February 11th. That's just two days on Wednesday. It is the perfect gift for the Related Girl in your life. Related Bros, your mom, your mother-in-law, your sister, your sister-in-law, your wife, your girlfriend. They all need to come to this no-fluff, gospel-centered, worship-filled Christian Women's Conference in Dallas, Texas. It is a one-day conference. It's about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You might have a lot of questions. We've got a lot of answers for you. We've got our speaker lineup and all that good stuff that we will be announcing at another time. But $99, that's what the early bird special starts at on Wednesday. That's a limited number of tickets, y'all. Last year, the year before, we sold out those $2,099 tickets within 24 to 48 hours. Last year, I think it was 24. The year before that was 48. So you want to make sure that you are ready to go on Wednesday to snag those tickets. You'll go to share the arrows dot com. You'll see where to purchase tickets, all different kinds of levels of tickets. But that general admission starts at ninety nine dollars, which is an incredible deal. It's going to be such an amazing day. Also, another announcement for you before we get into the subjects of today's episode, I will be hosting the Republican Texas Attorney General debate on February 17th, the day before my birthday, at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central. You can watch the sparks fly between these Republican candidates on Blaze TV if you're a subscriber or the Blaze TV YouTube accounts and X accounts. accounts. The reason why this is important, no matter where you live in the country, and maybe no matter where you live in the world, is because Texas, because of the size and resources of the state, really leads the charge for all other Republican states when it comes to lawsuits, when it comes to briefs, when it comes to seeking justice on behalf of its constituents that need justice. And so it's really important. It'll be such a good indicator for where the Republican Party is going, not just under this administration, but in administrations to come. And so this has a real impact possibly on your life. So make sure you tune in next Tuesday, 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central, Blaze TV YouTube and Blaze TV X. All right, today we are going to get into a very heated debate. If we have time, we'll get into many heated debates. But I wanted to talk about this question, did Jews kill Jesus? Now, why do I want to talk about this? Obviously, the role of Israel and the Jewish people historically and in modern day politics is a hot topic that is debate and discussed on a daily basis on social media in America today. But the reason why I want to ask this question and answer it theologically is because the other day I responded to someone, not about this subject, but they were trying to compare Jesus's execution to Alex Preddy. They said that like Alex Preddy, Jesus was killed by the Roman Empire for threatening state power. You hear this kind of thinking a lot on the left. It's a very popular stance because they consistently denigrate Jesus from the place of God and Savior and King to this communist activist who was just a cheerleader for all of their political causes. And I responded to this person that no, Jesus was actually killed by Rome at the behest of the Jewish people, but ultimately he gave himself up to death. This was really more of a conversation about who Jesus was, what the Bible actually says about Jesus and his earthly family, to which this person replied, well, I don't believe in the Bible, so I don't care about what you say. She really did that meme of, no, I'm not a Christian and I have nothing but disdain for your beliefs, but if I use them against you, maybe you'll give me what I want. So that's really what the conversation was about. However, I received several messages accusing me in that message of spreading what's called blood libel about the Jewish people. And these people asserted that the Jewish people actually had no involvement in Jesus's death because they didn't have that kind of authority in the Roman Empire. And these were messages from Christians. Others were from some of my Jewish followers. and some of these people accused me in this message of spreading anti-Jewish propaganda. So I just really want to make clear what all Christians believe about this subject if we are to take God's word as authoritative. I don't want to be accused of that, of course, because it's not true. Now, I've been accused of being a pro-Israel shill, and I have also been accused because of sharing these Bible verses or sharing that statement of being anti-Jewish, and really neither of those things is true. I care about the authority of Scripture. I care about the gospel. I believe that is for everyone, and I completely reject this collective animosity that we see rising up more and more, especially on the right, against the Jewish people as a whole. I care, though, about what the Bible clearly states. So let's get into that and then talk about the implications that it has on our belief systems, on our lives, and even a little bit on our politics. But first, we're actually going to define what blood libel is, because I said that and you might have no idea what I'm even talking about. That gives us good context for what's going on. But first, before I get into it, let me pause. Let me tell you about our first sponsor for the day. Very fitting sponsor. It's Voice of the Martyrs. So this is an incredible organization. I've talked about the testimony of the woman who started this organization a long time ago, who lived through communist Europe, persecution of Christianity. There's this book that's out right now called Hearts of Fire 2, and it shares the real stories of women around the world who are following Jesus in places that cost them their freedom, their families, their lives. These are not old circumstances. These are not abstract situations. This is happening to sisters and brothers in Christ right now as we speak. And voice of the martyrs is the voice of the persecuted. They are carrying the baton that Christian martyrs have passed down to us for thousands of years to give courage, to give resources, to give prayers for those who are facing death and intense persecution around the world for their Christian faith. It's so important for us to remember those brothers and sisters in Christ and for us to lend them whatever support we possibly can. I really encourage you to get a free copy of Hearts of Fire 2. If you go to vom.org slash Allie, you can get this book totally for free. Be encouraged by their testimonies. Have your heart stirred for those who are being persecuted because of their belief in Christ. Go to vom.org slash Allie. Okay, so let's talk for a second about the history of this term, blood libel. So libel, you guys know, this is written word that is not true. It's reviling in some way. Slander is spoken untruths about someone to bring someone into disrepute. and libel is written word that is supposed to bring someone into disrepute that is also not true. So blood libel is this myth of Jews ritually murdering non-Jews, typically Christian children, to use their blood in religious rituals, such as baking Passover or other ceremonies, a very awful accusation. We've kind of seen this trope all throughout history. We don't have any credible evidence of these claims. There were accusations in the 12th century in England. There was a major case in 1475 involving someone called Simon of Trent. Also, this persisted through the 16th through the 19th centuries, despite both Catholics and Protestants dismissing the myth of this practice. And then we had 19th century, there was a revival of new cases of this. 20th century, Nazis really repopularized this myth. And then, of course, the modern day conspiracy theories persist. Now, that is one definition of blood libel, but for whatever reason, it has also been expanded to include this claim that the Jews killed Jesus. Now, this phrase, the Jews killed Jesus, is indeed used by those who hate Jewish people to accuse modern-day Jews of being particular enemies of Christianity. But that doesn't mean that we should deny what the Bible says is true about the Jewish people of that time and their involvement in the handing over of and the crucifixion of Jesus. So just because there are bad people who use this phrase completely erroneously and to try to collectively condemn a whole group of people doesn't mean that we should run away from what Scripture actually tells us. So that's where I want to spend the next few minutes. What does Scripture actually tell us about the Jewish people at that time and their involvement in Jesus' crucifixion? Because the statement that it was only the Roman Empire and it was the Roman Empire's sole idea to kill Jesus because he was threatening Jewish power, that just doesn't hold up with what we see in Scripture. So in Matthew 12, 14, After Jesus heals many who were sick, we read, quote, But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him. The Pharisees, if you don't know, were a group of Jewish leaders at the time. We read in John 10, 31 through 33, Jesus had just finished declaring that he and the Father are one. Then we read immediately after that, the Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the Father. for which of them are you going to stone me? The Jews answered him, verse 33, it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. Then in John 11, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead, and some Jewish people told on him to the religious leaders, the Pharisees, and then in verses 45 through 51, they created a plot to deliver Jesus over to death. In verse 47 we read do For this man performs many signs If we let him go on like this everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation But one of them this is verse 49, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest, that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. And then in John 18, we read that Caiaphas and other Jewish leaders questioned Jesus. Then they bring them over to Pilate, the Roman leader. And in verses 29 through 32, we read, so Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? They answered him, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. Pilate, who was kind of like a governor in the Roman empire, said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. The Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death, he was going to die. Then in verses 35 through 36, Pilate says to Jesus, your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. Then we see in chapter 19, three through eight, they came up to him saying, hail king of the Jews and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, see I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them behold the man. When the chief priests and the officers saw him they cried out crucify him crucify him. Pilate said to them take him for yourselves and crucify him for I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered him we have a law and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God. when Pilate heard the statement, he was even more afraid. And actually, after that, in that passage, we won't read the whole thing, but his wife says, I had a dream about this. Pilate is having kind of like a crisis of conscience. He tries to wash his hands of this. Of course, he has a guilty role to play in all of this as well. He is wrestling with this because clearly the mob of Jewish people are demanding that Jesus be crucified for blasphemy. Some people in my messages said, oh, the Jewish people couldn't have had any part in Jesus's execution because they didn't have that kind of power, and their laws actually forbade them from crucifying him in this way. But actually, we see in Scripture that that was acknowledged, and that is why they go through the Roman Empire to make sure Jesus is killed. And verses 11 through 12, Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. He's talking to Pilate. Therefore, he who delivered over to you has the greater sin. So that is coming from Jesus. From then on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, if you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar. And so Pilate sees kind of what they're doing. The Jewish people are saying, yeah, he's calling himself God. That's against our law. but here's why you should crucify him. He's also calling himself a king, which puts himself in opposition to Caesar. So that was actually the Jewish people's argument at the time that he was opposing the Roman Empire to try to justify his crucifixion. Also in Matthew 27, we read that Pilate gave the Jewish people a choice between crucifying Barabbas, who was a thief, and we read a notorious prisoner crucifying Jesus. The crowd demanded that Jesus was crucified. In Acts 2.22-23, we read, Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God, with mighty works and wonders, and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. We also read in 1 Thessalonians 2.14-15, For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets. John 1, 11 through 13, he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. However, there's a big however after all of these passages. Now, obviously, these passages are extremely clear, and I could go on and on about the Jewish involvement at the time in Jesus's condemnation and crucifixion. There's a big caveat here, though. I'll get into that in just a second. Let me go ahead and pause, tell you about our next sponsor for the day, and that is Alliance Defending Freedom, another amazing organization that really is going to the front lines to make sure that our constitutional freedoms, especially as Christians, are defended. Whether we're talking about freedom of speech, freedom of religious expression, they are making sure that those First Amendment rights are taken all the way up to the Supreme court and defended and preserved. A lot of the Christians who are persecuted here are defended by Alliance Defending Freedom because they are being excluded, discriminated against for their sincere religious beliefs, for their faith. People like Jack Phillips in Colorado, Jessica Bates up in Washington. I'm so thankful for them. They really are the real deal. I mean, they are so strong in what they do, so resolute, fighting for fairness and privacy for girls and women in sports. And if you want to partner with them to make sure these freedoms are protected, I really encourage you to go to joinadf.com slash Allie, sign a statement of support for moody Bible students because Chicago Public Schools is actually punishing moody students for attending a college that practices its faith. That is something that really happens in the United States today. Go to joinadf.com slash Allie. Ultimately, Jesus lays his own life down for his sheep. John 10, 17 through 18, for this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I might take it up again. No one takes it from me, Jesus says, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my father. You also probably noticed as I was reading that passage in Acts 2, when we read that men of Israel, you delivered up Jesus to be crucified. But we read in verse 23 of that passage that Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and the foreknowledge of God. God used lawless people. God used the anger of the mob. God used the power of the Roman Empire to have Jesus crucified. But ultimately, Christ in love gave himself up for us. Ephesians 5.2, and walk in love, God through Paul tells us, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Jesus's life, his conception, his birth, his teaching, his healing, his death, his burial, his resurrection was prophesied by the Old Testament prophets and it was preordained by God. Remember, God's eternal plan of redemption always goes off without a hitch. So one example of Old Testament prophecy that was fulfilled by Jesus's death is Isaiah 53, 4 through 5. I really encourage you to read this entire chapter. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. And so Jesus's death fulfilled that prophecy according to God's perfect will. This is also the important part of all of this is that the gospel is for everyone. John 3 16 reminds us that God so loved the world that he gave his own son, that those who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life. The gospel is both for Jews and Gentiles. We read in 1 Corinthians 1, 22-24, for Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Therefore, we should not feel, should not express any collective animosity toward the Jewish people. Not only is it anti-biblical, but it also, I have watched has an inherent property of bringing someone into insanity, it seems. It seems like when people dive into the anti-Jewish conspiracy theories that they eventually lose touch with all different kinds of reality. It really is not very difficult to hold the biblical position of taking authoritatively and clearly what the Bible says about the Jewish people at that time and their involvement in Jesus's crucifixion, and also realize that all people made in the image of God are equally dead without Christ, and that it is only through Christ that anyone can be reconciled to God, and for us to hope that for all people. We do not hold people today responsible for what their ancestors did 2,000 years ago. That is unjust. We should want them as we want all people to know the gospel. We should feel, I believe, a special connection toward the Jewish people since we share half of the Bible with them and since our Savior was Jewish. We read through Paul, he was the Hebrew of Hebrews. He was the Israelite of Israelites. He was a Jewish leader that was once persecuting and ordering the execution of Christians in the early church. And in Romans, he is talking about the Jewish people and wanting them to know the gospel, to know Christ. He says in Romans 9, 2 through 4, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. they are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. So that is our heart and our sentiment that should be reflected in our words, in our attitude. I think that there are kind of two poles here. You've got one side who is so hypersensitive to this that they almost, I'm talking about Christians, they almost will not share the gospel with Jewish people because they've believed this myth that maybe the Jewish people have a secondary or another way to get to heaven, that there is some separate plan for them. And that is just not true. I think about this verse, and you guys know if you've been watching this for any amount of time, this is one of the most difficult parts of what I do. Keep talking to you as I'm thinking of the Bible verse and typing it into Bible Gateway. The no other name, let's see, okay, Acts 4.12, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. And so those who are hypersensitive to even what the Bible has to say about the Jewish people, the obligation that we have to try to bring all people to Christ through the gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit, who cannot even withstand the very real passages about the Jewish leaders and Jesus' crucifixion. And then, of course, you've got the other side, who believes that Jewish people today carry all the guilt of Jewish ancestors that were alive during Jesus time that they are specifically or particularly evil and that we should condemn all Jewish people as on a different level of wickedness That just insanity and is not at all reflected in the heart of the gospel, in the heart of Jesus, or what we see in scripture at all. So as always, the answer is found in scripture. The balance is found in scripture. The clarity that we are looking for is found in the Bible. Now, I've talked a lot about my views on the end times, eschatology, Israel's involvement in biblical prophecy, what I believe about that. I've talked about dispensationalism. I'm not a dispensationalist versus historical premillennialism. And I've talked about what I believe about my view of Israel politically and just practically on various episodes. You can go back, you can watch those episodes. What you will find is that neither of the accusations about me, that I'm some unconditional pro-Israel shill $7,000, blah, blah, blah, blah, or the other side, that, oh, my beliefs as a Christian are somehow anti-Semitic, neither of them is true. And I just try my best as fallibly, but as diligently as I can to seek answers in scripture. We've got other questions from you guys that I want to answer. These are questions that I've gotten a few times, but hopefully we'll add clarity to the things that you guys are thinking about. Hopefully we'll have time to get through those. But you know what? Since I'm kind of shifting gears, let me go ahead and tell you about that next sponsor, and that is Good Ranchers. So thankful for Good Ranchers. This year, America is celebrating 250 50 years of life. What an amazing respite from religious persecution and so much injustice and tyranny America has been. So thankful for her and that we all got to be born here. And we have the option every day to support American industries or not. And if you want to support part of the backbone of American industry, then you've got to support American farmers and ranches. And you can do that most efficiently through Good Ranchers. Get that all-American meat, the box, to your front door every month on dry ice. We've been doing that for about five years. I'm so thankful we always have a freezer full of American seafood, that salmon, shrimp, different cuts of steak, ground beef, better than organic chicken. It's also good. It makes sure that we are keeping up our protein. It makes sure that we are eating healthy, that we're eating in, we're saving money, and we are supporting an American company and American farmers when we do. Go to goodranchers.com, use code Allie at checkout, get $25 off your first order. That's goodranchers.com, code Allie. Okay, let's go through some of the questions that you guys have. We're going to be talking about, if we have time, nephilim, but then also this question that I get all the time, every time I put up a question box, and for some reason, every time I did an interview with Charlie Kirk, he loved to ask this question because he knew what I was going to say, but he loved for me, I guess, as a Christian woman to answer it. And this is the question, can women be pastors? Can women be pastors? And the short answer is no. No. We read in 1 Timothy 2, 12-14. Context is important. He is speaking within the context of talking about the orderliness of the local church. I do not permit a woman to teach her to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. And so really what we're reading here is he goes all the way back to creation. Some people say, oh, it was because culturally at the time there were women in church who were shouting in church. Yeah, clearly that's still a problem that just happened in St. Paul with that BLM woman who was coming into the church and yelling. So yeah, this directive would have been great for her woman be quiet in the church, but really it's in general. He goes all the way back to creation. And whenever we see anyone in Scripture in the New Testament go back to creation, that tells us that this is grounded in something that is unchanging. For example, in Genesis 9, when God commands the death penalty for murder, he goes all the way back to the creation reality that man was made in God's image. That is still true today, which is why I believe we should still give the death penalty for murder. When Jesus is talking about the definition of marriage and gender, he's answering a trick question about divorce from the Pharisees in Matthew 19, 4-5. He goes all the way back to the beginning. Have you not read? So this tells me that he is going all the way back to creation, that this is something that is still true today. Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. We can debate what that actually means, but the simple fact that he goes back to Adam and Eve tells us something really important. So the question is, what can women do biblically? Women are encouraged to teach other women and to teach children. Titus 2, 3 through 5 paints a beautiful picture of this, that women are to love their husbands. They're to love their children. They're not to be slaves to much wine. They're to be self-controlled. They're to be pure. They're to be working at home, kind, submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. So that's really a testimony to people. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. So self-control seems to be something that is really important for all demographics, but especially these younger demographics. Also, we read in 2 Timothy 1.5, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. Women should know the word. We should understand it. We should be able to teach it. We are primarily called to be instructing women, instructing children, discipling them, raising them up, equipping them in what is good, right, and true. These are honorable roles. And something that I say is capability does not equal calling. Obviously, I can talk. Obviously, I can explain things. I like to communicate. I love the Word of God. I love breaking things down. but I am not called to be a pastor in a local church. I am not called to preach in a pulpit in a local church. That is not my role. That is not any woman's role. The pastor is supposed to also not just be a preacher and understand the Word of God. He is also to be a shepherd, someone who is to protect them from the flock. And I just think about, again, that catastrophe in St. Paul with Cities Church, and you had Pastor Jonathan Parnell taking the heat, going out front for his community and his church rather, and making sure his congregation was okay and kind of going to battle very quickly with Don Lemon there, that is a masculine role. That is a manly role. And he fulfilled that role very well. But that is the distinction there, that women are called to teach in certain contexts, but not in leadership in the local church exercising that authority over men. Okay, next question that I've gotten a few times, and we are going to look to the wisdom of my friend, scholar Wes Hoff, and answering the question, what is the book of Enoch? And he's written a lot about this, and this is his area of expertise. And he explained on Instagram, because this question is so common, that the book of Enoch is made up of writing that is not considered to be in the canon of Scripture. It's never been embraced by most Christian and Jewish traditions as part of the divinely inspired canon. Some Ethiopian Orthodox traditions have, but not most Christian traditions. It's considered an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text. It is attributed to Enoch. If you remember Enoch in the Bible, we were just reading about that in our own Bible time. He's the great-grandfather of Noah. This is considered to be not actually written by the person that it's named for. It describes the rebellion of angels called Watchers who descend to the earth, mate with human women. This sounds a lot like Genesis 6 and the Nephilim that we read about there. That's another question that I got, actually. But in the book of Enoch, these wicked giants led to widespread corruption and violence that prompts God's judgment through the flood. Enoch receives heavenly visions and journeys learning cosmic secrets, such as the movements of the stars, heavenly bodies, as well as moral teachings on righteousness versus wickedness. And the book includes apocalyptic parables and dreams that foresee the final judgment, the punishment of the wicked and fallen angels, vindication of the righteous, and the coming of a messianic figure, often linked to the Son of Man. and so that's why people are so interested in it and we'll actually put up a picture that Wes Huff used to kind of explain what it is with the book of visions and the parables and there's a reason why people are so interested in this and all kind of non-canonical books because it feels like you're uncovering a secret that maybe someone didn't want you to know But there is good reason why the books that are not included in the 66 books of Scripture are not included. And actually, we are planning to do an entire episode about how the 66 books were chosen and canonized. It certainly was not arbitrary. And so Westhoff's position is that these non-canonical books can give us interesting answers to things, even if they are not divinely inspired, or at least that's how I've heard him talk about many of these texts. And so I don't think it's bad to read the book of Enoch. Personally, that's my opinion. I don't think it's bad to read some of these other books, but we should just do that with care and understanding why it was not included, why it was not referenced by Jesus, why it was not referenced by any of the New Testament apostles and take it as it is meant to be taken. Okay, that's kind of a very concise, abbreviated answer on that. We can do a whole episode on the book of Enoch and some of these other books. There are unanswered prayers, this next question asker says, that have left her feeling very angry at God. And for that answer, because that's a totally common, very normal, understandable question. And I want to make sure that I answer that correctly. And we'll go to 2 Corinthians 12 to answer that one. Let me pause, tell you about our next sponsor for the day first. And that is Every Life. Every Life is a pro-life diaper company that makes diapers and wipes with really clean materials. And I would not be telling you about Every Life if they didn't actually work. These diapers really work. They are basically leak proof. We've been using Every Life since my little one who is two and a half was just born. And I'm just so thankful to have really clean, effective diapers that also come in really clean materials. And they put their money where their heart is. They're supporting their pregnant and adopting employees. They support pregnancy centers with the profits that they have. They supply these pregnancy centers with baby items. You guys know how much I care about that. They also have a women's feminine care line with all those same clean materials. It's really good to support a company that knows when life begins and knows what a woman is. If you go to everylife.com, you can use code Allie10 to get 10% off your first order today. That's everylife.com, code Allie10. Unanswered prayers that leave us feeling angry and bitter at the Lord. I will not pretend to know what you are going through and to just say, well, you can quickly pray it away or it's going to be okay or the Bible says this. Of course, I'm going to go to Scripture because the Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword. And in the Word of God, we find all that we need for godliness and contentment and satisfaction and wisdom. However, I do just want to acknowledge that your circumstances could be so much bigger and more difficult than something that I have gone through. So I don't want it to sound like I'm not able to relate to you or that I'm just dismissing or minimizing your problems. Some of you are going through such great betrayal and pain that very few people have ever gone through And I just want you to know something for sure that I might not understand it Maybe I can empathize with every feeling that you have, but we have a great high priest who was weak bodily here on earth and who has gone through every emotion that we have gone through, has been attempted in every way yet was without sin. We don't serve a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. He's able to sympathize in every way. He is also the God who sees you. He is the God who knows you. He knows the depths of your heart, the depths of your pain, who did what, who said what, who is right, and who is wrong. And he is with you completely, unconditionally. If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you. and one day there will be no more pain, no more betrayal, and no more sickness, no more sorrow. That is what we know for sure. But it's also a comfort to know that those who are so close to the Lord in the Bible, the greatest missionary to ever live, Paul, that he also wrestled with this, that he also wrestled with feeling like, gosh, I'm asking God to do this thing for me, and he hasn't done it yet. This is from 2 Corinthians 12. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, and for context on the revelations, you can read the whole passage, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times, Paul says, I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. So right there, we see a really beautiful and I think comforting picture of why sometimes God does not answer our prayers in accordance with what we want, because he is so much, as we talk about a lot, more concerned with our persisting holiness than he is our superficial or temporary happiness. And ultimately, he knows where real joy and satisfaction is found is through our sanctification. That is that process of holiness that is always happening in our lives as Jesus strips us of ourselves, our selfish desires, our sins, our pride, our bitterness, our anger to make us more like himself until we get to glory. He knows that's where our true contentment is found. And so sometimes he doesn't answer our prayer to relieve us of something, to relieve us of a source of anxiety, relieve us of sickness, to heal us. You'll hear a lot of the prosperity gospel mongers tell you that you have a right to physical healing. You have a right to wealth. You have a right to comfort because what father would allow their children to be sick or to be poor or to not get the promotion? That is such a wrong depiction of who God is. God the Father, who is love, who is perfect, foreordained his son to die a gruesome death on a cross that he didn't deserve to die. So, of course, he will allow us to go through horrible things here on earth to accomplish whatever he wants to accomplish. That's not something that's easy for me to accept, by the way. So I don't want you to think that I'm preaching this from a place of having that figured out or just accepting that with gladness. That's really difficult. I mean, that's part of living on this other side of eternity, but that is also the hope that we have in Christ, that one day we will see perfect justice and happiness and peace and wholeness. Understandable to feel a bit of anger at God, but just remember, go back to Job. Job might be a really good book for you to read in its totality right now. When Job lashes out at God, when he just starts to break a little bit and he starts to question God and why he ended up where he was, God answers him out of a whirlwind. I hear a lot of people say, it's fine to shake your fist at God. He can handle it. It's fine to be angry at God. Sure, he can handle it. God is not fragile, but I'm not so sure I would encourage people in that direction. We see that God puts Job in his place by reminding him who he is, that he is creator, that he is king, that his wisdom and power surpasses everything, and who are we to question his will? Sure, can he handle our sadness? Absolutely, but just be careful in your anger and in your sadness not to sin or question the sovereignty or goodness of God. That's exactly where Satan wants us. Another question, this might seem a little silly, but a lot of people actually have this question, is our spirit gendered? No, nothing in scripture points to this idea of our soul and spirit possibly having a separate gender from our biological sex. Actually, if you remember my Jubilee debate, I went back and forth on this with someone sitting across from me. I was supposed to be talking to 20 liberal Christians, and her justification for transgenderism was that someone could have a gendered spirit. And I said, oh, I don't think that we see that in Scripture at all. That's not a Christian belief. And she said, well, I'm a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And so I don't know if this is a tenet of Mormonism. There is definitely a different belief about the Spirit and what it is, different belief about eternity, different belief about Jesus, different belief about time past, different belief about heaven, all different kinds of things that are so far out of the orthodoxy of any denomination of Christianity. But certainly I thought that that was an interesting assertion that I have not heard other Mormons, by the way, believe, so I can't say every Mormon believes this. You also hear this from New Age people, from secular people to justify transgenderism. We see in Genesis 1 that God made us male and female. Sex is a biological reality. I really encourage everyone to read Love Thy Body by Nancy Piercy. She talks about this philosophy of dualism, how it's led a lot of people astray to separate the spirit from the body and to say the spirit has the authority over the body. That's not true. God cares about the body. It's a temple of the Holy Spirit. Now, the next question is, why is exegesis better than eisegesis? And this is the last question that we will answer. So let me go ahead and tell you about my last sponsor for the day first, and that is Patriot Mobile. Patriot Mobile is an amazing company. They're not just a wireless provider. They're actually a conservative Christian activist organization on the front lines defending our freedoms, defending the sanctity of life, caring for our veterans. You know, all of these companies are activist organizations. Unfortunately, they're activists in the wrong direction, so they're taking our hard-earned money. They're donating to Planned Parenthood. They're donating to Democrat politicians. If a company is going to donate your dollars, don't you want them donating to causes that we believe in, that are advancing the cause of righteousness, that are helping our neighbors in a way that is good, right, and true. That's what you're going to get with Patriot Mobile without compromising at all on your service. You can switch today. They make it so easy and seamless. They have a 100% U.S.-based customer support team, unlimited data plans, mobile hotspots, international roaming, call them today or go to their website, patriotmobile.com slash Allie. When you use my code Allie, you'll get a whole free month of service. That's patriotmobile.com slash Allie code Allie. You've probably heard me talk about exegesis versus eisegesis before. Exegesis originates from the Greek word. Oh, I'm sorry if I don't pronounce this correctly, exegeomai, which means report or explain or describe. So this is the process of drawing meaning out of a text to understand and convey its original intent. That quote is by Dr. Bob Green of Grand Canyon University College of Theology. Ligonier Associate Editor Kevin Gardner explains it like this, in our day, we often hear that no one's point of view is to be privileged over another, that no one has a monopoly on truth, and that everything ultimately is a matter of opinion. This view is even applied to Scripture, to the point where the meaning of the Bible appears to be up for grabs and infinitely malleable. But the Reformed tradition, for those of you who don't know, I'm a Reformed Baptist, have episodes on what that means, has consistently rejected this view for the simple reason that Scripture is the Word of God, and God cares about how His Word is read. Ultimately, Scripture must be read as God directs. So there's a very methodical way to read scripture in a way that pulls the meaning out of the text rather than reading meaning into the text. So exegesis, reading the passage word for word, in context, with historical context, I think footnotes in the ESV study Bible really helps to understand if a literary device is being used to even understand the original Greek and Hebrew. They're really easy books to help you figure that out. And then to say, okay, what does this mean? What does this mean in light of scripture? What does this mean in light of history? That is how we pull meaning out of the text. Eisegesis is reading meaning into the text. So that is like, oh, if I want to try to find a verse to justify homosexuality, someone could look at 1 John 4, 8. God is love. Oh, well, God is love. Love is love. And if God is loving, then that means that he wants me to love however I want to love. There's all different kinds of ways that you could read meaning into a text. Philippians 4, 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That means God's going to give me the power to make this soccer goal this afternoon. But when we do that, we actually cheapen scripture and we elevate the God of self over the God of Scripture. We make ourselves gods, and that, of course, leads us into all kinds of idolatry and the affirmation of sin, which, of course, leads to death for us. So, as Protestants, we do believe in relying on theologians and on good, solid teachers that care about the Word of God, but we do believe that Scripture is the ultimate authority because it is the only infallible and inerrant source of truth that we have. So when you are looking at a church, when you are trying to decide which church you wanna go to, you wanna make sure that you are going to a church that has a pastor, that studies, preaches the Bible, word for word, that is telling you what scripture means, how it points to Jesus, how it points to God's glory. Yes, how it applies to you and the sins that you need to repent of, the actions that you need to take. but they are handling the word of God very carefully, not some big grand show that really makes it all about you or is really just like a motivational speech with Bible verses added in here and there. That church is ultimately going to waver when times get tough. That is not a true shepherd of the flock. That is a shepherd that is allowing wolves into its congregation. And so that is what we all try to do to the best of our ability is to exegete scripture, pull meaning out of scripture rather than putting our own meaning into scripture. All right, we got so many other things that we could have talked about today. As always, we have a whole other segment that we could be giving you. Shout out to producers and researchers for Relatable. They do such an incredible job of working so hard. And sometimes, right before we're about to record, we say, ah, actually, we want to talk about something else, which can make things difficult. However, they are awesome. And we always end up using the research in one way or another. So we will be back here on Wednesday, maybe talking about those things or maybe talking about something entirely. Who knows? Things move fast. Thanks for listening to and watching Relatable. If you love this podcast, leave a five-star review wherever you listen and subscribe on YouTube. We will see you back here on Wednesday. Thank you.