In this episode, we look at a question that has popped up for many about the idea that the God of the Bible is part of Ancient Near Eastern religious evolution. This theology was pushed significantly by Dr. Michael Heiser before he died in books like “Unseen Realms” among others. We discuss Heiser’s theological positions and look at various subjects like the idea that El Elyon is distinct from YHVH and is a chief deity. We also talk briefly about the idea of a “council of the gods,” something Heiser was big on. 

This is not the first time we have discussed Dr. Heiser’s work on our show. Every time we touch on this topic we see a significant amount of Heiser supporters come forward and claim we have not read Heiser or that we are intentionally misrepresenting him. This, however, is not a good argument against our criticisms. When faced with works that Heiser wrote that are not widely read (like his Ph.D dissertation) many of our critics fall silent. In this episode, Rob challenges supporters of Heiser to produce specific evidence of manuscripts referenced in Heiser’s work. 

• 2:32 Start

• 8:30 Jonathan’s Email 

• 12:27 Heiser’s legacy and theological issues

• 22:44 Responding to Poor Theology

• 36:06 El Elyon and YHVH

• 48:23 Responding to Heiser’s Followers

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #499 – Evolution of God? appeared first on Messiah Matters.

In this episode we, we begin by looking at a comment on X that suggests John 10:29-30, where Yeshua is in the temple during Hanukkah, is not referring to the “Hanukkah” we celebrate and remember today, but is talking about the dedication of the temple in Ezra 6. While such a debate is sometimes brought up, the evidence is simply not there to continue to believe such a view. Historically, the Jews and Israel celebrated the dedication of the temple after the Maccabean revolt. This historical event also sheds light on some of the context in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) and why some mainstream Christian beliefs don’t take this historical event into account.

We then move to a conversation about the law of God. Psalm 1 tells us to meditate on the law of God day and night. Is this Psalm referring to the whole 66 book canon or is it referring to the first five books specifically? This leads to a question that many ask, is the Torah more important than the rest of Scripture, or is all of the 66 book canon on the same level as God’s Word?

• 3:33 Start

• 7:34 Did Yeshua Celebrate Hanukkah?

• 19:23 Does this really even matter?

• 24:47 Hanukkah as an Important Backdrop

• 31:30 How People Came to This Argument

• 42:42 Is the Torah More Important?

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #498 – Is the Law of God Special? appeared first on Messiah Matters.

Today we look at the question of how a person before the coming of Christ was saved. Were they saved in the same way as people after Christ? If so, does this mean that people like Abraham, Moses, and David were actually new covenant believers? We think that is exactly what it means and we discuss how the Bible teaches this. We attempt to show that faith in the Messiah Yeshua, whether before or after the coming of our Lord were brought into the New Covenant through faith in the “Seed” (Genesis 3:16). It was and still is faith in the seed (that is Yeshua) to deal with the sin problem that brings us into the New Covenant.

We also discuss the idea of clean and unclean food in both Old and New Testaments. Was Mark 7 more about whether or not food could make you ritually unclean or is there more going on? We argue that Mark 7 is about man-made rules concerning ritual purity instead of the laws God gave in the Torah. Beyond this, we believe that the dietary laws found in the Torah were not always attached to the temple and ritual purity, but were given for covenant members in their every day life as can be seen in Deuteronomy 14.

• 3:32 Start

• 7:32 Conference Recap

• 24:06 Were Old Testament Believers New Covenant Members?

• 45:00 Dietary Laws and Ritual Purity

The New Covenant – Tim Hegg

What Did Sin Sacrifice Accomplish?

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Messiah Matters #497 – Old Testament New Covenant Members appeared first on Messiah Matters.

Today we discuss a hotly debated topic about the physical descendants of Jacob. Do Jews still God’s chosen people, or have they been replaced by the Church after rejected Yeshua as the Messiah? We look at Romans 11 which clearly says that there is a remnant of Israel that will believe in the Messiah. Yet, this once again is talking about Jews that have faith in our Lord. Such Jews have entered the New Covenant through faith in Christ. But what about Jews that reject Christ? Do they hold any special place in God’s eyes still?

Leave a comment and tell us what you think about the Jewish people today in relation to God’s covenants.

Another conversation that comes from this topic is the idea that the Church replaces Israel. In this episode, we lay out our belief that the Church doesn’t replace Israel, but rather that believers in Yeshua attach themselves to the remnant of physical Israel and thus become covenant members. We call this belief “Enlargement Theology.” We also look at John 8:31ff and discuss the first-century belief that a person who had physical bloodline with Abraham was a covenant member and were “saved.” But Yeshua and Paul reject this idea and push faith in the Messiah as what gives a person entrance into the covenant.

• 3:33 Start

• 9:25 The Antioch Declaration

• 12:23 Non Believing Jews in Covenant?

• 24:06 Replacement Theology

• 33:39 John 8.39ff

• 56:30 Are Messianic Jews Still Jewish?

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #496 – Are Jews Still God’s Chosen People? appeared first on Messiah Matters.

In this episode, we look at 1 Corinthians 11 and John 6 to better understand where the traditional celebration of the Lord’s Supper by the Christian Church and the hotly debated doctrine of transubstantiation come from. We push agains the mainstream Christian view that Communion was instituted by Yeshua at the Last Supper and contend that the “Word’s of Institution” (i.e. do this in remembrance of Me) were not instituting something new, but was a reference to the Passover Celebration.

You can be part of the conversation! 

Leave a comment below. We may talk about it on the show.

As we dive into the subject of the Lord’s Supper, we talk about the elements themselves. Many people don’t realize that bread and wine were not solidified as the elements of the Eucharist until the third century. What does this mean for the people before the third century? Another aspect to this conversation is John 6:49-60 where the doctrine of transubstantiation comes from. We contend that this doctrine comes from a Greek mindset and not through the lens of the Torah. We finish this episode with a conversation on the biblical covenants and how they fit together. Specifically, we discuss the davidic covenant and if Christians can consider themselves part of this covenant. Our conclusion is that this is not exactly how it works.

• 3:31 Start

• 11:22 Is the Eucharist Biblical?

• 24:24 Transubstantiation and John 6.48-60

• 50:30 Are Christians part of the Davidic Covenant?

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #495 – Is Transubstantiation Biblical? appeared first on Messiah Matters.

In this episode, we discuss our recent trip to San Diego to attend the annual conferences of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature. We discuss various papers we saw, some of our disappointments as well as some of the great parts of this event.

• 3:33 Start

• 5:53 ETS and SBL Recap

• 16:57 Dr. Block’s Lecture

• 36:46 Pronomian Theology and the ETS

• 47:45 Main Take Aways

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #494 – The State of Evangelicalism appeared first on Messiah Matters.

In this episode, we discuss what exactly the Kingdom of God is, also, a conversation about what Hebrews is talking about when it discusses the priesthood and why the two priesthoods are compared to each other. Short discussions are also had about binding the commands of God on the head and hand as well as Yeshua not staying silent when led to his crucifixion.

• 3:35 Start

• 8:51 What is the Kingdom of God?

• 32:20 Was Yeshua Really Silent?

• 36:19 The Priesthoods in the Book of Hebrews 50:17 Is Tefillin Really a Commandment?

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #493 – Kingdom of God appeared first on Messiah Matters.

In this episode, we discuss being in community with other believers that disagree with pronomian theology. Should pronomian believers be in Messianic synagogues, Hebrew Roots congregations, or mainstream Churches? If we decide to attend mainstream churches how do we avoid conflict and how should we view the place God has placed us? Also, a discussion on who exactly the “elect” are.

• 3:20 Start

• 15:38 Pronomian Conference

• 18:49 Being Torah Observant in a Mainstream Church

• 21:47 Choosing Theological Battles

• 28:24 Similarities in Reformation

• 30:37 Caleb’s Journey to a Church

• 42:08 Finding the Good

• 56:25 Who are the Elect?

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Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #492 – Where to Go? appeared first on Messiah Matters.

This episode is quite different as we introduce our new show that will be released every Friday. We have ended Mystery Bible Theater 3000 and are going to start a new show titled, “Moses Matters.” In this show, Rob and Caleb will be looking at the one year Torah potion and will give comments for that weeks section. In this show we cover Genesis 1:1-6:8.

Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith.

The post Show #491 – In the Beginning appeared first on Messiah Matters.

In this episode, we look at extremes within the biblical text and discuss how they inform us about specific texts that are commonly misunderstood. This then works into a different take on Hebrews 10.9 and what we believe to be a misunderstanding by the mainstream Christian Church.

• 7:37 Start

• 19:39 Understanding the Book of Hebrews

• 34:11 Learning to Walk Before We Run

• 45:08 Extremes in the Biblical Text

• 53:35 Understanding Hebrews 10.9

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Commentary on Hebrews – Tim Hegg

Bob & Larue Miller, Lee & Vivian Eagen, Erna Draper, Bobby Keicher, John Coulthard, Michael McClure, Micah Smith, Shane & Ruth Anne Lunderville.

The post Show #490 – Taking it to the Extreme appeared first on Messiah Matters.