WEBVTT - When God is Silent 0:00:08.190 --> 0:00:12.330 Prayer. It's a conversation that moves primarily in one direction, 0:00:12.330 --> 0:00:15.540 from the believer who prays to the God who hears. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:20.970 But what about when God appears silent? Is he really unresponsive? Well, 0:00:20.970 --> 0:00:23.610 the truth is, we always have God's attention. So how 0:00:23.610 --> 0:00:27.510 should we respond when God seems silent? These are essential 0:00:27.510 --> 0:00:29.670 questions and you'll be encouraged, I think, as you stick 0:00:29.670 --> 0:00:32.460 with us today for our current edition of The Land 0:00:32.460 --> 0:00:35.909 and the book. Welcome! Our host is a lifelong student 0:00:35.909 --> 0:00:39.290 of the Middle East and respected author, Dr. Charlie Dyer. 0:00:39.300 --> 0:00:42.089 I'm John Geiger, and you know, Charlie, we've said it before, 0:00:42.090 --> 0:00:45.300 but many of us wonder what the future holds for Israel. 0:00:45.300 --> 0:00:48.360 While some things are very much uncertain, the Bible gives 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.370 us an outline of what will happen in the last days. 0:00:51.390 --> 0:00:51.870 That's right. 0:00:51.870 --> 0:00:54.630 John. That's why our friends at Life in Messiah recently 0:00:54.630 --> 0:01:00.060 hosted a prophecy conference focused specifically on this topic, Israel 0:01:00.060 --> 0:01:03.210 and the church living in the last days. They're now 0:01:03.210 --> 0:01:06.330 making the videos of the conference available for early access 0:01:06.330 --> 0:01:09.450 exclusively to the land and the book listeners. You'll hear 0:01:09.450 --> 0:01:13.200 from many knowledgeable speakers on this topic, including Moody Radio 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:17.490 host Michael Rudnick and me. These encouraging and informative videos 0:01:17.490 --> 0:01:21.089 will help you better understand God's future plans and how 0:01:21.090 --> 0:01:24.839 we can be actively waiting to access this video series. 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.560 Visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:33.050 Radio button there to sign up. That's life in Messiah org. 0:01:33.060 --> 0:01:35.490 Thank you Charlie. And now let's take a look at 0:01:35.490 --> 0:01:38.520 current events from the Middle East. As the war between 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.700 Israel and Hamas drags on, what are the major headlines 0:01:41.700 --> 0:01:44.760 we need to watch for to understand the larger picture 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:46.730 of what is actually happening here. 0:01:46.750 --> 0:01:48.600 Here's some of the big picture items that can help. 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.450 You know. First, if places are mentioned in the stories, 0:01:51.450 --> 0:01:54.180 get a map or use Google Earth and try to 0:01:54.180 --> 0:01:57.960 identify the locations. Where's the fighting taking place? Where are 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.050 the missiles landing? Just like a commander, try to get 0:02:01.050 --> 0:02:04.050 a sense of the big picture and then second, listen 0:02:04.050 --> 0:02:07.650 to hear what Israel is doing to accomplish their larger objectives. 0:02:07.830 --> 0:02:10.830 They've said their goal is to eliminate Hamas leadership, to 0:02:10.830 --> 0:02:15.840 eliminate Hamas's ability to fire rockets, to eliminate the terror infrastructure, 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:19.980 including the tunnels, and to remove Hamas's ability to govern Gaza. 0:02:19.980 --> 0:02:23.370 So what progress is being made? And then listen for 0:02:23.370 --> 0:02:27.240 information regarding negotiations for those being held captive. Now, in 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.480 this case, some of the private meetings, like Israel's former 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.480 head of Mossad traveling to Egypt, might actually be more 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:37.739 significant than the public meetings taking place. And then next 0:02:37.740 --> 0:02:40.500 watch to see what's happening in the US and Europe. 0:02:40.650 --> 0:02:44.010 A public relations battle is being waged on the streets 0:02:44.010 --> 0:02:47.250 and in the corridors of power right here. Don't ignore 0:02:47.250 --> 0:02:50.340 this battle because it could ultimately determine the level of 0:02:50.340 --> 0:02:54.030 support offered to Israel by our government and others. Now, 0:02:54.030 --> 0:02:56.190 here's the big picture. As I see it right now, 0:02:56.190 --> 0:02:59.460 Israel has split the Gaza Strip in two. Their goal 0:02:59.460 --> 0:03:01.920 is to remove as many civilians from the northern half 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.889 of the strip as possible, before going into the densely 0:03:04.889 --> 0:03:08.010 packed cities to root out Hamas. They hope to capture 0:03:08.010 --> 0:03:10.860 or kill Hamas's leadership there, and they also hope to 0:03:10.860 --> 0:03:14.890 rescue the hostages. They believe a main headquarters for Hamas, 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.090 under the largest hospital in that area, and going after 0:03:18.090 --> 0:03:20.910 the commanders and forces hidden in those bunkers, that's going 0:03:20.910 --> 0:03:23.520 to be a major goal. They're also trying to shore 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.970 up support for the war among news media and politicians. 0:03:27.270 --> 0:03:30.180 They're resisting pressure by the US and the West to 0:03:30.180 --> 0:03:32.490 either have a cease fire or at least a pause. 0:03:32.610 --> 0:03:35.760 Once that happens, they believe Hamas would likely be able 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.120 to survive. Few realize that this is actually the eighth 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:43.170 major conflict between Israel and Hamas since Hamas took control 0:03:43.170 --> 0:03:47.940 of Gaza back in 2007. In the previous seven, outside 0:03:47.940 --> 0:03:51.000 pressure pushed for a cease fire, but this time Hamas 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.600 slaughtered 1400 people women and children, young and old. And 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.480 Israel is convinced the only way to stop this cycle 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.510 of violence is to eliminate Hamas. That's why they don't 0:04:00.510 --> 0:04:02.310 want to stop, and why they're not giving in to 0:04:02.310 --> 0:04:03.900 that pressure to have a cease fire. 0:04:04.170 --> 0:04:06.540 Charlie, as you mentioned last week, one of the main 0:04:06.540 --> 0:04:10.050 casualties in any war seems to be the truth. What 0:04:10.050 --> 0:04:13.710 are some recent examples of fake news and distorted coverage 0:04:13.710 --> 0:04:16.800 designed to impact public opinion in this conflict? And how 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:18.540 can we avoid being fooled? 0:04:18.540 --> 0:04:21.750 You know, the amount of propaganda masquerading as news in 0:04:21.750 --> 0:04:24.750 this war is astounding. And it's true both here in 0:04:24.750 --> 0:04:28.289 the US and worldwide. So the first step understand where 0:04:28.290 --> 0:04:30.870 the propaganda is coming from and knowing where you can 0:04:30.870 --> 0:04:34.200 go to get reliable news. Now, here's one key fact 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.260 Israel has a free press. You can go online and 0:04:37.260 --> 0:04:41.310 find pro Netanyahu and anti Netanyahu reports right wing and 0:04:41.310 --> 0:04:45.210 left wing takes on what's happening politically and militarily and 0:04:45.210 --> 0:04:51.180 failures and successes. Hamas has consistently provided distorted one sided coverage. 0:04:51.270 --> 0:04:54.720 Many of the so-called reporters in Gaza are paid by Hamas, 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:58.500 and the reports are sensationalized and they're downright false. Often, 0:04:58.500 --> 0:05:01.500 you know, they reported Israel was using white phosphorus. Well, 0:05:01.500 --> 0:05:05.130 it wasn't true. They reported Israel attacked that hospital, killing 0:05:05.130 --> 0:05:07.950 500 to 1000 people. It turned out to. B, a 0:05:07.950 --> 0:05:11.620 misfired Islamic Jihad rocket that landed in the parking lot. 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:14.969 They reported Israel attacked a convoy of civilians trying to 0:05:14.970 --> 0:05:18.270 flee south. But all the evidence points to Hamas ambushing 0:05:18.270 --> 0:05:21.630 those civilians. They reported an ambulance was hit by an 0:05:21.630 --> 0:05:24.480 Israeli missile, but they didn't report that the ambulance was 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.409 being used by Hamas to transport fighters and weapons, not 0:05:28.410 --> 0:05:32.520 injured civilians. I keep going back. It was Winston Churchill 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.400 who said, a lie gets halfway around the world before 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.950 the truth has a chance to get its pants on. 0:05:37.950 --> 0:05:40.380 And that leads to the next step in how to 0:05:40.380 --> 0:05:44.130 avoid getting fooled. Don't jump to conclusions before hearing the 0:05:44.130 --> 0:05:47.039 rest of the story. Even the mainstream media has been 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:52.200 guilty of reporting statements without first checking the facts. Finally, 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:56.010 and this is really important, avoid video reports from social media, 0:05:56.010 --> 0:06:00.210 especially those from TikTok. TikTok is a Chinese owned media 0:06:00.210 --> 0:06:05.490 platform featuring a great deal of inaccurate, biased information. In 0:06:05.490 --> 0:06:10.049 a survey, 51% of young adults justified Hamas's massacre of 0:06:10.050 --> 0:06:14.760 Israeli civilians, largely because of TikTok videos, which are designed 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.330 to reach millions of 18 to 24 year olds. Since 0:06:18.330 --> 0:06:21.570 it's the only content source for many in that generation, 0:06:21.570 --> 0:06:26.099 they're being brainwashed by a flood of anti-Semitic propaganda. The 0:06:26.100 --> 0:06:30.000 key takeaway here, John, don't get sucked in. Do your research, 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:34.760 use credible resources, and check out opposing viewpoints. 0:06:34.770 --> 0:06:36.870 Charlie. It seems to me, though, there's a missing piece 0:06:36.870 --> 0:06:39.870 in this media war, and that's the capacity to get 0:06:39.870 --> 0:06:42.929 the facts out. The truth out. You know, I head 0:06:42.930 --> 0:06:46.620 online to the Jerusalem Post, to the Times of Israel, 0:06:46.620 --> 0:06:50.489 to other websites, and even the Israeli government at the 0:06:50.490 --> 0:06:54.000 consulate level has offered video footage and photos that clearly 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.489 offer evidence contrary to the stuff that's being stated in 0:06:56.490 --> 0:07:00.180 the media. But those stories, those images, those videos don't 0:07:00.180 --> 0:07:03.300 seem to be shown. What's the answer to that? 0:07:03.510 --> 0:07:06.510 Well, sadly, the answer is that don't trust the media 0:07:06.510 --> 0:07:09.690 to always want to present both sides. That's why people 0:07:09.690 --> 0:07:12.030 should go to places like The Jerusalem Post, The Times 0:07:12.030 --> 0:07:16.350 of Israel, Haaretz, Eric Sheva. They can see the videos Israel. 0:07:16.710 --> 0:07:18.720 It may appear slow to get it out in our 0:07:18.990 --> 0:07:21.510 right now news cycle, but Israel wants to make sure 0:07:21.510 --> 0:07:24.390 they have the facts before they release something, and it's 0:07:24.390 --> 0:07:26.070 always better to wait a while and go to those 0:07:26.070 --> 0:07:29.730 sources and watch original video footage. There you'll get the 0:07:29.730 --> 0:07:31.170 true facts of what's happening. 0:07:31.170 --> 0:07:33.240 This is the land in the book with our host, Dr. 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.420 Charlie Dyer. And amid all the horrors of war, God 0:07:36.420 --> 0:07:38.250 is still at work. Charlie, what are some of the 0:07:38.250 --> 0:07:40.950 encouraging stories coming out of Israel and Gaza? 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.500 Yeah, and we do need this encouragement. John. I need 0:07:43.500 --> 0:07:45.989 to guard the names here, but I've received emails from 0:07:45.990 --> 0:07:49.080 several friends who live in minister in Israel, and they're 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.989 a reminder that God is at work. One was from 0:07:51.990 --> 0:07:55.050 a pastor of an assembly in Jerusalem that we both know. 0:07:55.230 --> 0:07:57.810 He wrote to say his assembly, along with many others, 0:07:57.810 --> 0:08:00.480 have been cooking food and delivering it to families. Forced 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.990 to flee their homes, they purchased winter clothing in school supplies. 0:08:03.990 --> 0:08:06.960 They provided money to help with utilities and rent and 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.500 other needs for families whose spouses were called up to serve. 0:08:10.500 --> 0:08:14.610 40 members of their congregation were called back into the reserves, 0:08:14.610 --> 0:08:17.850 including two of his adult children, so they drove to 0:08:17.850 --> 0:08:20.430 the border to take winter clothes for the entire unit, 0:08:20.430 --> 0:08:23.280 along with snacks for the group. While there, they also 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.190 took time to pray with the soldiers. At the opposite 0:08:26.190 --> 0:08:28.140 end of the spectrum, I received an email from a 0:08:28.140 --> 0:08:30.360 friend who shared what's happening in the life of a 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:34.830 muslim background believer in Gaza. That believer sent a goodbye 0:08:34.830 --> 0:08:38.850 text expressing his love for Israel and his disdain for Hamas. 0:08:38.850 --> 0:08:41.280 He expects his life to end and he is in 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:45.330 physical danger, but he remains bold in sharing his faith. Finally, 0:08:45.330 --> 0:08:47.369 I saw a Facebook post from the wife of a 0:08:47.370 --> 0:08:51.420 believing Jewish guide. She described the impact of October 7th 0:08:51.420 --> 0:08:54.270 on Israelis. She had a number of friends and acquaintances 0:08:54.270 --> 0:08:57.000 who lost loved ones, but she ended by teaching a 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.690 Hebrew word that means resilience. Though shocked by the tragedy 0:09:00.690 --> 0:09:03.750 and and by those condemning Israel and criticizing Israel for 0:09:03.750 --> 0:09:07.500 fighting to protect their citizens, she responded by writing, so 0:09:07.500 --> 0:09:10.260 we have no other choice than to show resilience, so 0:09:10.260 --> 0:09:13.050 we don't collapse under the weight of it all. Those 0:09:13.050 --> 0:09:15.330 are all good reminders for us to remember that God 0:09:15.330 --> 0:09:17.370 is at work in the lives of people on both 0:09:17.370 --> 0:09:19.590 sides of the battle lines, and we ought to be 0:09:19.590 --> 0:09:22.590 praying for the Jewish and Arab believers and asking God 0:09:22.590 --> 0:09:25.410 to protect them and to give them opportunities to share 0:09:25.410 --> 0:09:26.100 their faith. 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.520 One of the uncertainties in this war involves the exact 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.720 number of Israelis killed or captured by Hamas, and archaeologists 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:35.790 are now at work to help provide answers. But why 0:09:35.790 --> 0:09:38.580 are they needed? And how specifically are they helping? 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:40.800 Yeah, and to answer this, we need to understand what 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.590 the soldiers found when they recaptured that region along the 0:09:43.590 --> 0:09:46.620 border with Gaza. They didn't just find dead bodies. Those 0:09:46.620 --> 0:09:49.740 could be identified without too much difficulty. But Hamas had 0:09:49.740 --> 0:09:54.449 also set buildings and cars on fire, incinerating the bodies inside. 0:09:54.660 --> 0:09:58.050 In some cases, only fragments of bones remained buried in 0:09:58.050 --> 0:10:02.280 the charred rubble. Using techniques developed while excavating destruction layers 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.520 at ancient sites, the archaeologists are going through the charred 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.760 remains of houses and cars combing. And sifting through the 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.360 ash to find bone fragments or other material remains that 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.719 can be used to identify those individuals. In the first month, 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.360 they were able to identify the remains of ten men, 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:22.440 women and children previously thought missing. They're treating these houses 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:25.860 and cars like archaeological digs, but with one major difference 0:10:25.860 --> 0:10:28.890 in a typical dig, they have little emotional attachment to 0:10:28.890 --> 0:10:31.620 any remains that are discovered because the person died several 0:10:31.620 --> 0:10:35.070 thousand years ago. In these digs, they're uncovering the remains 0:10:35.070 --> 0:10:37.410 of those who are alive just over a month ago. 0:10:37.410 --> 0:10:39.780 It's a heart rending job, but they also know that 0:10:39.780 --> 0:10:43.050 what they're doing is helping families find closure. 0:10:43.050 --> 0:10:46.020 Well, so much to follow in this story, and you'll 0:10:46.020 --> 0:10:48.330 find updates as you stay with us here at The 0:10:48.330 --> 0:10:51.570 Land and the book, our website, the land and the book. 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:56.969 Org coming up when God appears silent. Izzy, it's a 0:10:56.970 --> 0:10:59.520 conversation you don't want to miss on the land and 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:17.670 the book. Prayer. It's a conversation that moves primarily in 0:11:17.670 --> 0:11:21.210 one direction, from the believer who prays to the God 0:11:21.210 --> 0:11:25.260 who hears. But what about when God appears silent? Is 0:11:25.260 --> 0:11:29.280 he really unresponsive? The truth is, we always have God's attention. 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:33.210 So how should we respond when God seems silent? These 0:11:33.210 --> 0:11:37.860 are essential questions and we're about to explore them in depth. Next. Hey, 0:11:37.860 --> 0:11:39.990 welcome to segment two of The Land. In the book, 0:11:39.990 --> 0:11:42.360 I'm John Geiger, inviting you to pause with me right 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:46.020 now for a quick, refreshing idea on sharing the love 0:11:46.020 --> 0:11:50.569 of Christ with a Jewish friend. Obviously, any conversation about 0:11:50.570 --> 0:11:53.719 Jesus is a spiritual conversation. And if it's a spiritual 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.740 conversation for Jesus, you have to wonder, isn't there opposition, 0:11:57.740 --> 0:12:00.980 particularly when you're sharing your faith with Jewish people? Opposition 0:12:00.980 --> 0:12:04.910 to that very conversation. Wes Tabor is an ambassador for 0:12:04.910 --> 0:12:07.429 life in Messiah. What do you think is their opposition? 0:12:07.550 --> 0:12:10.729 Well, of course God sets his love and his name 0:12:10.730 --> 0:12:14.540 on Israel. And we know whatever God especially loves, Satan 0:12:14.540 --> 0:12:18.740 especially hates. So three things we know about Satan. He 0:12:18.740 --> 0:12:24.250 can't annihilate the Jewish people physically though he has tried, right? Pharaoh? Haman? Hitler. Yeah. 0:12:24.740 --> 0:12:29.719 Satan also seeks their spiritual destruction through false religion, idolatry, 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.990 the occult, good works, atheism. He doesn't care what they 0:12:32.990 --> 0:12:35.810 believe as long as they don't believe the truth. And third, 0:12:35.809 --> 0:12:38.420 Satan doesn't want us to share the gospel or Jewish 0:12:38.420 --> 0:12:39.450 people to believe it. 0:12:39.470 --> 0:12:42.170 All right, so our response then is still boldness. Get 0:12:42.170 --> 0:12:44.420 out there. Do it because we've been called to. 0:12:44.570 --> 0:12:47.450 Amen. Yeah. And we have the scriptures that encourage our 0:12:47.450 --> 0:12:50.300 hearts greater as he who is in you than he 0:12:50.300 --> 0:12:53.420 who is in the world. First John four four And 0:12:53.420 --> 0:12:56.690 Yeshua promised that the gates of hell will not prevail 0:12:56.690 --> 0:13:01.520 against his church, which is made up of Jews and Gentiles. Amen. 0:13:01.730 --> 0:13:04.580 Wes Tabor with life in Messiah here on the land 0:13:04.580 --> 0:13:09.140 and the book. Dr. John Kessler is a writer and 0:13:09.140 --> 0:13:12.290 contributing editor for the Moody Bible Institute publication known as 0:13:12.290 --> 0:13:15.770 today in the world. For 25 years, he served as 0:13:15.770 --> 0:13:18.260 a faculty member at Moody, and before that he was 0:13:18.260 --> 0:13:21.500 a pastor in central Illinois for nine years. John has 0:13:21.500 --> 0:13:25.550 written many books, including When God is Silent to Me. 0:13:25.940 --> 0:13:29.329 His voice just conveys comfort and wisdom, and I have 0:13:29.330 --> 0:13:32.990 just enormous respect for Dr. Kessler. Thank you for being 0:13:32.990 --> 0:13:34.510 part of our program today, John. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:36.560 Well, thank you, John. It's wonderful to be here. 0:13:36.710 --> 0:13:39.260 You, of course, are not unaware of the vast number 0:13:39.260 --> 0:13:42.260 of books that have been written on prayer. And, well, 0:13:42.260 --> 0:13:44.600 most of them are probably more in the the how 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.230 to category. What made you want to write this one? 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:50.750 Well, you know, that's a funny thing. For years I 0:13:50.750 --> 0:13:53.240 always said that I would never write a book about 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:57.560 prayer because I always felt like such an amateur at it, 0:13:57.770 --> 0:14:01.189 even though I was a pastor and a professor. And 0:14:01.190 --> 0:14:04.070 I've been praying, really praying since before I was a 0:14:04.070 --> 0:14:08.599 Christian even. But there's just something about the experience that 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.170 felt awkward to me. And then after a while, the 0:14:12.170 --> 0:14:14.900 more I thought about it, I realized that most of 0:14:14.900 --> 0:14:17.179 the Christians I know pretty much felt the same way 0:14:17.179 --> 0:14:19.850 that I did. And I thought, you know what? Maybe 0:14:19.850 --> 0:14:22.550 that's what we really need is a book about prayer 0:14:22.550 --> 0:14:26.510 written for amateurs by an amateur. So I began to 0:14:26.510 --> 0:14:30.410 reflect on it and put my thoughts together. And that's 0:14:30.410 --> 0:14:33.320 why I did it, because I think, as you said, 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.800 most of the books that I came across that had 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.910 to deal with prayer really make, I think, the wrong 0:14:40.910 --> 0:14:44.030 assumptions about the readers. You know, they assume that we 0:14:44.030 --> 0:14:47.330 either don't want to pray or that we don't know 0:14:47.330 --> 0:14:50.330 how to pray. And I think the problem is elsewhere. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.010 Well, how widespread a problem do you think this frustration is? 0:14:55.010 --> 0:14:58.820 This frustration of sensing that God appears to be silent? 0:14:59.090 --> 0:15:03.770 My observation is that it is almost universal, and that 0:15:03.770 --> 0:15:06.080 the only people who don't share it are people who 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:10.160 write books about prayer. You know, most of the Christians 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.330 I know don't feel prayer is important to them. They pray, 0:15:14.330 --> 0:15:16.990 but they would not say that they're great at it. 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:20.480 They just feel a little bit odd about it. And 0:15:21.170 --> 0:15:24.140 so I think it's I would say it's universal to 0:15:24.140 --> 0:15:28.220 be honest. And certainly the experience, this sort of one 0:15:28.220 --> 0:15:34.100 sided conversation with God that's almost universal. I know that 0:15:34.100 --> 0:15:36.320 there are some people who, when they talk about their 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.979 prayer life, they will make it sound like, you know, oh, 0:15:39.980 --> 0:15:42.080 I talked to God. And then he talks back to me, 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.300 and then I talk to him and he talks back 0:15:44.300 --> 0:15:47.720 to me. That has never really been my experience. And 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.360 it is not the experience of most of the Christians 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:52.880 that I know. And I'm not saying that it never 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.970 happens or that it couldn't happen, but I don't think 0:15:55.970 --> 0:15:57.410 it's normative. 0:15:57.650 --> 0:16:00.710 Hey, how much of our of our complaining about God's 0:16:00.710 --> 0:16:05.660 silence arises from basic biblical ignorance? We perhaps believe incorrect 0:16:05.660 --> 0:16:08.870 or erroneous things about God's relationship to our prayers. What 0:16:08.870 --> 0:16:09.560 about that? 0:16:10.340 --> 0:16:13.970 I don't know if it's so much biblical ignorance as that. 0:16:13.970 --> 0:16:17.000 We have been sort of misled by the way that 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.870 people talk about prayer, because most of the time when 0:16:20.870 --> 0:16:23.840 those who teach us about prayer, they sort of describe 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.050 it like it's an ordinary conversation. And so, you know, 0:16:27.050 --> 0:16:30.080 so we go into it with this set of assumptions 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:34.100 based on all the other conversations that we've had. Now 0:16:34.100 --> 0:16:37.610 it is ordinary conversation in one sense. What is prayer? Well, 0:16:37.610 --> 0:16:40.730 in its essence, it's just talking to God. But when 0:16:40.730 --> 0:16:43.040 I look at all of the other conversations I have 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:47.479 with people, there are elements involved there that are not 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.420 present when I talk to God. For example, even when 0:16:50.420 --> 0:16:53.390 I'm not talking to you face to face, you know, 0:16:53.390 --> 0:16:55.850 there are cues that I'm listening to, the tone of 0:16:55.850 --> 0:16:59.900 your voice, the pitch. There's a there's an interaction going on. 0:16:59.900 --> 0:17:02.630 I say something, you say something, I say something. So 0:17:02.630 --> 0:17:06.800 there's a cooperation in the conversation. That's really not the 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.460 case when it comes to prayer. When I pray, it's 0:17:10.460 --> 0:17:13.940 not that God has not spoken, it's that everything that 0:17:13.940 --> 0:17:18.139 he has said is recorded in Scripture. And there's a 0:17:18.140 --> 0:17:21.530 sense where I have to bring that with me into prayer, 0:17:21.530 --> 0:17:24.860 that it becomes sort of the backdrop that frames the 0:17:24.859 --> 0:17:29.630 expectation I have of how God will respond to what 0:17:29.630 --> 0:17:33.230 I have to say. It's not immediate, so that if 0:17:33.230 --> 0:17:36.260 I'm thinking that's going to be like the typical conversation 0:17:36.260 --> 0:17:40.399 I'm having, I will be missing all of the cues 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:44.690 that I generally use to shape the way that I 0:17:44.690 --> 0:17:48.620 interact with someone, because I can't see facial expression, I 0:17:48.619 --> 0:17:52.520 can't hear tone of voice. And even I think often 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.370 when we're praying about things, we are praying with a 0:17:55.369 --> 0:18:01.700 specificity about details that I will not find in Scripture. Like, 0:18:01.700 --> 0:18:06.080 for example, you know, maybe I'm praying about a particular. Job. 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.080 I want this job or that job, you know. Well, 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:13.820 maybe in general I can glean from Scripture I should 0:18:13.820 --> 0:18:17.870 not take a job as a hitman for the Mafia, 0:18:18.410 --> 0:18:21.440 but it's probably not going to be so specific that 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:23.600 it's going to tell me, oh, yeah, I should work 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.660 for General Motors or, you know, I should work for 0:18:26.660 --> 0:18:30.290 Chrysler or whoever. You know, I remember when I was young, 0:18:30.500 --> 0:18:34.580 great concern. Who should I marry? You know. Well, there 0:18:34.580 --> 0:18:38.090 are some general guidelines, but the Bible doesn't have the name. 0:18:38.090 --> 0:18:39.199 You know, I'm not going to be able to look 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:44.359 it up in the concordance. So there are differences in this. 0:18:44.450 --> 0:18:48.230 When I use the ordinary tools of conversation my voice, 0:18:48.230 --> 0:18:53.060 my heart, my mind. But the experience is radically different 0:18:53.060 --> 0:18:55.100 than most conversations I have. 0:18:55.130 --> 0:18:58.280 Dr. John Kessler is an award winning author and retired 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:03.200 faculty emeritus of pastoral studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:05.600 He writes monthly columns for today in the Word and 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.600 Mature Living magazine. I want to turn the corner in 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:11.450 a slightly different direction here for just a moment, John. 0:19:11.450 --> 0:19:16.250 If we were to take the typical evangelical church service 0:19:16.250 --> 0:19:19.850 timeline and convert it into a pie chart, the sermon 0:19:19.850 --> 0:19:23.630 invariably gets the way bigger. Slice worship music would come 0:19:23.630 --> 0:19:27.590 in second place. It'd be a significant piece, but prayer 0:19:27.590 --> 0:19:31.760 would get a really small slice in most cases. Are 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:36.530 we conveying to people with that allotment a message about 0:19:36.530 --> 0:19:39.379 the importance of prayer? Sometimes I'm just not comfortable. I 0:19:39.380 --> 0:19:41.869 don't I'm not sure that we have arrived at a 0:19:41.869 --> 0:19:43.970 truly biblical model. Your thoughts? 0:19:44.180 --> 0:19:47.429 Yeah, I think you're probably right. And let's also recognize 0:19:47.430 --> 0:19:51.380 that that's probably more the case for some of our 0:19:51.380 --> 0:19:56.060 church traditions than others. There are other church traditions that 0:19:56.060 --> 0:20:01.370 have perhaps a more intense focus on prayer in their 0:20:01.369 --> 0:20:04.820 public worship, and often when that's the case, it's actually 0:20:04.820 --> 0:20:08.600 a little more structured. But the tradition I come from 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.800 prayer is often more of a private. It's assumed that 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:14.870 we will pray. We'll pray in private, or we have 0:20:14.869 --> 0:20:17.449 a whole separate service devoted to it. You know, we 0:20:17.450 --> 0:20:20.510 have the prayer meeting, which even in the prayer meeting, 0:20:20.510 --> 0:20:24.350 you know, most of the time is spent reviewing a list, 0:20:24.350 --> 0:20:26.869 you know. Right. It's like it's like, you know, if 0:20:26.869 --> 0:20:30.170 it's 50 minutes, you know, 40 minutes is probably taken 0:20:30.170 --> 0:20:33.890 up with talking about our health problems and then then 0:20:33.890 --> 0:20:37.639 a few minutes in prayer. Some of that, I think, 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:43.040 is probably because we haven't thought about how to structure 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:48.170 prayer for the congregation. Again, I think this is probably 0:20:48.170 --> 0:20:51.260 not true of all traditions. I think there are there 0:20:51.260 --> 0:20:54.590 are some traditions that have a far more robust theology 0:20:54.590 --> 0:20:58.640 of corporate prayer and more disciplined practice of it, and 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:01.820 that also comes with some of its own issues there 0:21:01.820 --> 0:21:05.360 over familiarity and, you know, the problems that come with 0:21:05.810 --> 0:21:09.800 rote praying sometimes. But yes, I guess that's a long 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:12.110 that's a long way to say yes. You're right. 0:21:12.890 --> 0:21:15.500 We're tackling a tough subject today on the land in 0:21:15.500 --> 0:21:19.370 the book When God Is Silent. Our guest, Dr. John Kessler, 0:21:19.369 --> 0:21:21.980 has written a book by that title. So let's let's 0:21:21.980 --> 0:21:26.030 get right to the sticking point. If you were counseling 0:21:26.030 --> 0:21:29.000 a listener right now who feels frustrated in their prayer 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:32.510 life because God does seem silent to them, how would 0:21:32.510 --> 0:21:34.280 you interact with them? What would you what would you 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:35.000 say to them? 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.060 Well, first of all, I would affirm their experience and say, 0:21:38.060 --> 0:21:41.690 I have felt that and it has frustrated me as well. 0:21:41.900 --> 0:21:47.330 I would remind that person that silence is not always 0:21:47.330 --> 0:21:52.429 an indicator of inattention or detachment. That's one of the 0:21:52.430 --> 0:21:55.730 mistakes we make that particularly when it comes to God's silence, 0:21:55.730 --> 0:21:59.570 that we assume because he is not giving us this 0:21:59.570 --> 0:22:03.980 immediate feedback, that we would desire, that either he is 0:22:03.980 --> 0:22:07.580 not there at all, or he's kind of detached. And 0:22:07.580 --> 0:22:09.770 so a lot of what we're doing in our praying 0:22:09.770 --> 0:22:13.040 is we're trying to sort of get his attention, you know, 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.970 which like raise the voice, wave our arms about whatever, whatever, 0:22:16.970 --> 0:22:19.400 you know, whatever we have to do. But if you 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:22.370 look at the conversations that are the most meaningful to 0:22:22.369 --> 0:22:26.090 you in the people that you really feel are good 0:22:26.090 --> 0:22:30.050 people to talk to, they're good listeners. And what they 0:22:30.050 --> 0:22:33.350 do is they don't interrupt. They I can remember teaching 0:22:33.350 --> 0:22:39.710 a Bible study with somebody who one person who was 0:22:39.710 --> 0:22:43.879 more experienced at it than me, and I remember being 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.840 struck by how attentive they were in their listening. You know, 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:51.350 they concentrated on what I was saying. They looked at me. 0:22:51.350 --> 0:22:54.980 And then when they did respond, I could tell that 0:22:54.980 --> 0:22:58.790 while they were listening, they weren't formulating what they really 0:22:58.790 --> 0:23:02.300 wanted to say. Instead, you know, they were really concentrating 0:23:02.300 --> 0:23:05.119 on what I had to say. So my starting point 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:09.210 would be. To say what seems to be silence to 0:23:09.210 --> 0:23:14.159 you is total attention. God hears you. And of course, 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:16.800 what John tells us in his letters is that if 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:19.859 we know that God hears us, we know that God 0:23:19.859 --> 0:23:21.750 will respond to our prayer. 0:23:21.990 --> 0:23:24.659 That's very affirming, I like that. But what is it 0:23:24.660 --> 0:23:26.840 that we could possibly do that might help the situation? 0:23:26.850 --> 0:23:28.439 Is there anything we can do? 0:23:28.470 --> 0:23:30.209 Yeah, I think there are a number of things we 0:23:30.210 --> 0:23:33.450 can do. One is, of course, the more we know 0:23:33.450 --> 0:23:38.100 about God in the scriptures, the healthier our view will 0:23:38.100 --> 0:23:40.680 be of him, because that's part of what we struggle 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:44.609 with when we're praying is these assumptions we have about God. 0:23:44.609 --> 0:23:47.220 And the way God perhaps is responding to us that 0:23:47.220 --> 0:23:49.800 are not really shaped by the grace and the truth 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:53.430 of Scripture. Another thing we can do is something that 0:23:53.430 --> 0:23:57.210 the psalmist frequently does. When you read through the Psalms, 0:23:57.210 --> 0:24:00.960 you can see the psalmist's, those who wrote the Psalms 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:04.680 struggling with the same issue, because they often express sort 0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:08.879 of frustration about their prayer experience or the way God's 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:12.320 responding to their prayers. And the thing that the psalmist does. 0:24:12.330 --> 0:24:16.409 The psalmist talks to himself, and it doesn't in a 0:24:16.410 --> 0:24:19.980 number of ways. Sometimes when the psalmist is talking to himself, 0:24:19.980 --> 0:24:22.919 he's sort of a self coach. He tells himself not 0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:25.530 to lose heart, not to lose faith that God will 0:24:25.530 --> 0:24:29.489 act on his behalf. Sometimes the psalmist will sort of 0:24:29.490 --> 0:24:33.090 take the position of God and sort of speak what 0:24:33.090 --> 0:24:37.830 he expects God to do or to say to him. 0:24:38.010 --> 0:24:41.400 Paul sometimes does this in his. When you see Paul's 0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:45.390 prayers in the New Testament where he prays for the person, 0:24:45.390 --> 0:24:49.620 he's very specific when he prays, and he also voices 0:24:49.619 --> 0:24:53.340 what he expects God to do as a result of 0:24:53.369 --> 0:24:56.790 that prayer. And then I think, you know, really to 0:24:56.790 --> 0:25:00.750 be brutally honest, you know, just to be frank, to 0:25:00.750 --> 0:25:04.830 disclose your heart when you pray, open your heart to 0:25:04.830 --> 0:25:08.340 God as it truly is, rather than coming to God 0:25:08.340 --> 0:25:11.459 and basically trying to tell God what you think he 0:25:11.460 --> 0:25:13.920 wants to hear from you because the only one you're 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:17.310 fooling there is yourself. He can see right through you. 0:25:17.580 --> 0:25:20.310 Well, as I promised at the outset, this conversation to 0:25:20.310 --> 0:25:23.580 me has felt like a just a nice dialogue with 0:25:23.580 --> 0:25:26.820 a trusted friend, a wise counselor, and Dr. John Kessler 0:25:26.820 --> 0:25:29.460 is certainly that. And you can dig deeper into this 0:25:29.460 --> 0:25:33.060 subject as you check out his book, When God Is Silent. 0:25:33.060 --> 0:25:35.520 A link to that book and to John's website is 0:25:35.520 --> 0:25:39.780 at our website. The land and the book. Morgue, the 0:25:39.780 --> 0:25:43.430 land and the book.org. John, we want to have you back. 0:25:43.470 --> 0:25:46.110 Hope you'll carve out some time to spend with us. 0:25:46.200 --> 0:25:48.300 Oh, I'd love to do that, John. Thanks for having me. 0:25:48.330 --> 0:25:48.750 All right. 0:25:48.750 --> 0:25:50.820 Charlie Dyer is back, and I'm looking forward to a 0:25:50.820 --> 0:25:54.030 fresh set of your Bible questions coming up next here 0:25:54.030 --> 0:26:08.550 on the land and the book. Questions and answers. That's 0:26:08.550 --> 0:26:11.310 our focus next here on the land and the book. 0:26:11.310 --> 0:26:14.310 Welcome to segment three. I'm John Geiger, our host. The 0:26:14.310 --> 0:26:17.730 guy offering the answers is Dr. Charlie Dyer. He's a 0:26:17.730 --> 0:26:21.510 former pastor, a lover of the Bible, a student of Scripture, 0:26:21.510 --> 0:26:25.919 a student of Israel. And he welcomes your questions any time. Right, Charlie. 0:26:25.920 --> 0:26:27.359 I do, John, I love it. 0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:29.400 What is the process, by the way? Somebody emails us 0:26:29.400 --> 0:26:32.010 at the land in the book at Moody Edu. It 0:26:32.010 --> 0:26:33.180 goes right to you, right? 0:26:33.359 --> 0:26:36.000 It does. And I try and answer as quickly as 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:38.399 I can, usually the same day or sometimes within a 0:26:38.400 --> 0:26:40.350 day or two. It depends on how busy I am 0:26:40.350 --> 0:26:43.290 with other things, but they'll get an answer by email. 0:26:43.290 --> 0:26:45.390 And then we put it into the hopper and pull 0:26:45.390 --> 0:26:47.040 it out and answer it on air as well. 0:26:47.040 --> 0:26:49.859 Okay, well, many of us wonder what the future holds 0:26:49.859 --> 0:26:53.010 for Israel, and while some things are uncertain, the Bible 0:26:53.010 --> 0:26:55.709 gives us an outline of what really will happen in 0:26:55.710 --> 0:26:57.330 the last days. Yeah, and our. 0:26:57.330 --> 0:27:00.660 Friends at Life in Messiah recently hosted a prophecy conference. 0:27:00.660 --> 0:27:04.740 Focus specifically on the topic Israel and the church living 0:27:04.740 --> 0:27:07.709 in the last days. There now making the videos of 0:27:07.710 --> 0:27:11.220 the conference available for early access exclusively to the land 0:27:11.220 --> 0:27:14.130 and the book listeners. You'll hear from many knowledgeable speakers 0:27:14.130 --> 0:27:18.330 on this topic, including Moody Radio host Michael Rudnick and me. 0:27:18.450 --> 0:27:22.260 These encouraging and informative videos will help you better understand 0:27:22.260 --> 0:27:25.950 God's future plans, and how we can be actively waiting 0:27:26.010 --> 0:27:29.310 to get access to this video series. Visit Life in 0:27:29.310 --> 0:27:32.699 Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to 0:27:32.700 --> 0:27:36.119 sign up. That's Life in messiah.org. All right. 0:27:36.119 --> 0:27:38.700 We're heading straight to the book of Revelation today, where 0:27:38.700 --> 0:27:42.090 John is instructed to write to the seven churches in Asia. 0:27:42.090 --> 0:27:44.879 George says, it seems that there is no mention of 0:27:44.880 --> 0:27:47.700 any churches back in Israel at that time. Is there 0:27:47.700 --> 0:27:50.040 any indication as to what happened to the early churches 0:27:50.040 --> 0:27:53.520 that were started in Israel? Did the apostles spread out 0:27:53.520 --> 0:27:56.730 beyond Israel to spread the good news, and therefore they 0:27:56.730 --> 0:27:58.290 became more prominent? 0:27:58.410 --> 0:28:00.570 Well, the book of acts does help us trace the 0:28:00.570 --> 0:28:03.450 growth and development of the early church. When the church 0:28:03.450 --> 0:28:05.280 began on the day of Pentecost in Acts two, it 0:28:05.280 --> 0:28:08.070 was a church made up of Jewish believers. But as 0:28:08.070 --> 0:28:10.260 the Book of Acts develops, we see the Jewish people 0:28:10.260 --> 0:28:13.260 begin to reject the message of the apostles, and as 0:28:13.260 --> 0:28:16.920 a result, the early church leadership in Judea experienced persecution. 0:28:17.100 --> 0:28:20.280 Stephen was stoned, and it says that persecution rose against 0:28:20.280 --> 0:28:22.950 the church at that time, and all except the apostles 0:28:22.950 --> 0:28:26.760 were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. So as the church 0:28:26.760 --> 0:28:29.969 in Jerusalem grew smaller and weaker, those forced to scatter 0:28:29.970 --> 0:28:33.149 began sharing the gospel wherever they went. And acts begins 0:28:33.150 --> 0:28:35.940 to focus on the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Wherever 0:28:35.940 --> 0:28:37.980 he went, he preached to the Jews first, but also 0:28:37.980 --> 0:28:41.160 to the Greeks to the Gentiles. And the Gentile church 0:28:41.160 --> 0:28:44.430 began growing. Now there were still believers and churches in 0:28:44.430 --> 0:28:47.400 Israel during this time, but they were small and poor 0:28:47.400 --> 0:28:50.280 and persecuted. We're told in acts 11 there was a 0:28:50.280 --> 0:28:53.040 famine in the larger region which must have added to 0:28:53.040 --> 0:28:55.560 their struggles. In fact, a collection was taken among the 0:28:55.560 --> 0:28:59.240 churches in Antioch to provide for the brothers living in Judea. 0:28:59.240 --> 0:29:02.160 It says. So apparently the church in Jerusalem and in 0:29:02.160 --> 0:29:05.880 that region just kept growing smaller and struggling, while the 0:29:05.880 --> 0:29:09.060 churches in the other areas grew and and prospered. By 0:29:09.060 --> 0:29:12.270 the time the Book of Revelation was written around 1895, 0:29:12.270 --> 0:29:14.820 the churches throughout the Roman Empire well, they were largely 0:29:14.820 --> 0:29:18.420 composed of Gentiles with some Jews, and Jesus chose the 0:29:18.420 --> 0:29:22.320 seven churches in Asia minor to represent seven different types 0:29:22.320 --> 0:29:25.740 of churches found in any given age. These seven, and 0:29:25.740 --> 0:29:28.890 not the struggling church in Judea, best mirrored the state 0:29:28.890 --> 0:29:30.540 of the church throughout history. 0:29:30.690 --> 0:29:33.360 Mark says, I have recently heard a couple of times 0:29:33.360 --> 0:29:36.930 that the Apostle Paul had been in prison three different times. 0:29:36.930 --> 0:29:40.620 By my count, Paul was imprisoned four separate times for 0:29:40.620 --> 0:29:45.270 durations of about two years each in Philippi, Caesarea in Rome, 0:29:45.270 --> 0:29:48.180 under house arrest, then in Rome in the dungeon before 0:29:48.180 --> 0:29:53.280 he was executed. Is the Caesarian imprisonment under Felix generally overlooked? 0:29:53.280 --> 0:29:57.780 Or are the Roman governments generally counted as one imprisonment? Yeah. 0:29:57.780 --> 0:30:00.060 I'm not sure who you heard from, but by my 0:30:00.060 --> 0:30:02.280 last count I actually can find five times, I think 0:30:02.280 --> 0:30:04.920 when Paul was imprisoned, the second one in the Roman 0:30:04.920 --> 0:30:08.250 barracks in Jerusalem usually isn't counted. So if you take 0:30:08.250 --> 0:30:10.230 that one out because it was only a few days, 0:30:10.410 --> 0:30:12.660 then I see the same for that. I think you do. 0:30:12.840 --> 0:30:16.350 He was imprisoned in Philippi for one night. In acts 16. 0:30:16.350 --> 0:30:19.080 He was imprisoned in Jerusalem in the Roman barracks. That's 0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:22.020 that one I just mentioned in acts 22. He was 0:30:22.020 --> 0:30:24.480 imprisoned in Caesarea then, where he was taken for two 0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:28.380 years x 23 and then his first imprisonment, which was 0:30:28.380 --> 0:30:30.239 a house arrest in Rome. That's how the book of 0:30:30.240 --> 0:30:34.170 acts ends. And then his final imprisonment in Rome, which 0:30:34.170 --> 0:30:36.240 is not mentioned in the book of acts, but I 0:30:36.240 --> 0:30:39.480 think is referenced in Second Timothy chapter four. And that's 0:30:39.480 --> 0:30:41.010 where Paul was finally put to death. 0:30:41.280 --> 0:30:43.560 That question, by the way, from Mark, who listens to 0:30:43.560 --> 0:30:47.900 us on 103.3 in Cleveland, WKF good to connect with 0:30:47.910 --> 0:30:50.610 a moody radio listener there George takes us to first 0:30:50.610 --> 0:30:53.040 Timothy five eight. We're told that those who do not 0:30:53.040 --> 0:30:57.630 care or provide for their own household are worse than unbelievers. 0:30:57.630 --> 0:31:01.140 Yet in Luke nine verses 59 and 16, Jesus told 0:31:01.140 --> 0:31:04.170 the man, let the dead bury the dead. Apparently the 0:31:04.170 --> 0:31:06.480 man's father was still living, and he. Wanted to care 0:31:06.480 --> 0:31:08.850 for his father until he died. Would this have been 0:31:08.850 --> 0:31:11.220 wrong for this man to want to care for his father? 0:31:11.220 --> 0:31:13.500 Or was he just making an excuse for not wanting 0:31:13.500 --> 0:31:15.300 to follow Jesus? Yeah, and I. 0:31:15.300 --> 0:31:17.610 Think the answer is found by looking carefully at both 0:31:17.610 --> 0:31:20.670 verses in context. And in first Timothy five eight, Paul's 0:31:20.670 --> 0:31:24.660 talking about the practical outworking of faith in demonstrating support 0:31:24.660 --> 0:31:27.930 for one's family. An individual who would deliberately allow his 0:31:27.930 --> 0:31:32.040 family to suffer material need isn't demonstrating genuine godliness. That's 0:31:32.040 --> 0:31:34.800 what Paul is saying there now in Luke nine. Though, 0:31:34.800 --> 0:31:38.220 the issue isn't providing for one's family. Jesus called on 0:31:38.220 --> 0:31:40.680 the man to follow him. Jesus was on his way 0:31:40.680 --> 0:31:43.770 by the way, to Jerusalem for ultimately to be put 0:31:43.770 --> 0:31:46.200 to death. But he's calling on this man to follow him. 0:31:46.200 --> 0:31:47.850 The man asked to be excused so he can go 0:31:47.850 --> 0:31:51.180 bury his father, but if his father had already died, 0:31:51.180 --> 0:31:53.700 he would already be taking care of those arrangements, since 0:31:53.700 --> 0:31:56.670 burial took place the same day you died. So as 0:31:56.670 --> 0:31:59.610 we look at that passage, what he's really saying is 0:31:59.610 --> 0:32:02.010 my dad is still around. If I can just stay 0:32:02.010 --> 0:32:04.200 with him until he dies, which may be next week, 0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:08.010 next month, next year, who knows? He doesn't give an impression. 0:32:08.010 --> 0:32:10.380 We don't know if his father was even sick, but 0:32:10.380 --> 0:32:13.620 Jesus stresses the cost of true discipleship. He said if 0:32:13.620 --> 0:32:16.290 anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take 0:32:16.290 --> 0:32:19.290 up his cross daily and follow me. So the encounter 0:32:19.290 --> 0:32:21.960 with this man happens as Jesus is heading to Jerusalem, 0:32:21.960 --> 0:32:24.300 and the man is really looking for an excuse and 0:32:24.300 --> 0:32:27.240 a rather flimsy excuse why he should be excused from 0:32:27.240 --> 0:32:28.380 following Jesus. 0:32:28.500 --> 0:32:31.020 Here's a question from Fredrik. He says in a recent 0:32:31.020 --> 0:32:36.060 Q&A on revelation seven. You refer to the 144,000 as Jews. 0:32:36.060 --> 0:32:41.220 Shouldn't it be 144,000 Israelites? Judah and Benjamin were called Jews. 0:32:41.250 --> 0:32:44.340 Revelation seven, verse four refers to all the tribes of 0:32:44.340 --> 0:32:47.760 the children of Israel, not Jews. Plus, I can't find 0:32:47.760 --> 0:32:49.830 anywhere in the King James where it's the God of 0:32:49.830 --> 0:32:52.560 the Jews or the God of the Christians, but everywhere 0:32:52.560 --> 0:32:54.750 it's the God of Israel, or the God of the 0:32:54.750 --> 0:32:57.770 children of Israel, the people of Israel, his people Israel. 0:32:57.780 --> 0:33:00.840 So if we believe in Christ Jesus as God on earth, 0:33:00.840 --> 0:33:05.250 aren't we all Israel, which means a Prince of God? Well, okay. 0:33:05.250 --> 0:33:07.350 There's two parts to that question, and I agree with 0:33:07.350 --> 0:33:09.959 the first part, but not the second. You're correct in 0:33:09.960 --> 0:33:13.469 noting the 144,000 are from all the tribes of Israel, 0:33:13.470 --> 0:33:16.620 which is what seven four actually says. I was using 0:33:16.620 --> 0:33:19.680 Jew in a less technical sense to refer to all Israelites. 0:33:19.860 --> 0:33:23.010 That's similar to what John did in John chapter five 0:33:23.010 --> 0:33:25.469 and John chapter six, where he talks about a feast 0:33:25.470 --> 0:33:27.720 of the Jews, referring to one of the feasts where 0:33:27.720 --> 0:33:30.810 all Israelites were to travel to Jerusalem. Paul does the 0:33:30.810 --> 0:33:33.630 same thing elsewhere. He says he was giving the gospel 0:33:33.630 --> 0:33:36.960 to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So yeah, 0:33:36.960 --> 0:33:39.750 I was using it wrong. And they are 144,000 from 0:33:39.750 --> 0:33:42.810 the 12 tribes of Israel. But I do disagree with 0:33:42.810 --> 0:33:45.000 your second part of the statement which says all believers 0:33:45.000 --> 0:33:47.910 today are Israel. The key passage in this regard is 0:33:47.910 --> 0:33:51.210 Romans 11, which is the one place where Paul specifically 0:33:51.210 --> 0:33:54.870 talks about the relationship between Israel and the church. And 0:33:54.870 --> 0:33:57.840 in verses 25 to 26, he says, don't, don't be 0:33:57.840 --> 0:34:00.690 ignorant of the mystery that Israel has experienced a hardening 0:34:00.690 --> 0:34:03.360 in part until the full number of Gentiles come in, 0:34:03.360 --> 0:34:06.780 and then all Israel will be saved. So in that passage, 0:34:06.780 --> 0:34:10.200 Israel refers to the ethnic national Israel, and Paul makes 0:34:10.200 --> 0:34:13.380 that distinction between them and the church. He doesn't equate 0:34:13.380 --> 0:34:15.390 the church as being Israel. 0:34:15.600 --> 0:34:18.420 Lenny wants to know what happened to the Amalekites. What 0:34:18.420 --> 0:34:21.360 nation were they absorbed into? What nation are they today? 0:34:21.480 --> 0:34:23.310 Well, this one gets a little complex. It's kind of 0:34:23.310 --> 0:34:27.240 a fascinating question, actually. One detail is in Saul's campaign. Remember, 0:34:27.239 --> 0:34:30.690 Saul was sent against the Amalekites in first Samuel 15 0:34:30.690 --> 0:34:32.880 and they were a nomadic tribe. It says they were 0:34:32.880 --> 0:34:35.969 living south of Israel and into the Sinai region. And 0:34:35.969 --> 0:34:38.940 apparently another part of the tribe lived in what's today 0:34:38.940 --> 0:34:42.569 southern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. So two parts to 0:34:42.570 --> 0:34:46.080 this tribe had separated. And I say that because Saul 0:34:46.080 --> 0:34:48.960 takes care of the Amalekites south of Israel, and then 0:34:48.960 --> 0:34:52.200 David also has a campaign against them later. But the 0:34:52.200 --> 0:34:54.210 ones who are on the eastern side of the Jordan 0:34:54.210 --> 0:34:57.180 River and east of the Dead Sea, well, they're mentioned 0:34:57.180 --> 0:35:00.120 in the book of Judges and Judges, chapter six. They're 0:35:00.150 --> 0:35:02.790 the ones who came into Israel in the time of Gideon, 0:35:02.790 --> 0:35:06.030 and they were part of the Amalekites, the Midianites and 0:35:06.030 --> 0:35:08.549 the sons of the East, it says, who attacked Israel. 0:35:08.550 --> 0:35:11.130 So we're never told what happened to the remnant of 0:35:11.130 --> 0:35:14.310 all these Amalekites? My best guess they were probably absorbed 0:35:14.310 --> 0:35:17.399 through intermarriage into some of the other large nomadic tribes 0:35:17.400 --> 0:35:21.330 that also remain south and east of Israel. Apparently they 0:35:21.330 --> 0:35:25.350 still remember their ethnic background, because later in Esther chapter three, 0:35:25.350 --> 0:35:28.080 we were told about Haman, the son of Hamida, the 0:35:28.080 --> 0:35:31.290 aggregate Agag being the king of the Amalekites in the 0:35:31.290 --> 0:35:33.870 time of Saul, so he could trace his lineage back 0:35:33.870 --> 0:35:36.899 to Agag. But likely they were simply swallowed up into 0:35:36.900 --> 0:35:40.200 these other Bedouin groups and lost their distinction as a 0:35:40.200 --> 0:35:41.010 unique tribe. 0:35:41.219 --> 0:35:43.350 John says, when you go to Israel, can you visit 0:35:43.350 --> 0:35:45.240 the dome of the Rock? And if so, can you 0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:47.700 share what this place means to you as a Christian? 0:35:48.060 --> 0:35:49.920 Well, I've been to Israel. I've been to the dome 0:35:49.920 --> 0:35:51.480 of the Rock a number of years ago, though I 0:35:51.480 --> 0:35:54.600 decided not to go there and take groups there because 0:35:54.600 --> 0:35:56.050 you actually have to pay to go in and you 0:35:56.050 --> 0:35:58.710 were supporting the work they're doing, and right now you're 0:35:58.710 --> 0:36:01.560 not even allowed inside. I can say, though, based on 0:36:01.560 --> 0:36:04.830 my experience, that Muslims wouldn't look with favor on Christians 0:36:04.830 --> 0:36:07.450 explaining what. A site means to us because we would 0:36:07.450 --> 0:36:09.340 say it's where the Jewish temple once stood and where 0:36:09.340 --> 0:36:12.340 Jesus walked. They would say there was never a temple there. 0:36:12.489 --> 0:36:14.919 There are other, better ways to share our faith with 0:36:14.920 --> 0:36:16.480 Muslims there in the land. 0:36:16.600 --> 0:36:19.030 And that's a look at our questions from the week. 0:36:19.030 --> 0:36:21.550 And yours. Welcome. Of course, any time you want to 0:36:21.550 --> 0:36:24.400 email it to us, here's how you connect the land 0:36:24.400 --> 0:36:29.500 and the book at Moody. Edu. That's the land and 0:36:29.500 --> 0:36:33.820 the book at Moody. Edu. We've saved the best for last. 0:36:33.820 --> 0:36:50.030 It's Charlie Dyer's devotional, and it's next right here. The 0:36:50.030 --> 0:36:52.910 Bible says there is wisdom in the counsel of many. 0:36:52.940 --> 0:36:55.910 What about the notion, though, of biblical counseling? Where do 0:36:55.910 --> 0:36:59.060 you land on that? It's a conversation we'll brush up 0:36:59.060 --> 0:37:04.070 against in Charlie Dyer's devotional coming up, Biblical Counseling 101 0:37:04.070 --> 0:37:05.450 Where we go on today, Charlie. 0:37:05.930 --> 0:37:07.969 We're heading to the book of Jeremiah and one of 0:37:07.969 --> 0:37:09.130 my favorite passages. 0:37:09.140 --> 0:37:12.020 All right. We'll get to that devotional. First, though, this 0:37:12.020 --> 0:37:14.300 thought from somebody who has traveled to the Holy Land 0:37:14.300 --> 0:37:16.640 and brings back this memory for us. 0:37:20.810 --> 0:37:24.890 Hi, I'm calling from Spokane, Washington, and I just wanted 0:37:24.890 --> 0:37:28.700 to comment that I did go to Israel and took 0:37:28.700 --> 0:37:32.089 a Holy Land tour about four years ago, and it 0:37:32.090 --> 0:37:36.260 was life changing for me to put everything in perspective 0:37:36.260 --> 0:37:39.710 as far as the Bible went. It just made the 0:37:39.710 --> 0:37:43.640 Bible become more real. And as I read the Bible, 0:37:43.640 --> 0:37:47.359 I can relate. I can remember what I saw over there. 0:37:47.360 --> 0:37:51.170 It just made it more real. Actually, I'm kind of 0:37:51.170 --> 0:37:55.010 a visual person, so it really made an impact on me. 0:37:55.010 --> 0:37:59.479 And I would suggest that anyone that could by any 0:37:59.480 --> 0:38:02.180 means get over there and go through that, it would 0:38:02.180 --> 0:38:03.740 change your life forever. 0:38:03.770 --> 0:38:08.120 I went to Israel in 1983. I've taught Sunday school 0:38:08.120 --> 0:38:11.690 now for probably close to 30 years or more, but 0:38:11.690 --> 0:38:16.130 going to the Holy Land made such an impact on 0:38:16.130 --> 0:38:19.190 my life. Now, when I'm teaching or when I'm reading 0:38:19.190 --> 0:38:22.280 the Word of God, I can see the areas that 0:38:22.280 --> 0:38:25.250 I saw back that long ago and just made it 0:38:25.250 --> 0:38:26.240 more dear to my heart. 0:38:28.460 --> 0:38:31.310 I'm intrigued with your title today for the devotional segment 0:38:31.310 --> 0:38:35.330 Biblical Counseling 101. Charlie, take it away. Yeah. 0:38:35.360 --> 0:38:38.450 John. Thanks. Early in my seminary career, I took a 0:38:38.450 --> 0:38:43.150 class on biblical counseling taught by two well known Christian psychiatrists. 0:38:43.160 --> 0:38:45.770 I learned to appreciate both of them, but I did 0:38:45.770 --> 0:38:48.739 have some concerns. As the class began, I'd heard reports 0:38:48.739 --> 0:38:52.130 of other psychiatrists undermining God's Word. So I went into 0:38:52.130 --> 0:38:55.009 the class with some questions. But during the very first 0:38:55.010 --> 0:38:58.880 class session, two events happened that dispelled my anxiety. The 0:38:58.880 --> 0:39:01.400 first was a humorous but true comment made by one 0:39:01.400 --> 0:39:04.670 of the professors who said, most counselors go into counseling 0:39:04.670 --> 0:39:07.400 to try to solve their own problems. It was a 0:39:07.400 --> 0:39:12.320 reminder that counseling psychology and psychiatry are all soft sciences, 0:39:12.320 --> 0:39:16.489 populated by imperfect people who do struggle with their own issues. 0:39:16.820 --> 0:39:19.600 The second event was when we went through the course syllabus. 0:39:19.610 --> 0:39:23.690 One requirement was memorizing scripture, and the first scripture we 0:39:23.690 --> 0:39:27.380 were to memorize was Jeremiah 17, verses nine and ten, 0:39:27.380 --> 0:39:31.670 which the one professor called the foundation for all biblical counseling. 0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:35.299 So what is this foundational passage? The heart is more 0:39:35.300 --> 0:39:38.450 deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can 0:39:38.450 --> 0:39:42.050 understand it? I, the Lord, searched the heart. I test 0:39:42.050 --> 0:39:45.050 the mind even to give each man according to his ways, 0:39:45.050 --> 0:39:48.380 according to the results of his deeds. The first of 0:39:48.380 --> 0:39:51.950 these two verses speaks to the reality of human depravity. 0:39:51.950 --> 0:39:55.130 Because of humanity's fall in the Garden of Eden, sin 0:39:55.130 --> 0:39:58.219 permeates the core of our being. It's not that we're 0:39:58.219 --> 0:40:01.010 as wicked as we could be, but the reality is 0:40:01.010 --> 0:40:04.190 that sin permeates us. And one result is that we've 0:40:04.190 --> 0:40:08.839 developed ways to justify our sinful actions by deceiving and 0:40:08.840 --> 0:40:13.460 deluding even ourselves. In Hebrew, the heart represents the totality 0:40:13.460 --> 0:40:17.120 of our inner or immaterial nature. It includes our consciousness 0:40:17.120 --> 0:40:19.810 of who we are and why we do what we do. 0:40:19.820 --> 0:40:23.600 Like a master counselor, God points out the key problem 0:40:23.600 --> 0:40:27.440 our heart, our innermost consciousness of our own selves, is 0:40:27.440 --> 0:40:31.370 more deceitful than all else. God's diagnosis is that we're 0:40:31.370 --> 0:40:35.690 all deceitful tricksters at heart. But Jeremiah then asks a 0:40:35.690 --> 0:40:39.320 disturbing question who can understand it? That is, who can 0:40:39.320 --> 0:40:43.130 truly know what's happening within his or her own depraved 0:40:43.130 --> 0:40:46.610 heart and mind? And the word Jeremiah uses for know 0:40:46.610 --> 0:40:49.880 or understand. It's the same word that's used in Genesis 0:40:49.880 --> 0:40:54.770 to euphemistically describe sexual relations. And Adam knew his wife 0:40:54.770 --> 0:40:57.650 and she conceived him, bore him a son. The implication 0:40:57.650 --> 0:41:00.500 is that our hearts are so deceitful that we can 0:41:00.500 --> 0:41:05.209 fool even ourselves regarding our thoughts and motives. But even 0:41:05.210 --> 0:41:08.180 if we might not fully understand our thoughts and motives, 0:41:08.180 --> 0:41:11.960 they're not hidden from God. The very next verse says, I, 0:41:11.960 --> 0:41:15.080 the Lord searched the heart. I test the mind. We 0:41:15.080 --> 0:41:17.990 might be able to rationalize our actions and even at 0:41:17.989 --> 0:41:22.280 times fool ourselves. But God not only sees what we do, 0:41:22.310 --> 0:41:25.370 he also sees why we're doing it. And now you 0:41:25.370 --> 0:41:28.040 can see the wisdom of these professors in class. Having 0:41:28.040 --> 0:41:30.740 us begin by focusing on the Word of God and 0:41:30.739 --> 0:41:33.649 what it has to say about human nature and our 0:41:33.650 --> 0:41:37.130 own thought process. Well, so far this sounds like a 0:41:37.130 --> 0:41:41.660 rather unusual devotional because we've not visited any location in Israel. 0:41:41.660 --> 0:41:44.420 So follow me out of the classroom and into the 0:41:44.420 --> 0:41:48.319 Judean wilderness to the wadi killed between Jerusalem and Jericho. 0:41:48.320 --> 0:41:53.029 As we explore the practicality of Jeremiah's words earlier in 0:41:53.030 --> 0:41:57.020 chapter 17, Jeremiah took the words of Psalm one and 0:41:57.020 --> 0:42:00.020 turned them on their head, describing the person who's blessed 0:42:00.020 --> 0:42:04.010 and the person who's cursed in reverse order. Jeremiah started 0:42:04.010 --> 0:42:06.710 by writing, cursed is the one who trusts in man, 0:42:06.710 --> 0:42:09.440 who depends on flesh for his strength, and whose heart 0:42:09.440 --> 0:42:12.290 turns away from the Lord. Such a person, he says, 0:42:12.290 --> 0:42:15.230 will be like a bush in the wastelands who will 0:42:15.230 --> 0:42:19.250 not see prosperity when it comes. He uses the word tov, 0:42:19.250 --> 0:42:23.030 or good for prosperity, picturing the good reign God promised 0:42:23.030 --> 0:42:26.000 to send from the sky. Those who choose to trust 0:42:26.000 --> 0:42:30.530 in what they can see, touch, grasp rather than the Lord. 0:42:30.680 --> 0:42:34.549 They're truly self deluded. They don't realize they're now outside 0:42:34.550 --> 0:42:37.339 the place where God can bless the good rain. An 0:42:37.340 --> 0:42:40.250 image of blessing falls in the hill country, not out 0:42:40.250 --> 0:42:43.460 here in the wilderness. In contrast, the one who is 0:42:43.460 --> 0:42:46.130 truly blessed is the one who trust in the Lord 0:42:46.130 --> 0:42:49.279 and whose trust is the Lord. The word for trust 0:42:49.280 --> 0:42:52.669 expresses the idea of well-being and security that comes from 0:42:52.670 --> 0:42:56.690 having something in which we're able to place our confidence. 0:42:56.690 --> 0:42:59.540 It's looking out the window of your house at a blizzard, 0:42:59.540 --> 0:43:02.510 while seated on your couch in front of a roaring fire, 0:43:02.510 --> 0:43:05.870 holding a cup of hot chocolate. You know you're safe 0:43:05.870 --> 0:43:09.140 in spite of what's happening outside. That's the kind of 0:43:09.140 --> 0:43:15.230 confident trust Jeremiah says characterizes the person who's blessed. Jeremiah 0:43:15.230 --> 0:43:18.230 compares such individuals to a tree planted by one of 0:43:18.230 --> 0:43:21.050 the flowing streams that can be found out here in 0:43:21.050 --> 0:43:24.049 the wilderness. Because such a tree has roots that extend 0:43:24.050 --> 0:43:26.730 to the water, it will not fear we. When the 0:43:26.730 --> 0:43:29.279 heat comes. Nor will it be anxious in a year 0:43:29.280 --> 0:43:32.910 of drought, nor cease to yield fruit. While the external 0:43:32.910 --> 0:43:38.010 situation might change, the source of nourishment and sustenance never does. 0:43:38.010 --> 0:43:41.969 And it's that dependable supply that removes fear and anxiety. 0:43:42.330 --> 0:43:44.609 So what do these two plants in the wilderness have 0:43:44.610 --> 0:43:48.330 to do with Jeremiah's description of the human heart? The 0:43:48.330 --> 0:43:51.600 two thoughts are placed side by side in Jeremiah 17. 0:43:51.600 --> 0:43:55.680 But why? What's the connection? The two types of plants 0:43:55.680 --> 0:43:58.920 represent two types of people. One group tries to handle 0:43:58.920 --> 0:44:02.069 life's problems by trusting in their own wisdom or in 0:44:02.070 --> 0:44:05.969 promises made by others. The other group faces life's problems 0:44:05.969 --> 0:44:09.330 by reaching out to the Lord for his wisdom and strength, 0:44:09.330 --> 0:44:13.110 and trusting in his promises of help and protection. In 0:44:13.110 --> 0:44:16.980 both instances, the two plants face difficulties represented by a 0:44:16.980 --> 0:44:20.009 time of drought in the wilderness. But there's one key 0:44:20.010 --> 0:44:24.480 difference the cursed plant never experiences the refreshing rain, the 0:44:24.480 --> 0:44:28.830 tov or good because it's located outside the place of blessing. 0:44:28.860 --> 0:44:32.340 In contrast, the blessed plant is always connected to a 0:44:32.340 --> 0:44:35.489 stream of living or running water, the source of blessing. 0:44:35.700 --> 0:44:38.970 It will experience times of trouble, the heat and the drought. 0:44:38.969 --> 0:44:42.480 Experiences of life will come, but the nourishment it receives 0:44:42.480 --> 0:44:46.410 from the living water sustains it in those times of difficulty. 0:44:46.620 --> 0:44:50.040 And that's when Jeremiah applies this reality to the truth 0:44:50.040 --> 0:44:53.160 of verses nine and ten. The human heart is deceitful 0:44:53.160 --> 0:44:55.380 and sick, and it will try to trick us into 0:44:55.380 --> 0:44:58.440 believing we can handle whatever comes our way. I'll just 0:44:58.440 --> 0:45:00.989 look within myself to find the strength I need, or 0:45:00.989 --> 0:45:04.350 if necessary, I'll turn to others for help. Such an 0:45:04.350 --> 0:45:08.280 individual struggles through life, never understanding why he or she 0:45:08.280 --> 0:45:10.920 can't seem to stay ahead, to reach the place of 0:45:10.920 --> 0:45:15.480 comfort and peace and rest that's always so elusive. Meanwhile, 0:45:15.480 --> 0:45:19.890 the blessed individual finds peace and satisfaction by turning his 0:45:19.890 --> 0:45:22.920 or her problems over to the Lord and allowing him 0:45:22.920 --> 0:45:25.950 to handle them. They don't fully understand all that's happening 0:45:25.950 --> 0:45:29.160 around them, but they've discovered God is present and that 0:45:29.160 --> 0:45:32.540 he can be trusted. And when the difficult times do come, 0:45:32.550 --> 0:45:35.730 those times of struggle that are common to everyone, the 0:45:35.730 --> 0:45:39.270 blessed individual is the one who has already extended his 0:45:39.270 --> 0:45:42.750 or her roots to the ever present, ever flowing source 0:45:42.750 --> 0:45:46.560 of nourishment and comfort. So what kind of plant are you? 0:45:46.590 --> 0:45:50.710 Take some time today to read Jeremiah 17, verses 5 0:45:50.710 --> 0:45:54.120 to 10. Focus on the two kinds of individuals and 0:45:54.120 --> 0:45:57.930 then focus on God's insight into human nature. You might 0:45:57.930 --> 0:46:00.629 not be able to even trust your own heart, but 0:46:00.630 --> 0:46:03.570 you can trust the God who understands the human heart 0:46:03.570 --> 0:46:05.670 and who can give you the strength and wisdom to 0:46:05.670 --> 0:46:09.930 thrive in spite of all life's heat waves and droughts. 0:46:10.230 --> 0:46:14.250 Thank you Charlie, always insightful. Appreciate that devotional. You can 0:46:14.250 --> 0:46:16.830 hear it again at our website, the land and the book. 0:46:17.100 --> 0:46:20.100 Org I think that's cool. The podcast they're waiting for 0:46:20.100 --> 0:46:22.980 you to share with a friend or just enjoy yourself. 0:46:22.980 --> 0:46:25.739 And again, you'll find it at the website, the land 0:46:25.739 --> 0:46:28.830 and the book. Org. I'd love to hear from you 0:46:28.830 --> 0:46:31.500 and know how this program is connecting with you. Our 0:46:31.500 --> 0:46:37.530 email address is the land and the book@moody.edu. Time goes 0:46:37.530 --> 0:46:40.410 by too quickly, but Lord willing, we'll get together again 0:46:40.410 --> 0:46:43.230 next week at the same time. And we'll encourage you 0:46:43.230 --> 0:46:45.690 to be praying for Israel as we wait for them. 0:46:45.719 --> 0:46:48.710 I'm John Geiger on behalf of our host, Dr. Charlie Dyer, 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:51.270 our producer, Dan Anderson. The land in the book is 0:46:51.270 --> 0:46:54.870 a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.