WEBVTT - Who Owns the Land? 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:11.930 Who owns the land where Israel is today? Are the 0:00:11.930 --> 0:00:16.310 Israelis occupiers and oppressors, or does the media have it wrong? 0:00:16.340 --> 0:00:19.190 We're about to dig into this hot topic on today's 0:00:19.190 --> 0:00:22.489 edition of The Land and the book, along with, of course, 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:24.830 a review of all the incredible action in the Middle 0:00:24.829 --> 0:00:28.250 East this past week. Plus, Charlie Dyer's devotional reminds us 0:00:28.250 --> 0:00:31.280 that the October 7th attack on Israel has an eerie 0:00:31.310 --> 0:00:35.330 parallel in ancient scripture. Welcome to the land and the book, 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:37.879 a one hour flyover of the Middle East. Our host, 0:00:37.909 --> 0:00:41.270 Old Testament scholar and author Doctor Charlie Dyer. And I'm 0:00:41.270 --> 0:00:44.720 John Gager. Boy, Israel has been in the news just 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.169 entirely throughout the week and in fact, throughout the past year. 0:00:48.170 --> 0:00:50.600 And as we know, Charlie, the Bible is jam packed 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.860 with end times prophecies about epic world events, the regathering 0:00:54.890 --> 0:00:57.440 of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, and of course, 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.920 Jesus return. Seems to me it's crucial for us as believers, though, 0:01:00.950 --> 0:01:04.310 to have a proper understanding of Bible prophecy. So our 0:01:04.310 --> 0:01:06.830 view of the future is shaped by Scripture, not just 0:01:06.830 --> 0:01:08.000 today's headlines. Right? 0:01:08.030 --> 0:01:10.399 It is John. And with that in mind, our friends 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.130 at Life and Messiah have published a book titled God, 0:01:13.130 --> 0:01:16.280 Israel and Bible Prophecy, and they're offering it to listeners 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.589 of the land in the book for a limited time. 0:01:18.590 --> 0:01:21.980 This informative book is focused on providing readers with a 0:01:21.980 --> 0:01:25.880 deeper understanding and greater appreciation for what God has in 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.119 store for Israel and the nations by digging into what 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.150 the scriptures say about these issues. Now, if you're interested 0:01:32.150 --> 0:01:35.330 in learning more about what God has in store, visit 0:01:35.330 --> 0:01:38.780 Life in Messiah. Org and click on the Moody Radio 0:01:38.780 --> 0:01:41.600 button there to find out how you can receive your 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:47.660 copy of God, Israel and Bible Prophecy. That's life in messiah.org. 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:49.880 Well, Charlie, in the middle of all the tension and 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.940 turmoil of the week, there's something to celebrate an anniversary 0:01:52.970 --> 0:01:54.830 here at the land of the book. We've reached our 0:01:54.830 --> 0:01:57.290 14th year of broadcasting. 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.080 Isn't that amazing, John? Time has flown. Yeah. 0:02:00.110 --> 0:02:02.600 And God has been good. And we thank you for listening. 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:04.910 We thank you to the management of this station for 0:02:04.910 --> 0:02:07.460 providing air time for the land and the book. If 0:02:07.460 --> 0:02:09.709 it's been a while since you've said thank you to them, 0:02:09.710 --> 0:02:13.280 please do so today in honor of our 14th birthday, well, 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.310 let's swing our focus toward current events, Charlie. On Tuesday 0:02:16.310 --> 0:02:21.770 of this week, Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel. 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:24.530 The question is, what impact did the attack have on 0:02:24.530 --> 0:02:28.400 the country? And perhaps more importantly, what happens next? 0:02:28.430 --> 0:02:31.459 Yeah, and some missiles did land in Israel, but thankfully 0:02:31.460 --> 0:02:34.910 there were no casualties. Though a Palestinian near Jericho was 0:02:34.910 --> 0:02:38.150 killed by falling shrapnel. The main injuries to Israelis were 0:02:38.150 --> 0:02:40.940 people who fell while running to bomb shelters, and then 0:02:40.940 --> 0:02:43.880 two people in Tel Aviv who were slightly hurt by shrapnel. 0:02:43.910 --> 0:02:46.400 Now it takes just 12 minutes for a missile to 0:02:46.430 --> 0:02:49.190 travel from Iran to Israel. That's not a lot of time, 0:02:49.190 --> 0:02:52.669 but it's enough for people to reach a place of shelter. And. 0:02:52.700 --> 0:02:55.760 Israel's new high tech missile alert system was used for 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.830 the very first time. it's sophisticated enough to send a 0:02:58.830 --> 0:03:01.830 specific message to an individual cell phone in an area 0:03:01.830 --> 0:03:04.830 that's being targeted by one of these missiles. Now, some 0:03:04.830 --> 0:03:08.100 missiles landed at Israeli air bases, hitting office buildings and 0:03:08.100 --> 0:03:12.780 maintenance areas, but no aircraft or major infrastructure was damaged. 0:03:12.780 --> 0:03:16.230 Following the attack, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Iran made a 0:03:16.230 --> 0:03:19.320 big mistake by launching it and will pay the price. 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.340 And U.S. officials also said there would be severe consequences 0:03:23.340 --> 0:03:25.920 for Iran's attack and that the U.S. would work with 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.740 Israel to make that happen. The question now is what 0:03:28.740 --> 0:03:31.740 exactly will that response look like, and how long might 0:03:31.770 --> 0:03:33.419 it take before it's launched? 0:03:33.450 --> 0:03:36.300 Charlie, what is the likelihood, do you think of Israel 0:03:36.300 --> 0:03:39.060 using this moment as a chance to finally go into 0:03:39.090 --> 0:03:41.610 Iran and attack their nuclear facilities? 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.520 I think that is a possibility. And that's what's being 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:46.200 discussed with the U.S. right now. 0:03:46.230 --> 0:03:49.470 What is a likely scenario in your in your estimation? 0:03:49.500 --> 0:03:51.090 I think they have to hit Iran. I think they're 0:03:51.090 --> 0:03:53.340 going to go after some of the infrastructure there and 0:03:53.340 --> 0:03:57.540 try and degrade the Iranian economy and certainly some of 0:03:57.540 --> 0:04:01.770 their military aspects. But what that will be that's, I think, 0:04:01.770 --> 0:04:03.990 a matter of discussion, and I have a feeling that 0:04:04.020 --> 0:04:05.970 Israel will want to do more than the U.S. will 0:04:05.970 --> 0:04:07.050 allow them to do. 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.410 You started last week's lead story on the conflict between 0:04:10.410 --> 0:04:13.710 Israel and Hezbollah by saying it's hard to stay current 0:04:13.710 --> 0:04:16.620 on everything taking place, and that has certainly remained true 0:04:16.620 --> 0:04:18.960 over this past week as well. So what has been 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.200 happening there and what can we expect in the coming days? 0:04:22.230 --> 0:04:25.350 Well, you know, to say that the attack against Hezbollah's leader, Nasrallah, 0:04:25.350 --> 0:04:29.159 sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East is an understatement. That's 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.560 one of the reasons that Iran just launched the attack. 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.740 It did. But from the exploding pagers to the exploding 0:04:34.740 --> 0:04:38.339 walkie talkies to the elimination of an entire senior level 0:04:38.339 --> 0:04:41.820 of Hezbollah's leaders at one time to the destruction of 0:04:41.820 --> 0:04:46.169 Hezbollah's main underground headquarters, where Nasrallah was present, show a 0:04:46.170 --> 0:04:51.299 level of intelligence gathering sophistication and dedicated, detailed planning that 0:04:51.300 --> 0:04:54.539 has frightened Israel's enemies. That secret bunker was thought to 0:04:54.540 --> 0:04:57.359 be bomb proof, and it was completely wiped out, along 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:00.330 with five apartment buildings under which it had been constructed. 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:04.560 No one in the headquarters survived. Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini was 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:08.039 rushed to an undisclosed location in Tehran following the news 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:12.060 of the strike, apparently fearing a similar strike against him. Now, 0:05:12.060 --> 0:05:13.830 in spite of many in the West calling for a 0:05:13.830 --> 0:05:17.790 cease fire, Israel has continued to press its offensive. Several 0:05:17.790 --> 0:05:22.409 additional regional commanders were eliminated, along with numerous storage facilities 0:05:22.410 --> 0:05:25.950 holding missiles and launchers. Hezbollah has tried to respond, but 0:05:25.950 --> 0:05:29.520 so far the response has been limited and uncoordinated because 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.490 of the damage done to their system of command and control, 0:05:32.490 --> 0:05:34.950 and because of the number of rockets and launchers that 0:05:34.950 --> 0:05:38.520 have already been eliminated. The war against Hezbollah has entered 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.970 a new phase, as Israel launched a ground offensive in Lebanon, 0:05:41.970 --> 0:05:46.050 with the apparent goal of clearing Hezbollah's forces and infrastructure 0:05:46.050 --> 0:05:49.409 from along their northern border. The one thing Israel doesn't 0:05:49.410 --> 0:05:51.450 want to do right now, though, is get involved in 0:05:51.450 --> 0:05:55.380 a protracted ground war in Lebanon. That happened twice before, 0:05:55.380 --> 0:05:57.210 and that's not a good thing for Israel. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.930 Charlie also noted some activity in the war against Hamas. 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.020 Israelis have been going in there with with a big passion. 0:06:04.050 --> 0:06:07.050 Yeah, the war with Hamas continues, even though it's been 0:06:07.050 --> 0:06:10.020 shuffled to the back of the page with everything else happening. 0:06:10.020 --> 0:06:12.390 But the two key goals remain the return of the 0:06:12.390 --> 0:06:17.070 hostages and the elimination of Hamas leadership, especially Sinwar. It's 0:06:17.070 --> 0:06:20.790 clear Israel is trying to decapitate Hamas like they have Hezbollah, 0:06:20.790 --> 0:06:23.910 and to disrupt their system of command and control. Now, 0:06:23.910 --> 0:06:26.729 in response to a ballistic missile fired from Yemen by 0:06:26.730 --> 0:06:30.180 the Houthis, Israel launched a second major attack against them. 0:06:30.210 --> 0:06:33.120 This time, they attacked another port where the Iran backed 0:06:33.150 --> 0:06:36.720 group was receiving arms and oil. The message to Yemen, 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.630 which was also intended for Iran, by the way, is 0:06:39.630 --> 0:06:42.690 that Israel has the ability to conduct major strikes at 0:06:42.690 --> 0:06:46.529 any distance near or far against those threatening them. And 0:06:46.529 --> 0:06:48.659 as long as we're looking at the area. Fighting has 0:06:48.660 --> 0:06:51.540 also continued in the West Bank. Last Sunday night, a 0:06:51.570 --> 0:06:55.800 firefight in Nablus injured four Israeli soldiers while killing one 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.890 terrorist and wounding another. And then on Tuesday, two terrorists 0:06:58.890 --> 0:07:02.160 from Hebron attacked civilians in Jaffa with a rifle and 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:05.580 a knife, killing seven before they themselves were killed by 0:07:05.610 --> 0:07:08.880 a security guard and by armed civilians. Iran is still 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.180 the puppet master that's encouraged all these groups to attack. 0:07:12.390 --> 0:07:15.840 They've been shamed by Israel, which has demonstrated its ability 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.600 to attack their allies at will. And Iran is hoping 0:07:18.630 --> 0:07:21.120 to use their missiles, as well as those supplied to 0:07:21.150 --> 0:07:24.390 their allies, to force Israel to back down. But if 0:07:24.390 --> 0:07:27.330 that's the message they're trying to send, Israel doesn't appear 0:07:27.330 --> 0:07:28.230 to be listening. 0:07:28.260 --> 0:07:30.750 You're listening to The Land and the book from Moody 0:07:30.750 --> 0:07:34.260 Radio with our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer, noted Old Testament scholar, 0:07:34.260 --> 0:07:37.620 Middle East Authority. We're looking at the news that's based 0:07:37.620 --> 0:07:39.990 in the Middle East this week. Well, this week also 0:07:39.990 --> 0:07:44.010 marked the start of the year, 5785 on the Hebrew calendar. 0:07:44.010 --> 0:07:47.370 And as they do every year, Israel's Central Bureau of 0:07:47.370 --> 0:07:51.330 Statistics released figures on the country's current Population. What can 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:53.490 we learn from those latest numbers, Charlie? 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.739 Well, you know, I always find these fascinating. At the 0:07:55.740 --> 0:07:58.740 start of the new year, the population of Israel stood 0:07:58.740 --> 0:08:04.800 at 9,999,000. The population is expected to top 10 million 0:08:04.830 --> 0:08:07.860 within a matter of weeks. Now, of that total, almost 0:08:07.860 --> 0:08:12.450 7.7 million are Jews and 2.1 million are Arabs. The 0:08:12.450 --> 0:08:17.250 overall population increased by over 118,000 during the year. Of 0:08:17.250 --> 0:08:20.430 those who made Aliya or who emigrated into Israel, the 0:08:20.430 --> 0:08:24.870 largest number came from Russia, the United States, Canada and France, 0:08:24.870 --> 0:08:27.420 and a third of the new immigrants were young people 0:08:27.450 --> 0:08:31.800 between the ages of 18 and 35. Worldwide, the total 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:36.810 Jewish population is estimated to now stand at 15.8 million, 0:08:36.809 --> 0:08:39.810 so almost half of the world's Jews are in Israel. 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.809 The bottom line is that Israel has continued to experience 0:08:42.809 --> 0:08:47.370 population growth in spite of political unrest and war, and 0:08:47.370 --> 0:08:49.679 that has to be an encouragement to them. 0:08:49.710 --> 0:08:53.579 Well, the global demand for chocolate has been increasing by 5% 0:08:53.580 --> 0:08:58.710 every year. But unsustainable growing practices are threatening the long 0:08:58.740 --> 0:09:02.250 term survival of this sweet treat. Thankfully, those scientists and 0:09:02.250 --> 0:09:05.730 amazing Israel are coming to the rescue. What are Israel's 0:09:05.730 --> 0:09:10.290 technological chocolatiers doing to preserve the world's supply of chocolate? 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.420 Well, you know, listeners might not even be aware of 0:09:12.420 --> 0:09:18.600 the fact that $133 billion chocolate industry is facing a crisis. 70% 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.150 of the world's cocoa beans are grown in West Africa. 0:09:21.179 --> 0:09:24.300 Land there has been deforested to plant new cocoa trees, 0:09:24.300 --> 0:09:28.319 causing serious environmental damage. And yet, because of disease and 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:32.189 climate change, the production of cocoa beans there continues to fall. 0:09:32.190 --> 0:09:34.890 And that's where the scientists in Israel might just be 0:09:34.890 --> 0:09:37.229 coming to the rescue in the nick of time. A 0:09:37.230 --> 0:09:41.670 company called Celeste Bio has developed a process to cultivate 0:09:41.670 --> 0:09:46.439 cocoa in the laboratory that's indistinguishable from farmed cocoa. The 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.320 lab cocoa is grown from just a couple beans and 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.740 can be repeatedly produced. There are other companies working on 0:09:52.740 --> 0:09:56.130 similar processes, but Celeste Bio is the first to produce 0:09:56.130 --> 0:10:00.120 chocolate grade cocoa butter in just seven days. They can 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.360 take cells from 1 or 2 cocoa beans and mature 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.030 them so that the butter can be harvested, and at 0:10:06.030 --> 0:10:10.319 no stage does the process involve genetic modification. The bioreactor 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:12.930 becomes the forest, if you will, for growing the beans. 0:10:12.929 --> 0:10:17.790 The process also eliminates any vulnerability to pests and disease. 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:21.420 Celeste Bio is currently focusing on expanding this operation, and 0:10:21.420 --> 0:10:24.449 when that happens, I'm sure all of us chocoholics will 0:10:24.450 --> 0:10:27.960 rejoice at the innovation coming from amazing Israel. Well, that's. 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.690 A bit of a sweet ending to a rather disturbing 0:10:30.690 --> 0:10:33.690 look at current events. Thank you though for all those insights, Charlie. 0:10:33.690 --> 0:10:36.480 Appreciate you staying on top of that, and we're looking 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.370 forward to a conversation with you on the other side 0:10:38.370 --> 0:10:41.490 of this break, looking at who owns the land. We'll 0:10:41.490 --> 0:10:44.190 dig deep into that. Questions. You need to hear. Answers 0:10:44.190 --> 0:10:46.949 you must hang on to next on the land and 0:10:46.950 --> 0:11:03.330 the book. Here we are at the doorstep of the 0:11:03.330 --> 0:11:07.349 one year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. What 0:11:07.350 --> 0:11:10.890 are the most important takeaways from this conflict? More importantly, 0:11:10.890 --> 0:11:13.050 is there any light at the end of this very 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:17.460 dark tunnel? And since we're asking questions, who owns the land, 0:11:17.490 --> 0:11:21.390 the land where Israel sits today? Some believers offer unwavering 0:11:21.390 --> 0:11:25.410 but sometimes uninformed support for Israel. Other Christians say the 0:11:25.410 --> 0:11:29.400 Palestinians are being treated unfairly. Just what is the history 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:33.030 of this conflict? We'll dig into all of that next. Hey, 0:11:33.030 --> 0:11:36.030 welcome to segment two of The Land and the book. 0:11:36.059 --> 0:11:39.059 Before we crank up the heat on today's conversation, let's 0:11:39.090 --> 0:11:43.230 enjoy an encouraging idea about sharing Christ with a Jewish friend. 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:46.980 As a believer in Jesus, do you celebrate Rosh Hashanah? 0:11:47.010 --> 0:11:49.890 Why not? If your answer is no? Well, let's ask 0:11:49.890 --> 0:11:52.560 Roy Schwarz of Chosen People Ministries. Roy. 0:11:52.590 --> 0:11:55.199 Well, it's a biblical time, Rosh Hashanah. So it's a 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.559 time where it's one of God's appointed times for us 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.920 as believers. It points to the rapture of the church, 0:12:02.010 --> 0:12:04.500 where the trump of God shall blow and the dead 0:12:04.500 --> 0:12:08.699 in Messiah will rise. Leviticus 23 talks about you shall 0:12:08.700 --> 0:12:13.439 have a rest, a memorial by blowing of trumpets. And 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:17.220 what greater reminder of the fact that what we as 0:12:17.220 --> 0:12:20.160 Christians are waiting for is a rest that remains a 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.440 Sabbath rest for the people of God, and that ultimate 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:24.930 rest will be the rapture of the church, when the 0:12:24.929 --> 0:12:26.880 trump of God shall blow and the dead in Messiah 0:12:26.910 --> 0:12:30.449 shall rise, and we shall be alive with the Lord evermore. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.459 So Rosh Hashanah is a great time. Well, give me a. 0:12:32.460 --> 0:12:34.949 Quick pointer here. How do I turn the corner from 0:12:34.950 --> 0:12:37.980 what a typical Jewish response or definition of Rosh Hashanah 0:12:37.980 --> 0:12:41.100 would be to what we understand biblically of the future. 0:12:41.130 --> 0:12:44.490 Well, it's something new for Jewish people. It's a new year. 0:12:44.490 --> 0:12:48.000 It's a time of preparation, time to prepare our hearts 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:52.140 for Yom Kippur. It's a time of self-examination and to 0:12:52.170 --> 0:12:54.600 be ready for atonement. 0:12:54.630 --> 0:12:59.849 Roy Schwarz with Chosen People Ministries. Thank you. Without question. 0:12:59.850 --> 0:13:02.970 Doctor Charlie Dyer is a real Middle East expert, not 0:13:02.970 --> 0:13:06.060 a political pundit. He's been to the Holy Land more 0:13:06.059 --> 0:13:10.020 than 100 times. Naturally, he's also made repeated trips to 0:13:10.050 --> 0:13:13.170 Jordan and Turkey. And did I mention he was twice 0:13:13.170 --> 0:13:16.260 an invited guest to the country of Iraq? Few people 0:13:16.260 --> 0:13:19.679 alive today understand the complexity of the Middle East, like 0:13:19.710 --> 0:13:22.320 our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer. You know and love him 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:24.450 as the host of our weekly broadcast, The Land and 0:13:24.450 --> 0:13:27.270 the book. And he's written extensively about the Middle East. 0:13:27.270 --> 0:13:30.990 In fact, Charlie literally helped write the book on this 0:13:31.020 --> 0:13:34.590 issue at stake. Today, he has updated Stanley Ellison's Moody 0:13:34.620 --> 0:13:38.610 Publishers release, Who Owns the Land? Well, thanks for sitting 0:13:38.610 --> 0:13:41.430 down with us today. We need your perspectives, Charlie. Hey. 0:13:41.429 --> 0:13:44.280 Thanks, John. Anytime with you. Is time well spent? 0:13:44.309 --> 0:13:46.740 Well, let's start with a one year look back at 0:13:46.740 --> 0:13:50.130 the war. What are the most important insights or lessons 0:13:50.130 --> 0:13:52.230 we should take away from this war? 0:13:52.290 --> 0:13:55.410 For us, I think it's two things. One, it's a 0:13:55.410 --> 0:13:59.280 reminder why Hamas refuses to allow Israel to exist as 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.680 a nation. This, at the very heart of it, is 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:05.250 a religious conflict, not a political, not a social conflict. 0:14:05.250 --> 0:14:08.760 It's a conflict between two views of life and two 0:14:08.790 --> 0:14:12.450 gods that are diametrically opposed to one another. And that's 0:14:12.450 --> 0:14:14.820 why it's so hard to solve. And and frankly, that 0:14:14.850 --> 0:14:16.590 leads to the second point, which is the reason the 0:14:16.590 --> 0:14:18.750 West has had such a difficult time trying to get 0:14:18.750 --> 0:14:20.910 a handle on this is we view things from a 0:14:20.910 --> 0:14:24.150 secular perspective. And when you view the Middle East, especially 0:14:24.150 --> 0:14:27.210 this conflict, you've got to view it with religious eyes. 0:14:27.210 --> 0:14:29.520 Is there any light at the end of this very 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:31.739 dark tunnel? People want to know, you know. 0:14:32.250 --> 0:14:35.250 Long range view. Yes. Because we know Jesus is coming 0:14:35.250 --> 0:14:39.900 back and he's going to solve the problems short term. No. 0:14:39.900 --> 0:14:42.310 And that's part of the problem that gets us so discouraged. 0:14:42.310 --> 0:14:45.340 We want the problem. That's like a television program to 0:14:45.370 --> 0:14:48.550 be resolved within 60 minutes, you know? Short term solution 0:14:48.550 --> 0:14:52.450 that solves it. And everybody lives happily ever after. And unfortunately, 0:14:52.450 --> 0:14:55.360 there is no short term solution to this. There are 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.600 winners and there are losers, but there's no way for compromise, 0:14:58.630 --> 0:15:00.250 at least in the short term. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.430 Well, let's pivot toward a discussion that is very much 0:15:03.460 --> 0:15:06.040 at the heart of the coverage of this war. Who 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.670 owns the land? Take us to a simple explanation of 0:15:09.670 --> 0:15:13.000 God's agreement with Israel to give them the land forever. 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:13.900 And that's key. 0:15:13.930 --> 0:15:15.700 Yeah. It is. And I think we've got to start 0:15:15.700 --> 0:15:17.950 with one key point. The real owner of the land 0:15:17.980 --> 0:15:22.270 isn't Israel or the Palestinians, it's God. In Psalm 24, 0:15:22.300 --> 0:15:24.460 the psalmist wrote, the earth is the Lord's and everything 0:15:24.460 --> 0:15:26.710 in it. God is the one who owns it all. 0:15:26.740 --> 0:15:30.520 And in Leviticus 25, when God was speaking to Israel 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.580 regarding the year of Jubilee, he says the land must 0:15:33.580 --> 0:15:36.370 not be sold permanently because the land is mine and 0:15:36.370 --> 0:15:39.250 you're but aliens and my tenants. So God makes it 0:15:39.250 --> 0:15:42.130 very clear he's the ultimate owner of the land. Now 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.620 in terms of what God did with that land in 0:15:44.620 --> 0:15:47.470 Genesis 12. God spoke to Abraham and he said to 0:15:47.500 --> 0:15:50.800 your offspring, I will give this land. Uh, the next 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:52.750 chapter he says the same thing again. He says, walk 0:15:52.750 --> 0:15:55.840 through the land. I'm giving it to you. Two chapters later, 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.020 Genesis 15, God cuts a covenant. He signs on the 0:15:59.020 --> 0:16:01.660 bottom line, if you will, of an agreement. And he says, 0:16:01.660 --> 0:16:03.550 there on that day the Lord made a covenant with 0:16:03.580 --> 0:16:06.280 Abraham and says to your descendants, I give this land. 0:16:06.310 --> 0:16:09.580 Now Abraham had Ishmael, and then later he has Isaac. 0:16:09.580 --> 0:16:13.300 So which one gets the land? Well, in Genesis 17, 0:16:13.330 --> 0:16:16.300 God says, I'm going to bless Ishmael. I'll make him fruitful. 0:16:16.300 --> 0:16:19.630 I'll greatly increase his numbers. But my covenant I'll establish 0:16:19.630 --> 0:16:23.920 with Isaac. Later in Genesis 28, God says to Jacob, 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:25.600 I'm with you, and I'm going to give you and 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.810 your descendants the land. So the land promise from God 0:16:28.810 --> 0:16:31.450 was to Abraham and his descendants. But then it's limited 0:16:31.450 --> 0:16:34.510 by God to Isaac, to Jacob, who of course became 0:16:34.510 --> 0:16:36.790 Israel and the 12 tribes of Israel. 0:16:36.790 --> 0:16:39.640 And the year this would have taken place is approximately 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:40.900 what on the timeline. Charlie? 0:16:40.930 --> 0:16:45.040 Well, about 2000 BC is when Abraham was living. So 0:16:45.070 --> 0:16:48.520 it's 2000 years before the time of Jesus. What's amazing 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:52.090 is how many times that's reaffirmed 600 years later. God 0:16:52.090 --> 0:16:55.120 reaffirms it to Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. And 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.540 then 700 years later, God reaffirms it by Micah the prophet. 0:16:58.570 --> 0:17:00.970 In fact, the last verses in the book of Micah. 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:03.760 God promised it to Abraham and pledged it on oath. 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.160 And then in the time of Paul in the New Testament, 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:09.580 Romans 11 says, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 0:17:09.580 --> 0:17:13.060 because God's gift and his call are irrevocable. In essence, 0:17:13.060 --> 0:17:15.460 Paul saying, God made a promise and he doesn't go 0:17:15.460 --> 0:17:19.000 back on his word. So this 2000 year development of 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:22.420 a promise and it constantly says exactly the same thing. 0:17:22.420 --> 0:17:25.810 That's Doctor Charlie Dyer, who's updated the Moody publisher's book 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.900 Who Owns the Land? You say that Jewish people have 0:17:28.900 --> 0:17:32.980 continuously lived in Israel in lesser or greater numbers ever 0:17:32.980 --> 0:17:36.220 since then. Why is that such an important point? Well, that's. 0:17:36.220 --> 0:17:38.890 Crucial because if people listen to the arguments being made. Now, 0:17:38.890 --> 0:17:41.560 one of the arguments is that Israel and the Jews 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:46.330 are Western colonizers. They stole the land from the indigenous Palestinians. 0:17:46.330 --> 0:17:49.359 So they equate modern Israel with what the British did 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.970 in like India or South Africa, or like what the 0:17:51.970 --> 0:17:54.940 French did in North Africa. But the Jews are not 0:17:54.970 --> 0:17:58.990 European colonizers. They were the indigenous people who were ethnically 0:17:58.990 --> 0:18:02.409 cleansed from the land by the Assyrians, by the Babylonians, 0:18:02.410 --> 0:18:05.290 later by the Romans. But even then a remnant always 0:18:05.290 --> 0:18:07.930 remained in the land. And so while they were scattered, 0:18:07.930 --> 0:18:10.930 the focus was always on returning to their homeland. In fact, 0:18:10.930 --> 0:18:13.780 they would say next year in Jerusalem, as part of 0:18:13.780 --> 0:18:16.600 their ritual for Passover and the Day of Atonement. So 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.959 they're not foreign occupiers. They're returning to the land of 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.750 their ancestors, a land promised to them by God, and 0:18:22.750 --> 0:18:25.630 a land where a remnant has lived for all those years. 0:18:25.630 --> 0:18:29.110 One of the more confusing things for lesser informed minds 0:18:29.140 --> 0:18:31.780 is the idea that Israel was for so many years 0:18:31.780 --> 0:18:37.600 called Palestine. So didn't the Israelis displace Palestinians, and if so, 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.990 Palestinian people are without a country. Or it appears if 0:18:41.020 --> 0:18:43.510 you read the media, Charlie, untangle this for us. 0:18:43.540 --> 0:18:45.850 Oh, man. Yeah, it's one of those that just goes 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:47.859 on and on and you wonder, how do we get 0:18:47.859 --> 0:18:49.720 it together? So here's what we need to know. The 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:54.010 word Palestine was not an ethnic description. In fact, it 0:18:54.010 --> 0:18:56.740 was a geographical term given to the land by the 0:18:56.740 --> 0:19:00.130 Romans back in the second century. So the people who 0:19:00.130 --> 0:19:03.130 lived in the land were called Palestinians in the same way. 0:19:03.130 --> 0:19:07.510 I guess if someone lives in Virginia, they're called Virginians. Genetically, 0:19:07.510 --> 0:19:10.540 the Palestinians, as we think of them today, are a 0:19:10.540 --> 0:19:13.929 mixture of every group who came through that land through history. 0:19:14.020 --> 0:19:17.080 The Romans were there, and the Arabs, the Jewish remnant 0:19:17.109 --> 0:19:20.470 who were there. In fact, the Jewish newspaper today called 0:19:20.470 --> 0:19:25.330 the Jerusalem Post up until the 1900s was the Palestine 0:19:25.330 --> 0:19:28.359 Post because it was in the land of Palestine. But 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.840 the Palestinian people are really a mixture ethnically, of all 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.110 the groups who came through during that time. But that's 0:19:35.109 --> 0:19:38.740 why we have to understand Palestine and Palestinian referred not 0:19:38.740 --> 0:19:41.170 to the people, but to a land area. Up until 0:19:41.170 --> 0:19:42.040 very recently. 0:19:42.070 --> 0:19:46.030 Okay, let's go back to 636 and 637 A.D. this 0:19:46.030 --> 0:19:49.510 is the Muslim siege of Jerusalem. And they claim that 0:19:49.510 --> 0:19:53.650 because Islamic forces conquered the Jewish people, Israel's land is 0:19:53.650 --> 0:19:56.919 now theirs forever, according to their scriptures. Seems to me 0:19:56.920 --> 0:19:59.619 the real conflict here is simply whose book is the book? 0:19:59.650 --> 0:20:00.640 Your thoughts? 0:20:00.850 --> 0:20:04.600 You're exactly right. In fact, even more significantly, whose God 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:07.900 is the real God? Because the God of Islam presented 0:20:07.900 --> 0:20:10.330 in the Quran isn't the same as the God of 0:20:10.330 --> 0:20:13.149 Israel presented in the Bible. And and the God of 0:20:13.150 --> 0:20:16.090 Israel said to Jacob, this land is yours and your 0:20:16.090 --> 0:20:20.980 descendants forever. The God of the Quran, Allah said, you've 0:20:20.980 --> 0:20:23.560 conquered this, and land conquered for me belongs to me. 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:27.100 And I've dispossessed the Jewish people for their lack of belief. 0:20:27.100 --> 0:20:29.710 So which God really is God? And that's at the 0:20:29.710 --> 0:20:30.820 heart of the conflict. 0:20:30.850 --> 0:20:33.310 All right, let's fast forward to modern times. Give us 0:20:33.310 --> 0:20:36.340 a 62nd summary of the founding of the modern State 0:20:36.340 --> 0:20:39.070 of Israel in plain English. And why didn't the United 0:20:39.070 --> 0:20:42.370 Nations also create a state for Arabs living in that region? 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.400 Well, you know, in World War One, the allies promised 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.820 the Jewish people a national homeland. It's the Balfour Declaration 0:20:48.820 --> 0:20:51.790 is what it's called. They also promised the Arab leaders 0:20:51.790 --> 0:20:54.010 that they could have their own country. In essence, they 0:20:54.010 --> 0:20:56.620 promised the same land to two different groups, which is 0:20:56.619 --> 0:20:59.109 a major problem. But they promised it to the Arabs 0:20:59.109 --> 0:21:01.390 if they would drive out the Turks. The British were 0:21:01.390 --> 0:21:03.250 given the mandate to bring it all about, and the 0:21:03.250 --> 0:21:05.800 first thing they did was carved out the modern country 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.250 of Jordan, which was originally part of the Promised Land. 0:21:09.430 --> 0:21:11.680 So they did give a country to the Arabs, and 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:15.340 that's the country we know today as Jordan. Then in 1947, 0:21:15.369 --> 0:21:18.340 the UN voted to partition the remaining land into two 0:21:18.369 --> 0:21:21.700 more countries, one for Israel and one for the Palestinians. 0:21:21.730 --> 0:21:23.800 Now it was far less than what had been promised 0:21:23.830 --> 0:21:27.040 to Israel, but they reluctantly accepted the vote. But the 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:30.730 Arab countries and the Palestinians rejected it, refusing to accept 0:21:30.730 --> 0:21:33.580 any state of Israel. Well, After that fighting was over 0:21:33.580 --> 0:21:37.689 in 1948, Israel ended up with its country, but Jordan 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:40.600 annexed the West Bank and made it part of their country, 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.080 and Egypt took over Gaza. So the Palestinians ended up 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:46.990 with no country, only because of the war that came 0:21:46.990 --> 0:21:49.390 when they opposed Israel having its own country. 0:21:49.420 --> 0:21:52.900 Well, often ignored or distorted in the conversation is the 0:21:52.900 --> 0:21:56.890 expulsion of Arabs from Israel and Jews from Arab countries. 0:21:56.890 --> 0:21:58.780 Just what are the facts here? And how did they 0:21:58.780 --> 0:22:00.340 come to bear on this conversation? 0:22:00.369 --> 0:22:03.669 Yeah, you'll often hear and symbols used of a key. 0:22:03.850 --> 0:22:07.150 There were about 600,000, and nobody knows the exact number, 0:22:07.150 --> 0:22:10.900 but about 600,000 Arabs who lost their home when the 0:22:10.900 --> 0:22:14.949 1948 War of Independence took place. What people don't also 0:22:14.950 --> 0:22:19.419 understand is that an even greater number, about 700 to 900,000. Again, 0:22:19.570 --> 0:22:23.050 nobody knows the exact number of Jews who lost their 0:22:23.050 --> 0:22:25.840 homes in Arab countries. They were expelled from Arab countries 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:29.110 with with just the clothes on their back in many cases. Now, 0:22:29.109 --> 0:22:32.050 the difference between the two. Israel took in those Jewish 0:22:32.050 --> 0:22:37.000 refugees and helped them rebuild their lives. But the Palestinian refugees, 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.240 the Arab refugees who fled the land, were not given 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:42.820 the same kind of treatment by their Arab host neighbors. 0:22:42.820 --> 0:22:47.050 They were put into refugee camps, really squalid slums, and 0:22:47.050 --> 0:22:49.960 forced to live there. They weren't given citizenship or weren't 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:52.270 allowed to integrate with those society. And that's where the 0:22:52.270 --> 0:22:55.600 problem of Palestinian refugees comes from today. So there was 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.200 almost equal numbers of refugees on both sides. You can't 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:01.449 unscramble an egg. The real question is what do you 0:23:01.450 --> 0:23:04.480 do with those people after that problem has formed and 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:07.930 Israel took the time to integrate their refugees? The Arab 0:23:07.930 --> 0:23:09.220 countries did not. 0:23:09.250 --> 0:23:12.490 Doctor Charlie Dyer has updated the Moody Publishers book Who 0:23:12.490 --> 0:23:15.220 Owns the Land? Let me ask you point blank, is 0:23:15.220 --> 0:23:18.880 Israel a nation of occupiers? Why or why not? 0:23:18.910 --> 0:23:22.210 The short answer is they're not. And the reason? First, 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:24.820 they have a historic claim to the land. They're the 0:23:24.820 --> 0:23:27.729 only nation on Earth with a title deed given to 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:30.470 a land that was given to them by God himself, 0:23:30.710 --> 0:23:33.080 they came back to their homeland to avoid the horrible 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.380 persecution they were experiencing at the hands of others, not 0:23:36.380 --> 0:23:39.830 only World War two and the Holocaust, but in Russia, 0:23:39.830 --> 0:23:42.379 in the Arab countries, they had to come back to 0:23:42.410 --> 0:23:45.860 find a place where they could find safety. They originally 0:23:45.859 --> 0:23:48.500 hoped to live in harmony with their Arab neighbors until 0:23:48.500 --> 0:23:52.490 that proved untenable. But in reality, they're not occupiers. They're 0:23:52.490 --> 0:23:54.860 people returning to their land where they had been ethnically 0:23:54.859 --> 0:23:55.910 cleansed before. 0:23:55.940 --> 0:24:00.379 Why do younger evangelicals tend to side consistently with Palestinians 0:24:00.380 --> 0:24:03.710 rather than Israelis? And why don't you speak directly to them? 0:24:03.710 --> 0:24:06.379 What would you have them understand differently? 0:24:06.410 --> 0:24:08.480 Well, I'd probably say something. In fact, I will say 0:24:08.480 --> 0:24:11.719 something to them. You don't know the history or the culture. 0:24:11.750 --> 0:24:14.900 You get your information and your world view from social media, 0:24:14.900 --> 0:24:17.510 which is distorted. You really need to go back to 0:24:17.540 --> 0:24:21.080 the Bible to reverse the trend. Start with the Bible. 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:23.720 And in second Timothy three, Paul describes the state of 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:26.300 the world in the last days, and he brackets it 0:24:26.300 --> 0:24:28.729 with three of the greatest statements on the importance of 0:24:28.740 --> 0:24:31.679 God's Word. You know, in second Timothy 215 he says, 0:24:31.680 --> 0:24:33.899 present yourself to God as workers who don't need to 0:24:33.930 --> 0:24:37.290 be ashamed, who correctly handled the word of truth. In 0:24:37.290 --> 0:24:40.619 chapter three says, All Scripture is God breathed and profitable 0:24:40.619 --> 0:24:44.429 for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. And then 0:24:44.430 --> 0:24:46.890 in chapter four he says, in light of Christ's return, 0:24:46.890 --> 0:24:50.429 proclaim the word whether it's convenient or not. But the 0:24:50.430 --> 0:24:53.399 point is, the key way to handle error is to 0:24:53.430 --> 0:24:56.250 focus on truth. And so to the extent that you're 0:24:56.250 --> 0:24:59.640 not paying attention to the Word of God, you're being duped. 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:02.970 You're being led astray. Focus on the Bible now. Don't 0:25:03.000 --> 0:25:05.250 accept what I'm saying at face value. Go to the 0:25:05.250 --> 0:25:07.859 Bible to see if what I'm saying matches up. 0:25:07.859 --> 0:25:11.189 Charlie. What? We're reading this book. Who owns the land? 0:25:11.220 --> 0:25:13.650 Do for me. And understanding this conflict. 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:17.400 Well, it'll provide the historical, the geographical and the biblical 0:25:17.400 --> 0:25:20.879 context that most don't have. You know, people get taken 0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:23.520 in by the emotional stories in the media, but those 0:25:23.520 --> 0:25:25.980 stories don't present the whole truth. It's not a case 0:25:25.980 --> 0:25:28.760 where everyone's wearing white hats or black hats where there's 0:25:28.760 --> 0:25:31.730 good guys and bad guys and they're clearly identified. It's 0:25:31.730 --> 0:25:34.700 a story about God, his plans and his promises, and 0:25:34.700 --> 0:25:37.100 what he has to say about the present and future 0:25:37.100 --> 0:25:40.040 for this slice of real estate where he's working. 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:42.350 And we'll put a link to his book, Who Owns 0:25:42.350 --> 0:25:45.260 the Land from Moody Publishers at our web site. The 0:25:45.260 --> 0:25:48.350 land and the book. Org. Charlie, I'm looking forward to 0:25:48.380 --> 0:25:50.600 having you back in our next segment answering questions. You 0:25:50.600 --> 0:25:51.560 got your Bible ready? 0:25:51.560 --> 0:25:52.580 I got it ready, John. 0:25:52.609 --> 0:25:55.760 All right. That's next on the land and the book. 0:26:06.770 --> 0:26:09.020 Welcome back to segment three of the Land of the 0:26:09.020 --> 0:26:13.040 Book Bible questions and Answers. I'm John Jacob with our host, 0:26:13.040 --> 0:26:16.670 Doctor Charlie Dyer, always pumped about what's come in via email. 0:26:16.700 --> 0:26:19.939 Fascinating to see what interests you. I'm as interested in 0:26:19.940 --> 0:26:22.700 knowing what the answers are as anybody. First, though, you know, 0:26:22.730 --> 0:26:24.770 Israel has been in the news, of course, a lot 0:26:24.800 --> 0:26:27.260 over this past year and as we know, the Bible 0:26:27.260 --> 0:26:31.669 is jam packed with end times prophecies. Epic world events, 0:26:31.670 --> 0:26:34.909 the regathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, 0:26:34.910 --> 0:26:38.270 and Jesus return. It is crucial for us, though, as believers, 0:26:38.270 --> 0:26:41.359 to have a proper understanding of Bible prophecy. So our 0:26:41.359 --> 0:26:43.670 view of the future is shaped by Scripture and not 0:26:43.670 --> 0:26:45.680 just today's headlines. Right, Charlie? 0:26:45.710 --> 0:26:48.080 Absolutely, John. And with that in mind, our friends at 0:26:48.109 --> 0:26:51.770 Life and Messiah have published a book titled God, Israel 0:26:51.770 --> 0:26:54.590 and Bible Prophecy, and they're offering it to listeners of 0:26:54.590 --> 0:26:57.110 the land in the book for a limited time. This 0:26:57.140 --> 0:27:00.469 informative book is focused on providing readers with a deeper 0:27:00.470 --> 0:27:04.490 understanding and greater appreciation of what God has in store 0:27:04.490 --> 0:27:07.369 for Israel and the nations by digging into what the 0:27:07.369 --> 0:27:10.489 scriptures say about these issues. Now, if you're interested in 0:27:10.490 --> 0:27:13.760 learning more about what God has in store, visit Life 0:27:13.790 --> 0:27:16.820 in Messiah. Org and click on the Moody Radio button 0:27:16.820 --> 0:27:19.850 there to find out how you can receive your copy 0:27:19.850 --> 0:27:25.369 of God, Israel and Bible Prophecy. That's life in Dot org. 0:27:25.520 --> 0:27:27.980 Our first question of the day is from Norm. Who 0:27:27.980 --> 0:27:30.980 wants to have your insights, Charlie, on the New Apostolic 0:27:30.980 --> 0:27:34.610 Reformation and their teaching, in particular their belief in the 0:27:34.609 --> 0:27:38.960 offices and roles of apostles and prophets being for today. 0:27:38.990 --> 0:27:41.869 He says, now that we have God's completed revelation in 0:27:41.869 --> 0:27:44.690 print form, I believe that their teaching on these roles 0:27:44.690 --> 0:27:46.730 is in error. Your thoughts? Yeah. 0:27:46.790 --> 0:27:48.860 I've not had a lot of interaction with the New 0:27:48.859 --> 0:27:51.859 Apostolic Reformation movement, but from what I do know, I 0:27:51.859 --> 0:27:55.040 believe the movement does depart from what the Bible teaches 0:27:55.040 --> 0:27:58.010 in those areas. For example, in terms of the gift 0:27:58.010 --> 0:28:02.270 of apostleship being active today. Well, the Bible says that 0:28:02.270 --> 0:28:05.690 that gift was foundational for the early church, requiring individuals 0:28:05.690 --> 0:28:08.900 to have physically been an eyewitness of the risen Christ 0:28:08.930 --> 0:28:11.210 and to have directly been called by Christ to serve 0:28:11.210 --> 0:28:14.000 in that capacity. Here's where I'd say that. First Corinthians 0:28:14.030 --> 0:28:17.270 nine one Paul writes, am I not an apostle? Have 0:28:17.270 --> 0:28:20.840 I not seen Jesus our Lord? That second question really 0:28:20.840 --> 0:28:23.600 is answering the first. He was an apostle, in part 0:28:23.600 --> 0:28:28.010 because he had physically seen Jesus following his resurrection. In 0:28:28.010 --> 0:28:30.560 Galatians one one, Paul even makes it more direct. He 0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:35.180 says his apostleship originated not from men, nor by a man, 0:28:35.210 --> 0:28:37.790 but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised 0:28:37.790 --> 0:28:40.250 him from the dead. So it was a direct call 0:28:40.280 --> 0:28:43.250 to be an apostle by God the Father and Jesus. 0:28:43.280 --> 0:28:44.900 Now I also have a problem with their belief in 0:28:44.900 --> 0:28:47.780 the gift of prophecy being active for today. You know, 0:28:47.810 --> 0:28:50.630 the gifts like prophecy were present in the early church. 0:28:50.630 --> 0:28:54.050 But when the Bible was completed, those gifts passed away. 0:28:54.080 --> 0:28:56.750 And in first Corinthians 13, Paul says, we know in part, 0:28:56.780 --> 0:29:00.260 we prophesy in part. But when completeness literally when that 0:29:00.260 --> 0:29:03.140 which is perfect or mature comes, that which is in 0:29:03.140 --> 0:29:06.080 part will disappear. And he says that in verse eight, 0:29:06.080 --> 0:29:09.050 there where there are prophecies, they will cease. And in 0:29:09.050 --> 0:29:11.930 the early church, about the time the church was formed, 0:29:11.930 --> 0:29:15.440 the canon of Scripture was completed. Prophecy did die out 0:29:15.440 --> 0:29:17.570 at the end of the first century. Now, even apart 0:29:17.570 --> 0:29:19.940 from all that, here's the other issue. If someone says 0:29:19.940 --> 0:29:22.580 today I have the gift of prophecy, See, I would 0:29:22.580 --> 0:29:24.380 say to them, okay, let me grant that with you. 0:29:24.410 --> 0:29:27.110 Will you grant me one thing? Will you follow what 0:29:27.140 --> 0:29:30.680 God says about a prophet? And in Deuteronomy chapter 18, 0:29:30.680 --> 0:29:33.380 God said, A prophet who presumes to speak in my name. 0:29:33.380 --> 0:29:36.410 Anything I have not commanded is to be put to death. 0:29:36.440 --> 0:29:38.270 You're to say to yourselves, how can we know a 0:29:38.270 --> 0:29:40.850 message that has not been spoken by the Lord? Well, 0:29:40.850 --> 0:29:43.040 if a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord 0:29:43.040 --> 0:29:45.740 something that doesn't take place or come true, this is 0:29:45.740 --> 0:29:48.710 a message the Lord hasn't spoken. So God basically said, 0:29:48.710 --> 0:29:50.150 if you're a prophet or if you're claiming to be 0:29:50.150 --> 0:29:54.500 a prophet, you have to be 100% accurate or be killed. Well, 0:29:54.500 --> 0:29:56.360 that's a pretty high bar, and I don't think those 0:29:56.360 --> 0:29:59.780 claiming prophecy today are willing to go to that high 0:29:59.780 --> 0:30:01.790 bar that God himself established. 0:30:01.790 --> 0:30:05.630 Mark takes us to Luke nine verse 13, asking, Is 0:30:05.630 --> 0:30:09.080 Jesus really telling the disciples, you have the ability to 0:30:09.110 --> 0:30:12.350 perform the miracle needed to feed the multitude? Yeah, and 0:30:12.350 --> 0:30:12.740 that's that. 0:30:12.740 --> 0:30:14.720 In that feeding of the 5000, I tend not to 0:30:14.750 --> 0:30:16.970 see his words that way there. I think he's really 0:30:16.970 --> 0:30:20.150 helping them see the human impossibility of them feeding so 0:30:20.150 --> 0:30:23.210 many people. I say that because of their response, they 0:30:23.210 --> 0:30:26.060 respond by saying, we only have five loaves and two 0:30:26.060 --> 0:30:28.670 fish unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. 0:30:28.670 --> 0:30:32.000 So in one sense, Jesus is feeding. Of the 5000, 0:30:32.030 --> 0:30:34.550 there is intended, I think, to parallel the miracle of 0:30:34.550 --> 0:30:37.700 God providing the manna for Israel in the wilderness. But 0:30:37.700 --> 0:30:40.280 before performing the miracle, Jesus wanted to make sure the 0:30:40.280 --> 0:30:45.410 disciples understood that feeding so many was beyond their human ability. 0:30:45.440 --> 0:30:48.320 Todd asks, what does David have in mind when he 0:30:48.320 --> 0:30:52.130 speaks of strangers in first Chronicles 29, verse 15? 0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:55.040 Yeah, in that section, he's using the phrase aliens and 0:30:55.040 --> 0:30:57.920 strangers in relationship to God. And I think what he's 0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:01.010 doing is humbling himself and the people before God. You know, 0:31:01.040 --> 0:31:04.130 citizens of a country, especially those who own property. Well, 0:31:04.130 --> 0:31:07.640 they had certain rights, but aliens and strangers didn't possess 0:31:07.640 --> 0:31:10.310 any land, and they didn't have those rights. We can 0:31:10.310 --> 0:31:12.500 see that in the Bible, in Abraham and in the 0:31:12.500 --> 0:31:16.340 book of Genesis. In Genesis 17, God told Abraham he 0:31:16.340 --> 0:31:19.070 would possess the whole land of Canaan, where you are 0:31:19.070 --> 0:31:21.950 now an alien, God says in verse eight. But when 0:31:21.950 --> 0:31:24.770 Sarah died, Abraham went to the Hittites to purchase land 0:31:24.770 --> 0:31:27.320 to bury her. And he began by saying, I'm an 0:31:27.320 --> 0:31:30.410 alien and a stranger among you. He was acknowledging his 0:31:30.410 --> 0:31:32.510 lack of standing. He didn't even own a place where 0:31:32.510 --> 0:31:35.720 he could bury his wife. It was a humble acknowledgement 0:31:35.720 --> 0:31:38.390 that he was asking a request and not a demand. 0:31:38.420 --> 0:31:42.590 It's interesting that David uses that same phrase in Psalm 39, 0:31:42.590 --> 0:31:45.740 verse 12, where he comes to God and pleads for 0:31:45.740 --> 0:31:48.320 God's gracious help. He says, for I dwell with you 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:51.860 as an alien, a stranger as all my fathers were. 0:31:51.890 --> 0:31:54.140 Now putting all that together, what I see David's prayer 0:31:54.140 --> 0:31:57.140 there in in first Chronicles 29 doing is, is a 0:31:57.140 --> 0:32:00.410 praise for God's graciousness to people who in and of 0:32:00.410 --> 0:32:03.950 themselves had no right to demand anything. All that God 0:32:03.950 --> 0:32:06.710 had provided was an extension of his kindness to those 0:32:06.710 --> 0:32:09.110 who had as much right to demand anything as a 0:32:09.110 --> 0:32:12.140 foreigner did when appearing before a king in a foreign land. 0:32:12.170 --> 0:32:14.750 God poured out his blessing on David and the people, 0:32:14.750 --> 0:32:17.780 and David felt overwhelmed by God's graciousness. 0:32:17.810 --> 0:32:20.690 You're listening to The Land and the book segment Three 0:32:20.690 --> 0:32:23.900 Questions and Answers with our host, Charlie Dyer. I'm John Gager. 0:32:23.930 --> 0:32:29.390 Lamentations three, verse 19 contains an imperative. Remember, this listener 0:32:29.420 --> 0:32:32.840 wants to know is that remember command based on a 0:32:32.840 --> 0:32:34.880 perspective directed to the Lord. 0:32:34.910 --> 0:32:37.790 Yeah, it's a straightforward question with a little complex answer 0:32:37.790 --> 0:32:40.640 here in the Hebrew Masoretic Text. The verb there for 0:32:40.640 --> 0:32:44.270 remember is written as an imperative. That's why translations like 0:32:44.270 --> 0:32:47.240 The New American Standard translated it as a request from 0:32:47.240 --> 0:32:52.040 Jeremiah to God, with Jeremiah asking God to remember his affliction. However, 0:32:52.040 --> 0:32:53.930 my concern is that doesn't really seem to fit the 0:32:53.930 --> 0:32:58.310 overall context. The Septuagint translation there suggests, I think, how 0:32:58.310 --> 0:33:01.490 the verb should be understood as a simple indicative statement. 0:33:01.490 --> 0:33:04.280 That is where Jeremiah is saying I remember. So he's 0:33:04.280 --> 0:33:06.500 not asking God to remember. He's saying this is what 0:33:06.500 --> 0:33:08.900 he remembers. And in that case, I think the NIV 0:33:08.930 --> 0:33:13.520 translation based on the Septuagint understanding is probably more accurate. 0:33:13.580 --> 0:33:17.280 In verses 1 to 18, Jeremiah lamented his personal struggles 0:33:17.280 --> 0:33:20.910 as God judged Judah and Jerusalem for its sin, and 0:33:20.940 --> 0:33:22.860 in essence, he describes it in a way that Jerusalem 0:33:22.860 --> 0:33:25.020 could say, hey, Jeremiah, we understand what you're saying. We've 0:33:25.050 --> 0:33:28.410 experienced the same thing in verses 19 to 21. He 0:33:28.410 --> 0:33:31.680 undergoes a transformation. So in verses 19 to 20, he 0:33:31.710 --> 0:33:34.710 describes his focus on his problems and says how they 0:33:34.710 --> 0:33:37.320 caused him to bow down inside. It's almost as if 0:33:37.320 --> 0:33:39.990 he's saying that looking at his circumstances caused him to 0:33:40.020 --> 0:33:43.500 feel hopeless. But then he makes this dramatic change. He says, 0:33:43.500 --> 0:33:46.530 yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. 0:33:46.530 --> 0:33:49.590 And what turned him from despondency to hope was a 0:33:49.590 --> 0:33:51.870 renewed focus on the faithfulness of God. So in the 0:33:51.870 --> 0:33:54.750 next two verses, he then moves from the singular I 0:33:54.750 --> 0:33:58.410 and me and my, describing his own experiences to apply 0:33:58.410 --> 0:34:00.510 the truth to the remnant. Because of the Lord's great 0:34:00.510 --> 0:34:04.230 love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 0:34:04.230 --> 0:34:08.130 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Anyway, 0:34:08.130 --> 0:34:11.370 I take remember in verse 19, not as an imperative, 0:34:11.400 --> 0:34:13.800 a request that's spoken by Jeremiah to God, but but 0:34:13.800 --> 0:34:17.430 as an indicative statement where he's continuing to describe himself. 0:34:17.460 --> 0:34:21.600 Jeremiah chapter 49 speaks about God's destruction of Elam, which 0:34:21.600 --> 0:34:24.660 is in modern day Iran. Allen says this seems to 0:34:24.660 --> 0:34:27.660 have end times meanings of some kind. Not clear to 0:34:27.690 --> 0:34:30.240 us what kind of a throne would the Lord set 0:34:30.239 --> 0:34:33.239 up in Iran? And when does this happen? Yeah. Well, let. 0:34:33.239 --> 0:34:35.160 Me first deal with that question of God setting up 0:34:35.160 --> 0:34:37.920 the throne by saying God will set up his throne. 0:34:37.920 --> 0:34:42.960 Jeremiah is picturing God arriving there to personally supervise Elam's destruction. 0:34:42.960 --> 0:34:47.640 Jeremiah used similar imagery earlier in the book. In Jeremiah 115, 0:34:47.670 --> 0:34:50.160 God announced he was going to send the kings who 0:34:50.160 --> 0:34:52.319 would set up their thrones at the entrance to the 0:34:52.320 --> 0:34:56.160 gate of Jerusalem. That was fulfilled in chapter 39, verse three, 0:34:56.160 --> 0:34:58.620 when all the officials of the king of Babylon came 0:34:58.620 --> 0:35:02.850 and took seats in the middle gate after Jerusalem had fallen. Later, 0:35:02.850 --> 0:35:07.110 Jeremiah predicted Nebuchadnezzar would defeat Egypt and set his throne over. 0:35:07.110 --> 0:35:10.439 These stones I've buried right here in chapter 43 says 0:35:10.440 --> 0:35:13.859 that by using the imagery in chapter 49, Jeremiah is saying, 0:35:13.860 --> 0:35:17.130 God will bring his forces against Elam and will personally 0:35:17.130 --> 0:35:20.969 be there to supervise their destruction. Your second question, though, 0:35:20.969 --> 0:35:24.300 related to when this was or might be fulfilled. And 0:35:24.300 --> 0:35:27.540 while there's some evidence that Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Elamites, I 0:35:27.540 --> 0:35:30.420 don't see that being totally fulfilling this prophecy. So I 0:35:30.420 --> 0:35:32.520 do agree. I think it has somewhat of an end 0:35:32.550 --> 0:35:35.279 time fulfillment. At the same time, I don't see this 0:35:35.280 --> 0:35:38.580 destruction being total or final. Since God ends by saying, 0:35:38.580 --> 0:35:41.550 in the last days I will restore the fortunes of Elam. 0:35:41.580 --> 0:35:44.730 And that's in verse 39 there. So God used almost 0:35:44.730 --> 0:35:47.580 those same words earlier when predicting the future destruction and 0:35:47.580 --> 0:35:52.380 restoration of Moab in chapter 48 and Ammon in chapter 49. 0:35:52.380 --> 0:35:54.150 So I do see in that sense that it is 0:35:54.150 --> 0:35:56.340 a bit of a future looking prophecy. 0:35:56.400 --> 0:35:59.759 James says, if you had to name three locations in 0:35:59.760 --> 0:36:03.240 the Holy Land that are the most key regarding salvation, 0:36:03.239 --> 0:36:05.340 which locations would those be? 0:36:05.460 --> 0:36:07.350 Well, if I had to pick my top three, they'd 0:36:07.350 --> 0:36:10.649 start with Jerusalem. Trace it from Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek 0:36:10.680 --> 0:36:13.980 to the sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah. The second 0:36:14.010 --> 0:36:16.259 would be the Mount of Olives. It's always near Jerusalem, 0:36:16.260 --> 0:36:18.510 but it wasn't actually part of the city. And you 0:36:18.540 --> 0:36:20.370 think of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, the Garden 0:36:20.400 --> 0:36:23.970 of Gethsemane, his ascension there, and his second coming. And 0:36:23.969 --> 0:36:26.520 the third, crazy enough would be the Dead Sea, which 0:36:26.550 --> 0:36:29.489 in Ezekiel 47 is a picture of the life that 0:36:29.489 --> 0:36:31.200 God is going to give that dead sea. He's going 0:36:31.230 --> 0:36:33.360 to turn it from death to life as an image 0:36:33.360 --> 0:36:35.370 of what he's going to do for the nation of Israel. 0:36:35.400 --> 0:36:37.950 Thank you Charlie. Why not get your question to us 0:36:37.950 --> 0:36:43.260 via email at The Land and the book@moody.edu. The land 0:36:43.260 --> 0:36:47.669 and the book@moody.edu. I'm looking forward to what Charlie has 0:36:47.670 --> 0:36:50.190 to say in his devotional. That's next here on the 0:36:50.190 --> 0:37:05.880 land and the book. You have so many choices in 0:37:05.880 --> 0:37:08.580 what you listen to these days. Thank you for making 0:37:08.610 --> 0:37:12.180 time for the land and the book. We appreciate your company. 0:37:12.210 --> 0:37:16.080 We is Charlie Dyer, our host, and John Gager here 0:37:16.080 --> 0:37:18.960 as well. I'm looking forward to Charlie's Devotional Boy, a 0:37:18.960 --> 0:37:21.839 very timely, if not sobering word from you, Charlie. Give 0:37:21.870 --> 0:37:24.300 us a hint about what we're talking about today. 0:37:24.330 --> 0:37:27.120 Yeah, we're coming up on the one year anniversary of 0:37:27.120 --> 0:37:30.210 the invasion of Hamas on October 7th, and I want 0:37:30.210 --> 0:37:32.250 to take us to Lachish and look at that event. 0:37:32.280 --> 0:37:35.399 It's a spot in Israel that has remarkable parallels, as 0:37:35.400 --> 0:37:38.250 you're about to discover. First, though, a testimony from someone 0:37:38.250 --> 0:37:41.880 else who's been to Israel and walks away with this observation. 0:37:45.870 --> 0:37:49.290 Well, thank you for asking me to comment on the trip. 0:37:49.770 --> 0:37:53.190 The whole trip is added fact to my faith. That's 0:37:53.190 --> 0:37:57.510 just know that my faith is not based on suppositions 0:37:57.510 --> 0:38:00.870 or whatever people think. I saw the places that you 0:38:00.870 --> 0:38:03.480 show me, but the thing that probably meant most to 0:38:03.510 --> 0:38:07.110 me was the Mount Bental sitting on top of of 0:38:07.110 --> 0:38:11.400 the Golan Heights and looked down on that valley of tears. 0:38:11.400 --> 0:38:14.100 Where I saw where you. Where I followed all the 0:38:14.100 --> 0:38:18.300 wars that Israel had. And you could see 1500 tanks 0:38:18.300 --> 0:38:20.609 coming up there. And what Israel had to deal with and, 0:38:20.640 --> 0:38:24.600 and I just, I just tingled. And hearing the actual 0:38:24.600 --> 0:38:29.069 artillery in the backfield, the Syrian revolution going on and 0:38:29.070 --> 0:38:33.180 then meeting the Israeli patrol earlier and then talking to him. 0:38:33.180 --> 0:38:35.250 And then one of them was from Maryland. He came 0:38:35.250 --> 0:38:38.340 over from born and raised in Maryland and came over 0:38:38.340 --> 0:38:41.970 to join the Israeli army just because he thought he 0:38:42.000 --> 0:38:45.750 that was part of his duty. I just caused me to, 0:38:45.870 --> 0:38:48.779 you know, I can't explain it, but I tingled when 0:38:48.780 --> 0:38:52.560 I when I watched and looked at all that and 0:38:52.560 --> 0:38:55.770 just added so much to all I'd been reading. 0:38:57.780 --> 0:39:02.009 Lakish and Hamas. The two share something in common. Charlie 0:39:02.010 --> 0:39:03.390 unpacked this for us. 0:39:03.420 --> 0:39:06.210 Okay, John. Well, you've likely heard the expression those who 0:39:06.210 --> 0:39:09.120 fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. 0:39:09.150 --> 0:39:12.509 That lesson is nowhere more apparent than where we're now. 0:39:12.510 --> 0:39:15.750 Standing at the ancient site of Lachish during the reign 0:39:15.780 --> 0:39:18.630 of King Hezekiah. Lachish was the second largest city in 0:39:18.630 --> 0:39:22.590 the Kingdom of Judah. Only Jerusalem was larger. Located less 0:39:22.590 --> 0:39:26.670 than 17 miles from Israel's current border with Gaza, Lachish 0:39:26.700 --> 0:39:29.970 anchored the southwestern edge of the kingdom. Follow me up 0:39:29.969 --> 0:39:32.250 the ramp to the gate complex that was the main 0:39:32.250 --> 0:39:35.640 entrance into the city. Okay, we're now standing in the 0:39:35.640 --> 0:39:39.569 courtyard between the dual gates that guarded the entrance to Lachish. 0:39:39.780 --> 0:39:42.390 I suspect many of you don't even recall reading about 0:39:42.420 --> 0:39:45.810 Lachish in the Bible, in spite of its prominent history. 0:39:46.080 --> 0:39:48.210 The king of Lachish was one of the five kings 0:39:48.210 --> 0:39:51.779 who attacked Gibeon at the time of Joshua. Following his 0:39:51.780 --> 0:39:54.299 victory over the kings there, Lachish was one of the 0:39:54.300 --> 0:39:58.620 cities attacked and destroyed by Joshua. After the death of Solomon, 0:39:58.620 --> 0:40:03.480 King Rehoboam fortified Lachish to help defend his kingdom. Later, 0:40:03.480 --> 0:40:07.890 Judah's king Amaziah fled from Jerusalem to Lachish to avoid 0:40:07.890 --> 0:40:10.950 an assassination attempt, but his enemies chased him down and 0:40:10.950 --> 0:40:14.220 killed him there. Perhaps the two most troubling events at 0:40:14.250 --> 0:40:17.339 Lakish were the attacks on the city by King Sennacherib 0:40:17.340 --> 0:40:21.239 of Assyria and King Nebuchadnezzar of Judah. And today I 0:40:21.239 --> 0:40:23.250 want you to imagine what the city was like at 0:40:23.250 --> 0:40:26.190 the time of King Hezekiah, the time when it was 0:40:26.190 --> 0:40:29.670 attacked by King Sennacherib. I have a purpose for bringing 0:40:29.670 --> 0:40:32.340 you here today. This coming week is the one year 0:40:32.340 --> 0:40:35.910 anniversary of Hamas's brutal attack on Israel, just a few 0:40:35.910 --> 0:40:39.719 miles from where you're now standing. The horrors inflicted on 0:40:39.719 --> 0:40:43.620 Israel by Hamas a year ago parallel Sennacherib's attack on 0:40:43.620 --> 0:40:47.370 this city 2700 years earlier. Now, as you can see, 0:40:47.370 --> 0:40:51.600 the foundations of this massive gate complex still dominate the site. 0:40:51.630 --> 0:40:53.940 Look at the artist's drawing of the gate over there 0:40:53.940 --> 0:40:57.000 to your left. But as impressive as the drawing is, 0:40:57.030 --> 0:40:59.670 the gate itself would have looked even more imposing to 0:40:59.700 --> 0:41:02.940 any army coming to attack. Walk with me through the 0:41:02.940 --> 0:41:05.069 inner portion of the gate, and then look at the 0:41:05.070 --> 0:41:08.879 massive stone foundation Near the top of the site, you're 0:41:08.880 --> 0:41:11.370 looking at the base of a palace, the home of 0:41:11.370 --> 0:41:14.160 the regional governor, appointed by the King of Judah to 0:41:14.190 --> 0:41:18.240 oversee the area. In Micah one, the prophet mentions teams 0:41:18.239 --> 0:41:21.120 of horses at Lachish, likely referring to a division of 0:41:21.120 --> 0:41:26.040 chariots based here the ancient forerunners of today's mobile armor. You, 0:41:26.040 --> 0:41:28.859 who live in Lachish, harness the team of horses to 0:41:28.890 --> 0:41:32.580 the chariot. Micah cries out. The king of Assyria had 0:41:32.580 --> 0:41:35.190 a room in his palace at Nineveh, decorated with a 0:41:35.190 --> 0:41:39.149 carved relief showing his capture of the city of Lachish. 0:41:39.150 --> 0:41:43.320 One panel shows soldiers pulling a captured chariot out of 0:41:43.320 --> 0:41:46.890 the city, filled with looted spoils of war. At the 0:41:46.890 --> 0:41:50.910 bottom of the hill, Sennacherib himself directed the attack on Lachish. 0:41:50.940 --> 0:41:54.000 The carved relief shows the king seated on his throne 0:41:54.000 --> 0:41:56.670 near the city, and part of the inscription next to 0:41:56.700 --> 0:42:00.750 the throne identifies the one seated there as Sennacherib, king 0:42:00.780 --> 0:42:05.310 of the world, king of Assyria. In second Kings 1814 14. 0:42:05.340 --> 0:42:08.520 King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria 0:42:08.520 --> 0:42:11.640 at Lachish I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and 0:42:11.640 --> 0:42:14.970 I will pay you whatever you demand of me. Sennacherib 0:42:15.000 --> 0:42:18.660 took the payment from Hezekiah, but then continued his attack, 0:42:18.660 --> 0:42:22.710 finally capturing Lachish. But how does Sennacherib's destruction of this 0:42:22.710 --> 0:42:27.360 ancient city offer insights into last year's attack by Hamas? Well, 0:42:27.360 --> 0:42:31.709 let me share several parallels. First, Hamas took Israel by surprise, 0:42:31.710 --> 0:42:35.400 overrunning a defensive barrier completed by Israel less than two 0:42:35.400 --> 0:42:39.750 years before. Israel's iron wall, with all its sensors, was 0:42:39.750 --> 0:42:43.620 designed to stop Hamas from tunneling underneath the barrier, but 0:42:43.650 --> 0:42:46.920 Hamas instead went through it in a mass assault. In 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:49.440 the same way the gate and walls of Lachish were 0:42:49.440 --> 0:42:52.859 designed to be impregnable. But the Assyrians built a massive 0:42:52.860 --> 0:42:55.590 ramp and used siege engines to breach the top of 0:42:55.590 --> 0:42:59.640 the wall. Hamas used GoPro cameras to record their assault, 0:42:59.640 --> 0:43:02.819 while the Assyrians decorated a room in the king's palace 0:43:02.850 --> 0:43:07.210 in Nineveh to memorialize their attack. Hamas boasted of its 0:43:07.210 --> 0:43:11.740 vicious brutality, recording the murder, rape and torture of civilians 0:43:11.739 --> 0:43:15.040 and soldiers alike, and in doing so, they mirrored the 0:43:15.040 --> 0:43:19.779 actions of the Assyrians. Assyrians pictured captives begging for their lives, 0:43:19.780 --> 0:43:23.080 only to be beheaded. Other captives were tortured to death, 0:43:23.080 --> 0:43:27.280 their bodies gruesomely displayed for all to see. Not everyone 0:43:27.280 --> 0:43:31.120 was killed. Many were carried away into captivity. Sennacherib left 0:43:31.120 --> 0:43:34.180 several written records of his conquest. He boasted that he 0:43:34.180 --> 0:43:37.390 attacked Hezekiah, king of Judah, and took 46 of his 0:43:37.390 --> 0:43:41.320 strong walled cities, walled forts, and countless small villages. I 0:43:41.350 --> 0:43:46.060 carried away captive 200,150 people, young and old, male and 0:43:46.060 --> 0:43:51.310 female horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and oxen. Beyond counting among 0:43:51.310 --> 0:43:55.150 the more than 200,000 people taken captive were those from Lachish. 0:43:55.180 --> 0:43:59.500 Hamas abducted around 250 hostages to take back into Gaza. 0:43:59.530 --> 0:44:02.920 The only difference between the Assyrians and Hamas is that 0:44:02.920 --> 0:44:06.130 the Assyrians were able to attack the entire country, rather 0:44:06.130 --> 0:44:09.610 than just the small communities along the Gaza border. So 0:44:09.610 --> 0:44:13.000 how brutal was Hamas's attack last year? Some compare them 0:44:13.000 --> 0:44:16.870 to ISIS because of their savagery wrapped in Islamic fundamentalism, 0:44:16.870 --> 0:44:19.990 and that's a fair comparison. But to truly understand the 0:44:19.989 --> 0:44:23.020 impact of what Hamas wanted to do to Israel, I 0:44:23.020 --> 0:44:25.810 believe you need to go back to the Assyrians. Both 0:44:25.810 --> 0:44:29.500 were arrogant and boastful. Both were brutal and vicious. Both 0:44:29.500 --> 0:44:32.980 looked for new ways to torture, maim and kill. Both 0:44:33.010 --> 0:44:36.220 sought to wipe out the Jewish people, and both eventually 0:44:36.219 --> 0:44:39.460 discovered what God meant when he said, I will bless 0:44:39.460 --> 0:44:41.980 those who bless you and the one who curses you, 0:44:41.980 --> 0:44:45.730 I will curse. Hamas didn't learn the lesson. Those who 0:44:45.730 --> 0:44:48.460 fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. 0:44:48.460 --> 0:44:51.700 Or we might say what goes around comes around. The 0:44:51.700 --> 0:44:56.109 Assyrians are ancient history. Hamas attack is more recent history, 0:44:56.110 --> 0:44:59.560 but both are still history. So what lesson can we 0:44:59.560 --> 0:45:03.580 take away from our visit here at Lakish? How about this? 0:45:03.610 --> 0:45:06.790 We must never forget there is a God. He cares 0:45:06.790 --> 0:45:09.549 for his people. And he will hold accountable those who 0:45:09.580 --> 0:45:12.670 seek to harm them. That's true for the Jewish people today, 0:45:12.670 --> 0:45:16.150 because God's covenant with Abraham is still in effect. And 0:45:16.150 --> 0:45:19.360 it's also true for followers of Jesus, because we've been 0:45:19.360 --> 0:45:22.450 grafted into a place of blessing through Christ's death on 0:45:22.450 --> 0:45:26.680 our behalf. He won't allow life's troubles to overwhelm you. 0:45:26.710 --> 0:45:30.910 In 1855, Joseph Scriven wrote a poem to encourage his 0:45:30.910 --> 0:45:33.910 ailing mother that became the hymn What a Friend We 0:45:33.910 --> 0:45:38.140 Have in Jesus. If you're discouraged and downhearted today, listen 0:45:38.140 --> 0:45:41.680 to the final stanza of his poem. Are we weak 0:45:41.680 --> 0:45:46.060 and heavy laden, encumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, 0:45:46.090 --> 0:45:49.420 still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. 0:45:49.450 --> 0:45:52.810 Do thy friends despise. Forsake thee? Take it to the 0:45:52.810 --> 0:45:56.620 Lord in prayer. In his arms he'll take and shield thee. 0:45:56.650 --> 0:46:01.719 Thou wilt find a solace there. The bottom line when 0:46:01.719 --> 0:46:05.530 you face trouble, don't depend on your own strength, ability, 0:46:05.530 --> 0:46:09.970 or resources. The only sure source of protection is the 0:46:10.000 --> 0:46:12.070 eternal Rock of ages. 0:46:12.100 --> 0:46:14.890 Thank you Charlie. And if you don't know for sure 0:46:14.890 --> 0:46:19.240 that Jesus is your eternal friend, your Savior, you can 0:46:19.239 --> 0:46:22.630 have that assurance today. You can receive Christ, his forgiveness 0:46:22.630 --> 0:46:25.450 of your wrongdoing, your sins. And a volunteer would be 0:46:25.480 --> 0:46:28.930 happy to pray with you as you call 888. Need him. 0:46:28.960 --> 0:46:33.520 I'll slow that down. 888. Need him. There's nothing to buy, 0:46:33.550 --> 0:46:35.319 so there's nothing to sell. All right. It's just a 0:46:35.320 --> 0:46:41.230 frank conversation about knowing Jesus forever. Eight. Eight. Eight. Need him. 0:46:41.290 --> 0:46:43.510 And on that note, we'll say so long, but want 0:46:43.540 --> 0:46:46.390 to thank our producer, Dan Anderson, our host, Charlie Dyer, 0:46:46.390 --> 0:46:49.240 and the management at the station for carving out airtime 0:46:49.239 --> 0:46:52.480 for the land and the book. A production of Moody Radio, 0:46:52.510 --> 0:46:55.060 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.