WEBVTT - The War with Hamas: Insights and Issues 0:00:08.060 --> 0:00:12.139 The war with Hamas. It's fought with bullets and bombs. 0:00:12.140 --> 0:00:15.020 But there's a second, equally important war going on in 0:00:15.020 --> 0:00:17.600 the Middle East right now. It's the war of public 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.020 opinion fought largely in the media. It's a struggle as 0:00:21.020 --> 0:00:25.520 fierce as any skirmish on the battlefield. Who's winning and why? 0:00:25.550 --> 0:00:29.030 That's our conversation coming up. Welcome to the land and 0:00:29.030 --> 0:00:31.820 the book. Our host is noted Old Testament scholar and 0:00:31.820 --> 0:00:35.210 author Doctor Charlie Dyer. I'm John Gauger, and it's no 0:00:35.210 --> 0:00:38.180 secret that Israel has been on all of our minds 0:00:38.180 --> 0:00:40.670 and hearts for months now, many of us struggling with 0:00:40.670 --> 0:00:43.580 questions of what to think, what to feel. But in 0:00:43.580 --> 0:00:45.769 the midst of all this, God's heart for the Jewish 0:00:45.770 --> 0:00:50.090 people remains unchanged. He is faithful to his chosen people. 0:00:50.150 --> 0:00:52.130 That's right, John. And that's why, as this year comes 0:00:52.130 --> 0:00:54.530 to a close, our friends at Life in Messiah would 0:00:54.530 --> 0:00:57.290 like to help you better connect with this crucial aspect 0:00:57.290 --> 0:01:00.950 of God's character. They're offering their new book, Sharing God's 0:01:00.950 --> 0:01:04.130 Heart to Land. In the book listeners, this 30 day 0:01:04.130 --> 0:01:07.640 guided reflection will help connect you with God's heart for 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.180 his precious people. The articles written by Life and Messiah 0:01:11.180 --> 0:01:14.690 staff provide insight into Jewish life and culture, and they 0:01:14.690 --> 0:01:17.240 can help prepare you to share with your friends the 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.300 peace of Messiah they so desperately need. If you'd like 0:01:20.300 --> 0:01:22.700 one of these insightful books for yourself or as a 0:01:22.700 --> 0:01:26.480 gift for someone else, visit Life in Messiah org and 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.180 click on the Moody Radio button to find out how 0:01:29.180 --> 0:01:34.190 you can receive your copy. That's life in messiah.org. 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.040 Well, Charlie, as we get ready to start a new year, 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:39.110 it gives us an opportunity to kind of look over 0:01:39.110 --> 0:01:42.470 the horizon to see what might be heading our way. 0:01:42.470 --> 0:01:45.500 By the way, Charlie, how did we do this last year? 0:01:45.500 --> 0:01:48.920 You know, overall, John, not too bad. Nobody saw Hamas's 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:53.150 October 7th attack coming. That took everyone by surprise. I 0:01:53.150 --> 0:01:56.570 think the same is true for the ferocity of Israel's response. 0:01:56.570 --> 0:01:59.090 The war against Hamas has now been going on for 0:01:59.090 --> 0:02:02.720 three months, and we did say last January that conflict 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.530 between Israel and the Palestinians was a real possibility, caused 0:02:06.530 --> 0:02:10.100 in part by Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority losing 0:02:10.100 --> 0:02:12.530 its grip on power. And we felt that if the 0:02:12.530 --> 0:02:16.040 terror groups ratcheted up the violence, they could force Israel 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.880 to attack both against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.790 and against the Palestinians in the West Bank, you know, 0:02:22.790 --> 0:02:26.330 we also expected continued conflict with Iran, but didn't see 0:02:26.330 --> 0:02:29.870 it turning into open conflict unless Israel felt Iran was 0:02:29.870 --> 0:02:34.010 getting close to developing nuclear weapons. And thankfully, that hasn't happened, 0:02:34.010 --> 0:02:38.600 at least not yet. As 2023 began, Turkey's President Erdogan 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.230 said he wanted a relationship between Turkey and Israel to improve. 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.320 I felt that seemed unrealistic at the time because the 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.530 key point of friction between them is still Gaza and Hamas. 0:02:48.530 --> 0:02:50.990 And of course, that became all too clear in the 0:02:50.990 --> 0:02:54.770 past three months. And our final story to start 2023 0:02:54.770 --> 0:02:57.740 was tourism. And we said at the time that 2023 0:02:57.740 --> 0:03:00.470 looked to be a banner year for tourists, which it 0:03:00.470 --> 0:03:03.560 was all the way up until October 7th. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.020 Right. Well, speaking of October 7th and the war that's 0:03:06.020 --> 0:03:09.560 unfolded now, what's your latest assessment of that, Charlie? Where 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:12.049 does it stand? What do we really need to know? 0:03:12.470 --> 0:03:14.389 I think what we need to know most is Israel 0:03:14.389 --> 0:03:16.400 is pushing on. You know, we I think most people 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.459 would hope for a quick victory while this tunnel system 0:03:19.460 --> 0:03:22.820 underneath Gaza, all of the things Israel has experienced, it's 0:03:22.820 --> 0:03:28.070 slow going. They're being slow, methodical and working their way through. Unfortunately, 0:03:28.070 --> 0:03:30.590 the pressure on Israel from the UN, from the rest 0:03:30.590 --> 0:03:33.620 of the world and even now, sadly from the U.S. 0:03:33.650 --> 0:03:36.470 is to wrap it up quickly, you know, just call 0:03:36.470 --> 0:03:40.250 it quits and go home. And that's not what Israel wants. 0:03:40.250 --> 0:03:42.800 They need to finish the job, or they'll be just 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.890 facing the same enemy again in the future. All right. 0:03:45.890 --> 0:03:48.860 Let's look ahead to 2024. Our top story has to 0:03:48.860 --> 0:03:53.000 be the ongoing conflict between Israel, Hamas and the Palestinians. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.450 What does the New Year hold for Israel's relationship with 0:03:56.450 --> 0:04:00.740 the Palestinians? Will Hamas disappear? Will they resurface? Will Israel 0:04:00.740 --> 0:04:03.950 finally wipe them out? And who will eventually replace Mahmoud 0:04:03.950 --> 0:04:06.590 Abbas as head of the Palestinian Authority? 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.040 Well, the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians really is 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.760 moving into uncharted territory. Israel has said it won't allow 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.520 Hamas to rule Gaza. But at the same time, I'm 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:19.490 not sure if they can totally eradicate Hamas, or at 0:04:19.490 --> 0:04:23.300 least the theological underpinnings that produced Hamas. You know, Hamas 0:04:23.300 --> 0:04:26.029 goes back and traces its roots to the Muslim Brotherhood, 0:04:26.029 --> 0:04:29.780 which morphed into groups like al-Qaida and ISIS and Hamas. 0:04:29.779 --> 0:04:32.029 But it's like whack a mole, you know, you you 0:04:32.029 --> 0:04:34.850 knock one version down and another seems to pop up. 0:04:34.850 --> 0:04:37.609 And it's hard to imagine Israel agreeing to a two 0:04:37.610 --> 0:04:41.990 state solution with Mahmoud Abbas or the Palestinian Authority, since 0:04:41.990 --> 0:04:44.719 they're the ones who lost Gaza to Hamas in the 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.390 first place. And yet, that seems to be what the 0:04:47.390 --> 0:04:51.230 US and the West keep pressuring Israel to accept. But 0:04:51.230 --> 0:04:53.990 after the horrors of October 7th, I don't see Israel 0:04:53.990 --> 0:04:58.099 trusting any promises made by the Palestinians. Watch for the 0:04:58.100 --> 0:05:00.349 West to try and get Jordan or Egypt or the 0:05:00.350 --> 0:05:03.049 Gulf states or some other group to come in and 0:05:03.050 --> 0:05:06.230 provide security in Gaza to keep Hamas out of power. 0:05:06.650 --> 0:05:09.860 But two big issues do still remain. And first, what 0:05:09.860 --> 0:05:13.430 happens in the West Bank after Abbas dies? And second, 0:05:13.430 --> 0:05:15.650 how long will it be until Israel has an even 0:05:15.650 --> 0:05:19.880 larger conflict with Hezbollah and possibly its sponsor, Iran? You know, 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.300 those questions remain unanswered as we start this new year. 0:05:23.300 --> 0:05:25.850 From Moody Radio. This is the land and the book. 0:05:25.850 --> 0:05:27.799 We're looking at what's coming our way in the Middle 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.920 East in 2024. The second story has to be the 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:35.570 political uncertainty in Israel. Can the current coalition survive? And 0:05:35.570 --> 0:05:39.740 perhaps more significantly, can Prime Minister Netanyahu continue to remain 0:05:39.740 --> 0:05:43.010 in charge of whatever coalition comes on the scene? 0:05:43.339 --> 0:05:46.370 Well, once the war winds down, the political divisions that 0:05:46.370 --> 0:05:49.160 were there before will rise again to the surface. And 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.010 for the first time in years, there's a possibility of 0:05:52.010 --> 0:05:55.550 Netanyahu being voted out of office, either by losing control 0:05:55.550 --> 0:05:58.159 of his own party to those who are dissatisfied with 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:02.270 his leadership, or, more likely, being forced to call new elections, 0:06:02.270 --> 0:06:05.060 and having his party dropped dramatically in the number of 0:06:05.060 --> 0:06:07.789 seats that wins in the Knesset. People are looking for 0:06:07.790 --> 0:06:12.200 accountability for Israel's lack of preparedness on October 7th. And 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:15.170 if you remember the sign on Harry Truman's desk, ultimately 0:06:15.170 --> 0:06:17.900 the buck stops with the one in charge. So there's 0:06:17.900 --> 0:06:19.910 going to be a lot of pressure on him. Watch 0:06:19.910 --> 0:06:22.279 for a push to have the current government dissolve and 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:25.400 for new elections to be called. And if that happens, actually, 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:27.470 you might want to watch Benny Gantz and his National 0:06:27.470 --> 0:06:31.460 Unity Party. They've certainly emerged in polls as the largest 0:06:31.460 --> 0:06:34.610 potential party in any new Knesset. He would try to 0:06:34.610 --> 0:06:37.820 form a majority coalition without the parties on the far 0:06:37.820 --> 0:06:41.300 right and the far left. Now, some judicial reform might 0:06:41.300 --> 0:06:44.630 still happen. That was the big story before October 7th, 0:06:44.630 --> 0:06:47.089 but it'll be far less than what was being pushed 0:06:47.089 --> 0:06:50.030 for by members of the current coalition. Now I have 0:06:50.029 --> 0:06:52.940 to end, though, John, saying this predicting Israel's shifting political 0:06:52.940 --> 0:06:56.600 climate is difficult. So this could change completely if the 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:00.289 current coalition is able to hang together through the next year. 0:07:00.290 --> 0:07:03.770 But right now that seems somewhat unlikely. 0:07:04.220 --> 0:07:07.580 Another of our top stories for 2024 should be the 0:07:07.580 --> 0:07:12.200 potential for conflict between Israel and Iran, along with her allies, 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.590 Hezbollah and the Houthis. Could this become the next conflict 0:07:15.590 --> 0:07:19.040 in the region, or can they be restrained without resorting 0:07:19.070 --> 0:07:19.850 to war? 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:22.070 You know, I see this, John, as the sort of 0:07:22.070 --> 0:07:25.370 Damocles hanging over the whole region. And it does have 0:07:25.370 --> 0:07:29.210 every group there concerned. Israel and the West are concerned 0:07:29.210 --> 0:07:33.140 about Iran crossing the nuclear threshold. Iran, though, is concerned 0:07:33.140 --> 0:07:35.360 that Israel or the US will launch an attack to 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:40.220 disrupt their nuclear ambitions or even degrade their military. President 0:07:40.220 --> 0:07:42.890 Biden is concerned about stirring up more trouble in the 0:07:42.890 --> 0:07:46.040 Middle East during an election year, when there's already a 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:51.380 growing anti-Israel sentiment within the progressive wing of his own party, Hezbollah. 0:07:51.380 --> 0:07:54.650 And the Houthis will do whatever Iran orders them to do, 0:07:54.650 --> 0:07:58.130 since Iran's the supplier of their weapons and the spiritual 0:07:58.130 --> 0:08:02.660 leader of their Shiite forces. If Hezbollah launches a major attack, 0:08:02.660 --> 0:08:04.940 Israel will try to do to them the same thing 0:08:04.940 --> 0:08:08.240 they've been doing to Hamas. There's also a remote possibility 0:08:08.330 --> 0:08:11.330 of Israel taking the initiative and launching an attack, rather 0:08:11.330 --> 0:08:14.870 than waiting for Hezbollah to do so. But thankfully, that 0:08:14.870 --> 0:08:18.980 seems unlikely now. If the Houthis continue to disrupt shipping, 0:08:18.980 --> 0:08:21.890 we could see a conflict between them and the West. 0:08:22.130 --> 0:08:24.410 They're building up forces there. Even as this year ends 0:08:24.410 --> 0:08:27.710 and the new year begins, it's also possible Israel would 0:08:27.710 --> 0:08:31.040 get involved if the Houthis continue firing missiles at a 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.699 lot right now, if Israel's war with Hamas ends without 0:08:34.700 --> 0:08:38.510 widening into a larger conflict with Hezbollah or the Houthis, 0:08:38.510 --> 0:08:42.410 then it's possible that 2024 could be a year of tense, quiet. 0:08:42.410 --> 0:08:45.860 And certainly that's what the US and the West and 0:08:45.860 --> 0:08:48.319 likely Israel would like as well. 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:52.610 Well, finally, let's return one last time to tourism. How long, 0:08:52.610 --> 0:08:55.610 once this war is wrapped up, will it take for 0:08:55.610 --> 0:08:58.550 tourism to recover from all of the disruption? 0:08:58.550 --> 0:09:01.340 Yeah, my short answer. It's going to take longer than 0:09:01.340 --> 0:09:04.280 I would like. I think first, the conflict with Hamas 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.890 has to end. You know, the rockets have to stop 0:09:06.890 --> 0:09:09.770 being fired at Israel. A measure of calm has to 0:09:09.770 --> 0:09:13.940 be established there. And then thousands of Israelis who've been displaced, 0:09:13.940 --> 0:09:16.610 living with relatives or in hotels need to be able 0:09:16.610 --> 0:09:19.130 to go home, you know, down near Gaza. That also 0:09:19.130 --> 0:09:22.250 means houses are going to have to be rebuilt. And finally, 0:09:22.250 --> 0:09:25.400 the world's airlines need to begin flying to Israel. Once 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.550 all that happens, I think tourism can begin to return 0:09:28.550 --> 0:09:32.450 to normal. The problem, at least for us tour groups, 0:09:32.450 --> 0:09:34.730 is that most church groups take up to a year 0:09:34.730 --> 0:09:36.650 or more to set up and announce, and have their 0:09:36.650 --> 0:09:39.500 people sign up for a trip. The tours for this 0:09:39.500 --> 0:09:42.140 past fall were lost, and so are many of the 0:09:42.140 --> 0:09:45.710 tours planned for the early spring. It's possible that tours 0:09:45.710 --> 0:09:48.500 already scheduled for the late spring and on into the 0:09:48.500 --> 0:09:51.829 summer and fall will be able to go. But the 0:09:51.830 --> 0:09:54.410 longer things take to resolve, the more likely it is 0:09:54.410 --> 0:09:58.069 that those tours will also start canceling. You know, I'm 0:09:58.070 --> 0:10:01.220 tentatively scheduled to lead four groups to Israel in 2020 0:10:01.220 --> 0:10:04.550 for the first trip in late February, and early March 0:10:04.550 --> 0:10:07.829 has already been postponed to the. Fall because of the airlines. 0:10:08.070 --> 0:10:11.160 It all reminds me of James 415, where he writes 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.740 that we're to say, if it's the Lord's will, we'll 0:10:13.740 --> 0:10:16.350 live and do this or that. The bottom line is 0:10:16.350 --> 0:10:18.870 that only God knows for sure what's going to happen 0:10:18.870 --> 0:10:20.250 in 2024. 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.370 Well, as we look toward 2024, how can listeners to 0:10:23.370 --> 0:10:27.270 this program so faithful they gather every week, pray for 0:10:27.270 --> 0:10:28.350 Israel right now. 0:10:28.860 --> 0:10:30.660 I think what they can pray for is, first, the 0:10:30.660 --> 0:10:34.350 peace of Jerusalem. Ask God to give Israel wisdom and 0:10:34.350 --> 0:10:36.809 knowing how to take care of the war with Hamas, 0:10:36.809 --> 0:10:40.320 and then also how to handle the Houthis and Hezbollah 0:10:40.650 --> 0:10:42.930 and ask God to just intervene in a way that 0:10:42.929 --> 0:10:45.120 will bring peace. Uh, second, I think what they can 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:48.660 do is pray for safety for people in Israel and 0:10:48.660 --> 0:10:50.700 for those who've been harmed. Uh, you know, think of 0:10:50.700 --> 0:10:53.760 the emotional trauma that those people have experienced and ask 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:55.020 God to just intervened. 0:10:55.170 --> 0:10:58.500 All right. Great prayer request. Good ideas. Thanks, Charlie. The 0:10:58.500 --> 0:11:01.829 war with Hamas insights and issues. Next on the land 0:11:01.830 --> 0:11:19.660 and the book. The war with Hamas fought with bullets 0:11:19.660 --> 0:11:23.440 and bombs. But there's a second, equally important war going 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.600 on in the Middle East. It's the war of public 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.290 opinion fought largely in the media. It's a struggle as 0:11:29.290 --> 0:11:34.390 fierce as any battlefield skirmish. Who's winning and why? Welcome 0:11:34.390 --> 0:11:37.150 back to the land and the book. I'm John Jaeger, 0:11:37.150 --> 0:11:39.400 and when it comes to the Middle East and Israel 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.130 in particular, we've got lots of questions, don't we? And 0:11:42.130 --> 0:11:45.790 that's why we're excited for this conversation. Our guest is 0:11:45.790 --> 0:11:49.270 Janam Cohen, who is consul general of Israel to the Midwest. 0:11:49.300 --> 0:11:52.720 He's a career diplomat with nearly two decades of experience 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:55.990 in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has served 0:11:55.990 --> 0:12:00.970 in Spain, Columbia, Berlin, Germany and the U.S. before arriving 0:12:00.970 --> 0:12:04.210 in Chicago. Though, Nam held the position of senior policy 0:12:04.210 --> 0:12:08.320 advisor to Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and director of the 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:12.430 Policy Department in the Minister's Bureau. Prior to that council, 0:12:12.429 --> 0:12:15.970 General Cohen was the director of the U.N. Political Affairs Department, 0:12:15.970 --> 0:12:19.900 where he oversaw Israel's diplomatic campaigns in the UN Security 0:12:19.900 --> 0:12:24.010 Council and General Assembly in Israel. It really is a 0:12:24.010 --> 0:12:25.870 pleasure to welcome him back to the land of the 0:12:25.870 --> 0:12:28.660 book program today. Thanks for honoring us for making the 0:12:28.660 --> 0:12:30.040 trip into our studio today. 0:12:30.070 --> 0:12:31.929 Thank you for hosting me again. It's such a pleasure 0:12:31.929 --> 0:12:32.830 to be here. Thank you. 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.710 I wish we had a less serious subject today, I 0:12:35.710 --> 0:12:39.160 really do. But you look back at 2023 right now, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.220 you think of the record setting tourism numbers that Israel 0:12:42.220 --> 0:12:46.720 experienced and then kaboom, the events of October 7th. How 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:48.700 did you first learn of the attack? 0:12:49.090 --> 0:12:50.589 Oh, well, you're you're. 0:12:50.590 --> 0:12:53.260 Throwing me back. You know, I was coming back to 0:12:53.260 --> 0:12:56.440 my home from a Shabbat dinner, Friday night dinner with friends, 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:58.929 and before going to sleep, I was just checking my 0:12:58.929 --> 0:13:01.270 mobile phone to see if there's some news coming from Israel, 0:13:01.270 --> 0:13:04.390 because it was nighttime here in Chicago, by morning time 0:13:04.390 --> 0:13:07.510 in Israel. And then the news broke. We understood that 0:13:07.510 --> 0:13:10.570 something was going on. At that time. We didn't understand 0:13:10.570 --> 0:13:12.850 the scope and the scale of that. I was staying 0:13:12.850 --> 0:13:15.790 up all night and then we learned about the horrible news. 0:13:15.970 --> 0:13:20.199 Well, shockingly, here in America, there has been support for Hamas. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.939 According to a Harvard Harris poll, 51% of Americans ages 0:13:24.940 --> 0:13:29.950 18 to 24 believe Hamas was justified in its brutal 0:13:29.950 --> 0:13:34.420 terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli citizens back on October the 7th, 0:13:34.420 --> 0:13:38.240 I am dumbfounded. Does this surprise you 51% of 18 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:40.210 to 24 year olds? Why or why not? 0:13:41.110 --> 0:13:43.959 I was shocked when I saw these numbers, but then 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:47.260 I started a process of learning to understand better what 0:13:47.260 --> 0:13:52.030 happened to America that brought these horrible numbers into reality. 0:13:52.270 --> 0:13:56.500 And I'm surprised. I'm shocked. But I know that there 0:13:56.500 --> 0:13:59.110 is a whole process behind that that led to these numbers, 0:13:59.140 --> 0:14:03.100 and I think it has to do with brainwashing of 0:14:03.100 --> 0:14:06.640 young people's minds on the social media. We can definitely 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.940 talk about TikTok and its part in that on university 0:14:09.940 --> 0:14:14.230 campuses and on some of the, I would also say, 0:14:14.230 --> 0:14:17.199 mainstream media outlets here in America. And I think that 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.320 everything amounts to the situation that many among the younger 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:25.210 generation cannot tell the difference between truth and lie, between 0:14:25.210 --> 0:14:27.550 right and wrong. And I think that this is something 0:14:27.550 --> 0:14:30.280 that requires a lot of education and a lot of change. 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.350 All right. Since we are talking about 18 to 24 0:14:32.350 --> 0:14:35.650 year olds in particular, TikTok is their number one source, 0:14:35.650 --> 0:14:40.030 apparently for news. And of course, with the Chinese influence 0:14:40.030 --> 0:14:43.120 and with other forces at work, boy, you have to 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.910 scratch your head and say, how could they possibly come 0:14:45.910 --> 0:14:48.460 to any other conclusion than that? I mean, why wouldn't 0:14:48.460 --> 0:14:51.430 they think that Hamas was justified based on that world 0:14:51.430 --> 0:14:52.240 of TikTok? 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:52.780 You know, I'm. 0:14:52.780 --> 0:14:55.750 Looking at the numbers of the posts in TikToks. There's 0:14:55.750 --> 0:14:58.330 a lot of research that was made about that. The 0:14:58.330 --> 0:15:02.590 numbers are, you know, appalling. It's 4 to 1 or 0:15:02.590 --> 0:15:06.490 even 5 to 1 pro Hamas posts against pro-Israel posts. 0:15:06.490 --> 0:15:10.060 And one one should ask, you know, themselves, how did 0:15:10.060 --> 0:15:12.490 that happen? Who's behind it? And that's a serious question 0:15:12.490 --> 0:15:13.780 that needs to be answered. Yeah. 0:15:14.500 --> 0:15:17.859 You wonder why this can be so when Hamas atrocities 0:15:17.860 --> 0:15:20.590 are so well documented. We live in a, you know, 0:15:20.590 --> 0:15:23.530 show me the proof kind of thing. We love horror 0:15:23.530 --> 0:15:27.400 movies with violence and gore and full color depiction. But, 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:31.690 you know, you've got burned bodies, decapitated babies, raped women, 0:15:31.690 --> 0:15:37.180 children tied together with their parents, mutilated corpses, all on camera. 0:15:37.270 --> 0:15:41.500 With all of this, there are rallies on university campuses 0:15:41.500 --> 0:15:45.820 celebrating Hamas's murderous cause. What do you see as some 0:15:45.820 --> 0:15:48.400 other contributing factors here? How do we explain this? 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.190 I think that the younger generation is not interested anymore 0:15:51.190 --> 0:15:55.270 about facts, and they have been encouraged not to be 0:15:55.270 --> 0:16:00.400 interested in facts. They're interested in narratives. They're interested in perceptions, 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.250 they're interested in feelings and beliefs and are in facts. 0:16:03.250 --> 0:16:05.109 And this is something that we have to change, because 0:16:05.110 --> 0:16:07.540 I think that we saw that, you know, in the Congress, 0:16:07.540 --> 0:16:09.670 there was a hearing to some of the presence of 0:16:09.670 --> 0:16:12.880 the leading universities in these countries. They were unable to 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.090 say the very basic truth that, you know, encouraging the 0:16:16.090 --> 0:16:18.820 genocide of Jews is wrong is against the code of conduct. 0:16:18.820 --> 0:16:21.550 What happened to us? The major issue is that we're 0:16:21.550 --> 0:16:24.400 not talking about facts. We're talking about perceptions of narratives 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.190 and agendas. And this is something that's very basic and 0:16:27.190 --> 0:16:28.330 it needs to be changed. 0:16:28.330 --> 0:16:31.480 Yeah. You mentioned those university presidents. And I remember one 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:35.440 of their comments, carefully couched in language, was, is it 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:40.210 ever right to pursue the eradication or death of Israelis? 0:16:40.210 --> 0:16:43.900 And the response was, well, it depends on the context. 0:16:43.900 --> 0:16:45.250 It depends on the context. 0:16:45.250 --> 0:16:47.320 And I wanted to say, would you please describe for 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.780 me the context in which that would be right? 0:16:49.780 --> 0:16:52.510 Absolutely. You know, it depends on the context that it 0:16:52.510 --> 0:16:54.760 really killed me. You know, some things do not depend 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.220 on the context for me. One thing is the calling 0:16:57.220 --> 0:17:01.240 for the elimination or genocide of whatever ethnic or religious group. 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.389 Another thing is a calling for, you know, some of these, 0:17:04.390 --> 0:17:06.310 you know, stupid young things. Most of them do not 0:17:06.310 --> 0:17:09.520 understand that. But they're calling on university campuses and on 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.700 the streets here in Chicago and elsewhere, from the river 0:17:12.700 --> 0:17:15.520 to the sea. Palestine will be free. You ask them 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:17.919 what river? What sea? They do not know. But actually 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.950 what stands behind it is the Hamas call for the 0:17:20.950 --> 0:17:24.340 elimination of the Jewish state of Israel that is today 0:17:24.340 --> 0:17:27.910 between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. They're calling 0:17:27.910 --> 0:17:31.330 and I'm using their terms. They're calling for the ethnic 0:17:31.330 --> 0:17:34.270 cleansing of 7 million Jews. They live today in the 0:17:34.270 --> 0:17:37.360 Jewish state of Israel. This is racist. This is anti-Semitic. 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:39.460 It is wrong. And we need to let them understand 0:17:39.460 --> 0:17:40.869 that it is wrong with. 0:17:40.869 --> 0:17:42.910 Us in our land of the book studio today is 0:17:42.910 --> 0:17:46.450 Janam Cohen, consul general of Israel to the Midwest. I'm 0:17:46.450 --> 0:17:49.750 John Jaeger, and obviously we're talking about the war with Hamas. 0:17:49.750 --> 0:17:54.429 What is Israel doing to counteract this misinformation? 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.520 We are trying to talk about facts because this is 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.430 where we have to center our debate about facts. One 0:18:00.430 --> 0:18:03.880 of the things we've been doing and has proved very effective, 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.670 even though this is something that is unprecedented, we've never 0:18:06.670 --> 0:18:09.820 done it before, is sharing a 47 minutes, what we 0:18:09.820 --> 0:18:13.510 call the horror movie of recaps of the videos of 0:18:13.510 --> 0:18:16.840 October 7th, the Hamas terrorist attack against Israelis. They took 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.960 the life of 1200 Israelis, the biggest killing of Jews 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:24.100 since the Holocaust. We're sharing this movie with elected officials, 0:18:24.100 --> 0:18:27.729 with congressmen, with senators, with journalists, because they want them 0:18:27.730 --> 0:18:30.700 to see and understand what happened. This is something that's 0:18:30.700 --> 0:18:33.340 very graphic. It's very hard to watch. It's not for 0:18:33.340 --> 0:18:36.340 the general public, but we believe that public opinion leaders 0:18:36.340 --> 0:18:38.979 should be exposed to that to understand the scope and 0:18:38.980 --> 0:18:42.490 the scale of the atrocities of. And seventh because they 0:18:42.490 --> 0:18:45.910 are the ones who who actually shape the public opinion. 0:18:46.060 --> 0:18:50.140 So access to this footage to opinion makers and and 0:18:50.140 --> 0:18:52.810 reporters and so on. What kind of an impact is 0:18:52.810 --> 0:18:55.209 that having not just on the media, but on the 0:18:55.210 --> 0:18:56.920 prevailing global discussion? 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:00.340 It's it has a tremendous effect. You know, everybody that's 0:19:00.340 --> 0:19:04.990 been able to show this movie, we're talking about governors, senators, congressmen, journalists, 0:19:04.990 --> 0:19:07.750 they're unable to talk after that. Many of them, many 0:19:07.750 --> 0:19:10.869 of the journalists changed their minds. They wrote, you know, 0:19:10.869 --> 0:19:13.690 op eds, columns about their experience just watching that, what 0:19:13.690 --> 0:19:16.359 it meant for them. But it is a very long process, 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:18.490 and I feel that there is very big forces that 0:19:18.490 --> 0:19:22.210 are against us that try to divert the discourse from 0:19:22.210 --> 0:19:25.750 what happened on October 7th to claim that Israel should 0:19:25.750 --> 0:19:28.420 not exist in this region, that the Jewish state have 0:19:28.420 --> 0:19:30.880 not right to exist in the Middle East. And that 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.380 is our major challenge. 0:19:32.619 --> 0:19:34.840 Well, let's swing our focus toward the nation of Israel 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.240 itself internally. How do you feel the war is being 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.570 portrayed in Israel media itself? Is it fair coverage or 0:19:40.570 --> 0:19:43.449 do you do you face similar struggles in communicating basic 0:19:43.450 --> 0:19:44.170 facts there? 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.170 No, I think that in Israel, among the media and among, 0:19:47.170 --> 0:19:50.650 you know, 95% of our population, Jews and Arabs alike, 0:19:50.650 --> 0:19:53.500 by the way, there's a very strong understanding about why 0:19:53.500 --> 0:19:56.500 we're doing that. What happened on October 7th was something 0:19:56.500 --> 0:20:00.369 that is unprecedented in our modern Jewish history since the Holocaust. 0:20:00.369 --> 0:20:03.850 This is a war right now on our existence, you know, 0:20:03.850 --> 0:20:06.400 on our Jewish state. So, you see, you know, from 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.370 right and left, Jews and Arabs alike in Israel are 0:20:09.369 --> 0:20:11.919 fighting together. We have a lot of Arabs, Israeli Arabs 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:15.100 who are fighting in the Gaza Strip against Hamas because 0:20:15.100 --> 0:20:18.190 they understand that Hamas are not only against the Jews, 0:20:18.190 --> 0:20:20.649 they're against the the mere existence of Israel. 0:20:21.010 --> 0:20:24.010 He's a career diplomat with 15 years of experience in 0:20:24.010 --> 0:20:27.250 the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our guest today on 0:20:27.250 --> 0:20:30.700 the land in the book is Counsel General Enam Cohen. 0:20:30.850 --> 0:20:34.090 One of the arguments being used against Israel is the 0:20:34.090 --> 0:20:37.030 issue of civilian casualties. Okay. Now I'm going to read 0:20:37.030 --> 0:20:40.270 you some quotes from an interesting article I picked up 0:20:40.270 --> 0:20:43.869 on the UN estimates that the civilian to combatant death 0:20:43.869 --> 0:20:47.530 ratio in conflicts since the Second World War averages 9 0:20:47.530 --> 0:20:52.300 to 1. That's nine civilians for every one soldier. All right. Now, 0:20:52.300 --> 0:20:55.090 the loss of any life. Tragic, no question about it. 0:20:55.090 --> 0:20:58.720 In Iraq in that war, estimates suggest U.S. forces killed 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:02.970 three civilians for every one combatant in in Afghanistan, between 0:21:02.970 --> 0:21:06.670 3 and 5 to one. Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander 0:21:06.670 --> 0:21:09.100 of British forces in Afghanistan. This is not an American. 0:21:09.100 --> 0:21:11.619 It's a British guy. He says Israel has a 2 0:21:11.619 --> 0:21:16.150 to 1 civilian to combatant death ratio in Gaza, extremely low, 0:21:16.150 --> 0:21:19.179 which to me is proof that Israel really is working 0:21:19.180 --> 0:21:22.750 hard to protect civilians. But despite going out of the 0:21:22.750 --> 0:21:26.770 way to warn people before attacking, despite the leaflets, Israel 0:21:26.770 --> 0:21:29.500 is shown as the wicked one. How do you account 0:21:29.500 --> 0:21:30.160 for that? 0:21:30.430 --> 0:21:32.409 I think there's a lot of psychology behind it, but 0:21:32.410 --> 0:21:34.180 I want to refer to what you said because our 0:21:34.180 --> 0:21:37.480 numbers are really unprecedented. Again, every civilian that's getting killed, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:40.090 it's a tragedy and we try to minimize and mitigate it. 0:21:40.090 --> 0:21:43.300 But as you mentioned, the numbers are really unprecedented in 0:21:43.300 --> 0:21:46.180 the modern, you know, warfare. And this is something that 0:21:46.180 --> 0:21:48.670 we try to explain to people. But, you know, when 0:21:48.670 --> 0:21:52.030 you're so obsessed with your hatred against Israel, in some 0:21:52.030 --> 0:21:55.750 cases against Jews, facts do not matter. Numbers do not matter. 0:21:55.750 --> 0:21:58.480 They're obsessed with the narrative that Israel is a strong, 0:21:58.510 --> 0:22:02.980 oppressing power against the poor. Palestinians. Are the poor Palestinians? Yes. 0:22:02.980 --> 0:22:06.609 Are they suffering for sure? Who's to be blamed for 0:22:06.609 --> 0:22:09.580 the suffering? That's Hamas. And this is the truth that 0:22:09.580 --> 0:22:11.050 we always have to remember. 0:22:11.410 --> 0:22:14.350 We often hear it said that America is Israel's biggest 0:22:14.350 --> 0:22:17.620 ally in the West, and we certainly hope that remains. 0:22:17.619 --> 0:22:21.729 But I think many lesser informed Americans forget or undervalue 0:22:21.730 --> 0:22:26.320 the equally true statement that Israel is our biggest ally 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:28.600 in the Middle East, and that's a neighborhood where we 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:32.619 definitely need a reliable friend. Do you feel, as I do, 0:22:32.619 --> 0:22:36.100 that part of the equation is undervalued in America? And 0:22:36.100 --> 0:22:36.940 if so, why? 0:22:37.300 --> 0:22:37.810 This is a. 0:22:37.810 --> 0:22:39.880 Message that we try to deliver because I think it's 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:42.040 very mutual. I mean, America is our biggest ally in 0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:44.560 the world for sure. America is the biggest superpower in 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:46.570 the world, for sure. And I wanted to remind us, 0:22:46.570 --> 0:22:49.390 because the world needs the leadership of America and not 0:22:49.390 --> 0:22:52.090 of other countries. The world needs to be led by 0:22:52.090 --> 0:22:55.420 by the values of America, freedom and democracy values that 0:22:55.420 --> 0:22:57.520 we share in Israel. Israel is the only democracy in 0:22:57.520 --> 0:22:59.350 the Middle East. Let's remember that. And I think this 0:22:59.350 --> 0:23:01.570 is why it is so important for America to have 0:23:01.570 --> 0:23:03.609 a strong Israel in the Middle East. But let me 0:23:03.609 --> 0:23:05.260 tell you one more thing, because you know what? I'm 0:23:05.260 --> 0:23:07.750 reading the numbers. I'm looking at the polls. And even 0:23:07.750 --> 0:23:10.090 though we see a lot of protests on the streets, 0:23:10.090 --> 0:23:13.240 on university campuses of the extreme left, I think it's 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:15.970 not the case for the vast majority of Americans. I'm 0:23:15.970 --> 0:23:19.090 looking at the numbers. The vast majority of Americans, the 0:23:19.090 --> 0:23:22.960 good Americans all across the country, do understand that they 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:25.420 do support Israel. They do stand with the values that 0:23:25.420 --> 0:23:28.780 Israel represent of freedom and democracy. I mean, these numbers 0:23:28.780 --> 0:23:31.510 this understanding makes me stronger counsel. 0:23:31.510 --> 0:23:35.080 General Lanham Cohen likes exploring new cuisines and tries to 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:38.890 balance his calories with daily jogging. He's wearing his no, 0:23:38.890 --> 0:23:42.750 he's not wearing tennis shoes. He speaks English, Hebrew, Spanish 0:23:42.750 --> 0:23:46.170 and German. The obvious follow up to this whole conversation 0:23:46.170 --> 0:23:48.689 is what can we do? What can listeners do to 0:23:48.690 --> 0:23:50.820 begin to impact this, this conflict? 0:23:50.850 --> 0:23:52.590 Thank you. It is so important, I have to tell 0:23:52.590 --> 0:23:56.160 you that in the past weeks and months since October 7th, 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:59.070 I've been receiving so many emails and telephone calls with people, 0:23:59.070 --> 0:24:01.350 you know, good Americans from all across the Midwest and 0:24:01.350 --> 0:24:03.570 all across the country calling, asking how we can support, 0:24:03.570 --> 0:24:05.850 how we can help Israel. We want to stand with you. 0:24:05.880 --> 0:24:08.880 Many people send, you know, just money or donations to 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:11.220 Israeli committee that have been heard. That's great. Many go 0:24:11.220 --> 0:24:14.220 to Israel to volunteer to support since we a lot of, 0:24:14.220 --> 0:24:16.950 you know, hundreds of thousands of Israeli men and women 0:24:16.950 --> 0:24:19.470 have been involved in the warfare in Gaza. So many 0:24:19.470 --> 0:24:22.050 volunteers came from the United States to support, for example, 0:24:22.050 --> 0:24:24.870 the agriculture in Israel. That's been amazing. And I know 0:24:24.869 --> 0:24:27.870 that when this war comes to an end, we'll get 0:24:27.869 --> 0:24:30.180 back to normality and we need people to come back 0:24:30.180 --> 0:24:33.090 to Israel, visit the Holy Land, go see Jerusalem, go 0:24:33.090 --> 0:24:36.510 see Israel, support Israel, show your solidarity, go enjoy our 0:24:36.510 --> 0:24:38.580 amazing cuisine. You know how good the. 0:24:38.580 --> 0:24:41.129 Food in Israel is. Just go do that. This is a. 0:24:41.130 --> 0:24:42.899 Great support you can do. You're going to enjoy and 0:24:42.900 --> 0:24:45.629 you're going to show solidarity to Israelis. And I believe 0:24:45.630 --> 0:24:46.860 that that's a great support. 0:24:46.890 --> 0:24:47.070 Yeah. 0:24:47.160 --> 0:24:49.020 Well, you talk about the Israeli cuisine. I think they 0:24:49.020 --> 0:24:52.020 have out chocolate and Switzerland and certainly the U.S.. I 0:24:52.020 --> 0:24:55.260 don't understand this. This is amazing. Uh, let's talk about 0:24:55.260 --> 0:24:57.810 tourism for a moment. Let's say the the war was 0:24:57.810 --> 0:25:00.750 entirely done by March 31st. Let me just put that 0:25:00.750 --> 0:25:03.870 on a calendar. March 31st. It's done. How long after that? 0:25:03.869 --> 0:25:06.180 Before tourism could be up and running. 0:25:06.180 --> 0:25:06.600 You know what? 0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:08.640 I believe it's going to end much before that. I'm 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:10.859 going to take a risk and say much, much before it. 0:25:10.859 --> 0:25:13.440 And I've been talking to some of the, um, air 0:25:13.440 --> 0:25:16.770 travel companies, for example, flying from the United States to Israel. 0:25:16.770 --> 0:25:19.859 They're so looking forward to resuming their direct flights to Israel. 0:25:19.859 --> 0:25:22.109 They understand that there's a lot of demand. I believe 0:25:22.109 --> 0:25:25.139 that within 2 or 3 weeks we'll see direct flights. 0:25:25.140 --> 0:25:27.870 We'll see again, a lot of demand for tourism in Israel. 0:25:27.869 --> 0:25:31.109 And I believe that people can definitely plan their spring 0:25:31.109 --> 0:25:34.439 and summer vacations for A to Israel. It's going to 0:25:34.440 --> 0:25:35.430 be fun. 0:25:35.430 --> 0:25:37.560 Well, we'll look forward to that. And we certainly look 0:25:37.560 --> 0:25:39.720 forward to having you back in the studio for a 0:25:39.720 --> 0:25:41.940 much more brighter, friendlier conversation. 0:25:41.940 --> 0:25:43.560 Right. Always a pleasure to be here. 0:25:43.560 --> 0:25:44.070 Thank you. 0:25:44.190 --> 0:25:47.940 That's counsel General Cohen here on the land and the book. 0:25:47.940 --> 0:25:50.760 Well questions and answers. That's what's coming up next. Don't 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:53.340 go away a great segment coming your way here on 0:25:53.340 --> 0:26:07.740 Moody Radio's The Land and the book. Welcome back to 0:26:07.740 --> 0:26:10.979 the land in the book Moody Radio. I'm John Geiger. 0:26:10.980 --> 0:26:13.230 It's always a good day when we're able to open 0:26:13.230 --> 0:26:15.210 the Word of God and see what it says in 0:26:15.210 --> 0:26:18.660 response to your questions. Yep. That's what this focus is 0:26:18.660 --> 0:26:20.430 all about. I'll tell you how you can get your 0:26:20.430 --> 0:26:23.370 question to us. After I point out that Israel has 0:26:23.369 --> 0:26:26.010 been on all of our minds, all of our hearts 0:26:26.010 --> 0:26:28.619 these past months, many of us struggling with questions of 0:26:28.619 --> 0:26:31.199 what to think and to feel in this conflict and 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:32.879 in the midst of it all. God's heart for the 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:37.710 Jewish people, though, remains absolutely unchanged. He is faithful to 0:26:37.710 --> 0:26:39.210 his chosen people. Right, Charlie? 0:26:39.359 --> 0:26:41.219 That's right, John. And that's why, as this year is 0:26:41.220 --> 0:26:43.650 drawing to a close, our friends at Life in Messiah 0:26:43.650 --> 0:26:46.619 would like to help you better connect with this crucial 0:26:46.619 --> 0:26:50.100 aspect of God's character. They're offering their new book, Sharing 0:26:50.100 --> 0:26:53.429 God's Heart to Land. In the book listeners, this 30 0:26:53.430 --> 0:26:56.670 day guided reflection will help connect you with God's heart 0:26:56.670 --> 0:27:00.090 for his precious people. The articles written by Life and 0:27:00.090 --> 0:27:04.080 Messiah staff provide insight into Jewish life and culture. They 0:27:04.080 --> 0:27:06.270 can help prepare you to share with your friends the 0:27:06.270 --> 0:27:09.810 peace of Messiah they so desperately need. If you would 0:27:09.810 --> 0:27:12.420 like one of these insightful books for yourself or as 0:27:12.420 --> 0:27:15.869 a gift for someone else, visit Life in Messiah org 0:27:15.869 --> 0:27:18.090 and click on the Moody Radio button there to find 0:27:18.090 --> 0:27:23.160 out how you can receive your copy. That's life in messiah.org. 0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:25.200 All right, we've got a great slate of questions today, 0:27:25.200 --> 0:27:28.320 starting with summer. Uh, her question takes us to an 0:27:28.320 --> 0:27:31.050 interesting discussion. And she, by the way, is a ninth grader. 0:27:31.050 --> 0:27:33.419 She says, for school, I'm debating whether or not the 0:27:33.420 --> 0:27:36.990 United States should abolish the death penalty as a piece 0:27:36.990 --> 0:27:40.680 of negative evidence, I used Exodus 21, which states, if 0:27:40.680 --> 0:27:43.770 a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, 0:27:43.770 --> 0:27:46.320 you shall take him from the altar, that he may die. 0:27:46.320 --> 0:27:48.720 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life 0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:51.360 for life. I for I tooth for a tooth, hand 0:27:51.359 --> 0:27:54.899 for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, 0:27:54.900 --> 0:27:58.350 stripe for stripe. Summer says I felt this clearly proved 0:27:58.350 --> 0:28:01.530 that capital punishment is biblical, and for that reason we 0:28:01.530 --> 0:28:04.619 shouldn't abolish it. But then I was asked this cross 0:28:04.619 --> 0:28:08.490 examination Didn't Jesus abolish the death penalty in John eight 0:28:08.490 --> 0:28:10.830 when he said, the one without sin among you should 0:28:10.830 --> 0:28:12.959 be the first to throw a stone at her when 0:28:12.960 --> 0:28:16.350 referencing the adulteress caught in sin. I didn't know how 0:28:16.350 --> 0:28:18.480 to answer this, and it made me second guess the 0:28:18.480 --> 0:28:21.750 accuracy of my original evidence. If you were in my shoes, 0:28:21.750 --> 0:28:23.159 how would you respond? 0:28:23.490 --> 0:28:26.580 Oh thanks Summer, I would respond this way first, Jesus 0:28:26.580 --> 0:28:29.700 didn't abolish the death penalty or any other law. In fact, 0:28:29.700 --> 0:28:32.670 in Matthew 517 he said, don't think that I have 0:28:32.670 --> 0:28:34.680 come to abolish the law of the prophets. I didn't 0:28:34.680 --> 0:28:38.220 come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Second, under 0:28:38.220 --> 0:28:41.100 Roman occupation and control, the Jewish people didn't have the 0:28:41.100 --> 0:28:44.370 right to put people to death for violating the Mosaic Law. 0:28:44.550 --> 0:28:47.340 The Romans reserved the right of capital punishment for themselves. 0:28:47.340 --> 0:28:50.790 In fact, when the Jewish religious leaders condemned Jesus to death, 0:28:50.790 --> 0:28:53.190 they still needed to take him to pilot and ask 0:28:53.190 --> 0:28:56.130 the Romans to impose the death penalty. And John 18 0:28:56.130 --> 0:28:58.440 they said it this way when Pilate told him, take 0:28:58.440 --> 0:29:01.110 him to yourselves. And judging by your own law, they responded, 0:29:01.110 --> 0:29:04.500 but we have no right to execute anyone. And third, 0:29:04.500 --> 0:29:06.300 and this gets to the heart of the matter, the 0:29:06.300 --> 0:29:09.000 events in John eight with the woman taking in adultery, 0:29:09.000 --> 0:29:12.720 were actually a setup designed to trap Jesus. The religious 0:29:12.720 --> 0:29:15.150 leaders brought the woman to Jesus and said she was 0:29:15.150 --> 0:29:16.890 caught in the very act of adultery in the law 0:29:16.890 --> 0:29:19.410 of Moses commands us to stone such a woman. What 0:29:19.410 --> 0:29:21.360 do you say? Well, if she was caught in the 0:29:21.360 --> 0:29:24.240 very act, where's the man with whom she was committing adultery? 0:29:24.240 --> 0:29:26.820 They just wanted to use her as a test case. 0:29:26.820 --> 0:29:28.830 And John makes that clear. In fact, in verse six 0:29:28.830 --> 0:29:31.230 he says they were using this question as a trap 0:29:31.230 --> 0:29:33.810 in order to have a basis for accusing him. The 0:29:33.810 --> 0:29:36.870 leaders thought they had Jesus trapped. If if they said, uh, 0:29:36.870 --> 0:29:38.340 what do you think? And he said, well, you do it. 0:29:38.340 --> 0:29:40.469 The law of Moses says they would run to the 0:29:40.470 --> 0:29:42.810 Romans and then say, Jesus is telling people to ignore 0:29:42.810 --> 0:29:45.990 Roman law and take matters into their own hands. But 0:29:45.990 --> 0:29:47.700 if he said, well, the Romans are in charge, you 0:29:47.700 --> 0:29:50.040 need to let her go. Then they could tell everyone, hey, 0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:52.950 Jesus is ignoring the law of Moses. And my point 0:29:52.950 --> 0:29:55.500 here is that John eight isn't an appropriate passage to 0:29:55.500 --> 0:29:59.190 use for or against capital punishment, because the whole account 0:29:59.190 --> 0:30:03.210 wasn't intended to reveal Jesus's views on capital punishment, it 0:30:03.210 --> 0:30:05.700 was intended as a trap to ensnare him. 0:30:06.030 --> 0:30:09.930 Next question what did Moses sons do? Were they chiefs 0:30:09.930 --> 0:30:11.040 or judges? 0:30:11.190 --> 0:30:14.460 Yeah, this is a bit of a mystery. Apparently, Gershom 0:30:14.460 --> 0:30:17.850 and Eliezer joined Moses in the wilderness following the crossing 0:30:17.850 --> 0:30:21.030 of the Red Sea in Exodus chapter 18, but they 0:30:21.030 --> 0:30:25.170 then disappear from the Pentateuch. Their genealogy is mentioned in chronicles, 0:30:25.170 --> 0:30:28.110 where it says each had sons who were, quote, chiefs. 0:30:28.110 --> 0:30:31.410 Another word used theirs, Roche, that means head or chief. 0:30:31.410 --> 0:30:33.390 And we're not sure if they were chiefs of families 0:30:33.390 --> 0:30:37.860 or clans, but evidently they had some level of rulership. Otherwise, 0:30:37.860 --> 0:30:42.600 Moses's family seems to disappear from history, with just two exceptions. 0:30:42.600 --> 0:30:47.280 David apparently appointed a descendant of Gershom as his royal treasurer. 0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:51.210 It's mentioned in First Chronicles 26. And second, it's possible 0:30:51.210 --> 0:30:54.420 that one of Gershom descendants went into idolatry. Now this 0:30:54.420 --> 0:30:56.730 is a bit uncertain, but in the account of the 0:30:56.730 --> 0:31:00.150 tribe of Dan leaving to seek an inheritance in judges 18, 0:31:00.180 --> 0:31:04.680 there's a reference to Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Manasseh. Now, 0:31:04.680 --> 0:31:06.510 at first that doesn't seem to match anything. And it 0:31:06.510 --> 0:31:09.720 might not. But if the noon Hebrew letters in the 0:31:09.720 --> 0:31:13.200 Hebrew spelling of Manasseh is removed, and one manuscript does 0:31:13.200 --> 0:31:15.690 spell it with that letter above the line, then the 0:31:15.690 --> 0:31:19.140 text would say, Son of Gershom, son of Moshe or Moses. 0:31:19.170 --> 0:31:20.880 Now I think we need to leave that one as 0:31:20.880 --> 0:31:23.880 an unsolved mystery, but it's possible this could be a 0:31:23.880 --> 0:31:26.490 reference to the grandson of Moses taking on the role 0:31:26.490 --> 0:31:29.460 of a false prophet. But then again, it might not. 0:31:29.790 --> 0:31:32.400 You can get your questions to us anytime with an 0:31:32.400 --> 0:31:36.600 email to the land and the book at Moody's. Edu. 0:31:36.780 --> 0:31:39.480 Next question. What did the priest do when they were 0:31:39.480 --> 0:31:42.600 not called into rotation in the tabernacle or temple? 0:31:43.080 --> 0:31:45.900 I suspect they went about other normal duties. That is, 0:31:45.900 --> 0:31:47.970 once they were in the land, they were part time 0:31:47.970 --> 0:31:50.880 farmers and herdsmen who took care of their own allotment 0:31:50.880 --> 0:31:53.670 of land that God gave them. I suspect they were 0:31:53.670 --> 0:31:57.180 also consulted by people who wanted answers from God's Word 0:31:57.180 --> 0:32:00.810 on specific questions. The priests had studied the law while 0:32:00.810 --> 0:32:03.780 the people didn't have their own copy. So the priest 0:32:03.780 --> 0:32:06.570 became the, if you will, the Wikipedia of the day 0:32:06.570 --> 0:32:07.980 for the average person. 0:32:08.160 --> 0:32:10.680 You're listening to the land in the book from Moody Radio, 0:32:10.680 --> 0:32:14.100 our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer, answering your Bible questions. I'm 0:32:14.100 --> 0:32:17.010 John Geiger, intrigued with what you're wondering about. Like this 0:32:17.010 --> 0:32:20.850 question how were the lots cast for priests to determine 0:32:20.850 --> 0:32:24.180 what role they filled while on duty in the temple? 0:32:24.210 --> 0:32:27.360 Did this have anything to do with Urim and Thummim? 0:32:27.660 --> 0:32:30.570 I don't believe it was connected with the Urim and Thummim. 0:32:30.570 --> 0:32:33.900 I say that because apparently that was used to provide 0:32:33.900 --> 0:32:36.360 kind of a yes no answer to a specific question, 0:32:36.360 --> 0:32:39.330 depending on which stone the high priest pulled out of 0:32:39.330 --> 0:32:42.480 the breastplate. The way the priests were selected was by 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:44.760 drawing lots. This could have been as simple as having 0:32:44.760 --> 0:32:47.130 the names of the different families on on bits of 0:32:47.130 --> 0:32:49.620 pottery or some other item that was then drawn from 0:32:49.620 --> 0:32:52.410 a basket. We don't know the exact details, but the 0:32:52.410 --> 0:32:56.550 process likely became formalized as the number of priests increased. 0:32:56.550 --> 0:33:00.180 But whatever method they used, the assumption was the method 0:33:00.180 --> 0:33:02.760 being chosen was random, which made sure that ultimately it 0:33:02.760 --> 0:33:05.880 was God who was determining the specific selection. 0:33:05.880 --> 0:33:08.880 One more question about priests is there a current role 0:33:08.880 --> 0:33:10.380 of the priest today? 0:33:10.620 --> 0:33:13.560 Yeah, and actually there is the word Cohen is the 0:33:13.560 --> 0:33:15.570 name of a priest or name for a priest. And 0:33:15.570 --> 0:33:18.840 so many Jewish individuals with that name. No, their descendants 0:33:18.840 --> 0:33:22.050 of Aaron, the Temple Mount faithful has been working on 0:33:22.050 --> 0:33:25.920 making priestly garments and other items for that still future temple, 0:33:25.920 --> 0:33:28.560 and they're also conducting training to help. These would be 0:33:28.560 --> 0:33:32.100 priests know all the detailed rituals connected with the temple 0:33:32.100 --> 0:33:36.480 and temple sacrifice. There's also an annual Priestly Blessing performed 0:33:36.480 --> 0:33:38.790 at the Western Wall, though I'm not sure how they 0:33:38.790 --> 0:33:42.030 choose which priests get to perform the actual blessing. 0:33:42.300 --> 0:33:46.050 Jimmy wants to know how long were the Israelites enslaved 0:33:46.050 --> 0:33:49.590 in Egypt, adding, she really appreciates the program and looks 0:33:49.590 --> 0:33:51.360 forward to listening to it every week. 0:33:51.690 --> 0:33:54.450 Well, that's a straightforward question, but it has something of 0:33:54.450 --> 0:33:56.580 a complicated answer. But I'll try and keep it here 0:33:56.580 --> 0:33:58.950 as simple as I can. I start with two major 0:33:58.950 --> 0:34:03.930 scriptures that set the basic parameters. The first is Genesis 1513. 0:34:03.930 --> 0:34:07.110 God said to Abraham there, know for certain that your 0:34:07.110 --> 0:34:10.020 offspring will be sojourners in a land that's not theirs, 0:34:10.020 --> 0:34:12.210 and they'll be servants there, and they'll be afflicted for 0:34:12.210 --> 0:34:15.330 400 years. The second is right at the time of 0:34:15.330 --> 0:34:19.650 the Exodus and Exodus 12, verses 40 and 41, Moses wrote, 0:34:19.650 --> 0:34:22.020 the time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt 0:34:22.020 --> 0:34:25.500 was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on 0:34:25.530 --> 0:34:28.259 that very day, all the hosts of Israel went out 0:34:28.260 --> 0:34:30.569 from the land of Egypt. Now, as I see it, 0:34:30.570 --> 0:34:33.690 there's two major problems. And the first is textual, some 0:34:33.690 --> 0:34:38.700 Septuagint translations. And Josephus, the Jewish historian, suggests that the 0:34:38.700 --> 0:34:42.420 400 or 430 years were from the time of Abraham 0:34:42.420 --> 0:34:44.850 to the Exodus, and that Israel was only in Egypt 0:34:44.850 --> 0:34:48.270 for 215 of those years. However, I think the best 0:34:48.270 --> 0:34:51.150 manuscript evidence suggests that it should be read as it 0:34:51.150 --> 0:34:54.359 is in our Bibles. That is, it's 400 or 430 0:34:54.360 --> 0:34:57.029 years in those two passages. And that difference can be 0:34:57.030 --> 0:34:59.490 understood in in terms of the first passage being a 0:34:59.489 --> 0:35:03.420 rounded number 400, while the second gives the exact number 0:35:03.420 --> 0:35:06.060 of years. Now, the second problem, though, is the question 0:35:06.060 --> 0:35:08.850 of how long Israel was oppressed while in Egypt, and 0:35:08.850 --> 0:35:12.390 at first Genesis 15 seems to suggest that the persecution 0:35:12.390 --> 0:35:16.259 lasted that whole length of time. But the specific details 0:35:16.260 --> 0:35:19.380 suggest the 400 years refers to more than just the 0:35:19.380 --> 0:35:22.200 time of persecution. It also includes the time, he says, 0:35:22.200 --> 0:35:25.379 when you'll be sojourners in a land that's not theirs, 0:35:25.380 --> 0:35:28.319 and the time when they would be servants there. The 0:35:28.320 --> 0:35:31.620 actual time of persecution was part of that time, but 0:35:31.620 --> 0:35:36.090 only part. Exodus one round, verses 6 to 12, pictures 0:35:36.090 --> 0:35:39.450 Israel's transition in Egypt from a place of privilege under 0:35:39.450 --> 0:35:42.960 Joseph to a place of slavery and persecution. And we're 0:35:42.960 --> 0:35:45.270 not told the exact number of years that the Israelites 0:35:45.270 --> 0:35:48.480 were actually enslaved. But we know it extended from before 0:35:48.480 --> 0:35:51.000 the birth of Moses until the time of the Exodus. 0:35:51.000 --> 0:35:53.190 And Moses was 80 years old at that time, so 0:35:53.190 --> 0:35:55.380 it had to be at least 80 years. 0:35:55.380 --> 0:35:58.529 Last question is there a specific word for the belief 0:35:58.530 --> 0:36:01.860 that God chose believers because he knew that they would 0:36:01.860 --> 0:36:04.020 say yes to the salvation call? 0:36:04.020 --> 0:36:07.080 Yeah, that's called conditional election. And it's belief that God 0:36:07.080 --> 0:36:09.450 looked ahead, saw who'd placed their trust in Christ, and 0:36:09.450 --> 0:36:12.300 then elected them to be saved based on the decision 0:36:12.300 --> 0:36:14.580 he knew they'd make. Now, the problem with that view, 0:36:14.580 --> 0:36:18.240 it doesn't match passages like Ephesians one where God says 0:36:18.239 --> 0:36:21.090 he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, 0:36:21.090 --> 0:36:24.210 and he predestined us to adoption as sons. Now I 0:36:24.210 --> 0:36:27.029 have a problem reconciling that with the belief in Romans eight, 0:36:27.030 --> 0:36:29.339 where it says, he those he predestined, he called, those 0:36:29.340 --> 0:36:32.280 he called, he justified. So God did predestined believers. And 0:36:32.280 --> 0:36:34.380 yet at the same time, I know I made a 0:36:34.380 --> 0:36:36.689 choice when I chose to place my faith in Christ. 0:36:36.690 --> 0:36:39.899 I can't reconcile how I put those two together, but 0:36:39.900 --> 0:36:41.880 I believe them both because God said both. 0:36:41.910 --> 0:36:44.520 Well, I hope you'll stick around next for Charlie's devotional 0:36:44.520 --> 0:37:00.469 that's here on the land and the book. Well, it's 0:37:00.469 --> 0:37:02.720 that time of year again. Time when a whole lot 0:37:02.719 --> 0:37:06.200 of people go about setting up some New Year's resolutions. 0:37:06.200 --> 0:37:08.360 I'm John Geiger with our host, Charlie Dyer, and I'm 0:37:08.360 --> 0:37:11.090 gonna just put you against the wall here, Charlie, asking, 0:37:11.090 --> 0:37:14.360 do you ever set up New Year's resolutions yourself? 0:37:14.510 --> 0:37:17.060 I do not, as I've lived life, I found out 0:37:17.060 --> 0:37:19.220 that I better not make a resolution than to make it, 0:37:19.219 --> 0:37:21.110 and then feel guilty for not fulfilling it. 0:37:21.110 --> 0:37:24.710 Nevertheless, you have focused today's devotion on New Year's resolutions. 0:37:24.710 --> 0:37:25.520 Where are we going? 0:37:25.850 --> 0:37:28.190 We're actually heading to Ecclesiastes 12. We're going to talk 0:37:28.190 --> 0:37:30.529 to Solomon about a good New Year's resolution. 0:37:30.530 --> 0:37:32.960 All right. All of that and more as we first 0:37:32.960 --> 0:37:36.410 hear this Holy Land experience testimony from someone who's been 0:37:36.410 --> 0:37:39.470 to Israel and wanted to share this with you and me. 0:37:43.620 --> 0:37:46.590 Hi, my name is Debbie and I went to Israel 0:37:46.590 --> 0:37:50.040 in 1998 and when I found when I went to 0:37:50.040 --> 0:37:55.500 Israel is I was expecting this going home experience. But 0:37:55.500 --> 0:37:59.310 it wasn't that for me. What happened was, is that 0:37:59.310 --> 0:38:02.640 all these wonderful parables and stories that I had learned 0:38:02.640 --> 0:38:05.970 about in Scripture came to life, and there were questions 0:38:05.969 --> 0:38:08.940 that were answered for me as an American living in 0:38:08.940 --> 0:38:11.430 this country that could never have been answered unless I 0:38:11.430 --> 0:38:16.500 was there actually seeing the landscape, most specifically the Sea 0:38:16.500 --> 0:38:21.120 of Galilee, the story of the disciples screaming for fear 0:38:21.120 --> 0:38:22.620 when they were in the boat in the middle of 0:38:22.620 --> 0:38:24.810 a storm, in the middle of the night. The questions 0:38:24.810 --> 0:38:27.960 were answered for me. Why were they so terrified? And 0:38:27.960 --> 0:38:29.880 when you see the Sea of Galilee at night, you 0:38:29.880 --> 0:38:33.810 understand very clearly, and you understand why it was such 0:38:33.810 --> 0:38:36.270 a magnificent story, and there was so much to learn 0:38:36.270 --> 0:38:40.320 from that. I highly recommend going to Israel. It's a 0:38:40.320 --> 0:38:43.649 wonderful experience and it does draw you closer and nearer 0:38:43.650 --> 0:38:45.719 to God than you could ever possibly imagine. 0:38:47.760 --> 0:38:50.970 Well, we could all use some wisdom, and particularly at 0:38:50.969 --> 0:38:52.830 a time when we're looking at a brand new year, 0:38:52.830 --> 0:38:56.339 maybe setting up some resolutions. Charlie, I'll let you take 0:38:56.340 --> 0:38:57.060 it from there. 0:38:57.060 --> 0:38:59.700 Ah, thanks, John. Yeah? The new year is upon us. 0:38:59.700 --> 0:39:02.760 It's time to make that New Year's resolution. Right. Well, 0:39:02.760 --> 0:39:05.730 before you do, here are the results of recent research 0:39:05.730 --> 0:39:10.020 on the effectiveness of last year's resolutions. Just 8% of 0:39:10.020 --> 0:39:14.940 people fully achieved their New Year's goals, while 80% totally failed. 0:39:15.360 --> 0:39:19.320 Another group analyzed more than 31 million health related resolutions 0:39:19.320 --> 0:39:22.590 posted online last year, and they pinpointed the date when 0:39:22.590 --> 0:39:26.549 most people reported failing. It was January 12th, less than 0:39:26.550 --> 0:39:29.819 two weeks into the new year. We're heading to Jerusalem 0:39:29.820 --> 0:39:33.029 this cold December day to discover why this is so, 0:39:33.030 --> 0:39:36.029 and what we can do to set achievable resolutions for 0:39:36.030 --> 0:39:38.609 the new year, and our expert on the subject is 0:39:38.610 --> 0:39:41.609 going to be none other than King Solomon himself. Now, 0:39:41.610 --> 0:39:44.040 as we approach the entrance to his palace, just below 0:39:44.040 --> 0:39:47.580 the temple, we spot Solomon walking out toward us. He 0:39:47.580 --> 0:39:50.609 appears to be older than we first imagined. We're visiting 0:39:50.610 --> 0:39:53.130 Solomon near the end of his 40 year reign, but 0:39:53.130 --> 0:39:56.250 though he's only in his early 60s, he appears gaunt 0:39:56.250 --> 0:39:59.040 and stooped, as if he's been carrying the weight of 0:39:59.040 --> 0:40:03.060 responsibility on his shoulders for far too long. He has 0:40:03.060 --> 0:40:05.790 a woolen cloak wrapped around his shoulders to guard against 0:40:05.790 --> 0:40:09.630 the chilly wind. Sweeping down across the top of Mount Moriah. 0:40:09.630 --> 0:40:12.600 He pauses and motions for us to join him and 0:40:12.600 --> 0:40:15.510 follow him back up the stairs and into the relative 0:40:15.510 --> 0:40:18.690 warmth of his amazing palace, the House of the Forest 0:40:18.690 --> 0:40:21.989 of Lebanon, so named because of all the cedar trees 0:40:21.989 --> 0:40:26.430 imported and used as pillars inside. As we enter, Solomon 0:40:26.430 --> 0:40:30.840 looks closely at our clothes. Our brightly colored squall jackets, jeans, 0:40:30.840 --> 0:40:34.320 and waterproof hiking boots are definitely out of place among 0:40:34.320 --> 0:40:37.680 the sandals, tunics and woolen shawls of the palace servants 0:40:37.680 --> 0:40:41.250 and guards. But perhaps pretending not to notice, he says, 0:40:41.250 --> 0:40:44.160 what can I help you with today? Well, we're here 0:40:44.160 --> 0:40:46.230 because back in our day, it's the beginning of a 0:40:46.230 --> 0:40:49.739 new year, and every new year, people make resolutions about 0:40:49.739 --> 0:40:51.780 what they want to change in their lives, how to 0:40:51.780 --> 0:40:55.710 better themselves. But for the most part, we fail miserably. 0:40:55.710 --> 0:40:58.290 Do you have any thoughts on why that's so and 0:40:58.290 --> 0:41:00.810 what we can do to be more successful in achieving 0:41:00.810 --> 0:41:04.200 our goals as we start the new year of? Solomon 0:41:04.200 --> 0:41:07.319 smiles and looks at us with warm but weary eyes 0:41:07.320 --> 0:41:11.009 that let us know he understands the struggle we face. Well, 0:41:11.010 --> 0:41:13.140 let me share with you what I recently wrote and 0:41:13.140 --> 0:41:16.530 what I believe will be my final summary of life's wisdom. 0:41:16.530 --> 0:41:18.960 And he reaches for a leather scroll on a nearby 0:41:18.960 --> 0:41:23.160 table and begins to unroll it. First. Remember this what 0:41:23.160 --> 0:41:26.100 you're facing is nothing new. Does this sound like the 0:41:26.100 --> 0:41:28.590 struggle you faced the first of the new year and 0:41:28.590 --> 0:41:31.800 every other day that follows. And then he begins reading 0:41:31.800 --> 0:41:35.430 from the scroll. What has been will be again. What 0:41:35.430 --> 0:41:38.550 has been done will be done again. There's nothing new 0:41:38.550 --> 0:41:41.550 under the sun. My point here is that the struggle 0:41:41.550 --> 0:41:44.250 you face trying to follow through on your goals is 0:41:44.250 --> 0:41:48.810 nothing new. Life and human nature haven't changed. Now you 0:41:48.810 --> 0:41:52.410 might think that your new gadgets, your smartphones, fitness watches 0:41:52.410 --> 0:41:55.770 and software programs should make a difference. We don't have 0:41:55.770 --> 0:41:58.530 those here in my day yet the principles behind them 0:41:58.530 --> 0:42:02.670 have always existed. I may not have an electric calendar program, 0:42:02.670 --> 0:42:05.520 but I can scratch notes and reminders to myself on 0:42:05.520 --> 0:42:08.550 broken pieces of pottery. Here's how I describe that in 0:42:08.550 --> 0:42:12.180 my book. Is there anything of which one can say, look, 0:42:12.180 --> 0:42:15.930 this is something new. It was here already long ago. 0:42:15.930 --> 0:42:19.470 It was here before our time. We set goals and 0:42:19.469 --> 0:42:22.800 we have ways to remind ourselves to follow through. And sadly, 0:42:22.800 --> 0:42:26.340 we also fail. Just like you, you seem to focus 0:42:26.340 --> 0:42:29.580 a great deal on trying to find personal satisfaction, to 0:42:29.580 --> 0:42:32.790 recapture the vigor of youth, to discover the elusive goals 0:42:32.790 --> 0:42:37.110 of happiness, fulfillment, and contentment. From what I hear, many 0:42:37.110 --> 0:42:39.810 of your resolutions focus on ways to stay healthy and 0:42:39.810 --> 0:42:42.660 push back the march of time that causes your eyes to. 0:42:42.760 --> 0:42:45.820 To grow. Dim your shoulders to stoop. Your hair to 0:42:45.820 --> 0:42:48.610 turn white or fall out. And your arms and legs 0:42:48.610 --> 0:42:52.330 to lose their strength. And every year you fail only 0:42:52.330 --> 0:42:55.750 to try again the following year. Perhaps the problem is 0:42:55.750 --> 0:42:59.230 that you're focusing on the wrong New Year's resolution. As 0:42:59.230 --> 0:43:01.570 I share in this book, I also spent much of 0:43:01.570 --> 0:43:05.379 my life trying to find personal satisfaction and fulfillment in 0:43:05.380 --> 0:43:09.489 many different ways. But as I sadly discovered, each turned 0:43:09.489 --> 0:43:13.150 out to be meaningless, like trying to chase after the wind. 0:43:13.719 --> 0:43:17.050 We're stunned by Solomon's blunt words. If the New Year's 0:43:17.050 --> 0:43:20.229 resolutions we've been making are doomed to failure, then what's 0:43:20.230 --> 0:43:24.130 the answer? Should we simply give up, drift aimlessly through life? 0:43:24.130 --> 0:43:28.960 Never said any goals. As if knowing our thoughts, Solomon continues. 0:43:29.320 --> 0:43:31.870 The problem is that most goals we tend to set 0:43:31.870 --> 0:43:36.310 for ourselves are shallow and self-serving. We want to improve ourselves, 0:43:36.310 --> 0:43:41.350 find personal satisfaction for ourselves, achieve for ourselves. Our goals 0:43:41.350 --> 0:43:46.180 are self focused, and then life intervenes. Delays, disruptions, and 0:43:46.180 --> 0:43:49.630 discouragement cause most of us to give up. But it's 0:43:49.630 --> 0:43:52.960 even worse for the small number who succeed. Once they 0:43:52.960 --> 0:43:56.500 achieve their goal, their sense of satisfaction is short lived. 0:43:56.560 --> 0:44:00.940 Now what do they do? They must set new, higher goals, 0:44:00.940 --> 0:44:03.640 or they have to keep working to maintain whatever level 0:44:03.640 --> 0:44:07.870 of progress they've achieved, or else they find themselves slipping back. 0:44:07.870 --> 0:44:10.480 But if the goals we focused on, like those in 0:44:10.480 --> 0:44:14.020 most New Year's resolutions, are a recipe for failure, then 0:44:14.020 --> 0:44:17.080 is there any worthwhile goal that we ought to focus 0:44:17.080 --> 0:44:21.070 on for the coming year? Solomon chuckles and turns back 0:44:21.070 --> 0:44:24.339 to the scroll, unrolling it nearly to the other end. 0:44:24.340 --> 0:44:27.490 He searches for the words he knows are there. Spotting them, 0:44:27.489 --> 0:44:31.120 he begins reading. Now all has been heard. Here's the 0:44:31.120 --> 0:44:34.900 conclusion of the matter fear God and keep his commandments, 0:44:34.900 --> 0:44:38.200 for this is the whole duty of man. The key 0:44:38.200 --> 0:44:40.630 for your new year is to focus not on yourselves, 0:44:40.630 --> 0:44:43.660 but on God. As I wrote in the book of Proverbs, 0:44:43.660 --> 0:44:46.089 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 0:44:46.210 --> 0:44:49.300 To fear God is to have a true, reverential awe 0:44:49.300 --> 0:44:53.140 of who God really is. It's understanding his power and 0:44:53.140 --> 0:44:57.669 might and wisdom and holiness and his love and compassion. 0:44:57.670 --> 0:45:00.580 The best goal for the New Year, and for every 0:45:00.580 --> 0:45:03.460 single day in that year, is to work hard to 0:45:03.460 --> 0:45:06.549 learn more about God. And you do that by getting 0:45:06.550 --> 0:45:09.069 into the message he left for you in His Word. 0:45:09.070 --> 0:45:13.390 Note that my final goal is twofold Fear God and 0:45:13.390 --> 0:45:17.800 also to keep his commandments. So what you're telling us then, 0:45:17.800 --> 0:45:20.500 is that the best New Year's resolution we can make 0:45:20.500 --> 0:45:22.600 is to get to know God in a deeper and 0:45:22.600 --> 0:45:24.820 more intimate way, and that the best way to do 0:45:24.820 --> 0:45:28.630 that is to spend more time in his word. Solomon nods. 0:45:28.660 --> 0:45:32.080 You've just described the most practical and beneficial New Year's 0:45:32.080 --> 0:45:36.160 resolution you can make. Now don't misunderstand. There's nothing wrong 0:45:36.160 --> 0:45:39.310 with trying to exercise, eat right, and live as healthful 0:45:39.310 --> 0:45:42.430 away as possible. In fact, I understand that someone wrote 0:45:42.430 --> 0:45:44.710 about that in a later part of God's Word which 0:45:44.710 --> 0:45:48.339 you possess. Let's see if I remember it correctly. Physical 0:45:48.340 --> 0:45:51.430 training is of some value, but godliness has value for 0:45:51.430 --> 0:45:54.700 all things, holding promise for both the present life and 0:45:54.700 --> 0:45:59.020 life to come. And the word for training there is gimnasia, 0:45:59.020 --> 0:46:02.920 which means exercise, and from which you get the word gymnasium. 0:46:03.160 --> 0:46:06.459 So you see, exercise does have some value, but your 0:46:06.460 --> 0:46:09.969 real New Year's resolution should focus on godliness. Or as 0:46:09.969 --> 0:46:13.660 I said in my book, Fear God and keep his commandments. 0:46:13.660 --> 0:46:16.660 Make that your new Year's resolution and you will not 0:46:16.660 --> 0:46:20.589 go wrong. And still smiling, Solomon walks us to the 0:46:20.590 --> 0:46:23.860 door and waves goodbye as we head toward home. 0:46:24.460 --> 0:46:27.760 Boy, that's powerful Charlie. What a picture! A conversation with 0:46:27.760 --> 0:46:31.390 Solomon himself. Thank you for sharing that devotional. If you'd 0:46:31.390 --> 0:46:33.279 like to play it again, and now's a great day 0:46:33.280 --> 0:46:35.290 to do it. As we head into this new year, 0:46:35.320 --> 0:46:37.900 why not head to our website, The land and the 0:46:37.900 --> 0:46:42.310 book org, the land and the book org. Been a 0:46:42.310 --> 0:46:44.980 great year with you, and I hope you'll join us 0:46:44.980 --> 0:46:47.800 again for a brand new broadcast, brand new season, brand 0:46:47.800 --> 0:46:50.980 new year next time here on the land and the book, 0:46:50.980 --> 0:46:54.910 a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.