WEBVTT - The Remarkable Jacob Gartenhaus 0:00:08.060 --> 0:00:11.480 Jacob came to America from Israel with one goal in 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:14.570 mind to make money and lots of it. But then 0:00:14.570 --> 0:00:18.710 he met the Messiah. Immediately Jacob lost his home, his job, 0:00:18.710 --> 0:00:21.739 and all hope for the future. Still, he shared about 0:00:21.739 --> 0:00:26.180 Christ fearlessly, even when physically assaulted. Coming up, the remarkable 0:00:26.180 --> 0:00:29.420 story of Jacob Garlinghouse. Plus, we'll bring you all the 0:00:29.420 --> 0:00:33.230 headlines from the Middle East from a biblical perspective. Welcome 0:00:33.229 --> 0:00:35.510 back to the land and the book. Our host is 0:00:35.510 --> 0:00:40.040 Israel expert Doctor Charlie Dyer, and I'm John Geiger. You know, Charlie, 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.530 Passover will soon be upon us. And one of the 0:00:42.530 --> 0:00:46.580 traditional Passover questions is what makes this night different from 0:00:46.580 --> 0:00:50.659 all others? Passover, of course, is an important biblical holiday, 0:00:50.659 --> 0:00:54.560 has great meaning for both Jewish people and believers in Jesus. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.870 So I think this is a great question to ask. 0:00:56.930 --> 0:00:59.990 It really is John, especially with Passover just around the corner. 0:00:59.990 --> 0:01:02.000 And if you want to learn more about what makes 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:05.059 Passover so special, our friends at Life in Messiah are 0:01:05.060 --> 0:01:08.180 offering to mail you a free copy of their Messianic 0:01:08.180 --> 0:01:11.720 Passover Haggadah. The booklet will lead you through the celebration 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:15.530 of Passover to see the rich connections to Jesus, our Messiah, 0:01:15.530 --> 0:01:18.380 and the Last Supper. You'll also receive a link for 0:01:18.380 --> 0:01:22.399 an interactive Passover Seder video with the Haggadah and video. 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:26.209 You can celebrate Passover this year with your family and friends. 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.730 Now to get this free offer, just go to Life 0:01:28.730 --> 0:01:31.970 in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button 0:01:31.970 --> 0:01:35.300 to find out more and request your copy. That's life 0:01:35.300 --> 0:01:37.340 in messiah.org. 0:01:37.730 --> 0:01:40.340 And now let's swing our focus toward current events from 0:01:40.340 --> 0:01:42.800 the Middle East. The top news story this past week 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:46.370 was Iran's attack on Israel. Of course, last week you 0:01:46.370 --> 0:01:49.070 mentioned the likelihood of an imminent attack, and it actually 0:01:49.070 --> 0:01:53.060 took place last Saturday night. How successful was that attack 0:01:53.060 --> 0:01:55.100 and what do you think might come next? 0:01:55.130 --> 0:01:57.470 Well, in terms of what Iran hoped to accomplish, the 0:01:57.470 --> 0:02:02.060 attack was a failure. Iran launched 170 attack drones, 30 0:02:02.060 --> 0:02:06.290 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles, and all but a 0:02:06.290 --> 0:02:10.280 handful were destroyed before ever getting close to their intended target. 0:02:10.310 --> 0:02:13.639 One key element in thwarting the attack was the dramatic 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:17.570 show of support for Israel by the United States, Britain, Jordan, 0:02:17.570 --> 0:02:20.600 France and even some Gulf states. They helped shoot down 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.600 over 100 drones as well as some of the other missiles, 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.690 while Israel handled all the rest. Most of the ballistic 0:02:26.690 --> 0:02:30.859 missiles Iran fired were intercepted by Israel's long range arrow 0:02:30.860 --> 0:02:33.470 air defense system, though a few managed to hit an 0:02:33.470 --> 0:02:37.880 Israeli air base in southern Israel, causing minor damage. Apparently, 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.880 the attack focused on a strategic air base in Israel. 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.150 Iran hoped to severely damaged the base, but they failed 0:02:44.150 --> 0:02:47.150 to do so. What happens next is the more difficult 0:02:47.150 --> 0:02:50.480 question to answer. Israel said it will retaliate at the 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.769 appropriate time. President Biden and the US administration are urging 0:02:54.770 --> 0:02:58.340 Israel not to respond militarily, because it could pull Washington 0:02:58.340 --> 0:03:01.520 into a wider Middle East conflict. The US said it 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.359 wouldn't help in any response. The intervention by the US, Britain, 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.350 France and Jordan helped Israel defeat Iran's attack. Had they 0:03:09.350 --> 0:03:12.350 not done so, the outcome could have been somewhat different. Now, 0:03:12.350 --> 0:03:15.680 as a result, Israel has acknowledged those who just came 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.800 to their aid and who are now urging restraint. The 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.890 lack of casualties gives Israel the freedom to be more 0:03:21.889 --> 0:03:25.520 selective in how to respond. The only serious casualty was 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.520 to a young Bedouin girl injured by shrapnel from an 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:32.960 intercepted ballistic missile. It's easier to exercise restraint and patience 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:37.340 when there isn't a rising death toll. Still, Israel will respond. 0:03:37.370 --> 0:03:41.150 The only questions are when and how will they attack 0:03:41.150 --> 0:03:44.840 Iran directly? Or will they try to attack Iran's allies, Hezbollah, 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:49.130 Syria and the Houthis to weaken Iran's grip on the region? 0:03:49.250 --> 0:03:52.640 The bottom line is that Iran launched a significant attack 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.970 and it was repulsed with minimal damage. Right now, that's 0:03:55.970 --> 0:03:58.790 something of a victory for Israel. The systems they put 0:03:58.790 --> 0:04:01.160 in place and the alliance that's being forged in the 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.940 Middle East were all working just as planned. But there's 0:04:04.940 --> 0:04:08.119 still another chapter in this drama that's yet to be written, 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:09.620 and we'll have to wait and see what that's going 0:04:09.620 --> 0:04:10.250 to be. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.860 It seems to me, if Israel does not respond in 0:04:12.860 --> 0:04:16.130 some way, that only emboldens Iran further. Am I twisted 0:04:16.130 --> 0:04:18.080 in my thinking? What are your thoughts now? 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.080 You're right on target. That's in fact what Israel's leadership 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.750 is saying. We've got to show Iran there's a price 0:04:23.750 --> 0:04:26.120 to pay for doing something like this, because this is 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.990 the first direct attack on Israel from Iran in Israel's history. 0:04:29.990 --> 0:04:32.600 And they can't let that pass by without responding. 0:04:32.630 --> 0:04:35.270 One last question. Had those missiles or some of them 0:04:35.270 --> 0:04:38.900 hit a hospital, hit a school, killed 150 people at 0:04:38.900 --> 0:04:41.300 that point, do you think Israel might have and should 0:04:41.300 --> 0:04:44.420 it happen in the future, would they go after Iran 0:04:44.420 --> 0:04:47.270 in a much bigger way, perhaps striking at their nuclear weapons? 0:04:47.300 --> 0:04:49.010 It would be a much larger response, and it would 0:04:49.010 --> 0:04:51.740 have been more immediate. It would have already taken place. Yeah. 0:04:51.740 --> 0:04:54.830 Israel has the luxury of taking their time and giving 0:04:54.830 --> 0:04:58.190 a measured response only because the attack was so futile 0:04:58.190 --> 0:04:59.540 in terms of what it accomplished. 0:04:59.570 --> 0:05:01.700 This is the land in the book from Modi Radio 0:05:01.700 --> 0:05:04.310 with our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer. I'm John Geiger. It's 0:05:04.310 --> 0:05:06.979 a look at current events from the week and this. 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.170 Coming week is Passover. What impact do you think Passover 0:05:10.170 --> 0:05:12.930 will have on Israel in light of the current conflict 0:05:12.930 --> 0:05:14.070 in the Middle East? Charlie? 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.350 You know, I'm reminded of an old joke in Judaism 0:05:16.350 --> 0:05:19.530 that summarizes Jewish history this way. They tried to kill us. 0:05:19.529 --> 0:05:23.279 We survived. Let's eat. And certainly that narrative fits Passover, 0:05:23.430 --> 0:05:26.940 the first of Israel's cycle of annual feasts. Israel's existence 0:05:26.940 --> 0:05:30.750 was threatened by Pharaoh. God provided deliverance, and the feast 0:05:30.750 --> 0:05:33.839 of Passover was instituted to remember that this year, the 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:37.410 theme of Passover and God's deliverance seems, I think, especially 0:05:37.410 --> 0:05:40.890 appropriate from the genocidal attack on the Jewish people. On 0:05:40.890 --> 0:05:45.240 October 7th, through a rising tide of anti-Semitism worldwide to 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.870 Iran's failed missile attack, and through it all, God continues 0:05:48.870 --> 0:05:52.500 to watch over his people. From a human perspective, Israel 0:05:52.500 --> 0:05:55.860 does face powerful enemies. I mean committed to their destruction. 0:05:55.860 --> 0:05:59.580 But Passover is a reminder that God's greater than those enemies. 0:05:59.580 --> 0:06:02.460 The current situation. It reminds me of the first three 0:06:02.460 --> 0:06:05.729 verses of Psalm 124 if the Lord had not been 0:06:05.730 --> 0:06:07.919 on our side, let Israel say, if the Lord had 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.130 not been on our side when men attacked us, when 0:06:11.130 --> 0:06:14.339 their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed 0:06:14.339 --> 0:06:18.299 us alive. Thankfully, God continues to deliver his people. And 0:06:18.300 --> 0:06:21.930 that's the reality emphasized in Passover. But we also know 0:06:21.930 --> 0:06:26.219 Passover pointed prophetically to the ultimate Passover lamb, Jesus, whose 0:06:26.220 --> 0:06:30.150 blood was shed to provide deliverance from sin. That reality 0:06:30.150 --> 0:06:33.180 isn't understood by most in Israel today, though there is 0:06:33.180 --> 0:06:36.780 an ever growing believing remnant and believers there are sharing 0:06:36.779 --> 0:06:40.080 the good news with many still struggling with fear. We 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.240 need to pray for the witness of those believers, and 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.960 we need to ask God to continue watching over his people. 0:06:45.990 --> 0:06:49.440 Well, the conflict between Israel and Iran crowded out most 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.380 news coverage on the war with Gaza. But what's been 0:06:52.380 --> 0:06:56.010 happening in the negotiations with Hamas over those hostages? 0:06:56.220 --> 0:06:59.250 Now, sadly, the negotiations took a backseat to the threats 0:06:59.250 --> 0:07:02.789 of Iran. Hamas rejected the most recent proposal that would 0:07:02.790 --> 0:07:06.930 have released 40 hostages. One reason for the rejection is 0:07:06.930 --> 0:07:10.500 that Hamas might not have 40 live hostages they can 0:07:10.500 --> 0:07:13.860 even offer in the deal. U.S. and Israeli officials fear 0:07:13.860 --> 0:07:17.310 that most of the remaining hostages might be dead. Some 0:07:17.310 --> 0:07:20.040 might have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, but others died 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.190 of wounds they received when they were captured by Hamas, 0:07:23.190 --> 0:07:26.550 and still others have apparently died from being tortured or 0:07:26.550 --> 0:07:31.110 executed by Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters. Hamas might be 0:07:31.110 --> 0:07:34.260 unwilling to release some of the remaining hostages, because they're 0:07:34.260 --> 0:07:37.290 using them as human shields to protect their own leadership, 0:07:37.290 --> 0:07:40.710 or because of the reports these hostages would give up 0:07:40.710 --> 0:07:45.030 being tortured and sexually abused while in captivity. Some news 0:07:45.030 --> 0:07:48.420 reports are suggesting Prime Minister Netanyahu is just indifferent to 0:07:48.420 --> 0:07:50.700 the fate of the hostages, and a deal could have 0:07:50.700 --> 0:07:53.550 been reached if he'd had just been more willing. And 0:07:53.550 --> 0:07:57.120 I can understand the anguish of families making charges like that. 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.790 But when the charges are being made by those just 0:07:59.790 --> 0:08:03.720 because they're opposed to Netanyahu, well, that's not helpful. First, 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.260 the price being demanded by Hamas is just too great. 0:08:07.470 --> 0:08:10.050 It would require Israel to pull out of Gaza, leaving 0:08:10.050 --> 0:08:13.470 Hamas still in control with freedom to rebuild their military 0:08:13.470 --> 0:08:16.620 arsenal and their forces. It would embolden Hamas to attack 0:08:16.620 --> 0:08:20.340 again and continue to take hostages, knowing Israel will always 0:08:20.340 --> 0:08:23.880 back down. And also, Prime Minister Netanyahu has to balance 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.540 the hostage negotiations against the greater needs of the nation. 0:08:27.540 --> 0:08:31.920 You know, 130 hostages are significant, but so are 80,000 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.130 Israeli evacuees from the north who can't return home, or 0:08:35.130 --> 0:08:38.280 the nuclear threat from Iran, or the sacrifice already made 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.579 by hundreds of Israeli soldiers who gave their lives trying 0:08:41.580 --> 0:08:44.640 to defeat Hamas. The prime minister needs to focus on 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:48.450 the big picture, even if it sometimes makes him look uncaring. 0:08:48.450 --> 0:08:53.670 His older brother died rescuing hostages from Entebbe back in 1976, 0:08:53.670 --> 0:08:57.360 so he understands personally the price that sometimes needs to 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.270 be paid and the impact it can have on a family. 0:09:00.270 --> 0:09:03.059 People might be able to criticize him on other issues, 0:09:03.059 --> 0:09:06.210 but saying he doesn't care about the hostages is a 0:09:06.210 --> 0:09:09.390 political cheap shot that I believe just isn't true. 0:09:09.450 --> 0:09:12.569 Charlie, with Hamas being as brazen as they are in 0:09:12.570 --> 0:09:14.730 holding out, it seems to me there apparently isn't yet 0:09:14.730 --> 0:09:17.910 enough pressure on them. Is there any scenario in which 0:09:17.910 --> 0:09:20.910 they would feel pressured to release at least more of 0:09:20.910 --> 0:09:22.020 those hostages? 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.630 Sadly, I think an attack on Rafah is probably the 0:09:24.630 --> 0:09:28.260 one issue that will put that pressure on them. But 0:09:28.410 --> 0:09:30.360 right now, the US and others are trying to force 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:31.710 Israel not to do that. Yeah. 0:09:31.980 --> 0:09:34.800 Well, we're being told that the future of transportation is 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.130 electric cars, and for some they make sense. Others struggle 0:09:38.130 --> 0:09:41.880 with practical drawbacks like a lack of charging facilities and 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.209 range anxiety, wondering if they'll have enough power to make 0:09:45.210 --> 0:09:47.910 it back home. And that's where an Israeli startup called 0:09:47.910 --> 0:09:51.540 Battery and Thomas come in. Tell us about this innovation 0:09:51.540 --> 0:09:53.459 solution from Amazing Israel. 0:09:53.460 --> 0:09:55.469 You know, I don't own an electric car. A major 0:09:55.470 --> 0:09:57.690 reason happens to be the stories of those who struggle 0:09:57.690 --> 0:10:01.290 to get their car recharged. Even if charging stations are available, 0:10:01.290 --> 0:10:03.420 they can be out of service or already taken by 0:10:03.420 --> 0:10:05.730 someone else who got there first. And that's where this 0:10:05.730 --> 0:10:09.380 new innovation from. Battery and Thomas comes in. Thomas is 0:10:09.380 --> 0:10:12.740 the name of a self-driving robot charger for cars. The 0:10:12.740 --> 0:10:16.339 company's plan is to set loose self-driving robots in parking garages, 0:10:16.340 --> 0:10:20.870 at corporations, residential buildings, shopping centers, hotels, anywhere there's a 0:10:20.870 --> 0:10:24.319 large number of cars. Thomas is a robotic charger that 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:28.040 roams the parking garage and provides rapid charging. Each Thomas 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.350 robot can charge up to 20 cars a day. The 0:10:30.350 --> 0:10:33.469 owner just uses a smartphone, enters the license plate number, 0:10:33.470 --> 0:10:36.350 indicates how much of a charge they need. Thomas locates 0:10:36.350 --> 0:10:39.199 the car by reading the license plate at night. Thomas 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.830 then recharges itself. Now, electric vehicles might be more attractive 0:10:42.830 --> 0:10:45.620 to commuters if they know Thomas is on duty to 0:10:45.620 --> 0:10:48.979 automatically recharge his or her vehicle at the parking lot, 0:10:48.980 --> 0:10:51.200 so it'll be ready for the drive home. And that's 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.780 another innovative concept from Amazing Israel. 0:10:53.780 --> 0:10:56.840 I love it. Great idea. Thank you. Up next, a 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:00.950 conversation with Ed Frampton about the remarkable Jacob Garlinghouse here 0:11:00.950 --> 0:11:18.110 on the land and the book. After coming to Christ, 0:11:18.110 --> 0:11:21.440 he was disowned by his family, fired from his job, 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:23.960 and evicted from his home. But that was just the 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.320 beginning of the story and you'll hear it all next. 0:11:27.350 --> 0:11:30.680 Welcome back to the land and the book. I'm John Jaeger, 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.020 and if you're new to the program, this second segment 0:11:33.020 --> 0:11:36.680 brings you a conversation with a difference maker, somebody impacting 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:39.380 the kingdom on behalf of Jewish people. We're going to 0:11:39.380 --> 0:11:43.579 get to the Odyssey of Jacob Garlinghouse after we pause 0:11:43.580 --> 0:11:46.490 for this thought on learning how to more effectively share 0:11:46.490 --> 0:11:49.880 Jesus with Jewish folks at work, or maybe in your neighborhood. 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.120 Listen to this. You want to connect with your Jewish friend? 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.690 Why not? When Passover rolls around, ask that Jewish friend 0:11:56.690 --> 0:12:00.500 what Passover means to them. Roy Schwartz is with Chosen 0:12:00.500 --> 0:12:02.420 People Ministries. What do you think they'll say? 0:12:02.780 --> 0:12:06.500 Well, probably it means we get to eat a great meal, 0:12:06.980 --> 0:12:10.820 a time for family to get together and to remember 0:12:10.820 --> 0:12:14.750 that were Jews and, uh, have a wonderful family gathering. 0:12:14.750 --> 0:12:17.570 It's it's a time of thanksgiving and family. 0:12:17.570 --> 0:12:19.880 So how do we turn that around, then, to a 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:21.230 conversation about Jesus? 0:12:21.230 --> 0:12:25.370 Well, I would suggest that, you know, as believers, you 0:12:25.370 --> 0:12:30.020 could celebrate Passover as well, because for us, it is 0:12:30.020 --> 0:12:34.520 a time of family. I mean, God never abrogated the Passover. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:38.150 He tells us to retell the story. And so you 0:12:38.150 --> 0:12:41.210 can share with your Jewish friends. We celebrate Passover as well, 0:12:41.210 --> 0:12:46.220 because for us, it points to our redemption from bondage 0:12:46.220 --> 0:12:49.910 and slavery. We are so thankful for the Jewish people 0:12:49.910 --> 0:12:51.770 and what God did with the Jewish people, because it 0:12:51.770 --> 0:12:54.710 set the stage for us to understand the good news 0:12:54.710 --> 0:12:58.490 that God redeems people from bondage and slavery. And so 0:12:58.490 --> 0:13:01.819 we celebrate it with our children and we retell the story. 0:13:01.820 --> 0:13:04.730 Roy Schwartz is with Chosen People Ministries here on the 0:13:04.730 --> 0:13:09.590 land and the book. Doctor Ed Frampton is the president 0:13:09.590 --> 0:13:12.650 and general director of the International Board of Jewish Missions. 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.160 Prior to assuming that role in 2006, he served as 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:21.440 an IBM church planning missionary in Johannesburg, South Africa, founding 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.290 two Baptist churches there, including one in the heart of 0:13:24.290 --> 0:13:27.230 the city's Jewish community. It's really an honor for us 0:13:27.230 --> 0:13:30.080 to leave our land in the book studios and join 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.040 you today, editor at the Everlasting Nation Museum. Thanks for 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:35.090 being on the program. 0:13:35.179 --> 0:13:36.559 It's great to be here, John. 0:13:36.890 --> 0:13:39.410 Well, the guy who launched this ministry was in many 0:13:39.410 --> 0:13:43.430 ways an unlikely candidate. Seems to me describe the spiritual 0:13:43.429 --> 0:13:45.319 journey of Jacob Greenhouse. 0:13:45.350 --> 0:13:48.500 Oh, it was an amazing journey he saw. You can 0:13:48.500 --> 0:13:51.680 find this in a book called traitor because he gave 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:55.400 his autobiography. But Jacob was just a young boy, grew 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:59.390 up in a rabbi's home in Austria, and he would 0:13:59.390 --> 0:14:02.960 be taken every morning, sometimes several times a day, to 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.230 the synagogue. And there he would read the scriptures, and 0:14:06.230 --> 0:14:08.780 often he would say this, that his father would put 0:14:08.780 --> 0:14:13.160 honey on his lips, and so he would associate sweetness 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.670 with the Word of God. And so anyway, Jacob grew 0:14:16.670 --> 0:14:19.070 up and and there was an incident in his life 0:14:19.070 --> 0:14:23.930 that really brought a change. He accidentally ingested poison. And 0:14:23.930 --> 0:14:27.290 because of that, he had to be taken to Vienna, Austria. 0:14:27.290 --> 0:14:30.470 And he was left there for a number of months 0:14:30.470 --> 0:14:33.740 where he had to recover and have say he did recover. 0:14:34.190 --> 0:14:36.470 But what that did for him was help him to 0:14:36.470 --> 0:14:39.530 understand that as a boy he had been taught that 0:14:39.530 --> 0:14:44.300 Gentiles were and Christians were all, you know, against them, 0:14:44.300 --> 0:14:47.240 and that they would all be seeking his hurt. And 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.420 what he found out was that actually they were loving 0:14:50.420 --> 0:14:53.840 and kind, and he was really that challenged his mind 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.840 even as a young boy. And so when he got 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.840 to be a teenager, he wanted to journey out. And again, 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:04.010 he would encounter Gentiles and others that challenged his thinking 0:15:04.010 --> 0:15:08.270 about when he was growing up, about his association with Gentiles, even, 0:15:08.270 --> 0:15:12.260 and Christians in particular. But then because of that journey, 0:15:12.260 --> 0:15:14.120 his parents thought it might be well for him to 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.180 go and spend some time in America. And he wanted 0:15:17.180 --> 0:15:20.900 to do that. And so he left Austria, but wanted 0:15:20.900 --> 0:15:23.630 the conditions in order to go to America, was that 0:15:23.630 --> 0:15:27.260 he would go visit his brother in Vienna when he 0:15:27.260 --> 0:15:29.270 went to visit his brother, who was somewhat of a 0:15:29.270 --> 0:15:32.960 celebrity because of his education, the brother began talking to 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.270 him about the fact that someone had given him a 0:15:35.270 --> 0:15:39.260 little book and he was studying it. And lo and behold, 0:15:39.260 --> 0:15:43.430 this brother had become a believer in Yeshua and had 0:15:43.430 --> 0:15:47.570 been saved. And so that angered Jacob as a young man. 0:15:47.570 --> 0:15:49.040 He was just a teenager, really. 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:51.020 He's angry that his brother has found the Messiah. 0:15:51.020 --> 0:15:54.500 Absolutely. He was a traitor, you know. And so even 0:15:54.500 --> 0:15:56.990 though he loved his brother, he didn't want to hear 0:15:56.990 --> 0:15:59.330 anything about it. So he went on and made his 0:15:59.330 --> 0:16:00.530 journey to America. 0:16:00.530 --> 0:16:02.840 In fact, wasn't that one of the conditions of this, 0:16:02.870 --> 0:16:05.870 of him welcoming him together? You know, you're welcome. But 0:16:05.870 --> 0:16:08.300 let's not talk about, you know, what exactly? 0:16:08.300 --> 0:16:11.450 And that was always the case. And his brother tried 0:16:11.450 --> 0:16:13.790 to honor that, but at times would help him on 0:16:13.790 --> 0:16:16.520 his journey. So anyway, he arrived in America. And the 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:18.620 story is that, of course, that he went to work 0:16:18.620 --> 0:16:22.070 for his uncle and he began focusing on making money 0:16:22.070 --> 0:16:26.420 and so forth, but he began becoming connected with people 0:16:26.420 --> 0:16:30.590 who were very kind to him. And over time, his 0:16:30.590 --> 0:16:34.910 brother came actually to America also, and then helped him 0:16:34.910 --> 0:16:38.300 to become connected with some Christians. And he would go, 0:16:38.300 --> 0:16:40.070 but he really didn't want to have anything to do 0:16:40.070 --> 0:16:44.239 with it, but he was reading and studying also. So 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.760 of course we know that it was that actually it 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:50.150 was on Yom Kippur was one of the most significant 0:16:50.150 --> 0:16:54.140 days of his journey, where he went to a service 0:16:54.140 --> 0:16:58.070 a couple of days after that, and he actually testified 0:16:58.070 --> 0:17:02.060 that he had come to realize that Jesus is the Messiah, 0:17:02.060 --> 0:17:04.160 and he accepted him right there. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.409 Today on the land in the book, were enjoying the 0:17:06.410 --> 0:17:09.740 hospitality of the International Board of Jewish Missions. We're at 0:17:09.740 --> 0:17:13.220 their Chattanooga headquarters, having left our studios, talking with the 0:17:13.220 --> 0:17:17.570 president and director of IBM, Doctor Ed Frampton, our focus, 0:17:17.570 --> 0:17:21.470 a guy named Jacob Garlinghouse. You know, earlier in his journey, 0:17:21.470 --> 0:17:24.679 he had questions about his Jewish faith. This is long 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:27.740 before he's interested in Messiah, but he was told by 0:17:27.740 --> 0:17:30.770 a rabbi, it's a sin to ask questions. A Jew 0:17:30.770 --> 0:17:33.619 is to believe and not question. How widespread do you 0:17:33.619 --> 0:17:36.440 think that mindset is today among Jewish people? 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.739 Oh, I still think it's there. And especially when I 0:17:39.740 --> 0:17:43.490 was in Johannesburg, our ministry was primarily among the Lubavitch 0:17:43.730 --> 0:17:47.869 Jewish young people in their 20s and the older rabbis. 0:17:47.869 --> 0:17:50.720 And so, you know, were angry when they would even 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.050 ask questions about it because they weren't, first of all, 0:17:54.050 --> 0:17:56.990 they were never to mention that name. And there were 0:17:56.990 --> 0:18:00.050 people who would even come to my meetings that would 0:18:00.050 --> 0:18:03.710 come listen, but would tell me, I will not say 0:18:03.710 --> 0:18:07.690 that name. So yes, it's still. That mindset of not 0:18:07.690 --> 0:18:11.590 even talking and not even questioning about is still there today. 0:18:11.710 --> 0:18:14.530 After getting saved in New York City, Jacob understood the 0:18:14.530 --> 0:18:18.520 need for further training. So he attended Moody Bible Institute 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.129 in Chicago for two and a half years. How instrumental 0:18:21.130 --> 0:18:24.430 do you think that was in forming his theological foundations? 0:18:24.609 --> 0:18:29.199 Actually, he talks about that in his autobiography, where he 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.119 talks about the impact. And, you know, it was during 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:36.369 those years that actually his mother, his uncle, came to 0:18:36.369 --> 0:18:39.820 America while he was at Moody and literally tried to 0:18:39.820 --> 0:18:44.200 buy him out of that, you know, to purchase him out. 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.320 And then, of course, they met with him. And, you know, 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.810 I think what people need to understand is it's a 0:18:49.810 --> 0:18:53.800 very hard thing for him to break that bond. But 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.830 he loved his mother and he honored her. But so 0:18:56.830 --> 0:19:00.070 he tells in detail in his story about how hard 0:19:00.070 --> 0:19:03.280 that was. When finally he came to grips with that, 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.500 he had to go back to Moody. He had to 0:19:05.500 --> 0:19:09.370 go back to campus. And so that was the last time, really, 0:19:09.369 --> 0:19:12.640 that he had any significant conversation, anything with his mother. 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.700 He didn't see her for years, saw one other time 0:19:15.700 --> 0:19:18.730 in the world, and then she died and they wouldn't 0:19:18.730 --> 0:19:21.520 tell him. So he's not sure that she ever came 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.850 to faith. His dad did. I remember the story. He 0:19:24.850 --> 0:19:27.580 got back to the campus. There was a whole group 0:19:27.609 --> 0:19:31.780 of people that had been praying daily for him, knowing 0:19:31.780 --> 0:19:34.510 he was going through this, and he writes about how 0:19:34.510 --> 0:19:38.830 significant that was in formulating his whole platform and foundation 0:19:38.830 --> 0:19:39.790 of theology. 0:19:40.330 --> 0:19:43.090 Jacob had a fiery passion to reach Jewish people with 0:19:43.090 --> 0:19:46.780 the gospel, and he was also passionate about Israel returning 0:19:46.810 --> 0:19:49.690 to its biblical homeland. He even wrote a book about 0:19:49.690 --> 0:19:53.350 this titled The Rebirth of a Nation The Kicker. He 0:19:53.350 --> 0:19:56.920 sent a copy of that book to then president Harry Truman. 0:19:56.920 --> 0:19:58.990 Now Israel is not on the map as a nation 0:19:58.990 --> 0:20:00.790 at the time. Pick up the story from there. 0:20:00.790 --> 0:20:03.399 Doctor Ed, it was amazing. He was somewhat of a 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.159 lone voice in those years. Among some of the even 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:10.120 fundamental Christians in America tried to warn about what was 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:13.210 happening during that Holocaust time. And so that was a 0:20:13.210 --> 0:20:15.640 very discouraging thing for him. So he did that. He 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:17.860 bought to the book, to him, and then he was 0:20:17.859 --> 0:20:21.459 able to schedule an appointment, and he came and he 0:20:21.460 --> 0:20:25.180 met with the president literally just a short time before 0:20:25.180 --> 0:20:28.690 the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. And 0:20:28.690 --> 0:20:31.540 there he had a conversation with the president. The president 0:20:31.540 --> 0:20:35.170 asked him questions about his hope as a Jewish person. 0:20:35.170 --> 0:20:38.770 Did he still have this Zionist type of hope? And 0:20:38.770 --> 0:20:42.699 he said he did. President Truman actually wrote to him later, 0:20:42.700 --> 0:20:46.510 expressing his deep gratitude for what Doctor Barnhouse had shared 0:20:46.510 --> 0:20:48.760 with him about the state of Israel. And of course, 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.180 we know that God used the president to confirm the 0:20:52.180 --> 0:20:54.280 state of Israel being the first in the whole world. 0:20:54.609 --> 0:20:57.220 Doctor Ed Frampton is the president and general director of 0:20:57.220 --> 0:21:00.520 the International Board of Jewish Missions. He joins us today 0:21:00.609 --> 0:21:04.810 on the land and the book. Jacob Garlinghouse founded IBM 0:21:04.810 --> 0:21:08.320 in 1949. So what does the ministry look like today? 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:09.340 What do you guys do? 0:21:09.369 --> 0:21:12.340 We go around the world internationally, whether it be in 0:21:12.340 --> 0:21:16.180 Asia or in Mexico. We have different divisions. And there 0:21:16.180 --> 0:21:19.300 in those countries, we challenge the churches to be aware 0:21:19.300 --> 0:21:22.810 of the Jewish communities and the need to love them, 0:21:22.810 --> 0:21:24.909 and to reach out with them with the gospel of 0:21:24.970 --> 0:21:26.050 Yeshua Messiah. 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:28.360 You guys today have a four day training event every year. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:28.780 Talk about. 0:21:28.780 --> 0:21:31.480 That. Okay, we have the four day focus and the 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.030 four day focus is our flagship program that's been going 0:21:34.030 --> 0:21:37.510 on for many years now. It's available to anyone. We 0:21:37.510 --> 0:21:41.320 students are free to come and we have families that 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:45.429 come in. It's four days of focusing on Israel, on 0:21:45.430 --> 0:21:49.000 why we should love Israel, the history of Christianity and 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.240 Israel together, of course, in our theology and the intertwining, 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.119 but also, of course, a lot of it's also of 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.659 how to effectively reach out to Jewish people with the 0:21:58.660 --> 0:22:02.050 love of Messiah and with the gospel. So it's really exciting. 0:22:02.050 --> 0:22:04.030 We do a lot of our not only a lot 0:22:04.030 --> 0:22:08.260 of training and in our sessions, but also we practice 0:22:08.260 --> 0:22:10.149 and do things like that, you know, so there's a 0:22:10.150 --> 0:22:12.340 lot of role playing. We enjoy that. It's a lot 0:22:12.340 --> 0:22:15.430 of fun. There's even skits and things like that. So 0:22:15.430 --> 0:22:17.320 we we have a good time for four days. 0:22:17.500 --> 0:22:19.510 Tell us a story of somebody whose life has been 0:22:19.510 --> 0:22:21.550 changed because of this ministry. 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:24.609 Okay. So the first one that comes to mind is, 0:22:24.609 --> 0:22:27.010 of course, in South Africa, because that's where I'm in 0:22:27.010 --> 0:22:29.740 his story now. Really. So I was down there. And 0:22:29.740 --> 0:22:33.639 this illustrates the importance of even discipleship and bringing people 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:37.570 into the young man. Extinguished. Jonathan and Jonathan had been 0:22:37.570 --> 0:22:41.290 raised as an Orthodox Jewish person, and someone had given 0:22:41.290 --> 0:22:46.180 him a Bible, and his response was thanks, but no thanks. 0:22:46.180 --> 0:22:49.629 And he tossed it onto and he was like, oh, 0:22:49.660 --> 0:22:52.510 you know. But anyway, it was not only just a Tanakh, 0:22:52.510 --> 0:22:55.600 it was also the New Testament together. So Jonathan, who 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:58.510 was somewhat of a Hebrew scholar and also knew Greek 0:22:58.510 --> 0:23:01.210 because he went to a Greek school, and Jonathan, he 0:23:01.210 --> 0:23:04.780 had a car accident. And because of that he promised 0:23:04.780 --> 0:23:07.780 God if God would deliver. Him from that car, he 0:23:07.780 --> 0:23:10.510 would go read the Bible and so he may have 0:23:10.510 --> 0:23:12.609 a deal. And so he went back and he read 0:23:12.609 --> 0:23:16.570 the Bible. And sure enough, as he read, especially Matthew, 0:23:16.570 --> 0:23:20.050 he said, tears were streaming down my eyes and and anyway, 0:23:20.050 --> 0:23:23.619 Jonathan came to know the Lord. Now, how this ministry 0:23:23.619 --> 0:23:27.430 impacted Jonathan was the fact that we came along and 0:23:27.430 --> 0:23:32.350 we began establishing a church there in Johannesburg. Jonathan had 0:23:32.350 --> 0:23:34.960 been disillusioned. He said, as a Jewish man, I did 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:38.350 not believe there was any good church that I could 0:23:38.350 --> 0:23:40.900 ever go to. So he didn't. For a year. He 0:23:40.900 --> 0:23:44.470 just stayed home and he read messages. Interesting enough, he said, 0:23:44.470 --> 0:23:46.480 I read a guy that I didn't know who he was, 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:50.260 but his name was Spurgeon. And and I said, Jonathan 0:23:50.260 --> 0:23:54.250 Spurgeon discipled you. I can't believe it. But anyway, Jonathan 0:23:54.250 --> 0:23:57.430 ended up coming to our church that had been established 0:23:57.430 --> 0:24:01.389 in the Jewish community, and that was almost 20 years ago. 0:24:01.390 --> 0:24:04.270 And he is still a leader in that church and 0:24:04.270 --> 0:24:08.139 has grown married. So when I think of how God 0:24:08.140 --> 0:24:10.840 has used a ministry especially, or working through the local 0:24:10.840 --> 0:24:13.840 church to impact someone, he comes to mind always. 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:16.930 How can listeners get involved in the work of the 0:24:16.930 --> 0:24:18.970 International Board of Jewish Missions? 0:24:18.970 --> 0:24:21.160 Well, you know, there are several ways. Of course. We 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:24.700 love to invite you to our four day focus. But obviously, 0:24:24.700 --> 0:24:27.219 you know, we visit churches, we go around and churches 0:24:27.220 --> 0:24:29.980 all around the nation and around the world, and we 0:24:29.980 --> 0:24:33.160 have focus on the Israel Sundays and, uh, we'll do 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:36.879 Jewish evangelism seminars and things like that. Also, for those 0:24:36.880 --> 0:24:40.149 that are interested, we come to the city and if 0:24:40.150 --> 0:24:43.990 you have a significant Jewish population or identifiable Jewish population, 0:24:43.990 --> 0:24:46.720 we try to reach out with you in those communities 0:24:46.720 --> 0:24:50.650 and actually do hands on ministry. We also have times 0:24:50.650 --> 0:24:53.770 where we have groups that go to certain cities. For instance, 0:24:53.770 --> 0:24:56.920 we'll have an outreach in New York City yearly this year. 0:24:56.920 --> 0:25:00.250 We're in England, in London and different areas where there's 0:25:00.250 --> 0:25:03.130 significant Jewish populations. And you can go, you can come 0:25:03.130 --> 0:25:05.920 with us and go out. We'll we'll use a lot 0:25:05.920 --> 0:25:09.790 of different ways to connect with the Jewish community and 0:25:09.790 --> 0:25:11.440 to spread the gospel and to give out the Word 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:14.859 of God. It's a wonderful time. It really is. And 0:25:14.859 --> 0:25:17.080 so those are some of the ways you can be involved. 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:19.810 And of course, you know, obviously giving to the ministry 0:25:19.810 --> 0:25:22.990 and helping us. I just got back from Israel. We've 0:25:22.990 --> 0:25:25.660 been working there. There's some of the families that were 0:25:25.660 --> 0:25:29.500 affected with October 7th, and because of the generous giving 0:25:29.500 --> 0:25:32.230 of God's people, we were able to really help them, 0:25:32.230 --> 0:25:36.010 even getting resettled in homes for a while. So, you know, 0:25:36.010 --> 0:25:39.520 there's a lot of different ways humanitarian outreach in Israel. 0:25:39.520 --> 0:25:42.460 Well, if you sense some excitement, it's because it's real. 0:25:42.460 --> 0:25:45.280 That's Doctor Ed Frampton, president and general director of the 0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:48.550 International Board of Jewish Missions. Great to visit with him 0:25:48.550 --> 0:25:52.120 at their headquarters in Chattanooga. Up next, Charlie Dyer's answers 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:54.369 to your Bible questions. Keep it right here on the 0:25:54.369 --> 0:26:08.340 land and the book. Thanks for joining us today on 0:26:08.340 --> 0:26:11.460 The Land and the book from Moody Radio, if you're new. 0:26:11.490 --> 0:26:14.310 This is our third segment, and our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer, 0:26:14.310 --> 0:26:16.500 is going to work his way through a stack of 0:26:16.500 --> 0:26:19.530 Bible questions that have come to us via email. I'll 0:26:19.530 --> 0:26:21.660 share how you can connect with us later. The point 0:26:21.660 --> 0:26:23.399 that you need to know is that we didn't invent 0:26:23.400 --> 0:26:26.190 these questions. They have come from listeners, every single one 0:26:26.190 --> 0:26:29.490 of them, and we're looking forward to those questions. But 0:26:29.490 --> 0:26:31.500 right now, you know, Passover Charlie is going to be 0:26:31.500 --> 0:26:34.290 upon us very soon. And one of the traditional Passover 0:26:34.290 --> 0:26:38.700 questions is, what makes this night different from all others? Passover, 0:26:38.700 --> 0:26:41.129 of course, is an important biblical holiday that has great 0:26:41.130 --> 0:26:44.850 meaning for both Jewish people and believers in Jesus. So 0:26:44.850 --> 0:26:47.100 I think that's a that's a key question to ask. 0:26:47.130 --> 0:26:49.020 It is. And if people want to know more about 0:26:49.020 --> 0:26:51.810 what makes Passover so special, well, our friends at Life 0:26:51.810 --> 0:26:54.390 and Messiah are offering to mail you a free copy 0:26:54.390 --> 0:26:58.110 of their Messianic Passover Haggadah. The booklet will lead you 0:26:58.109 --> 0:27:01.290 through the celebration of Passover to see the rich connections 0:27:01.290 --> 0:27:04.620 to Jesus, our Messiah, and to the Last Supper. You'll 0:27:04.619 --> 0:27:07.889 also receive a link for an interactive Passover Seder video 0:27:07.890 --> 0:27:11.370 with the Haggadah and video. You can celebrate Passover this 0:27:11.369 --> 0:27:14.220 year with your family and friends. Now to get this 0:27:14.220 --> 0:27:17.490 free offer, just go to Life in Messiah org and 0:27:17.490 --> 0:27:19.859 click on the Moody Radio button to find out more 0:27:19.859 --> 0:27:24.240 and to request your copy. That's life in messiah.org. 0:27:24.330 --> 0:27:27.060 All right, I'm pumped. Charlie's Bible is open. Let's get 0:27:27.060 --> 0:27:30.240 right to our first question, this one from Elaine. She 0:27:30.240 --> 0:27:34.440 says during discussions regarding the Old Testament practice of temple sacrifice, 0:27:34.440 --> 0:27:37.800 a question arose among the members of my Bible study group. 0:27:37.800 --> 0:27:41.820 How do today's Jews atone for their sin and debate 0:27:41.820 --> 0:27:42.870 God's wrath? 0:27:43.020 --> 0:27:46.410 Most religious Jews today believe that personal repentance that is 0:27:46.410 --> 0:27:49.080 returning to God is the way God allows them to 0:27:49.080 --> 0:27:53.070 experience forgiveness for sin. This is practiced especially during the 0:27:53.070 --> 0:27:56.400 ten days of all between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, 0:27:56.430 --> 0:27:59.070 the Day of Atonement. The Talmud says that the person 0:27:59.070 --> 0:28:02.070 who studied the laws of sacrifice is considered as if 0:28:02.070 --> 0:28:05.610 he's actually offered a sacrifice. Since the Talmud was completed 0:28:05.609 --> 0:28:08.310 after the temple was destroyed, that seems a bit of 0:28:08.310 --> 0:28:10.710 hocus pocus, you know, to get around the reality that 0:28:10.710 --> 0:28:14.340 it was no longer possible to offer an animal sacrifice, 0:28:14.550 --> 0:28:17.640 some ultra-Orthodox Jews today wave a chicken over their head 0:28:17.640 --> 0:28:20.280 on the eve of Yom Kippur, while asking God to 0:28:20.280 --> 0:28:22.830 atone for their sin by the slaughter of this animal. 0:28:22.830 --> 0:28:24.780 They then kill the chicken and donate it to the 0:28:24.780 --> 0:28:28.200 hungry as a way to find atonement. Others waive money, 0:28:28.200 --> 0:28:31.320 which they then donate to charity. Now, the reality is 0:28:31.320 --> 0:28:34.650 that neither repentance alone, nor the sacrifice of a chicken, 0:28:34.650 --> 0:28:37.230 or the gift of money is sufficient to satisfy the 0:28:37.230 --> 0:28:40.200 Mosaic Law. It's interesting to me that the book of Hebrews, 0:28:40.200 --> 0:28:43.290 written shortly before the destruction of the temple, spoke of 0:28:43.290 --> 0:28:47.010 the sacrifice of Jesus as being the only sufficient sacrifice 0:28:47.010 --> 0:28:49.170 once for all for sin. 0:28:49.500 --> 0:28:52.530 Lenny asks, how do I explain what happened during the 0:28:52.530 --> 0:28:55.950 400 years of God's silence? In a simplistic way, how 0:28:55.950 --> 0:29:00.360 do I explain the development of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, etc.? 0:29:00.360 --> 0:29:03.360 How do I also explain the Talmud and Mishnah? I 0:29:03.360 --> 0:29:05.700 know these are huge topics, but somebody asked me point 0:29:05.700 --> 0:29:09.540 blank today what happened during the 400 years of God's silence, 0:29:09.540 --> 0:29:11.520 and I didn't know where to begin. 0:29:11.730 --> 0:29:13.980 It reminded me of the, uh, the question. Somebody says, 0:29:13.980 --> 0:29:17.040 you know, explain creation in 500 words or less and 0:29:17.040 --> 0:29:19.830 give three examples. You know, it's a really tough to 0:29:19.830 --> 0:29:21.840 fit it together. So I'll try not to talk too 0:29:21.840 --> 0:29:24.630 fast here, but I like what Harold Hohner did in 0:29:24.630 --> 0:29:27.630 an article that he titled Between The Testaments. It's in 0:29:27.630 --> 0:29:31.110 the first volume of the Expository Bible Commentary. So here's 0:29:31.110 --> 0:29:32.700 a brief summary of what he did there, which I 0:29:32.700 --> 0:29:35.820 think is the best explanation I've seen. He focused first 0:29:35.820 --> 0:29:38.670 on the historical development. So he divided that time into 0:29:38.670 --> 0:29:41.250 the Persian period and then the Greek period, and then 0:29:41.250 --> 0:29:44.430 the Roman period to focus on how they impacted the 0:29:44.430 --> 0:29:47.070 land and the Jewish people. And then he focused on 0:29:47.070 --> 0:29:51.390 internal developments impacting especially the Jewish people. And that included 0:29:51.570 --> 0:29:54.270 the different parties that rose up in Judaism, the Pharisees, 0:29:54.270 --> 0:29:57.690 who grew out of the Maccabean Revolt against Antiochus Epiphanies, 0:29:57.690 --> 0:30:00.510 and the Sadducees, who centered around their control of the 0:30:00.510 --> 0:30:03.840 Second Temple that was rebuilt, and the Essenes, who separated 0:30:03.840 --> 0:30:06.390 from the first two with a focus on the Torah 0:30:06.390 --> 0:30:09.060 rather than the Oral law of the Pharisees or the 0:30:09.060 --> 0:30:12.120 temple corruption of the Sadducees. And then the final thing 0:30:12.120 --> 0:30:15.480 I'd add are some of the cultural developments, including Hellenism. 0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:18.900 You know, the Greek language and culture becoming a common 0:30:18.900 --> 0:30:21.570 especially for trade in that day. The development of the 0:30:21.570 --> 0:30:25.680 Jewish oral tradition, paralleling the rise of Pharisees and the 0:30:25.680 --> 0:30:29.850 development of a strong messianic expectation, with apocryphal books actually 0:30:29.850 --> 0:30:32.760 paralleling Daniel and Zechariah. They were written. And then these 0:30:32.760 --> 0:30:35.970 other books came along that also focused on the coming 0:30:35.970 --> 0:30:38.850 of the Messiah and the scenes in Qumran. The Jews 0:30:38.850 --> 0:30:41.010 definitely were looking for a messiah, but they saw him 0:30:41.010 --> 0:30:43.830 as another man who, at the start of the Maccabean 0:30:43.830 --> 0:30:46.530 revolt against the Tiresias. Well, they wanted another one like 0:30:46.530 --> 0:30:49.170 him who would defeat the Romans. So. But if you're 0:30:49.170 --> 0:30:51.600 looking for an overall theme for this, I think Galatians 0:30:51.600 --> 0:30:54.480 four four is a great summary. In the fullness of time, 0:30:54.480 --> 0:30:57.480 God sent forth His Son, and that 400 silent years 0:30:57.480 --> 0:30:58.980 so well, they may have been silent in the sense 0:30:58.980 --> 0:31:02.040 that Scripture wasn't being written, but God was definitely at 0:31:02.040 --> 0:31:04.650 work setting the stage for the entrance of his son. 0:31:04.650 --> 0:31:07.650 Question number two of the day. From Paul, he says. 0:31:07.650 --> 0:31:11.220 Psalm 130 speaks of the watchmen waiting for the morning. 0:31:11.220 --> 0:31:13.650 And that got me to wondering, how did they keep 0:31:13.650 --> 0:31:16.290 time in ancient Israel, especially at night? 0:31:16.380 --> 0:31:19.140 Yeah, well, at night the Hebrews divided that night into 0:31:19.140 --> 0:31:22.110 3 or 4 watches, as they're called. The specific length 0:31:22.110 --> 0:31:24.060 of time for that watch would vary, you know, from 0:31:24.060 --> 0:31:27.150 summer to winter. Summer it's shorter, winter there's longer night. 0:31:27.150 --> 0:31:29.820 And Psalm 90, verse four, which is the earliest of 0:31:29.820 --> 0:31:32.700 the Psalms Moses wrote, A thousand years in your sight 0:31:32.700 --> 0:31:34.740 are like a day that has gone by, or like 0:31:34.740 --> 0:31:38.130 a watch in the night. In Matthew 14, the disciples. 0:31:38.130 --> 0:31:40.410 This is now the New Testament time. They were struggling 0:31:40.410 --> 0:31:42.930 on the lake while Jesus was in the mountain praying. 0:31:42.930 --> 0:31:45.540 And then it says in verse 25, there and in 0:31:45.540 --> 0:31:47.640 the fourth watch of the night he came to them, 0:31:47.640 --> 0:31:49.950 walking on the sea. So both the Old and New 0:31:49.950 --> 0:31:52.950 Testaments used this larger blocks to measure the passing of 0:31:52.950 --> 0:31:55.320 time at night and without the sun, to provide a 0:31:55.320 --> 0:31:58.800 more exact reference to the passing of time. This broader 0:31:58.800 --> 0:32:02.010 unit of measure, though inexact, provided a general way to 0:32:02.010 --> 0:32:04.469 divide the night up into these 3 or 4 blocks 0:32:04.470 --> 0:32:05.130 of time. 0:32:05.160 --> 0:32:07.710 You're listening to the land in the book from Moody Radio, 0:32:07.710 --> 0:32:10.500 our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer, is answering questions that come 0:32:10.500 --> 0:32:12.900 to him via email. If you've got one you'd like 0:32:12.900 --> 0:32:18.300 to send, here's how you connect the land and the book@moody.edu, 0:32:18.390 --> 0:32:22.020 Brian says in first John 113 we're told born not 0:32:22.020 --> 0:32:24.690 of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor 0:32:24.690 --> 0:32:27.030 of the will of man, but of God. Does the 0:32:27.030 --> 0:32:30.060 wording here seem a little redundant to you? Will of 0:32:30.060 --> 0:32:32.550 the flesh sounds an awful lot like the will of man. 0:32:32.550 --> 0:32:34.410 Is there a difference here I'm not seeing? 0:32:34.410 --> 0:32:37.890 Yeah, I see John sharing three negatives and then one 0:32:37.890 --> 0:32:40.440 positive to show that the new birth experience comes through 0:32:40.440 --> 0:32:42.780 faith as opposed to human effort. So he begins in 0:32:42.780 --> 0:32:45.630 verse 12 saying that those who received Jesus have the 0:32:45.630 --> 0:32:48.959 right to become children. And then he explains, these are 0:32:48.960 --> 0:32:51.480 those who believe in his name. And then he gives 0:32:51.480 --> 0:32:53.610 the three negatives. He says, these children of God are 0:32:53.610 --> 0:32:56.550 not born of blood, which I take that to be 0:32:56.550 --> 0:32:59.820 referring to a person's pedigree or bloodline. You know, some 0:32:59.820 --> 0:33:03.090 people still are born into royalty. And what he's saying, though, 0:33:03.090 --> 0:33:05.100 is that's not how someone becomes a child of God. 0:33:05.100 --> 0:33:07.650 You're not. It doesn't come because of who your parents 0:33:07.650 --> 0:33:10.590 were or who your relatives were. Then, he says, not 0:33:10.590 --> 0:33:12.420 born of the will of the flesh. And I see 0:33:12.420 --> 0:33:15.480 him referring there to human decision or human effort. Some 0:33:15.480 --> 0:33:17.400 believe they can work their own way into heaven or 0:33:17.400 --> 0:33:19.620 get into a relationship with God on their own, but 0:33:19.620 --> 0:33:21.990 they can't. And then the third, that's the one that's 0:33:21.990 --> 0:33:24.870 the most difficult born of the will of man. I 0:33:24.870 --> 0:33:27.780 take that in the sense of not just individual human effort, 0:33:27.780 --> 0:33:30.180 you know, the flesh, but more of a collective effort. 0:33:30.180 --> 0:33:32.970 That is, humans devise their own religious system or their 0:33:32.970 --> 0:33:35.700 own code of conduct that they believe will allow them 0:33:35.700 --> 0:33:38.220 to receive God's approval. So what I see John saying 0:33:38.220 --> 0:33:41.700 is there's no special advantage at birth or individual effort 0:33:41.700 --> 0:33:45.090 or organized effort that can bring someone into a relationship 0:33:45.090 --> 0:33:49.170 with God. God alone extends that privilege to individuals based 0:33:49.170 --> 0:33:50.730 on their faith in his son. 0:33:50.730 --> 0:33:53.490 Jeff has a question about the Most Holy Place, the 0:33:53.490 --> 0:33:56.040 place where the Ark of the covenant would normally rest 0:33:56.040 --> 0:33:59.190 at the time of Zacharias and Jesus, he says, I 0:33:59.190 --> 0:34:02.400 was wondering what was behind the veil. I understand that 0:34:02.400 --> 0:34:04.710 the last mention of the Ark was in Second Chronicles 0:34:04.710 --> 0:34:08.700 35 and Second Kings 23, but was the room empty 0:34:08.700 --> 0:34:11.310 at the time of Jesus? I know the veil was 0:34:11.310 --> 0:34:13.319 torn in two at the death of Jesus, but what 0:34:13.320 --> 0:34:15.960 was in that room, or what did it reveal? 0:34:16.140 --> 0:34:18.570 Well, you know, you're right. And saying the last mention 0:34:18.570 --> 0:34:20.160 of the Ark of the covenant was at the time 0:34:20.160 --> 0:34:23.220 of King Josiah. Now, here are two additional pieces of 0:34:23.219 --> 0:34:26.100 information I think that could help answer the question. The 0:34:26.100 --> 0:34:29.640 first is Jeremiah 316 and looking beyond the time of 0:34:29.640 --> 0:34:33.629 impending doom to Israel's future restoration, Jeremiah writes, in those 0:34:33.630 --> 0:34:36.210 days when your numbers have increased in the land, men 0:34:36.210 --> 0:34:38.460 will no longer say the ark of the covenant of 0:34:38.460 --> 0:34:40.620 the Lord. It it will never enter their minds or 0:34:40.620 --> 0:34:43.259 be remembered. It will not be missed, nor will another 0:34:43.260 --> 0:34:46.080 one be made. Jeremiah is saying that in the future 0:34:46.080 --> 0:34:49.620 the ark wouldn't be needed or missed. The second piece 0:34:49.620 --> 0:34:53.730 of information comes from the Jewish historian Josephus in describing 0:34:53.730 --> 0:34:56.219 the temple of Herod. He says, but in the innermost 0:34:56.219 --> 0:34:58.470 part of the temple of all was 20 cubits. And 0:34:58.469 --> 0:35:01.739 he gives the sizes. And he says, it's divided by 0:35:01.739 --> 0:35:04.800 the outer part by a veil. In there was nothing 0:35:04.800 --> 0:35:08.520 at all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to 0:35:08.520 --> 0:35:11.040 be seen by any. It's called the Holy of Holies now. 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:12.479 So what he's saying is, in the Holy of Holies, 0:35:12.480 --> 0:35:15.270 there was nothing. And based on those two pieces of evidence, 0:35:15.270 --> 0:35:18.510 I believe that when God's glory left the temple at 0:35:18.510 --> 0:35:20.580 the time of Ezekiel and Jeremiah at the end of 0:35:20.580 --> 0:35:23.279 the First Temple period, the Ark of the covenant became 0:35:23.280 --> 0:35:26.160 nothing more than a gold covered box was likely taken 0:35:26.160 --> 0:35:28.890 to Babylon. The gold melted down, and that's why the 0:35:28.890 --> 0:35:31.380 Holy of Holies was empty in the temple that was 0:35:31.380 --> 0:35:34.920 rebuilt following the captivity. And that wasn't a problem, because 0:35:34.920 --> 0:35:37.469 Jeremiah said they wouldn't need the ark and they wouldn't 0:35:37.469 --> 0:35:38.280 make another. 0:35:38.460 --> 0:35:41.310 Dennis asks, what are some good books to recommend to 0:35:41.310 --> 0:35:44.430 point someone to the Messiah through studying the Old Testament? 0:35:44.430 --> 0:35:47.730 And is there a good book listing the messianic prophecies 0:35:47.730 --> 0:35:49.140 fulfilled by Jesus? 0:35:49.290 --> 0:35:52.379 Well, I can recommend three books that people can look at. Uh, 0:35:52.380 --> 0:35:54.690 for the first question that could be helpful. One is 0:35:54.690 --> 0:35:59.340 Isaiah 53 explained by Mitch Glaser of Chosen People Ministries. 0:35:59.340 --> 0:36:02.400 The second is who is this exploring the Tanakh in 0:36:02.400 --> 0:36:05.549 Search of the Messiah? And that's by Levi Hazen from life. 0:36:05.660 --> 0:36:09.560 In Messiah Ministries, and the third is Mashiach, the Messiah 0:36:09.560 --> 0:36:14.029 of the Hebrew Scriptures by Arnold Baum from Ariel Ministries. Now, 0:36:14.030 --> 0:36:16.100 in regard to the other part, there are a number 0:36:16.100 --> 0:36:18.020 of good books on that subject, but the one I 0:36:18.020 --> 0:36:20.180 like best and I keep on my shelf is the 0:36:20.180 --> 0:36:24.140 Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, was edited by Michael Rudnick 0:36:24.140 --> 0:36:26.870 and Ed Bloom, and it has an exhaustive list of 0:36:26.870 --> 0:36:29.810 major passages and topics. It's more than just a listing 0:36:29.810 --> 0:36:33.200 of the passages. It gives a solid explanation for each one, 0:36:33.200 --> 0:36:36.109 and it's really a goldmine of information that will reward 0:36:36.110 --> 0:36:37.100 careful study. 0:36:37.100 --> 0:36:38.780 And that's a look at some of the questions that 0:36:38.780 --> 0:36:40.940 have come in recently. And again, if you'd like to 0:36:40.940 --> 0:36:44.060 get your question to Charlie, our email address is the 0:36:44.060 --> 0:36:48.830 land and the book at Moody Edu. One more segment 0:36:48.830 --> 0:37:04.839 to come. It's Charlie's devotional. That's next. Well, here we are, 0:37:04.840 --> 0:37:09.340 one week away from Passover, a significant time on all 0:37:09.340 --> 0:37:12.190 of our calendars. I'm John Jaeger, this is the land 0:37:12.190 --> 0:37:15.100 and the book and Charlie Passover very much at the 0:37:15.100 --> 0:37:16.180 heart of your devotional today. 0:37:16.180 --> 0:37:19.570 I understand it is in fact, it's Peter's second most 0:37:19.570 --> 0:37:21.760 memorable Passover that we're going to be talking about. 0:37:21.760 --> 0:37:24.310 I'm intrigued, and we'll get to that after we hear 0:37:24.310 --> 0:37:26.169 this thought from somebody who has been to the Holy 0:37:26.170 --> 0:37:29.380 Land and had a reflection that just has never left them, 0:37:29.380 --> 0:37:31.390 and they want to share it with us right now. 0:37:35.620 --> 0:37:39.549 Let me just say that as a follower of Jesus Christ, 0:37:39.760 --> 0:37:44.830 we are commanded to love what he loves. And there 0:37:44.830 --> 0:37:48.250 is no doubt from studying the Bible that God in 0:37:48.250 --> 0:37:52.300 Jesus Christ loved this land. Love the people in this land. 0:37:52.300 --> 0:37:55.780 And before I came here, of course, you know, we 0:37:55.780 --> 0:37:57.669 wanted to come here because we wanted to see what 0:37:57.670 --> 0:38:01.090 God loved. But now we've seen, we've seen the land. 0:38:01.090 --> 0:38:04.600 We've seen the people. We've seen so much that it 0:38:04.600 --> 0:38:08.020 is going to be now. Uh, of course we'll continue 0:38:08.020 --> 0:38:10.029 to love Israel, but we'll do it in a just 0:38:10.030 --> 0:38:13.540 a real way. And I'm looking forward to coming back. 0:38:13.540 --> 0:38:15.339 I don't know when that might happen or how that 0:38:15.340 --> 0:38:18.490 might happen, but I just know I of course, eventually 0:38:18.489 --> 0:38:22.840 we'll all be here forever. That's true. But before then, 0:38:23.140 --> 0:38:25.600 if the Lord tarries out, I'm just looking forward to 0:38:25.600 --> 0:38:26.500 the next trip. 0:38:28.510 --> 0:38:31.450 Acts. Chapter 12 is where we're headed. And, Charlie, I'll 0:38:31.450 --> 0:38:32.469 let you take it away. 0:38:32.800 --> 0:38:35.260 Thanks, John. This coming week is the start of the 0:38:35.260 --> 0:38:38.620 Jewish holy days of Passover and Unleavened Bread. And to 0:38:38.620 --> 0:38:41.680 commemorate them, we're heading to the ancient city of Jerusalem, 0:38:41.680 --> 0:38:45.520 ten years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, on 0:38:45.520 --> 0:38:48.489 the eve of this particular Passover season. The city is 0:38:48.489 --> 0:38:51.730 filled with a mixture of hope and fear, and many 0:38:51.730 --> 0:38:54.820 citizens are excited about the reign of King Herod Agrippa 0:38:54.820 --> 0:38:58.510 the First. Just three years ago, the Romans added Judea 0:38:58.510 --> 0:39:01.390 to the list of lands under his dominion. Though he 0:39:01.390 --> 0:39:04.240 was a client king of Rome, the territory over which 0:39:04.239 --> 0:39:07.150 he ruled was now virtually as large as that ruled 0:39:07.150 --> 0:39:10.899 by his grandfather, King Herod the Great. There were whispers 0:39:10.900 --> 0:39:14.710 that perhaps, just perhaps, Rome might again make Judea an 0:39:14.710 --> 0:39:18.490 independent kingdom under his rule. And now, with Passover here, 0:39:18.489 --> 0:39:21.370 the crowds arriving in Jerusalem bring with them a sense 0:39:21.370 --> 0:39:25.509 of excitement and anticipation. But for the followers of Jesus, 0:39:25.510 --> 0:39:30.070 the approach of this particular Passover comes with foreboding and fear. 0:39:30.100 --> 0:39:33.460 Acts 12 explains why it was about this time that 0:39:33.460 --> 0:39:36.640 King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending 0:39:36.640 --> 0:39:39.910 to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, 0:39:39.910 --> 0:39:43.240 put to death with the sword. Judas had hung himself 0:39:43.239 --> 0:39:46.239 ten years ago, but James is the first of the 0:39:46.239 --> 0:39:49.930 original apostles to be martyred. Had his death just been 0:39:49.930 --> 0:39:53.320 an isolated incident, it would have caused great sorrow, but 0:39:53.320 --> 0:39:56.080 it was part of a larger state sponsored attack on 0:39:56.080 --> 0:39:58.660 the church, and apparently it was done to appease the 0:39:58.660 --> 0:40:03.549 more radical religious opponents of these followers of Jesus. Luke 0:40:03.550 --> 0:40:07.180 then continues his grisly account. When Herod saw that this 0:40:07.180 --> 0:40:10.630 pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This 0:40:10.630 --> 0:40:13.750 happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, 0:40:13.750 --> 0:40:15.880 he put him in prison, handing him over to be 0:40:15.880 --> 0:40:20.049 guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended 0:40:20.050 --> 0:40:23.200 to bring him out for public trial. After the Passover, 0:40:23.320 --> 0:40:26.200 Peter was arrested and thrown in prison at the time 0:40:26.200 --> 0:40:29.260 of Passover and unleavened bread. The fact that both are 0:40:29.260 --> 0:40:33.190 mentioned suggests Peter's arrest coincided with the start of the 0:40:33.190 --> 0:40:36.670 eight days for these two back to back events. As 0:40:36.670 --> 0:40:39.940 believers gathered in Jerusalem for these festivals, there was little 0:40:39.940 --> 0:40:43.570 to celebrate. As Luke explains, Peter was kept in prison, 0:40:43.570 --> 0:40:46.810 but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:49.660 But we can't be sure. But it's at least possible 0:40:49.660 --> 0:40:52.930 that Peter was confined in the same area where Jesus 0:40:52.930 --> 0:40:56.440 himself had been temporarily confined after being handed over to 0:40:56.440 --> 0:41:00.940 pilot by the Jewish religious authorities. But while Jesus's confinement 0:41:00.940 --> 0:41:03.940 was only for a few hours, Peter remained the entire 0:41:03.940 --> 0:41:08.200 time of Passover and Unleavened bread. I titled today's devotional 0:41:08.200 --> 0:41:12.700 Peter's Second Most memorable Passover. The most memorable must have 0:41:12.700 --> 0:41:15.370 been the final Passover with Jesus, the night he was 0:41:15.370 --> 0:41:19.509 betrayed from Jesus washing his feet to the shock over hearing, 0:41:19.510 --> 0:41:23.290 Jesus announces betrayal to the institution of the Lord's Table, 0:41:23.290 --> 0:41:26.350 to his falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, to 0:41:26.350 --> 0:41:29.589 his feeble attempt at wielding a sword to rescue Jesus, 0:41:29.590 --> 0:41:33.460 to his three denials that Passover was one that still 0:41:33.460 --> 0:41:36.580 must have haunted Peter. It was the low point in 0:41:36.580 --> 0:41:39.940 his role as a follower of Jesus. But if that event, 0:41:39.940 --> 0:41:43.360 ten years before had presented Peter at his worst, this 0:41:43.360 --> 0:41:47.170 Passover presents Peter as a man under God's full control. 0:41:47.200 --> 0:41:50.110 The events since acts two have generally shown Peter as 0:41:50.110 --> 0:41:53.170 a leader, boldly standing for the Lord, empowered by the 0:41:53.170 --> 0:41:57.130 Holy Spirit, and now facing what from a human perspective 0:41:57.130 --> 0:42:00.010 was likely going to be his final days on earth, 0:42:00.010 --> 0:42:05.229 Peter displayed remarkable calmness and serenity. Luke continues, the night 0:42:05.230 --> 0:42:07.870 before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was 0:42:07.870 --> 0:42:12.069 sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains, and sentries 0:42:12.070 --> 0:42:15.340 stood guard at the entrance. This was the first century 0:42:15.340 --> 0:42:19.480 equivalent of a supermax prison. He was physically chained with 0:42:19.480 --> 0:42:24.100 two separate chains between two soldiers inside his prison cell, 0:42:24.100 --> 0:42:27.820 while still other soldiers stood guard at the doorway. King 0:42:27.820 --> 0:42:30.730 Herod Agrippa was taking no chances of anyone mounting an 0:42:30.730 --> 0:42:34.420 escape attempt, but did you notice Peter's response to it all? 0:42:34.450 --> 0:42:38.259 He was sleeping. God's rescue plan was as dramatic as 0:42:38.260 --> 0:42:42.220 any Mission Impossible movie plot. Suddenly, an angel of the 0:42:42.219 --> 0:42:45.100 Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He 0:42:45.100 --> 0:42:48.010 struck Peter on the side and woke him up. This 0:42:48.010 --> 0:42:50.440 bright light didn't arouse the notice of the guards at 0:42:50.440 --> 0:42:53.110 the door, or the guards on either side of Peter, 0:42:53.110 --> 0:42:56.379 or even. It seems that Peter himself. At least, that 0:42:56.380 --> 0:42:58.570 is until the angel hit Peter on his side to 0:42:58.570 --> 0:43:02.230 awaken him. The angel ordered Peter to get up quickly 0:43:02.230 --> 0:43:05.170 and to help make this possible, the chains fell off 0:43:05.170 --> 0:43:09.310 Peter's hands. I find the details in this account fascinating. 0:43:09.310 --> 0:43:11.680 The time of the year is March April and it 0:43:11.680 --> 0:43:14.440 can be cold at night in Jerusalem. The temperature will 0:43:14.440 --> 0:43:17.230 normally drop into the low 50s or even upper 40s, 0:43:17.230 --> 0:43:20.920 so the angel makes sure Peter is prepared for his escape. 0:43:20.920 --> 0:43:24.010 Put on your clothes and sandals, which Peter does. But 0:43:24.010 --> 0:43:26.770 then the angel adds, wrap your cloak around you and 0:43:26.770 --> 0:43:30.469 follow me. I imagine the angel saying something like bundle 0:43:30.469 --> 0:43:33.500 up tightly, Peter, we don't want to rescue you from execution, 0:43:33.500 --> 0:43:36.739 only to have you die from pneumonia. God had placed 0:43:36.739 --> 0:43:39.860 a supernatural stupor on all the guards while all this 0:43:39.860 --> 0:43:43.370 was happening. They remained asleep. In fact, Peter himself thought 0:43:43.370 --> 0:43:45.590 he was asleep. And this was all a dream. Or 0:43:45.590 --> 0:43:48.200 as Luke says it, Peter thought he was seeing a 0:43:48.200 --> 0:43:52.010 vision passing by both sets of interior guards. The angel 0:43:52.010 --> 0:43:54.680 brought Peter to the iron gate leading from the prison 0:43:54.680 --> 0:43:57.980 into the city. The gate opened by itself, and Peter, 0:43:57.980 --> 0:44:01.219 along with this angelic guide, passed through into a dark 0:44:01.219 --> 0:44:05.239 and deserted street. After a short distance, the angel vanished 0:44:05.239 --> 0:44:08.000 and Peter suddenly realized this wasn't a dream. God had 0:44:08.000 --> 0:44:11.180 rescued him from certain death. His first thought was to 0:44:11.180 --> 0:44:14.000 report what had happened to the disciples. He rushed to 0:44:14.000 --> 0:44:16.730 the home of John, Mark's mother, where they were gathered 0:44:16.730 --> 0:44:19.490 to pray for his release and knocked on the outer 0:44:19.489 --> 0:44:23.089 entrance door. In the humorous ending to this story, a 0:44:23.090 --> 0:44:26.630 servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. I'm 0:44:26.630 --> 0:44:29.690 sure it went something like this. Who is it? 0:44:29.810 --> 0:44:30.890 It's Peter. 0:44:31.280 --> 0:44:35.180 Peter who? Peter. The one God just rescued from prison. 0:44:35.690 --> 0:44:38.780 But Rhoda got so excited that instead of opening the door, 0:44:38.780 --> 0:44:41.210 she ran back to the group to tell them Peter 0:44:41.210 --> 0:44:44.480 was outside. They started arguing with her, saying she was 0:44:44.480 --> 0:44:48.259 out of her mind. Only Peter's continued knocking, made them 0:44:48.260 --> 0:44:51.140 stop and go check. Well, I think you can see 0:44:51.140 --> 0:44:54.650 why this had to be Peter's second most memorable Passover. 0:44:54.650 --> 0:44:57.440 But what lessons can we glean from this story to 0:44:57.440 --> 0:45:01.940 help us today? Not surprisingly, I see two. First, I 0:45:01.940 --> 0:45:05.000 see in Peter what it means to discover God's peace 0:45:05.000 --> 0:45:08.360 no matter what life brings our way. From a human perspective, 0:45:08.360 --> 0:45:11.239 his life was in mortal danger, but he knew his 0:45:11.239 --> 0:45:13.549 life was in God's hands, and so he was able 0:45:13.550 --> 0:45:18.080 to calmly sleep without having anxious thoughts disrupted slumber. He 0:45:18.080 --> 0:45:21.560 illustrated the truth. David wrote in Psalm four verse eight, 0:45:21.560 --> 0:45:24.740 I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone. 0:45:24.739 --> 0:45:29.060 Oh Lord, make me dwell in safety. And second, I 0:45:29.060 --> 0:45:31.580 see in the other disciples the real life example of 0:45:31.580 --> 0:45:36.440 how we often respond when we pray. They prayed earnestly, fervently, 0:45:36.440 --> 0:45:40.070 constantly for God to rescue Peter. The word used by 0:45:40.070 --> 0:45:43.580 Luke in verse five carries that range of meaning. But 0:45:43.580 --> 0:45:46.040 when Peter showed up and wrote or ran to tell 0:45:46.040 --> 0:45:48.920 them he was at the door, their response was, you're 0:45:48.920 --> 0:45:51.800 out of your mind. Isn't it encouraging to know that 0:45:51.800 --> 0:45:55.279 God's answer to our prayers isn't as much dependent on 0:45:55.280 --> 0:45:57.589 the depth of our faith as it is on the 0:45:57.590 --> 0:46:00.590 power of the one to whom we're praying? Or as 0:46:00.590 --> 0:46:04.280 Paul said in Ephesians 320, God is able to do 0:46:04.280 --> 0:46:08.420 immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. That's what 0:46:08.420 --> 0:46:12.200 those first century saints discovered. And so can we. 0:46:12.230 --> 0:46:15.650 Wow. That's encouraging Charlie, I love that story. Come to life. 0:46:15.650 --> 0:46:18.320 And you really can hear that conversation between the servant 0:46:18.320 --> 0:46:20.719 girl and Peter. Wow. Hey, maybe you'd like to hear 0:46:20.719 --> 0:46:24.080 our broadcast again. This devotional again. Easy to do that 0:46:24.080 --> 0:46:28.670 at our website. Check out the land and the book.org. 0:46:28.880 --> 0:46:33.049 The land and the book.org. Hey, thanks for listening and 0:46:33.050 --> 0:46:35.000 thanks for sharing us with your friends. There's no ad 0:46:35.000 --> 0:46:38.840 budget here, so we appreciate the word of mouth endorsement 0:46:38.840 --> 0:46:42.710 that you bring to those in your circle. We really do. Well, 0:46:42.710 --> 0:46:45.140 our time has gone. I'm John Jaeger on behalf of 0:46:45.140 --> 0:46:47.960 our host, Charlie Dyer, our producer, Dan Anderson. Thank you 0:46:47.960 --> 0:46:50.570 for listening, for connecting with us. The land and the 0:46:50.570 --> 0:46:53.569 book is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of 0:46:53.570 --> 0:46:54.770 Moody Bible Institute.