The Jewish roots of Christianity

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Bible teaching with an emphasis on Israel, prophecy and the Jewish roots of Christianity

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Episode: “Bethlehem Rewritten”
Far from the romantic view of “O Little Town,” the city of Bethlehem today is a site of great tension. The few Arab Christians who remain here are caught between God’s Scriptural covenants with the Jewish people and replacement theologies powered by Islamic doctrine and the Marxist Liberation Theology. Too many people seek peaceful solutions while excluding the Prince of Peace. God calls people of all races to believe in His Son and join the household of faith, God’s household. Guests include Andy Woods, Randall Price, Jim Fletcher, Tim LaHaye, Jimmy DeYoung, and Bill Koenig.
Series: “Times of the Signs (2017)”
In this eight-program TV series, Myles and Katharine Weiss encourage Believers to look beyond the troubling prophetic signs of our day and live in growing expectation of our Messiah’s return.

Caption transcript for Times of the Signs (2017): “Bethlehem Rewritten” (4/8)

  • 00:04 Hi, I'm David Hart
  • 00:05 Welcome to Zola Levitt Presents.
  • 00:07 And I'm Kirsten Hart.
  • 00:08 Today on "Times of the Signs
  • 00:10 we'll discuss the question of Covenants.
  • 00:14 Can they be rewritten?
  • 00:16 Some today are trying to do just that
  • 00:18 from the birthplace of Yeshua.
  • 00:20 Stay with us.
  • 01:20 Shalom, and welcome to our program, I'm Myles Weiss
  • 01:22 and I'm Katharine Weiss.
  • 01:23 Welcome to our series "Times of the Signs".
  • 01:26 We are highlighting prophesies that are being fulfilled today
  • 01:29 that are pointing to the soon coming of our King.
  • 01:33 Today we are really looking at replacement theology,
  • 01:35 especially its manifestation in Bethlehem.
  • 01:38 Believe it or not the story of the birthplace of Yeshua is being completely rewritten.
  • 01:43 What is "replacement theology"?
  • 01:44 It's the idea that because the Jews rejected Jesus nationally,
  • 01:49 although some of us still believe in Him,
  • 01:51 because nationally we rejected him that the blessings have been
  • 01:55 taken from the Jewish people and given to the Church alone.
  • 01:58 This is ridiculous because God is a covenant keeping God
  • 02:02 and if he was to rescind his covenant with the Jewish people
  • 02:05 what's to say he won't rescind his covenant with the Church as well?
  • 02:09 Well he is the ideal prodigal father.
  • 02:12 The Jews might have strayed
  • 02:14 but they are coming home in masses today
  • 02:17 and he is standing to greet them.
  • 02:20 So let's remember the heart of the Father
  • 02:22 and let's hear some more from Myles in Bethlehem.
  • 02:28 So many Christians in the west
  • 02:29 have a romantic picture of Bethlehem
  • 02:33 probably from Christmas stories, Hallmark cards
  • 02:36 and just a sense of the romance and the beauty of the area.
  • 02:41 I'm standing in Manger Square in modern Bethlehem.
  • 02:44 Bethlehem is the site of incredible tension between
  • 02:49 Muslims and Christians and
  • 02:51 between the Arab population and Israel proper.
  • 02:55 Micah 5:2 prophesies
  • 02:58 that out of this place, Bethlehem Ephrathath,
  • 03:07 So the story of Yeshua coming from this place, coming from Bethlehem
  • 03:12 is not just a Hebraic story, it's an eternal story.
  • 03:16 It's about God's covenant keeping ability,
  • 03:19 his covenant keeping ways.
  • 03:22 This is the place that was prophesied that he would be born
  • 03:26 as the son of David in the line of David and he would be in fact David's greater son.
  • 03:32 And yet today we see incredible tension as the story of the Hebraic Messiah,
  • 03:39 the Jewish story, the history of Bethlehem is being rewritten
  • 03:43 and reinterpreted in order to fit into a new version of replacement theology.
  • 03:48 That's why I love hearing from some of our Arab friends
  • 03:51 who understand the tension and understand difficulty here.
  • 03:55 I'm thinking of Tarek Fatah from the Muslim Canadian Congress
  • 03:59 and the way that he spoke that it's time to stop the Jew hatred
  • 04:03 and start building Palestine.
  • 04:06 In other words, the funding that comes from the west
  • 04:09 that is supposed to help the people here instead of going
  • 04:12 into infrastructure and hospitals and health and well being and schools, etc.
  • 04:17 whether it's here in Gaza or the territories
  • 04:19 it often goes into weaponry and fomenting that educational system
  • 04:24 that is anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel
  • 04:28 and that can only bring more difficulties.
  • 04:30 I also think about a wonderful pastor, Shmuel Aweida
  • 04:34 who is an Arab pastor working
  • 04:37 with the Messianics in Israel.
  • 04:39 Now he has also a very clear view
  • 04:41 of the need for the Jewish Messianics
  • 04:44 to love the Arab Christians that love the Arab people
  • 04:47 at the same time that the Arab people
  • 04:49 need to stand with the restoration of Israel
  • 04:53 and the importance of what God is doing
  • 04:55 because it is part of the future of what God is wanting to do here in this land.
  • 05:01 I have to say that the Arab believers, the Arab Christians
  • 05:03 are caught between two fires
  • 05:06 and currently are being unduly influenced by Islamic theology
  • 05:10 and the liberation theology, the Marxist liberation theology
  • 05:14 that can only lead to more divisiveness and more hatred.
  • 05:19 So we're here to bring you another part of the story.
  • 05:23 And this part of the story is that God is in the business of
  • 05:28 restoration if it's the human soul, or the nation of Israel,
  • 05:32 we're bringing together the one-new man, Jew and Arab together, worshipping together,
  • 05:36 worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
  • 05:39 So we want to bring you that part of the story in the Name of Yeshua .
  • 05:51 Regarding Israel which is our heart of hearts here,
  • 05:56 what do you think about the current Palestinian,
  • 06:00 Evangelical, Revisionism that's taking place where Jesus is a Palestinian freedom fighter
  • 06:09 and this new kind of replacement theology that's taking place,
  • 06:13 how do you see that?
  • 06:15 I see it through the lens of Revelation 12.
  • 06:18 Revelation 12 as you know is one of those chapters
  • 06:21 that pulls back the veil and let's us see the spiritual realm
  • 06:26 In that passage very clearly when you interpret all the symbolic imagery correctly
  • 06:31 You see Satan seeking to devour the woman
  • 06:34 clothed with the sun and the moon and the 12 stars
  • 06:37 which is imagery that goes back to Joseph's dream.
  • 06:39 And Genesis 37:9-10.
  • 06:43 And Satan is doing everything he can to devour
  • 06:46 or eradicate the nation of Israel.
  • 06:49 God said, I will bless you, and through you the world will be blessed.
  • 06:54 All of our blessings whether it be Yeshua Jesus, Jewish or the Scripture written by Jews,
  • 07:03 or...now, or the coming kingdom.
  • 07:06 See that's what people don't understand.
  • 07:08 Israel is the gift that keeps on giving.
  • 07:11 And so since that is true Satan is working overtime
  • 07:16 to marginalize, eradicate, get people's mind off this nation.
  • 07:20 So I look at it largely through that Revelation 12 prism.
  • 07:23 Unfortunately the revisionists have been very successful in their propaganda because
  • 07:29 when you go around the globe, especially Europe today...
  • 07:33 I saw a recent thing where they were talking about ISIS
  • 07:38 and actually their campus in Berkeley, they were "thumbs up", you know, were encouraging it.
  • 07:42 You bring up something about Zionism or the Jewish State
  • 07:46 and it was like, "you're an occupationist, you are the problem with the whole world.
  • 07:50 And it's totally out of balance.
  • 07:53 The Arabs have never accepted Israel.
  • 07:56 Mahmoud Abbas said the other day
  • 07:58 that they will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
  • 08:01 These people mean what they say.
  • 08:04 From a secular standpoint, for example,
  • 08:08 if an American Secretary of State is trying to cobble together a two-state solution,
  • 08:12 there are elements that make sense,
  • 08:14 these people just simply want to live side by side.
  • 08:17 But when you factor in the ideology and the commitment of the jihadist forces
  • 08:21 it's an absolute non-starter.
  • 08:25 Israel has been a desert for 1,850 years.
  • 08:32 But the Zionist movement and so on...
  • 08:35 And how come it was a desert?
  • 08:37 God was preserving it because of their rejection of the Messiah
  • 08:40 70 AD to around 1850 when Samuel Clemens, the great fiction writer said,
  • 08:49 This is a land I wouldn't want to live in.
  • 08:51 It's a desert, weeds and so on...
  • 08:54 But from then the Jews started going back because...
  • 08:58 and it's interesting the rainfall that had been held from God.
  • 09:03 And in my new book "Target Israel"
  • 09:06 I highlight the fact that there are illustrations in the Old Testament,
  • 09:10 particularly the minor prophets
  • 09:12 that predicted that God has control of the weather
  • 09:15 and so He didn't give rain for almost 1,850 years.
  • 09:21 In fact, one Rabbi said of 660,000 days.
  • 09:25 Well that's 1,850 years.
  • 09:27 But in our time it's coming.
  • 09:40 Our resource on this program...
  • 09:42 the book, "Broken Branches"
  • 09:45 We will send you Zola's book on replacement theology.
  • 09:48 Some denominations have tried to
  • 09:50 cast away the roots of Christianity,
  • 09:53 the Jewish people
  • 09:55 and the Promised Land.
  • 09:57 Zola clearly explains the Church has not replaced Israel.
  • 10:01 Call 1-800-WONDERS
  • 10:03 and ask for "Broken Branches"
  • 10:05 or visit us at levitt.com
  • 10:21 Myles - We're here in Bethlehem
  • 10:22 " Beit Lechem " "The House of Bread"
  • 10:24 It's such a part of the story of the restoration of God,
  • 10:28 the way he is restoring
  • 10:29 the people to the Land
  • 10:31 and the way he is restoring,
  • 10:32 hoping for, looking for
  • 10:34 reconciliation and love
  • 10:35 between the cousins in the family...
  • 10:37 the family feud between the Jews and the Arabs.
  • 10:39 2,600 years ago the Prophet Jeremiah
  • 10:43 said that no one cares about Zion.
  • 10:46 We see that playing out through history
  • 10:48 where Christians, believers around the world,
  • 10:50 they love the history of Israel and the future of Israel
  • 10:53 but they're not sure what to do with the present day restoration of Israel.
  • 10:57 We see that playing out in World War II in 1948.
  • 11:01 1967 and 1973 the west is always late to the party to help with the Jewish people
  • 11:08 but they eventually have come through
  • 11:09 and there's been a strong support of restoration.
  • 11:13 But you know there's a large growing part of the body
  • 11:17 that is believing along with St. Augustine of years ago
  • 11:20 who told us that we were chosen, the Jews, but chosen for
  • 11:25 judgment, exile, humiliation defeat and destruction.
  • 11:30 And there is a growing part of the body that is aligning with that mentality.
  • 11:35 And tragically a lot of that is being fomented
  • 11:39 right here in Bethlehem.
  • 11:41 The fact is that God is a covenant keeping God.
  • 11:44 If he keeps his covenant with me as a Jewish person
  • 11:46 he will keep his covenant with you as a Christian,
  • 11:49 as a believer in Yeshua HaMashiach
  • 11:51 Sadly, right here in Bethlehem
  • 11:53 where there is a security wall
  • 11:55 that has effectively stopped terror from coming into downtown Jerusalem.
  • 12:00 Teams are coming from around the world to stand and mock the IDF soldiers that stand guard there
  • 12:06 to harass, to take photo-ops
  • 12:09 siding with and alleging that all the issues that the Arab people are suffering
  • 12:14 are because of the Jews.
  • 12:15 And the fact is that what is most tragic
  • 12:18 is that the Arab leadership, the political leadership
  • 12:22 has failed their people.
  • 12:25 The change now is that this replacement theology is now
  • 12:29 beginning to have a Palestinian overlay
  • 12:33 allegedly seeking peace and justice, social justice.
  • 12:37 But it cannot be accomplished apart from the Word of God.
  • 12:41 And the Scriptures are the only lens with which to understand the conflict here.
  • 12:46 I thank God for groups like F.I.R.M., The Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries,
  • 12:52 that is gathering those who support Israel,
  • 12:54 support the Arab Christians, support the Messianic Jews,
  • 12:57 and are trying to put on display what can happen
  • 13:01 when the Prince of Peace comes to the Land.
  • 13:04 And that is the only hope we have here.
  • 13:14 What's happening in Bethlehem is of real concern to me.
  • 13:18 I pastored here in Jerusalem,
  • 13:20 started a church in 1991
  • 13:22 and still am the old gray head
  • 13:24 that shows up at the church once in a while,
  • 13:27 before Meno Kalisher took over.
  • 13:29 And we would do ministry into Bethlehem.
  • 13:32 There are some good people over in Bethlehem.
  • 13:34 We would go in there, we would go in the streets,
  • 13:36 we would go door to door,
  • 13:38 we'd do special projects,
  • 13:39 I preached several times in Bethlehem at different churches.
  • 13:42 But there's a segment of the Christian community over there
  • 13:47 that would be what I would consider replacement theologians
  • 13:52 What's you're basically talking about
  • 13:54 is that the Church has replaced God's plan for the Jewish people.
  • 13:58 That's an impossibility.
  • 14:00 If he can lie to the Jews, he could lie to you and me about our eternal life and salvation.
  • 14:05 Well said.
  • 14:07 But these replacement theologians are pulling together Christians from around the world
  • 14:12 to stand with the Palestinians.
  • 14:14 Now there's nothing wrong with that if
  • 14:16 you have the right theology and eschatology which they do not have
  • 14:21 and that's of much concern to me.
  • 14:23 It's just a matter of time
  • 14:24 before the entire European Union votes for a Palestinian State.
  • 14:29 On the surface it sounds great.
  • 14:32 And all the Palestinians would have to do is acknowledge these
  • 14:36 two previous enormously generous offers
  • 14:40 that Barak gave to Arafat in 2000
  • 14:43 Ehud Barak
  • 14:44 Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister.
  • 14:46 It was 95 per cent of Judea and Samaria,
  • 14:49 east Jerusalem and it had
  • 14:51 broke up over who was going to have sovereignty over the holy sites in the Old City.
  • 14:55 Right.
  • 14:56 And then Ehud Olmert was willing in 2008 to give all of that plus sovereignty
  • 15:01 and Abbas didn't take the deal.
  • 15:04 So it's absurd.
  • 15:05 So they just keep pushing and pushing.
  • 15:08 It's very clear from prophecy that the Jewish State
  • 15:12 will be squeezed by an international community
  • 15:17 that frankly has run out of patience with the Jews.
  • 15:20 and I see that happening on an unprecedented scale.
  • 15:23 It's much more intense than it was 20 years ago.
  • 15:25 Even when Oslo [Accords] was coming into form.
  • 15:29 Now we're seeing things that are really breathtaking in scope
  • 15:32 the pressure put on Israel
  • 15:34 politically, militarily, culturally.
  • 15:36 Sir Martin Gilbert in Great Britain
  • 15:38 said a few years ago when he was asked about
  • 15:40 Why is there incitement?
  • 15:42 Why is there anti-Semitism raging again in Europe?
  • 15:45 And he said, a lot of people don't like Jews.
  • 15:49 And it's a very elementary answer
  • 15:51 but I think it's very, very on target.
  • 15:54 And at the end of the day
  • 15:55 it's really one of the few things that makes sense.
  • 15:58 I think that anti-Semitism is a spiritual problem.
  • 16:01 And we see it manifesting itself in a big way now.
  • 16:04 One and a half per cent of Europe is born-again Christians.
  • 16:11 That's shocking.
  • 16:12 And I shared that recently with a friend from the U.K.
  • 16:14 He says, one and a half per cent might be generous.
  • 16:16 I was going to say,
  • 16:18 it's an exaggeration, right?
  • 16:20 WOW.
  • 16:21 So, that's just incredible.
  • 16:22 It's so hard for us to comprehend that.
  • 16:24 So you have an anti-Semitic group
  • 16:26 and you have a Continent
  • 16:28 that's void of a personal intimate relationship with the Messiah, Jesus of Israel.
  • 16:36 There's no lens in which to see the truth of the headlines.
  • 16:39 Exactly
  • 16:40 Everything's arbitrary.
  • 16:42 Man becomes the standard.
  • 16:43 Everything is arbitrary in that case.
  • 16:45 And that's exactly right.
  • 16:46 And that's Europe's history.
  • 16:48 You also have the World Council of Churches that's out of Geneva, Switzerland
  • 16:51 that told the European Union that they should go forward
  • 16:55 with their boycott of goods that are made in the settlement communities.
  • 16:57 Yeah.
  • 16:59 Then you have the U.N. refugee group, the Human Rights Council that's operating out of Geneva.
  • 17:05 Then you have the boycott divestment sanctions movement out of London
  • 17:10 and all the other things that come along with it.
  • 17:13 So I told my friend that heads up the European Coalition,
  • 17:15 I said, you have it much, much more difficult than us in the United States
  • 17:20 where we have APAC that does enormously significant
  • 17:24 and many times efficient work on Capitol Hill.
  • 17:27 And you have many Christian organizations that are very supportive of Israel.
  • 17:31 And for the most part, even the Protestants and Catholics support the State of Israel.
  • 17:37 But in Europe it's completely different.
  • 17:39 It's just so remotely different than what we're used to.
  • 17:41 I don't think that Israel can any longer count on
  • 17:46 strong American support at the political level.
  • 17:48 And I think that's an obvious thing.
  • 17:51 There have been some difficult moments in the last couple of years.
  • 17:55 Militarily of course one of the problems
  • 17:59 is an odd acceptance in the west of the jihadist mentality.
  • 18:04 Hezbollah and Hamas should have been put down a long time ago.
  • 18:07 And yet we seem to tolerate that so long as they don't target us.
  • 18:13 And so Israel is faced with issues on their borders that there haven't been before.
  • 18:20 The rocket stockpiles in Lebanon by Hezbollah.
  • 18:23 The rocket stockpiles in Gaza and that sort of thing.
  • 18:26 And so when they try to defend themselves
  • 18:29 they're looked at as the pariah in the international community.
  • 18:33 So those kinds of things are going on.
  • 18:35 But more importantly, they are intensifying.
  • 18:38 This is a very important issue for Katharine and myself.
  • 18:41 It's a personal one as our sons have recently graduated from college.
  • 18:45 While they were there they dealt with anti-Semitism, anti-Israelism.
  • 18:49 In fact our older son went out of his way to start a non-profit foundation to push back against
  • 18:56 the replacement theology that's being pitched on campuses today.
  • 19:00 This is a very important issue and we need to be aware of it.
  • 19:03 We want our viewers to be aware of this
  • 19:06 especially regarding the next generation.
  • 19:09 It's interesting though that the next generation on our campuses in the U.S.
  • 19:13 we're seeing that same mentality arising.
  • 19:16 And that battle is raging on in these campuses.
  • 19:17 That's right, that's a great concern.
  • 19:19 I know that Christians United for Israel and some other organizations
  • 19:24 have been very concerned about that
  • 19:25 and they're trying to do work on the campuses.
  • 19:27 I mentioned to one of the leaders of CUFI,
  • 19:30 you got to stay in the Word,
  • 19:32 you got to stay on what the Word of God says.
  • 19:34 And that's one of the Jewish members of CUFI.
  • 19:36 And he said, well we just got to go toe to toe.
  • 19:39 I said, look the practical won't work.
  • 19:41 It just won't work.
  • 19:43 The Biblical is the way to go.
  • 19:46 You got to give it your all with the Biblical.
  • 19:48 And if that doesn't work
  • 19:49 then hey, it's not going to work anyhow.
  • 19:51 I think the attack on the teaching of predictive prophecy
  • 19:54 is also a huge issue
  • 19:57 and one that is a logical conclusion of sort of
  • 20:02 sanitizing the Jewishness of the Bible out of Scripture.
  • 20:06 But I think what is going on in a big way now and where it ends up is anyone's guess.
  • 20:13 But I think it's a very disturbing trend.
  • 20:15 The number of Christians that are turning against Israel is foolishness,
  • 20:19 and they're heeding the Devil's message,
  • 20:22 because God has still kept his promise,
  • 20:26 the nation that blesses Israel is going to be blessed.
  • 20:32 And I'd like to talk to all American Christians
  • 20:35 Please.
  • 20:36 and American patriots
  • 20:38 and emphasis the fact, what is the secret to America's greatness?
  • 20:44 The founding of the fathers?
  • 20:45 Well yes, they had more Judeo-Christian principles
  • 20:48 than any nation in the history of the world.
  • 20:50 But American, and I say this as a patriot and a Christian,
  • 20:55 America had been better to the Jew than any nation in the history of the world.
  • 21:01 And God has blessed America better than any nation since the World War II.
  • 21:06 That' right.
  • 21:07 And if we take our hands off Israel it's going to be,
  • 21:10 because the flip side of that
  • 21:13 God, as you know said, I'll bless them that bless you
  • 21:16 but I'll curse those that curse you.
  • 21:18 And the reason that Great Britain is just a Third World Nation today;
  • 21:24 they don't like to admit it but that's about what they are.
  • 21:27 because they turned their backs on Israel.
  • 21:30 And I pray to God America will never do that.
  • 21:42 Hi, you know a good question to ask yourself might be
  • 21:45 where else can you find solid Bible teaching
  • 21:47 regarding prophecy for these last days?
  • 21:50 Well, Zola Levitt Ministries
  • 21:51 has been doing exactly that
  • 21:53 for more than 35 years
  • 21:54 and will continue with your support.
  • 21:57 Your gifts of financial support
  • 22:00 is what enables us to do this.
  • 22:02 We want to remind you there's 3 ways...
  • 22:04 Online...through the mail,
  • 22:06 or just give us a phone call.
  • 22:07 And thank you.
  • 22:12 We're here on the edge of the Shepherd's field
  • 22:15 famous from the story of Ruth and Boaz,
  • 22:17 how the power of God brought together Jew and Gentile
  • 22:21 in the lineage of Yeshua .
  • 22:23 This Jewish story was wound together with a Gentile forebearer, Ruth, of Yeshua .
  • 22:30 And that's what God is trying to do today
  • 22:31 is to bring genuine peace to this area.
  • 22:35 Right, we're here in Bethlehem.
  • 22:36 It used to be predominantly Christian
  • 22:39 but now it's really...
  • 22:41 Muslims are pressing.
  • 22:43 And they're pressing to take over what God has intended from the beginning
  • 22:47 that this would be a birthing place of his sovereignty.
  • 22:50 What happens in the Middle East is that
  • 22:52 people try to fix it in their natural mind.
  • 22:54 They try to eat from the knowledge of good and evil.
  • 22:56 They try to have a peace plan without the Prince of Peace.
  • 22:59 And there will be no peace in the Middle East without the Prince of Peace.
  • 23:03 And there will be no solution without Jesus our Messiah.
  • 23:08 You see, there's a way that seems right to a man
  • 23:11 but the end thereof is death.
  • 23:13 And when man starts calling good evil
  • 23:16 and evil good,
  • 23:17 it says in Isaiah 5
  • 23:18 Well then we fall off the path
  • 23:21 that God has for us.
  • 23:22 And what God wants for us is to understand
  • 23:26 that he has a sovereign plan
  • 23:27 and that he had intended from all the beginning of man
  • 23:30 to have a place to call his own,
  • 23:33 a people to demonstrate his love eternal
  • 23:37 no matter if they fall short of his covenants or not.
  • 23:40 He has an eternal love and an eternal plan.
  • 23:42 And we can't mess it up.
  • 23:44 We can't get in the mix of it can we Myles?
  • 23:46 Yeah, you know we have to recognize that this is a divine, inspired story.
  • 23:51 The story of the promise of the Messiah.
  • 23:54 And God chose, sovereignly chose the Jewish people,
  • 23:57 the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
  • 23:59 to bring that story through.
  • 24:01 But in his mercy and his goodness he continually shows
  • 24:03 pictures of grafting-in of those who are without
  • 24:07 for the ultimate grafting that would come
  • 24:09 when Yeshua born here in Bethlehem at this field
  • 24:12 where the shepherds were watching,
  • 24:14 looking for a Messiah,
  • 24:15 looking over the sheep...waiting.
  • 24:17 Looking for deliverance from Rome,
  • 24:18 deliverance from oppression.
  • 24:20 And I would say today that the oppression that people are suffering from
  • 24:24 is not an occupation of one nation of another
  • 24:27 but rather it's the occupation of the mind.
  • 24:29 And that is what God is trying to liberate.
  • 24:31 And when he comes in when we say yes,
  • 24:33 whether we're Jewish or Arabic,
  • 24:35 when we say yes then we change, transformation comes, and love blossoms.
  • 24:40 And that's why this is such a significant place.
  • 24:43 And what God is trying to do today here is to keep back
  • 24:47 the force of replacement theology that is trying to displace his story.
  • 24:52 Because his story includes the planting of the Jewish people in this Land
  • 24:57 and in the raising up of Jew and Gentile together
  • 25:00 to worship him and to look for his soon coming.
  • 25:12 Bethlehem was an ancient Canaanite city
  • 25:14 first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 35
  • 25:18 when Jacob buried his wife there.
  • 25:20 Not only that.
  • 25:21 But we have the history of Ruth finding her Boaz
  • 25:24 and the promise of the greater Boaz to come,
  • 25:27 our Kinsman Redeemer.
  • 25:29 Micah talks about it as the birthplace.
  • 25:30 Correct, here we see in the Tanakh,
  • 25:32 in the Hebrew Scriptures...
  • 25:45 The promise of Messiah to be born in Bethlehem,
  • 25:48 David's greater son, Yeshua , Jesus.
  • 25:51 Yeah,...Jesus,
  • 25:53 he was that bridge
  • 25:55 to bring the Jews and the Gentiles together.
  • 25:58 And we are always reaching, Myles
  • 26:00 for the Arabs and the Christians, and the Jews
  • 26:04 to see that one-new man expression.
  • 26:06 We love our Arab Christian brothers and sisters.
  • 26:09 We need to be praying for the Arab-Christians of Bethlehem.
  • 26:12 They are under so much pressure to believe a lie
  • 26:15 that it's the oppression of Israel that is their enemy
  • 26:18 when the enemy is always the flesh and the works of the Devil
  • 26:21 really trying to divide and to rob them from the blessing
  • 26:24 of coming into the covenant of Abraham through Isaac.
  • 26:28 Right, when we were filming in Bethlehem we even saw
  • 26:31 some of the propaganda that's stated
  • 26:33 so that when tourists come there
  • 26:35 they think it's realities in their museum
  • 26:38 and they are rewriting the history literally in Bethlehem.
  • 26:41 But God's story remains forever, right?
  • 26:44 It's right here and we know it and it's true
  • 26:47 and I know our listeners do to.
  • 26:54 Today's teaching was wonderful from Myles in Bethlehem.
  • 26:58 But David, the question is
  • 26:59 How can the Church today apply what we just learned?
  • 27:05 We know the Covenants of God cannot be re-written.
  • 27:08 We are the recipients of those promises through Yeshua.
  • 27:13 And that's the Good News we have to bring to you.
  • 27:16 Great news today.
  • 27:17 Our prayer today for you is
  • 27:19 Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim .
  • 27:21 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
  • 27:25 Our monthly newsletter the Levitt Letter is free
  • 27:28 and full of insightful articles and news commentary
  • 27:31 from a Messianic perspective.
  • 27:33 Visit levitt.com to find our newsletter,
  • 27:36 along with current and past programs,
  • 27:38 our television schedule
  • 27:39 and much more!
  • 27:41 Don't forget to order this week's resource
  • 27:43 by calling 1-800-WONDERS
  • 27:46 or you can purchase it from
  • 27:48 our catalogue at levitt.com
  • 27:51 Your donations to Zola Levitt Ministries
  • 27:53 help these organizations bless Israel.

Episodes in this series

  1. On the Prophetic Horizons
  2. Government on Whose Shoulders?
  3. Green to the Extreme
  4. Bethlehem Rewritten
  5. Rebuilding the Temple
  6. The Heavens Declare
  7. The Sword of Allah
  8. New Heaven, New Earth

Guest organizations and links