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: “Jesus and the Promised Land”
In the New Testament, we read of Jesus/Yeshua’s vision for the Chosen People and the Holy Land. It underscores the basis for this series: that the Land is forever significant; so is its possession by the Israelites.
Series:Eretz Israel (The Land of Israel) (2021)”
In this eight-part television series, Dr. Jeffrey Seif takes viewers through Eretz Israel (The Land of Israel). By exploring the Bible’s accounts of the Holy Land’s past, present, and prophetic future, we discover an inextricable relationship between the people of Israel and the land of Israel. Former CBS correspondent David Dolan helps explore the modern-day struggles that accompany the re-establishment of the ancestral Jewish homeland. On-location TV footage, dramas, and Zola’s wonderful music punctuate the series.

Caption transcript for Eretz Israel (The Land of Israel) (2021): “Jesus and the Promised Land” (7/8)

  • 00:01 ♪♪♪
  • 00:03 David Hart: Welcome to "Our Jewish Roots" with insightful
  • 00:06 Bible teaching from Israel by Dr. Jeffrey Seif.
  • 00:09 We travel to Herodian today on "Eretz Israel,"
  • 00:13 "The Land of Israel."
  • 00:15 ♪♪♪
  • 00:17 ♪♪♪
  • 00:25 narrator: "Look to the North, the South, the East, the West."
  • 00:36 ♪♪♪
  • 00:41 narrator: "All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give
  • 00:45 it and to thy seed forever.
  • 00:50 Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither
  • 00:54 slumber nor sleep."
  • 00:58 ♪♪♪
  • 01:03 narrator: "Eretz Israel."
  • 01:06 ♪♪♪
  • 01:12 David: Thank you so much for joining us today.
  • 01:14 I'm David Hart.
  • 01:15 Kirsten Hart: I'm Kirsten Hart.
  • 01:16 Jeffrey Seif: And I am Jeffrey Seif.
  • 01:19 When I think about my life, I think about what an honor it is
  • 01:22 to be able to take the Bible and bring it to you
  • 01:25 from the land of Israel.
  • 01:26 And it's an honor to serve you.
  • 01:28 And today we're going to a special place there, aren't we?
  • 01:31 Kirsten: Right, well, we haven't been.
  • 01:33 You got special permission to go there, I think.
  • 01:36 We haven't been there.
  • 01:37 It's on the way down to Beit Lechem,
  • 01:38 the House of Bread, Bethlehem.
  • 01:40 And tell us about your journey.
  • 01:42 Was it hard to get there?
  • 01:43 Jeffrey: Well, our producer gets us to these sites early,
  • 01:46 before they actually become part of the well-traveled
  • 01:50 tourist path.
  • 01:51 But this is Herod's old--one of his palaces and--
  • 01:56 Kirsten: Summer palace, right?
  • 01:57 Jeffrey: Yes, and it was recently excavated at the time
  • 01:59 and we were able to get there and it was quite a trip to go up
  • 02:03 and up and up.
  • 02:04 I wasn't feeling the best.
  • 02:05 They had a golf cart, schlepped me up to the top and then I did
  • 02:08 my teaching and then they schlepped me down.
  • 02:10 Kirsten: Schlep, that's a good word.
  • 02:11 Jeffrey: It's a Jewish term, to drag.
  • 02:14 Kirsten: But you were in that--your vehicle, driving
  • 02:18 dusty roads.
  • 02:19 This is such a wonderful series and adventures--adventuresome
  • 02:23 series that you've taken us on.
  • 02:24 Jeffrey: Yes, to take people where they don't normally go is
  • 02:28 a beautiful thing to do in the land of Israel.
  • 02:30 David: That's right.
  • 02:31 We're gonna show you how much Yeshua loved his land through
  • 02:34 our dramatic reenactment.
  • 02:35 Then Dr. Seif will be teaching on location in Israel, a place
  • 02:40 that even had a swimming pool.
  • 02:41 Let's go there.
  • 02:44 ♪♪♪
  • 02:47 narrator: According to the Bible, Yeshua and his followers
  • 02:51 walked upon one strategically important parcel of land.
  • 02:56 After Herod's death, an angel references the site, telling
  • 03:00 Joseph, "Arise.
  • 03:02 Take the young child and his mother and go
  • 03:06 into the land of Israel."
  • 03:09 In his earthly ministry, the Lord spoke to,
  • 03:13 for, and about Israel.
  • 03:17 "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for
  • 03:23 verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of
  • 03:28 Israel 'til the Son of Man be come."
  • 03:33 Throughout the ages, this holy land has been known by different
  • 03:37 names, but nowhere in the pages of the New Testament has there
  • 03:42 ever been a reference to Palestine.
  • 03:45 Yeshua knew this relatively small parcel of land as Israel,
  • 03:52 the land of the patriarchs.
  • 04:01 Jeffrey: People talk about walking in the footsteps
  • 04:02 of Jesus.
  • 04:04 Well, I'm all about that, walking back into the bygone era
  • 04:07 in antiquity.
  • 04:09 This is the land of Jesus.
  • 04:10 It was the land of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus,
  • 04:13 as you'll see.
  • 04:15 In fact, he traversed this land, traveling around from the
  • 04:18 Galilee, Capernaum, to Jerusalem, and he made his way
  • 04:21 to a famous place called Herodian, a famous place in
  • 04:24 Jesus's day.
  • 04:26 It's been lost to moderns.
  • 04:27 But what's lost to moderns is now gonna be made known.
  • 04:31 Follow me now to Herodian.
  • 04:34 ♪♪♪
  • 04:42 ♪♪♪
  • 04:54 ♪♪♪
  • 05:05 Jeffrey: I'll tell you, it's like going back
  • 05:07 in a time machine 2000 years.
  • 05:10 I won't just say it; I'll show it.
  • 05:15 This is not a "National Geographic" map but it's close
  • 05:17 to what they would have used back in Jesus's day.
  • 05:21 Where are we here now?
  • 05:24 Jerusalem, we're familiar with that.
  • 05:27 Herodium.
  • 05:29 Jesus frequented this world; so did Herod and he had a
  • 05:32 headquarters right here.
  • 05:34 Come with me.
  • 05:36 Let's explore.
  • 05:39 ♪♪♪
  • 05:45 Jeffrey: Herodian, or Herodium in Greek, is one of the
  • 05:49 most extraordinary architectural constructions
  • 05:51 in the western world.
  • 05:54 Built by King Herod, this magnificent structure was
  • 05:58 intended to serve as a summer palace and later, after his
  • 06:02 death, was to be his mausoleum.
  • 06:05 Seen from miles around, it rises 195 feet above the summit
  • 06:10 of a natural hill.
  • 06:12 Half palace, half fortress, the complex consisted of luxurious
  • 06:17 living quarters, a bathhouse, garden areas, and even a huge
  • 06:22 swimming pool with an island.
  • 06:26 Jeffrey: Philip of Macedon had a famous son, Alexander, who
  • 06:29 by his dint of determination was minded to take over what he knew
  • 06:33 of the world and he did.
  • 06:36 He didn't live very long and his empire was divided and even
  • 06:39 those that followed after him were minded to impress Greek
  • 06:42 culture, to civilize the world at large.
  • 06:45 And part of the world at large that they conquered was a place
  • 06:49 called Israel, Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel.
  • 06:53 Here in Herodium we're reminded of the triumph of Greco-Roman
  • 06:58 culture for, as a result of political intrigue,
  • 07:03 interestingly, the Romans found a "client" king who could do
  • 07:08 their bidding here in the land.
  • 07:09 But even though he was a client king to the Romans,
  • 07:12 particularly, he nevertheless ruled over what the Bible knew
  • 07:16 as a sovereign Israelite Commonwealth.
  • 07:20 It's interesting how he came to it, by the way, for initially
  • 07:25 Herod was sharing this part of the world with family members
  • 07:30 but, interestingly, in the wake of a Parthian intrusion--and
  • 07:36 Parthia, by the way, in antiquity is where Persia or
  • 07:39 Iran is in modernity.
  • 07:42 Folk from that part of the world came and overran this part of
  • 07:45 the world and to set up their own king.
  • 07:47 Herod was running.
  • 07:49 He went to Masada and, on the way, he had a clash with these
  • 07:53 Parthians at a place, and this was the place, interestingly.
  • 07:58 Herod's gonna go off to Rome and beg for support against the
  • 08:02 Parthians and he's going to get it unanimously at the Senate,
  • 08:06 and Herod's going to come back here as the undisputed king
  • 08:08 of the Jews.
  • 08:10 Interestingly, this is the place, Herodium, that's a
  • 08:13 monument to his own success for there was a season in his own
  • 08:17 life when he was on the run and he was able to get the better of
  • 08:21 those minded to knock the legs out from underneath him.
  • 08:25 Well, here, this place is underneath me right now.
  • 08:27 Herod has long since come and gone, and the civilization that
  • 08:30 he represented, but isn't it interesting that Israel stands,
  • 08:35 and because Israel stands, I'm minded to stand for Israel.
  • 08:39 Now, what I'd like to do is take you to a familiar story, just to
  • 08:42 let you to see how from God's perspective, even in these days,
  • 08:46 Israel is Israel, even though it's annexed as a Greco-Roman
  • 08:50 holding and, in the Matthean text, the Gospel of Matthew, you
  • 08:53 might recall the famous Christmas story, Jesus was born
  • 08:56 in troubled times and the family takes flight to Egypt.
  • 09:00 We learn of Herod's death which then facilitates the return, and
  • 09:05 that's the story I wanna look at here where we're told that an
  • 09:08 angel of the Lord, this is heaven-sent according to the
  • 09:11 literature, comes and tells the royal family, in verse 20,
  • 09:14 chapter 2, verse 20, quote, "Arise, take the young Child and
  • 09:18 his mother, and go to the land of Israel."
  • 09:23 Not the land of Palestine.
  • 09:25 You know, there are individuals today that claim that the whole
  • 09:28 argument of a Jewish presence is grossly overstated.
  • 09:31 Well, if that's the case, whoever wrote Matthew never got
  • 09:33 the memo because he seems to think that even in a hellenized
  • 09:37 Greco-Roman world, there is a land of Israel.
  • 09:40 And this comes on angelic authority, by the way, that
  • 09:43 the--Yeshua is told to--the family to go
  • 09:47 to the land of Israel.
  • 09:49 In verse 21, where an angel tells you to do something, I
  • 09:53 suppose it's good to obey.
  • 09:54 We're told, "He arose, took the young Child and his mother, and
  • 09:57 came into the land of Israel."
  • 10:02 It's a simple point and truth be known, is that this whole series
  • 10:06 that we're doing, "Eretz Israel," "The Land of Israel,"
  • 10:08 is a simple story, and that is that God had commanded a
  • 10:12 particular people to a particular place.
  • 10:15 But in a world today where many lose sight of all that, it's
  • 10:18 good to open up the Bible and go back and consider how the Jewish
  • 10:23 bid in this place is corroborated by biblical
  • 10:27 language, emphatic biblical promises.
  • 10:32 Even in the world, in Jesus's day, but the world we're in,
  • 10:36 Greek still, Israel stood still as a sovereign nation state.
  • 10:43 And Jesus, here in the royal family, is not only told by the
  • 10:45 angel to go into the land of Israel.
  • 10:47 Elsewhere, Jesus beckons the disciples to go visit the
  • 10:50 various cities in the land of Israel, saying, "You won't go
  • 10:52 through all of them," actually.
  • 10:54 But the land is noted as Israel, harking back to the promises
  • 10:59 made to the patriarchs, centuries and centuries removed.
  • 11:04 Why do people forget it?
  • 11:05 I don't know, but I do know that the Bible doesn't.
  • 11:09 There is a people, there is a land, and they belong together,
  • 11:14 here, in the land of Israel.
  • 11:17 ♪♪♪
  • 11:31 male announcer: Our resource this week: the music CD,
  • 11:34 "Zion Song."
  • 11:36 During his lifetime, Zola Levitt composed over 200
  • 11:40 Spirit-filled songs.
  • 11:41 Now, David and Kirsten Hart provide fresh interpretations to
  • 11:45 11 of Zola's compositions.
  • 11:47 Enjoy this beautiful music yourself or share the CD
  • 11:51 with a friend.
  • 11:52 Contact us and ask for "Zion Song."
  • 11:59 David: Join us right now for additional content that is only
  • 12:02 available on our social media sites: Facebook,
  • 12:04 YouTube, and Twitter.
  • 12:07 Visit our website, levitt.com, for the current and past
  • 12:10 programs, the television schedule, tour information, and
  • 12:14 our free monthly newsletter which is full of insightful
  • 12:17 articles and news commentary.
  • 12:19 View it online or we can ship it directly to your mailbox
  • 12:22 every month.
  • 12:23 Also on our website is the online store.
  • 12:26 There, you can order this week's resource or you can always give
  • 12:30 us a call at 1-800-WONDERS.
  • 12:33 Your donations to "Our Jewish Roots" help us to support these
  • 12:37 organizations as they bless Israel.
  • 12:40 Please remember we depend on tax-deductible donations
  • 12:43 from viewers like you.
  • 12:45 Kirsten: For many, a trip to the Holy Land is the dream?
  • 12:48 of a lifetime.
  • 12:50 Where else can you go see the Scriptures come alive as you
  • 12:53 visit the sites where so many biblical events happened.
  • 12:59 We invite you to come on a Zola Tour in the spring or the fall
  • 13:03 as we explore Israel and Petra.
  • 13:06 Reserve your dream of a lifetime.
  • 13:09 Contact us for more information.
  • 13:16 David: The land is lush in Israel, as you can see.
  • 13:19 We go there two times a year, both in the spring and the fall.
  • 13:23 We love going there.
  • 13:24 It is life-changing for us and it would be life-changing
  • 13:26 for you too.
  • 13:28 Please join us.
  • 13:29 Kirsten: Right, levitt.com is the easiest way to find out
  • 13:31 about our tours and you've been there multiple times,
  • 13:35 haven't you?
  • 13:37 Jeffrey: Yes, and it's true.
  • 13:38 I was thinking as David was speaking, it really is
  • 13:39 life-changing.
  • 13:41 There are certain things for me that were life-changing.
  • 13:42 Certainly accepting Jesus into my heart was very life-changing.
  • 13:47 And, honestly, going to Israel was life-changing.
  • 13:50 It's not just like a statement to sell a tour, to coax you into
  • 13:54 doing something like you would see an advertisement.
  • 13:57 But when you walk in the Bible lands, it just does something
  • 14:01 to you.
  • 14:02 And I remember my first time there and it's always
  • 14:04 a thrill to go.
  • 14:05 Thank you for sending me.
  • 14:07 Kirsten: As you say, on our tours we stay
  • 14:09 in first-class hotels.
  • 14:10 I mean, we are--it's like red carpet wherever we go on our
  • 14:14 tours but when we're there in production time,
  • 14:17 this is a very thrifty ministry.
  • 14:19 We are very cautious of how we use our finances when we're over
  • 14:23 touring and--or taping.
  • 14:25 When you tape for the program.
  • 14:26 Jeffrey: Yeah, it's not like some big 20th Century Fox
  • 14:30 production: Elizabeth Taylor in her trailer, then she goes out
  • 14:34 with Richard Burton and films "The Queen of Egypt,"
  • 14:37 or whatever.
  • 14:39 We're really out there in the elements and the heat of it,
  • 14:41 slaving away, you know, without any of that nice stuff.
  • 14:44 David: But it's Hollywood quality.
  • 14:45 What you all do is just phenomenal.
  • 14:47 Kirsten: Right, the quality is great, but those that give to
  • 14:50 this ministry, we want them to know, we want you to know when
  • 14:54 you send donations to this ministry, we use it so wisely
  • 14:57 and we use it to further the kingdom.
  • 14:59 Jeffrey: Yeah, we pay for professionals, you know, a
  • 15:03 professional production team and professional helps over there,
  • 15:07 professional equipment.
  • 15:09 It all costs money and you pay for it, thank you.
  • 15:11 But it doesn't translate into all kinds of goodies for the
  • 15:15 people that do the presenting, that is us here.
  • 15:19 You would be surprised how much money we don't make and I'm not
  • 15:22 looking for a raise.
  • 15:24 I'm just wanting to raise awareness of the fact that we're
  • 15:26 not after you for your money personally.
  • 15:29 David: David Dolan's teaching today takes place
  • 15:31 right outside of Bethlehem.
  • 15:32 Let's go there right now.
  • 15:36 Jeffrey: David Dolan joins us this week from a hillside
  • 15:38 overlooking the area of Bethlehem in what's called the
  • 15:42 West Bank.
  • 15:43 These bunkers are the remnants of numerous wars as surrounding
  • 15:48 nations have sought to lay claim to this very strategic site.
  • 15:53 David continues with his account there
  • 15:55 of the modern state of Israel.
  • 16:00 David Dolan: I'm standing on a hilltop
  • 16:02 near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel.
  • 16:03 This was a strategic battleground in both 1948
  • 16:07 and '67.
  • 16:08 You can see some of the bunkers that Israel built here to fight
  • 16:11 against the Palestinians and the Jordanians.
  • 16:14 Behind me is Bethlehem, one of the largest Arab towns in the
  • 16:17 Palestinian authority today.
  • 16:20 This area has been the center of the dispute for so many years in
  • 16:23 the Arab-Israeli conflict, but let's go back to the aftermath
  • 16:26 of the Yom Kippur War, Israel suffering very much in that war,
  • 16:30 and Egypt as well.
  • 16:32 The finances in Egypt were decimated by the war.
  • 16:35 The leader, Anwar Sadat, made a strategic decision in the mid
  • 16:38 '70s, to break ties with the Soviet Union and establish them
  • 16:41 with the United States.
  • 16:43 And then he decided to make peace with Israel.
  • 16:46 He showed up at the Knesset here in Jerusalem in November of
  • 16:50 1977, declaring he was ready for peace.
  • 16:53 But in the meantime, the violence continued.
  • 16:56 In April of 1978, Israel suffered her worst terror attack
  • 17:00 ever: the Coastal Road Massacre.
  • 17:02 The PLO had been kicked out of Jordan in 1970, set up a mini
  • 17:06 state in South Lebanon.
  • 17:08 From there, they were launching attacks upon
  • 17:10 the Jewish people constantly.
  • 17:12 Thirty-three Israelis were killed, many of them children,
  • 17:15 most of them civilians.
  • 17:16 Nevertheless, the peace process got going.
  • 17:19 Jimmy Carter inviting both Sadat and the new Israeli leader,
  • 17:22 Menachem Begin, who had ousted the labor party in May of 1977
  • 17:27 in a revolutionary election here in Israel.
  • 17:30 He was invited to come as well.
  • 17:32 The pundits said, "Peace won't happen: the Begin government
  • 17:35 is too right wing."
  • 17:37 They were wrong.
  • 17:38 Thirteen days of grueling negotiations took place
  • 17:41 at Camp David.
  • 17:42 The leaders walked out several times.
  • 17:44 The main issue was Jerusalem.
  • 17:46 In the end, Jimmy Carter said to Sadat, "Give Begin a letter
  • 17:50 with your position."
  • 17:51 To Begin, "Give Sadat a letter with your position."
  • 17:53 That's what they did, and they were able to sign
  • 17:55 the Camp David Accords.
  • 17:57 Those Accords had two parts.
  • 17:58 One was the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula that
  • 18:02 Israel had captured during the '67 war.
  • 18:05 It was a phased withdrawal that began in 1981.
  • 18:08 I was actually down in the Sinai at the time.
  • 18:10 It was very controversial.
  • 18:12 Many said Begin had betrayed the right wing here
  • 18:16 by agreeing to that.
  • 18:17 Nevertheless, it was carried out.
  • 18:18 The second part of the Accord dealt with the area behind me,
  • 18:21 the Palestinian zones.
  • 18:23 They were to get self-governing autonomy during peace talks that
  • 18:27 would also involve Jordan.
  • 18:29 They would involve Lebanon.
  • 18:30 They would involve Syria.
  • 18:32 Well, it never happened.
  • 18:33 The Arab countries totally rejected the Oslo Accords and
  • 18:37 Anwar Sadat was shot dead by one of his own army officers
  • 18:41 in October of 1981.
  • 18:43 Meanwhile, the PLO continued to launch attacks into Israel.
  • 18:47 I was living on a kibbutz along the northern border and,
  • 18:50 frankly, we spent most of our time living in a bomb shelter.
  • 18:53 It became intolerable and everybody knew that the Begin
  • 18:56 government was preparing some sort of major military action.
  • 19:00 Well, early June 1982, the Israeli ambassador to London
  • 19:04 was assassinated.
  • 19:05 That was the spark that set off the war.
  • 19:07 It wasn't just an air operation as before.
  • 19:10 It was a ground operation.
  • 19:12 Begin intended it to be just in South Lebanon but his defense
  • 19:16 minister, Ariel Sharon, had other ideas.
  • 19:18 He wanted to see the Syrians thrown out of Lebanon as well as
  • 19:21 the PLO.
  • 19:23 He wanted that to happen so a final peace accord
  • 19:25 would be possible.
  • 19:27 So the war went all the way up to Beirut
  • 19:28 and the fighting was heavy.
  • 19:30 The world was condemning Israel for that.
  • 19:33 But Israel had a great victory against the Syrians, in the air
  • 19:36 in particular, knocking out over 80 MiG jets and losing
  • 19:40 only a few themselves.
  • 19:41 But the demand here in the country for Israel to pull back
  • 19:45 kept growing and, finally, in 1985, Israel completed her
  • 19:49 withdrawal to the security zone, a small strip of land right
  • 19:52 along the border that they controlled until the year 2000.
  • 19:56 Yasser Arafat was tossed out of the country and ended up in
  • 19:59 Tunis where he continued the struggle against Israel.
  • 20:03 But it didn't stop the terror attacks.
  • 20:05 They continued in the '80s.
  • 20:07 Israel's economy was hard hit by that war.
  • 20:10 Hyper inflation hit, up to 450%.
  • 20:14 And there was a demand for a total pullout from Lebanon.
  • 20:17 Meanwhile back here, the struggle was continuing.
  • 20:21 Israel was starting to build settlements such as this one
  • 20:24 that was later billed Har Homa, but even in that era, they were
  • 20:27 building settlements.
  • 20:28 The tensions were building, and this would later lead to a great
  • 20:31 explosion of violence, the first Palestinian uprising.
  • 20:35 ♪♪♪
  • 20:47 Jeffrey: Now, David, it's not like me to tell God his business
  • 20:50 but if you're gonna choose real estate and put a people there,
  • 20:54 one could argue why Israel, because it's forever acted upon
  • 20:57 by major world powers from the dawn of history, situated as it
  • 21:01 is here at the tip of the fertile crescent and the corner
  • 21:05 of various continents.
  • 21:07 It's always been in the middle of political intrigue, correct?
  • 21:10 David: Well, that is correct and, of course, that's the
  • 21:12 reason the British said, "Let's don't have a Jewish state back
  • 21:16 in the old area.
  • 21:17 Let's have somewhere in Africa.
  • 21:19 We'll give you some land somewhere in Eastern Africa."
  • 21:21 Jeffrey: Uganda.
  • 21:23 David: Uganda.
  • 21:24 And of course, the Jewish people said, "No way.
  • 21:26 Jerusalem is here."
  • 21:28 I had a Muslim in a call-in program in London one time say,
  • 21:32 "Why isn't the Jewish state in Germany?
  • 21:33 This is all a result of the Holocaust
  • 21:35 and it shouldn't be here.
  • 21:36 This is a Muslim area."
  • 21:38 I said, "Well, where do you pray when you get down on your knees?
  • 21:41 What direction?" He said, "To Mecca."
  • 21:43 I said, "Well, Jews don't pray facing Stuttgart or Berlin,"
  • 21:46 they pray facing Jerusalem, so it had to be here.
  • 21:48 And here it is, but it's very contested over, as you said.
  • 21:51 Jeffrey: Yes, right there, Africa, Asia, Europe.
  • 21:55 It's the only land bridge.
  • 21:57 Israel, smack in the middle so Israel's always had to contend
  • 22:01 with major powers.
  • 22:02 Rarely has the country ever had the luxury in its history just
  • 22:05 to be autonomous and unconcerned.
  • 22:07 David: Well, that's the case.
  • 22:09 And that's why people were so joyful over the peace treaty
  • 22:12 with Egypt.
  • 22:13 They thought, "Maybe this will lead to a string of peace
  • 22:16 agreements with everybody else."
  • 22:18 Well, it did lead to one with Jordan but, so far, not with
  • 22:20 anybody else and we still have Iran and we have Lebanon, we
  • 22:23 have Syria, we have Libya, we have all these others.
  • 22:26 Still talking about destroying this state that's right in the
  • 22:28 middle of them as you said, in the middle of the earth, and,
  • 22:31 you know, some Israelis say, "Maybe we should have gone to
  • 22:34 Africa," but for the most part, they're ready to fight for it
  • 22:37 whatever it takes.
  • 22:38 Jeffrey: And you know, Dave, I spoke tongue in cheek in
  • 22:40 saying I'm not, you know, "Who am I to tell God his business,"
  • 22:42 but why did he stick us here?
  • 22:44 But because this is the crossroads of all world
  • 22:46 civilizations, for God to make his name known in the earth,
  • 22:52 this would be the place to do it and, goodness, is he not making
  • 22:55 it known and will he not in the future.
  • 22:58 David: Well, absolutely, and as Ezekiel says, this is at the
  • 23:01 center of the nations, and it literally, physically is the
  • 23:05 Middle East, the middle of the world, and all eyes are here.
  • 23:08 I'm part of the third largest press corps stationed in any one
  • 23:11 country on earth, Jeff, and this is a country
  • 23:13 of 7 million people.
  • 23:14 There's more journalists here than in Moscow and--
  • 23:16 Jeffrey: Right, and it's a country that can fit
  • 23:18 in Lake Erie.
  • 23:19 David: Exactly, it's a tiny little piece of land and yet
  • 23:22 people get the impression that it's massive because it is so
  • 23:24 much a part of all the happenings in the world.
  • 23:27 Jeffrey: Yes, and you mentioned Ezekiel.
  • 23:30 You read Ezekiel some 40 times, you'll hear about God finally at
  • 23:34 day's end making his name known in the earth, this earth, "Eretz
  • 23:41 Israel," "The Land of Israel."
  • 23:44 ♪♪♪
  • 23:58 Kirsten: You mentioned that Israel is the center
  • 24:00 of the nations.
  • 24:01 It's the center of the world, isn't it?
  • 24:03 Jeffrey: Certainly from a biblical perspective, all roads
  • 24:06 leading from it and to it.
  • 24:08 Kirsten: Well, that made me think of the term, "All roads
  • 24:11 lead to Rome," it's kind of like in the ancient world, if you
  • 24:14 wanted to get to the Mediterranean Ocean, all roads
  • 24:17 led through Israel.
  • 24:19 Jeffrey: Well, in fairness to the Romans, they built highways.
  • 24:22 It was highly developed.
  • 24:25 So I get why they'd say, "All roads lead to Rome," but where's
  • 24:28 Rome today?
  • 24:29 Nothing of what it used to be.
  • 24:32 [speaking in Hebrew]
  • 24:33 the people of Israel live and the roads that were traveled
  • 24:37 yesterday are being traveled today and we get to go there.
  • 24:41 Kirsten: We--go ahead.
  • 24:43 David: I was gonna say, we took a trip recently
  • 24:44 to Lake Tahoe.
  • 24:46 Have you ever been?
  • 24:48 Jeffrey: No.
  • 24:49 David: It's beautiful.
  • 24:50 I mean, crystal clear water, gorgeous mountains, and we had
  • 24:53 the thought, "Why didn't God pick a place like that?"
  • 24:56 There's a lot of desert in Israel, but Jesus lived there.
  • 25:00 That's where he ended up.
  • 25:02 Jeffrey: Yes, it's fascinating.
  • 25:03 As you said during the break, it's amazing that he promised it
  • 25:07 and then he walked.
  • 25:09 David: Could have been anywhere.
  • 25:10 Jeffrey: Yes, and we get to walk it too.
  • 25:12 It's a special place, you know, and if you're feeling that
  • 25:16 magnetic lure, something inside of you inclines you toward
  • 25:21 Israel, and it would have to be there or you would have gone,
  • 25:26 "click," a while ago just to get away from this program because
  • 25:29 this is a Jesus program, to be sure, but it's Jewish hues or
  • 25:33 colors, it's Jewish hues on the good news, and that allure,
  • 25:37 people are drawn to biblical spaces, to biblical places, to
  • 25:42 biblical faces, and if you wanna go see it in the flesh,
  • 25:45 twice a year, yes?
  • 25:47 David: Let me clarify what I just said, too.
  • 25:49 There's desert, but there's beautiful scenery.
  • 25:51 There's prophetic scenery of--
  • 25:55 Kirsten: Oh, I was just gonna say, the Jordan River valley
  • 25:57 is lush.
  • 25:59 David: There is so much beauty there.
  • 26:00 Kirsten: Date palm trees everywhere.
  • 26:01 The flowers.
  • 26:03 Jeffrey: Yes, and if you look at the topography, it's a
  • 26:04 pivotal point, arguably, and again I don't wanna be an
  • 26:09 amateur geologist but to speak about continental shifts and
  • 26:13 place plates and stretching, there is so much there from
  • 26:19 wilderness lands to rising lands to garden lands.
  • 26:23 It has to do with the nature of this special place.
  • 26:26 Kirsten: And so many people want that piece of land but it
  • 26:28 was only promised to one people.
  • 26:31 Jeffrey: That is true.
  • 26:33 David: And we have one more program with "Eretz Israel,"
  • 26:36 "The Promised Land of Yeshua," next week.
  • 26:39 Jeffrey: Yes, you say it so good.
  • 26:40 And thank you for watching, by the way, if you watch us
  • 26:43 'cause you care.
  • 26:44 And we really, really hope you're learning something about
  • 26:47 God's love for the place.
  • 26:49 David: We end today's program with a song from our founder,
  • 26:51 Zola Levitt.
  • 26:52 But first--
  • 26:54 Jeffrey: A word from the Scripture: "Shaalu shalom
  • 26:56 Yerushalayim."
  • 26:57 Kirsten: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
  • 27:00 ♪♪♪
  • 27:03 ♪ Lord, I hear you weeping, ♪
  • 27:07 ♪ sorrow for what might have been. ♪
  • 27:11 ♪ Your hand outstretched upon the cross, ♪
  • 27:15 ♪ reaching for the souls of men. ♪
  • 27:19 ♪ Lord, I hear you praying ♪
  • 27:22 ♪ for those who are so lost. ♪
  • 27:27 ♪ To simply ask, "Forgive me, Lord. ♪
  • 27:32 ♪ I understand the cost." ♪
  • 27:38 ♪ Lord, I hear you praying ♪
  • 27:42 ♪ for those who are so lost. ♪
  • 27:46 ♪ To simply ask, "Forgive me, Lord. ♪
  • 27:53 ♪ I understand the cost." ♪♪
  • 28:08 ♪♪♪
  • 28:14 ♪♪♪
  • 28:22 ♪♪♪

Episodes in this series

  1. The Land Promised
  2. Promised to the Next Generation
  3. To All Generations
  4. Entering the Promised Land
  5. Fighting for the Promised Land
  6. Promised Forever
  7. Jesus and the Promised Land
  8. Israel Fulfilling Prophecy

Guest organizations and links