40 Days Through Revelation

than 100 tours to Israel. He's also traveled to Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Greece and other great places to bring additional perspectives. He brings enormous breadth to every discussion we have here on the land of the book. Welcome, Charlie.

Messiah staff provide insight into Jewish life and culture. They can help you prepare to share with your friends the peace of Messiah they so desperately need. If you'd like one of these insightful books for yourself or as a gift for someone else, visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to find out how you can receive your copy. That's life in Messiah. Org I hope.

and alleyways would give them the advantage. They wanted to lure Israel in and then cause as many casualties as possible. But Israel's new plan for integrated warfare, which was untested up till now, showed how the coordinated use of troops, tanks, air power and real time intelligence enabled them to strike ambush points and underground tunnels with minimal casualties. Some preliminary reports that said they could have up to a thousand casualties.

And as we're recording, it's actually less far less than 100 right now. Now, Israel did discover flaws in their defensive strategy. The biggest flaw was the massive intelligence failure. At the very beginning, they bought into reports that Hamas wasn't ready for a major conflict, and they ignored reports about their training exercises. Israel allowed itself to be understaffed along the border, in part because of the Jewish holiday. They had also been cutting back on military preparation several

years ago. They reduced the length of time required for mandatory military service and reserve duty, and they were actually talking about the possibility of going to an all volunteer army. It's likely they'll now reconsider retaining mandatory service and extending the duration of reserve duty. They were planning to reduce their fleet of attack helicopters, but now they're likely going to increase the numbers since they've played such a vital role.

Artificial intelligence helped Israel and the selection of targets in Gaza, and it's likely that they're now going to expand the use of AI in future conflicts. The Iron Dome and aero systems both proved their worth, but it's interesting nothing has been reported on how the iron beam system functioned, though they said it was going to be put into use. That suggests it wasn't quite ready for prime time, so they're going to be pushing to bring it online as

quickly as possible. And finally, Israel realized how long it took to mobilize and bring its forces to bear, especially in the first crucial hours. They'll now work to increase both the efficiency and effectiveness of any future response, especially from Hezbollah up in the north.

evaporate once the war is over. So politically, it's possible that Netanyahu will be forced to dissolve the government and hold new elections within a relatively short period of time. New elections would serve as a referendum on whether or not Netanyahu and his coalition were responsible for Israel being unprepared before the conflict, and on how well they guided the nation through the conflict. Two political questions will need to be answered. First, will Netanyahu remain head of the

Likud party? And then second, can Likud remain the dominant party in any new government? Now it's at least possible that Netanyahu could choose to step aside to help the more centrist parties form a broad coalition without the parties from the extreme right or left. So don't be surprised if 2024 brings new elections to Israel and possibly a new prime minister. But as I've said many times before

on this program, never rushed to count Netanyahu out. He's demonstrated time and time again he's a political survivor.

with your assessment. The one positive that came out of the discussion was Israel's resilience, both as individuals and as a nation. You know, they don't know when the war will be over. They don't know what Hezbollah is going to do, but they believe the country and tourism will bounce back relatively quickly once peace returns. The three crucial elements, though, right now are Hezbollah, transportation and hotels. Hamas is being downgraded as a fighting force, but Hezbollah still remains to

the north. And until the world knows what Hezbollah's intentions are, Israel will remain on war footing. Transportation is the second element. Tourism won't come back until the airlines start flying again. And right now, all the major airlines, with the exception of El Al, aren't flying their watch to see when the first airline announces that it's resuming flights that will signal the start of a return to normalcy. And then

the third element is hotels. Right now, many are being used to house those displaced by the war, both in the south and up in the north. Regular amenities were cut back and a significant number of hotel staff were were laid off or call back to military service. Once those now in the hotels return home, the hotels will need to be prepped and the staff rehired, and that might take a little while. But the larger chains will try to get their hotels up and running as rapidly

as possible. 60% of the tourists who go to Israel do so for religious reasons, and there were 130,000 tourists in Israel the morning of October 7th. Right now, that number is about 18,000, and most of those are Jewish individuals who've gone to Israel to support family or friends. That's an 86% drop in tourism. Tourism small, but it's a significant part of Israel's economy. So they'll push to get it up and running to bring back jobs and income.

And hopefully this coming spring, we'll see Robins returning up here in the north in the US and tourists starting to flock back to Israel.

2800 years. From that sample, they were able to identify 34 distinct groups of plants, including cabbage, heather, birch, laurel, and different cultivated grasses. They then compared those findings with modern day botanical records from Iraq, as well as ancient Assyrian plant descriptions. They wanted to see what had changed. The results served as a biodiversity time capsule on the site and its surroundings, and provide another avenue of insight

into ancient Assyrian culture. The researchers believe this could become a. Valuable tool to provide a better understanding of ancient civilizations and to evaluate the extent of biodiversity change over the centuries. And to think, John, all of that from the inner core of an ancient mud brick.

The Land and the book.org. We're back with more next. If you could sum up the Book of Revelations teaching in just one word, what would you choose? Judgment. Violence may be finale, but about the word blessing. Well, that's the thought that captures Ron Rhodes. Hey, coming up, a look at 40 days through revelation. Welcome to segment two here on the land and the book. I'm John Geiger. And just before we take a peek at future events, let's think about how we could impact the present by

sharing the love of Christ with a Jewish friend. We are by nature curious. We want to know what's on the other side of this life. Can you ask your Jewish friend, though, what they think, and how do you steer that toward Jesus? Roy Schwartz is with Chosen People Ministries. How would you conduct that conversation, Roy?

a way that leads to life. Now, as a Christian, I understand that there's no way I can keep the law. It points to the Messiah, but the idea of the Messiah is again, all in the Jewish scriptures. And I would not go into the New Testament until they're ready, until they're ready to receive it. What we have to do is share with Jewish people that apart from the work of God, there is no salvation. Apart from I mean that that there is a way that leads to life.

There is a way that brings life, and that God is the source of life and that he's given us life, and that life points to him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And then once they acknowledge that God is the source of life, that he is the way, the truth and the life, then you can eventually, if they're ready to acknowledge God as that, then they could possibly understand that. That's why he sent the Messiah to model the way of God in person.

of seminaries, including Dallas Theological Seminary and others. He's been a guest on many national and regional radio and television programs. He and his wife, Carrie, reside in Texas. Hey, welcome back to the land and the book run.

Now that's good news. That's part of the blessing that's promised in the book of Revelation. And so the point that I would make is this no matter what suffering you have in the present day, read the book of revelation, because it can bring the same comfort to you that it brought to the first century Christians who were being persecuted.

I also provide life lessons. This is where you learn to apply what you have read in your daily life. And I tell you what, I can speak from experience in telling you that if you go through the book of Revelation to the very end, it will transform you. You cannot read through these life lessons and applications without your life being changed.

chapter four of revelation, it starts getting into prophecy. And in prophecy it deals with the tribulation period in chapters four through 18. And then we find the second coming of Jesus in chapter 19. Then we find the Millennial Kingdom, which is the thousand year rule of Christ. And that's in chapter 20. And then in chapters 21 and 22, we have the eternal state, and that means heaven for Christians. And so it's a pretty logical organization. And it goes

from one prophecy to the next. Now there are some symbols in there, but typically the symbols are defined within the text of revelation.

of those symbols are found in the Old Testament. You know, for example, Jesus is called the Lamb of God in the book of Revelation. Well, what does that mean? Well, there's a lot of other verses, both in the New Testament and the Old Testament that shed light on that. And so, just as that's true of the Lamb of God, it's true of all the other prophetic topics.

Revelation emphasizes that God is our creator. And yet, one of the things I think that is lacking among so many today is what I call creaturely respect. You know, God made us, therefore we ought to listen to him, and we really ought to obey him. You know, that's one of the things that comes across loud and clear in the book of revelation. And so I want to be one of those Christians who doesn't just talk the talk, but I want to walk the walk, to put it

in the popular vernacular. Yeah. It might surprise listeners to know that the book of revelation in different words, emphasizes that same truth.

today is an indication of the end times. And so I think it's very, very relevant. And one of the things a lot of people don't recognize is that when the Bible was written over, one fourth of it was prophetic when it was written. That's a lot of the Bible. So you don't want to be one of those people that ignores Bible prophecy.

if you know what I mean. Right? So it's a very important thing, and every Christian should take it to heart.

the way that we live. So when Christ was talking to the Christians at Ephesus, he said, you guys used to love me, but now that's waned. Here we are 60 years later and all that love has waned, even though you're doctrinally correct. So Jesus was telling them, yes, stay strong on the doctrine, but increase your love. And so I think that that's something that the modern church can learn as well. Yeah.

his witnesses to share the gospel. I'm talking about, for example, the 144,000 Jewish witnesses in revelation seven, and then God's going to send two mighty prophets in revelation 11, and they're going to bear witness to the truth, and they will make such an impact that there's going to be a great multitude of believers. And so the point is this even though there are many unbelievers today, you still got the opportunity, even during the tribulation period, to turn

your life over to Christ. And I just love that fact. In the darkest period of history, Christ's light will still shine.

Questions and answers, not our questions. Yours. Your questions. As you peruse through Scripture and encounter things that kind of make you scratch your head, what do you do with those questions? We recommend you send us an email at The Land and the Book at Moody Edu and let Charlie take a look. Well, Charlie Israel has been on all of our minds these past months. Many of us have been struggling with questions of what to think and feel. And in the midst of all this, God's heart for

the Jewish people remains unchanged. He is faithful to his chosen people.

into Jewish life and culture. They can help prepare you to share with your friends the peace of Messiah they so desperately need. If you would like one of these insightful books for yourself or as a gift for someone else, visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to find out how you can receive your copy. That's life in messiah.org.

I personally see the issue being how one approaches the prophetic portions of God's Word when taken literally or at face value, as I do, it's clear that the Bible pictures a future earthly messianic kingdom for Israel. The covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants is still in effect, and it will be fulfilled at

the second coming of Christ. Those who hold the replacement theology believe those promises have been all transferred from Israel to the church, and will be fulfilled in a spiritual rather than a literal sense. And practically, that's often resulted in a rise in antisemitism. The one passage in the New Testament that directly speaks to the relationship between Israel

and the church is Romans 9 to 11. And there Paul makes it clear that God's promises to Israel remain in force because, as he says in 1128 to 29, Israel is, quote, loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. In other words, Paul is saying that Israel has a future because God made specific, unconditional promises to the patriarchs and to Israel,

and God never reneges on his promises. So while I disagree theologically with those who hold the covenant and reform theology, I believe the main issue when it comes to support for Israel is whether or not someone holds to replacement theology those who believe the church has replaced Israel as the people of God and who see God's promises to Israel, you know, now being fulfilled spiritually in the church, they're the ones less likely to support Israel or to view them as God's chosen people.

The second book is Bible Questions Answered, and that was written by William Pettengill, and it actually first appeared in 1965. And the third book I found helpful is Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell, and a revised edition of that was published in 2017. And all three of those, by the way, are available on Amazon.

blessed me over and over during my life. My pastor says God does the baptizing, so whichever way we do, it is not better one way or the other. I can only speak from my experience, your perspective.

the verse that changed my mind. This is crazy. It's first Corinthians one, verses 14 to 17, and there Paul writes, I'm thankful that I did not baptize any of you. And he goes on, though, and mentions a few he had baptized and explains why. And he says, Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Now

here's why those verses help me. My reluctance to be baptized was caused in part by my resistance to some who saw baptism as necessary for salvation, and I also struggled with people who saw baptism as something like an initiation ritual for joining the church. I resonated with Paul's words that Jesus hadn't sent him to baptize but to preach the gospel. But then I also noticed that he did baptize some who came to faith. Anyway, that helped

me understand baptism. It's not a requirement for salvation. It's a public way to identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and to demonstrate a desire to follow him. And that's what finally got me baptized. Now, in terms of the mode of baptism, I'm less dogmatic here. I was baptized by immersion in a swimming pool, but I've been in services where people are baptized by sprinkling water on their heads or pouring water over their heads, and

sometimes it's done for health reasons. Other times it's the preference of the church or the pastor. And to me, the decision to identify publicly with Jesus is more important than a specific mode. So what I'd encourage you to do study for yourself what the Bible says about baptism, and then do what you personally believe is most honoring to the Lord.

Now second, I see the other verses calling on us to draw near to God as being addressed to those who have been justified by faith and who now possess the indwelling Holy Spirit. In fact, a good verse for me is Philippians 212 to 13. That passage is where Paul calls on believers in Philippi to quote, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That is, he's calling on them to actively work to make their position in Christ a reality that's very similar to that. Draw

near to God and he'll draw near to you. Verse you mentioned elsewhere. But in the very next verse Paul tells how this can happen. He says, For it's God who's at work in you both to will and work for his good pleasure, so Paul can call on us to do our part, because God is already at work inside his followers, providing both the desire and the enablement to accomplish his will.

Later in John four, he used it again to connect his mother with the Apostle John while he's on the cross in John 19 and in John 20, the angels at the empty tomb used it to address Mary Magdalene. And in that same chapter so did Jesus. So I believe the word interjects just a bit of separation between Jesus and His mother. Instead of being the child who was obedient to his parents. Like in Luke 251, Jesus is now the son who's submitting to the will of

his heavenly father. So the literal phrase part what to me and to you was a relatively common phrase used to indicate a change in relationship. It's found in Mark chapter one, where the demons cried out, what do you want with us? It's also found in the Septuagint translation of judges chapter 11. Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the. And I asked, what's between you and me that you've come to fight me? And it's found a number of other places as well to put it all together.

Jesus is addressing his mother in a polite but less intimate way to let her know there's a change in their relationship. She's asking him to do something dramatic, even miraculous, to save the honor of the wedding couple. But Jesus is saying, wait, my hour hasn't yet. Come now. Mary accepts what Jesus said, turns to the servants and simply says, whatever he says, do it. Jesus graciously answers his mother's request, but the miracle was only known to a select audience.

It wasn't time yet for his miracles to show his power.

a wrong way? And what are we to do with the apparent contradictions that we find in Proverbs chapter 26? That's all coming up here on the land of the book. First, though, a thought from somebody who has traveled to the Holy Land and brings back this Holy Land experience for you and me.

did a major part of his ministry was incredible. I'll never read the Bible the same again. To know where each of these places are just adds so much understanding, and I've just learned how important it is to pay attention to the details of the Bible, that our God is a God of detail, and we need to know those details. So it was a real challenge for me to strive to do that more.

Most of the time, those videos are viewed by a few dozen to a few hundred friends and followers of the land in the book, but for some reason I can't even begin to explain. A few of the videos went viral, with tens of thousands of people viewing them. One reached over 173,000 people, with 13,000 directly engaging with the video in some way. Now, that sounds like a totally unexpected blessing, but it actually turned out to be

both a blessing and a curse. Now, I say that because some who came across the videos and then shared them with their circle of friends and followers are definitely not friends of Israel, or the Jewish people, or evangelical Christians, or the radio program. In fact, some posts were downright hateful. And by hateful I mean using anti-Semitic slurs, swearing, posting inappropriate pictures, and providing links to other sites that are the opposite of what the land in the book and

Moody Bible Institute believe in teach. I had to go through those posts dozens of times to hide and block individuals trying to hijack the site to promote their own anti biblical ideology. Even now, I still find myself going back every so often and discovering still more posts popping up like weeds needing to be pulled out. During all this, I asked myself what the proper response ought to be when confronted with individuals who respond in such hateful ways.

And as always, the Bible provided the answer. So today we're going to be exploring some of King Solomon's wise words on how best to answer a fool. Now I need to start by defining what the Bible means by a fool. In the Bible, a fool isn't someone who merely acts silly. A fool is the opposite of someone who is wise. For example, Proverbs 1023 says, A fool finds pleasure in wickedness, but a wise man delights in understanding.

Or Proverbs 1215. The wave of fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. Perhaps Psalm 14 one characterizes the fool best. The fool says in his heart there is no God. So how do you respond to someone who is always convinced he or she has all the answers? Who refuses to listen to the advice or counsel of someone else, and who has no time for God in his or her life. Well, wise King Solomon offered two courses of action that at

first actually seemed contradictory. Here's his answer in Proverbs 26, verse four, do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. And then here's response number two in the very next verse, answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. So are you supposed to respond in a similar way to the words of a fool, or is the best response no response at all? Well, let's unpack Solomon's words to see how they apply. And

we'll start with verse four. There are times when someone's crude, tasteless, vile remarks just punch all the wrong buttons in our lives and we get angry. Physiologically, our blood pressure and our heart rate rise and our adrenal glands release adrenaline prompting the fight or flight mechanism. We get agitated and we begin to process things less logically and more emotionally. A very real temptation, right then, is to lash out at the individual, either verbally or physically, to let them

know our extreme displeasure. And that's why Solomon's words in verse four are so important. Don't answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. His point is that those who are wise must learn to control their emotions, so that they're not brought down to the level of the fool. Many times, the questions and statements of a fool simply need to be ignored. There's a quotation, rightly or wrongly, attributed to Mark Twain

that represents the truth of Proverbs 26 four. This way. Never argue with a fool. They'll drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. A more modern and perhaps more graphic example was shared by a former head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, when he was being heckled by someone in the crowd asking nasty and irrelevant questions, the speaker finally held up his own hand and said, my friend, I'm not going to

answer any more of your questions. I hope you won't take this personally, but I'm reminded of something my old uncle told me long ago. Back on the farm. He said, what's the sense of wrestling with a pig? You both get all over muddy and the pig likes it. So wise response number one is simply to ignore foolish comments and questions to remain above the fray. And that's what I actually chose to do for the vile and hateful comments posted on our Facebook page. In my sinful self,

I wanted to fire back with my own verbal. But then I remembered Solomon's wise words. So instead I simply block the individual from our page, remove the post, and the problem was solved and I didn't lose my cool or waste my time. But what about those times when someone is promoting false teaching that could very well impact others? When someone fails to respond, it's possible the fool will believe he or she must be right. What are we

to do in those situations? And that's when Solomon reaches into his bag of wisdom and pulls out verse five. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. Now I don't believe Solomon is telling us to climb down to the level of the fool by launching a personal attack or a vicious answer. The word translated according to in that verse is actually a single Hebrew letter that denotes a comparison. Solomon isn't saying we need to respond to the fool

by acting in the same foolish way ourselves. Rather, he's saying that in those times we need to respond in a way that shows the foolishness of the comments made by the fool. The New American Standard Bible offers a good rendering of the phrase where to answer a fool as his folly deserves, unless we miss the point. Solomon explains why that sometimes necessary that he may not be

wise in his own eyes. There are times when the fool and those who might be under his influence need to be shown that their arguments are flawed and their reasoning is faulty. A foolish comments can be ignored, but there are times when false ideas need to be corrected. So when should we apply verse four and when should we apply verse five? That comes from mastering God's wisdom. I would suggest that one way to discern is to see what our motives are for responding or not responding.

If I want to respond because I'm offended and angry, then perhaps that's when I need to focus on verse four and not let myself be drawn into a debate. But if I want to respond because I see others being influenced by the fool, that's when I need to pray for wisdom and see if the response of verse five is appropriate. So how have I applied this to my life for 99% of the vile, filthy, false comments that were posted to our Facebook page? I simply block

the one doing the posting. No answer would change their foolish opinion, and it could certainly take up a great deal of my time wrestling in the mud. Now I take the opposite approach with those who write to the program with questions I answer virtually everyone who writes, even when I sense an antagonistic spirit. And thankfully, there aren't too many of those. But I do want to provide

them with a biblical answer. And I share those questions and answers on the program, because I want our listeners to be aware of the issues so that they aren't led astray. So should you answer a fool or not? The Solomon would say it depends. Study Proverbs 26, verses four and five, and then ask God to give you a heart of wisdom and knowing how best to respond.