A Visit with Sarai

Middle East and much more. This is the land and the book with noted Middle East expert Doctor Charlie Dyer, who has recently released an updated version of the important Moody Publishers book Who Owns the Land? I'm John Gallagher asking, what does Passover mean for us as believers in Jesus? Some, of course, will remember the story from the book of Exodus, but there's so much more to it. Did you know, for example, that the Last Supper was actually a Passover meal?

And not only did Jesus and his disciples celebrate Passover, it also foreshadowed his death on the cross for our redemption.

Every year, their staff engages churches and small groups in an interactive Messiah in the Passover Seder, allowing participants to taste and see the redemption story. If you're interested in having someone come lead a Seder in your area, visit Life in Messiah Org and click on the radio button there to learn more. That's life in Messiah.

next fiscal year. What makes these challenges so unique, Charlie?

a budget without the law. Now, failure to pass a budget will automatically bring down the government and require early elections. And the deadline to pass the budget is the end of March. Bezalel Smotrich of the National Religious Party ruled out making any concessions on ultra-Orthodox conscription. His party is also religious, but they support having all Israelis, including the ultra-Orthodox, serve.

He challenged the two ultra-Orthodox parties to take part in military service, or at the very least, to pass the budget before dissolving the Knesset, saying Israel needs a budget to fight a war. Following the resignation of Ben-Gvir and his party from the coalition three weeks ago, Netanyahu is left with a razor thin majority. If all the parties can't reach a compromise on the draft, the looming budget deadline at the end of March could bring about the

collapse of the coalition. Netanyahu was reported to be working on a plan B should the ultra-Orthodox refuse to budge in the negotiations. Apparently, he's quietly approached opposition leaders to back his government through the hostage release in exchange for holding early elections. One year after the last captive returns, if accepted, this could allow a minority government to remain in power while ending the war with Hamas and also

passing a bill to draft the ultra-Orthodox. However, it's unclear if this is a genuine offer or more of a threat to the ultra-Orthodox to get them to back down on their demands. And it's not clear if the opposition parties even see it as a legitimate offer, since they don't trust Netanyahu. We've said before that Netanyahu is a political chess master, but this could be one of the most difficult political chess matches he's ever played.

sites will result in all out war in the region. Now, President Trump denied the US and Israel were planning an attack in that latest meeting, but he did sign an executive order renewing maximum economic pressure on Iran to try to get their oil exports down to zero. The crazy part of that meeting between Trump and Netanyahu was that Iran actually took a back seat to Trump's suggested plan to transform Gaza. His suggestion to resettle the people of Gaza and turn the area into a resort spot along

the Mediterranean surprised many. It was Trump proposing new and creative solutions to the problem in Gaza, and he approached it from his background as a developer looking at prime waterfront property. Now, the plan was intriguing, but it left many questions unanswered. Would the displacement of people from Gaza be temporary or permanent? What did he mean when he said the US would take over Gaza? And was this a well developed plan, or simply intended to shock the

different sides into moving off calcified positions? His idea drew immediate condemnation and rejection from Arab states and Europe, which was to be expected. But that doesn't necessarily mean the plan is a non-starter. The key now is to watch, to see what happens next. President Trump would like to implement a large scale peace plan in the region to build on the Abraham Accords and transform the Middle East. It's definitely a bold gamble, and only time will tell

if he can succeed. And it put the question of attacking Iran back into a proper context.

all those years. Ten years ago, the papyrus was rediscovered by a professor who realized it wasn't a Nabataean document, but notes from a criminal trial in a Roman court against two Jewish defendants, likely the private notes of an attorney preparing for the trial. The scroll records an accusation of several crimes, including fiscal fraud, forgery, and sedition against

two Jewish individuals. The charge was that one Jewish defendant had appeared to sell slaves to a friend in a different province, but instead of transferring them and paying the taxes, the slaves seem to have disappeared. The second defendant was accused of forging a document supporting the fictitious sale. These notes shed light on the sophistication of the Roman legal system, including the high standards of proof that were required to

support criminal charges. It shows the Roman practices previously documented in Egypt were also enforced throughout the eastern part of the empire. One of the co-authors of the article about the document called it the best documented Roman court case from Judea, apart from the trial of Jesus. Sadly, since these were apparently just preparatory notes ahead of the trial, the one thing we don't know is what the final verdict was.

It even analyzes the engine sound. The system, originally developed for homeland security purposes to check under vehicles for explosives, has been expanded and repurposed to scan the entire car or truck. The system is already scanning a million vehicles a month, but Yuvi sees that as only the beginning. They recently signed a deal to deploy 850 of their systems at Amazon delivery stations in the US, Canada, Germany

and the UK. They're also working to sign up new and used car dealerships, rental car companies and major fleet retailers. Instead of taking the word of a mechanic or service advisor or salesperson when it comes to knowing if your car or truck needs to have work done. Imagine driving through Uvi and receiving a printout showing the actual mechanical

state of your vehicle. It will save the dealership time, and it will give you peace of mind in knowing exactly what needs to be done and when that happens. We need to be sure to thank Uvi from Amazing Israel.

Is beautiful, spoiled and used to getting her own way. Her story comes to life in a conversation we're about to have here on the land. And the book. Welcome to our second segment. I'm John Gallagher, and before we meet the Old Testament character, Sarah, let's think for a moment about creative ways that we can show the love of Jesus to our Jewish neighbors and coworkers and friends. Roy Schwartz is with Chosen People Ministries and joins us in studio now for a quick conversation about how to

share our faith with Jewish friends. Roy, let me throw this at you. Your Jewish friend, my Jewish friend would be more open to a conversation about Jesus if. If we started how or avoided this or overlooked that? What's the if?

And if you can touch one of those things that, you know, that you were reading just the other day about Rosh Hashanah and, and what it meant to you and and what does it mean to you? You know, I was reading about Yom Kippur and or the Feast of Tabernacles, and those are kind of memories that stir up things in our heart. And so, again, I would look, John, for points of commonality, things that we have in common with the with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

books optioned for film. She loves Jesus, loves His word, and all things related to learning more about the culture and times of the people of the Bible, particularly the women whom God has immortalized there. We're glad to connect with Jill today on the land and the book. Welcome to you, Jill.

It was easy because back then we were just titling books by the name of the woman, but now it's gotten a little more complicated and it's harder to come up with titles.

lot of insight into the culture. So I do a lot of research that I can find on cultural differences. And what did they worship? And, you know, the geographical situation and change, but cultures do. So I try to search for that. Besides what's in Scripture?

beyond that, what does history tell us? Or what do the times of that era suggest?

Chaldees and moved up to. Um, I forgot the name of the city now, where they waited a long time until Terah died and then moved to Canaan. So you kind of had to get a feel for that area. I can't pinpoint an actual place to go in a historical book to tell you so it's too many books ago. I'm sorry.

Scripture gives so much on him that was easier. But, you know, when you're switching back a thousand years, it's just having to figure out, okay, what were the differences? Were the culture? I mean, they were living in tents, not living in palaces, but David lived in caves, so it wasn't a lot different. The clothing is still similar. You know what? They ate those kind of things. Um, but back in with Abraham, he started out not knowing God.

He came from a very pagan land. Although there is a link between him coming from the the line of Shem. And it's possible that one of those descendants. When I did the math, but I'm not good at math. So anyway, I think it was could have been alive when Abraham was alive. And that, I think, is where we get the name Hebrew. And anyway, he could have known some of the history of the ark and the descendants that came from that, but they were living in a very

pagan area, worshiping different gods. And Sarai could have been also a worshiper of foreign gods until the Lord called them to leave. She did go with him, but how her faith was compared to his. We really aren't told. At least at first.

had a friend years ago that I had met. I didn't know her well, but she always wondered how Sarah felt when foreign kings would just take her, you know? What was it like when the Egyptian king said, okay, I'll take you for my wife and Abraham? Just let him? It's like, where's the protective husband, you know? And so to a woman looking at that going, this does not compute. But she went along with it more than once because

it was their habit according to Scripture. So I stick with whatever scripture says and try to figure out, well, how did she feel in that situation? How did he feel? Why was he afraid for his life and not trusting God to protect him? And, you know, just trying to understand how the human nature would have played out in the situation that we're given in Scripture. And, you know, how might all of this have taken a toll on her for waiting and waiting and waiting. That's not easy.

And you're like, what? Why are they doing this? So it was really strange. I mean, I could understand why she gave Hagar to Abraham. I proposed that she hit menopause and decided I'm done. I can't have a kid. Yes. And so that could have very well been her motivation there. But what was his to keep lying about this when God made all these promises to him? It's like, well, this is weird. And I think one thing I wonder about at the very end, if you don't mind a

side trail, but you can interrupt me. At the end of her life, after God tests Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and she finds out about it. We aren't shown what her opinion or what happens there in her mind. But the Bible says in the chapter before her death, near the end of it, it says that Abraham lived in Beersheba, and in the next chapter she was in Hebron, and he went there to mourn for her. It doesn't say he went there, but I mean, it makes you wonder,

were they living separately? I mean, can you imagine? You took my son and did what?

But Sarah, she had all this angst to deal with because the promise was given to her husband, and she hadn't actually heard the promise until that visit at the tent when she left. You know, it came through Abraham. It's like Adam told Eve about the tree. God didn't tell Eve. God told Adam. And so when we look at things in Scripture and realize, well, the woman got the information second hand. And how much harder is that

to trust the Lord? Because you're trusting your husband and he's trusting the Lord, and you're trying to think that he knows what he's doing, but he's asking you to lie for him at the same time. So you're kind of having this crisis of faith, perhaps. But I think in the end, she's written about in Hebrews 11, as someone with the faith that, you know, she's commended for. So she did have faith. We find it out later, you know. But in her actual story, it's harder to see.

Peterman of the Moody Bible Institute faculty. Good to connect with you, sir.

eats and drinks judgment unto himself. This is why many among you are weak and sick. In other words, yes, it's possible for a sin to lead to illness. But wait, now we must go to John chapter nine. You know what happens in happens in John chapter nine? Jesus is walking along. He encounters a man born blind, and the disciples ask, Lord, who sinned? This man should be born blind, him or his parents. And the Lord said, neither one

this is for the glory of God. Yeah. So we should ask ourselves the question when we're ill, is this a sin? Because the answer might be yes, it might be no. This question is, in part, the question that job's friends are bringing to job. Exactly right. The Lord's testimony. He is righteous, but he is really suffering physically.

the Lord's decision. This isn't the father's decision. This is the other brother's decision.

divided here means people were driven apart at Babel. They were in different tribes rather than landmasses being divided. So certainly the flood caused some disruption, but changing one landmass into many, we just can't be sure.

to draw you. But this is not human experience. Rather than using these kinds of categories, I'd rather say that God is continuously working with us and in us and for us. Let me give you myself as an example of this. I heard the gospel many, many times as a young man in church, on the radio from friends, and it never made any sense. I rejected it as silly and stupid until the day I heard it again. I heard nothing new. It made sense. Yes, that was

the time that God enabled me to understand it. But it was not as if I felt like, oh, I'm going to be now believing against my will. Now he drew me and I came to came to Christ.

situation that's happening right now? Would it apply to that, or is that stretching things to say that Iran's judgment is coming?

grave and encountering other nations already there. Now here comes the key part. These include Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, and Edom and the Sidonians. The point of the prophecy is to show that the Egyptians were about to be defeated in battle by the Babylonians, and joined the ranks of the other nations, who had also been defeated by Nebuchadnezzar. So my point here is that Ezekiel seems to be saying that by 585 BC, Elam had been defeated by the Babylonians.

so did the Lord. Lead him into temptation by also giving that wealth.

This too is meaningless. Now, the second reason I think that money isn't the primary issue here is the Bible makes it clear that the ultimate sin that brought down Solomon wasn't wealth, but the idolatry that came into his life through his multiple wives. As you know, he married wives from several other countries, and they all had their own particular gods. In First Kings 11, the writer summarizes the problem this way. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God. As the heart of David, his father had been. I think these two things are the primary issues.

with the Israelites must also have died. Finally, even those under 20 who could have lived probably died during events like Coras Rebellion. Scene number 16 the incident with the fiery serpents. See number 21. And the immorality that took place with the Moabite women. As Israel neared the Promised Land. Scene number 25. In fact, that the number of fighting men was slightly less at the end of 40 years

than it was at the beginning. By just a few thousand, suggests that the number of people likely remained relatively constant. So 2 to 3 million started out for the promised land, and the same number were alive some 40 years later. It seems likely that the number who died must have been about the same, something like 2 to 3 million.

think she called it an Aussie. And she said, it's full grown, six years old. That's all the bigger it gets. I'm just amazed at the number of kind of dogs there are, right?

baptized and we were too. We had so many wonderful experiences and do not hesitate to go. There are many wonderful people there who welcome us to come and are grateful for us to come and say thank you. We even went unto the Palestinian side of the of the market by where Jesus was crucified. They opened up a shop for us, and he could not say thank you enough that we would come over and take the risk

and the time to go over there. And I praise God that we had the opportunity, and I hope we get to go back soon.

with me ever since. We all come across show dogs in our lives. Men and women who appear confident, sophisticated, distinguished, intelligent or successful, but who can't get the job done. They look good, but they can't hunt. Jesus had little patience for the show dogs of his day, the hypocritical religious leaders who put on a facade of godliness but who didn't know God. And he was equally colorful in his description of these charlatans. Woe to you, teachers of

the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead man's bones and everything unclean. From the very beginning of his public ministry, Jesus challenged the show dog mentality of his day. In the early chapters of Matthew, the author pictures Jesus as the ideal Israelite, just as the nation in its infancy went into Egypt.

So Jesus was carried to Egypt as a baby. The nation had its baptismal experience in the Red sea, and Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. Israel then went into the wilderness where it was tested. So Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan. Finally, Israel went to Mount Sinai to receive the law. And Jesus went up on a mountainside and explained the true meaning of God's law, and how it ought to be lived

out in our lives. We often call that message the sermon on the Mount, and it's found in Matthew chapter 5 to 7. The Bible doesn't tell us the exact location where Jesus delivered the sermon on the Mount, but the traditional spot overlooking the Sea of Galilee fits the few biblical details recorded. Matthew tells us Jesus was in Galilee when he went up on the mountainside to deliver his message. And when he came down from the mountainside in Matthew eight, the first town he entered was Capernaum,

standing at the entrance to Capernaum. Today, the dome of the church on the traditional Mount of Beatitudes is visible on top of the hill, just a mile to the west. From the balcony of that church, there's a magnificent view of the Sea of Galilee, grassy fields interspersed with banana

groves descend toward the water's edge. It's easy to visualize thousands of curiosity seekers flocking to this hillside, or one nearby, to listen to the latest message from this rabbi, and perhaps to be an eye witness to one of his miracles. But whatever brought them to the site, they weren't prepared for the penetrating message he was about to deliver. Most of us know the beginning of Jesus's message, the Beatitudes. But I want to focus on the rest of the message.

Jesus made it clear he had not arrived to do away with God's standards for right and wrong. Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, he cried. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. He explained the true intent of God's law, giving several examples. You have heard that it was said he announced, followed by the standard pharisaic interpretation of God's law concerning murder, adultery, divorce, the taking of an oath,

seeking revenge, and loving one's neighbor. But he followed each section explaining God's true intent for that law with a dramatic contrast. But I tell you, the difference was profound. Like the difference between a show dog and one that can actually hunt. So what was the standard for obedience that God expected? Jesus gave a summary at the end of chapter five. Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. God's standard is perfection. Jesus achieved that standard.

But the religious leaders of his day did not. And if we're honest with ourselves, we need to admit we don't reach that standard either. Jesus then looked beyond a person's actions to focus on his or her motives. Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. He highlighted the key ways one demonstrated devotion to God in his day, giving to

the needy, praying and fasting. In each case, he said, A religious hypocrite does the right thing, but for the wrong motives to be honored by others, to be seen by others, to demonstrate to others his or her devotion to God. Those seeking to impress others forfeit the reward they could have received from God. Jesus's point is profound. If we really are seeking to please God by our actions, then it shouldn't matter whether or not others even know

what we've done. Jesus ended his message with a stern series of warnings. The way leading to destruction is wide, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. The ones listening to his words and putting them into practice are like a wise man building his house on the rock. In short, obedience to his words will provide stability and a solid foundation to help

one withstand life's storms. And that brings us back to the Sea of Galilee, to Jesus and to And to us. Jesus understood the power of storms. He would soon calm a storm on the Sea of Galilee with the simple command. Peace. Be still. More importantly, he understood the sinfulness of the human heart. The religious leaders in Jesus's day sought to meet God's righteous standards by reinterpreting them to make them

easier to keep. And don't get me wrong, they still wanted to have standards that were too difficult for most people, but just not for them. They weren't perfect, but if God would just grade on a curve, they would be better than everyone else. But Jesus knew that dog wouldn't hunt for I tell you. He warned that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

God doesn't grade on a curve. And the only passing grade is 100%. So where does that leave us? The Bible makes it clear that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. No one, no matter how religious, has met God's standard. So can anyone get to heaven? The answer, thankfully, is yes. We can't make it there through our own good works, because none of us can achieve the standard set by God. But Jesus

was perfect. He did reach that standard. He was the only person who ever lived who could make it to heaven through his own good works. But instead of going straight to heaven, he took a detour that led him from this hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee to another hill called Calvary, just outside the city of Jerusalem. When Jesus hung on the cross, he did so to pay

the penalty for your sin and mine. As the prophet Isaiah predicted seven centuries before the time of Jesus, he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. So how do we get to heaven?

It's not through our own efforts. Rather, we can receive eternal life as a gift by placing our faith and trust in Jesus and in his death on our behalf. Sometime today, get by yourself and read Matthew 5 to 7. Note the impossibly high standards required to be righteous before God, and then thank God that Jesus met those standards and willingly went to the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our disobedience.