Digital media. You hear about it all the time and digital media is just getting started. Coming up, we'll talk with a guest in Israel leading a ministry that is strategically using digital media to reach Jews and Arabs with the gospel stories to encourage you, statistics that will astonish you. Plus all the headlines from the Middle East, including an update in depth on the current conflict. Welcome to the land and the book with Israel expert Dr. Charlie Dyer.
I'm John Geiger and Charlie, you know, as people are online and following this war, they're wondering what the future holds for Israel. And while some things are uncertain, the Bible does give us an outline of what will happen in the last days. That's right, John. That's why our.
Friends at Life and Messiah recently hosted a prophecy conference focused specifically on this topic, Israel and the church living in the last days. They're now making the videos of the conference available for early access exclusively to the land. In the book listeners, you'll hear from many knowledgeable speakers on this topic, including Moody Radio host Michael Rudnick and me.
These encouraging and informative videos will help you better understand God's future plans, and how we can be actively waiting to get access to this video series. Visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to sign up. That's Life in messiah.org.
Well, it's now been three weeks since Hamas brutal massacre and abduction of Israelis. What has been happening, Charlie, lately? And why does it seem like Israel has been so slow to respond? Yeah.
You know, for those of us who like something done instantly, this has been a real wait. But we need to put the time in perspective. Remember way back when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait back in August of 1990? It took five months for the US and our allies to get everything in place before we launched our operation to retake Kuwait. And it was a month after 911, before the US began its airstrikes against Afghanistan and two months before the invasion.
So in the larger scheme of things, three weeks isn't a very long time. And Israel has been busy. They've launched thousands of airstrikes to eliminate as many fighters, leaders and supply stores as possible before starting their ground offensive. They want to make sure they don't walk into a trap. Hamas knew Israel would respond to their attack, and they hoped to lure Israel into a battle in narrow streets,
alleyways and tunnels that would favor the defenders. Israel needed to develop a plan that would allow them to surprise Hamas, at least to some extent, and all those logistical details take time. In addition, pressure was placed on Israel from the US to allow time to negotiate the release of hostages. It took time for Israel to mobilize 300,000 reservists and
to prepare for a possible Hezbollah attack from the north. Apparently, the US also encouraged Israel to wait until American assets, including both aircraft carriers, were in place should the fight escalate to include Hezbollah. So it might seem like Israel's taking a long time, but that's because we don't see everything being done.
You know, having mentioned Hezbollah, it appears the conflict between Israel and Hamas has already begun expanding into the surrounding region. What do we know thus far about the response to the conflict by Hezbollah, both in Lebanon and Syria, as well as the response by the Houthis in Yemen and by the Iranians? Could this become a full blown regional war?
Well, the short answer is that only God knows. On Wednesday, leaders from Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad met in Beirut to plan the next steps of their war against Israel. Right now, Hezbollah has become involved, but just to a limited extent, they fired anti-tank guided missiles and mortars at Israel positions along the Lebanese border. And they've also sent drones across the border into Israel and a few troops.
But they've refrained from unleashing their arsenal of rockets on Israel because that would lead to a full scale Israeli response. It would also likely bring the US into the conflict. So will Hezbollah continue to sit on the sideline, or will they gamble on surviving a large scale retaliatory attack? And frankly, no one knows. However, we do know that if they attack, Israel will try to destroy their arsenal of rockets and it will be hard for Hezbollah to rearm.
Lebanon is an economic basket case, and even Iran is struggling financially. Iran would like to bring in more arms to Syria. Hezbollah could then launch attacks from there against Israel, while not officially claiming responsibility. But Israel has been bombing the major airports in Syria to keep Iranian cargo planes from landing, and that's likely to continue. The Houthis in Yemen have fired missiles and drones against Israel, but they
were intercepted, shot down by a US warship off Yemen's coast. Now, if these countries use a limited response as a fig leaf to say they've offered assistance to Hamas. Then the war likely won't expand. But if they increase their attacks on Israel, then there is a great possibility the conflict will spiral up. Iran needs to be careful in calculating its level of involvement, because the US does have the
ability to attack and destroy their underground nuclear facilities. So far, it looks like Hezbollah, Yemen and Iran are being cautious. And that's good. But frankly, John, we don't know what tomorrow holds.
So if we were to stand on Har Bentall, a site that many tourists from America visit in the north of Israel, what would we see, if anything right now?
Actually, you would see a lot more military hardware positioned there and not just sitting idly along the road, but facing toward Syria. You would see probably planes and rockets and other drones going across the border. Israel's patrolling that border into Syria from Harbin, but just across the other side of Mount Hermon. There's even more activity as Israel actively watches what Hezbollah is doing in Lebanon itself.
You're listening to the land in the book from Moody Radio, our host, Dr. Charlie Dyer, noted Middle East expert, I'm John Geiger. Story number three. As Israel sifts through the wreckage of the communities along its border with Gaza, they're also discovering additional details about the Hamas terrorists who launched the attack. I'm reading things about body cameras and so on. Charlie, what have they learned?
Well, a number of things, none of which are good. They discovered that the Hamas terrorists were using a synthetic amphetamine called Kapton. The drug was found in the pockets of many of those who were killed. This is the same drug that was used by ISIS fighters during their rampage. It's highly addictive and it suppresses fear. It can also produce psychotic reactions. It allows individuals to remain on alert
while suppressing their appetite. Israel also found those videos you mentioned, including from GoPro cameras that were taken by the terrorists themselves, showing their savagery as they rampaged across the border. Some victims were shot, while others were tied together with wire and then set on fire. Much of the video that's been recovered is too graphic and gruesome to even be seen, but the clips that are available show the absolute viciousness
and cruelty of the attack. Israel also recovered detailed attack plans from several dead terrorists, which revealed the meticulous planning for the attack. This wasn't a spontaneous riot. It was planned down to the smallest detail, with the goal of killing or capturing as many civilians as possible. And perhaps most troubling of all, Israel found plans for producing chemical weapons.
The information, originally from ISIS, was on a USB drive and provided instructions on how to produce cyanide based weapons, especially for use against civilians. Putting all that information together shows Hamas patterning itself after ISIS in terms of its determination to use the most horrific means possible to torture and kill Jews. The plan to use chemical weapons harkens back to the worst of Nazi Germany. While the discovery of captive gone ISIS flags and other methods of torture
are reminiscent of the horrors of ISIS. And John, it's understanding all of this that helps us see why Israel is so determined to wipe out Hamas.
Now, how much of this newer information, this cache of data that's been recovered, the video footage is being channeled to the media. How much of this is going to see the light of day by average folks like us?
Hopefully less of it will be seen by average folks. I've watched some of it. It is incredibly disturbing. Israel is releasing far more than they've done in the past. In the past, they really were trying to protect the the individuals who are the victims. This time they realize they're fighting on two fronts. And one of those fronts is the media front. And so they're releasing this because even this week, people in leadership positions in the Arab
world were saying it wasn't a major attack. It wasn't what Israel says. Israel is using the video itself to tell their side of the story as well.
They should. Over the past week, a dozen Palestinian Christian organizations published an open letter accusing church leaders in the West of being complicit with Israel in their crimes against the Palestinians. What are their major issues, and how should those of us here in the West respond?
Well, these Palestinian Christian leaders say they're extremely troubled over the Western Church's uncritical support for Israel through its timing. The focus of the criticism is on our supposedly uncritical support for Israel's attack against Gaza happening right now. But they also accused the Western Church of supporting what they see as the real root cause of the current conflict.
They call it, quote, the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the oppressive and racist military occupation that constitutes the crime of apartheid. So how should we respond? Well, we need to start with the basic facts. Israel has a right to be in the land. It's a right guaranteed and grounded in God's unconditional promises to Abraham in Genesis 12 and Genesis 15 and repeated throughout the Old Testament. That doesn't mean everything Israel does is right, because no
nation is perfect. But historically, it was the Arabs who rejected the original two state solution proposed by the UN in 1947. It was the Arabs who tried to push the Jews into the sea in 1967, causing the loss of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai and Golan Heights, and after the war Israel offered to trade land for peace. But it was the Arabs who issued their famous three no's no peace with Israel, no negotiation with Israel, no recognition of Israel. Under Sadat, Egypt made peace with Israel
in 1979, but he was murdered for his decision. Now here's the bottom line. As Christians who believe the Bible, we believe Israel has a right to live in land promised to them by God in peace. The Palestinians who framed this open letter choose not to believe what the Bible says about Israel. Countries have the right of self-defense and Israel is no exception. And as believers, we need to be willing to stand up for what's right. And that includes supporting Israel right now.
And that's a look at current events here on the land. And the book we're coming up. It's a conversation with Erez Saurav about using digital tools for Middle East outreach. This is really good news for a change here on the land and the book. Digital media. You hear about it all the time and digital media is just getting started. But just what is it and how can Christians harness digital media for sharing the gospel? This is the land in the book. I'm John Yeager, honored to be back
in the land for today's conversation. We're in the north of Israel, where we've connected with a favorite friend, Dr. Aris Saraf. He serves as president of one for Israel. He's been a part of many of our moody radio specials in the past. And you've heard him before here on the land in the book. So welcome back to the program.
Dr. Saurav Shalom, John, great to be with you.
Well, for somebody who is less familiar when we use the term digital media, what exactly are we talking about?
So really it's about using media. So videos, radio mainly over social networks of course television as well. But the production is digital and the dissemination is digital as well. So that's really what the term means as.
Opposed to over a broadcast network so to speak.
That's right. Or written material or other things like that. Yeah.
Well explain the connection of one for Israel with a strategy to use digital content to reach unbelievers. And maybe before that, even just a quick overview of one for Israel.
So we are a ministry of native born Israelis. Most of us are first generation believers in Jesus. We get up in the morning to share the message of the gospel with Jewish people and Arab people in the land of Israel. We also operate the only accredited Bible college and seminary in the land. So we are privileged to serve the entire church in the country. You know, people that has come from all over the world and reside in Israel.
Okay, now, you know, I'm stopped right there. I've heard you talk about it being accredited. And yet, in the same breath, you know, we hear about laws being considered that would make, you know, sharing your faith illegal or a whole lot more difficult. So why would they allow the accrediting of of your school, Israel.
It's important to understand that Israel is a democracy with freedom of speech and freedom of religion. And therefore all of our activity, both evangelistic and the educational, is 100% legal. And we do everything on the highest standard so far. There have been several lawsuits going on against us, but we have so far always been able to win because we're doing everything above par and try to do it at the highest level.
All right. So talk about how you guys are using digital media as a strategy to reach unbelievers.
So when we were renovating our new campus that we moved in, it was new at the time, about 15 years ago, there was a very strong impression on my heart to create television studios, which I knew absolutely nothing about.
But we did. And then kind of in the following years, we've begun to create content through short videos, first of testimonials, and later on as what we would call apologetics, Jewish apologetics, talking about how as a Jewish person, you come to believe in Yeshua, in Jesus created tremendous traction far beyond what we've ever imagined. And so just to give you
an idea of what I'm talking about. So in the last few years, you know, in a land of Israel as a country of 9.5 million people, of them 8 million Jews that speak Hebrew, so out of 8 million are videos in the last few years alone have been viewed more than 62 million times. This is in Hebrew only. Wow. So it's like five times the number of Jews in the land. So just tremendous exposure for the gospel.
Well, I ask, how would non believers even stumble onto any of your content? How would they discover you? They're not looking for you.
So a lot of young people today, I mean, you're just browsing through YouTube and Instagram and other social networks and there's everything there, including our material, and we try to make it excellent. So people want to come back and repeatedly people over and over and over tell us how they started watching one of our videos. And then they watch another one, another one, another one is that, well,
we stayed up all night. We watched, you know, stories of people and then apologetics and explanations and Bible expositions. And so, you know, we had just as an example, one young lady that has become a disciple of Jesus, probably 2 or 3 years ago, she told me that when she and her girlfriends, when they were in the military, whenever they would have a break, they would start, you know, just watching different things on YouTube and they would watch
our videos. Now, they were not believers and they didn't particularly like it. But later on, when she became a follower of Jesus, said, hey, I remember those guys. I used to watch their videos. So, you know, it's part of what young people consume.
That's Dr. Aris Saraf, who's president of one for Israel, a ministry that's reaching out. With the gospel. Using digital media. Is most of your content more like a creative graphic, or is it an online advertisement, something we might find in a paper or magazine? Just digital? Or is it more video oriented?
It's definitely video oriented. Particularly in the last seven years. It's almost 100% video oriented. Small part of it is animation. Most of it is actual people talking or speaking or whatever it is. And yeah.
How do you go about choosing topics to explore?
As I mentioned, initially we did testimonials like five seven minutes, kind of like I am second type, but in Hebrew, great traction. And then we started getting tons and tons and tons of questions, which we treated like a funnel, and we kind of distilled it at the end to about 50 questions that are most commonly asked. And then
we began to answer those questions. We did it initially in text, and that's where it was very helpful to have professors that know, because some of the questions were actually pretty sophisticated, like, how come Jesus has two genealogies, you know, the one in Matthew and the one in Luke? And what's the connection between them? So we've kind of gathered the information, and then we created a script out
of it and explained it. So we did. That was one of our initial series in apologetics, and it kind of went on from there. And, you know, even now people are writing us with different questions. And so we produce videos to answer those questions.
Very, very cool. And the videos are great. I do know there are groups in Israel who are not just opposed, but extremely opposed to your message. What kind of pushback have you received from, say, the ultra-Orthodox community?
So some in the Orthodox community think that we as Jewish people that believe in Jesus are the worst traitors and that they compare us to the Nazis. We say we're actually worse than the Nazis, because if the Nazis tried to destroy our physical existence, we try to destroy the spiritual existence, which of course is very painful and distorted to say this, but there is a tremendous amount of blindness regarding Yeshua Jesus, who he really is, partially
because there's a very painful church history. So through the history of the church, unfortunately, many, many times, particularly the Catholic Church, but not only the Catholic Church have said and done terrible atrocities against the Jewish people. So in the minds of a lot of Jewish people, that's Jesus. Yes. Those terrible things that have happened. And part of what we do is to demonstrate to them that it's not.
And very important for me to state, even though we are very high on the watch list and every event we do, we have the they call themselves anti missionaries. They are not our enemies, they are people. We pray for them. You know when they come to demonstrate against us and the sun is hot, we take water and cookies out to them. We pray for them and we ask you to pray for them as well.
So is it easier for a secular Jew to watch what you're creating or do you connect better with people who are maybe nominally religious as Jewish people, you know, what's the breakdown there?
So it's really across the board. You know, on the one hand, if we talk to someone who comes from a religious background, it's easier because they already believe in God. So you start there and then they have some at least cursory knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. So that's that's a great starting point to talk about Jesus from the Hebrew Bible. But they also have probably a lot of negative kind of feelings. If the person is more secular, then usually we have to start. Is there a God?
Why do you believe there is even a God? And then from there go to the Bible. So why do you believe the Bible is the Word of God? And from there to talk about who Yeshua, who Jesus is. So just a little bit of different paths and each side has their own challenges. And yeah.
It's a conversation about using digital media today in Israel with Dr. Erez Saraf, who's president of one for Israel. What kinds of things do you hear from Muslims, if at all?
Oh, yeah. Oh, so we have over the years in our seminary, we started having more and more and more of our Arab brothers and sisters coming to study with us. As I mentioned, there is about a million and a half Arab people in Israel. Most of them are over 90% are Muslim, and some of them came to know the Lord. They came to study with us. Some of them have a great passion to share the gospel with other Arab
people in Israel and the Middle East. And so we began a branch of our digital outreach, also in Arabic. And that is, we've received tremendous responses from across the Middle East, from the Palestinian areas to literally every country in the Middle East. I would say the reactions are probably about a third are threats and curses and death threats and so on towards our team members. And about
two thirds are actually. Very, very positive. There are a lot of Muslims that are very open to the gospel, and we have seen positive response and many people coming to know the Lord.
What about reactions, if any, from the government?
Everything that we do is 100% legal, so we really don't have any hardships or any difficulties from the government. And you know, everything that we do is, as I mentioned, we try to do it above par and the best way possible. So overall, we don't really have any issues with the government.
Do you anticipate a time in the future when the government or other groups might successfully shut down or significantly impair your ability to share digital media?
It's definitely possible. And you may be aware that a couple of months ago, there was a bill put on our Parliament's table calling for a kind of a making the proclamation of the gospel any sort of proclamation like you and I talk and I tell you about Jesus illegal and I'm almost immediately liable for three year imprisonment. So the bill has put out and we did a video about this call to prayer. And other media outlets
did that. It got to Christian media in the US, eventually got to media over here that the general media and finally after probably about 24 hours, 36 hours, our Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, announced or tweeted in his Twitter account that we're not going to change the status quo to our Christian friends. Quote. And then the guy that actually initiated the bill tweeted in Hebrew, we're taking the bill off the table for now. Now, this was
in Hebrew. It wasn't in English. So it's clear that the lines are drawn. And, you know, we trust the Lord and try to do our best to use the freedom we have.
Anyway to encapsulate results, any kind of numbers, any kind of, you know, views versus conversations that you've had with counselors or phone calls. What kind of numbers do you have?
Because we began our digital media outreach before Covid. When Covid hit, everybody were home watching videos and so on, and our viewership has just jumped through the roof. I think also the fact that there was a pandemic and proximity to death, existential kind of thoughts, tremendous positive interest this year. I mean, just to give you real numbers for now, so true to the first third of 2023, our Hebrew language videos only in Hebrew have been viewed
more than 6.3 million times this in four months. So just tremendous interest. This is this is more than everything happening last year. So tremendous positive response.
What do you see trending in the future by way of digital media, and how will you try to harness that?
I think personal stories, engaging personal stories are always of interest. I think animation is something that a lot of young people like. So we started doing more projects like that, as well as more of a kind of a talk show, a conversation type thing that has deeper biblical content. That's kind of the direction.
And how can land in the book. Listeners pray for this ministry specifically.
Yeah. So please be praying that many people in the land of Israel and around the Middle East will not only watch those videos, but truly commit their lives to the Messiah. Our goal is always to connect to those people, to local churches, congregations, where they can actually meet physically with a believer, either us if they're in our area or others. And yeah, pray that those meetings will take place and many young believers will continue to pour into
our congregations and churches. Please be praying for the national Body of Christ, Body of Messiah here in Israel, with this tremendous growth that we were experiencing in the last few years. Obviously, leadership development is a challenge. And, you know, the place of our seminary as well as just general things that are happening. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Dr. Aras Saurav is with one for Israel talking about digital media content. We encourage you to check it out at their website, which is.
One for israel.org and.
A link to that website at ours. The land and the book. Org. Looking forward to hearing Charli's answers to your questions. That's coming up next here on the land and the book. Great to have you listening to The Land in the book from Moody Radio, I'm John Geiger. This is segment two. Our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer, has his Bible open. Not one hint of perspiration on his forehead, though, as he pours over the stacks of questions that have
come in via email. And we'll share how you can get your question to us in just a couple of minutes here. First, though, a quick thought. Many of us wonder what the future holds for Israel. While some things are uncertain, the Bible gives us an outline of what will happen in the last days.
And that's why our friends at Life in Messiah recently hosted a prophecy conference. Focus specifically on this topic Israel and the church living in the last days. They're now making the videos of the conference available for early access exclusively to the land. In the book listeners, you'll hear from many knowledgeable speakers on this topic, including Moody Radio
host Michael Rudnick and me, Charlie Dyer. These encouraging and informative videos will help you better understand God's future plans and how we can be actively waiting to get access to this video series. Visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to sign up. That's Life in messiah.org.
All right, let's get to today's first question from Carol. She says, I've just finished reading Jeremiah 51, speaking of the destruction of Babylon in its totality. Growing up in the 60s, I heard that Babylon is deserted now and that this is the fulfillment of that prophecy. But if that's the case, why is Babylon so clearly mentioned in revelation? The reference in Jeremiah to being desolate forever doesn't seem to fit your thoughts. Yeah.
And actually this is like saying sick them to a dog, as they would say. I did my master's thesis on the identity of Babylon in the Bible in Revelation 17 and 18. So I actually need to work here to keep my answer short and to the point. But chronologically I start with the prediction of Babylon's fall not only in Jeremiah but a century earlier in Isaiah 13 and 14. Syria was the major power then. And yet Isaiah begins his list of nations to be judged by saying, God's
going to judge Babylon. And he says it'll be judged in the day of the Lord. He describes it as a time when there will be supernatural signs in the heavens, when God will punish the world for its evil. And when it's over, he says, Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. And he connects Babylon's fall with God's restoration of Israel. Now, Jeremiah came along a century later, and
in Jeremiah 50 and 51 he says basically the same thing. Babylon, he says, is going to be plundered, the walls torn down, the people destroyed. Only those who flee from the city will have their lives spared, which is interesting, since Daniel had a copy of the book of Jeremiah, and Daniel was there when it fell, and he didn't flee, so
he didn't think that was the fulfillment either. And then you get to revelation 17 and 18, and John borrows from both of those other prophets and describes a future destruction of Babylon just prior to Christ's return to earth. And I believe all three passages are describing a still future destruction of Babylon that'll take place just before Christ returns to earth and will happen just exactly the way God said it will be destroyed.
All right, another question geared toward the future. This one based in revelation one, verse 18, What is Hades? And is it the same as hell.
In the Bible? Hades was the place of the departed dead. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, Jesus pictured Hades as the place of torment where the rich man found himself after dying in the Book of Revelation in that chapter one, verse 18. Actually it occurs four times in revelation that words death and Hades come together by saying Jesus had the keys to
death in Hades. In chapter one, verse 18, I think John's picturing Jesus's authority, his control over life and death, including the reward of eternal life to the righteous and the eternal punishment given to those whose names aren't in the Lamb's Book of Life. But that's not the ultimate destiny of it all. The final destiny of the wicked isn't Hell or Hades, but it's actually the lake of fire.
Revelation chapter 20, verses 14 and 15. The Lake of Fire was originally prepared for the devil and his angels following their rebellion, but apparently it's also going to be the final destination of all the wicked, and Hades itself gives up its dead to appear before Jesus at the Great White Throne, before the wicked are then cast into the lake of fire. That's where they spend eternity.
Todd shifts us back to the Old Testament with a question based in Second Chronicles 16. Why was it wrong for Asa to seek help from Ben Hadad, but not from the physicians? Could he have sought rightly the help of Ben Hadad and the Lord, and the help of the physicians and the Lord? If not, what was the difference?
Yeah, well, the Bible does picture both actions that Asa did as being failures on his part. Now he's characterized as a king who did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord. So he's one of the good guys in the line of David. But Second Chronicles 16 is unflinching in letting us know that this
otherwise good king didn't finish well. In appealing to the King of Syria, he was asking for help from a king and a country that were opposed to the God of Israel, and he paid for that help using it, says the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord's temple and of his own palace. In essence, Asa robbed God to pay a pagan king rather than trusting in the. The Lord to deliver him. That's the opposite of what he had done when he was attacked
by an army from south of Egypt early in his reign. Now, after seeking the king of Syria's help, God sent a prophet to him to rebuke him. He said, because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, you've done a foolish thing, and from now on you'll be at war. Now the other part, in seeking the help of doctors for his diseased feet, rather than relying on the Lord. Asa was also demonstrating
a lack of faith at the end of his reign. Again, Second Chronicles makes it clear in verse 12 of chapter 16 it says. Though the disease was severe, even in his illness, he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. What the passage is suggesting is that the disease was part of God's chastising him for his ungodly actions toward the end of his life, and instead of repenting and turning back to the Lord, he sought the help of physicians to solve a problem that,
at its core, was spiritual rather than physical. Now, that incident reminds me of wise words a seminary professor once told me in class. He said, many start well, but few end well. Ace is an example of a king who started well and who did well most of his reign, but who ended poorly. And I see a lesson in that for all of us.
Oh boy, for sure. That one sends shivers down your spine. I'm also reminded of a quote from Bob Mueller, who one time said to me, you know, John, most of the great men of the Bible who failed, failed in the second half of life. All right, let's get to Lenny's question. She takes us to act six, verse five and acts 21, verse eight. Philip is one of the seven who was chosen to serve. Is he the same Philip who was one of the original disciples?
And the short answer? No. And I say that because in Luke chapter six, Philip was one of the original 12 disciples whom Jesus appointed as apostles. And then when I get in the book of Acts and Acts, chapter six, it says the 12 which is referring back to those apostles, told the people to appoint seven to serve. Now, since Philip, the original disciple, was one of the apostles, he was one of those saying, okay, you need to find seven
people to serve. And then it just happens that one of the seven they pick is also has the name Philip, but he's actually probably a Hellenistic Jew who was picked because the dispute next six was between Hellenistic Jews and Hebrew speaking Jews. So two Philip's and they're not the same person.
Dr. Charlie Dyer is answering questions on this third segment of the broadcast today. Yours is welcome if you'll send us an email at the Land and the book at Moody. Edu. Charlie, what do the scriptures say about Paradise and about the three heavens? One listener wants to know. Yeah.
The first of the three heavens the Bible talks about is considered the atmosphere. In Genesis chapter one, God said the birds were going to fly in the open expanse of the heavens. So it's where the birds are. It's where the clouds are. The second of the three heavens is the cosmos, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets. Again in Genesis chapter one, God talked about them as the lights in the expanse of the heavens. And then Psalm 19, David described the sun and the stars picturing
day and night. And he said, those are the heavens that are telling of the glory of God. So that's the second of the heavens. The third heaven is the abode of God himself. And Paul talks about being caught up to the third heaven in Second Corinthians 12. Now Paradise asking about that is connected with the third heaven again. Also in second Corinthians 12, having described being caught up to the third heaven in verse two, Paul then said in verse four that he was caught up into Paradise.
So Paradise is part of the third heaven, and that's the abode of God.
All right. Here's a question from John. He says, I'm trying to encourage my grandkids to build a strong spiritual foundation. They're all voracious readers, and they read it fairly advanced levels. The question what ten books, fiction or nonfiction would you most recommend teens and preteens read to establish and fortify their faith? Well, here's.
Ten books, and there are no particular order. But the first one I have on my list is The Hiding Place by Cory Tenenbaum. The second mission possible? It's written by Tim Tebow. The third was Confronting Christianity. It's 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin. There's also a young edition of that one, so you
have to look at both of those. Fourth Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis the fifth, Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, then another one by CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters next, The case for Christ by Lee Strobel. There's also a student edition of that one, The Next Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, and then Courageous Christians Living in Frightening Times by Tom Doyle, whom we've had on our program. And then last but certainly not least, through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliott.
One last question from a guy named Charlie who takes us to Romans 11, verse 25, which says, blindness in part has happened to Israel. Is this national or individual blindness or both?
Yeah. Well, Paul's primarily looking at the Jewish people as a group there as a whole. And I say that because in the very next verse he says, and so all Israel will be saved, and he connects it to what God's going to do following the completion of his program for the Gentiles in the current age. Now Paul focuses on the. Fact that God hasn't totally rejected the Jewish people in this section. He does that by including himself and others who are part of the believing Jewish
remnant as an example. So a partial hardening has come on the Jewish nation as a whole. But even then, God is still preserving a believing remnant.
A great set of questions today. Thank you for writing and for sharing your question. If you'd like to get one to us, email us at The Land and the Book at Moody Edu. I'm looking forward to Charlie Dyer's devotional. It's next right here. Welcome back to the land in the book from Moody Radio, I'm John Geiger, and I suppose when you go to Israel, everybody has their own favorite spots. One of my favorites happens to be the subject of your devotional coming up, Charlie, where are we headed?
We're heading to the Herodium.
Yeah. And that place really has evolved over the years. They have done a remarkable job of restoring and opening that place up to us. We're going to get to that devotional after we hear this Holy Land experience, a testimony from somebody who is also been to the Holy Land and wanted to share what was important to them.
Hi, my name is Marie from Vermont, and I'm calling because I've been to Israel and I just wanted to make the comment that the Holy Land is most amazing. But I think one of the things that struck me the most is when we went to pray at the Wailing Wall, and it is so remarkable. There's been so many prayers over the years and the ages at the Wailing Wall that you can actually feel the presence of God. So it was a wonderful trip that was there were
just so amazing things. And I would encourage anyone to take this trip and that's it.
We're continuing our Aha series of devotions with our host, Dr. Charlie Dyer. I'm looking forward to what you have to say about the Herodium, Charlie.
Thanks, John. This is a great way to end that four week series of my aha moments from the early trips I did to Israel, because we're going to be hiking up to the Herodium, a few miles southeast of Bethlehem. I don't ever recall hearing about the Herodium before my first trip to Israel. It's never mentioned in the Bible, and at least back then, it wasn't a major tourist site. Getting to it involved driving on some secondary roads that
twisted their way through the West Bank. Preliminary excavations at the Herodium began when the site was under Jordanian control in the early 1960s. Following the Six Day War in 1967, work resumed by Israeli archaeologists, and then in 1972, a long term project began with Professor Ehud Netzer from Hebrew University. By the time I arrived in the early 1980s, the site was open to visitors, and it was worth the visit. But why does it make my list of aha sites? Well,
for one thing, it was totally unexpected. I remember driving near Bethlehem and looking out toward the Judean wilderness and seeing what looked like a volcano rising in the distance. It just seemed so out of place, but in a good sense, it looked imposing. Another reason I found it so fascinating was its name, the Herodium. It was built by and named after King Herod the Great, who ruled at the time of Jesus's birth. Herod built many cities
and palaces throughout the land. Caesarea along the coast, Samaria, which he renamed Sebastiano, Masada, Macarius and Jordan, a palace in Jerusalem, another palace in Jericho, just to name a few. But the one spot he chose to name after himself was this palace fortress. Why? What made the Herodium so special to King Herod? Josephus helps fill in those details. Early in his reign, Herod was forced to flee Jerusalem. His enemies pursued and caught up with him at the
spot where he would later build this palace. To add to his troubles, a wagon carrying his mother turned over and he thought she was dead. Herod drew his sword and was about to take his own life, when his friend shouted at him to stop reading between the flowery lines of Josephus. It seems these companions shamed him into not committing suicide, because it would leave all of them
at the mercy of the attackers. A light switch went off in Herod's mind, and he became, to quote Josephus, not like one who was in distress, but like one who was exceedingly prepared for war. Herod led a charge against his pursuers, throwing them off balance and allowing his entourage time to get away. Herod never forgot the spot, and after he returned to secure his throne, he built this special palace fortress and named it after himself. In fact, at the end of his life, Herod gave orders to
be buried at the Herodium. For years, Ehud Netzer searched for Herod's tomb. He looked on top of the hill and in the ruins at the base of the hill, all in vain. It wasn't until a few years ago he realized that he had underestimated Herod. Herod wasn't just buried somewhere near or even in the Herodium. The entire hill was his personal pyramid, serving as a burial monument. Partway up the hill, Herod buried a theater and constructed next to it a mausoleum rising from the side of
the hill. People could see his monument from Jerusalem eight miles away. During my first visit to the Herodium, I was impressed by the sight. Walking up to the top of the hill, I discovered the top half was artificial. Inside was Herod's palace, ringed by four guard towers. The palace had an open courtyard, a trickling or banquet hall,
a complete Roman baths complex, and his own personal apartment. Then, under these ruins, carved into the hill below, were a series of cisterns to hold the water needed in the palace. But where did this water come from? There weren't any
springs nearby, and no problem. Herod had a massive pool built at the base of the hill, with an aqueduct to carry in water from below Bethlehem, but I've still not shared my aha moment that came on top as we took in the view from the summit to the south was the Arab village of Tekoa, preserving its original Hebrew name, Toccoa, the hometown of Amos the prophet. To the southeast we could see the Judean wilderness all the way to the Dead Sea, but the greatest view was
to the west and northwest. Bethlehem, no longer a small village, was several miles to the west, and we could trace the ridgeline from there all the way up to Jerusalem. The three towers on the Mount of Olives stood out like sentinels guarding the city just on the other side. This was the perfect location to explore the references to Herod the Great found in the Bible in Matthew two.
In that one scene, shortly after Christ's birth, we have a king who changed the face of this country, walking onto the pages of the Bible along with the wise men, the angel, and of course, Joseph, Mary and Jesus. I could stand here and imagine the entire event to the northeast. We can envision the wise men riding up to Jerusalem from Jericho. Asking the question, where is he? Who's been
born King of the Jews? Jerusalem is in an uproar, as Herod asked the priests and scribes, where this child, seen by Herod as a threat to his own rule, was to be born. When they tell him, Bethlehem. A shiver must have gone up Herod spine. Even though Bethlehem was small, Herod knew where it was located because he would pass by Bethlehem on his way to the Herodium. This threat was just five miles from Jerusalem. Herod sent
the wise men in search of the child. It was only a two hour journey along the spiny ridge of the Judean Hills to reach Bethlehem. Herod likely sent them in the late afternoon, expecting them back that evening or perhaps the next morning. As darkness fell, the star or bright light they had seen before reappeared and guided them to the very house in Bethlehem where Joseph, Mary, and the child were living. They presented their gifts, and then decided to bed down for the night and return to
Herod the next morning. But their sleep was interrupted by an angel warning them not to return to Herod, but to head home immediately by another way. How could they go back home? The one alternative available to them took them past the herodium on the road just below us, and then past Masada before they could cross the Dead
Sea and be safe. That next day had to be one of high anxiety as these Magi passed beneath Herod's two fortresses, hoping that a fast messenger hadn't been sent from Jerusalem, warning them to watch and stop a caravan trying to scurry off to the east. But what about Joseph and Mary? That same night, an angel appeared to them and told them to escape to Egypt because Herod
was looking for the child. As we watched the caravan of wise men picking their way along the road below us, we can also see out in the distance a young couple hurrying along the road atop the ridge leading south from Bethlehem toward Hebron. Somewhere along the way, they turned southwest toward Egypt. Now see all those other villages scattered around Bethlehem. To morrow they'll be filled with the cries of young families as Herod's brutal soldiers search out and
kill any male child unable to talk. Children under two years of age. This is an amazing spot that makes the Christmas story come alive better than any Hollywood production. But as you get ready to hike down from the summit, what can you carry with you? To me, this is a great spot to remember what's truly significant in life. Herod could literally change the topography of the land to construct a palace. It represented the power of a king who could impose his will on a nation, and even
on the landscape. But Herod died probably soon after his encounter with the wise men. His palace on this hill was eventually destroyed. His mausoleum was dismantled and buried. His sarcophagus was smashed to bits. This king by mite left this life the same way he came in with nothing in his hands. Herod the Great could build monuments to his greatness, but the child born in that little village in the distance changed the face of the entire world.
He was and is the king by right, the one who will someday return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Herodium is a good reminder that man's measure of what's truly great and God's measure are decidedly different. Make sure your decisions align with what God sees as significant. It will make an eternal difference in your life.
And if you can't say with certainty that you have made Jesus the King of your life, the person in charge, why not clear this up today? A friend will be glad to pray with you right now at eight, eight, eight. Need him. 888 need him. Charlie loved this devotional series. Maybe you'd like to hear it again. You can do that at our website, the land and the book.org. Our time has gone. We want to thank you for being
a part of the program. The land of the book is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.