Herod and Mary

is the end of this year approaches. Many world events have left us wondering what God's plan is for the future. And that's, I suppose, especially true when it comes to Israel. Despite its small size, people around the world are just intensely focused on what takes place there. Our today's headlines connected in any way with the prophecies in Scripture. And how should followers of Jesus interpret current events as we await his second coming?

day events fit on God's grand timeline. Now, if that's you or someone you know, this would be a great resource or gift. Visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to find out how you can receive your copy of God, Israel and Bible Prophecy. That's life in messiah.org.

on shaky legal ground. The court has no jurisdiction against Israel since Israel, nor the US for that matter, are members of the International Criminal Court, and the treaty that established the court precludes the court from considering cases against any country with a valid judicial system that's willing and able to investigate alleged crimes on its own. As a result, France said, Netanyahu and Galant should be immune from the

charges and that they wouldn't arrest them. The Wall Street Journal noted that the precedent that's trying to be established could actually harm all democracies, not just Israel, by making it difficult to defend against terror groups or rogue states. The laws of warfare by which war crimes are defined were written when wars were fought by nations with standing armies.

The rise in terrorism has upended those rules. This war began when Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1200 Israeli citizens, taking 250 Israelis as hostages and committing other atrocities like rape and torture, and firing thousands of rockets against Israeli towns and cities. They also embedded their soldiers, command centers, rocket launchers and weapons in and under hospitals, mosques, schools, homes

and apartments, using their own citizens as human shields. Yet the low ratio of civilians to combatants killed illustrates the

reality that Israel didn't deliberately target civilians. The Wall Street Journal study noted that the IDF may have achieved the lowest ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in the history of urban warfare, and rather than seeking to starve the people of Gaza as the court has charged, Israel facilitated the transfer of more than 57,000 aid trucks and 1.1 million tons of aid into Gaza in its fight against Hamas. Israel has worked hard to avoid civilian casualties, but what

happens next? It's up to the leaders in the US and the West. The West needs to stand up and declare that Islamic fundamentalism and its fanatical hatred of Israel and the Jews is the root cause of this conflict, and that the so-called rules of war need to be modified to enable countries to fight terrorists without facing legal charges for doing so.

south of the Litani River. A five country mechanism that includes the US, France, the UN, Lebanon and Israel will monitor the cease fire. The US issued a letter of guarantee to Israel while the exact contents weren't made public. Apparently it spells out specific situations where Israel can respond to Hezbollah should they violate the agreement. There was some opposition to the deal in Israel, because it doesn't allow residents in the North to return immediately to their homes.

There were also concerns over Hezbollah's past violations of UN resolution 1701. The agreement is only good if Hezbollah is willing to honor it. The hope is that the Lebanese army can now enforce it against a weakened Hezbollah. The next 60 days are crucial. That's just about the amount of time the Biden administration will remain in power. So do they have the will to implement the agreement, or will Hezbollah try to reestablish itself in the area before

the next administration takes office? Only time will tell. And now we need to be watching to see if a ceasefire can also be brokered in the South with Gaza.

is concerned about its own weakness right now. The election of President Trump has raised concern that the US could allow Israel to respond to any Iranian attack, and the US might even join in. Apparently, Iran's Assembly of Experts convened several months ago to secretly elect a new ayatollah to replace Khamenei, and that new ayatollah is his son. The decision, though, has been kept secret out of fear

it might spark national protests. Iran's economy is in shambles, and Trump is threatening to reimpose drastic economic sanctions lifted by the Biden administration in spite of its vast oil and gas reserves. Iran is experiencing widespread blackouts. The electric grid is unable to meet demand. Iran is also experiencing

a severe water shortage. Instead of investing in infrastructure, over the years, the country has been investing in weapons in its nuclear program and in its support for international terror, and they are now fearful that Israel might retaliate to another attack by eliminating several of their key nuclear facilities, or by taking its oil refineries out of commission, plunging

the nation into absolute chaos. Iran might boast, but watch carefully to see what the regime does, to try to avoid conflict and to stay in power.

the only area of contention. Ethiopia has reached out to support Somaliland, a breakaway region in neighboring Somalia, in exchange for giving Ethiopia access to the Red sea. Somalia is upset over the deal, and Egypt and Somalia want to form a coalition to block Ethiopia's growing influence. Ethiopia has had 10,000 soldiers in Somalia to help fight against the al-Shabab militant group. Somalia now wants the Ethiopian soldiers out

when the agreement ends at the end of this year. Meanwhile, Egypt has sent a thousand of their own troops into Somalia, and another 10,000 are scheduled to arrive in January. Egypt has also been sending planeloads of arms and ammunition to Somalia. Ethiopia is concerned that Egypt and Somalia could eventually attack them. And as if all that's not enough trouble. Yemen and the Houthis are just across the Red sea. These clients of Iran have also had an interest in this region

in Africa. Now, it might not make our news, but the region is crucial because it impacts shipping through the Red sea and the Suez Canal.

tyrant king and the mother of the Risen Savior. Right now, though, let's get fired up about a fresh idea for sharing Jesus with a Jewish friend. So maybe you've tried reaching out to your Jewish friend by way of thoughts on on your own spiritual journey, and you find that they're polite, but they don't seem to want to go any deeper on the subject. Why are my Jewish friends so polite about my faith in Jesus, but don't really want to go any further along that conversation? Let's ask Eva Radonich

with Chosen People Ministries. What's the answer there?

you're Jewish. I just want everybody to understand the promises that God made in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, and how they were fulfilled in Jesus, Yeshua. And they're for everybody. For me, as a non-Jew and for Jewish people as well, they don't want to offend us by saying, oh, don't talk to me. They're very open and warm, but they're hesitant.

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He recently joined forces with Kathie Lee Gifford to create the book Harold and Mary. Hey, welcome to the land and the book. Brian.

be a big negative story? Well, what we realized is that the Lord had arranged a kind of counterpoint in the narrative where you've got this figure of Mary. If you could tell her backstory as much as it could be imagined or reconstructed, you'd have this kind of opposite where you have this tyrant figure. But behind the scenes, the Lord is doing something good with a more insignificant person.

And so, weaving their story together, we call the story of Mary a golden thread that's weaving its way through the dark fabric of Herod's life.

they might have nuggets of truth in them. And so that was the more challenging part was to maybe anchor some of Mary's backstory and imagine that. But we did the best we could and tried to kind of tell the story as best we can.

even to his family. And so, you know, for example, his favorite wife, Mariamne, and he has her put to death along with her mother, as well as Mariamne's handsome brother that he was threatened by, and then the two sons that they had with them, and Herod's firstborn son as well. Antipater. So you know the baby boys that you see in the book of Matthew, in the Gospel of Matthew are just kind of a culmination of, unfortunately,

a lifetime of killing. And so by the end, yeah, he was a killing machine for sure.

you know, of Judea and of Jerusalem. And so he always felt that as trying to be the King of the Jews, he was behind the gun, so to speak. He didn't fit in. He was a half breed or something like that. And he wasn't true royalty, true nobility. And so it affected his confidence in that way, as well as his wife, his wife, Mary. And they despised him for not being truly royal.

he who was born King of the Jews? Brian, do your best to climb inside Herod's head at that very moment. What's he really thinking but would never say out loud?

is going to take over after me? You know who's going to be the follower? Am I going to leave a legacy? Am I creating a dynasty? Will my sons rule after me and show that my power continues? Or am I kind of a one and done and someone else is going to come in and be the new king of the Jews and someone who might claim to be born one, as opposed to a half breed. And

so he was really paranoid about securing his legacy. And that helps to explain why he said, you know, wherever this pretender is, I'm not going to let some peasant boy in Nazareth come along or Bethlehem come along and become the replacement for me. And so he went and had his soldiers slaughter those babies.

For example, that as a young girl she lived at the Jewish temple and worked there and was perhaps a musician or something like that, that she might have had a a singing role. Because we do know that in the Jewish temple that there were virgins, young virgin girls who were part of musical ministries. And so maybe that was part of Mary's life. And if you think about one of the most prominent things that we find in the gospel, in Luke's gospel is that Mary sings a song.

Where does that song come from? Well, maybe she's been trained as a young girl to burst into worshipful songs. And so that humility of Mary. And even in the book we explore her parents, Anna and Joachim. So how did her home life shape who she became? And we try to imagine that and see what could be true there. Those kind of things are, I think, one of the real values of this book, to give the backstory of Mary that most Christian readers don't know.

everybody sees, but who's the real temple of Messiah? This peasant girl whose womb is the home of the Shekinah glory, whose womb is the home of the presence of God. So she's very humble. She's very offstage, like so many Christians today, so many women out there that don't get the notice of the world. But what they do get is the notice of the Lord God who says, favored one, blessed one, graced one. So I don't know that she

ever would be a speaker like that. But in the spirit of your question, I would say she would point everyone to the glory of God and the mercies that he has, even on the lowly of spirit.

so cool. I love hanging out. He's so easy to be around and kind of a winsome personality, but he descends into this darkness and that's part of what makes the book hard. But on the other hand, you know what? I got to admit, it was a great joy.

he had to be dominant. He had to be the man who left a legacy, and the man who conquered, and the man who was praised, and the man who was rich and had all those things that the world offers. And so our readers might look and think, well, I'm none of those things. I'm insignificant. I'm small. I'm in a small town. My home is not magnificent. I guess maybe God has passed me by or doesn't really use people like me and Kathy and I want our readers

to say no. That's exactly who God uses. Look at how he took the most excluded person a female, a young female, a female who had shame on her. And he said, I am going to make that my actual temple for the presence of the Holy Spirit. Right. Because that's what happens. The Holy Spirit comes into the womb of Mary, and God Himself lives in that physical space. He's not living anymore in the physical space of the

temple that Herod made. He's living in the physical space of the most excluded person of that society, wrongfully shamed but shamed, female young person. And so that's the message right there. The readers might think I'm invisible and God says, not to me. You're not. And just you wait until I take your fish and your loaves and multiply that into an amazing ministry and praise God for being just that sort of God.

open the pages of Scripture. And this is the place where we're able to take our time, take a look at these questions and bring some answers that I think are very encouraging. So with that said, just a quick thought here. At the end of this year, as it approaches, many world events have left us wondering what God's plan is for the future. And this is especially true when it comes to Israel. Boy, talk about questions, Charlie. And despite its small size, people around the world are intensely

focused on what takes place there. So the question is, are today's headlines connected in any way with prophecies in the Bible? How should followers of Jesus interpret current events as we await his second coming?

or gift. Visit Life in Messiah org and click on the Moody Radio button to find out how you can receive your copy of God, Israel and Bible Prophecy. That's life in messiah.org.

his return to earth as king. He ends that parable by telling Israel to keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour. And second, the phrase wedding supper of the lamb only occurs in revelation 19, verses 7 to 9. Now, chronologically, those verses occur at the end of the seven year tribulation period, following the outpouring of the final bowls of judgment in chapter 16 and the destruction of Babylon in chapter 17 and 18.

Just after the wedding, supper's announced Jesus returns from heaven to earth in chapter 19, verses 11 to 16. So it looks to me as if the wedding feast, announced in chapter 19, is intended as a picture of the blessing and joy that are about to follow in the Millennial Kingdom after his return.

first Chronicles four. Now, in terms of the second part of the question, while later history does connect Japheth's descendants with powers that dominated much of the world, that's not the complete picture of both Assyria and Babylon, which were early world powers came from Nimrod, who was from the line of Ham through Cush. He's mentioned in Genesis ten, verses 8 to 11, and Egypt. Mitzrayim was another early world power that was also from the line of ham.

of Canaan. We're not told why Canaan was cursed, since Ham was the one who had seen his father's nakedness. It's possible that something else took place that's not included in the text, but it is clear that the curse was just on Canaan and not on the other descendants of Ham. And the Monophysite heresy, at least early on, involved more than just the cops and Ethiopians. So I don't believe it developed along racial lines.

All who try to move it will injure themselves. Second, I do believe a two state solution as envisioned by most of the world is simply unworkable and would result in greater instability in the region. Israel would again be under pressure, similar to what they experienced from 1948 to 1967, when they faced attacks by terrorists from these same areas.

What we've seen happening in Gaza would end up taking place in the West Bank, as Israel would be forced to go on the offensive against the forces seeking to attack her. And once again, Zechariah 12 describes the results. He says, on that day, I'll make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her

place if forced to do so. Israel will defend herself, and God will be with her.

we know in job's case it wasn't. And that's the point Solomon is making in verses 15 to 18. There are some who try to live a perfectly righteous life, which of course is humanly impossible, but they do so assuming God will have to bless them. Others see people who seem to get away with being evil, and then assume there aren't consequences to actions in spite of what God said. But living with a proper awe or respect

of God helps us avoid those two extremes. Wisdom is realizing that life might present some apparent exceptions, at least for a time, but that consequences do eventually follow. So verses 18 and 19, then, are the conclusion. It's good to remember both realities, depending on our own righteousness, will not always guarantee success, and ignoring God's standards of right and wrong. To do whatever we want won't always bring

immediate judgment. The wise person won't forget or let go of either reality, in spite of what might appear to be true for a time.

will become much more primitive during the tribulation period. The devastation pictured in the book of revelation, from half the world's population being destroyed, to the almost unimaginable devastation of the land and the seas, to the total disruption of food supplies and even drinking water, could completely undo what

we think of as our modern way of life. Imagine what it would be like if the power grid was taken down, along with the banking system, refineries, fuel distribution systems, and even basic services like trash collection and fire and police protection. A nuclear war or other world wide conflagration early in the tribulation could quickly push the world back to such primitive means, and then the words of these

prophets would make perfect sense at that time. At the second possible answer, though, is to assume that the writers describe events using words and images that made sense to their audience in that day, but that might be understood in a slightly different way today. For example, in Ezekiel 38, he describes a future invasion against Israel by an army from the North, and he says all of them are

riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. While in Ezekiel's day most armies were foot soldiers, a vast army all on horseback would have seemed as totally unstoppable. The description in modern times might be like an army that's totally mechanized and armored. Now, I need to say that my normal approach to interpretation is to take the first option. I believe it's entirely possible to see a rapid decline in how the world will function during the

tribulation period. And that could involve going back to more primitive methods of warfare. But in either case, I believe those alive at the time will understand exactly what the biblical writers met with the words they wrote.

Our host, Doctor Charlie Dyer, has a devotional that has everything to do with confusion. Where are we going today?

playing actually Christian music and worshiping God. And just to think that Jesus walked over those waters and walked into the storm and seeing the calmness of it and just knowing that Jesus was there and did all these miracles and the experience of worship was just overwhelming, that tears just came out of my eyes and say, wow, this is the place where my Savior walked and he's walking with me now. So that was my Holy Land experience.

instructions to be home before dark. We had a great visit, but we stayed too long. No problem though, because the girl's father wrote out directions for a shortcut to get us back to the main highway. It was a warm day and we had the windows rolled down in the car. Traffic was heavy, but it was moving along at a pretty good clip, and then a gust of wind sucked the directions from the dashboard and right out the passenger side window. We had no idea where we were and

no idea where we should go. And this was back in the dark ages. No GPS, no cell phone. A story number two. Two years later, I was a freshman in college. Harry Balbach from Word of Life was flying to our school for meetings, and I was asked to drive to National Airport. Now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in D.C. to pick him up. I had never been to National Airport, nor had I ever met Harry Balbach, but in my naive state, I wondered how hard this

could be. I mean, after all, in our airport back home, we only had a very limited number of planes arrive each day. I would just watch for a plane to land and look for someone wearing a suit. Right. And then I walked into the first major airport I'd ever seen and experienced a wave of panic. There were scores of flights and gates and hundreds of people in suits. I didn't know the airline he was flying on, or the arrival time, or the gate number or what Harry

Balbach even looked like I knew nothing. So what's the common element between the two stories? Well, apart from my own stupidity, it's that growing sense of uncertainty or unease bordering almost on panic when you suddenly realize you have no idea what you're doing or what you're supposed to be doing. Now, before I go on, let me quickly provide the happy ending to both stories. Somehow, my friend and I saw a sign telling us the way to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I didn't know where that went, and

I knew what exit to take to get home. I made it home just as the sun was starting to set and Harry balbach well, I shot up a desperate prayer to heaven. Lord, help me find Harry Balbach. And as I turned around, there was a man standing and holding a handwritten sign that said I'm Harry Balbach. He had the presence of mind to anticipate the lack of experience of a typical college freshman. Now, what does all this have to do with our journey today into Asia minor?

The western part of modern Turkey. We're here today traveling with a very perplexed Apostle Paul. He's on his second missionary journey, and things haven't been going as well as he had hoped. The trip hadn't even started before Paul and Barnabas got into a heated discussion over whether they ought to take a Long John Mark, who had abandoned them on their earlier journey. Acts 1539 records the result. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.

Paul chose Silas and headed into Asia minor, but their journey was as roundabout as the one my friend and I took on those back roads in Pennsylvania. Here's how Luke described their itinerary. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus

wouldn't allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. Now most of those names are unfamiliar to the average person, and that's where a good Bible atlas can help. Leaving behind the cities Paul had visited on his first missionary journey, the intrepid travelers initially planned to head west into the province of Asia. This is where the major cities like Ephesus and Pergamum were located,

but God prohibited them from heading in that direction. The two travelers and their entourage then pivoted to the north, passing through Phrygia and Galatia. They reached the border of Mysia and assumed the most logical destination would then be Bithynia, along the southern shore of the Black Sea. But once again God set up a spiritual do not enter sign

to block their way. The one direction that now remained open was due west along the border between Mysia and Bithynia, but they soon found themselves running into a dead end When they reached the port city of Troas, about 15 miles from the ancient city of Troy. I wonder if Paul might have felt similar to how I felt when trying to find Harry Balbach. Now what Lord, were you trying to send us? And that night, God provided an answer even more dramatic than turning to see a man

holding a sign with his name on it. During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, come over to Macedonia and help us. Now I suppose God could have told Paul his final destination at the very beginning. Likely it would have saved Paul both time and perhaps some confusion had he known to head straight to Macedonia. But God's directions aren't always that direct. So why did God use a roundabout way

to get Paul to Macedonia? We're not told directly, but there are some details in the account that do offer a few clues. First, if Paul had known from the very beginning that Macedonia was to be his final destination, he might have traveled there directly by boat from Syrian Antioch. But had he done that, he wouldn't have encountered young Timothy in Lystra. And Timothy plays a large part in Paul's later ministry. And then there's a tiny detail with

great significance. Once Paul finally arrived in Troas. Listen carefully to the change in pronouns in the account. Verse eight. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to Troas. Now verses 10 to 12, after Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. From Troas we put out to sea, and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we traveled

to Philippi. The switch from third person to first person marks the entrance of Luke into Paul's life and ministry. We're not told the circumstances, but that slight change lets us know that Luke was a believer, that he lived in Troas, and that this is where he first joins Paul on his travels. God orchestrated this divine rendezvous between Paul and Luke. Finally, God arranged for Paul to arrive

in Philippi at just the right time. A few days after his arrival, Paul and his entourage went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak with the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia. The city apparently didn't have a synagogue, but it did have some women who wanted to know and follow the God of the Bible.

And one of those women was Lydia. She heard and believed, and she provided a place to stay for Paul, Silas, and Timothy and Luke. So who was the man from Macedonia who begged Paul to come? Some think it was Luke, but were never told that that's the case. It was a vision, so it might simply have been a supernatural

dream given by God to Paul. We tend to focus on that vision, but I'm amazed at all the other details God brought together to connect Paul and Silas with Timothy, and then with Luke in Troas, just in time to direct them to Philippi, to encounter a very special woman who became the first convert to Christianity in Europe. So what's the lesson in all this for us? Perhaps this. Don't get frustrated when life seemingly becomes messy, cluttered, and

even a bit disorganized. God could be working behind the scenes to direct you to just the right place, and just the right person at just the right time. Keep trusting God and keep moving forward.