Inside Israel—Update

plane ticket. Our tour guide is Doctor Charlie Dyer, who, by the way, has led more than 100 actual trips to Israel. And I'm John Gager. Well, Israel, of course, has been in the news a lot over the past year. And as we know, the Bible is jam packed with end times prophecies about epic world events, the regathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, and and then ultimately, Jesus soon returned. It is crucial for us as believers

to have a proper understanding of Bible prophecy. So our view of the future is shaped by Scripture, not just headlines from today.

scriptures say about these issues. Now, if you're interested in learning more about what God has in store, visit Life in Messiah. Org and click on the Moody Radio button there to find out how you can receive your copy of God, Israel and Bible Prophecy. That's life in messiah.org.

Israel continues to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets. They want to keep pressure on Hamas to help secure a hostage deal, but they're also continuing to search for and destroy tunnels leading from Egypt to Gaza. Those are the supply lines that were used to arm Hamas, and Israel wants to cut off their ability to resupply. The number of tunnels was far more extensive than initially thought. Some believe that operation could actually take many more months to complete.

The next phase of the war also involves creating some kind of a government alternative to Hamas. Israel is trying to place Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas over some administrative functions. Meanwhile, the US is trying to recruit other Arab countries to participate in a post-war Gaza security force. Secretary of State Blinken has said Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are

on board to serve as part of that force. However, both conditioned their participation on plans to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian state, and the UAE is also demanding that the US be involved in the security force in some way. There's one other item of note on what's been happening in Gaza. A few months ago, the UN and the International Court of Justice were accusing Israel of genocide by creating a catastrophic food shortage in Gaza.

At the time, they claimed a full blown famine would break out between March and July. Well, a new report was released saying those previous assumptions were wrong. This new UN linked report found no mortality data to prove famine is present. The previous projection was based on wrong assumptions on the amount of food entering the territory, instead of decreasing the supply increased. Those earlier claims made the headlines, but the new factual data debunking those claims has barely

been acknowledged. It's a good reminder that one of the first casualties in war is the truth. Hamas has been caught numerous times announcing so-called Israeli atrocities that turned out to be false, but the reports were uncritically picked up

and broadcast by mainstream media. The level of coverage on the war in Gaza is continuing to drop as the press shifts its focus to other areas, but the war still continuing, and Israel is still doing everything it can to defeat Hamas, bring back the remaining hostages, and doing so while harming as few civilians as possible. And that is worth noting. Charlie, what.

if Israel attacks Hezbollah. It threatened to act against Israel with full force and to include the full involvement of, quote, all resistance fronts alluding to their allies in Iraq, Yemen and Syria. Israel's foreign minister responded with his own threat, saying A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed. Israel's defense minister said Israel isn't looking for war but is ready for it. He also said he hopes a

diplomatic solution could be reached. Now, the key to any settlement is the implementation of UN Security Resolution 1701, which created a demilitarized zone between the border and the Litani River in Lebanon. This requires Hezbollah to remove its fighters away from Israel's border to the north of that river. This would allow the 60 to 80,000 Israeli citizens, who have been displaced since October to return to their homes, and it would allow Lebanese civilians who fled their homes

to return as well. A peaceful resolution is possible, but the final decision rests with Hezbollah. One thing's for certain, though Israel won't allow Hezbollah fighters to remain on their border indefinitely. And a cut off time, if you will, might be sometime in July or August.

camp during its siege of Lachish. Now the camp in that relief is oval shaped, and it's protected by a wall with guard towers at regular intervals. So they have some idea of what that camp would have looked like. Using that relief, along with early photos from Israel and some modern mapping techniques. Stephen Compton claims to have discovered the location of the Assyrian army camps, both at Lachish

and just to the north of Jerusalem. If those proposed sites are indeed Assyrian camps, it would be additional support for the biblical accounts describing those attacks. However, I can't get too excited about this announcement, at least not yet. No actual excavations have been done at either site, so he's basing his identification on Arabic names along with maps

and photos. But in the area where Lachish is located, well, there are a lot of hills that would fit this description, and it's not clear from the relief in the British Museum that the Assyrians even put their camp on a hill. Now, I believe the Assyrian camps are near Lachish, as shown in that relief in the British Museum, and that they were on the north side of Jerusalem, because Isaiah ten says that. But, uh, the problem is right now we

don't know where they are. Someday his proposed locations might be validated through excavations, but for right now, all we can say is his proposed locations are in the right general area, and that the Assyrians did indeed camp there based on what the Bible says.

via Wi-Fi. Sedated patients are in a state of artificial sleep, but the brain still works to fill in gaps, which is what leads to nightmares, PTSD, and delirium. So playing familiar sounds in this headset, like favorite music or hearing verbal messages from the family, is what they were hoping would fill in the gaps. And indeed, that's what is happening. One seriously wounded patient awoke after six months in intensive care and asked the nurse to listen to his favorite music,

which they had been playing. The innovative use of this system is really having a positive impact on those in ICU.

the window. What's left is narrative, and that narrative is viciously, sometimes violently, opposed to Israel. What's really going on? Troy Miller of the National Religious Broadcasters was just in Israel. He joins us today with fresh insights in just a moment here on the land and the book. Welcome. I'm John Gager, and before we join Troy, let's think about ways that we can model Christ for our Jewish friends and neighbors. Helping you help your Jewish friend find Yeshua

in the Old Testament. That's our challenge. As we sit down with Michael Riedel, general editor of the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy. Where would you take us?

verse six. What he is saying is, I willingly suffered. I did not go to the cross as a victim. It was my choice. That's what the Lord Jesus taught. No man takes my life, but I lay it down willingly. He gave himself for us because it was his choice. He was not a victim of oppression. He was one who chose. He could have called those angels to deliver him, but he chose to die for us.

and Asia. Troy has also served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer for James Kennedy Ministries. And as I mentioned earlier, he recently returned from a trip to Israel, which is the focus of today's conversation. Hey, welcome to the land and the book, Troy.

whole gist of our mission. But we also met with a number of religious leaders so that we could show the solidarity that Christians have for Israel and for our brothers and sisters there. As you know, there's a lot of opposition going on in the U.S. right now. And so that was an important message we wanted to bring.

heard the sirens. But the sirens quickly turned into gunfire. And just the horrific events there, and the number of young adults that lost their lives, that had promising lives. It's just a heartache. Just gut wrenching, as you said.

educate them, help them get medical coverage. Just a number of things there. And those are messages that the mainstream media is just not talking about. And also the fact, you know, just as, uh, not too long after we got back, Israel, you know, rescued four hostages. Two of those hostages were being held by Palestinian civilians. They weren't being held by, you know, the Hamas militants, the terrorists, they were being held by civilians. And this is just

a message that mainstream media is not reporting. And they're also not reporting, John, on what's going on on the northern border. Until recently, Hezbollah on the northern border has launched well over a thousand rocket attacks into Israel. And so there's a lot going on in Israel that we want people to be aware of.

promised Abraham. Jews have been in that land continuously. There has never been a time where the Jewish people have not been in the land. There's been a remnant. Of course, we know there's a dispersion, but the Jewish people were there long before 1948, before Israel was declared a state. And I think that it just fits into this socialist Marxist indoctrination that they're doing, and they don't know how

to back away from it now. We met with some protesters and people who, like those who deny the Holocaust, were even denying that October 7th even happened in Israel, and that it's just the narrative there is really, really hard to understand.

And we really need to get Christian influencers on these social media platforms, particularly TikTok, where the young adults, young evangelicals really get their information from and communicate the truth about what's really going on in Israel and what's really behind these attacks, and the fact that Hamas really simply wants the elimination of the Jewish people in the Middle East.

to run their areas? And as she had those conversations, she found out that very quickly the evangelical students said, oh, we didn't know any of that. The Christians that were there marching on behalf of Palestine. So we didn't really realize any of that. And she said several of them just walked away from the protest.

the University of Southern California. And we also saw this down at many of the southern universities, University of Mississippi, where there was a march down there by a number of anti-Israeli march, a pro-Palestinian march and a group from one of the Christian student bodies was a group that helped surround some of the monuments so that they could not be defaced. And these are groups that are groups across this country that have volunteered to escort Jewish students

to their classes. And these are predominantly Christian groups. These are predominantly young Christian adults who come alongside their Jewish brothers and sisters on the campuses to show that solidarity and protect them. And that is really, as you said, that's a really hopeful thing that we're actually seeing Christians stand up today and protect our Jewish brothers and sisters.

destruction of Israel? Why does this get no mention, no traction in the media? And what can believers do to change that?

on Christians. And I think one of the things that Christian media can do is Christian media needs to keep reminding people of the truth, and especially us as Christians, we understand, we look in our Bible, we can read from Exodus, we can read the promises that were made to Abraham in Genesis. We can read Joshua's conquest. And we understand that the land that God, this is the creator of the universe. He carved out this one place of all the earth. God took this land and carved

it out for his people. And so one of the initiatives that we've launched also is an initiative called Keep God's Land, which is we change the rhetoric and we don't talk about things like the West Bank. There is no such thing as a West Bank. That's a made up term. This land is Judea and Samaria. This is the land that Christ walked himself in. And this was the land that was given to the Jewish people. And

so we need to keep that narrative going. You know, so many young people can't even name when they chant from the river to the sea. They can't even name the river. They don't even understand what's going on there. And as you said, we don't talk enough about Hamas, who recently just got on. The Hamas leader who's in Qatar recently just got on the the mainstream media, got on Al Jazeera and called for the elimination of all homosexuals across the Middle East, and talked about how there's

no repentance for that. And that's the difference between Christianity and radical Islam. We understand that God forgives, there is repentance. There is a way back to Christ, has paid the penalty for our sins, and we need to talk more about that. As a church, we need to talk about this is God's land, and we need to talk about really the difference that's going on here between Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

And we see this weaponization of the government. And I think people I really would hope that people would have a bigger backlash to this after the whole Covid pandemic mess, where we found out that so much of what they called misinformation really turned out to be real information. And today, I don't know why we don't, but we need our pastors need to talk about the value of our First

Amendment rights, our God given rights. The values that the Founding Fathers understood were rights given to us not by the government, but given to us by our creator.

segment three, Bible Questions and Answers. We have a great time because it's not us doing the scripting, the asking, it's you. The questions are all yours. They're all real. They come to us via email at The Land and the book@moody.edu. You know, Charlie Israel has been in the news a lot over the past year and as we know, the Bible is jam packed with end times prophecies about epic world events, the regathering of the Jewish people to

their ancient homeland, and Jesus return. It's crucial for us, though, as believers, to have a proper understanding of Bible prophecy. So our view of the future is shaped by Scripture, right? Not today's headlines.

the scriptures say about these issues. Now, if you're interested in learning more about what God has in store, 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.

It says A thousand years in your sight are like a day that's just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Now, in terms of God's relationship to time, I like what God himself said in Isaiah 46. He says, remember the former things those of long ago I'm God, there is no other. I'm God, there's none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times.

What is still to come. So trying to determine how time relates to God, at least to me, seems to be irrelevant since time itself, past, present, future exists within the plan he designed before time, as we even understand it, began. One last passage though it's from the New Testament. First Timothy one nine. There Paul describes God's gracious plan of salvation through his son. He says it was given in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. Literally. It says

before time eternal. We might say before the eons of time. But the key here is that this was before those eons of time even began. God was there, and he had a plan prior to the foundation of time itself.

full of struggles. We experience struggles as well. And he says in verse 26, the spirit comes to our aid by taking all the prayer concerns we struggle over and bringing them to God the Father with an intensity with groanings that we can't even begin to imagine. And he does it in accordance with God's will. So as a result, we have confidence God will work all things together for

the good of those who love him. Because of the role of the spirit in praying for us and taking our feeble prayers and translating them into those powerful and passionate words that align with God's will. Now the second part, verses 31 to 35. The focus isn't on prayer, but it's on the issue of our acceptance by God. And he says, no charge can be made against us that can stand because God has predestined, called, justified and glorified us. And we know that because God gave His Son to

pay the penalty for our sin. So Paul's arguing from the greater to the lesser. If if God already has given us his son, won't he also meet all our other needs by his grace? And then he says, how can charges be made against us since God justifies us? Christ died for us, was raised from the dead, and intercedes for us. And now in those verses, the intercession isn't focused on answering prayer, but on answering any objections someone might raise about our salvation.

Solomon's Temple was built. There are Jewish individuals today who believe they need to rebuild the temple now, since they're back in the land. But until a new temple is built, they're prohibited from offering sacrifices and performing those other rituals.

agree on that. That's the intentional taking of an innocent life. That's the sixth commandment thou shalt not kill. But second, I don't believe that command is intended to be absolute without exception. In this sense, in Genesis nine six, God established capital punishment for deliberate murder. Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed. For

in the image of God, God has made him. A human life is to be held sacred, and the penalty for deliberately taking a human life for committing murder is the forfeiture of the life of the one who commits that murder. Now that principle is repeated in both the Old and New Testaments. In Leviticus 2417, God said, if anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death. And in Romans 13, verses three and four, Paul said, you know, rulers don't hold terror

for those who do, right? But if you do wrong, you do because he's God's servant to do you good if you do right. But he's an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. You know, God did establish capital punishment to judge those who commit murder. I go beyond that. Third. I believe God provides human government to help hold evil in check. And a legitimate role of government is to provide safety for its citizens. And sometimes that includes going to war. A God sent Israel

to war on multiple occasions. Now how does that impact believers? Here's the bottom line. I think this is where it becomes a matter of personal conviction. Can a believer join the military and fight for his country? I believe that's possible if the individual understands the differences between not seeking vengeance, but seeking to promote justice and national protection. Uh, the same thing is true for someone serving as a police officer, in the sense that they're given authority by the state

to maintain order and help bring lawbreakers to justice. And at times, that includes the power to take the life of someone threatening others. Does a Christian have a right to defend himself or herself or others if attacked? Well, Psalm 82 says, we're to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed, rescue the weak and needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. And that suggests to me we can

step in to defend those being attacked. But how about us? How does this impact us if we're the one being attacked? And the answer depends on how we take passages like Jesus's words in Matthew five. You've heard it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him

the other also. So as you can see, there isn't one simple answer, but what I would encourage you to do is study all those different passages and ask the Lord to give you wisdom to know how he wants you to respond in a way that best honors him. Huh?

not sure I agree with this position. What are your thoughts?

only one with identifiable marks on the resurrection body. And as far as I can see, we're simply not told we must be identifiable in some way in our new bodies, but we're not told what those identifiable characteristics might be. This is a case, I think, where we need to rest. In Paul's words in first Corinthians 15, you know, he talked about some are wondering, how will the dead be raised, what kind of body will they have? And he says,

the body that's sown is perishable, it's raised imperishable. It's sown in dishonor, raised in glory, sown in weakness, raised in power, sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. Beyond his general description, we really don't know exactly what our new bodies are going to be like, but whatever they are, I think they're going to be pretty amazing and I think we'll be pleased with them.

thine be done. And that was so special to me because of what he has done for me and how he has saved me.

as something of an afterthought. But it's no great honor either. So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune? And then he launches into if I were a rich man. Now, most listening today can resonate with Tevye's words, at least emotionally. I think we've all felt at times how nice it would be to have

just a small fortune. You're not enough to rival Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, but just enough to buy that car or house we've always wanted, or to not get stressed out at the end of each month when the different bills arrive or or, well, you can finish the sentence. Part of the problem is that we tend to compare ourselves with those who are more well off, not against those who are less fortunate. We seem to be attracted to the lifestyles of the rich because it helps fuel

our desire to become more wealthy ourselves. And yet, compared globally, most Americans are already exceptionally blessed. In a 2024 poverty ranking by country in the United States, less than 2.2% of the population live on less than $10 a day. In Canada, it's even lower. Less than 1.2% of the population live on less than $10 a day. Now compare that to the 4.4 billion people in the rest of the world who live on less than $10 a day, or the nearly 700 million who live on less than

$2 per day. To help put our thinking in perspective, let's pay a visit to Wise King Solomon and focus on what is versus what should be, but follow along closely, because the point of the story might not be what you think. In Proverbs 1420, Solomon presents a sad reality of life. The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. A stark reality in life is that people like to hobnob with the haves while trying to avoid the have nots. In Proverbs 19 seven,

Solomon paints an even grimmer picture. A poor man is shunned by all his relatives. How much more do his friends avoid him? Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found. The Hebrew literally says, all the brothers of the poor man hate him, and his friends abandon him. And it's not just that this unfortunate relative had slipped their mind. They actively seek to avoid him. Solomon continues. Though he pursues them with pleading, they are

nowhere to be found. As Solomon so wisely observed in life, people often try to avoid the poor, even when those who are poor are relatives. Perhaps they're embarrassed, perhaps they're greedy or selfish. The reasons can vary, but the end result is that most prefer not to think about, be associated with, or extend help to the poor. Now I do need to add two crucial points. First, Solomon is not preaching an ancient form of socialism, as we'll see

next week. Solomon also has much to say about someone whose poverty is the result of laziness or idleness. Such behavior wasn't to be rewarded. Solomon's words match those written almost 900 years later by the Apostle Paul in Second Thessalonians three. Keep away from every brother who is idle. If a man will not work, he shall not eat. Neither Solomon nor Paul condone supporting someone's Slothfulness the poverty being pictured by Solomon isn't the result of laziness or inactivity. Rather,

circumstances can arise that lead to poverty. Ruth and Naomi were in poverty because of a famine followed by the deaths of their husbands. Job lost his wealth to a satanic attack. Illness. Fire. Flood. economic calamity, war and a host of other causes can lead to poverty. I believe Solomon's focus in Proverbs 14 is on those who find themselves in poverty, not caused by their own foolish actions.

And that leads to the crucial point in Proverbs. I've quoted part of two proverbs that describe what is, and by that I mean Solomon is picturing what is often true in life. People do tend to ignore or not think about those who are in poverty. But now let's go back to see the other side of the coin, the what should be that? Solomon also stresses in 1420. Solomon said the poor are shunned even by their neighbors, while the rich have many friends. But then look at

what he says in the very next verse. He who despises his neighbor sins. But blessed is he who is kind to the needy. Having pictured what might be considered normal by the world, Solomon quickly adds that it is not normal from God's perspective. I'm reminded of Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan, given in response to someone trying to justify himself by saying, well, who is my neighbor?

If the second greatest command is to love your neighbor as yourself, then despising and refusing to help one's truly needy neighbor is indeed a sin. And the one who does reach out to help receives God's blessing. In Proverbs 19, Solomon does something very similar, having described how even brothers and friends will abandon and shun the poor. Solomon then goes on in verse 17 to say, he who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he that is the Lord will reward him for what he

has done. People didn't want to lend to the poor because it was almost certain they would never get repaid. But Solomon turns the equation on its head in helping the poor. You're not lending to them, but to the Lord. And God always pays back those who lend to him. It might be in this life, or it might be in the life to come. But picturing a gift to the poor as a loan to God puts an entirely different spin on the action. So what's the practical application

of Solomon's wise words for us today? First, he didn't write to guilt us into giving to every panhandler holding up a sign at a stoplight. I like the signs posted in a number of cities that say it is okay to say no to panhandlers. Give instead to agencies that help those in need. Your local rescue mission can provide physical and spiritual help that will do far more good with your contribution. A second be wise. Do you personally know the circumstances that caused a family member or

neighbor to be in financial need? Was it caused by a genuine calamity or is it the result of poor or even sinful life choices? You don't want to subsidize or encourage such a lifestyle, but you do want to help someone with a genuine need. Finally, be as generous and helpful as you can be without harming yourself or your family. If you're on a fixed budget, give what you can without going into poverty yourself. You can give directly to an individual, but you can also give to

your church's assistance fund if it has one. Churches often have such a fund to minister to those in the congregation and community with physical needs, or give instead to a ministry that focuses on providing physical and spiritual support in times of need. Samaritan's purse and The Salvation Army are two groups that come immediately to mind. It's a reality of life that people tend to look up to those with wealth and power, and to ignore those in poverty.

God wants us to demonstrate generosity and grace to those with legitimate needs. That requires wisdom on our part. But in reaching out to share with those in genuine need, just remember that God views it as a loan you're making to him, and he promises to someday reward your generosity. And that's part of Solomon's instruction for how to live life wisely.

you along the land. And the book is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.