The Characters of Creation

ahead on today's edition of The Land and the book. Welcome. I'm John Gager. Our host is author and Israel expert doctor Charlie Dyer. Boy, lots of news coming out of the Middle East today. Charlie. Oh, John. There is it's amazing.

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.

Israel's defense minister said Israel's response would be precise, painful and surprising, possibly alluding to more than just an aerial attack. For example, it could include cyber attacks, assassinations of key leaders and sabotaged equipment. They've used all of those in the past against Hezbollah and Hamas. Most Israelis see this as the ideal opportunity to strike Iran's nuclear program, which

Israel views as an existential threat. But President Biden has said the U.S. opposes any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities or its oil production facilities, and with the U.S. providing both offensive weapons and defensive support, Israel is taking his warning very seriously. In addition, because of an apparent shortage of interceptor missiles, Israel and the U.S. are working to

counter Iran's expected response. The U.S. sent an advanced Thad, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to Israel to add an additional layer of protection for the country, while Iran's nuclear sites and oil production facilities might be off the table. Israel could still hit military bases, missile and drone production sites, and Iran's power grid. Now, as we're recording this program, the attack hasn't yet happened, but it could take place at any time. In fact, even between

now and when the programme is aired. One thing though, is for sure when Israel finally responds, it will send a clear message to Iran that Israel is serious about defending itself against all foreign threats. In the past, Iran's three biggest threats against Israel were Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran's missiles. Now they'll experience what Israel is capable of doing.

countries like China and a number of African nations. These strengthening ties include both economic and military cooperation. Russia's increased ties with Iran are the model for what Putin would like to develop elsewhere. Recently, Iran sent two satellites to Russia to be launched into orbit. One is a high

resolution imaging satellite, the other a smaller communications satellite. Iran says the imaging satellite will be used for agriculture, environmental monitoring, disaster management and communication, but it could also be used to identify targets in Israel. In terms of the impact this might have on the US and the West, well, Putin is definitely trying to carve out an alliance that could help these countries bypass sanctions imposed by the West.

He's also hoping to replace the West's influence in the Middle East and Africa with this new alliance. This complements the influence Russia has already been trying to carve out for itself in different countries in Africa, and it also aligns with Iran's attempts to expand its influence in the same region. From a biblical perspective, it parallels the alliance described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 that will someday form

against Israel as part of the end times. Not all the countries listed there are currently part of this budding alliance, but the parallels are striking. Russia, Iran, Libya and Sudan are listed in those chapters, and they're currently aligning with or under the influence of this new axis. Boy, that's.

to the king, or in Hebrew, la melek. In the rebuilt center, only handles stamped with Elimelech belonging to the king were found. Both sites date to the end of the eighth century BC, around the time of King Hezekiah and the Assyrian invasion of Judah. As we know from the Bible and from Assyrian sources, that Assyria invaded Judah and devastated the land, but weren't able to conquer Jerusalem

or remove Hezekiah from the throne. The archaeologists are suggesting the Assyrians destroyed the first structure and then built the second on top of it to collect taxes from Judah after re-establishing control over the country. In their view, the lamella seals represented the collection of taxes in oil and grain to be paid to the Assyrians. However, the Bible actually offers a different understanding of the events. In 701 BC. Second Kings 18 and 19 begin with a summary of

what happened. Hezekiah rebelled. Assyria attacked, and when it was all over, Hezekiah remained on the throne, though being forced to pay a heavy financial penalty that included a large payment of both gold and silver. Jerusalem itself was spared by divine intervention. When the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, forcing Sennacherib to withdraw. However, Judah was devastated, with both cities, towns and fields destroyed. Likely, the first

building was destroyed by the Assyrians. If it was a royal storage facility, the Assyrians would have looted the oil and grain for their army and to try to starve out the country. But the Hebrew lamella handles in the rebuilt structure would seem to point to control of the facility by Judah, not the Assyrians. Lamella seals like this have been found at other sites, and suggest a place

where produce was collected as taxes. In two Kings 19, Isaiah tells Hezekiah, this year you'll eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Now that suggests that Judah would experience a prolonged food shortage following the Assyrian attack. And perhaps that's why the new building was constructed, and a system to

store and distribute grain and oil was reestablished. Not to pay taxes to the Assyrians, but to provide food for those left in the land. The archaeology provides some pieces, but in this case we need to look to the biblical text for the larger picture.

the wake of Hurricane Helene. They immediately shipped two units to Asheville, North Carolina, to provide electrical and communications support to first responders, local charities, and the communities at large, and more mobile trailers are on the way. Each trailer is staffed by five people and uses solar panels to provide electricity to shelters and clinics without power. They also provide a place where emergency responders can charge their cell phones,

and they help keep communications systems operational. In addition, each unit also has solar powered water pumps and atmospheric water generators to provide fresh water literally out of thin air. When a disaster strikes, no group can do everything, but a group like this from Amazing Israel has focused on this one area where they can do something to make a positive impact. And all I want to say is a hearty thank you to Smart Aid and their volunteers from Amazing Israel.

you're about to meet the characters of creation. First, though, let's give some thought to a fresh idea on loving our Jewish friends and neighbors for Christ. If you're interested in your Jewish friend, you better be interested in their holidays. Like the Feast of Tabernacles. Roy Schwartz is with Chosen People Ministries. How can we seize this holiday to spice a conversation up for Jesus?

by day. And he tabernacled in the midst of us, he tabernacled among us. And that's what God has done in the Messiah and Feast of Tabernacles. Reminds me of all of that.

wife Angela have four children. It's really good to have you back on the land and the book, Dan.

And that the world, you see is created by a loving father who created things for his glory. He created us in his image. And I think Moses is trying to set the tone to say all that comes after. All the things that you see stem from the fact that God is. And if God is and he is who he says he is, then everything else follows from that.

its way into the human heart. It brings forth death. And already in the first generation you have a brother murdering another brother. And so this is the problem with sin. This is the Bible's opening passages and saying, you know, this is what's wrong with the human heart. There's something fundamentally corrupt about it. And so, yeah, I think in some ways, you know, Adam, you imagine the grief him and Eve felt knowing that they did once walk with God in the cool of the day, they lost that

through their sin with the serpent. And then they had to see that play out in their own generation, their own family. How that must have been just grievous for them. Yeah.

And so, buried in the awful tragedy of the garden is this beautiful story of God's redemption, his sending of Jesus, his rescuing of the human race, and rescuing of the planet.

a weird way, we don't really understand Adam. And just imagine what it must have been like to be him, to be on both sides of the fall and to see his sin play out. I mean, all of us, in some respect, see our sinful choices play out before us. For fathers, we see, even as we do our best to raise our children, we see our choices play out some negative ways. We see that traits picked up by

our kids. Adam had that in real living color. And yet we see in the garden one of my most favorite passages, when God comes searching for Adam and he asks Adam, where are you? And it's not God saying, you know that he lost Adam, but that he was searching and going after Adam and in his worst moment in his sin. And that's the kind of God we have, that he comes after us and searches after us, and he finds us even when we're in the midst of

our worst moments. You know, the Bible says, when when we were sinners in the midst of our sin, Christ died for us.

didn't repent. He said, this little seed of sin that you're nurturing, this resentment, this anger, this rebellion, is going to manifest into something bigger that you can't control. And that's really a lesson for us. There's an old song that says, I think it's an old gospel song that says, sin will take you farther than you want to go. And that's really what happened with Cain. And I do wonder,

does it nurture over time this, this rivalry with his brother? Clearly, when he brought his sacrifice, he knew that he was making a rebellious statement. You know, they clearly knew what was expected. You know, Abel knew what was expected in the sacrifice. So here Cain tries to go his own way. He tries to do his own thing and is rejected by God. And that slowly, over time, sin manifests. That's

what happens when we nurture sin in our hearts. Whether it's anger, whether it's lust, whether it's pride, if we don't deal with it. As John Owens says, we don't be killing sin. It will kill us.

do that. Well, you may never do that, but Satan is a custom designed temptation for you. And I think we're foolish if we think we can resist Satan with our own strength. This is why we need to pray the Lord's Prayer. Lead me not into temptation. We need the Holy Spirit's power to resist the wiles of Satan. He will tempt us in ways that we don't see coming. He will tempt us with influences that we don't see coming.

Sometimes he'll prey on our gifts, the things we're most gifted at and and use that as a way to bring about our downfall. You know, most of temptation doesn't come in obvious ways. It comes through the back door. And, you know, I think Satan is good at that. But if we know Christ and through the power of the spirit, we can overcome temptation and we can resist the devil, and he will flee from us.

They were walking with God in the cool of the day, and to listen to the voice of the serpent who comes along and what he says is basically he doubts God's goodness. He gets Adam and Eve to think, well, maybe the Heavenly Father who created us in his image, who sculpted us with his hands from the dust of the ground, who breathed into us the breath of life, who crafted us with care and precision and and attention. Maybe he's holding out on us. Maybe there's something we

don't know. Maybe we can live this life on our own without him. And what a rejection that was at the heart of it was ingratitude to say the father, he's not a good father, and I need to order my own life instead of letting the Heavenly Father order it for me. And so that grieves the heart of God. Sin grieves the heart of God. Yes. Yet he also is a God of mercy who pursued Adam and Eve and immediately offered that glimpse of a promise to renew and restore the human race.

little scripture packet and just talk to God. And it is such a lovely experience, and I keep going back to the notion this had to be a little bit what it was like to talk with God in the cool of the day. Am I reaching too far?

have sin. And so, you know, you look through the narrative of the Old Testament that in order to meet God, we have to have to be mediated, you know, through the tabernacle, through the temple. But now in the new covenant, because of Jesus death and resurrection, because he defeated sin and death in the grave and the veil has been torn. The Bible does say we can come boldly to the throne of grace. We can have a relationship with God

through Christ. It may not be quite what Adam and Eve had, but we can experience the fullness of a relationship with God. We can talk to him. He can be our friend. He can be our father, and he listens to us and we hear from him. And so I do think what you're describing is something that we can have. And that's what's unique about Christianity, by the way, that Christianity says that you can have a personal relationship

with the God of the universe. You can know and be known by the God of the universe through Jesus, because God has come among us and made a way. And so, no, it's a beautiful thing. And I think that's something that, um, you know, shameful in many ways for many of us is we have access to God through Christ, and we often don't take advantage of that. And we don't have those conversations like we should, and we don't walk with God like we can, like we're invited to.

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 of course, Jesus returned. It is so crucial, I think, for us as believers to have a proper understanding of Bible prophecy. So our view of the future is shaped by Scripture, not just whatever we're seeing online in the news. Right?

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 there to find out how you can receive your copy of God, Israel and Bible Prophecy. That's life in messiah.org.

of power and influence. But Egypt placed virtually no emphasis in any of its monuments on its failures. Instead, it always focused on glorifying its success and tended to leave out the other stuff. But also there's some discoveries that do help support the Bible. One is called the Dream Stela of Thutmose. The fourth was found at the base of the Sphinx, and it basically says the Pharaoh was there, had a dream. And the God said to him, if you clean away the sand from the Sphinx, I'll make

you Pharaoh. And of course, the question would be is if he was the oldest son or the firstborn son, he would become Pharaoh. So it suggests that he may have had an older brother who died, and that would have been right at the time of the exodus. Now, finally, there's a scholar who's trying to find more direct and credible links. I'm not professionally qualified to evaluate his arguments, but I found the book interesting. His name is Douglas Petrovich.

It's Petrovich, and he's written a book titled origins of the Hebrews New Evidence of Israelites in Egypt from Joseph to the Exodus. And I'd encourage you to take a look at that book and see what you think of that.

handle this situation? Yeah, I'd.

verses with her, including some from the New Testament. I think of Jesus's words in Matthew 11 come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. But use God's Word to share its message of comfort and hope. And then when the time might seem appropriate, and you'll have to just trust God's leading in this, I would suggest you try to explain

as simply as possible the gospel message. Tell her God understands what it means to lose a son, since he gave his one and only son to pay for our sin. If you can, let her know that even in her Bible, the Tanakh, it talks about God sending the Messiah to

die to pay the penalty for our sin. See if you can have a read Isaiah 5213 through 53. 12 now you definitely want to display care, concern and great tact, but the message of God's love and salvation are the message of hope that can make an eternal impact on her life. So ask God to give you that wisdom and also ask him to prepare her heart to respond.

And the point is, they were to make sure he didn't get away. So the Philippian jailer was under orders. Make sure these prisoners are kept under strict security. But the second thing I notice is the jailer apparently was at the jail all night when it says he woke up and saw the doors open. I take that to mean he was right there in the prison. I suspect the rumbling woke him up. You know, perhaps from a

deep sleep. And when he looked through the dust and the darkness, he saw that all the doors were open and simply assumed everyone had fled. And that's why he was going to kill himself. But that leads to my final observation, I suspect. The shaking, the rumbling, the rocks falling, dust flying, chain snapping, doors flying open and banging against the walls shocked and frightened the prisoners as much as

it did the jailer. When someone's paralyzed by fear, we talk about him being like a deer in the headlights. A natural reaction is just to freeze in place. Add to that the fact that the prison was pitch dark, since the jailer has to call for lights before rushing inside. I think the prisoners were shocked by the earthquake, blinded by the darkness and dust, and momentarily stunned, and he rushed in before they could even think about any other options.

need to do to be saved? Paul tells him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But how could Paul tell him to do that, if indeed the reality is that he could do nothing? So I personally think reconciling individual faith and regeneration is a mystery. On the one hand, we are called to exercise faith for salvation. On the other, regeneration is a work of God. So I'll let God

handle the details of fitting those together. My role is to encourage someone to exercise faith in Christ and to call on him for salvation.

that's important. In chapter three, when John says, no one who abides in him sins, or no one who's born of God sins, we need to understand what he said in a way that harmonizes what he'd already said in chapter one. There he wrote, if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and His word is not in us. So I don't believe we can say that the verses in chapter three mean God doesn't see sin.

That just seems to contradict what he's already said in chapter one. I think the best approach in chapter three, though not without its own problems, is to see John's use of the present tense there to describe a present habitual action. That's why many modern Bible versions like the NIV,

the ESV, translate it as keeps on sinning. Believers can backslide, we can fall into grievous sin, but God continues to work in the lives of his children to either bring them to repentance, as was in the case, say, Peter, when he denied Christ, or to bring about temporal judgment, which Paul talks about in first Corinthians five. But as John makes clear, as believers, we all do sin, but our lives ought to be characterized by the new life

we've received from God. He patiently works in the lives of his children to bring about spiritual growth, or to discipline those who refuse to do so.

in Ezekiel 38. That's Persia and Togarmah. There. I don't believe it will take very long for all these pieces to come together once the rapture happens, and the Antichrist confirms that covenant with Israel.

segment four. Charlie's devotional. Charlie, if we were to survey every single person listening to us right now about where they read in the Bible today, I'm guessing not a whole lot of them would say, ding ding. Leviticus.

comes to life. It is overwhelming to think of David wandering through that At wilderness and trusting God and realizing that God was going to deliver him, and also thinking about Naomi and Ruth coming from Moab across the Dead Sea, and just what they had to overcome to go through that wilderness, those mountains, to get to Bethlehem. And thinking about that older Jewish woman who longed for her home

so much, leading the younger Gentile woman. And I just think that is what you intended, God, for the Jews to lead the Gentiles to the light of who you are. And I'll never look at that the same again when I read the book of Ruth.

a many Splendored Thing from the film by the same name. Now, for some reason, that song brings to mind the celebration of Sukkot taking place right now, except the title needs to be changed to Sukkot is a many Splendored Thing. Now, to understand why, follow me into the wilderness as Moses explains the many splendored aspects of that final festival in Israel's annual cycle. At its inauguration, the festival was designed to point the children of Israel to the past, the

present and the future. The festival is first introduced in Exodus 23, even before the plans for the construction of the tabernacle were given in verses 14 and 17, God announces to Israel three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me three times a year all the men are to appear before the sovereign Lord. The last of the three is described in more detail in verse 16. Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from

the field. Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is to mark the end of the annual harvest cycle for the nation. Remember, this is before the nation has even reached the Promised Land. Everyone present at Mount Sinai had grown up in Egypt. In fact, later in the book of Deuteronomy, God had to explain the difference between the land of Egypt and the Promised Land. He said, the land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you've come, where you planted your seed and

irrigated it by foot, as in a vegetable garden. This new land was dependent on the rain of heaven, rain that God promised to supply if they stayed faithful, and to help them remember, God ordered them to appear before him three times a year at the time of the barley harvest, at the time of the wheat harvest, and in late summer at the end of the harvest season, Sukkot was a reminder of God's faithfulness to Israel and

the need for Israel to remain faithful to God. But like a multi-faceted diamond, Southcote sparkled with another of its many splendid purposes, which Moses described in Leviticus 23. After entering the land, Succoth was still to be a time of celebrating the ingathering of the harvest. But now Succoth was also to be a reminder of God's past faithfulness

to them during their time in the wilderness. So, beginning with the 15th day of the seventh month, after you've gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival of the Lord for seven days, live in booths for seven days. All native born Israelites are to live in booths, so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I'm the Lord your God. Why were the Israelites to live in Sukkot or booths for the seven days of the festival?

It was to remind them of the booths or tents, or temporary structures the nation had to live in when God brought them out of Egypt and through the wilderness. It was a graphic visual history lesson for the nation, a reminder of how God had taken care of them at a time when they were totally dependent on him for both food and shelter. Sometimes visual lessons can bring history to light in a rather dramatic fashion. When I was ten, I joined the local Boy Scout troop. The

Scoutmaster had a great summer project for us. Somehow he had secured old silk parachutes which we were going to fashion into teepees. We cut and sewed together the chutes and constructed the wooden poles to which we secured the fabric. And then we took them down and went for a weekend camp out at Camp Lavigne. The local Boy Scout camp. It was going to be a glorious weekend of camping and cooking out. Unfortunately, it rained Friday night. Let me

rephrase that. The sky opened up and we had an old fashioned cloudburst Friday night, and we learned a valuable lesson. There was a reason Indians used buffalo hides and not silk parachutes for their teepees. Parachutes leaked like a sieve. We had to break camp and head home Saturday morning because everything scouts, tents, backpacks, and our food were soaked. That experience with a modern day tent or sukkah has

stayed with me for many years. God wanted his people to remember to relive what it was like during the Exodus. It was a crucial life lesson that they needed to reenact annually. Sukkot is a many splendored thing. The festival looked back to the time of the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings, and it was a present reminder of God's faithfulness in meeting their needs throughout the entire harvest season.

But there's also a future aspect to this festival. God intended for it to look forward to their fulfillment of his plan for all humanity. God had told Abraham that through him and his descendants, all the world would be blessed, and Sukkot served as a reminder that God's blessing would extend through Israel to the nations. Now, the first hint of this is in Deuteronomy 16, where God once again

describes the purpose for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. He says, Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your wine presses. Be joyful at your feast. You, your sons, your daughters, your men's servants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens and the fatherless, and the widows who live in your towns for seven days. Celebrate the feast of the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose.

For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest, and all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Uh, by the way, the aliens that are mentioned, there aren't extraterrestrial beings. Those are the Gentiles living in Israel. The feast reached out to embrace Israelites and Gentiles alike. The prophet Zechariah looks forward to the Kingdom age when the Messiah will arrive. His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and the people will look on him whom they have pierced, and

turn in faith and repentance. And then in chapter 14 he describes what will follow. Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. There it is Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the ultimate ingathering of the nations joining with the people of Israel to worship the King, the Lord Almighty. Sukkot is indeed a many splendored thing.

It helped Israel remember how God had provided for them in the wilderness. It gave them an opportunity to celebrate God's continuing favor in meeting their day to day physical needs. And it looks forward to a day when all nations will gather together with Israel to worship the King of all the earth. So what difference can this make in your life today? Well, I don't think you need to set up a booth or a tent in your backyard. I think there's a more practical application for us today.

We're continually bombarded by news articles telling us how awful things are around us. It can discourage us, even cause us to be depressed. But this week, stop looking around and start looking up. Thank God for his blessings to you and his faithfulness and his love. Make a list of the ways God has met your needs and answered your prayers over the past year. Yeah, next month is Thanksgiving. Why not get an early start on that day by focusing on all the ways God has shown himself faithful

to you and like Israel. Don't be afraid to include the physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial wilderness experiences you've gone through. Just be sure to look for the ways he has met your needs, comforted you, and surrounded you with his love. And then be sure to thank him for all he has done.

Charlie Dyer. See you next time on the land and the book.