Join Dr. Erez Soref in Why Israel?—a powerful eight-part journey through the greatest love story ever told: God’s covenant relationship with Israel and His invitation to the nations. This profound love still transforms lives today.
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| Dr. Erez Soref: What is Your Name? | One For Israel | February 13, 2026
- When we lose god's perspective,
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- We lose god's vision.
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- The problem is that debt is addictive.
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- It's like drugs.
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- I started to hate everybody
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- Who is not a muslim,
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- Especially the jews.
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- Yeshua taught his disciples to pray.
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- "forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors."
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- I am dr. erez soref.
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- I was born and raised in the heart of israel,
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- But i never heard the gospel message
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- Until on a journey abroad,
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- My eyes were opened to the jewish messiah.
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- From that point,
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- My life has been dedicated
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- To bringing this gospel back to my people israel,
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- Equipping them to reach israel
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- And the world.
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- Together, as jews and gentiles,
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- We are one in messiah, one for israel.
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- Jerusalem is the place where god said
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- He would put his name among his people.
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- What does that mean?
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- It means that his presence, his honor,
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- And his character would be known from this city.
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- But in nehemiah's story,
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- We will see a time of tension,
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- Where israelites began to dishonor god's name
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- By going against their values
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- As a people.
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- When israel acted
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- Against their values,
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- It wasn't just an embarrassment to them.
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- It was dishonoring the name of god himself.
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- In the traditional middle eastern world,
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- Your name was bound up with honor.
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- To dishonor your father's name through your actions
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- Was deeply shameful.
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- Through their actions, israel began dishonoring god's name,
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- And their own name as well.
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- Today, we'll see how nehemiah led the people of israel
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- When he identified spiritual compromise.
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- And we'll challenge you with the question:
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- What is your name?
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- As we walk the walls with nehemiah.
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- Nehemiah had come from persia
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- With a vision from god,
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- To lead the rebuilding of the walls of jerusalem.
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- The walls were going up, and work was progressing.
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- Nehemiah had successfully repelled an attack
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- From his enemies.
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- But soon, there was a crisis,
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- And some of the workers on the wall
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- Came to him with a problem from within.
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- Many of the jews living in jerusalem
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- And the surrounding area
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- Had recently returned from exile.
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- They had come home poor,
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- And had little means to provide for themselves.
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- As they worked on the wall,
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- Many had to borrow money from the wealthy jewish nobles.
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- And the ones lending money were looking
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- To their own benefit, charging high interest
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- To their neighbors.
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- When the poor jews could not pay back their debt,
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- Some were forced to sell themselves
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- Or their children into slavery.
- 00:03:06.109 --> 00:03:09.045
- Now, of course, you would be appalled
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- At the idea of slavery.
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- And no one is thrilled by high interest loans either.
- 00:03:13.449 --> 00:03:16.919
- But for israel, exacting interest to a fellow israelite
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- Actually went directly against god's law.
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- In leviticus, it says:
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- It was against their god-given identity
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- As a people to take advantage
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- Of the poor.
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- This went contrary to their name.
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- So the people brought this issue to nehemiah.
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- What was he supposed to do?
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- They really needed to finish the work,
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- To accomplish god's vision.
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- They had already slowed down while repelling
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- Their enemy's external attacks.
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- Couldn't they just deal with this internal issue later,
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- Once the war was done?
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- I mean, yes, the nobles were breaking god's command,
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- But it's not like they were breaking
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- One of the big ten.
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- It wasn't idols or murders or adultery.
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- As leaders running with a vision,
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- Sometimes the people's needs seem to get in the way.
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- Some ministries or churches operate like machines,
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- Like a business or corporation.
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- But what happens when people inside those machines
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- Are suffering spiritually or emotionally?
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- When they're hurt or taken advantage of?
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- Do we have the time to listen?
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- To care for the people more than we care for the program?
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- When we take advantage of the lowly,
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- We are acting in opposition to god.
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- We cannot build god's kingdom that way.
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- Way back in egypt,
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- The israelites made bricks to build pharaoh's kingdom
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- As slaves.
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- Now in nehemiah's time, some of the israelites,
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- Building with bricks, had become slaves once again.
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- Nehemiah had a choice.
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- Would he attempt to build god's kingdom
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- The world's way,
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- Following in pharaoh's footsteps,
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- On the backs of the oppressed?
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- No! nehemiah made the difficult choice
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- And stopped the work.
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- He knew his priorities.
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- He would not build for the vision
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- And sacrifice his name in the process.
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- As long as nehemiah was leading,
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- Israel would be known as the ones who would obey god.
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- Spiritual compromise is more than just flirting
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- With worldly pleasures.
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- It's also putting worldly goals,
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- Success and ambition above god's priorities
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- And god's people.
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- When we lose god's perspective,
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- We lose god's vision.
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- When we lose god's point of view,
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- We lose our view of god.
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- So nehemiah began to appeal to the fear of god,
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- Reverence for his name,
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- In order to bring the people to repentance.
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- Today we are witnessing
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- A spiritual awakening in israel,
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- Unlike anything we've ever seen.
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- Hearts are being opened,
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- Lives are being transformed,
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- And the good news of jesus
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- Is spreading throughout israel.
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- Today we have over 700,000 israelis
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- Subscribed to our hebrew gospel channel,
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- Making our channel that proclaims yeshua
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- One of the top youtube channels in all of israel.
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- God is opening hearts,
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- But for this ministry to succeed,
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- We need to be supported by prayer,
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- Your prayer.
- 00:06:26.976 --> 00:06:28.478
- That's why we've created a free prayer guide
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- To help you stand with israel in this vital moment.
- 00:06:30.813 --> 00:06:33.983
- This 31-day prayer guide
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- Will equip you to pray for israel's peace,
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- Salvation and restoration.
- 00:06:38.621 --> 00:06:40.756
- God is doing amazing things in israel.
- 00:06:40.756 --> 00:06:43.159
- Join us in prayer and be part
- 00:06:43.159 --> 00:06:44.794
- Of this awakening.
- 00:06:44.794 --> 00:06:46.496
- Scan the qr now to request your free prayer guide.
- 00:06:46.496 --> 00:06:50.032
- Together we can make an eternal impact.
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- Call now and join us in prayer for israel.
- 00:06:52.602 --> 00:07:01.009
- Call now and join us in prayer for israel.
- 00:07:01.009 --> 00:07:05.630
- Nehemiah stopped the work on the wall
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- When he realized that some of the richer jewish nobles
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- Were taking advantage of their poor brothers.
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- He gathered the nobles together
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- And said to them:
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- Nehemiah cut right to the heart of the issue.
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- The nobles lacked the fear of the lord.
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- The culture of exile was still
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- In their hearts and minds.
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- They were going along with the world's way
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- Of doing things rather than god's way.
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- When we are carrying out a god-given vision,
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- We must remember that god's work
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- Must be carried out in fear and reverence,
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- With an awareness of the one we serve.
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- What does it look like to lose the fear of the lord?
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- Excusing your compromises or the compromise of others.
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- Allowing your tongue to go off unchecked.
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- It's thinking of god less
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- And therefore we think less of god.
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- There's a common theme repeated in the book of judges:
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- "israel had no king
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- "and everyone did as they saw fit."
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- When everyone does what they see fit,
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- We move quickly into moral decline.
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- Our name, our reputation is corrupted.
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- Nehemiah saw the seeds and the danger of this
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- And jumped in quickly to address it.
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- He told the nobles to return the fields,
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- Houses and money to their brothers:
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- Stop charging interest to fellow israelites.
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- Amazingly, they responded to nehemiah's correction.
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- They said:
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- The miraculous thing is that these leaders
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- Actually listened to nehemiah and forgave the debt.
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- Nehemiah made them take a vow before the lord
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- And they made things right.
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- Hi, i'm rabbi dr. aharon ariel lavi,
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- I'm the managing director
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- Of the ohr torah interfaith center.
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- We're based in jerusalem
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- And we work to make religion
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- Part of the solution.
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- Well, nehemiah led the first, what we call,
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- "shivat tzion", the return to zion.
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- That's actually a biblical term,
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- It's not a modern term.
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- The people of israel went on exile
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- In 586 bc.
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- Around 40-50 years later, they start coming back.
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- Now, those who came back were not, unfortunately,
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- The wealthiest and the most well-off
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- Of the jewish people.
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- Many of them struggled to survive,
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- Struggled to reestablish their lives
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- Back in the land of israel.
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- And they had to borrow money.
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- When you borrow money and there's interest,
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- You're going into trouble.
- 00:10:01.372 --> 00:10:02.606
- It's very easy to get into borrowing money,
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- It's very difficult to get out.
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- And when it's one family, two families,
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- Okay, so the community can help them.
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- But if it's the entire community,
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- Then the community has a problem.
- 00:10:12.049 --> 00:10:13.684
- It's actually trapped in debt.
- 00:10:13.684 --> 00:10:15.486
- And that's what nehemiah is trying to solve
- 00:10:15.486 --> 00:10:17.655
- By using the biblical mechanism of debt relief.
- 00:10:17.655 --> 00:10:20.357
- Why do people charge interest?
- 00:10:20.357 --> 00:10:22.660
- Because they want to use the resources they have
- 00:10:22.660 --> 00:10:25.196
- To make more resources.
- 00:10:25.196 --> 00:10:26.464
- So i'll lend you money, i'll lend you $100,
- 00:10:26.464 --> 00:10:29.166
- And you pay me back $120, so i made $20.
- 00:10:29.166 --> 00:10:32.103
- Otherwise, what reason do i have to give you money, actually?
- 00:10:32.103 --> 00:10:34.505
- What's called free loans or no-interest loans,
- 00:10:34.505 --> 00:10:37.241
- They actually go against the basic trait of human nature,
- 00:10:37.241 --> 00:10:40.377
- Of the basic incentive we have to accumulate more wealth.
- 00:10:40.377 --> 00:10:45.483
- So in that sense, it tells us something
- 00:10:45.483 --> 00:10:47.351
- About how god views us.
- 00:10:47.351 --> 00:10:49.420
- It's not only in this, we see it in
- 00:10:49.420 --> 00:10:50.488
- Many, many other parts of the bible.
- 00:10:50.488 --> 00:10:51.989
- Human nature goes in one direction,
- 00:10:51.989 --> 00:10:54.291
- But the bible challenges us to actually go
- 00:10:54.291 --> 00:10:56.594
- Not in the other direction entirely, but actually,
- 00:10:56.594 --> 00:10:59.597
- Let's say, override our human nature
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- And be stronger than our animal instincts.
- 00:11:01.866 --> 00:11:05.102
- To make money, to procreate, to control,
- 00:11:05.102 --> 00:11:07.138
- To rule, to be violent.
- 00:11:07.138 --> 00:11:08.606
- The bible teaches us to actually overcome this.
- 00:11:08.606 --> 00:11:11.308
- Interest-based loans were pretty common
- 00:11:11.308 --> 00:11:13.611
- In the ancient world, as they are common today.
- 00:11:13.611 --> 00:11:16.046
- But what most people don't know
- 00:11:16.046 --> 00:11:17.982
- Is that even debt relief mechanisms
- 00:11:17.982 --> 00:11:19.850
- Were pretty prevalent in the ancient world.
- 00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:21.886
- This is not a biblical invention.
- 00:11:21.886 --> 00:11:23.220
- I'll tell you what is a biblical invention.
- 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:24.922
- Shemitah and jubilee, yovel in hebrew,
- 00:11:24.922 --> 00:11:27.158
- It's actually part of the constitution.
- 00:11:27.158 --> 00:11:29.326
- So every seven years,
- 00:11:29.326 --> 00:11:30.561
- When the sun sets on the last day
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- Of the seventh year,
- 00:11:31.896 --> 00:11:33.063
- All the debts are remitted.
- 00:11:33.063 --> 00:11:34.131
- Injecting this into the system
- 00:11:34.131 --> 00:11:35.800
- As a pre-planned mechanism,
- 00:11:35.800 --> 00:11:37.368
- That's the main innovation.
- 00:11:37.368 --> 00:11:38.636
- The ideas of shemitah and jubilee
- 00:11:38.636 --> 00:11:39.870
- Actually challenge the entire system.
- 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:41.572
- We talked about challenging the human nature.
- 00:11:41.572 --> 00:11:44.074
- Shemitah and jubilee challenge social nature.
- 00:11:44.074 --> 00:11:47.645
- Now what are shemitah and jubilee?
- 00:11:47.645 --> 00:11:50.147
- Shemitah comes from the word "lishmot",
- 00:11:50.147 --> 00:11:52.082
- Which means "to let go" in hebrew.
- 00:11:52.082 --> 00:11:53.984
- It's a sabbatical year,
- 00:11:53.984 --> 00:11:55.352
- Which means that every seventh year is a shemitah year.
- 00:11:55.352 --> 00:11:57.888
- We don't work the land for one year.
- 00:11:57.888 --> 00:11:59.824
- And the other one is that we commit a debt relief
- 00:11:59.824 --> 00:12:01.926
- At the end of the year.
- 00:12:01.926 --> 00:12:03.360
- On top of that, there's hakhel.
- 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.329
- After the shemitah year, we gather back as a community
- 00:12:05.329 --> 00:12:07.298
- Once every seven years
- 00:12:07.298 --> 00:12:08.666
- To renew the covenant between us and god.
- 00:12:08.666 --> 00:12:11.335
- And there are other components
- 00:12:11.335 --> 00:12:13.537
- That i will not go into right now.
- 00:12:13.537 --> 00:12:15.005
- Try to imagine this,
- 00:12:15.005 --> 00:12:16.140
- In a society where 97% of the people
- 00:12:16.140 --> 00:12:18.876
- Work in farming and agriculture,
- 00:12:18.876 --> 00:12:20.711
- Now telling a society, not a person,
- 00:12:20.711 --> 00:12:22.680
- A society, that once every seven years
- 00:12:22.680 --> 00:12:25.416
- You're going to leave the land fallow
- 00:12:25.416 --> 00:12:27.218
- For a whole year and trust god
- 00:12:27.218 --> 00:12:29.887
- That it's going to be okay, that's a huge challenge.
- 00:12:29.887 --> 00:12:32.857
- Now on top of that, every seven cycles of shemitah,
- 00:12:32.857 --> 00:12:36.694
- The 50th year, that's a jubilee year.
- 00:12:36.694 --> 00:12:39.363
- All the slaves are released,
- 00:12:39.363 --> 00:12:40.831
- No matter how long they've been in slavery,
- 00:12:40.831 --> 00:12:42.199
- All the slaves are released.
- 00:12:42.199 --> 00:12:43.500
- It's a complete liberation of everybody.
- 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:47.171
- And the second thing is
- 00:12:47.171 --> 00:12:48.505
- That all the lands go back to the original owner
- 00:12:48.505 --> 00:12:50.674
- From the beginning of the cycle.
- 00:12:50.674 --> 00:12:52.009
- As far as we know, shemitah was practiced partially,
- 00:12:52.009 --> 00:12:56.547
- The bible tells us.
- 00:12:56.547 --> 00:12:57.715
- Actually, not practicing shemitah properly
- 00:12:57.715 --> 00:12:59.450
- Was one of the reasons for the destruction
- 00:12:59.450 --> 00:13:01.819
- Of the first temple according to jeremiah.
- 00:13:01.819 --> 00:13:04.188
- Jubilee, as far as we know,
- 00:13:04.188 --> 00:13:05.322
- Was barely practiced at all
- 00:13:05.322 --> 00:13:06.991
- Because it's such a huge challenge.
- 00:13:06.991 --> 00:13:09.026
- But still, the idea can serve as a compass
- 00:13:09.026 --> 00:13:12.062
- And give us a direction
- 00:13:12.062 --> 00:13:14.665
- For how a rectified society should look like.
- 00:13:14.665 --> 00:13:17.101
- The problem is that debt is addictive.
- 00:13:17.101 --> 00:13:19.970
- It's like drugs.
- 00:13:19.970 --> 00:13:21.238
- If you start with it,
- 00:13:21.238 --> 00:13:22.439
- Then it's very hard to get out
- 00:13:22.439 --> 00:13:23.774
- Because you need to take more and more loans
- 00:13:23.774 --> 00:13:25.609
- To cover previous loans,
- 00:13:25.609 --> 00:13:26.777
- Then you just sink deeper and deeper.
- 00:13:26.777 --> 00:13:28.412
- So taking another loan to cover the existing loans
- 00:13:28.412 --> 00:13:31.248
- Won't help much.
- 00:13:31.248 --> 00:13:32.449
- And the bible,
- 00:13:32.449 --> 00:13:33.751
- Even though it challenges human nature,
- 00:13:33.751 --> 00:13:35.519
- It does not violate human nature.
- 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:37.521
- It inspires us to overcome
- 00:13:37.521 --> 00:13:40.257
- Some of our animal instincts.
- 00:13:40.257 --> 00:13:43.794
- What we can hope to achieve and what we can
- 00:13:43.794 --> 00:13:45.229
- And should achieve is an economy based on
- 00:13:45.229 --> 00:13:47.731
- Trust and based on honesty.
- 00:13:47.731 --> 00:13:49.967
- And by the way, here again, counterintuitively,
- 00:13:49.967 --> 00:13:53.637
- As opposed to what many people believe,
- 00:13:53.637 --> 00:13:55.205
- That if you cheat more, you gain more,
- 00:13:55.205 --> 00:13:56.740
- It's the other way around.
- 00:13:56.740 --> 00:13:57.675
- Actually, if you look at the work
- 00:13:57.675 --> 00:13:58.409
- Of professor joel mokyr,
- 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:00.344
- Who just won the nobel peace prize,
- 00:14:00.344 --> 00:14:01.478
- An israeli economist,
- 00:14:01.478 --> 00:14:02.579
- The single most important variable
- 00:14:02.579 --> 00:14:05.015
- Determining national economic success,
- 00:14:05.015 --> 00:14:08.085
- It's not the gene pool of the population,
- 00:14:08.085 --> 00:14:10.187
- It's not the geography, it's not the climate,
- 00:14:10.187 --> 00:14:12.256
- It's not the skin color, it's the culture.
- 00:14:12.256 --> 00:14:15.125
- Now, to be able to innovate,
- 00:14:15.125 --> 00:14:16.994
- You need to be able to find people you can trust
- 00:14:16.994 --> 00:14:18.996
- And work with and to take risks.
- 00:14:18.996 --> 00:14:20.364
- The root cause for economic success
- 00:14:20.364 --> 00:14:23.033
- And well-being is culture.
- 00:14:23.033 --> 00:14:25.469
- It's the mindset,
- 00:14:25.469 --> 00:14:26.603
- Which is the offspring
- 00:14:26.603 --> 00:14:28.706
- Of religion in the bible.
- 00:14:28.706 --> 00:14:30.574
- It's all built on the presumption
- 00:14:30.574 --> 00:14:32.843
- Of a free market, of free people,
- 00:14:32.843 --> 00:14:34.678
- In a free country.
- 00:14:34.678 --> 00:14:35.579
- A biblically inspired economy
- 00:14:35.579 --> 00:14:37.147
- Is not a fantasy.
- 00:14:37.147 --> 00:14:38.382
- If you wanna go deeper in nehemiah's story
- 00:14:39.283 --> 00:14:42.386
- We're offering free 31-day devotional
- 00:14:42.386 --> 00:14:46.256
- As a companion to this book.
- 00:14:46.256 --> 00:14:48.726
- Visit the link below to download the free devotional.
- 00:14:48.726 --> 00:14:52.563
- And don't forget to get the new book,
- 00:14:52.563 --> 00:14:55.032
- "walking the walls with nehemiah".
- 00:14:55.032 --> 00:14:56.967
- It goes deeper into these powerful lessons
- 00:14:56.967 --> 00:14:59.570
- Of restoration, prayer and perseverance.
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- Order our new book,
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- "walking the walls with nehemiah",
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- Nehemiah had stopped the building of the walls
- 00:15:47.887 --> 00:15:50.890
- As he confronted a crisis.
- 00:15:50.890 --> 00:15:52.825
- Some in israel were acting
- 00:15:52.825 --> 00:15:54.493
- Against the honor of god's name.
- 00:15:54.493 --> 00:15:56.796
- The richer nobles were taking advantage
- 00:15:56.796 --> 00:15:59.298
- Of poor fellow israelites.
- 00:15:59.298 --> 00:16:01.233
- Nehemiah urged them to stop charging interest
- 00:16:01.233 --> 00:16:04.170
- And forgive the debts of the poor.
- 00:16:04.170 --> 00:16:06.505
- And amazingly,
- 00:16:06.505 --> 00:16:07.773
- The nobles made a vow right then
- 00:16:07.773 --> 00:16:10.409
- That they would follow god's command
- 00:16:10.409 --> 00:16:12.411
- And make things right.
- 00:16:12.411 --> 00:16:14.346
- It is so rare for someone to accept correction so easily,
- 00:16:14.346 --> 00:16:18.084
- Especially if it costs them so much.
- 00:16:18.084 --> 00:16:21.387
- But maybe the reason that these nobles
- 00:16:21.387 --> 00:16:23.689
- Were so willing to do what was right
- 00:16:23.689 --> 00:16:25.825
- And forgive the debts
- 00:16:25.825 --> 00:16:27.426
- Was because they saw the example of their leader, nehemiah.
- 00:16:27.426 --> 00:16:31.464
- Remember, nehemiah wasn't just some local
- 00:16:31.464 --> 00:16:34.867
- Self-appointed leader.
- 00:16:34.867 --> 00:16:36.769
- He was a high official
- 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:38.237
- In the persian emperor's palace.
- 00:16:38.237 --> 00:16:40.372
- He had been sent out to jerusalem
- 00:16:40.372 --> 00:16:42.308
- With official commendation.
- 00:16:42.308 --> 00:16:44.243
- He had been appointed governor over judea.
- 00:16:44.243 --> 00:16:47.079
- He had the right to free food,
- 00:16:47.079 --> 00:16:49.081
- Comfortable housing,
- 00:16:49.081 --> 00:16:50.282
- And an allowance paid for by the people.
- 00:16:50.282 --> 00:16:53.452
- But nehemiah had not taken any of this.
- 00:16:53.452 --> 00:16:56.655
- Instead, out of his own pocket,
- 00:16:56.655 --> 00:16:58.991
- He provided food for 150 jewish people
- 00:16:58.991 --> 00:17:02.361
- And even some outsiders.
- 00:17:02.361 --> 00:17:04.363
- When a man like this exhorted the nobles
- 00:17:04.363 --> 00:17:07.099
- That they should follow god's laws
- 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:09.301
- And forgive debts,
- 00:17:09.301 --> 00:17:10.769
- There wasn't an ounce of hypocrisy there.
- 00:17:10.769 --> 00:17:13.272
- Hypocrisy breaks the work.
- 00:17:13.272 --> 00:17:15.307
- Example builds it.
- 00:17:15.307 --> 00:17:17.543
- The nobles were convicted
- 00:17:17.543 --> 00:17:19.578
- Because they knew that their leader
- 00:17:19.578 --> 00:17:21.814
- Didn't just say the right thing.
- 00:17:21.814 --> 00:17:24.416
- He didn't just command the right thing.
- 00:17:24.416 --> 00:17:27.386
- He lived it.
- 00:17:27.386 --> 00:17:28.521
- In the same way,
- 00:17:28.521 --> 00:17:29.655
- Yeshua taught his disciples to pray.
- 00:17:29.655 --> 00:17:32.258
- "forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors."
- 00:17:32.258 --> 00:17:36.896
- Yeshua tells us to forgive sins
- 00:17:36.896 --> 00:17:39.265
- Because through him,
- 00:17:39.265 --> 00:17:40.799
- The father has forgiven our sins.
- 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:43.836
- He doesn't just tell us, he shows us.
- 00:17:43.836 --> 00:17:47.239
- We have a physical human picture
- 00:17:47.239 --> 00:17:49.308
- Of perfect forgiveness on the cross.
- 00:17:49.308 --> 00:17:52.178
- "father, forgive them for they know not
- 00:17:52.178 --> 00:17:54.880
- "what they do."
- 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.617
- Zechariah, he was a nice person.
- 00:17:59.351 --> 00:18:02.054
- He was a decent person.
- 00:18:02.555 --> 00:18:04.423
- He was very smart.
- 00:18:04.423 --> 00:18:05.958
- He was the only christian in the whole of the school.
- 00:18:05.958 --> 00:18:09.295
- And i hated him.
- 00:18:09.662 --> 00:18:11.730
- Because i thought as a muslim,
- 00:18:11.730 --> 00:18:13.299
- I must be better than him.
- 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:15.000
- But he was better than i.
- 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:17.169
- We started to beat him
- 00:18:17.169 --> 00:18:19.271
- Every single day that we came to school.
- 00:18:19.271 --> 00:18:21.840
- And we agreed on that night,
- 00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:24.043
- We need to kill him.
- 00:18:24.043 --> 00:18:25.377
- It was dark.
- 00:18:25.377 --> 00:18:26.879
- It was cold.
- 00:18:27.213 --> 00:18:29.048
- And we went ahead of him.
- 00:18:29.615 --> 00:18:31.517
- And there were five of us.
- 00:18:32.084 --> 00:18:33.485
- We climbed a tree
- 00:18:33.485 --> 00:18:36.055
- And we waited there.
- 00:18:36.055 --> 00:18:37.790
- And from far away,
- 00:18:37.790 --> 00:18:39.925
- We saw that a torch coming.
- 00:18:39.925 --> 00:18:42.962
- And the light became bigger and bigger
- 00:18:42.962 --> 00:18:45.598
- As it approached us.
- 00:18:45.598 --> 00:18:48.100
- And the minute that he just went under the tree,
- 00:18:48.100 --> 00:18:51.937
- We jumped at him.
- 00:18:52.371 --> 00:18:53.872
- He was crying.
- 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.808
- He was screaming.
- 00:18:55.808 --> 00:18:57.176
- He was shouting.
- 00:18:57.543 --> 00:18:58.844
- We broke his arm, we broke his leg.
- 00:18:59.645 --> 00:19:02.715
- He started to bleed.
- 00:19:02.715 --> 00:19:04.116
- And because he started to scream
- 00:19:04.116 --> 00:19:06.352
- And begging for help,
- 00:19:06.352 --> 00:19:07.720
- I put my hand in his mouth,
- 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.323
- So that no noise would come out of him.
- 00:19:11.323 --> 00:19:13.892
- It's similar when you're slaughtering a sheep.
- 00:19:13.892 --> 00:19:16.395
- It's just shivering.
- 00:19:16.395 --> 00:19:18.364
- And the others were beating him.
- 00:19:18.364 --> 00:19:20.833
- I felt very proud.
- 00:19:20.833 --> 00:19:22.501
- You are actually doing something for allah.
- 00:19:22.501 --> 00:19:25.638
- You want to please him.
- 00:19:25.638 --> 00:19:27.640
- And suddenly, he could no longer breathe.
- 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:31.944
- And we could not hear his voice.
- 00:19:31.944 --> 00:19:34.980
- We left him in the wood
- 00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:37.082
- Between life and death.
- 00:19:37.583 --> 00:19:40.286
- We went back.
- 00:19:40.653 --> 00:19:41.887
- You wash yourself,
- 00:19:42.321 --> 00:19:44.823
- And you pray.
- 00:19:45.190 --> 00:19:46.392
- And zechariah never came back.
- 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:50.996
- Never seen him again.
- 00:19:51.497 --> 00:19:54.233
- I was born and raised up
- 00:19:54.833 --> 00:19:57.603
- In a very, very fanatic muslim family.
- 00:19:57.603 --> 00:20:00.706
- When i was a child,
- 00:20:01.173 --> 00:20:02.841
- My father brought me to a quran school.
- 00:20:02.841 --> 00:20:05.811
- I was only eight years old,
- 00:20:05.811 --> 00:20:08.414
- And my father just dropped me there.
- 00:20:08.414 --> 00:20:10.549
- They shaved my head.
- 00:20:11.016 --> 00:20:12.685
- We sat in a circle.
- 00:20:13.152 --> 00:20:15.220
- The sheikh sat in the middle of the circle,
- 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:18.190
- And he has a very long whip.
- 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:19.958
- I was forced to memorize the quran.
- 00:20:19.958 --> 00:20:23.362
- Every mistake that you do,
- 00:20:23.362 --> 00:20:25.497
- This whip will just come right in the middle
- 00:20:25.497 --> 00:20:28.634
- Of your head.
- 00:20:29.001 --> 00:20:30.536
- You're not allowed to cry,
- 00:20:30.536 --> 00:20:32.971
- Because in our culture,
- 00:20:33.472 --> 00:20:34.673
- They tell you men never cry.
- 00:20:34.673 --> 00:20:37.142
- I was crying every single night.
- 00:20:37.142 --> 00:20:40.245
- And they told me,
- 00:20:40.679 --> 00:20:41.680
- You belong to the islamic ummah.
- 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:44.149
- And that's why you fight for it,
- 00:20:44.149 --> 00:20:46.685
- You stay loyal to it.
- 00:20:46.685 --> 00:20:48.487
- I started to hate people,
- 00:20:48.487 --> 00:20:50.189
- To hate everybody who is not a muslim,
- 00:20:50.989 --> 00:20:54.593
- And i especially used to hate the jews.
- 00:20:54.593 --> 00:20:58.030
- So i was preparing myself
- 00:20:58.030 --> 00:20:59.798
- To go and fight for allah in the jihad.
- 00:20:59.798 --> 00:21:04.670
- But every night i went to bed
- 00:21:04.670 --> 00:21:07.573
- And when we put the light off,
- 00:21:07.573 --> 00:21:10.142
- I did not know what would happen with me
- 00:21:10.142 --> 00:21:13.746
- If i die.
- 00:21:14.046 --> 00:21:15.881
- My cousin was severely sick,
- 00:21:16.515 --> 00:21:18.951
- And the doctors, they said he's going to die.
- 00:21:18.951 --> 00:21:21.286
- They gave him only a couple of days.
- 00:21:21.286 --> 00:21:23.956
- And one day came two people,
- 00:21:23.956 --> 00:21:26.625
- They were coptic christians,
- 00:21:26.625 --> 00:21:28.861
- And one of them wanted to greet me,
- 00:21:28.861 --> 00:21:30.996
- And then i saw he had a cross,
- 00:21:30.996 --> 00:21:33.031
- And then i pulled my hand back,
- 00:21:33.031 --> 00:21:34.299
- I said, well,
- 00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:35.367
- I'm not going to touch a hand
- 00:21:35.367 --> 00:21:37.069
- With a cross.
- 00:21:37.069 --> 00:21:38.437
- And then he said to me,
- 00:21:38.437 --> 00:21:39.304
- We hear that this child is sick.
- 00:21:39.304 --> 00:21:41.974
- Who would like to pray for him?
- 00:21:41.974 --> 00:21:43.575
- And only out of politeness,
- 00:21:43.575 --> 00:21:45.344
- I told him, okay.
- 00:21:45.344 --> 00:21:46.445
- And they started to speak to god
- 00:21:46.445 --> 00:21:50.015
- Like a person that he speaks to his friend.
- 00:21:50.015 --> 00:21:52.851
- They said: god, please heal this child.
- 00:21:52.851 --> 00:21:55.954
- The minute that they said amen,
- 00:21:55.954 --> 00:21:58.524
- This child opened his eyes
- 00:21:58.524 --> 00:22:00.893
- For the first time in four weeks.
- 00:22:00.893 --> 00:22:03.762
- He started to move his hands.
- 00:22:03.762 --> 00:22:07.666
- He started to speak.
- 00:22:07.666 --> 00:22:09.435
- He sat down in his bed
- 00:22:09.935 --> 00:22:12.004
- And he started to walk.
- 00:22:12.004 --> 00:22:14.473
- And one of those two persons who prayed
- 00:22:14.473 --> 00:22:18.243
- Sat down with me,
- 00:22:18.677 --> 00:22:20.612
- And he said to me, you know what?
- 00:22:20.612 --> 00:22:22.281
- The real miracle is
- 00:22:22.748 --> 00:22:24.817
- That god wants to change your heart.
- 00:22:25.584 --> 00:22:29.354
- Do you believe that yeshua is alive?
- 00:22:29.354 --> 00:22:32.591
- And i told him, yeah,
- 00:22:33.091 --> 00:22:35.093
- Because according to the islamic tradition,
- 00:22:35.093 --> 00:22:37.830
- God took him to heaven and he's alive
- 00:22:37.830 --> 00:22:40.165
- And he will come back one day.
- 00:22:40.165 --> 00:22:42.267
- And he said to me,
- 00:22:42.267 --> 00:22:43.335
- Because he's alive,
- 00:22:43.335 --> 00:22:45.504
- You can speak to him.
- 00:22:45.504 --> 00:22:46.972
- That changed my entire life.
- 00:22:46.972 --> 00:22:49.741
- And when i started to read the scripture,
- 00:22:49.741 --> 00:22:51.677
- Nobody needed to convince me
- 00:22:51.677 --> 00:22:54.079
- To love the jewish people.
- 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:56.048
- The only way
- 00:22:56.048 --> 00:22:57.783
- For muslims to start to love the jews
- 00:22:58.550 --> 00:23:02.387
- Is when they meet yeshua.
- 00:23:02.955 --> 00:23:06.158
- I loved my family,
- 00:23:06.592 --> 00:23:07.826
- I loved my father,
- 00:23:07.826 --> 00:23:09.161
- I loved my mother and i loved my community.
- 00:23:10.095 --> 00:23:13.799
- And when i decided to follow yeshua,
- 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:16.568
- My grandfather and my father said to me:
- 00:23:17.402 --> 00:23:21.073
- "you are no longer one of us."
- 00:23:21.073 --> 00:23:23.075
- They made a funeral.
- 00:23:23.542 --> 00:23:25.577
- They invited friends and family.
- 00:23:25.577 --> 00:23:28.580
- They brought a coffin to the cemetery.
- 00:23:28.580 --> 00:23:31.617
- And they said: "our son is dead."
- 00:23:31.617 --> 00:23:34.786
- To be declared dead with no family.
- 00:23:34.786 --> 00:23:39.191
- I said to god: where are you?
- 00:23:39.191 --> 00:23:42.160
- I heard his voice,
- 00:23:42.594 --> 00:23:44.229
- And this voice told me:
- 00:23:44.730 --> 00:23:47.065
- You know that the grave where your name is written,
- 00:23:47.065 --> 00:23:51.737
- You know that the grave is empty.
- 00:23:51.737 --> 00:23:53.972
- And guess what?
- 00:23:54.339 --> 00:23:55.841
- My grave is also empty.
- 00:23:56.341 --> 00:24:00.279
- I went to egypt
- 00:24:00.646 --> 00:24:02.147
- For the first time after many years.
- 00:24:02.147 --> 00:24:04.249
- And i was in a pastoral conference.
- 00:24:04.249 --> 00:24:06.985
- And one of the sudanese pastors
- 00:24:06.985 --> 00:24:08.520
- Came to me,
- 00:24:08.520 --> 00:24:09.755
- He was an elderly man, gray hair,
- 00:24:09.755 --> 00:24:12.691
- He started to speak to me and he asked me:
- 00:24:12.691 --> 00:24:14.826
- "where did you come from?"
- 00:24:14.826 --> 00:24:16.395
- I told him my story.
- 00:24:16.395 --> 00:24:18.030
- He started to cry.
- 00:24:18.030 --> 00:24:19.698
- And then i asked him: "why are you crying?"
- 00:24:20.632 --> 00:24:23.235
- And he said to me:
- 00:24:23.669 --> 00:24:25.037
- "do you remember me?
- 00:24:25.037 --> 00:24:26.972
- "my name is zechariah."
- 00:24:26.972 --> 00:24:30.976
- And suddenly, i remembered him.
- 00:24:31.710 --> 00:24:36.615
- The last time i saw him, it was in that dark night.
- 00:24:37.616 --> 00:24:40.852
- I could hear suddenly
- 00:24:41.353 --> 00:24:43.722
- The way that he was screaming,
- 00:24:44.356 --> 00:24:46.191
- Even though that was 25 years.
- 00:24:46.191 --> 00:24:49.394
- Suddenly, i started to see his broken arm
- 00:24:50.295 --> 00:24:54.166
- And broken legs.
- 00:24:54.166 --> 00:24:56.335
- I started to see the scars
- 00:24:56.902 --> 00:24:59.504
- Which i caused him.
- 00:24:59.504 --> 00:25:02.541
- I started to be full of shame.
- 00:25:03.175 --> 00:25:06.445
- I was a bad person, yeah.
- 00:25:07.012 --> 00:25:09.481
- I was terrible.
- 00:25:09.481 --> 00:25:10.949
- So zechariah looked me
- 00:25:11.483 --> 00:25:13.585
- Straight into the eye again and he said to me:
- 00:25:13.585 --> 00:25:15.587
- "yasser, because you hated me so much,
- 00:25:15.587 --> 00:25:21.526
- "i was always praying for you."
- 00:25:22.260 --> 00:25:24.663
- He opened his bible
- 00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:26.999
- And the minute he opened his bible,
- 00:25:26.999 --> 00:25:29.701
- I saw that my name was written in the first page.
- 00:25:29.701 --> 00:25:36.575
- I hated him.
- 00:25:36.908 --> 00:25:38.210
- He prayed for me.
- 00:25:38.644 --> 00:25:41.246
- On that day, god confronted me.
- 00:25:41.947 --> 00:25:45.717
- He said to me,
- 00:25:46.084 --> 00:25:47.319
- Even before you started to think about me,
- 00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:50.889
- I was thinking about you.
- 00:25:51.456 --> 00:25:54.159
- To love those who hate you,
- 00:25:54.159 --> 00:25:57.262
- You need someone whose name is yeshua.
- 00:25:57.262 --> 00:26:06.638
- Let's be like nehemiah,
- 00:26:07.139 --> 00:26:09.474
- Lead by example.
- 00:26:09.474 --> 00:26:11.176
- Let our name be known for generosity, stewardship,
- 00:26:11.176 --> 00:26:14.813
- Forgiveness, and right living.
- 00:26:14.813 --> 00:26:17.616
- In caring for those
- 00:26:17.616 --> 00:26:19.017
- Who are vulnerable and forgotten.
- 00:26:19.017 --> 00:26:20.952
- You can't claim god's vision
- 00:26:20.952 --> 00:26:23.255
- While denying god's character.
- 00:26:23.255 --> 00:26:25.957
- As yeshua said:
- 00:26:25.957 --> 00:26:27.659
- The world will know you as my disciples,
- 00:26:27.659 --> 00:26:30.696
- Not by your big buildings or successful organizations,
- 00:26:30.696 --> 00:26:34.566
- But by your love for one another.
- 00:26:34.566 --> 00:26:37.469
- Even if you're not a leader,
- 00:26:37.469 --> 00:26:39.371
- You have influence on someone in your life.
- 00:26:39.371 --> 00:26:42.441
- Lead by building god's kingdom, god's way.
- 00:26:42.441 --> 00:26:47.245
- Proverbs 22:1 says:
- 00:26:47.245 --> 00:26:58.523
- As nehemiah and the people
- 00:26:59.157 --> 00:27:00.926
- Raced to finish the wall,
- 00:27:00.926 --> 00:27:02.728
- The enemy put up increasing threats and obstacles
- 00:27:02.728 --> 00:27:06.131
- To hinder its completion.
- 00:27:06.131 --> 00:27:07.766
- Next time, we'll see how nehemiah's
- 00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:10.836
- Convictions and values
- 00:27:10.836 --> 00:27:12.804
- Defined how he met those challenges
- 00:27:12.804 --> 00:27:15.340
- And finished the work.
- 00:27:15.340 --> 00:27:17.375
- What are your values?
- 00:27:17.375 --> 00:27:19.344
- Let's dive deeper on the next episode
- 00:27:19.344 --> 00:27:21.880
- As we walk the walls with nehemiah.
- 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:21.880
