Israel: The Prophetic Connection

John Tweedie - Jerusalem: The Holy City

April 1, 2026 | 27:31

Dr. John Tweedie hosts a biblically prophetic exploration of Israel, past, present and future.

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Israel: The Prophetic Connection | John Tweedie - Jerusalem: The Holy City | April 1, 2026

You know, in the
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21st century, people all over the world
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Still refer to jerusalem as the holy city.
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But why?
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I filmed all over this city.
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And i can tell you that while it sits on many hills,
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It has no majestic tall mountains.
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There are no fast flowing rivers
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Except the rainy season,
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And there are no really lush green valleys,
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Because basically, jerusalem was built on the desert
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And it's surrounded by the desert.
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And yet, people today still refer to this city
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As the holy city. why?
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I'll explain.
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In this episode of the prophetic connection.
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Soft music
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We know from the bible that king david chose to jerusalem
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As the capital city of israel 3000 years ago.
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So there are frequent mentions of jerusalem
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In the book of psalms written about 3000 years ago.
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And we know from other scriptures
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And throughout the bible, in fact, that god chose
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Jerusalem as his city, as his dwelling place on earth.
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So we're not surprised, then, to find all of these references
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To jerusalem when we read in, for
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Example, in psalm 102 verse 12,
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But your lord shall endure forever,
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And the remembrance of your name to all generations,
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You will arise and have mercy on zion.
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Zion is a synonym for jerusalem, but also for israel.
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But i think in this context it's referring to the holy city
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For the time to favor her.
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Yes, the time has come, for your servants
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Take pleasure in her stones and show favor to her dust.
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And then in another psalm, in psalm 132, verse
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13, for the lord has chosen zion.
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He has desired it for his dwelling place.
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This is my resting place forever.
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Here i will dwell, for i have desired it.
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Supposedly this is the lord speaking through the psalmist
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Of how much jerusalem means to him.
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And so we call it the holy city, because god chose this city
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For his dwelling place on earth.
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He who.
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God used israel's journey through time and circumstance
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To spread his light
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And influence across the continents to all nations.
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But the descendants
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Of abraham paid a heavy price in the process
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During the centuries of their long exile and dispersion.
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They had to endure horrific suffering and hardship,
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Culminating in a brutal holocaust.
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But now, some nearly 2000 years after their exile began,
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They have overcome their darkest of nights
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In a seemingly miraculous way and found their way home
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To the promised land.
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Yet their struggle to be light continues as before.
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And today, the battle rages over the holy city itself,
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As two peoples, the jews and the palestinians, are locked
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In a never ending conflict with no clear end in sight.
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This city, the prophet said, would be a shining light
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To the nations, continues to be torn apart by conflict
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And the contradictory beliefs and aims of two different people
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Groups, each claiming to be the rightful heirs of abraham.
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So i believe the primary reason we refer to jerusalem
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As the holy city is that god chose it as his dwelling place.
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But there are other reasons, and that is that jerusalem is
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Sacred to the three primary monotheistic religions.
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That is, religions that believe in one creator god.
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The jews, the christians, the muslims.
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This also helps to explain why there is a never
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Ending struggle over jerusalem.
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People in the 21st century are fighting over the city's
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Status and their right to the city and its sovereignty.
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But it's a struggle
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That has been going on for nearly 4000 years.
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And we can trace the origins of this struggle back to the man
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Abraham and his two sons, ishmael and isaac.
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Now, i won't take the time to read all of the scriptures.
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What we understand from the book of genesis
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That abraham had a son by hagar.
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Sarah, his wife's egyptian handmaiden.
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Sarah was well past the age of childbearing,
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But she wanted to give abraham an heir.
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And so she used hagar, her handmaiden,
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To bear abraham, a son.
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The boy's name was ishmael.
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He was the firstborn.
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But god is in abraham's story.
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And so we read in genesis
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In chapter 17 and verse 15,
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Then god said to abraham, as for sarah, your wife,
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You shall not call her name sarah, but sarah shall be her
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Name, and i will bless her, and also give you a son by her.
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Then i will bless her, and she shall be a mother
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Of nations.
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Kings of people shall come from her.
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Then abraham fell on his face,
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And laughed, and said, in his heart
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Shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old.
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And shall sarah, who is 90 years old,
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Bear a child?
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And abraham said to god,
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Oh, that ishmael might live before you.
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It was a natural thing for him to say,
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Because he only had one son, and the son's name was ishmael
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By hagar the egyptian.
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Then god said, no,
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Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son,
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And you shall call his name isaac.
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Ironically, isaac means laughter.
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And so this is god's way of saying to abraham,
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You shouldn't have laughed.
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And so he names this new son.
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Isaac,
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I will establish my covenant
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With him for an everlasting covenant,
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And with his descendants after him.
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So these are the jewish people today.
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They can trace their lineage all the way back to isaac
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And to abraham.
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But then in verse 20 of genesis 17.
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And as for ishmael, i have heard you.
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Behold, i have blessed him, and will make him
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Fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly.
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He shall beget 12 princes, and i will make him a great nation.
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And then we have a but
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But my covenant i will establish with isaac,
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Whom sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.
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Then he finished talking with him.
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God finished
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Talking with abraham, and god went up from abraham.
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The irony in this story is that god named
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Isaac months before he was born.
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And you can see from this that this was god's plan
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All the time.
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But now we have two sons, and in a general oil,
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The jewish people can trace their lineage back to isaac.
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And in this general sense, people today
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Speak of the arabian nations as the descendants of ishmael.
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Now, to be sure, over nearly 4000 years ago,
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Those descendants would have intermarried.
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And who knows who can properly identify today
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The sons of ishmael.
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But in a general sense,
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In the middle east, in that region, it's believed
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That the arabic nations are the descendants of ishmael.
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So this helps to explain the ongoing strife and struggle,
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The fight for the right to sovereignty over jerusalem.
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And it continues today, as before,
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Through all the centuries and now into the 21st
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Century. who?
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Who? abraham's descendants
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Have been locked in a centuries old fight to be light.
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Ever since god first spoke to their ancestral forefather
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And made promises to him concerning the land,
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The nation, and the blessings
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That would eventually flow from them to all nations.
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And nowhere else is this conflict more apparent
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Than in jerusalem.
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The jewish temple once stood prominently here,
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At the very epicenter of jewish life and torah practice, until
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It was completely destroyed by the romans in 70 a.d..
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This triggered a jewish diaspora that lasted nearly 2000 years.
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Then, with the rise of islam in the seventh century a.d.
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And the subsequent conquest of the holy land
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By the muslim armies,
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It wasn't long before the islamic builders
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Were erecting symbols
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Of their own on the site where the temple once stood.
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This was islam's way of saying, we have come.
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We have conquered and we are here to stay.
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Today, two mosques continue to occupy this
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Sacred site known as the temple mount.
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They have been here since the seventh century.
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The irony is that islam's roots are not in israel,
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But in saudi arabia,
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Where the prophet muhammad, islam's founder, was born.
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Jewish roots, on the other hand, are firmly embedded deep in
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The soil of the holy land.
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All of this calls into question who can rightfully claim
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A birthright, an inheritance in the promised land?
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To whom?
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To the almighty god promised this land.
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The answer to this question has been echoed down
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Through the centuries on the lips of jews
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Who have not forgotten god's promises to their forefather.
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Abraham.
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The ultimate tragedy.
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Of our conflict
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With the arab and palestinian neighbors.
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And which has.
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Perpetrated.
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Generated
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War and terrorism
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For well over 60 years.
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Is the fact
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That our neighbors
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Consider me
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Sitting here in jerusalem
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To be a myth?
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That there never was
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A jewish people in jerusalem.
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There never was a temple in jerusalem.
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There never was a king david
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In jerusalem.
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And hence.
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We are here as strangers.
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We are his occupiers.
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We are his colonialists.
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This is what they have indoctrinated their people.
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The youngsters now
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4 or 5 generations of this indoctrination.
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One of the great problems that we face in israel is that the
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Palestinians have adopted.
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And in an islamic interpretation,
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Which says that israel has to be destroyed
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For allah, israel has to be destroyed for islam.
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This is a basic, basic message of the hamas
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That hamas has it in their charter.
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They've said it many, many times on television that,
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That israel is on land that's holy waqf, holy islamic land.
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And islam demands the destruction of israel.
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But we'll see. how come?
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Were you able to free up no room?
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How dare you call you who will die young?
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What else? so we won't need you. and i know what you are.
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There are.
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Other.
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Beneath the extravagant dome of the rock
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Is a large slab of rock.
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According to jewish tradition, it was upon this very rock
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That god asked abraham to sacrifice isaac.
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The bible, however, tells us that god,
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Having given abraham this unusual test of obedience,
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Then intervened and provided a substitute
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Sacrifice in the form of a ram in time.
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According to the biblical account.
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This sacred site also became god's
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Preferred location for israel's holy temple.
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What became, over time,
00:13:49.431 --> 00:13:50.699
The symbolic heart of israel's relationship with god.
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In recent years,
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The followers of islam have offered a different account
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Of the history of this sacred site.
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And who?
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Now you can hear cuts like this.
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If you
00:14:06.749 --> 00:14:09.451
You did know a story.
00:14:09.451 --> 00:14:11.520
But while the muslim tradition argues that there never was
00:14:11.520 --> 00:14:15.090
A jewish temple on this site.
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Muslims also claim that it wasn't isaac
00:14:16.926 --> 00:14:19.295
Who was about to be sacrificed, but ishmael, isaac's older
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Brother and abraham's firstborn son by hagar,
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The egyptian servant of his wife sarah.
00:14:26.402 --> 00:14:28.938
What is curious about this ongoing debate
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Is that in the koran,
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There is not a single mention of jerusalem.
00:14:34.109 --> 00:14:37.146
The jewish to knock, on the other hand,
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Or old testament
00:14:39.882 --> 00:14:41.116
As it is called in the tradition of christianity,
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Has literally hundreds of references to jerusalem, many
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Making specific mention of the temple
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And the sacred ground on which it stood.
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The palestinians, amongst their own people in arabic,
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Make it very clear
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That the goal is to have a middle east
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Without without israel in it.
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Every map that they produce
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Has palestine, but doesn't have israel.
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In the educational programing on television.
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That's the way they anticipate the world.
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There was a video clip that ran for a couple of years,
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Through 2009, on palestinian television, which opens
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With the words we will liberate the land of religions.
00:15:22.124 --> 00:15:25.494
And at the end of this clip,
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They sing about the cities that they're going to liberate.
00:15:28.097 --> 00:15:31.333
And which are those cities?
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It's haifa and it's jaffa.
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And, it's the galil.
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It's all of israel.
00:15:37.439 --> 00:15:38.941
And this is being done by the so-called moderate palestinians.
00:15:38.941 --> 00:15:42.044
This is being done and mahmoud abbas is television.
00:15:42.044 --> 00:15:44.213
The television, the people who israel
00:15:44.213 --> 00:15:46.315
Is supposed to reach an agreement with.
00:15:46.315 --> 00:15:48.050
So we're having is there are two languages
00:15:48.050 --> 00:15:51.553
To the western world to, to europeans, to americans.
00:15:51.553 --> 00:15:56.358
The palestinians are talking about living in peace
00:15:56.358 --> 00:15:58.394
With israel, to their own people.
00:15:58.394 --> 00:16:00.362
They are presenting, peace treaty with israel
00:16:00.362 --> 00:16:03.198
As a temporary stage to shrink israel size, to weaken israel,
00:16:03.198 --> 00:16:09.204
And then eventually destroy israel.
00:16:09.204 --> 00:16:12.408
While it is generally accepted that the jews
00:16:12.408 --> 00:16:14.510
Are the descendants of isaac.
00:16:14.510 --> 00:16:16.578
There is much debate
00:16:16.578 --> 00:16:17.713
Concerning the true descendants of ishmael.
00:16:17.713 --> 00:16:20.883
The commonly held belief is that ishmael's descendants
00:16:20.883 --> 00:16:23.719
Are the peoples of the arabian nations.
00:16:23.719 --> 00:16:25.854
However, after four millennia of migration, intermarriage
00:16:25.854 --> 00:16:29.825
And assimilation.
00:16:29.825 --> 00:16:31.360
Any attempt to accurately identify
00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.762
The true descendants of ishmael seems impossible.
00:16:33.762 --> 00:16:37.066
This has not stopped palestinians in particular
00:16:37.066 --> 00:16:39.501
Or the adherents
00:16:39.501 --> 00:16:40.769
Of islam in general, from laying competing claims to jerusalem
00:16:40.769 --> 00:16:44.273
And the entire holy land as their rightful inheritance.
00:16:44.273 --> 00:16:56.151
For all the struggles over jerusalem down
00:16:57.052 --> 00:16:59.354
Through the centuries, there's an irony in the name jerusalem.
00:16:59.354 --> 00:17:04.359
It means peace.
00:17:04.726 --> 00:17:07.029
And in the hebrew, it's jerusalem,
00:17:07.029 --> 00:17:09.798
Which is a plural word which is interesting
00:17:09.798 --> 00:17:12.935
Because there is only one jerusalem.
00:17:12.935 --> 00:17:15.771
Unless you read the bible and understand
00:17:15.771 --> 00:17:19.108
At the end of the bible in the book of revelation,
00:17:19.108 --> 00:17:21.610
That a new jerusalem is coming down from heaven one day.
00:17:21.610 --> 00:17:25.881
And so that's one way
00:17:26.381 --> 00:17:27.749
Of thinking, this irony, that in the hebrew
00:17:27.749 --> 00:17:31.053
It means to jerusalem's.
00:17:31.587 --> 00:17:34.790
It's curious.
00:17:34.790 --> 00:17:36.225
But when tourists go to israel, they learn certain phrases,
00:17:36.225 --> 00:17:40.162
But they learn one word in particular.
00:17:40.162 --> 00:17:42.898
And the word is shalom.
00:17:42.898 --> 00:17:45.801
It means peace.
00:17:45.801 --> 00:17:46.768
It's the name of the city
00:17:46.768 --> 00:17:48.637
They're visiting when they're in jerusalem.
00:17:48.637 --> 00:17:51.974
It also means hello. goodbye.
00:17:51.974 --> 00:17:54.710
Blessings.
00:17:55.010 --> 00:17:56.245
All these things are wrapped up in this word, shalom,
00:17:56.245 --> 00:18:00.115
Which is part of the name of jerusalem.
00:18:00.115 --> 00:18:03.452
The great irony in all of this is jerusalem means peace.
00:18:03.452 --> 00:18:08.190
But this city has rarely known
00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:11.093
Lasting peace.
00:18:11.093 --> 00:18:21.470
Virtually lost in the ongoing debate
00:18:22.271 --> 00:18:24.273
About national rights to the land of israel
00:18:24.273 --> 00:18:26.942
Is that god chose and purpose to bless the descendants
00:18:26.942 --> 00:18:29.978
Of abraham through isaac in unique ways.
00:18:29.978 --> 00:18:33.815
God said his covenants were to be made with them,
00:18:33.815 --> 00:18:36.285
Including the covenant of the land.
00:18:36.285 --> 00:18:38.387
And god said to abraham,
00:18:38.387 --> 00:18:41.156
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant
00:18:41.156 --> 00:18:44.493
Between me and you and your descendants after you,
00:18:44.493 --> 00:18:47.729
For the generations to come to be your god
00:18:47.729 --> 00:18:51.066
And the god of your descendants after you.
00:18:51.066 --> 00:18:53.502
The whole land of canaan, where you are now an alien.
00:18:53.502 --> 00:18:56.471
I will give as an everlasting
00:18:56.471 --> 00:18:58.373
Possession to you and your descendants.
00:18:58.373 --> 00:19:00.375
After you and i will be their god.
00:19:00.375 --> 00:19:02.644
Then god said, yes, but your wife sarah
00:19:02.644 --> 00:19:05.514
Will bear you a son, and you will call him isaac.
00:19:05.514 --> 00:19:08.650
I will establish my covenant with him
00:19:08.650 --> 00:19:10.752
As an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
00:19:10.752 --> 00:19:14.156
And as for ishmael, i have heard you.
00:19:14.156 --> 00:19:17.392
I will surely bless him.
00:19:17.392 --> 00:19:19.328
I will make him fruitful,
00:19:19.328 --> 00:19:20.829
And will greatly increase his numbers.
00:19:20.829 --> 00:19:23.265
He will be the father of 12 rulers,
00:19:23.265 --> 00:19:25.934
And i will make him into a great nation.
00:19:25.934 --> 00:19:28.770
But my covenant i will establish with isaac,
00:19:28.770 --> 00:19:31.740
Whom sarah will bear to you by this time next year.
00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:35.143
Bible is a document about real estate.
00:19:35.944 --> 00:19:38.680
Yes. land. land is important.
00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:41.183
You can't open up a page,
00:19:41.183 --> 00:19:42.351
Certainly, of the hebrew bible, without encountering land.
00:19:42.351 --> 00:19:45.587
You keep the covenant in order to inherit the land,
00:19:45.587 --> 00:19:48.190
The land of israel.
00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:49.191
This is the land
00:19:49.191 --> 00:19:50.292
God promised to the jewish people in perpetuity.
00:19:50.292 --> 00:19:53.729
And it talks
00:19:54.062 --> 00:19:55.197
About the borders of that land and its vast dimensions,
00:19:55.197 --> 00:19:58.133
And that this is to be their homeland.
00:19:58.133 --> 00:20:00.435
The jews are the indigenous people within this land,
00:20:00.435 --> 00:20:03.272
And it is to be theirs.
00:20:03.272 --> 00:20:04.740
There is but one people
00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:07.442
And the whole of the middle east
00:20:07.442 --> 00:20:10.045
That speaks the same language
00:20:10.045 --> 00:20:12.648
Till the same soil
00:20:12.648 --> 00:20:15.317
Practices the same faith and bears
00:20:15.317 --> 00:20:18.787
The same name as its forefathers.
00:20:18.787 --> 00:20:22.591
Thousands of years ago.
00:20:22.591 --> 00:20:24.993
That is, the people of israel.
00:20:24.993 --> 00:20:29.798
And until this is acknowledged
00:20:30.399 --> 00:20:34.536
That israel is the nation state,
00:20:35.170 --> 00:20:37.572
The historic nation state of the jewish people.
00:20:37.572 --> 00:20:42.110
Then peace.
00:20:42.444 --> 00:20:45.981
As this is understood, the word peace.
00:20:46.748 --> 00:20:49.851
Peace is a relationship on the frontier
00:20:49.851 --> 00:20:52.587
Between the united states and canada.
00:20:52.587 --> 00:20:54.356
That's peace.
00:20:54.356 --> 00:20:57.192
Until that is acknowledged by our neighbors,
00:20:57.192 --> 00:21:00.495
We will never know your peace.
00:21:00.495 --> 00:21:14.142
The people
00:21:14.443 --> 00:21:15.410
Of israel face significant challenges every day
00:21:15.410 --> 00:21:18.347
Due to the ongoing threat of war and random terror attacks.
00:21:18.347 --> 00:21:21.483
Resources are often redirected to the military
00:21:21.483 --> 00:21:24.319
Instead of helping the most
00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:25.554
Vulnerable children at risk and the elderly.
00:21:25.554 --> 00:21:28.557
Many children
00:21:28.557 --> 00:21:29.758
Go to bed hungry each night and 1 in 3 lives in poverty.
00:21:29.758 --> 00:21:33.028
But you can make a difference.
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Your monthly support demonstrates
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That you genuinely care for those in need,
00:21:36.565 --> 00:21:38.967
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We'll send you
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The enlightening dvd series israel's fight to be light.
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This 13 episode series shows why israel is in a constant
00:21:46.308 --> 00:21:50.212
Struggle for survival,
00:21:50.212 --> 00:21:51.646
But also explains how god has guaranteed israel's
00:21:51.646 --> 00:21:54.349
Future against all odds.
00:21:54.349 --> 00:21:56.385
Join us in making a positive difference.
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Call 1-888-206-1986 or donate online at c4i.
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Stand with us for the people of israel
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So they will know they are not completely isolated
00:22:09.231 --> 00:22:11.600
And alone in these trying times.
00:22:11.600 --> 00:22:29.651
The reality is that
00:22:30.118 --> 00:22:31.319
The people of israel live in a very hostile neighborhood,
00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.923
Where they are surrounded by enemies
00:22:34.923 --> 00:22:36.625
Seeking their destruction, enemies who stated goal
00:22:36.625 --> 00:22:40.061
Is to wipe them off the map to extinguish their life.
00:22:40.061 --> 00:22:43.865
But this has not stopped the longing in jewish hearts
00:22:43.865 --> 00:22:46.368
To find acceptance among the nations,
00:22:46.368 --> 00:22:48.603
To be appreciated for who they are and for what
00:22:48.603 --> 00:22:51.807
They have contributed to the well-being of all humanity.
00:22:51.807 --> 00:22:55.110
That's one of our problems with our current conflict,
00:22:55.110 --> 00:22:58.713
Is we're embraced in this conflict.
00:22:58.713 --> 00:23:00.582
People who want to choose death,
00:23:00.582 --> 00:23:02.284
Who seem to have a modern day version
00:23:02.284 --> 00:23:05.620
Of the old cult of moloch in this part of the world.
00:23:05.620 --> 00:23:08.423
There was through a lot of horrible,
00:23:08.423 --> 00:23:10.258
Idolatrous cults before the jews came into the land.
00:23:10.258 --> 00:23:14.496
You know, many thousands of years ago,
00:23:14.496 --> 00:23:16.731
Probably one of the worst
00:23:16.731 --> 00:23:17.799
With this cult of moloch, where you used to throw
00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:19.835
Your children into the fire.
00:23:19.835 --> 00:23:21.636
It was a, you know, you would not only sacrifice
00:23:21.636 --> 00:23:24.606
Humans, but your children and horrible things.
00:23:24.606 --> 00:23:28.844
And it seems as though that's
00:23:28.844 --> 00:23:30.178
What many of our enemies are about
00:23:30.178 --> 00:23:32.247
Today, are about sacrificing their children
00:23:32.247 --> 00:23:34.316
And bringing them up to be suicide bombers.
00:23:34.316 --> 00:23:50.131
As i mentioned
00:23:50.465 --> 00:23:51.466
Earlier in this segment, jerusalem means peace.
00:23:51.466 --> 00:23:55.270
And yet the long history of this holy city has been
00:23:55.270 --> 00:23:58.306
One of turbulence.
00:23:58.306 --> 00:23:59.808
Strife, sadly.
00:23:59.808 --> 00:24:02.143
Terrorist attacks, bus bombings and the like.
00:24:02.143 --> 00:24:06.014
And more recently, on october
00:24:06.648 --> 00:24:08.850
7th, 2023,
00:24:08.850 --> 00:24:12.153
When terrorists crossed the border from gaza into israel.
00:24:12.153 --> 00:24:15.524
Jerusalem itself was under attack
00:24:15.524 --> 00:24:18.560
And there were missiles flying over
00:24:18.560 --> 00:24:20.228
Or landing on jerusalem or on the holy city.
00:24:20.228 --> 00:24:24.733
The struggle, in other words, continues
00:24:24.733 --> 00:24:28.236
As before.
00:24:28.537 --> 00:24:34.843
We all have friends here
00:24:35.377 --> 00:24:37.012
Who've lost children or parents or siblings in terror.
00:24:37.012 --> 00:24:41.249
I mean, you walked down these streets
00:24:41.249 --> 00:24:43.251
And, you know, you see, this is where a bomb went off,
00:24:43.251 --> 00:24:46.187
Or this is where a, a bus was blown up or,
00:24:46.187 --> 00:24:49.257
You know, next door is where, you know, the,
00:24:49.257 --> 00:24:52.360
A young son was a commander, was killed leading his troops.
00:24:52.360 --> 00:24:55.997
But this is part of our lives and doesn't stop us.
00:24:55.997 --> 00:25:00.201
We don't sit in.
00:25:00.201 --> 00:25:01.536
And, you know,
00:25:01.536 --> 00:25:02.237
We mourn when we're supposed
00:25:02.237 --> 00:25:03.271
To mourn their sad days in the year.
00:25:03.271 --> 00:25:05.574
But we go on
00:25:05.574 --> 00:25:08.376
With suffering
00:25:08.710 --> 00:25:09.844
So much a part of jewish present and past experiences.
00:25:09.844 --> 00:25:13.014
One wonders
00:25:13.348 --> 00:25:14.549
How jewish people can remain optimistic about the future,
00:25:14.549 --> 00:25:17.285
Given all they have been through over many centuries.
00:25:18.353 --> 00:25:21.456
It is as if they have a god given resilience
00:25:21.456 --> 00:25:24.426
That allows them to overcome
00:25:24.426 --> 00:25:26.127
Any and all obstacles that stand in the way of their destiny
00:25:26.127 --> 00:25:30.031
As carriers of god's light to the nations. you.
00:25:30.031 --> 00:25:42.811
Will.
00:25:43.044 --> 00:25:44.312
As we've shown in this episode, the struggle over the holy city
00:25:44.312 --> 00:25:47.282
Continues as before.
00:25:47.282 --> 00:25:49.584
And as i conclude this episode, i really wish i could say
00:25:49.584 --> 00:25:53.088
These struggles are behind jerusalem.
00:25:53.088 --> 00:25:56.391
But sadly, in truth, they are really a fulfillment
00:25:56.391 --> 00:25:59.628
Of prophecy.
00:25:59.628 --> 00:26:00.929
Listen to the words of zechariah.
00:26:00.929 --> 00:26:03.732
Read in the old testament period a prophetic word.
00:26:03.732 --> 00:26:07.235
Zechariah 12 verse two.
00:26:07.736 --> 00:26:09.904
Behold, i will make jerusalem a cup of drunkenness
00:26:09.904 --> 00:26:12.741
To all the surrounding peoples.
00:26:12.741 --> 00:26:14.843
When they lay siege against judah and jerusalem.
00:26:14.843 --> 00:26:19.014
And it shall happen in that day, that i will make jerusalem
00:26:19.014 --> 00:26:22.150
A very heavy stone for all peoples.
00:26:22.917 --> 00:26:25.820
All who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces.
00:26:25.820 --> 00:26:29.958
They will.
00:26:29.958 --> 00:26:31.026
All nations of the earth are gathered against it.
00:26:31.026 --> 00:26:33.795
Now that's happened many times in history,
00:26:33.795 --> 00:26:35.997
But in the broader
00:26:35.997 --> 00:26:37.065
Context of zechariah 12 and zechariah chapter 14,
00:26:37.065 --> 00:26:40.802
We see that this is referring to a future event
00:26:40.802 --> 00:26:43.938
That hasn't happened
00:26:43.938 --> 00:26:45.006
Even as i stand here today recording this episode.
00:26:45.006 --> 00:26:49.477
Jerusalem's struggles also lie ahead.
00:26:49.477 --> 00:26:52.947
But i can tell you this
00:26:52.947 --> 00:26:54.816
That there is the promise of peace at last when,
00:26:54.816 --> 00:26:58.687
According to the bible, the prince of peace,
00:26:58.687 --> 00:27:01.690
The king of kings and lord of lords,
00:27:01.690 --> 00:27:03.391
Jesus of nazareth, returns to jerusalem in triumph.
00:27:03.391 --> 00:27:07.862
And palm sunday he said to the crowds,
00:27:08.697 --> 00:27:11.399
You will not see me again until you say,
00:27:11.399 --> 00:27:14.436
Khabar shem adonai.
00:27:14.903 --> 00:27:17.839
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord.
00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:22.210
So we look forward to that day
00:27:22.210 --> 00:27:24.979
When the prince of peace returns to jerusalem.
00:27:24.979 --> 00:27:28.083
Then jerusalem will know peace.
00:27:28.717 --> 00:27:28.717

John Tweedie - Jerusalem: The Holy City

April 1, 2026 | 27:31

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