Thunder in the Holy Land

The Inheritance

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Charles Byrd (Host), Andrea Endries, Levi Longoria, Stephen Fowler

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Series Code: THL

Program Code: THL000026


00:05 Thanks to NASA we definitely can take in the big picture.
00:09 And from space we all look united,
00:13 but get a little closer and we get a different picture.
00:17 We have divided ourselves into
00:19 many different ideologies and faith communities.
00:23 Those who take the name of the Christ
00:25 as there moniker comprise the largest group,
00:28 if taken as a whole.
00:30 But the group I want us to consider for a moment
00:32 is that little red sliver just to the left of Christians.
00:37 This group accounts for not even one half of one percent
00:41 of the earth's population, just a mere 0.3%.
00:47 This little red wedge represents the Jews.
00:52 At less than 13.5 million people worldwide.
00:56 It wouldn't seem possible for them
00:58 to have a started their own nation.
01:00 But this is just one amazing statistic among many.
01:05 While just under 6 million live in Israel
01:08 comprising 75% of the population,
01:11 over 6 ½ million live in the United States.
01:16 The Jews in the U.S.
01:18 only account for 2% of the population.
01:21 But they comprise almost half of all
01:24 its billionaires and money still talks.
01:29 It is reported that the chief executive officers
01:32 of the three major television networks
01:34 and the four largest films studios are Jews.
01:38 As are the owners of the nation largest news paper chain
01:41 and the most influential single news paper,
01:44 The New York Times.
01:46 The role and influence of the Jews
01:48 in American politics is equally marked.
01:52 The single biggest donor to American politicians
01:56 is Israeli billionaires and media mughal Haim Saban.
02:01 Why do I share this information,
02:03 because in the world of nation building
02:05 many Protestants believe that the establishment of Israel
02:09 as a nation is a direct fulfillment of prophecy?
02:13 While I be the first to affirm
02:15 that God certainly allowed this to transpire,
02:18 I have yet to see a prophecy in Scripture
02:21 that calls for the present day restoration of an Israel
02:25 that is overwhelming secular and resistant to the truth.
02:30 In Christ's day the Jews mistakenly apply
02:33 the prophecies of Christ's second coming
02:35 to his first appearance.
02:38 Now they along with the Protestants
02:41 are applying the prophecies of His first coming
02:44 to His second coming.
02:45 But a careful study of the prophecies of Daniel 8, 9
02:49 where scripture interprets scripture reveals
02:52 a remarkable parallel
02:53 with the teachings of the Jesus Himself
02:55 in the four gospels and in Revelation.
02:58 But I am afraid those sane teachings are causing
03:01 as much thunder today
03:03 as they did 2000 years ago in the Holy Land.
03:59 Our thunder team spent over four months
04:01 traveling around the fascinating country of Israel.
04:05 While it truly is the desire of most people there
04:08 to live in peace,
04:10 the walls, the check points,
04:13 the military presence are constant reminders
04:15 that Israel is not at peace with it neighbors or itself.
04:21 The question they are wrestling with is who gets Israel?
04:25 Who has the right of inheritance?
04:29 The Israelis believe the land belongs to them by divine right.
04:33 After all God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
04:37 The Palestinians believe the land is theirs
04:40 because they were the last ones who had it.
04:43 And they have been there,
04:44 every bit as long if not longer than the Jews.
04:47 But if we consider with the Bible teaches
04:49 in both the Old and New Testament about,
04:52 who will inherit Israel?
04:54 We might be surprised to learn that these teachings
04:57 exactly mere those of Jesus in the four gospels and Revelation.
05:03 And if we consider the teachings of Jesus,
05:06 I think we would also learn that
05:07 just about everyone's opinion regarding
05:10 who will inherit Israel is just that, an opinion.
05:14 For who will inherit Israel has already been decided
05:18 and clearly spelled out.
05:21 And despite any thunder that teachings of Jesus may cause,
05:25 the truth is the still the truth.
05:28 Let's check it out, Stephen.
05:31 Thanks Charles, I think we've been here
05:33 in Israel long enough to know
05:35 that this is certainly a heartburning topic.
05:37 But this topic is also totally misunderstood
05:39 by many churches in the United States as well.
05:42 In fact, I would dare to say
05:44 that most of our nation's support of Israel
05:46 has been based on a misguided understanding of prophecy.
05:49 So today we are going to look at a lot of verses
05:52 that will focus the spotlight of truth on this subject.
05:55 So let's start with Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 5:5,
05:58 "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
06:02 Tell me at what point in history,
06:04 at what point in business or politics have the meek ever won?
06:08 And the economy of this world might makes right not humility.
06:12 So this teaching cannot be about earth as we now know it.
06:15 And really who would want to inherit the toxic waste,
06:18 the nuclear trash, the plastic and aluminum garbage
06:20 strewn around the globe.
06:22 Who would want to own the polluted water
06:23 in the broken down cities.
06:26 So what earth is Jesus talking about?
06:28 The Bible interpreted itself in Isaiah 65:17,
06:32 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth
06:35 and the former shall not be remembered,
06:37 nor come into mind."
06:39 And this was the same teaching of Jesus sent to John
06:41 in a vision in Revelation 21,
06:44 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven
06:48 and the first earth were passed away."
06:51 So here's the first problem solved.
06:53 Everyone who was trying to establish a present day
06:55 earthly kingdom with Christ at its head
06:57 is trying to do something
06:59 that God has never once promised in the Scripture.
07:02 The Jews believe that Jesus would set up
07:04 a present day earthly kingdom
07:05 and made it part of their doctrine.
07:08 Because Christ didn't set up their desired kingdom,
07:10 they rejected Him as the Messiah.
07:12 Even the disciples kept expecting it.
07:15 After He was resurrected from the dead,
07:17 they asked Him again.
07:18 "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again
07:21 the kingdom to Israel?"
07:23 But Jesus' kingdom is not of this world
07:26 and make no mistake,
07:27 He said so Himself in John 18:36.
07:30 So the first thing in our study today
07:32 that we all need to grasp
07:34 is that the true inheritance is not the Israel
07:36 that you see right here, right now.
07:38 We are still on pilgrimage.
07:40 Like father Abraham we are just passing through.
07:44 Nice takeaway, Stephen,
07:45 because we need to talk about Abraham,
07:47 the father of the Jewish nation.
07:50 Jews here in Israel believe that God gave Abraham this land,
07:54 so it doesn't matter who gets this place,
07:56 whose lives are uprooted.
07:57 After all God owns everything by right of creation.
08:01 So God chooses to give this land to the Jews,
08:05 it's His prerogative and who can argue with God.
08:09 Unfortunately, this misguided philosophy ignores
08:12 the rest of the inheritance teaching in Scripture.
08:16 If you read it all you would find that promises of God
08:18 to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not without conditions.
08:23 So let's stop and take a look at what the Bible
08:26 actually teaches in Genesis 12: 1,
08:30 "Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
08:32 Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
08:35 and from thy father's house,
08:36 unto a land that I will shew thee."
08:40 I want you to notice something when God chose father Abraham,
08:44 He didn't choose a Jew.
08:46 Abraham's home land was Ur of the Chaldea.
08:49 That would make him a Chaldean or a Babylonian.
08:52 Don't miss this. Abraham wasn't Jewish.
08:57 Today we would call him an Iraqi.
09:00 So the question comes,
09:01 why did God choose someone from present day Iraq
09:04 to become the father of the faithful?
09:07 The answer is right in the question
09:09 because Abraham was faithful.
09:13 He believed in the one true God.
09:15 He worshipped the one true God.
09:17 He obeyed the one true God.
09:20 They had a relationship.
09:23 And this is not just my own interpretation
09:26 this is the reason God Himself gave
09:28 for choosing Abraham to receive His covenant promise
09:31 of an inheritance of this land
09:33 and the surrounding countries.
09:35 "Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge,
09:39 my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
09:44 Verse 4 tells us that the reason
09:46 that Abraham would be a blessing to all the nations on earth
09:49 is that he would leave an example of a human life
09:52 connected with divinity.
09:54 Obeying the will of God and receiving His blessings.
09:58 Perhaps, the first test of obedience
10:00 was leaving his home land and going to a new place,
10:03 he would not have been faithful to God if he had stayed home.
10:07 But the real test, the big one came
10:09 when God told him to offer up Isaac as a human sacrifice
10:14 that was terribly hard, but he obeyed.
10:19 He traveled two days and in the morning of the third day
10:22 he saw the place God has chosen.
10:25 He would have killed Isaac in obedience to God,
10:28 but was stopped by the angel of the Lord.
10:31 All this obedience was proof of his faith
10:34 in an all powerful promise keeping God.
10:37 Now if Abraham had told God
10:39 that he would go to the land of Canaan, but never did.
10:43 If he told God that he would offer up his son, but never did.
10:47 One, he wouldn't be an example of what God wanted in obedience
10:51 and two, he wouldn't have been
10:53 in a covenant relationship with God
10:55 and thus he would not have been the inheritor of the promise.
10:59 He could not been the father of the faithful
11:02 and that was the teaching of Jesus as well.
11:06 "Not every one that saith unto me,
11:08 Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
11:11 but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
11:16 Jesus went on to say, "And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord
11:20 and do not the things which I say?"
11:23 The Apostle James said, "Abraham was a friend of God."
11:26 Because he was willing to offer up Isaac
11:29 and it is no different for us today,
11:31 the only people who are friends of God
11:34 are those who do what He says and that is the doctrine,
11:39 the teaching of Jesus Himself.
11:42 "You are My friends, He said,
11:44 if ye do whatsoever I command you."
11:48 It wasn't because Abraham was a great person
11:50 or smarter or richer or even holier
11:53 that God chose him and his descendants
11:56 to receive a special blessing.
11:58 It was because Abraham responded
12:00 in obedience to God's unparalleled love.
12:03 As a result, God made this promise to Abraham
12:07 in Genesis 12: 7,
12:09 "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said,
12:11 Unto thy seed I will give this land
12:14 and there builded he an altar unto the Lord,
12:17 who appeared unto him."
12:19 The Lord promised to give Abraham this land
12:22 and that promise He also gave to Isaac and to Jacob.
12:26 This promise was given to Isaac
12:27 even though he wasn't Abraham's first born son.
12:30 It was passed on to Jacob
12:32 even though he wasn't Isaac's first born son.
12:35 And it's passed on to those who of promise,
12:37 and to those who would follow in a humble,
12:39 obedient relationship with God.
12:42 And the promise grew from just inheriting
12:44 the land of Canaan to inheriting countries.
12:47 Genesis 26: 4, "And I will make thy seed to multiply
12:52 as the stars of heaven,
12:54 and will give unto thy seed all these countries,
12:57 and in thy seed shall all the nations
13:00 of the earth be blessed."
13:02 Now for some there's a contradiction here
13:05 between Genesis 26: 5 and Romans 4: 3.
13:09 And Paul taught, "Abraham believed God,
13:12 and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
13:15 On the other hand, Moses wrote
13:17 that Abraham entered a covenant relationship with God.
13:21 "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice,
13:23 and kept my charge, my commandments,
13:25 my statutes, and my laws."
13:28 So which is it?
13:30 Do we just believe or do we obey and solve the dilemma.
13:34 Actually there is no dilemma.
13:36 And then here is why because,
13:38 "True belief always causes one to act."
13:42 The proof that Abraham believed was he left home
13:45 and he offered up his son Isaac
13:48 and in this regard nothing has changed
13:50 in the Old Testament people were saved by faith in God
13:53 looking forward to the cross.
13:55 In the New Testament people are saved by faith
13:57 looking back at the cross.
13:59 The only way to be saved is through Jesus
14:02 and His sacrifice on the cross.
14:05 People in every generation have only been saved by grace.
14:10 And true believers in every generation have followed
14:13 and obeyed God else they were not true believers.
14:19 Let's review.
14:20 What we have learnt so far is,
14:22 first, Jesus will create a new earth
14:26 and only those who are meek
14:28 or teachable will be allowed there.
14:31 That Abraham the father of the faithful
14:34 is an example to the believers
14:36 because if you truly believe God you will do whatever God says
14:40 and let Him take care of the outcome.
14:43 And three, we learned that there is no contradiction
14:47 between faith and works
14:50 because true belief always causes
14:52 one to act in obedience to his faith.
14:55 I suppose when most people think of a relationship with God
14:59 the first word that comes to mind is not friend,
15:02 but three times the Bible records
15:05 that Abraham and God were friends.
15:08 And I don't think that was just hyperbole either
15:10 because God actually stopped by Abraham's tent
15:13 and ate with him.
15:15 You can read about it in Genesis 18: 8.
15:18 According to verse 19 one of the things
15:21 that makes you a friend of God,
15:23 according to God Himself
15:25 is when you do exactly what He says.
15:29 "For I know him, that he will command
15:32 his children and his household after him,
15:35 and they shall keep the way of the Lord,
15:37 to do justice and judgment,
15:40 that the Lord may bring upon Abraham
15:43 that which he hath spoken of him."
15:46 This is the very same message in the teachings of Jesus
15:50 in John 15: 14.
15:52 "You are my friends, Jesus said,
15:55 if you do whatsoever I command you."
15:58 Now don't miss this, if we're going to be
16:01 in a covenant relationship with God
16:04 then we have to do what He says
16:05 or else the covenant is broken.
16:07 It's no longer binding.
16:09 This concept is everywhere in Scripture
16:12 in both the Old and the New Testament.
16:15 But time and tradition had changed
16:17 what God clearly taught to something else entirely.
16:22 Check this out.
16:23 According to Judaism 101,
16:26 a person born to non-Jewish parents
16:29 who has not undergone the formal process of conversion,
16:32 but who believes everything that the orthodox Jews believe
16:35 and observes every law and custom of Judaism
16:39 is still a non-Jew.
16:41 Even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism.
16:45 While a person born to a Jewish mother
16:47 who is an atheist and never practices
16:50 the Jewish religion is still a Jew,
16:53 even in the eyes of the ultra orthodox.
16:57 So you see being a Jew today
16:59 does not necessarily have anything to do
17:01 with faith or obedience.
17:04 It is more akin to a nationality than it is to other religions.
17:09 Being Jewish is more like a citizenship.
17:12 John the Baptist rejected this prevalent
17:15 and on going misconception and so did the foretold Messiah.
17:21 While Jesus acknowledged that in bloodline
17:23 the Jews were physically descendants of Abraham
17:26 by their rejection of Him,
17:29 they had an actuality become
17:30 spiritually the children of Satan.
17:35 "Ye are of your father the devil,
17:37 and the lusts of your father ye will do.
17:41 He was a murderer from the beginning,
17:43 and abode not in the truth,
17:45 because there is no truth in him.
17:47 When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own,
17:51 for he is a liar, and the father of it."
17:55 In contrast, the followers of the one true God listen,
18:00 believe and obediently follow where He leads.
18:05 "My sheep hear My voice."
18:06 Jesus said, "And I know them, and they follow Me."
18:12 Which brings us to the exciting truth
18:14 about who will actually and in fact, inherit Israel.
18:20 The God of Abraham said,
18:22 "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham."
18:26 The blessing that Abraham left for every nation
18:28 was a blessed example of faith
18:30 and obedient belief in the God of creation.
18:33 As a type of Christ,
18:35 Abraham showed us a path to the promised inheritance
18:38 which is the new earth.
18:40 The only way to be saved is to say, yes,
18:43 to the Lord with all your known choices.
18:45 When we follow that example,
18:47 when we embrace that experience
18:49 something very special happens,
18:52 we get a new father according to Galatians 3,
18:55 "Even as Abraham believed God,
18:57 and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
19:00 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith,
19:03 the same are the children of Abraham."
19:06 Now that's too cool.
19:07 Paul, a Jew, a Pharisee got it.
19:10 He made it absolutely clear that if we have the faith,
19:14 the belief that causes one to act
19:16 in obedience to the lordship of Christ
19:19 we are adopted into the family of God
19:21 and thus Abraham becomes our father.
19:26 What does that mean?
19:27 Paul explains starting in verse 28,
19:30 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
19:34 there is neither male nor female,
19:37 for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
19:40 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,
19:44 and heirs according to the promise."
19:47 And what promise are we talking about?
19:49 The promise of inheriting this land
19:51 and the nations round about.
19:54 I want you to look once again at the original promise
19:56 in Genesis 13: 17,
19:58 "Arise, walk through the land,"
20:00 'God told Abraham' "in the length of it
20:03 and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee."
20:07 This land wasn't merely promised
20:09 to the descendants of Abraham.
20:10 It was promised to Abraham himself,
20:13 but he never inherited this land.
20:16 He could never claim Canaan as his own.
20:19 Hebrews 11: 9, "By faith" 'Abraham'
20:22 "sojourned in the land of promise,
20:25 as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles"
20:28 'or tents' "with Isaac and Jacob,
20:31 the heirs with him of the same promise."
20:34 'Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'
20:36 "all died in faith, not having received the promises,
20:40 but having seen them afar off,
20:42 and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
20:44 and confessed that they were strangers
20:47 and pilgrims on the earth."
20:49 Now notice something here don't miss it,
20:51 even though God told Abraham that he would inherit this land
20:56 he was not told when.
20:59 Hebrews is clear.
21:01 Abraham, Isaac nor Jacob,
21:03 ever saw a fulfillment of the promise not yet.
21:08 The important issue that Levi is alluding to here is,
21:11 does God keep His promises?
21:13 The good news is He does.
21:15 They may not be kept at all on our timetable,
21:18 but He definitely keeps His promises.
21:23 You see, father Abraham is not just looking
21:26 for a new land to inherit,
21:29 "For he looked for a city which hath foundations,
21:32 whose builder and maker is God."
21:35 The inheritance is not merely a place, it's a presence.
21:39 This new heavens and new earth is a place
21:42 where we can dwell together in the presence of God Himself.
21:47 That's what John said in Revelation 21: 3,
21:50 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
21:53 Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
21:57 and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
22:01 and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
22:06 You see, the inheritance is wrapped up in a new earth
22:09 that our Creator God will recreate for those
22:11 who love Him and love His appearing.
22:14 Israel as it now stands is nice enough in many ways.
22:17 This is the first time I've been here
22:19 and I've been talking about staying,
22:21 but this place or any place on earth cannot compare
22:23 with the earth made new
22:24 in all its hidden glory.
22:26 And once again this inheritance can belong to anyone,
22:29 it doesn't matter if you're Jewish or Palestinian,
22:32 doesn't matter what country your from,
22:34 it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor,
22:36 it doesn't matter if you're educated or not.
22:38 "Because if you are Christ's,
22:40 then you are Abraham's offspring,
22:42 and heirs according to the promise."
22:44 To be Christ's means to accept the gifts of love,
22:47 forgiveness, repentance and faith.
22:49 To be Christ's means to then walk with Him
22:52 in newness of life saying, yes, to Him
22:54 with all our known choices
22:56 and this new life doesn't have to wait
22:58 till He recreates this earth, it can start now.
23:01 It must start now.
23:04 You're right, Stephen, it must start now
23:08 and the way it starts now for each individual is to follow God
23:12 just like faithful Abraham.
23:14 Abraham had to leave his old life and family in Ur.
23:18 In the same way if we're going to walk with God
23:20 and be His friend, we have to leave families,
23:23 churches and friends and the world behind.
23:27 "Come out from among them,
23:28 and be separate, says the Lord.
23:30 Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you."
23:35 In the teachings and doctrines of Jesus,
23:37 He explained why we have to be separate.
23:40 Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters,
23:44 for either he will hate the one,
23:45 and love the other, or else he will hold to the one,
23:48 and despise the other."
23:51 But if anyone chooses to love and serve God
23:55 then they are adopted into His family.
23:57 Everyone is invited to inherit Israel
24:00 recreated as the new earth,
24:03 but there's one more part of this inheritance
24:05 you must not miss.
24:07 The inheritance will not be
24:09 the present Jerusalem and the old city.
24:11 There will only be the New Jerusalem.
24:15 Revelation 21: 2, "And I John saw the holy city,
24:20 new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
24:23 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
24:27 That Holy city, the New Jerusalem
24:30 will be coming right here to planet earth.
24:32 And Israel in particular, God will reside in this city.
24:37 His presence will be with all His faithful, obedient people.
24:42 Verse 16 opens a prophetic window on this colossal city.
24:46 "And the city lieth foursquare,
24:48 and the length is as large as the breadth,
24:51 and he measured the city with the reed,
24:53 twelve thousand furlongs.
24:55 The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal."
24:59 A furlong is about 1/8th of a mile,
25:02 so 12,000 furlongs is about 1,500 miles.
25:06 The question is did the angel measure the whole city,
25:09 all the way around or just one side?
25:12 I'm not sure, but I can say with confidence
25:15 that the smallest possible size for the New Jerusalem
25:19 is 1,500 miles in circumference.
25:23 There is no city on earth that large,
25:27 but this will be God's capital city for the universe,
25:31 so why not be accommodating.
25:33 This is the inheritance that anyone can possess.
25:37 A new world with God's personal presence
25:41 now that's the birth right, the patriarchs were waiting for.
25:46 During these 26 studies
25:48 regarding the teachings of Jesus,
25:50 we have learned many things.
25:52 We have learned that we can trust this book,
25:54 replete with fulfilled prophecies.
25:57 This book indeed gives us ample evidence
26:00 upon which to build a rational faith.
26:03 And that's why I have chosen to believe
26:05 and embrace the teachings of Jesus
26:08 even though there is still as much to learn
26:11 and why wouldn't I believe in a Creator God
26:13 who loved me enough to die for me,
26:16 one who promises me an eternity of happiness,
26:19 joy and peace in His presence.
26:23 So what about you, friend, are you ready to embrace
26:26 the teachings of Jesus,
26:28 are you ready to be a part of His fold,
26:31 His remnant church, the body of Christ,
26:34 will you choose to love and obey Jesus?
26:38 If your answer is, yes, then you too are a child of God.
26:43 It doesn't matter if you're Jewish,
26:45 Palestinian or otherwise.
26:47 Your country of origin or your ethnicity
26:50 or your gender is irrelevant.
26:52 It doesn't matter how many mistakes you have made
26:55 or how many sins you have committed.
26:58 When you make God first and accept Jesus as your Saviour,
27:02 He has promised that you are a child of Abraham
27:06 and one who will inherit the ultimate Israel,
27:10 God's kingdom and this world recreated by the Master Himself.
28:00 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
28:03 who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
28:07 Did you know that "Thunder in the Holy Land"
28:09 is a Bible study series that gives you the ability to share
28:13 the hope you have in Christ at a moment's notice?
28:16 These interactive, engaging and clear Bible studies
28:20 on the teachings of Jesus,
28:22 thrive on group discussion and individual thought.
28:25 Learn more at www.QLP.tv.


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Revised 2014-12-17