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Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000042S
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00:01 - Just when so many people thought the world
00:02 was on the verge of enlightenment and global peace, 00:05 war breaks out, yet again. 00:08 And it seems 00:09 the human race really hasn't changed much at all. 00:12 That's today's topic on "Authentic." 00:15 [upbeat music] 00:36 It's always a bit risky to comment 00:38 on world events as they're still unfolding, 00:41 because it's pretty much guaranteed 00:42 that by the time you're watching this, 00:44 everything will have changed. 00:47 As of right now as I'm sitting here, 00:49 promised peace talks in Belarus, 00:51 appear to have accomplished nothing. 00:53 And a large convoy is making its way to Kyiv. 00:57 Hundreds of thousands of people, 00:58 are seeking refuge in neighboring countries 01:00 and Putin has even nuclear action against nations 01:03 who come and help. 01:05 Now, whether or not that's a bluff, 01:07 it's certainly not a good sign. 01:09 And by the time you're watching this, 01:11 everything's likely to be different yet again. 01:15 I think one of the biggest surprises I've had 01:18 is the way people are saying they were caught off guard 01:20 by what happened. 01:22 Even though Russia has basically been in a low scale war 01:25 with Ukraine for close to a decade already 01:28 and they've already taken over other territories 01:31 that used to belong to the former Soviet Union. 01:34 Political pundits like George Friedman, 01:36 predicted years ago that something like this 01:39 was bound to happen because Russia felt the need stop 01:43 the spread of NATO towards her border 01:45 and to secure routes 01:47 for the sale of Russian oil to major markets like Germany. 01:50 So, for keen political observers and journalists, 01:54 I don't think there was much in the way of surprise 01:56 when Russian started to build up troops 01:58 on the Ukrainian border and for students of history, 02:02 a new war in Europe shouldn't really come 02:04 as a surprise either. 02:06 The European continent has basically been war torn, 02:09 since the first barbarian tribes made their way, 02:12 onto the European peninsula. 02:14 It's an awful lot of cultures 02:16 and an awful lot of competing interests 02:18 that are all cramed into a relatively small piece 02:21 of real estate. 02:22 So, what do we expect? 02:26 I suppose for the generation born, 02:28 after the Berlin Wall came down in 89, 02:31 what's going on right now, 02:32 looks unusual and new, 02:34 but for older folks who grew up in the shadow 02:36 of both the world wars and the Cold War, 02:39 I've got to say, 02:41 this feels all too familiar. 02:43 When I was a kid which wasn't really very long ago, 02:46 it was common for your parents or grandparents 02:48 to have spent time fighting a war 02:50 or sitting in a labor camp. 02:52 And back in my day, 02:54 all the Bond villains tended to be Russian. 02:56 Hostilities that broke out centuries ago, 02:59 between European superpowers, 03:01 linger here in modern day North America, 03:04 the tension still exist. 03:05 Like the tension you continue to find, 03:08 between the English and the French, 03:09 up in my birth country of Canada. 03:13 The sad truth is, 03:15 the history of the human race is a history of war. 03:18 And we've been incredibly naive lately 03:21 to think that this could never happen again. 03:24 "We are," we tell ourselves, 03:26 "a civilized generation, 03:27 "highly enlightened 03:29 "and this kind of stuff shouldn't be happening to us." 03:32 At the end of the day though, 03:33 modern human beings are still just as flawed 03:36 as their ancestors and the nations of this earth, 03:39 have yet to tame our all two human passions 03:41 and self-interest. 03:43 The law of the jungle is force. 03:46 And if you don't get what you want out of this world, 03:48 most of us will eventually resort to violence and coercion, 03:53 particularly if we feel threatened. 03:56 Human lives can become shockingly expendable 03:59 in a heartbeat as we pursue our material interests. 04:03 And once somebody starts the ball rolling, 04:06 once somebody becomes an aggressor, 04:09 the need for revenge takes over 04:11 and people go on fighting sometimes long after the point 04:15 where they actually remember why the conflict started. 04:18 As I read recently 04:19 in a book written by a Vietnamese refugee, 04:22 "Don't make vengeance your god, 04:24 "because such gods are satisfied only by human sacrifice." 04:30 So, as the war in Ukraine either simmers or explodes, 04:33 I mean, who knows what's actually gonna happen, 04:36 between right now as I sit here 04:38 and when this episode finally hits your TV screen. 04:42 I've been thinking a lot about the way that war 04:45 has shaped our human experience for countless generations, 04:49 sometimes in ways that most of us never even think about. 04:53 For example, if it hadn't been for World War II, 04:57 I'd probably be sitting in Europe right now, 04:59 speaking Dutch 05:00 and who knows who I would've ended up marrying. 05:03 After the dust started settling in Europe, 05:06 a lot of people simply moved somewhere else, 05:09 including my father in the 1950s 05:11 and my mother's family in the late 1940s, 05:14 they were both Dutch citizens, 05:16 but they actually met in Canada where I was born. 05:19 So, you never know if it wasn't for World War II, 05:22 I might not even exist. 05:25 And even though I was raised 05:27 in one of the most peaceful environments 05:28 on the face of the planet, 05:30 the shadow of that war continued to hang over all of us. 05:34 One of the German merchants in our small town 05:36 was always considered just a little bit suspect 05:39 as was my German grandmother 05:41 who actually moved to the Netherlands 05:43 and got married before World War II. 05:46 But a German accent, 05:48 had a way of triggering a lot of people after 1945. 05:52 There was also this quiet, 05:54 unspoken anxiety that lingered in the generation 05:57 that raised me. 05:59 And I know for a fact that I inherited some of that anxiety 06:03 in tiny little ways because, 06:05 well, how could you not. 06:07 The world had come completely unglued 06:10 and it changed the way that everybody lived, 06:14 but maybe the most part of this 06:17 is the fact that I have spent a great deal of my life, 06:20 wondering exactly where I belong. 06:23 I grew up in an immigrant community. 06:25 I went to an immigrant school, 06:27 which meant that I wasn't exactly prepared 06:29 for the cultural differences I discovered 06:31 when I eventually went to the public school system. 06:35 We found ourselves to be what different than the other kids. 06:39 We didn't have long standing roots in this strange new land. 06:42 And my ancestors who spoke another language were buried 06:46 in a churchyard thousands of miles away 06:48 on the other side of an ocean, 06:50 which means that to some small extent, 06:53 I've always felt, well, just a little bit homeless, 06:56 a little bit displaced. 06:58 And when you add to that, 06:59 the fact that I'm now an immigrant to the United States, 07:01 and I've moved 24 times in five decades, 07:04 well, I have to admit, 07:06 there are days when I feel like I'm not really sure 07:08 where home really is. 07:12 Now, of course by global standards, 07:13 I've had it easy. 07:14 I never spent time in a refugee camp 07:16 or escaping my country on a leaky raft. 07:19 I've never been moved to a country 07:21 where the people didn't at least look like me 07:23 or share some of my history. 07:25 Unlike a good friend of mine, 07:27 I've been catching up with over the last few weeks, 07:29 when she escaped Southeast Asia back in the 1970s, 07:33 she was faced with intolerant Canadian neighbors 07:36 who would scream at her as a kid, 07:38 telling her to go back where she came from, 07:40 as she was out playing in the yard. 07:42 I can't even imagine how lonely that must have felt, 07:45 because there was no going back home 07:48 and the new place didn't feel like home either. 07:52 The toll of war runs higher than just the casualties. 07:56 It changes who we are as a society 07:59 and it shapes our perspective on the world 08:01 in a thousand different ways. 08:04 I find myself wondering as I watch, 08:06 hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians struggle 08:08 to make their way to the Polish and Romanian borders. 08:11 Just how much of the 21st Century world 08:14 is actually a diaspora 08:16 where countless people, 08:17 now find themselves living very far removed 08:20 from their ancestral roots? 08:22 Refugees from some of the worst conflicts of earth, 08:24 now find themselves scattered across the face of the planet, 08:28 struggling to make strange places, 08:30 seem like home for their children. 08:33 When National Geographic did their deep ancestry project, 08:36 they were able to track the movements 08:37 of ancient people using mitochondrial DNA, 08:40 which you get from your mother. 08:43 And one of the reasons that the study is mostly accurate 08:46 is because once upon a time, 08:48 people tended to stay very close to their place of birth, 08:51 which enables you to pinpoint entire populations 08:54 that are closely related to each other, 08:57 genetically speaking. 08:58 Today you can submit a DNA sample 09:01 to a number of services that will analyze it for you. 09:04 And if other members of your family or tribe, 09:06 have done the same thing, 09:08 it will start lighting up a map of the world, 09:10 showing you people who share a significant portion 09:12 of your DNA. 09:14 And one of the things the data shows us is mass migration, 09:21 where entire populations are suddenly forced to move. 09:25 And the longer time goes 09:26 and the more this world gets ripped up by war, 09:29 the further the diaspora spreads. 09:32 A lot of the world is now populated, 09:34 by who have no real ties to the land they live on 09:38 and no deep history they can claim as their own. 09:42 The ambition of the world's nations, 09:44 has taken the various tribes of humanity 09:46 and scrambled them up like letters 09:48 in a bag of Scrabble tiles, 09:50 leaving many of us to figure out 09:52 if we can actually spell anything 09:54 with the genetic hand we've been dealt. 09:56 I'll be right back after this. 10:02 - [Narrator] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 10:06 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 10:11 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation 10:13 and come away scratching your head, you are not alone. 10:16 Our free "Focus on Prophecy Guides" are designed 10:19 to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 10:21 and deepen your understanding of God's plan for you 10:24 and our world. 10:26 Study online or request them by mail 10:28 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 10:32 - North America can hardly claim to be free from war, 10:35 because well, it's populated by human beings. 10:38 And so of course there are going to be problems. 10:42 We've been through the Indian Wars, 10:43 the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, War with Mexico, 10:47 the American Civil War 10:48 and countless other smaller conflicts. 10:50 That mean that even this continent is pretty blood soaked, 10:55 but compared to the rest of the planet, 10:57 this has been in a pretty privileged piece of real estate, 11:00 partly because there are two vast oceans separating us 11:03 from the rest of the world. 11:04 If it wasn't for that, 11:06 I strongly suspect 11:07 that more of the problems people left behind in Europe, 11:10 would've followed them here. 11:12 But of course, anytime you have people you get war, 11:15 whether it's on an individual level, 11:17 like two neighbors fight over a property marker 11:20 or it's a family level like the Hatfields and McCoys, 11:23 or it's rival states trying to pull business away 11:25 from each other like Texas and California, 11:28 or it's actually conflict on a national or global scale, 11:32 it's all just a matter of degrees. 11:34 And it pretty much a all boils down to the same thing, 11:37 competition driven like personal interest or ambition. 11:42 Back in the mid 17th Century, 11:44 the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, 11:46 identified three principle causes of war, 11:49 competition, diffidence and glory. 11:53 Here's the way he described it 11:54 in his most famous work, "Leviathan." 11:57 He writes, "The first maketh men invade for gain, 12:01 "the second for safety and the third for reputation. 12:04 "The first use violence 12:05 "to make themselves masters of other men's persons, 12:08 "wives, children, and cattle. 12:10 "The second to defend them, 12:11 "the third for trifles, as a word, 12:13 "a smile, a different opinion, 12:15 "and any other sign of undervalue, 12:17 "either direct in their persons 12:19 "or by reflection in their kindred, 12:21 "their friends, their nation, their profession 12:24 "or their name." 12:26 Now of course no matter how you slice it, 12:27 it's all still the same problem of human self-interest. 12:31 On the upside, 12:32 the pursuit of self-interest, 12:33 has pretty much created the incredible standard 12:36 of living we currently enjoy in the West. 12:39 It has led to material abundance, 12:41 unseen by any other generation, 12:44 but on the downside is the age old problem of scarcity. 12:49 There are only so many resources on this planet 12:51 and we all have to share them. 12:53 There's only so much oil 12:54 and it's only to be found in any useful quantities 12:57 in a handful of places, 12:58 which means that not everybody has equal access, 13:02 which brings me back to Thomas Hobbes, 13:04 who said that our natural state of existence, 13:06 as human beings seems to be over history, 13:09 a constant state of war. 13:12 "If it wasn't for big political powers 13:14 "that are stronger than individuals," Hobbes argued, 13:16 "we'd probably be at each other's throats, 13:18 "a lot more than we currently are." 13:21 And he kind of has a point. 13:23 According to the Bible the world's first murder, 13:25 wasn't an invading army, 13:27 it was a jealous brother, 13:29 I think his own sibling. 13:32 So, what we did Hobbes taught 13:34 is voluntarily seed some of our personal rights to the state 13:38 for safety's sake in the hopes that doing that, 13:41 would improve our own odds for survival. 13:43 It was far better we reckon 13:45 to live in peace than a constant state of war, 13:48 because war always robs us of the ability 13:51 to pursue a productive life. 13:53 Here's the way he puts it yet again from his book, 13:56 "Leviathan." 13:57 He writes, "In such a condition," 13:59 he's talking about our constant state of war. 14:02 "There is no place for industry, 14:04 "because the fruit thereof is uncertain 14:06 "and consequently, no culture of the earth, 14:09 "no navigation or use of the commodities 14:11 "that may be imported by sea. 14:13 "No commodious building, no instruments of moving 14:16 "and removing such things as require much force, 14:19 "no knowledge of the face of the earth, 14:21 "no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society 14:24 "and which is worst of all, continual fear 14:28 "and danger of violent death, 14:30 "and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, 14:34 "brutish and short." 14:37 Honestly, it's pretty hard to argue that Hobbes was wrong. 14:40 And you've really got to wonder 14:42 what the total cost of human war has been, 14:44 because we've been at this for thousands of years. 14:48 How many opportunities have been lost, 14:50 because of the way we focus our energies 14:51 on destroying each other? 14:53 How many intelligent minds have been snuffed out, 14:56 before the rest of us could benefit 14:57 from their potential brilliance? 14:59 How many people have lived under a cloud of apprehension, 15:02 paralyzed by anxiety and the fear of death, 15:05 forced to devote all their lifetime energy 15:08 to just surviving? 15:10 How many people have found themselves tragically trapped 15:13 in a war zone, 15:14 like the villages that sat, 15:15 between the north and the south in Vietnam. 15:18 How many of those people, 15:19 have had their entire lives stolen from them 15:21 because they had to spend every waking minute, 15:24 just trying to keep from getting killed? 15:26 And how many psychological wounds, 15:28 have been passed down through many generation now, 15:31 preventing countless people from ever finding any real joy? 15:35 What do you think the real cost of war has been? 15:40 This is probably our biggest problem. 15:43 And so to improve our personal odds, Hobbes argued, 15:46 we created the state, 15:49 a mutual contract between individual 15:51 that supposedly protects us all. 15:54 But there's a serious problem 15:55 with that supposed social contract 15:57 that exists in nation states, 15:59 which became obvious yet again, 16:02 when Russian soldiers cross the Ukrainian border. 16:05 Nations require leadership 16:07 and leaders are human beings who also make tragic mistakes 16:10 and leaders are also people 16:12 with personal ambitions and interests. 16:14 And it doesn't take long 16:15 for many people in positions of power 16:17 to realize that governing everybody else, 16:20 gives you a lot of personal advantage. 16:23 These people can use the power of the state 16:25 to advance themselves 16:26 and they can become many steps removed 16:29 from the people they promise to help. 16:31 Now, I'm talking broadly here 16:32 and I'm not addressing any specific people, 16:35 but just think about this. 16:37 The people who sit at the top of nation states, 16:39 are not two brothers out in a field, 16:41 like Cain and Abel clubbing each other with rocks. 16:44 They suddenly have all the resources of a state 16:47 to back up their ambition. 16:49 And we'd like to think that most people are not corruptible, 16:52 but thousands of years have recorded history, 16:54 argues otherwise. 16:56 Heads of state command an awful lot of resources. 17:00 So, when they go to war, 17:01 the consequences are much, much bigger, 17:04 far more devastating 17:06 than mere conflicts between individuals. 17:09 All of us have to go along for the ride, 17:11 whether we want to or not. 17:14 And that's where the perspective of the Bible, 17:17 suddenly comes into play. 17:19 In the book of Daniel, 17:20 you have four separate passages 17:21 that deal specifically with the power of nations 17:24 and how that's a big problem. 17:26 You've got Daniel two, Daniel seven, Daniel eight 17:29 and Daniel 11. 17:30 And out of those, 17:31 Daniel seven is probably the clearest 17:33 when it comes to the subject of international warfare. 17:37 It's a vision 17:38 where Daniel finds himself standing on the seashore 17:40 and he's watching the winds whip across the surface 17:43 of the water. 17:44 It's a symbolic representation of the constant strife, 17:47 between nations and as he's watching, 17:50 four separate beasts crawl up out of the water, 17:53 onto the land. 17:54 Those represent the Gentile Empires 17:57 that ruled the ancient world, 17:58 one after the other, 18:00 Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. 18:03 And for all intents and purposes, 18:05 you and I are still living in the shadow of Rome, 18:07 even though the Western Empire, 18:09 basically disintegrated more than 1500 years ago. 18:13 The Roman beast in Daniel's vision, 18:15 has multiple horns on its head, 18:16 indicating that it would break in pieces, 18:19 but continue to exist in a radically diminished form 18:23 to this day. 18:25 The point of the chapter 18:27 is to remind us just how human government really is. 18:31 It's a vivid portrayal of the human struggle for dominance 18:34 that has existed since the moment we detached ourselves 18:37 from the creator and decided to go it alone. 18:40 Then in Matthew 24, 18:42 we find Jesus explaining the plight of the world 18:45 to a group of disciples 18:47 who are still living under Roman domination. 18:50 And they're wondering, 18:51 just how long the misery of that occupation 18:53 is going to last. 18:55 This is a statement, 18:56 Jesus ties directly to the book of Daniel. 18:59 And it's something that our generation, 19:01 should probably look at right now. 19:03 And I'll be right back after this break 19:06 to show you what he said. 19:11 - [Narrator] Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 19:13 we're committed to creating top quality programming 19:15 for the whole family, 19:16 like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 19:20 "Discovery Mountain" is a Bible-based program 19:22 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 19:24 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 19:27 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 19:30 With 24 are seasonal episodes every year 19:33 and fresh content every week, 19:35 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 19:41 - The Old Testament Book of Daniel, 19:43 described the rise fall of world empires. 19:46 Essentially God was showing the prophet 19:48 the absolute debacle we've created, 19:50 because we figured we could run this place, 19:52 better than the one who made us. 19:55 We began to live by our base instincts, 19:57 always looking out for self first, 20:00 which creates a lot of problems 20:02 when you're faced with other self-interested people 20:04 who want the same things that you want. 20:07 In Matthew 24, 20:08 we find Jesus describing the problem to a group of disciples 20:12 who are living under Roman occupation. 20:15 "If the kingdom of God is real," they ask Jesus, 20:17 "then how much longer, 20:18 "should we expect this current state of being to last?" 20:21 Now, bear in mind, 20:23 they asked this question about 1600 years before, 20:25 Thomas Hobbes was compelled 20:27 to write about the nasty and brutish condition of war, 20:30 so we already know the answer. 20:32 But pay attention carefully to what Jesus tells them next, 20:35 because it has something important to teach us, 20:38 about the state of our world right now. 20:41 "And Jesus answered and said to them, 20:44 'Take heed that no one deceives you 20:45 'for many will come in my name saying, 20:47 'I am the Christ and will deceive many. 20:49 'And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. 20:53 'See that you are not troubled 20:54 'for all these things must come to pass, 20:56 'but the end is not yet. 20:57 'For nation will rise against nation 20:59 'and kingdom against kingdom. 21:01 'And there will be famines, pestilences 21:03 'and earthquakes in various places.'" 21:06 Now, there's a lot of detail there, 21:08 including natural disasters and massive religious problems, 21:12 all of which continue with us to this day. 21:15 But the part I want you to focus on is this, 21:17 "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, 21:19 "for nation will rise against nation 21:21 "and kingdom against kingdom." 21:24 What Jesus is telling us is that as long as we're in charge, 21:28 as long as broken human beings are running the show, 21:31 this is always the way it's going to be. 21:34 People who live for the sake of self, 21:36 cannot be expected to do this any other way. 21:39 We're always gonna be at war. 21:41 Even when we think there's peace, 21:43 even when there's no active battle, 21:45 we will always live under the shadow of conflict, 21:48 the rumor of war. 21:50 And we plan our lives accordingly every single day, 21:53 just in case. 21:55 And every time we've been tempted to believe 21:57 that war is now a thing in the past, it happens yet again. 22:00 Back at the end of the 19th Century, 22:02 there were really important people making big speeches, 22:05 about how our advanced state of knowledge 22:07 was gonna bring war old piece. 22:08 They said the enlightenment and the scientific revolution, 22:11 we're gonna solve all our problems 22:13 as if these are just math problems. 22:16 But of course, 22:17 they completely overestimated our capacity 22:19 to abandon self and love each other. 22:21 And the 20th Century proved to be the bloodiest 22:23 in human history. 22:25 The communists made the same mistake last century. 22:27 They refused to understand basic human nature. 22:30 They believe that central planning and reeducation, 22:33 would help us learn to coexist 22:35 in a way that benefits everybody. 22:37 And of course, 22:38 that misreading of human nature ended in the Gulags. 22:41 Now we're faced with a generation 22:42 that didn't think that what our grandparents grew up with 22:45 was still possible. 22:46 Even though outside our own comfy existence here America, 22:49 there's been plenty of global evidence 22:51 to suggest that the next war is only ever a heartbeat away. 22:56 Now, I know some of you think the Bible 22:58 is a work of mythology, 22:59 kind of like the tales from Mount Olympus, 23:01 but I'd like to suggest that maybe you take another look, 23:04 maybe read the book of Genesis. 23:06 Far too many people have dismissed this 23:08 as a silly story about a garden and a talking snake, 23:11 but there's a reason this story has so much staying power. 23:15 It's gotten amazingly realistic grasp of human nature. 23:19 It tells the story of people that were once deeply connected 23:22 to their original purpose, their creator. 23:25 And then there was a radical break from that original order 23:28 and human existence began to unravel. 23:32 The very first personal tragedy mentioned in the Bible 23:35 is a man who murders his brother. 23:37 A story that jars us awake by rudely cutting, 23:40 across all our expectations. 23:43 We like to say that blood is thicker than water, 23:45 but Genesis tells us that jealousy and personal interest, 23:48 can be thicker than blood. 23:50 We mostly expect children to bury their parents, 23:53 but the very first funeral in the Bible 23:56 is the other way around. 23:58 And then as you explore the story carefully, 24:01 something fascinating suddenly happens, 24:03 after that very first murder. 24:05 The children of Cain leave the gates of Eden 24:07 and they go establish cities. 24:10 Here's what it says, 24:11 "Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord 24:14 "and dwelt in the land of Nod in the east of Eden. 24:17 "And Cain knew his wife and she conceived in bore Enoch, 24:20 "and he built a city and called the name of the city, 24:23 "after the name of his son Enoch." 24:26 Now you've got to ask yourself, 24:28 what is the purpose of building a city? 24:30 I'll be right back after this to answer that question. 24:37 - [Narrator] Life can throw a lot at us. 24:39 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 24:43 but that's where the Bible comes in. 24:45 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 24:48 Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 24:50 we've created the "Discover Bible Guides" 24:52 to be your guide to the Bible. 24:54 They're designed to be simple, easy to use 24:56 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions. 24:59 And they're absolutely free. 25:01 So, jump online now or give us a call 25:04 and start your journey of discovery. 25:07 - All right, we're running out of time already, 25:09 so I'm gonna have to wrap this up pretty quickly. 25:11 Just before the break, 25:12 I mentioned that the first recorded murderer, 25:14 built the first recorded city. 25:17 At the beginning of Genesis, 25:19 God had provided for all our essential needs. 25:21 And even after the fall, 25:23 he laid out a new order for survival, 25:25 a new way to live, 25:27 but one man suddenly violates that new order 25:30 and murders his brother. 25:32 So, now he has to go it alone away from his family. 25:34 And what the Bible records is the rise of city states, 25:38 a phenomena that lasted well into the medieval period. 25:42 And if you think about it, 25:43 a city is really just an artificial form of paradise. 25:46 It has a protective wall 25:48 and the cooperative effort of its citizens 25:50 to try and generate abundance. 25:52 It's pretty much what Thomas Hobbes described. 25:55 Everybody gives up some of their personal rights 25:57 in exchange for the promise of peace and prosperity. 26:00 We pay taxes, we obey the rules, we cooperate 26:04 and it always works right up to the point where it doesn't, 26:08 because at some point the top dogs, 26:11 are going to override the interests of everybody else. 26:15 So, let's go back to the scenario 26:17 we found in Daniel seven, 26:18 where the ravages of war, an empire suddenly come to a stop 26:24 and this happens. 26:25 And it says, 26:26 "I was watching in the night visions 26:28 "and be hold one like the Son of Man coming 26:31 "with the clouds of heaven. 26:33 "He came to the ancient of days 26:34 "and they brought him near before him, 26:36 "then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom 26:40 "that all people's nations and languages should serve Him. 26:43 "His dominion is a everlasting dominion 26:45 "which shall not pass away 26:47 "and in His kingdom, 26:48 "the one which shall not be destroyed." 26:53 Maybe just, maybe there's a reason the Bible calls Jesus, 26:55 the Prince of Peace. 26:57 We've got thousands of years of human beings, 26:59 doing things exactly the same way 27:02 and getting the same results, 27:04 untold misery and suffering. 27:07 And here we are watching it unfold yet again in real time. 27:12 But in this book, 27:13 we have the promise of something radically different, 27:16 something that's never really been tried by anybody. 27:21 So, maybe it's time to give this an another look 27:24 and I don't know about you, 27:25 but I think that if there's a remote possibility 27:28 that what this book says is true, 27:30 it might just be worth investigating. 27:33 And maybe, 27:34 just maybe the pain and suffering we're watching 27:37 in Europe right now really can become a thing of the past. 27:42 Thanks for joining me. 27:43 I'm Shawn Boonstra and this has been "Authentic." 27:52 [upbeat music] |
Revised 2022-03-03