Participants:
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW018165S
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00:09 ♪[Theme music]♪
00:18 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. 00:21 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. 00:24 There have been some less-than-stellar predictions 00:28 made over the years. 00:30 In 1878, Sir William Preece, 00:33 the chief engineer of the British Post Office, said, 00:37 "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. 00:41 We have plenty of messenger boys." 00:44 Albert Einstein said, "There is not the slightest indication 00:47 that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. 00:50 It would mean that the atom 00:51 would have to be shattered at will." 00:54 "We don't like their sound, 00:55 and guitar groups are on the way out." 00:58 The Decca Recording Company rejecting the Beatles in 1962. 01:03 And then, how about this one? 01:04 "The world is going to end on December the 21st, 2012!" 01:11 Now, that's what some people said. 01:13 The facts are these: December 21, 2012 01:17 was when the 5,125-year 01:20 Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, the Maya calendar, 01:25 was said to expire. 01:27 Many said with the expiration of this calendar 01:29 would come the end of the world. 01:33 Interest in the whole affair was fueled largely by two groups: 01:36 one, the media, and two, conspiracy theorists 01:41 and others like them who never did meet a good theory 01:44 they didn't just fall in love with. 01:46 And actually, there was a third thing: money. 01:49 When Hollywood comes to the party and produces a movie 01:53 dealing loosely with the subject, 01:54 you've got a runaway train. 01:57 Add internet rumors, speculation, 02:00 and just enough information about the ancient Maya 02:03 to tantalize the curiosity, 02:06 and something like this takes on a life of its own. 02:09 I'm in Belize in Central America, 02:12 in the heart of what was once Maya country. 02:16 The Maya really were a remarkable people. 02:18 ♪[Soft instrumental music]♪ 02:20 In a country the size of New Jersey and with the population 02:22 of Wichita, Kansas, a little less than 400,000, 02:26 there are still a lot of remnants of the Maya past. 02:30 The Maya flourished from about 250 AD to around 1200 AD or so, 02:37 building incredible cities made entirely from stone 02:41 and made without the use of steel tools. 02:46 So did the Maya calendar really portend the end of the world? 02:51 You know, it's interesting that there are some people 02:52 who just love speculation. 02:54 Interesting, but probably not surprising, 02:57 that is, there's a lot of mystery about life. 03:00 We weren't there in the past, 03:01 and we haven't yet been to the future. 03:03 So, some people just can't help but speculate, 03:07 and there are some who love speculation and prediction. 03:15 Recent history is littered with claims 03:18 about the end of the world. 03:19 One man forecast it would occur in 1994, 03:23 which evidently it did not. 03:25 So he reconsidered and concluded the correct year would be 2011, 03:31 which didn't work out well, either. 03:34 Did people really believe that? 03:36 That the world would end in 2011? 03:39 Well, yes and no. 03:41 The "yes" was a very small group of people who were committed 03:44 to the idea largely out of respect for their teacher. 03:48 Did the public at large buy that the world 03:51 was coming to an end in May of 2011? 03:54 Not for a moment. 03:57 But the Maya calendar-- now, that got people excited. 04:02 The predictions were made; the predictions were heard; 04:06 the predictions were widely publicized. 04:09 But the predictions, predictably enough, 04:12 came to nothing. 04:15 Now, thinking people aren't going to get carried away 04:18 by this sort of thing, are they? 04:20 No facts, no science, no evidence at all 04:24 to suggest these things are true? 04:26 Surely thinking people aren't going 04:28 to buy in to this kind of stuff. 04:30 Well, you'd hope not. 04:32 But...seers, astrologers, psychics: big business. 04:40 Recent reports state that more and more people, 04:43 especially millennials, 04:45 are embracing witchcraft and astrology. 04:48 Eastern meditation, yoga, which is Hinduism, 04:51 tarot card reading--they're all having a moment right now. 04:55 People are grabbing on to this, even though there's absolutely 04:58 no evidence that it's valid, and they're rejecting the Bible, 05:03 for which there's a ton of evidence. 05:05 Now, of course, Christianity is ultimately a faith venture. 05:09 You don't meet God on the street, 05:11 shake Him by the hand. 05:13 We believe in the existence of God by faith. 05:18 But there's this document, the Bible. 05:21 It's either true, or it isn't. 05:23 If it isn't, it isn't. 05:25 But what do you do with the mountain of evidence 05:28 that suggests, strongly, that the Bible is everything 05:32 it claims to be? 05:34 There's a bit of history in the United States, 05:36 as far as religious predictions go. 05:38 In the 1830s, a Baptist named William Miller 05:42 had a conversion experience that led him to study the Bible. 05:46 He was determined that he would work out or work through 05:49 any contradictions or inconsistencies 05:52 he found in the Bible. 05:53 He studied methodically and seriously. 05:56 He found a prophecy that he was convinced 05:58 dealt with the end of the world and with the return of Jesus. 06:02 And he became certain that Jesus was going to come back 06:05 to the earth in the year 1843. 06:09 Some of Miller's followers, 06:10 Millerites, they were referred to, 06:13 discovered that this kind Baptist preacher 06:15 was wrong in his calculations by a year. 06:19 Jesus would be coming back in 1844! 06:23 Now, William Miller wasn't a fanatic, 06:25 and he wasn't a crackpot. 06:28 He was simply an honest Baptist Christian man 06:31 who was honestly wrong. 06:33 There were thousands of people in America's northeast 06:35 that hoped along with William Miller. 06:38 But their hopes were dashed. Jesus didn't return. 06:42 So religious predictions aren't anything new. 06:45 In fact, go back to the New Testament and you find 06:49 the followers of Jesus expecting Jesus to expel the Romans 06:53 from Israel and set up His kingdom on earth. 06:57 And they were far from right about that. 07:00 And then there's the Maya calendar, 07:01 which some people, many people, 07:04 took to mean that the end of the world 07:06 was going to take place in December of 2012. 07:10 Now, the Maya were remarkable builders, 07:12 they were brilliant mathematicians, 07:14 and they were skilled astrologers. 07:16 But they did not predict the end of the world. 07:19 And even if they had, they would have been wrong. 07:23 So where can we find predictions that we can trust? 07:27 I have plenty. 07:29 I'll share them with you in just a moment. 07:31 ♪[Music]♪ 07:41 >>Announcer: The signs of Jesus' return are all around us. 07:43 But what does the Bible say we should look for? 07:47 Find out by getting today's free offer, 07:48 "Seeing the Signs." 07:50 To receive this free DVD, 07:52 call 800-253-3000 07:54 or visit us online at iiwoffer.com. 07:58 Find out for yourself what the Bible says 08:00 about the signs of Jesus' soon return. 08:02 Call 800-253-3000 08:05 or visit iiwoffer.com. 08:10 >>John Bradshaw: Thursday, August the 5th, 2010, 08:13 was not a happy day for 33 men, 08:17 when a collapse in a mine in Chile buried them 08:21 2,300 feet below ground. 08:25 No matter how much they tried to escape, 08:27 there was no way out. 08:29 Rescue would have to come from above. 08:34 On the outskirts of the San José Mine, 08:36 over two-and-a-half thousand people gathered, 08:40 and with each failed rescue attempt, 08:42 despair increased. 08:45 Families gathered together to pray for a miracle. 08:50 From the Atacama Desert comes a story of tragedy, 08:53 a story of uncertainty, yet a story of courage, 08:57 hope, and ultimately, a story of salvation. 09:01 Wait on the Lord, and the miracle will come. 09:05 "Camp Hope." 09:06 Watch now on It Is Written TV. 09:10 >>John Bradshaw: In December of 2012, a hundred members 09:13 of a Christian church in China were arrested. 09:17 They had been warning people about what they believed 09:19 would be the trouble coming to Planet Earth 09:23 on December 21 of that year, 09:25 when the 5,125-year Maya calendar expired. 09:31 The time that some people were teaching 09:32 would bring about the end of the world. 09:35 The Maya were advanced enough 09:37 to be considered the Greeks of the New World. 09:40 They had figured out that the year contained 365 days. 09:44 They had eighteen 20-day months and five additional days, 09:48 although they didn't seem to recognize 09:50 the extra quarter of a day in each year. 09:52 Their architecture was advanced. 09:54 In some places they even built sporting arenas, 09:57 courts for a ball game something like handball. 10:00 And they built impressive observatories. 10:02 Watching the movements of the stars and planets 10:05 was important to the Maya. 10:07 And as interesting as their 5,125-year calendar was, 10:13 it never actually predicted the end of the world. 10:16 It simply suggested the end of an age, 10:18 a time period, 10:20 a cycle to be followed by another one, 10:22 and then presumably another one, and so on. 10:26 But that didn't stop people from getting excited 10:29 about the end of the world. 10:30 In fact, in Russia, authorities issued a statement 10:33 reassuring Russians that they had nothing to worry about. 10:37 In the south of France, people flocked to the top of a mountain 10:40 to wait for what they believed would be the end of all things. 10:45 Well, we know that the end of the world didn't occur 10:47 December 21, 2012, and it was never going to. 10:51 But what this whole Maya calendar business does reveal 10:56 is that there are people, many people, 10:58 who are vulnerable to predictions 11:00 about the end of the world, no matter how unlikely 11:04 or even nonsensical those predictions might be. 11:09 So what then about predictions that are actually reliable? 11:12 If people are going to get animated about a calendar, 11:15 of which they had heard nothing prior in their lives, 11:18 if folks will get excited about somebody like Nostradamus, 11:21 who certainly was not a prophet in the reliable, 11:24 biblical sense, what should people do about predictions 11:28 that are verifiable and absolutely authentic? 11:32 Now, I'm going to share with you some predictions that you can 11:35 depend on, predictions that were made and then fulfilled, 11:40 predictions, predictions you can trust. 11:44 Now, the Bible isn't simply a book of predictions. 11:47 It's the story of God's love for the human family. 11:51 But it's true that the Bible does contain predictions. 11:54 In fact, God stakes His reputation on His ability 11:59 to forecast the future. 12:01 Here's what He says in Isaiah 46:9 and 10: 12:04 "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, 12:08 and there is [no other]; I am God, and there is none like me, 12:13 declaring the end from the beginning, 12:15 and from ancient times things that are not yet done, 12:19 saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.'" 12:25 In the 19th century, a Scottish scientist named James Maxwell 12:29 predicted the existence of radio waves. 12:32 Turned out he was right. 12:35 Impressive! 12:36 George Orwell's "1984" 12:38 and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" 12:40 both contained predictions about the future 12:43 that seem now eerily prescient. 12:47 But none of that is anything compared to what God did. 12:52 You want predictions? 12:54 Here we go. 12:54 Genesis 3:15. 12:57 Three chapters into the Bible. 12:58 Sin had entered the world, and God says to the serpent, 13:03 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, 13:06 and between your seed and her seed; 13:08 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." 13:12 This was a prediction that Jesus would come into the world 13:16 and defeat Satan and that Satan would be destroyed. 13:20 Now, notice the prediction said that Jesus would be bruised. 13:23 Interesting, because in Isaiah 53, 13:26 Isaiah used the same word, saying that the Messiah 13:30 would be bruised for our iniquities. 13:33 But Satan? He would ultimately be destroyed. 13:36 Everyone who wishes to can be a child of God and live eternally. 13:42 And all of this was predicted in the third chapter of the Bible, 13:47 written, written thousands of years ago. 13:51 But we're just getting started. 13:53 In Isaiah, chapters 44 and 45, Isaiah mentions by name the man 13:58 that God would use to lead the army to defeat Babylon. 14:03 Now, this isn't Isaiah looking back in time. 14:06 If this was Isaiah telling his readers something 14:08 that had already happened, it wouldn't be so impressive. 14:12 But Isaiah is looking ahead, and 150 years before the event, 14:19 Isaiah names the man, calls him by name, 14:23 who would deliver the people of God. 14:25 This is Isaiah chapter 45, verses 1 through 3. 14:28 "Thus says the Lord to His anointed, 14:31 to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-- 14:34 to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, 14:37 to open before him the double doors, 14:40 so that the gates will not shut: 14:42 'I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; 14:46 I will break in pieces the gates of bronze 14:49 and cut the bars of iron. 14:51 I will give you the treasures of darkness 14:53 and hidden riches of secret places, 14:56 that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, 15:01 am the God of Israel.'" 15:03 Now, that's more impressive than a Maya calendar non-prediction. 15:08 Now, in Micah 5 and verse 2, 15:10 the prophet Micah names the town in which Jesus would be born. 15:15 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among 15:19 the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth 15:23 to me the one to be ruler in Israel, 15:27 whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting." 15:31 More about Jesus. This is Isaiah 7:14. 15:35 "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; 15:38 behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, 15:43 and shall call His name Immanuel." 15:46 God said that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. 15:49 That's something that had never happened before. 15:52 You know, somebody making a prediction like that, 15:55 they should be laughed out of town. 15:56 Their credibility should be shot to pieces. 16:00 But that didn't happen in the case of Isaiah, 16:02 who wrote that prediction, because in that case, 16:04 and every other case like it, 16:06 what God said would happen, happened. 16:10 You know, people just don't do very well 16:12 in predicting the future. 16:14 We just don't know. 16:16 But we do know what God has predicted, 16:20 and we know that what God has predicted has come to pass. 16:24 Therefore, we can trust God, and we can trust the Bible. 16:29 I'll have more in just a moment. 16:31 ♪[Music]♪ 16:40 >>Announcer: The signs of Jesus' return are all around us. 16:43 But what does the Bible say we should look for? 16:46 Find out by getting today's free offer, 16:48 "Seeing the Signs." 16:49 To receive this free DVD, 16:51 call 800-253-3000 16:53 or visit us online at iiwoffer.com. 16:57 Find out for yourself what the Bible says 16:59 about the signs of Jesus' soon return. 17:01 Call 800-253-3000 17:04 or visit iiwoffer.com. 17:09 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me today 17:10 on It Is Written. 17:11 I'm in Belize in Central America, 17:14 east of Guatemala, south of southeastern Mexico, 17:17 the Yucatan Peninsula is just up there, 17:19 and close to Honduras. 17:21 Belize is right in the heart of what was once 17:24 the Maya civilization. 17:27 A few years ago, an interpretation 17:29 of the Maya calendar had people all over the world 17:33 worrying that the world was going to end. 17:37 Well, it is going to end. 17:38 And if you read the Bible, you get the idea that there's not 17:41 a lot of time left for Planet Earth. 17:44 And so therefore we want to remember at least two things 17:46 that Jesus told us. 17:48 One: We cannot know the day or the hour of His appearing. 17:51 We just don't know. 17:54 And so therefore, two: Be ready, no matter when it takes place. 17:59 Live in relation to God so you will always be ready 18:03 for eternity. 18:04 So how is it with you? You're ready? 18:06 You say "yes"? That's great. 18:09 You say "no" or "I'm not sure"? 18:12 Well, hmm. Not so good. 18:15 But the good news is you can be ready. 18:18 There's no need for anyone not to look into eternity 18:22 with confidence. 18:24 If you choose God as yours, 18:27 then you can have all the confidence in the world. 18:31 A couple of moments ago, we looked at some predictions 18:33 that were fulfilled. 18:35 God made the predictions, and what God says happens. 18:40 So now look at this with me. Daniel 9, verse 25. 18:44 Daniel wrote these words hundreds of years 18:47 before Jesus was born: 18:49 "Know therefore and understand, 18:51 that from the going forth of the command 18:53 to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince, 18:58 there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; 19:01 the street shall be built again, and the wall, 19:05 even in troublesome times." 19:08 Notice this: From the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, 19:13 "unto Messiah the Prince," 19:15 would be a certain period of time. 19:17 Now, that decree was issued in the year 457 BC, 19:21 and you'll find the actual decree in Ezra chapter 7, 19:25 so you can read it for yourself. 19:27 So from 457 BC unto Messiah the Prince would be 69 weeks. 19:34 In Bible prophecy, a day represents a year, 19:37 so you've got 69 times 7 years, 19:41 which would be 483 years. 19:45 Start in 457 BC, add 483 years; you get to the year 27 AD, 19:52 when Jesus would be anointed as the Messiah. 19:56 So what happened in 27 AD? 19:57 Jesus was baptized. 20:00 He was anointed, right on time, 20:03 predicted hundreds of years before. 20:05 But wait. There's more. 20:07 The same prophecy said after this Jesus would be "cut off"; 20:11 He would be put to death. 20:12 That's what happened when He died on the cross 20:15 three-and-a-half years after He was baptized. 20:17 And then the prophecy says that Jerusalem, 20:21 after this, would be destroyed. 20:24 And it was, less than 40 years after Jesus died on the cross. 20:29 Now, you could get all excited about a Maya calendar 20:33 non-prediction, or you could hang your hat on predictions 20:37 that you can really trust. 20:39 Listen, Zechariah wrote that Jesus would be betrayed 20:43 for 30 pieces of silver. 20:45 That's what happened. Zechariah 11 and verse 12. 20:48 The next verse talks about Judas throwing away the money 20:52 that he was paid to betray Jesus. 20:53 That happened, too. 20:55 Zechariah 9 and verse 9 said that Messiah, Jesus, 20:58 would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. 21:01 Precisely what took place. 21:03 Isaiah chapter 53 said that Jesus would be betrayed 21:07 by His own people. 21:08 You get to Psalm 22, that great messianic psalm; 21:11 it says that Jesus would be mocked and ridiculed. 21:14 Later, same chapter says Jesus would be crucified. 21:18 And verse 16 says, 21:20 "The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: 21:23 they pierced my hands and my feet." 21:26 And Psalm 34, verse 20 says that none of Jesus' bones 21:30 would be broken, unusual for a crucifixion victim. 21:34 The two thieves Jesus was crucified between? 21:37 They both had their legs broken. 21:39 But not Jesus. 21:41 And this was predicted many, many years before. 21:45 And then, maybe one of the most incredible prophecies of all, 21:49 Daniel said that four world-ruling kingdoms 21:52 would arise in the earth: the head of gold, 21:55 chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, 21:59 and the legs of iron. 22:00 Four kingdoms, which were Babylon, 22:03 Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 22:06 Daniel said, and you read about this in Daniel 2, 22:08 that the fourth kingdom would divide into multiple nations, 22:13 and that's exactly what happened. 22:15 In Daniel 7, he gave the same information, but with a twist: 22:20 he used animals or beasts to represent the nations, 22:23 rather than metals, as in Daniel 2. 22:26 The lion, the bear, the leopard, and then the...thing. 22:32 Again, four nations: Babylon, Medo-Persia, 22:36 Greece, and Rome. 22:39 This time he depicted Rome as having 10 horns, 22:43 and he said specifically in Daniel that the 10 horns 22:46 were 10 kings, or kingdoms, that would arise out of Rome. 22:51 And history validates that prediction 100 percent. 22:56 Now, you'd think that people would shout this 22:58 from the rooftops. 22:59 The Bible is reliable; its predictions are sure. 23:03 It's a book that can be trusted. 23:07 You know, what happens is this; some people will hear this, 23:09 even be willing to believe that, but then they see those, 23:13 those people who are a bad advertisement 23:15 for what the Bible teaches, and it throws them. 23:17 Now, it shouldn't. 23:18 You know, there are people like that who, 23:20 who don't accurately represent every belief system, 23:23 every country, every organization. 23:25 But you don't want to let the hypocrites-- 23:28 and truth be told, there's a hypocrite inside all of us-- 23:31 you don't want to let the hypocrites, 23:33 the bad eggs, keep you from God. 23:36 Now, the Bible predicted that Jesus would come into the world. 23:39 It predicted the circumstances of His life, 23:42 the circumstances of His death. 23:43 It predicted the rise and the fall of nations, 23:46 and so much more. 23:48 And there's something else. 23:50 Listen to this. 23:51 Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, 23:54 this is 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; we start at verse 13: 23:58 "But I do not want you to be ignorant, 24:00 brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, 24:03 lest you sorrow as others who have no hope." 24:07 The Thessalonians evidently believed 24:09 that if you weren't alive when Jesus came back, 24:12 you couldn't go to heaven; you couldn't be saved. 24:15 So Paul corrected them. 24:19 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 24:23 even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 24:26 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, 24:29 that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord 24:33 will by no means precede those who are asleep. 24:36 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 24:39 with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, 24:42 and with the trumpet of God. 24:44 And the dead in Christ will rise first. 24:47 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together 24:50 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 24:53 And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 24:59 Paul predicted that Jesus would return to this earth. 25:02 Undoubtedly it's going to happen. 25:04 He predicted the resurrection 25:05 that would take place on the last day. 25:08 That's certainly going to happen, too. 25:10 Think of all of the other predictions 25:12 that we've just looked at. 25:13 They've all been fulfilled. This one will be, as well. 25:17 Jesus is coming back. 25:19 And when He comes back, He wants you to be ready. 25:23 The Bible is God's book. Think about what it promises. 25:26 And think about this: 25:28 Life is short, no matter how long you live. 25:32 Don't cheat yourself. 25:34 God's Word says that God loves you; 25:37 you know that's true. 25:39 The Bible says God cares for you. 25:41 You can believe that as well. 25:43 The Bible says that God would forgive you of your sins. 25:46 Surely that is so. 25:48 And the Bible says that God will give you a new heart. 25:51 He's just waiting to do that for you if you'll ask Him. 25:54 You know, if you'll let God do so, 25:58 He'll work in your life so that you'll learn to love 26:01 the things that God loves. 26:03 And you'll love life when you love what God loves. 26:06 You can trust the Bible. 26:08 And you can trust the God of the Bible. 26:11 You can trust Him with your heart. 26:13 He'll keep it, and you, forever and ever. 26:18 >>John: Thank you for remembering that It Is Written 26:20 exists because of the kindness of people just like you. 26:23 To support this international life-changing ministry, 26:26 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 26:30 You can send your tax-deductible gift 26:32 to the address on your screen, 26:33 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 26:37 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. 26:40 Our number again is 800-253-3000. 26:44 Or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 26:48 >>John Bradshaw: Let's pray together now. 26:50 Our Father in heaven, 26:51 we thank You today that the Bible can be trusted, 26:53 and that it demonstrates to us that You can be trusted. 26:57 Lord, if You can be trusted, and You can, 26:59 then we want to trust You with our lives. 27:02 Friend, are you ready to tell God today 27:04 you want to trust Him with your life, 27:06 want to recommit your life to Him? 27:08 Or if you've never done so, 27:10 accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. 27:12 Tell God now, 27:14 "Lord, I want to follow You. 27:16 This book cannot be argued; it cannot be denied. 27:19 And so therefore I want to follow its Author, 27:22 the One who inspired it." 27:24 Friend, can you do that now? 27:25 Lord, take our hearts. 27:27 Take our lives. Make them Yours. 27:30 Guide us. Lead us. 27:32 Ready us for that great day when we are taken home 27:36 to be with You forever. 27:39 This is our prayer, in Jesus' name. 27:42 Amen. 27:44 Thank you so much for joining me today. 27:46 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 27:47 Until then, remember: 27:50 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:54 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 28:00 ♪[Theme music]♪ 28:10 ♪[Theme music]♪ |
Revised 2022-08-23