Participants:
Series Code: SSH
Program Code: SSH022023S
|
00:00 ♪♪♪
00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:37 Welcome again to "Sabbath School Study Hour," coming to you 00:39 from the Amazing Facts offices near Sacramento, California. 00:43 To be specific, we're in the area of Granite Bay. 00:46 We'd like to welcome all of those who are joining us. 00:48 We have an important study today, and we've still been 00:50 studying through our series talking about the Bible. 00:53 Today we're on lesson number 10 in our lesson quarterly. 00:56 It's entitled The Bible As History. 00:59 We got some import information, some fascinating archaeological 01:02 information to share with you that helps proves the validity 01:05 of the Bible. 01:08 Pastor Doug, we have a very important lesson. 01:09 Good morning. 01:11 Doug Batchelor: Morning, how are you doing? 01:12 Jean: Doing good. 01:14 Of course, we're going to be talking about the Bible 01:15 as history, and it's always a good idea to start with prayer 01:17 before we get into the study of God's Word, so let's do that. 01:21 Dear Father, we thank you again that we have this wonderful 01:23 opportunity to open up and study your Word. 01:25 We can see how that the Bible reveals to us, not only the way 01:29 of life, but it also reveals God's dealing through human 01:32 history, and so, we pray for your guidance as we study 01:34 together this morning. 01:36 In Jesus' name, amen. 01:39 Doug: Amen. 01:40 Jean: We've got a free offer that we'd like to tell our 01:42 friends about. 01:44 It's one of the Amazing Facts study guides. 01:45 It's one of our classics, it's called "The USA In Bible 01:48 Prophecy," and this is our free offer. 01:50 All you'll need to do is call the number 866-788-3966 and ask 01:55 for Offer Number 181. 01:58 Again, that's 866-788-3966 and ask for Offer Number 101. 02:06 And we'll be happy to send this out to anyone who calls 02:08 and asks. 02:10 You can receive a digital download of our free offer by 02:12 texting the code SH039--or 93 I should say, SH093 to the 02:19 number 40544. 02:23 You'll get a digital download, and you'll be able to study this 02:25 very important lesson talking about the United States in 02:28 Bible prophecy. 02:30 Our lesson today, lesson number 10 entitled The Bible As 02:33 History, and Pastor Doug, we've got a memory verse for today. 02:37 Doug: Yes, it's from Exodus chapter 20, verse 2, and it 02:40 says, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land 02:44 of Egypt out of the house of bondage." 02:47 I think most people recognize that as part of the Ten 02:48 Commandments, but it also gives, it's an encompassing memory 02:54 verse because the theme of the lesson today is really how the 02:58 panorama of Bible history can be supported with World History. 03:04 And, you know, one of the big questions I asked when I first 03:07 started reading the Bible is, well, the Bible's not a 03:10 fairytale, it's a true book, it's a historical book, these 03:12 things really happened? 03:15 And I was very pleased as I studied over the years to find 03:18 out that the Bible is probably the most comprehensive 03:21 historical book in the world. 03:24 Jean: Mm-hmm. 03:26 There's an important number of themes that are introduced that 03:28 we find in the Bible. 03:29 For example, the Bible talks about creation. 03:32 The Bible talks about the fall, where did sin come from. 03:36 We have the story of the flood. 03:38 We have the call of Abraham. 03:40 We have the history of Israel revealed in the Bible. 03:42 And, of course, all of that culminates in the coming of the 03:44 Messiah, and that's really the central focus of the Bible. 03:47 The establishment of the Christian church is, of course, 03:50 a theme in the New Testament. 03:52 And then, you've got all of the prophecies found in the Bible, 03:54 as well as the practical information on how we find a 03:56 saving relationship with Christ. 03:58 So, the Bible is both a religious book, but it is also 04:01 very authoritative, the most authoritative history book 04:04 as well. 04:06 Doug: Amen. 04:08 You know, I was pleased that as I was reading the Bible, I 04:11 should mention, I did not do very well in some classes. 04:14 I did not do very well in math. 04:16 I did not do very well in English, believe it or not. 04:21 I still struggle to spell if it wasn't for spell check. 04:24 Something I did well in was history because for me, our 04:27 teachers often taught history as stories. 04:30 And so, I knew about the Persians, and the Romans, and 04:34 the Greeks, and the Babylonians, or Mesopotamians, I think we 04:37 called them. 04:39 And so, as I was finally reading the Bible for the first time I'm 04:41 going yeah, I remember reading that, I remember. 04:44 So, going through the prophecies in Daniel, reading about Egypt, 04:49 and going to Egypt later in my life, going in the pyramids and 04:53 seeing the things the Bible writes about, it covers such a 04:57 big span of Middle Eastern history, which was, in many 05:02 ways, the cradle of civilization. 05:04 So, some of the most important learning knowledge, mathematics, 05:08 writing, originated in Mesopotamia and the Middle East, 05:13 and it's all backed up and endorsed by the Bible. 05:17 Jean: Now, of course, we also want to mention this, I didn't 05:19 mention this in beginning, but we want this to be an 05:21 interactive Bible study. 05:24 So, if you have a question related to the Bible, the 05:26 trustworthiness of the Word of God, or maybe a verse that 05:28 you've never understood, you're welcome to send us a comment or 05:32 ask your question in Facebook in the comment section. 05:36 And they're going to be sending these questions to me, and we'll 05:38 try to answer as many of them as we get through our lesson study 05:40 this morning. 05:42 Doug: Now, that can be either the Granite Bay Facebook page or 05:45 the Doug Batchelor Facebook page. 05:47 It might even be on Amazing Facts but one of those two, just 05:50 type your question in there. 05:51 We've got someone watching them and they'll spring them over 05:53 to us. 05:55 Jean: And, of course, this program is being broadcast on 05:57 Pastor Doug's Facebook page, the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, 06:00 Amazing Facts Facebook. 06:01 It's also on AFTV live, so there's a number of ways that 06:04 you can view and participate in our study. 06:07 Well, we get to Sunday's lesson and its introduction, he's 06:09 talking about David, Solomon, and the monarchy. 06:13 Now, if you were to find a time in Israel's history when the 06:16 promises that God had made to Abraham met their fullest 06:21 fulfillment, it would probably be during the time of David 06:24 and Solomon. 06:25 It's sometimes referred to as the golden age of 06:27 Israel's history. 06:29 Now, of course, it's an important time because if you 06:31 don't have David, then you don't have Jerusalem because David 06:34 conquered the Jebusite fortress eventually named Jerusalem. 06:37 Without David, you wouldn't have Solomon. 06:39 Without Solomon, you wouldn't have the building of the temple. 06:42 And, of course, most important, it's through the line of David, 06:45 through the tribe of Judah that the Messiah would come. 06:48 Now, of course, there's some dispute amongst historians today 06:52 as to whether or not David was a real historical figure. 06:55 Maybe it's because of the great stories. 06:57 You read about David killing Goliath and some of 06:58 the exploits. 07:00 People say, "Ah, that seemed a little too far fetched. 07:03 He wasn't a real historical figure. 07:05 He was made up by the Jews." 07:07 Doug: And there--we were in Israel a year and a half, two 07:09 years ago, and there's also very big political reasons that some 07:14 people dispute the historical truth about the Davidic line and 07:18 Solomon and that's because David conquering all the surrounding 07:23 nations and God, you know, fully giving them the Promised Land, 07:28 that really creates some, some support for Israel saying, "This 07:33 is our native land, we want to come back." 07:36 And so, there have been people who, for political reasons, they 07:39 don't appreciate Israel. 07:41 And whether they're, you know, supporting the Palestinian view 07:44 that "well, Israel never--this never was their land, they made 07:46 that all up," or for some other political reason, you can see 07:51 there's very strong opinions on both sides of this to prove or 07:55 disprove, did David really exist? 07:59 Did Solomon really exist? 08:00 Did Joshua really bring them into the Promised Land? 08:03 Because it's a question of the most disputed holy land in the 08:07 world and its ownership. 08:09 And so, when we were there, our guides who we should say in the 08:14 interest of full disclosure, they were hired by Israel. 08:18 The tour guides took us and they showed us the city of David and 08:20 the excavations there. 08:22 But I'll tell you, it was pretty convincing. 08:24 And I remember a young Israeli girl took us around, gave us the 08:26 whole history. 08:28 You could look down, you could see the ancient city of David. 08:31 And there have been discoveries along the way; for example, they 08:35 did some archaeological work, what they Tel Dan. 08:39 Now, that's actually not in Jerusalem, it's north. 08:42 And they found a stele there. 08:43 That's like a pillar with writing on it, ancient writing, 08:47 and it actually mentions the house of David. 08:51 And so, that was some of t first written history that 08:54 proved that David really did live. 08:56 And they find, they found others since that. 08:59 And I should mention just backing up to Joshua a 09:01 little bit. 09:04 If you go to Western Africa, in Algeria, there is again a large 09:10 column, or two large columns, on which is inscribed in Phoenician 09:15 characters, "We are the Phoenicians who fled from the 09:18 face of Jesus." 09:21 Now, that was the Greek way of saying Joshua the son of Naue, 09:25 Joshua the son of Nun. 09:27 And many of the Phoenicians and the people in that land when 09:30 Joshua came, they were driven out. 09:32 And so, there's throughout the Middle East, there's written 09:36 history that proves this. 09:39 Jean: You know, another interesting, historical 09:40 archaeological find took place in a region that is probably 09:45 well known to most Bible readers. 09:48 It's the famous story of David and Goliath. 09:50 And we read in 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 3 how the armies were 09:53 situated during that time. 09:56 It says, "The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and 09:58 Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley 10:01 between them." 10:03 And archaeologists, because of these descriptions that we find 10:05 in the Bible, were able to pinpoint the very place where 10:07 the story took place. 10:10 And they'd done some archaeological digs and they've 10:12 discovered a massive fortified garrisoned city that dates back 10:17 to the time of Saul and David, and the interesting about this 10:19 is it's got two gates in the excavation. 10:22 They weren't typically these type of fortifications that had 10:25 two gates. 10:27 What's significant about the two gates is in the Bible in 10:29 1 Samuel 17, verse 52, it identifies this place as 10:34 Shaaraim, I guess is how it's pronounced. 10:37 In the Hebrew, it literally means two gates. 10:40 So, from the Bible record, as well as archeological finds, we 10:43 can actually pinpoint this very spot where the story of David 10:46 and Goliath took place, and the archaeological evidence 10:49 supports that. 10:51 Doug: Yeah, and even today if you go to Israel, I was 10:54 surprised how many of the ancient names of places that you 10:56 find in the Bible are the, basically the modern names that 11:00 even the Arabs use. 11:02 Sometimes it's a little different pronunciation, but 11:04 it's pretty clear. 11:07 It's the same place, you know, Joppa, Haifa, and some of the 11:09 others, yeah. 11:11 Jean: We got some questions, Pastor Doug, that's coming in 11:13 related to the Bible, and this one's not directly related to 11:15 archaeology but it's an interesting question. 11:17 It says, "Was the story of Ananias and Sapphira a parable?" 11:21 And, of course, we find that in the New Testament. 11:23 It says, "If not, why did they receive such a severe punishment 11:26 as usually associated with Old Testament times before the death 11:29 of Christ?" 11:31 Doug: Yeah, Ananias and Sapphira you find in Acts 11:33 chapter 5, and it is a true story. 11:37 It's a very sobering story, but it explains that God's Spirit 11:40 was moving in a mighty way on the hearts of the people. 11:43 And they were touched with the Spirit, they were giving in a 11:46 very sacrificial, generous way. 11:49 And that was the Spirit of God moving on the church. 11:52 But a couple, they were basically going to pollute that 11:56 whole movement by feigning that they were making this tremendous 12:01 sacrifice, but really keeping a percent, maybe a large percent, 12:05 of those monies for themselves, but acting like, "We've sold 12:07 everything, and we're giving it all to the Lord." 12:10 And they basically both died that very day that they lied to 12:13 the apostles about this gift that they were giving. 12:17 And some have thought, "Well, that was pretty severe." 12:20 I think it's showing that, and someone said that if God treated 12:23 the whole church today the way he treated Ananias and Sapphira, 12:27 there'd be a lot of funerals. 12:29 But the reason he did it then is because it was a lesson for 12:32 future ages that we should not pretend we're giving all when we 12:37 don't and that honesty was very important in the church, and 12:43 that we should not deny the moving of the Spirit. 12:45 Peter said, "You've lied to the Holy Spirit." 12:47 So, it was a real event, it's not a parable. 12:49 Jean: One of the important historical things that we read 12:50 about in the Bible, of course, we find in Exodus chapter 20, 12:53 and that is the giving of the law. 12:55 But there are some interesting things associated with that and 12:58 somebody is asking a question about this, Pastor Doug. 13:00 Exodus chapter 34 and their question is connected between 13:04 verse 27 through to verse 35. 13:08 And they're asking, "Can you explain what this is all about, 13:10 this passage?" 13:12 And it's talking about the receiving of the law, and then 13:14 it says Moses didn't eat for 40 days on the mount, then he came 13:17 down and his face was shining. 13:19 What is that all about? 13:21 Doug: Well, I believe it's true. 13:23 Moses is up on the mountain, he's in communion with God. 13:25 He's up there for 40 days and 40 nights. 13:28 It shouldn't surprise us that his face was glowing. 13:32 You see, in the Bible before, before sin when Adam and Eve 13:35 were in the garden and they were perfectly holy and talking to 13:37 God, we believe they had an inner light that kind of 13:41 radiated out. 13:43 And that's why after they sinned, that light faded and 13:45 they saw their nakedness. 13:48 They sort of had robes of light. 13:50 When Moses was talking with the Lord, his face was shining. 13:54 You find a parallel story of that. 13:56 Jesus goes up the mountain with Peter, James, and John, you read 13:59 in Mark chapter 9, it's called the Mount of Transfiguration. 14:03 And Moses and Elijah appear and it says, Christ's garments began 14:05 to glow brighter than the sun at noonday. 14:09 And Jesus was shining. 14:12 And Moses was shining, and Elijah was shining. 14:14 The disciples are cowering. 14:16 They can't even look at the glory. 14:18 One time Christ said, "I am He, and the glory of God shone 14:20 through Jesus," so that the mob coming to arrest him fell 14:24 backwards from the light. 14:27 And so, it shouldn't surprise us. 14:29 I remember as a kid that I would get these glow-in-the-dark 14:33 stars, you could hold up to a light and stick it on your 14:36 ceiling or something. 14:38 And they glowed pretty bright for a while after you put them 14:41 right next to the flashlight, then it would gradually fade and 14:44 that's what kind of happened to Moses. 14:47 The radioactive glory of God, whatever it was, it was just 14:50 shining off his face and for a while there until it kind of 14:53 faded, people couldn't even look at him. 14:55 Jean: They had to veil his face. 14:57 Doug: Yeah, and it's no mystery that he didn't eat or drink for 14:59 40 days. 15:01 He just supernaturally sustained. 15:02 That also happened later to Elijah when he was strengthened 15:05 by the angels, and he went in the strength of one meal 40 days 15:09 through the wilderness. 15:11 Jean: And you mentioned the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus 15:13 didn't eat for 40 days. 15:15 Moses didn't eat for 40 days. 15:17 Elijah didn't eat for 40 days. 15:18 So there's a connection there. 15:20 Another question that someone's asking related to the 15:22 archeological discoveries in Jerusalem, the question that 15:24 Joel asks is, "Are the streets of Jerusalem built on the 15:28 original streets from the time of Christ?" 15:33 Doug: Well, you know, they've modernized Jerusalem and so many 15:36 of them are different, but many of them are the same. 15:39 It's even like when you go through Italy today, they still 15:42 have some that's like the Appian way, it's an ancient Roman road. 15:46 There are some roads that were just the best, most direct 15:48 route, and they have repaired and built on top of them for 15:51 millennia, but you can actually see, there are some very old 15:56 streets in Jerusalem. 15:58 When pilgrims go to Jerusalem, they've been this for over 1,000 16:01 years since the time at least of the crusaders. 16:04 During the Easter week, they walked what they called the Via 16:07 Dolorosa, the way of suffering. 16:10 And it's believed to be the approximate path that Jesus 16:12 would have taken from Antonia Fortress to Golgotha. 16:17 And very likely, some of those streets are the same. 16:21 In the days of Paul in Damascus, it says Paul was on 16:23 Straight Street. 16:25 They still have a street in Damascus called Straight Street, 16:28 if they haven't blown it up recently. 16:30 That dates way back to the time of Paul. 16:33 Jean: Yeah, that's interesting. 16:34 On Monday, we're going to be talking a little bit about 16:37 Isaiah, Hezekiah, and Sennacherib, so we spoke on 16:41 Sunday about David, Solomon, and the monarchy. 16:45 Now, moving a little further in time, we have the story 16:47 of Hezekiah. 16:49 Is there any archaeological evidence that helps to testify 16:52 to the story of Hezekiah and, in particular, Sennacherib, who's 16:56 this Syrian king that came up against Jerusalem. 16:58 And it's an incredible story. 17:01 You actually find it In Isaiah 36: 1 to 3, and it talks about 17:04 how that King Hezekiah in Jerusalem received this letter 17:09 from Sennacherib and he brought it, and he laid it before 17:11 the Lord. 17:12 And he prayed and he asked for God's protection against 17:15 the kingdom. 17:17 And, of course, by this time, Sennacherib had sort of marched 17:19 down from the north and had conquered all of the territory. 17:22 By this time, the ten tribes in the north, they were gone, and 17:25 he was already beginning to enter into Judea, but he was 17:27 unable to conquer Jerusalem because God gave a remarkable, 17:31 or a miraculous delivery for Hezekiah and the Jews. 17:35 Is there anything archaeological evidence that supports this? 17:39 Doug: Well, you're going to tell us. 17:41 Jean: Okay, well, I got it right here. 17:42 Thank you for asking, Pastor Doug. 17:44 Doug: I'll wind up when you talk about Moab in a minute. 17:46 Jean: Yes, you can read this in our lesson. 17:47 I found it interesting. 17:49 It was actually around 700, 701 BC that we have Sennacherib that 17:53 brought his campaign against Judea, and Judah, and Jerusalem. 17:57 And the Bible gives the description of this. 18:00 They've done archeological digs back in Nineveh in the palace of 18:04 Sennacherib, and he describes all of the areas that he 18:07 conquered and various cities that he defeated, including 18:11 Lachish, one of the cities. 18:13 But when it comes to Jerusalem, he doesn't say that he 18:15 conquered Jerusalem. 18:17 Instead he says, "As for Hezekiah the Judea, I shut him 18:20 in his city like a bird in a cage. 18:24 Now, it is true that Sennacherib did besiege Jerusalem, but he is 18:27 unable to conquer. 18:28 Now, of course, he doesn't mention the fact that, you know, 18:30 thousands of his soldiers were killed, [inaudible] by the 18:33 angel, and eventually he left, Sennacherib left and went back. 18:37 But it does testify to the biblical account that God 18:39 delivered Hezekiah at that time. 18:43 Doug: Now, these kings, when they were writing history on 18:45 these stones, they usually put the best possible spin on 18:48 their exploits. 18:50 "I shut them in like a bird." 18:51 You know, I was also going to talk, and we're dealing with the 18:53 time of the kings. 18:55 By the way, if you go to Israel, if you see the Dead Sea Scrolls, 18:58 one of the most intact scrolls you can see is the 19:01 Isaiah scroll. 19:03 And I was very touched when years ago I was first there, my 19:07 guide that I had, his name was Moshe, which means Moses, he 19:11 trained in reading ancient Hebrew and I pointed to a place 19:15 on the Dead Sea Scroll and I said, "Can you read what 19:17 that says?" 19:19 And he translated into English as he read to me, and it was a 19:21 story of Hezekiah and Sennacherib. 19:24 So, we know that that went back 2,000 years and it's still the 19:26 same as in our Bibles today. 19:29 Then they found the Moabite stone. 19:31 I don't know if you've ever heard of that before. 19:33 This is another one of those steles, you know, a pillar with 19:36 an inscription on it. 19:38 It was a black basil stone found in the area of the Edomites, or 19:41 the Moabites, rather. 19:44 And in the Moabite language, they specifically mentioned 19:48 their battles with the house of Omri. 19:51 Of course, Ahab was the son of Omri. 19:53 Omri was one of the kings in Israel that you find written 19:56 about also in 2 Kings. 19:58 So, there's lots of endorsement in extra biblical history. 20:04 There's something I want to say now because I may forget, 20:05 Pastor Ross. 20:08 It always is amazing to me that people question the historicity 20:13 of the Bible because there is so much more written about these 20:19 Bible characters and about Jesus, who we'll get to a little 20:21 later, than you have on Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. 20:26 And one reason is they say, "Well, you can't contest that 20:29 Alexander the Great lived." 20:30 Even though there's only a few stories from the ancient 20:33 historians about him. 20:35 They say, "You can see that his kingdom spread all around the 20:39 Middle East." 20:41 And so, there's no reason to doubt because of the effect in 20:44 the English language and that what they call the hellenization 20:47 of that great area. 20:49 Well, you can see Christianity spread all over the world. 20:52 So, you can see the impact of it spread all over Rome. 20:55 There's so much more written about the Bible and Jesus, why 20:58 would we doubt, unless a person has got a prejudice going into 21:02 it to doubt? 21:04 Ross: Here's a great questions coming from Teresa and she asks, 21:08 "Does the pool of Bethesda still exist today?" 21:12 Of course, you read that story where Jesus healed a man, 38 21:15 years he was laying beside the pool of Bethesda. 21:18 So have they discovered the remains of this pool? 21:21 Does it exist? 21:23 Doug: Yeah, I think they believe they have, and I believe they 21:26 also, there's a couple of miracles. 21:29 One is the pool of Siloam, and then the other is pool of 21:32 Bethesda and miracles happen in both these places. 21:35 And I think those who have done excavation around Israel, 21:38 they'll take you to those locations where they believe the 21:41 pools are. 21:43 They don't look now like they did then. 21:44 They're not full of water flowing crystal clear. 21:46 One of the neat things, and this is to me really exciting, is 21:50 when Karen and I, Karen's here on the front row, when we were 21:53 in Israel, we arrived a couple of days before your crew came. 21:58 And we were with some friends, Aaron and Jessalyn, and we had a 22:05 couple of days we said we want to see Hezekiah's tunnel. 22:08 If you look in, I think it's 2 Kings, it talks about Hezekiah 22:12 built a conduit that brought water into Jerusalem. 22:16 And there's this tunnel, you go down this long winding stairs 22:20 inside Jerusalem, and then you walk in anywhere from ankle to 22:24 knee-deep water, sometimes thigh-deep water, pitch black. 22:28 We had to use our cell phones to see where we were going, just 22:30 the four of us. 22:32 And you walk, and you walk, a you walk, and you can see on the 22:34 walls where they picked it out by hand. 22:37 Now, this is something that I think is 700 years A.D. 22:39 You can see what's recorded in the Bible. 22:42 You are feeling it, it is still bringing water into 22:44 Jerusalem today. 22:46 Very exciting. 22:47 Jean: You mean 700 BC. 22:49 Doug: Oh, yeah, 700 BC, and it's, it seemed like it was half 22:52 a mile long. 22:53 It's very long. 22:55 Jean: Now, talking about the pool of Bethesda, just the verse 22:58 in John chapter 5, verse 1 it says, "There was a feast of 23:00 the Jews. 23:02 Jesus went up to Jerusalem and there in Jerusalem by the sheep 23:04 gate is a pool, which is called in the Hebrew Bethesda, having 23:08 five porches." 23:10 And when we were there touring through Jerusalem, they took us 23:12 to a spot that they've archeological digs have 23:14 happened there. 23:16 And sure enough, it's the very spot, they believe and I think 23:19 they're right, where the pool of Bethesda was because it actually 23:20 has five porches, and you can see that in the 23:23 archeological dig. 23:24 It's a lot lower than the ground level right now because the 23:27 city's been destroyed and been rebuilt. 23:29 So, it's a remarkable thought to actually stand in the very spot 23:33 where Jesus was and where He healed this man. 23:36 And you kind of have that feeling when you 23:38 visit Jerusalem. 23:40 So many places that you've read about in the Bible suddenly just 23:42 spring to life when you're actually standing there. 23:44 I remember up in the area near the Galilee where you're walking 23:48 where Jesus walked, where He called the disciples in the town 23:51 of Capernaum in the temple there where he healed people. 23:54 It's just a remarkable thought. 23:56 Doug: Yeah, and again, many of the towns like Tiberias, still 24:00 have the same nouns--same names. 24:04 You go to Caesarea, it's still there today and you can actually 24:07 see a stone that has Pilate's name on it. 24:11 Now, I think the original stone may be in a museum somewhere so 24:13 they've made a copy, a model copy of it that's exact, but you 24:17 can see Pilate mentioned. 24:19 For years they said, Oh, Pilate never lived," and then they 24:22 found some history where Pilate is mentioned. 24:25 Jean: Now, Genie's asking, "Why is the Bible not written in 24:27 chronological order?" 24:30 Doug: Yeah, well, the Jews in the Old Testament, they arranged 24:35 the books in groups. 24:37 You've got the books of history, the books of the law, the books 24:39 of poetry, the minor prophets, the major prophets, and they 24:43 basically bunch them together in that way. 24:46 There's several ways, you know, a librarian can 24:48 organize material. 24:50 In the New Testament, you've got the gospels, the story of Jesus 24:53 is what it begins with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and 24:56 they're not actually organized probably, they weren't sure when 24:59 they first organized them which was written first. 25:01 Now, we're pretty sure Mark was written first, and then 25:04 possibly Matthew. 25:06 John was written last and that would put Luke in the third 25:08 place, and then Acts is a continuing history of 25:12 the church. 25:14 The interesting thing about the writings of Paul, I was always 25:16 surprised to hear is, whoever organized those, and it may have 25:19 been Martin Luther, that he organized the books in order of 25:22 the longest to the shortest. 25:24 So, when you're reading Romans, you're reading the longest book 25:26 of Paul and then you get to--now, they weren't sure who 25:29 wrote Hebrews. 25:30 That's why they put it where they did. 25:32 And then you get to books like Titus and Philemon, they're on 25:34 the end of that. 25:36 Jean: So, it's interesting just to look at how the layout of the 25:38 Bible and, you know, we do have some resources. 25:41 If you're wondering about how do we get the Bible, it's called 25:43 "The Ultimate Resource," and I believe you can read it for free 25:46 on the Amazing Facts website. 25:48 It's called "The Ultimate Resource." 25:50 Well, then Pastor Doug, that brings us to our next day study 25:53 and it's talking about Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, and Babylon. 25:56 Here is just a tremendous amount of archaeological evidence to 25:58 support the biblical account of, first of all, Nebuchadnezzar as 26:02 being the one who built the ancient city of Babylon. 26:06 Doug: And this is a very well-established fact of history 26:10 that nobody disputes. 26:13 Part of the reason they can't dispute it is because when you 26:17 go, matter of fact, our friend Dr. Michael Hasel is a 26:20 professor and does archaeology. 26:23 And he actually has it's either reproduction or brick, but you 26:27 go to ancient Babylon, and a number of the soldiers that went 26:30 to visit ancient Babylon during the Iraq War have brought 26:33 some home. 26:35 Nebuchadnezzar had his seal stamped on millions of bricks. 26:39 And so, to deny his existence that he was the one who did the 26:45 massive building program so that he finally could declare, "Is 26:48 this not the great Babylon that I have built?" 26:51 And it was the golden kingdom. 26:54 It's referred to both, of course, by Daniel and in 26:56 history, and they've got the gates of Ishtar in the Berlin 27:00 Museum, a museum in Berlin. 27:03 I can't say the name of it. 27:04 Jean: There's actually a total of eight gates that entered into 27:06 the ancient city of Babylon, of course, it had massive walls. 27:09 The city contained more than 300 different temples to 27:12 their deities. 27:14 Probably the most famous of the gates is the Ishtar Gate. 27:17 And the interesting thing about that is as you enter into the 27:19 ancient city of Babylon and you're passing through the 27:21 Ishtar Gate, and doubtless this was the way that Daniel and the 27:25 captives were brought when they came back from Jerusalem, 27:27 on either side of the walls as you're entering the gate, there 27:30 are these tiled images of lions, some even have wings, so lions 27:36 with wings that are described entering into Babylon. 27:39 And it's interesting that we have in Daniel chapter 7, 27:42 verse 4, the nation of Babylon described as a lion with wings. 27:46 So, it was very clear to the Babylonians, it was clear to the 27:49 king, what power was being represented by this first beast 27:52 of a lion with eagle's wings. 27:54 It represented the ancient city of Babylon. 27:56 Doug: And there's even a character that you find 27:58 mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 39, Nebuzaradan. 28:02 Now, this is not Nebuchadnezzar. 28:04 This was a captain of the king's guard, and they have found 28:06 ancient writings. 28:08 I believe it may be some cuneiform tablet that mentions 28:11 him as well. 28:13 So, there's just a lot of very strong historical collaboration. 28:18 Jean: Even stamped on the bricks of the ancient city of Babylon 28:20 is the name "Nebuchadnezzar." 28:22 And then, of course, you have the silent cylinder, which I 28:25 believe is in the British Museum that actually records how Cyrus 28:28 conquered Babylon, and it's according to the biblical 28:30 account that we have so that's helping to validate what the 28:33 Bible says. 28:35 So, there's so much evidence the more archaeological digs, the 28:38 more discoveries we find, the more testifies to the accuracy 28:42 of the Bible. 28:43 Doug: Yeah, even the stones cry out, as Jesus said. 28:45 Jean: That's exactly what's happening. 28:47 We have somebody asking a question. 28:49 Jolie is asking, "Why is the Beautiful Gate, going into the 28:53 ancient city of Jerusalem, walled up today?" 28:56 And if you stand on the Mount of Olives and you look over the 28:58 Kidron Valley and you look up against the old wall of the city 29:02 of Jerusalem, one of the gates has been bricked up and he's 29:06 wondering why is that. 29:08 Doug: Well, they are correct, it's technically it's not the 29:10 Beautiful Gate. 29:11 It's the Golden Gate that they sealed and it's because during 29:15 the time, I think it was of Solomon the Great, one of the 29:19 leaders of the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim, he knew that the Jewish 29:24 tradition was that the Messiah would come through that gate 29:28 from the Mount of Olives, because of a prophecy 29:30 in Zechariah. 29:32 And so, to prevent the prophecy from coming true--they didn't 29:34 realize Jesus already did it. 29:37 Supposedly, to prevent that prophecy from coming true, they 29:39 bricked up that gate and then to desecrate the ground, they put a 29:43 cemetery in front of it. 29:45 But it's kind of tragic that you can't go through that gate right 29:48 now, but they're too late because Jesus went through the 29:52 Golden Gate during the triumphal entry, and he fulfilled that 29:55 prophecy as it said there in, I believe, Micah that, "Your King 29:59 comes to you lowly riding upon a donkey." 30:03 Is that Micah or Zechariah? 30:05 Jean: Zechariah, I think. 30:06 Doug: Zechariah. 30:08 Jean: Now, of course, then that brings us to our study on 30:09 Wednesday, which is the most important, and that's the 30:12 historical Jesus. 30:13 Did Jesus really exist? 30:15 Well, according to the Bible, there is no question about the 30:17 fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he began his 30:22 ministry at the age of 30. 30:24 He performed all kinds of miracles. 30:26 He raised people from the dead. 30:28 Of course, the combination of that is Jesus was crucified, and 30:30 he rose from the dead. 30:32 Now, the amazing thing about the story of Jesus, it's not just 30:34 some story that is separated from historical facts 30:37 or evidence. 30:39 It's not some story that took place without knowing where, or 30:42 when, or who was in charge. 30:43 You look at the archaeological and historical evidence that 30:46 goes along with the story of Jesus, it's a specific place 30:49 where Jesus was born, where he grew up, where he ministered, 30:52 talks about where he went in Jerusalem for his trial. 30:56 It talks about Pontius Pilate, talks about Caiaphas who was the 30:59 high priest. 31:01 And now there's a lot of archaeological evidence that 31:03 helps to support these very individuals, these names, these 31:06 places that we find listed in the Bible. 31:10 Doug: Yeah, absolutely. 31:12 And there are, you know, there's a lot of archaeology that's been 31:15 done that reinforces the evidence that Jesus 31:18 really existed. 31:20 There's also some historians. 31:23 Now, if somebody 600 years now begins to write about Abraham 31:25 Lincoln, they might say they made up this character, Lincoln. 31:28 Yeah, president split logs and he, you know, was born in a 31:32 cabin, became president. 31:34 They may say, "Ah, it's not true." 31:36 Well, we live close enough to the time of Lincoln where we 31:40 know it is true. 31:41 Matter of fact, the year before I was born, the last Civil War 31:46 soldier died. 31:48 And so, there's a very small gap in history between our day and 31:52 the Civil War. 31:54 I knew World War I veterans and would talk to them about 31:56 the war. 31:58 So, there are people who wrote that knew people, during the 32:02 time of Christ; for instance, you have Pliny the Younger is a 32:06 Roman governor. 32:07 He writes in 112 to 113 A.D. 32:10 to the Emperor Trajan asking how he should treat the Christians. 32:14 He describes them as meeting on a certain day before light where 32:17 they would gather and sing hymns as to a God. 32:20 He also wrote to Emperor Trajan, or Trajan, that the early 32:24 Christians would sing hymns to Christ as to a God. 32:28 And another historian wrote to Emperor Claudius, who had 32:32 expelled the Jews from Rome, which is mentioned in the Book 32:35 of Acts. 32:37 And it says they were making constant disturbances at the 32:40 instigation of Christos. 32:43 Christos was the way that the Latins said Christ. 32:46 And so, they were referring to Jesus at the influence of the 32:50 Christian religion. 32:52 Jean: And probably one of the most trusted historians of the 32:53 time would be the story in Josephus. 32:57 He was actually alive in 70 A.D. 32:59 and he wasn't in Jerusalem when the city was destroyed. 33:02 He was actually a Roman citizen, but he was Jewish. 33:05 And he appealed to the Jews in Jerusalem to, you know, give in 33:10 to the Romans, to surrender him, but they didn't. 33:13 He had some interesting statements. 33:15 Josephus actually speaks of Jesus. 33:17 There is a reference in his writings. 33:19 But in addition to speaking of Jesus, Josephus actually 33:21 mentions the high priest Caiaphas as well. 33:26 So, we have Josephus speaking of Jesus. 33:29 He also has references of Caiaphas the high priest says 33:33 that he was the priest. 33:34 So, we have some contemporary historians also referring to 33:38 these historical figures. 33:40 Doug: Yeah, let me read the statement, it's not that long, 33:42 of Josephus talking about Jesus because it is pretty amazing. 33:45 Matter of fact, some historians it's so explicit, they say, 33:48 "That can't be correct." 33:49 Somebody added that later, but it does match his writing and as 33:53 long as we've had his writings, it's been there. 33:56 And it says, and this is from the Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3. 34:03 "About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one 34:07 ought to call him a man. 34:08 For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a 34:11 teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. 34:14 He won over many of the Jews and many of the Greeks. 34:17 He was the Messiah. 34:19 And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, 34:21 Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come 34:25 to love him did not cease. 34:27 He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for 34:29 the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand 34:32 other marvels about him. 34:34 And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still 34:37 to this day not disappeared," or not extinct. 34:40 And by the way, Josephus also mentions this is not contested, 34:44 and Josephus also mentions, it says, "James, the brother of 34:49 Jesus, who is called Messiah," and it talks about his 34:51 unlawful execution. 34:53 Well, you read about that in Acts chapter 12. 34:56 Herod killed James with the sword, brother of Jesus. 34:59 Jean: Okay, talking about Jesus we have some questions that have 35:02 come in. 35:04 And Carol is asking, "Pastor Doug, what does Jesus mean when 35:06 he says, 'Take up your cross and follow me'?" 35:10 Doug: Well, it was a very, unfortunately, it was a very 35:12 common scene in the time of Christ to see that criminals, 35:18 the people deemed criminals by the Romans, would be carrying 35:21 their crosses to their place of execution, which is, you know, a 35:24 horrible thing to consider. 35:26 It's kind of like during World War II sometimes the Japanese, 35:31 or even the Germans, would force prisoners to dig their graves 35:35 before they shot them. 35:36 They said, "Look, we gotta bury you, but we don't want to do it 35:38 so you're gonna dig your own grave." 35:40 They used to make them carry their cross, and the crosses 35:43 back then, they did not look like beautiful pieces of six by 35:46 six lumber. 35:48 They didn't waste good lumber on criminals. 35:50 They would just hack down a spindly tree big enough to 35:53 support a man, put it in two pieces and either tie or nail 35:57 the pieces together, and they'd carry that to the place where 36:00 they'd be executed. 36:02 Usually outside a city gate where everyone could see the 36:04 crime they committed above their head and to detour crime. 36:08 And so, when Jesus said, "You must take up your cross and 36:11 follow me," when someone took up his cross, that meant that they 36:15 were laying down their life, they were getting ready to die 36:19 and they were going to kind of take their final burden being 36:23 willing to, at any cost, bear the burden of self-denial, even 36:27 to the point of death. 36:30 Jean: Okay, another question that's come in. 36:31 It says, "Pastor Doug, where was the Garden of Eden 36:34 located geographically?" 36:36 And I'll just add, was it destroyed with the flood? 36:40 Doug: Well, we're not sure the, you know, some of the rivers 36:44 probably changed course after the flood. 36:46 The flood was so cataclysmic. 36:49 Evidently, Noah and the people that populated the world after 36:52 they came out of the ark and they went down to the area of 36:55 Mesopotamia, they continued to identify the Euphrates River 37:01 with a river in the area and the Tigris. 37:04 They probably knew something about the stars, and navigation 37:07 and location. 37:08 So, we guess the Garden of Eden was somewhere in the area of 37:11 Mesopotamia, we don't know. 37:13 Was the garden destroyed during the flood? 37:16 We don't think so. 37:18 Now, the Bible does not specifically mention that God 37:20 took the garden up to heaven, but the Bible does say the New 37:23 Jerusalem is coming down from God out of heaven. 37:26 It does tell us the tree of life is in the New Jerusalem, and it 37:29 stands to reason that if God planted this garden, it was a 37:32 special garden to him, that if God can bring a city down, he 37:35 can take a garden up. 37:38 And so, it makes sense that God had assumed that garden somehow, 37:42 caught it up to heaven to protect it so that it could be 37:44 restored to Adam and Eve and the earth made new. 37:47 It's a special garden that God made. 37:50 So, my mother-in-law in her backyard, she has a garden box. 37:53 You can actually pick up her garden and carry it around. 37:57 So, God can do it if my mother-in-law can do it. 38:01 Jean: All right, well then that brings us to our Thursday's 38:04 lesson talking about faith and history. 38:06 And we have the great chapter sometimes referred to as the 38:09 faith chapter in Hebrews chapter 11, where we have a summary of 38:13 these historical figures. 38:14 Now, of course, there's n doubt, as far as the apostles go 38:17 and even Jesus, that these historical individuals 38:20 did exist. 38:21 Jonah existed. 38:23 Of course, Jesus refers to Adam. 38:25 So, there's no doubt that yes, these old testament characters 38:28 did exist. 38:30 And then we find in Hebrews chapter 11, a list of some of 38:32 these great individuals, and there's so many important things 38:36 we can learn from them. 38:38 And we see a demonstration of their faith. 38:41 He mentions, talking about Hebrews chapter 11, Paul 38:44 mentions here Enoch, and we know from the Bible account that 38:47 Enoch lived before the flood, and the Bible says he walked 38:51 with God. 38:53 According to the Book of Jude, Jude 14, he was a preacher of 38:56 righteousness, preached concerning the second coming of 38:59 Christ and of judgment, and we know that he was taken to heaven 39:03 without seeing death. 39:05 Doug: Now, you've got, I think about 16 different people that 39:07 are mentioned there in Hebrews in--men and women, and it talks 39:12 about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, 39:18 Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, 39:23 and Samuel. 39:25 So, what's happening here is, and then he goes on to say, 39:27 "What shall I more say for time would fail me to talk about," 39:30 you know, he alludes to several others. 39:33 He talks about those who have quenched the violence of the 39:34 fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 39:37 They escaped the violence of lions, meaning Daniel in the 39:40 lions' den. 39:42 So, but in that list that he's giving, he's covering a long 39:46 horizon of history that's reaching from Abel, who's back 39:51 before, you know, in the Garden of Eden, the child of Adam 39:55 and Eve. 39:57 Jesus mentions Abel, so you gotta believe in Abel and he 39:59 takes Abel all the way down to, I think, the latest character 40:01 that's mentioned is David. 40:05 And so, because no one, none of them questioned David. 40:08 And it said it was all through faith that these people 40:11 were victorious. 40:13 And so, there's, I call this kind of the Bible's honor roll 40:17 or the Hall of Faith in the Bible, the faithful. 40:20 Jean: And I think the point that's been emphasized there is 40:23 yes, these historical figures are true, but when we see the 40:25 evidence in Scripture, we should fasten our faith on what the 40:28 Bible says. 40:30 The Bible is a miraculous book, not only do we have accurate 40:32 archaeological finds and historical finds that validate 40:36 what the Bible says, but we also have prophecy that indicates 40:39 that the Bible is indeed an inspired book. 40:42 There is no other book like the Bible, and so it is God's Word 40:44 revealed to us. 40:46 Jesus Himself referred back to the Old Testament as evidence of 40:49 who he was and his mission and his work. 40:51 The apostles who wrote in the 1st century A.D., they referred 40:54 back to the Old Testament. 40:56 So, there is, even within the Bible itself, Bible writers that 40:59 are referring to other passages of Scripture showing that it is 41:02 the inspired Word of God, it is trustworthy. 41:05 We can stake our lives on what the Bible says. 41:08 Doug: What's fascinating about the list that's given in Hebrews 41:11 there is it's covering such a long span and most of the names 41:17 of the people that are here also the chronologies of these people 41:20 are given. 41:22 And then you read stories about them when you talk about Enoch, 41:26 you know, you're reading about the time before the flood. 41:29 Then you go to Moses, you're talking about Egyptians. 41:33 Well, we know about Egyptian history. 41:35 In geology, we know about the flood. 41:37 You can see evidence of a global flood. 41:40 And even paleontologists who are atheist now agree, there was a 41:43 global cataclysm of water, but they say it's caused by 41:46 an asteroid. 41:48 But they agree, there was a global water cataclysm, you can 41:51 tell by the fossil record. 41:53 And so, Noah supports that. 41:55 And then you get down to the time of Samson. 41:58 His life interacts with the Philistines. 42:00 We believe in the Philistine history. 42:02 That's where you get the name Palestine. 42:05 It's just a corruption of the word Philistine, these 42:07 Phoenician people. 42:10 And, you know, you go on down to the time of David, he battles 42:13 with the Assyrians, and the Syrians, and the Moabites, and 42:16 the Edomites. 42:18 We believe in all these different characters, these 42:21 cultures and nations. 42:23 So, you know, one more thing. 42:25 I saw in my notes I missed something, but it still is 42:27 relevant and I got a couple minutes left talking about the 42:30 time of Jesus. 42:31 You mentioned Josephus' reference to Caiaphas. 42:35 In 1990, a family tomb was discovered south of Jerusalem 42:39 containing 12 ossuaries. 42:42 These are, you know, usually stone boxes where the Jews, 42:46 we use big old full-sized coffins when we bury people, 42:48 they would sort of just put the bones of the person, for economy 42:52 of space, in these smaller boxes, and there's coins and 42:57 potteries from the tomb dated around the middle of the 1st 43:00 century A.D. time of Christ. 43:03 The most ornate expensive of the Ossuaries has multiple sets of 43:08 bones in it. 43:10 It contains the name Joseph son of Caiaphas, and they believe 43:12 this, many scholars believe this is the same tune-tomb and bone 43:17 box that contains the bones of the high priest that was most 43:23 responsible for the crucifixion and execution of Jesus. 43:27 Jean: It's an amazing thought when you're actually in 43:29 Jerusalem, and you're walking around these places to think of 43:31 what transpired here on the spot. 43:34 Doug: And I forgot, you know, the Mountain of Herodion, that 43:37 cone-shaped manmade volcanic mountain, they've now dug, 43:40 they've excavated just in the last ten years, they excavated 43:43 the grave there and they found the tomb of Herod the Great. 43:47 And so, who is mentioned as the one who killed the babies 43:49 in Bethlehem. 43:51 So, you go on and on, the Bible is the most accurate, historic 43:54 book in history. 43:56 Jean: Now, somebody's asking, Angela's asking the question, 43:58 why Enoch didn't have a book in the Bible. 44:02 And I guess it goes along with the question some people think, 44:05 you know, Jude refers to the writings of Enoch. 44:08 Did he write a book? 44:10 And if so, why was it not included in Scripture? 44:13 Doug: There is a book called the Book of Enoch. 44:16 It probably was not written by Enoch, if it was, then it needed 44:18 to be in Noah's library and brought on the other side of 44:20 the flood. 44:22 It is a book that was written and it was an allegory just 44:27 like, you know, we've got the book "Pilgrim's Progress," which 44:29 is a beautifully inspiring spiritual allegory. 44:33 We recommend it for every Christian. 44:35 It's not a true story. 44:37 And Jude, the Jews who were in the captivity of Babylon, 44:40 someone wrote the Book of Enoch to inspire the Jews to be 44:44 faithful to the God of Jehovah. 44:47 "Don't accept the Babylonian gods." 44:49 So, it's a book written with a good story. 44:51 It supposedly uses Enoch as the author, Jude quotes from that 44:56 because there's some inspired statements in there that were 45:00 part of the Jewish oral history about, "Behold, the Lord comes 45:04 with 10,000 of His saints to execute judgment on the ungodly 45:08 and convince all the ungodly of their ungodly works that they 45:10 have committed." 45:12 Even back in the time of Babylon, the Jews believe the 45:15 Lord was coming to execute judgment. 45:17 Jude quotes from that, the statement is inspired. 45:20 The Book of Enoch probably is not written by Enoch himself. 45:23 Sorry, it's a long answer. 45:25 Jean: We got another question in the last few minutes, Joel is 45:27 asking, "Can you visit Golgotha and see where Jesus 45:30 was crucified?" 45:33 Doug: Yes. 45:35 And, you know, one of the sites that we saw that we believe is 45:39 accurate--you go to Israel today, and you'll have ten 45:41 churches and they'll say, "Oh, this is the place where Jesus 45:44 did this or that," and everybody wants a church. 45:46 They said, "No, it's here, no, it's there." 45:48 They're really not sure. 45:50 But because the geography of Golgotha is described, it says 45:53 it's near a garden. 45:55 It's near a tomb area where you could dig a cave in the 45:58 hillside, and it was on a hill. 46:01 And we know it was outside of one of the main gates that 46:04 where people were crucified. 46:06 There is a--and it says it looks like a skull. 46:08 There is a limestone hill that actually has some potholes in it 46:13 that look like a skull outside Jerusalem. 46:16 They have found a garden area there with a cistern. 46:19 They have found a tomb where a stone rolls away. 46:23 You know, all of the evidence is there that this is 46:26 probably the location where Jesus was crucified and it's 46:30 very touching. 46:32 Sad part is there's so much business happening, you go to 46:34 this place that's sacred and you can hear the garbage trucks 46:37 going by outside because it just so much bedlam of noise 46:40 around Jerusalem. 46:42 It just, it's kind of lost some of the sanctity of the moment. 46:45 Jean: Actually at the foot of what we think could very well be 46:47 Golgotha, they've built a bus depot right now, and buses are 46:51 coming and going and just the noise. 46:54 But you can make out at a certain angle, what looks like 46:56 a skulls. 46:58 You think that's the area. 47:00 Well, there's a statement that we find from the book 47:02 "Education," and I just want to share this in closing. 47:04 It says, "The Bible is the most ancient and the most 47:06 comprehensive history that men possess. 47:09 It came fresh from the fountain of eternal truth and throughout 47:12 the ages, a divine hand has preserved its purity. 47:16 It lights up the far distant past where human's research is 47:20 vain to seek, penetrate, or to penetrate." 47:23 It says, "In God's Word only do we behold the power that laid 47:27 the foundations of the earth and stretched out the heavens." 47:31 So here, we find the authentic account of the origins 47:34 of nations. 47:36 Here only is given the history of our race unsullied by human 47:39 pride or prejudice. 47:40 We find that in the Word of God. 47:42 Doug: Amen. 47:44 You know, if you want to know about the Romans, Edward Gibbon 47:46 spent his life writing "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire," 47:49 spent a life studying that. 47:52 But there is only one book that covers the entire history of man 47:55 from creation up until at least after the time of Christ, and we 48:00 have a pretty good history from then to now. 48:02 That's the Bible. 48:04 It's the most accurate account. 48:06 Jean: Let me remind our friends who are joining us, we do have a 48:08 free offer and it's called "The USA In Bible Prophecy," and it 48:11 deals with a study of Revelation. 48:13 Revelation chapter 13 talks about a beast power that rises 48:17 up from the earth as two horns like a lamb, speaks like 48:20 a dragon. 48:21 If you want to learn more about what the Bible says about the 48:23 United States, we'll be happy to send you this study guide. 48:26 All you need to do is call the number 866-788-3966 and ask for 48:31 Offer Number 181, and we'll get it in the mail and send it to 48:35 your house. 48:36 Or if you like, you'll be able to get a digital copy of the 48:39 book by texting the code SH093 to the number 40544, and you can 48:46 get a digital copy of that. 48:48 You can read it, you can actually share it with 48:50 somebody else. 48:51 So, an important lesson. 48:53 I think everyone who gets it will enjoy it. 48:55 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 48:57 free resource. 48:59 Not only can you receive free gift in the mail, you can 49:01 download a digital copy straight to your computer 49:03 or mobile device. 49:05 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:08 the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 49:12 shown on your screen. 49:14 And be sure to select that digital download option on the 49:17 request page. 49:19 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 49:21 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 49:25 important, to share it with others. 49:30 ♪♪♪ 49:39 Doug Batchelor: Friends, if you're scared of snakes, this 49:42 may not be for you. 49:44 I'm here at a Reptile Park outside of Durban, South Africa, 49:48 and I'm holding my friend here who's a Red-Tail Boa. 49:51 Snakes are found all over the world, and they come in 49:54 all sizes. 49:55 Snakes can be found through the trees, they crawl on the ground, 49:58 they live under the ground, and they swim in the water. 50:01 Very interesting creatures. 50:03 Some snakes are venomous, not my friend here, but the Black 50:06 Mamba, very poisonous. 50:09 Matter of fact, their bite is often referred to as the kiss 50:12 of death. 50:13 They can grow 15 feet long and can travel up to seven miles 50:15 an hour. 50:17 They don't call them Black Mambas because of the color of 50:19 their skin, but the interior of their mouth is black. 50:22 Snakes also come in all sizes, like this Boa or Python, they 50:26 can grow to great sizes. 50:28 Matter of fact, in South America, they found some fossils 50:31 of a snake that they call Titanoboa. 50:34 They believe it was as big as 50 feet long and weighed as much as 50:37 a car. 50:39 Say, "cheese." 50:41 A lot of people are scared of snakes. 50:42 I used to live in a mountain in a cave, and I ran into 50:44 snakes frequently. 50:46 They never bothered me unless I was bothering them. 50:48 In the Bible, the snake is often a symbol of the devil. 50:51 In reality, it's just a symbol. 50:53 They're animals like other animals, but it says they were 50:56 cursed to go upon their belly because they were the first 50:58 medium that the devil used to tempt Adam and Eve. 51:01 In the Book of Numbers chapter 21, it tells the story of how 51:05 when the children of Israel were going through the wilderness, 51:07 they began to complain about God's manna. 51:10 And it says the Lord allowed these fiery serpents to go among 51:13 the people and many were bitten, and the venom was deadly. 51:17 I should probably mention at this point, that bread they were 51:19 complaining about is a symbol for the Word of God. 51:22 As many of the people were dying from this plague of serpents, 51:25 they went on to Moses and they said, "What shall we do?" 51:28 God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole and 51:31 lift it up, that whoever looked upon the serpent, they would be 51:35 healed of their venom. 51:37 This is why it's so important because Jesus says in the gospel 51:40 of John chapter 3, verse 14 and 15, "As Moses lifted up the 51:44 serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted 51:48 up, that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have 51:52 everlasting life." 51:54 They needed to look and to live. 51:57 You see, those ancient shepherds when they would kill a venomous 51:59 snake, they would carry it off on their staff and bury it. 52:02 So, a serpent on a pole represented a defeated snake. 52:06 It's talking about defeating the devil, friends. 52:09 Have you been bitten by the serpent? 52:11 We all have. 52:12 The only cure for the venom of Satan is to look in faith 52:15 at Jesus. 52:17 He then defeated the devil. 52:19 He took the venom of sin in his body to provide the antidote in 52:22 his blood. 52:24 So friends, I encourage you to look today and live. 52:27 ♪♪♪ 52:38 male: My parents got divorced when I was three or 52:39 four, and then I was basically unchurched most of my life. 52:43 I had a girlfriend in high school tell me that she had to 52:45 break up with me because I wasn't a Christian. 52:47 I thought that's weird. 52:49 I believe in God. 52:50 Why would she say that? 52:52 Not realizing I was living a horrible life with foul 52:53 language, was mean, and other stuff. 52:55 And that kind of challenged me initially. 52:58 And then my dad, 9/11 woke him up. 53:00 He wasn't ready to meet his Lord, though he was a man that I 53:03 valued and knew loved me, didn't doubt that, but he just knew he 53:06 needed more. 53:08 So, he started watching TV ministries first, Baptist 53:10 preachers and others, and he was kind of intrigued by what he 53:14 was learning. 53:16 And so, when he turned me on to this television station, first 53:19 thing that I got access to was Doug Batchelor's most amazing 53:22 prophecy series that he did in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 53:25 And I remember when I first watched this, my background was 53:27 Baptist-ish of sorts. 53:30 I remember when I first watched this series, I remember 53:33 thinking, I've never heard that before about the state of the 53:36 dead, or about the Sabbath, or the commandments, or the 53:39 rapture, or other things. 53:41 And I remember thinking to myself I've never heard that 53:43 before, but that's what the text says. 53:45 And that kept happening. 53:47 And I had this experience of just wondering like, well, what 53:49 else have I believed that isn't as it is, you know? 53:52 And the more I watched, the more helpful it became. 53:55 But again, he kind of took a different perspective on 53:56 the messages. 53:59 It was fresh to me, but I just, these things I had never heard 54:01 before and I just realized like, there's so much stuff in the 54:05 Bible that no one's talking about and that people need 54:08 to know. 54:10 And so, I ended up in this awkward situation that some of 54:12 my friends who didn't believe what I was coming to believe, I 54:15 didn't know how to communicate with them. 54:17 And so, one of the things that helped me initially was 54:20 thesabbathtruth.com website, thetruthabouthell.com, and the 54:25 truth about death, and some of those resource websites that 54:28 Amazing Facts had put together that were just full 54:30 of resources. 54:32 If I needed an answer to something that someone brought 54:34 up, there would be a 95% chance that Amazing Facts would have 54:38 something that I could use. 54:40 It makes witnessing even easier in that sense. 54:43 The Amazing Facts Prophecy Study Bible was my first real Bible 54:46 that I had of a more trusted translation. 54:49 The Bible study guides were in the back of it, they had a lot 54:51 of other resources that were helpful. 54:53 If you can hand a book to somebody and you can pick up a 54:56 phone and call Amazing Facts, you have everything you need. 54:59 And so, I was just printing off stuff and handing it to people, 55:01 you know, like, here's what I'm coming to realize. 55:03 This is true. 55:04 It's in the Bible. 55:06 And it was a huge blessing to me and a real help just to kind of 55:09 help me to better understand what the message was, and 55:12 understand it for myself and to have resources to put in the 55:15 hands of other people. 55:16 It was invaluable. 55:17 Some time went by, I eventually went to school for evangelism 55:19 and was baptized. 55:21 And then I had this amazing opportunity that after being in 55:24 ministry for about five or six years, Doug Batchelor was going 55:27 to be the main speaker at a youth event, and I was actually 55:29 going to be doing a seminar at this youth event. 55:32 It was just this amazing kind of full-circle experience that the 55:35 first person that I came in contact with in Adventism to 55:38 hear the message to have it makes sense, to be able to do 55:40 ministry together with them in whatever role possible just 55:44 meant the world to me, and to be able to tell him my story and 55:47 tell him thank you was invaluable. 55:49 And so, God just gave me a precious gift in affording that 55:52 opportunity and I'll never forget that. 55:55 My name is Dee. 55:57 Thank you for changing my life. 55:59 ♪♪♪ 56:13 Doug: On several occasions, scientists have 56:14 demonstrated that people, and even creatures, can struggle 56:18 with depression when exposed to continual darkness. 56:22 This can be seen every year in the winter months in the 56:24 Arctic regions. 56:27 The beautiful village of Rjukan Norway is situated in a deep 56:30 valley where mountains block the sun's rays for about six months 56:33 every year. 56:35 This, of course, keeps the 3,400 residents in a state of shade 56:38 and sometimes depressing darkness throughout the winter. 56:42 Then the town leaders got a bright idea to help illuminate 56:45 their village during the murky months. 56:48 In October 2013, Rjukan installed an array of three 56:52 gigantic 550-square-foot mirrors on a nearby mountain a thousand 56:58 feet above the town. 57:00 The computer control and solar-powered mirrors, track the 57:04 sun through the winter months and reflect a giant beam of 57:07 sunshine down to the town square brightening their lives. 57:12 If you visit Rjukan in the winter months today, you can 57:15 often see the people gathered or sitting on benches around the 57:18 town square, bathing in the reflected sunshine. 57:22 Like those mirrors on the mountain, the Bible says that 57:25 Christians are to reflect the light of Jesus who is the light 57:28 of the world into this dark planet. 57:30 Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world. 57:34 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do we 57:37 light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and 57:41 it illuminates everybody in the house. 57:43 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good 57:47 works and glorify your Father in heaven." 57:50 So friends, use today to brighten the life of someone 57:53 else by reflecting Jesus. 57:57 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-06-01