Latest / KHCB On Demand / The Land and the Book - A Life Disrupted by Terror
Transcript
- 0:08S1: She and her family have seen four different wars against Israel.
- 0:12S1: Most recently, she survived a bombing from Iran. Just ahead,
- 0:16S1: you'll see what war is really like from someone who's
- 0:19S1: been there and been there and been there. Welcome to
- 0:22S1: the land and the book. Doctor Charlie Dyer is our
- 0:25S1: host and guide, a lifelong student of the Middle East.
- 0:28S1: Before we get to our current events, though, we are
- 0:30S1: quickly approaching the third anniversary of the October 7th attack
- 0:33S1: on Israel. And these past few years have been a
- 0:36S1: time of profound grief and hardship for Israelis and for
- 0:40S1: Jewish people around the world. In addition to the horrors
- 0:43S1: of October 7th itself, the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism has
- 0:47S1: stunned and saddened all those who love Israel. As a
- 0:51S1: response to this, our friends at Life in Messiah have
- 0:53S1: been working on a documentary called Shadows of October Israel
- 0:58S1: Under Siege. The film addresses the hard questions of where
- 1:01S1: was God in the events of October 7th? Why is
- 1:05S1: antisemitism rising around the world, and how should we move
- 1:08S1: forward through powerful testimony from survivors alongside expert analysis? Shadows
- 1:13S1: of October investigates the events, long term impact and spiritual
- 1:18S1: implications of the October 7th, 2023, attack on Israel.
- 1:22S2: Yeah, I've watched the film myself, John and Shadows of
- 1:24S2: October forces viewers to confront the reality of antisemitism and
- 1:29S2: its impact on the Jewish people following the Hamas attack
- 1:32S2: on October 7th. You experience the hatred, the heartache, but
- 1:36S2: also the hope through the eyes of those who were there.
- 1:39S2: The film is currently available on streaming services. For details
- 1:43S2: on how you can watch it or arrange a screening
- 1:45S2: for your church, visit Life in messiah.org and click on
- 1:49S2: the Moody Radio button. That's life in messiah.org.
- 1:53S1: And now a look at current events. Earlier this week,
- 1:56S1: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was criticized for issuing a warning
- 2:01S1: regarding global and regional terrorist plots targeting Israelis and Jews abroad.
- 2:07S1: Political opponents called it a political distraction. But then Wednesday,
- 2:11S1: Israeli passengers on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel
- 2:14S1: Aviv helped subdue the co-pilot, who had stabbed the pilot
- 2:19S1: and was trying to crash the plane. This is still
- 2:21S1: a developing story, but what do we know so far?
- 2:24S2: Yeah, the initial reports were confusing, but it appears that
- 2:27S2: about two hours into the flight, the co-pilot, who was
- 2:30S2: apparently from Oman, stabbed the pilot, an Emirati, and then
- 2:34S2: attempted to crash the plane. During the struggle, an emergency
- 2:37S2: code was activated, causing Israel to scramble fighter jets. The
- 2:41S2: flight dropped from 34,000ft to 17,000ft in under a minute. Wow.
- 2:46S2: And the speed and stress actually tore part of the
- 2:48S2: rudder off the plane's tail. Israeli passengers rushed the cockpit
- 2:52S2: and helped subdue the hijacker. They also treated the pilot
- 2:55S2: who'd been stabbed. another pair of pilots on the plane
- 2:58S2: took control of the flight. The plane was actually in
- 3:01S2: Jordanian airspace, but it turned back into Saudi Arabia and
- 3:05S2: landed at Tabuk, about 125 miles from Eilat. This was
- 3:09S2: apparently a terrorist incident. What's not yet clear is whether
- 3:12S2: it was a terrorist acting on his own, or part
- 3:15S2: of a plot by Iran or some other country or group.
- 3:18S2: What we do know is that individuals on the plane
- 3:21S2: sprang into action to stop the attacker and save the
- 3:24S2: aircraft and passengers. And for that, we can all be thankful.
- 3:28S1: Yeah. Thankful indeed. Last weekend, British forces thwarted a planned
- 3:32S1: terrorist attack on an Air Force base being used by
- 3:35S1: the United States. Does this point to an expansion in
- 3:39S1: Iran's attempts to attack the U.S.? And could this incident
- 3:42S1: lead to a U.S. attack on Iran before our elections?
- 3:46S2: Well, the British downplayed connections to Iran, saying the suspects
- 3:49S2: were British nationals in their 20s and then released them
- 3:52S2: on bail. Iran also denied any connection to the incident. However,
- 3:56S2: there are enough unanswered questions to suggest there might be
- 3:59S2: more to this story than what's been reported so far.
- 4:02S2: The base has been used by the US for airstrikes
- 4:05S2: on Iran. Until more details are released, like the names
- 4:08S2: of the five individuals or their ethnicity and what was
- 4:11S2: found inside the three vans they had. We're just left
- 4:14S2: with more questions than answers, but the incident is a
- 4:17S2: reminder that Iran continues to look for ways to strike
- 4:20S2: at targets around the world, from the bombings in Argentina
- 4:24S2: in 1992 and 1994 to a bus bombing in Bulgaria
- 4:28S2: in 2012. Iran has plotted numerous terrorist attacks worldwide against Israel.
- 4:34S2: They've also developed the ability to launch now cyber attacks
- 4:37S2: against civilian targets. Iranian hackers shut down a small power
- 4:41S2: plant in the UK earlier this year, taking it offline
- 4:44S2: for four days. And this summer, suspected Iranian hackers targeted
- 4:49S2: civilian water systems in at least 30 Minnesota communities, along
- 4:53S2: with attacks against communities in at least six other states.
- 4:56S2: How could all this lead to a U.S. military response?
- 5:00S2: President Trump has said the U.S. might respond to Iran
- 5:02S2: militarily after the elections, though a successful attack on a U.S.
- 5:06S2: base or facility could force him to act sooner. He
- 5:10S2: rejected Iran's cease fire proposal to open the Strait of
- 5:13S2: Hormuz because Iran was asking for everything they want up front,
- 5:16S2: with only a promise to then start negotiating. Our ambassador
- 5:20S2: to the U.N. said Iran wasn't negotiating in good faith.
- 5:24S2: You know, they demonstrated a similar pattern previously when they
- 5:27S2: violated the memorandum of understanding almost as soon as it
- 5:30S2: had been negotiated. So right now, it looks like the
- 5:33S2: question isn't whether or not there will be conflict, but
- 5:36S2: whether it will happen before or after our upcoming elections.
- 5:40S1: You're listening to the land in the book with Middle
- 5:41S1: East expert doctor Charlie Dyer. I'm John Gager. It's a
- 5:44S1: current event segment as we open the program. With just
- 5:47S1: over three weeks until Israel's elections, the political scene there
- 5:51S1: continues to fluctuate. What are the latest developments in what
- 5:54S1: all sides are calling a crucial election?
- 5:58S2: Well, it starts with Israel's election panel disqualifying all the
- 6:01S2: Arab parties from running in the election. Now, as we
- 6:04S2: record this, it's almost certain that's going to be overturned
- 6:07S2: by Israel's high Court. But it definitely grabbed headlines. Now,
- 6:10S2: here's the background to that. Parties, including Jewish parties, have
- 6:14S2: been banned in the past, including a far left Socialist
- 6:16S2: Party and a far right Jewish nationalist party back in 1988.
- 6:21S2: Under their law, parties or individual candidates can be barred
- 6:24S2: if they negate Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,
- 6:27S2: incite racism or support armed struggle or terror against the state.
- 6:32S2: But in the past, the High Court has overturned nearly
- 6:34S2: all such requests. The one uncertainty in this case is
- 6:37S2: the disqualification of the chairman of the Arab Jointless Balad
- 6:41S2: party that was approved by the coalition and by opposition parties,
- 6:45S2: along with the Attorney General and the Supreme Court justice
- 6:48S2: who oversees the panel. So it's possible that individual might
- 6:52S2: be disqualified. Now, to put the headline in perspective. The
- 6:55S2: committee also received petitions to bar the far right wing
- 6:58S2: Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich parties and the left wing Democrats party.
- 7:03S2: This might sound strange to us with our two party system,
- 7:06S2: but in Israel it's just a messier version of democracy.
- 7:09S2: Now another election matters. The leaders of the four opposition
- 7:12S2: parties met to decide how to campaign against Netanyahu. They
- 7:16S2: agreed not to attack each other, but to focus on
- 7:18S2: attacking him. But they didn't agree on how they could
- 7:21S2: work together to govern if they're elected. And fractures started
- 7:24S2: almost immediately. Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beiteinu party, ruled
- 7:28S2: out serving in a coalition with ultra-Orthodox or Arab parties.
- 7:32S2: The next day, the head of the Democrats party said
- 7:35S2: Arab parties could be part of the next government. But
- 7:37S2: right now, polls are suggesting the current coalition and the
- 7:41S2: four parties in the change bloc are each going to
- 7:43S2: fall short of the 61 seats necessary to form a government,
- 7:46S2: which means there will need to be serious campaigning in
- 7:49S2: the next month or a willingness to compromise following the election.
- 7:53S1: Devastating climate change, superpower clashes and peace treaties that fell apart. No,
- 7:59S1: this isn't a description of today, though it sounds eerily similar. Charlie,
- 8:03S1: tell us about the parallel situation that happened 3300 years
- 8:07S1: ago that caused the entire Middle East to collapse.
- 8:10S2: Yeah, and this all starts with an announcement out of
- 8:12S2: Turkey two weeks ago that archaeologists had unearthed the fragment
- 8:15S2: of an ancient cuneiform text that formed part of the
- 8:18S2: world's oldest surviving peace treaty. Now, the peace treaty was
- 8:21S2: signed between Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite king
- 8:25S2: Hattusili the third, to bring about an end to their
- 8:28S2: conflict over territory in what's now Syria. An Egyptian version
- 8:32S2: of the treaty had earlier been discovered in Karnak and Luxor,
- 8:35S2: and a Hittite version was known, so this recent discovery
- 8:39S2: was part of still another copy. But it's the historical
- 8:42S2: and political background that gives this story such significance. They
- 8:45S2: were the two superpowers of the day, and they were
- 8:47S2: fighting for control over the eastern Mediterranean. A battle took
- 8:51S2: place in 1274 BC at Kadesh in what's now Syria.
- 8:55S2: Both sides suffered heavy casualties. It ended in a stalemate,
- 8:58S2: but as the two powers were locked in this potential conflict,
- 9:01S2: other powers were growing from the sea peoples in the
- 9:03S2: west to the Assyrians in the south. So the treaty
- 9:06S2: was eventually signed, with both nations agreeing not to invade
- 9:09S2: the other's land and to come to the other's aid
- 9:11S2: if they were attacked. Recognizing the conflict had actually weakened
- 9:15S2: both empires. Now, here's the interesting part. In spite of
- 9:18S2: the treaty, both countries suffered devastating losses in the next
- 9:21S2: 80 years, and the Hittite empire actually vanished. Part of
- 9:25S2: the reason were other outside threats. But the other part
- 9:28S2: of the problem was climate change caused by natural disasters.
- 9:32S2: Several earthquakes severely damaged some major urban centers, and a
- 9:36S2: devastating drought, possibly caused by a distant volcanic eruption, caused
- 9:40S2: catastrophic crop failures, forcing mass migrations. The superpowers of the
- 9:45S2: day finally decided to stop fighting and start working together.
- 9:48S2: But in the end, at least for the Hittites, it
- 9:50S2: proved to be too little, too late.
- 9:52S1: MM. Well, Charlie, tell us about the discovery of a
- 9:55S1: monumental ritual bath at the southern steps leading up to
- 9:58S1: the Temple Mount.
- 9:59S2: Yeah, I found this significant on several levels. First, it's
- 10:02S2: another reminder that the Jewish temple stood on the platform
- 10:04S2: now occupied by the dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque.
- 10:08S2: Those who went up had to ritually purify themselves by
- 10:10S2: immersing in one of the baths there. But the second
- 10:13S2: reason this is significant is the pure size of it.
- 10:15S2: This complex covered over 3000ft². It contained a pool, and
- 10:20S2: it also had three large ritual baths on the day
- 10:23S2: of Pentecost. You know, they said they baptized 3000 believers.
- 10:26S2: And now as you look at it, you go, I
- 10:27S2: think I know how it could be done. Wow.
- 10:29S1: And that's a look at current events. Up next on
- 10:31S1: the land and the book A Life Disrupted by Terror.
- 10:34S1: Stick around. Not many people can say they've had a
- 10:51S1: front row seat to not one, but three terrifying moments
- 10:55S1: of war. Today's guest can, though it's a reality she'll
- 10:59S1: never be able to fully put behind her. The experiences
- 11:02S1: have kind of lit a fire in her soul to
- 11:04S1: now advocate for the nation of Israel, and she's doing
- 11:07S1: just that in powerful ways. Hey, welcome back to the
- 11:10S1: land and the book. I'm John Gager, and I want
- 11:12S1: you to meet today's guest, Deborah Ben Aderet. Deborah grew
- 11:16S1: up in the suburbs of Chicago, where she was raised
- 11:18S1: in a conservative Jewish home. As an adult, Deborah became
- 11:22S1: an active member of AIPAC, a ZM, and other pro-Israel organizations.
- 11:27S1: In 2012, she quit her job in Chicago's Merchandise Mart,
- 11:31S1: sold her car, rented out her Lakeview condo and with
- 11:34S1: her two cats, made Aliyah that's moving to Israel. And
- 11:38S1: a year later, Deborah met the Israeli man who would
- 11:41S1: become her husband. She left Tel Aviv, moved with him
- 11:44S1: to the southern city of Ashkelon, a beautiful city, I
- 11:48S1: might add. Deborah and her family are survivors of the
- 11:51S1: October 7th attack. Were honored to have her with us
- 11:53S1: again on the land in the book. Thanks for agreeing
- 11:56S1: to share with us today, Deborah.
- 11:57S3: I am honored to be here. Thank you.
- 11:59S1: Well, let's begin with a brief recap of your harrowing
- 12:02S1: October 7th experience for somebody who maybe didn't catch that
- 12:05S1: original interview.
- 12:06S3: Yeah. So after we moved to Ashkelon, we built a
- 12:09S3: home in a kibbutz on the Gaza border. We lived
- 12:12S3: on the Gaza border for about eight years. We survived many,
- 12:17S3: many Hamas attacks before October 7th. October 7th was actually
- 12:22S3: the third time we had been evacuated. We thought we
- 12:25S3: were just having another rocket day and let that sink in.
- 12:28S3: We were just used to having rocket days growing up
- 12:30S3: in Chicago. We had snow days, and on the Gaza
- 12:32S3: border you have rocket days. We thought we were having
- 12:35S3: another rocket day and we went into our bomb shelter,
- 12:38S3: which doubles as our daughter's bedroom. It looks like any
- 12:42S3: other bedroom. It's a reinforced room with metal doors that
- 12:46S3: close the windows and a reinforced metal door. Otherwise, it
- 12:50S3: looks like a normal bedroom. And that's our bomb shelter.
- 12:53S3: And we spent, you know, an hour or two in
- 12:56S3: there listening to rockets explode until we heard doo doo
- 12:59S3: doo doo doo, which was a machine gun. And my
- 13:02S3: husband and I way too close for comfort. And my
- 13:04S3: husband and I looked at each other and went, that's
- 13:07S3: not normal. We brought a TV in for my girls
- 13:09S3: to watch movies and distract them. They were six and
- 13:11S3: eight at the time, and we just quickly learned this
- 13:15S3: was not just another rocket war. We lost all Wi-Fi,
- 13:19S3: all phone reception, we lost all contact, which probably was
- 13:22S3: a good thing because we didn't really know what we
- 13:25S3: had survived until the next day until October 8th. We
- 13:28S3: did get some text messages from our security that said,
- 13:31S3: turn off your air conditioning because you can tell someone's
- 13:34S3: home if the air conditioning is on. Turn off your air.
- 13:37S3: Turn off your lights. Lock up your house. Pretend that
- 13:40S3: you aren't home because there have been ground infiltrations. And
- 13:43S3: that was terrifying. We did not have a gun. My
- 13:45S3: husband did not serve in the Army Reserves because he
- 13:48S3: has a PhD in engineering. It's not a field that
- 13:50S3: you go to the reserves. So he took out kitchen
- 13:53S3: knives and laid them on the counter in case we
- 13:56S3: were going to have infiltrations. We did not yet know
- 13:59S3: about the Nova Festival, about the kibbutzim, the communities that
- 14:03S3: had been massacred, burned, slaughtered. We didn't know any of
- 14:06S3: that was happening. The only thing that we knew from
- 14:08S3: our security is there was some ground infiltrations. So we
- 14:11S3: spent the night there, and our whole community was evacuated
- 14:15S3: on October 8th to a hotel in Jerusalem. And it
- 14:18S3: was really only then, as we reached the main highway
- 14:21S3: and got cell phone reception, that we started learning really
- 14:25S3: what we had just survived. I'm very grateful that driving
- 14:28S3: my children from our home to the main highway, neither
- 14:33S3: my children nor I saw the dead Hamas bodies along
- 14:36S3: the side of the road. However, my husband did. I
- 14:38S3: was just driving, making a beeline from our community. Mama bear.
- 14:42S3: Fight or flight to get out of there. And as
- 14:45S3: the days went on and weeks went on, we learned
- 14:47S3: what we had really survived us personally in our kibbutz. Again,
- 14:51S3: the short version is that 50 terrorists came up through
- 14:54S3: the ocean. We lived about a half a mile from
- 14:57S3: the ocean. 50 Hamas terrorists came by several small little
- 15:02S3: boats to try to infiltrate the beach. The IDF managed
- 15:06S3: to take out 41 of the 59 still managed to
- 15:10S3: come up through the beach. Slaughter and murder everyone they saw,
- 15:14S3: including some friends of kids of ours in the kibbutz.
- 15:17S3: Everybody knows somebody. This is one degree of separation. And
- 15:20S3: then they proceeded to go to the army base, which
- 15:23S3: is located between the beach in our community. They had
- 15:26S3: a big shootout fight there. They stole an army truck
- 15:30S3: and headed towards our community. We learned later the machine
- 15:33S3: gun that we heard was a shootout between our security
- 15:37S3: forces in the kibbutz and Hamas. It was pretty terrifying.
- 15:41S3: So that's the summary.
- 15:42S1: Deborah Ben Aderet joins us today on the land and
- 15:45S1: the book. She's had a front row seat to a
- 15:47S1: number of terrifying moments of war. Do you find that
- 15:50S1: with the passage of time, you have at least maybe
- 15:52S1: a teeny bit less stress? Do you have just a
- 15:55S1: couple of less nightmares or does it hang over you
- 15:57S1: like a permanent dark cloud?
- 15:59S3: Well, that's a good question. I definitely don't have fears
- 16:03S3: that Hamas is going to infiltrate and come close to
- 16:06S3: my home again. But it's not over. And when you
- 16:09S3: live in Israel, it's never over. If it's not Hamas,
- 16:12S3: it's Hezbollah. You know, it's jihad from everywhere. It's Iran,
- 16:15S3: it's the Houthis. It's it's not over. My family and
- 16:18S3: I personally, we moved about a half an hour away
- 16:21S3: from the border. So I tried to comfort my girls
- 16:23S3: and tell them, you're not going to have 5 to
- 16:26S3: 8 seconds to get to the safe room. Now guess what, guys?
- 16:29S3: We'll have a whole minute. Isn't it amazing when Iran
- 16:32S3: sends a rocket? We'll have a minute. I mean, it's
- 16:34S3: all relative, right? However, my 11 year old now, my
- 16:38S3: girls are nine and 11. and when we moved into
- 16:39S3: the new house, she sought out the bomb shelter and
- 16:42S3: wanted that to be her bedroom. So the whole country
- 16:45S3: is in some form of PTSD and trauma. So it's
- 16:48S3: not like I actually think Hamas is going to come
- 16:50S3: through our front door. But there's, you know, if you
- 16:53S3: live in Israel, you need to accept you're constantly under
- 16:55S3: some sort of threat or attack.
- 16:57S1: All right, let's talk about another adventure of yours that
- 16:59S1: was totally unexpected.
- 17:02S3: So my husband and I were supposed to celebrate our
- 17:05S3: ten year anniversary in Italy on October 13th, 2023. Needless
- 17:11S3: to say, that did not happen. We were not going
- 17:13S3: to Italy. So to make up for this lost anniversary trip,
- 17:18S3: we planned a short four nights away to Dubai around
- 17:23S3: the end of this past February. My parents flew in
- 17:26S3: from Chicago to visit anyway, so we used that as
- 17:29S3: a good time to have babysitters and take this vacation
- 17:31S3: to Dubai. We knew that things with Iran were heating up.
- 17:36S3: We knew that we might possibly get stuck in Dubai
- 17:40S3: because Ben-Gurion, the Israeli airport, might get closed. We knew
- 17:45S3: that was a little risk. We never thought we would
- 17:48S3: experience what actually happened. And what actually happened was that
- 17:52S3: Iran attacked Dubai. They bombed the airport. They bombed a hotel,
- 17:58S3: two hotels down from us. We were in the local
- 18:02S3: mall and heard a huge explosion, which unfortunately, my husband
- 18:07S3: and I are used to. But all of the young
- 18:09S3: sales girls started crying, screaming. Everybody in the mall was
- 18:13S3: hysterically screaming and freaking out, and I finished trying on
- 18:16S3: my jeans because I was like, it already hit. So
- 18:21S3: what are we gonna do? But something that we really
- 18:23S3: realized is that the UAE is not prepared for rockets.
- 18:30S3: They're not used to it. They haven't had to be prepared.
- 18:32S3: There are no designated bomb shelters. They really had no
- 18:36S3: idea what to do and the security of our hotel.
- 18:40S3: What they did is they closed the outside pool and
- 18:44S3: the outside areas, and they told everyone to come in
- 18:47S3: the lobby. Now the lobby is 40 foot glass walls,
- 18:52S3: glass ceiling, massive glass chandeliers. And my husband and I
- 18:57S3: asked to please speak to the head of security and to,
- 19:00S3: in a way, trying not to sound condescending, explain to him,
- 19:04S3: this is not what you do when rockets are flying
- 19:07S3: at you. This isn't what you do. It's actually safer
- 19:09S3: to be outside and just get on the ground and
- 19:11S3: put your hands over your head. I was so really
- 19:15S3: stressed out and angry and said to them, I live
- 19:18S3: like this. I live in Israel. I live under constant
- 19:20S3: rocket attack. This is supposed to be my vacation. I
- 19:23S3: will sign a waiver, but I am going to the pool.
- 19:26S3: And so I did, and I was the first one
- 19:28S3: to go down to the security guy at the pool.
- 19:30S3: He didn't. Well, I've been given orders that you can't.
- 19:32S3: I said, no, no, you talk to the head of security.
- 19:34S3: I'm sitting at the pool and I sat at the pool,
- 19:36S3: and shortly another Israeli couple came and joined us. So
- 19:40S3: as the days went on, even though their airport was
- 19:43S3: closed and no guests were coming, and guests started leaving
- 19:47S3: because they were opening flights like to Europe, of course,
- 19:50S3: they weren't opening flights to Israel because we were under
- 19:53S3: active rocket attack, but guests started getting out so we
- 19:57S3: would be sitting at the pool trying to get on
- 20:00S3: a flight, trying to get out of Dubai. We were
- 20:04S3: on one of the last rescue flights out of Dubai.
- 20:08S3: The airport was closed. It was only 300 of us
- 20:12S3: Israelis waiting for this flight. They had the head of
- 20:16S3: their security and they had one of the head of
- 20:18S3: Israeli security's. Walk us through how we're going to do this.
- 20:21S3: He said, don't anybody post anything anywhere on social media.
- 20:25S3: This is a secret rescue flight. It's only three hours
- 20:28S3: to Israel, but we are taking a 5.5 hour indirect
- 20:31S3: flight so that Iran doesn't see that there's a flight
- 20:35S3: of Israelis going from the UAE to Israel because Iran
- 20:38S3: doesn't have anything necessarily against the UAE. They're mad at Israel.
- 20:42S3: Let's bomb everyone we know.
- 20:44S1: Today on the land. In the book, we're learning just
- 20:46S1: a bit more about the life of Deborah Ben Aderet
- 20:49S1: and her adventures. And I want to move now toward
- 20:51S1: a new chapter in your life of advocacy. Talk about
- 20:54S1: what you're doing, why and what does it look like?
- 20:57S3: You know, I moved to Israel not for an easier life,
- 21:00S3: not for a cheaper life, not for my husband. Totally
- 21:03S3: by myself. And I moved there because I started becoming
- 21:06S3: such a big advocate, not because Israel is perfect, but
- 21:10S3: just for the truth about Israel and everything that Israel
- 21:13S3: has been through and its right to exist. I can't
- 21:16S3: even believe we have to say that these days, especially
- 21:19S3: a lot of the young college age kids in America,
- 21:21S3: they have no idea what they're talking about. And so
- 21:24S3: I wanted to be like, you know, hear it from me.
- 21:26S3: I lived through it. So I started a, you know,
- 21:30S3: an Instagram account. And I just share real life experiences
- 21:34S3: of what's going on in Israel, how there is no apartheid.
- 21:38S3: And so it's just become very important to me. And
- 21:41S3: so I'm advocating on Instagram. I have a Facebook page.
- 21:44S3: I'm doing like this interviews whenever I can. And I
- 21:48S3: want to talk about, if I can for a minute
- 21:50S3: about some really scary campaign that has been ramping up
- 21:54S3: in the states and around the world called the BDS movement,
- 21:57S3: and it stands for boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. And it's
- 22:01S3: a global Palestinian led campaign. They claim to promote economic, cultural,
- 22:06S3: and political pressure on Israel. And their stated goals are
- 22:10S3: to end the occupation of Palestinian territories and secure equal
- 22:15S3: rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel. But really, this movement's
- 22:20S3: goal is to end the Jewish state. They urge consumers
- 22:24S3: and groups to stop buying Israeli products, to not support
- 22:28S3: cultural and academic institutions in Israel. They pressure banks to
- 22:32S3: pull their investments out of Israel. And if you want
- 22:36S3: to stop buying and using Israeli products, you know what?
- 22:39S3: Put down your cell phone. Stop your cancer treatment, your
- 22:42S3: drip irrigation, stop eating cherry tomatoes. It's such a silly thing.
- 22:46S3: So boycott all those contributions to the world. Anyway, I
- 22:50S3: remember in 2015 when this movement, and you might remember
- 22:54S3: this heavily targeted SodaStream because its factory was in the
- 22:58S3: West Bank. Guess who suffered? 500 Palestinians lost their job
- 23:04S3: because they worked at SodaStream. So that's just an example
- 23:08S3: about how this movement's goal isn't really to protect Palestinians.
- 23:12S3: It's really to hurt Israel. I want to talk about
- 23:15S3: this organization called The Sword of Gideon. It's a volunteer
- 23:19S3: team right now because we're so new. It's a civilian
- 23:23S3: led international NGO focused on empowering communities to keep BDS
- 23:29S3: and its harmful ideology out of local city halls. We
- 23:33S3: provide citizens with the knowledge, the tools, the strategies to
- 23:37S3: recognize and respond to extremist influence at a local level
- 23:41S3: before it shapes broader policy. So really, we're fighting for
- 23:45S3: local democracy.
- 23:46S1: And we're going to link you to that website as
- 23:48S1: you visit us at the land and thebook.org. Again, it's
- 23:52S1: called what again.
- 23:52S3: The Sword of Gideon. If you're going to Google it,
- 23:55S3: you really have to Google the sword of Gideon dot ORG.
- 23:59S1: Well, lots of great content there, including some talking points.
- 24:02S1: I was there, loved what I found. You know, there
- 24:05S1: are false claims like the Palestinian people have had their
- 24:08S1: land and rights taken away since 1948. The fact is,
- 24:12S1: the 1948 war was initiated by Arab states, not Israel.
- 24:17S1: On and on it goes. Lies are countered with truth.
- 24:21S1: All kinds of great stuff there. And again, we'll link
- 24:23S1: you to that website as you visit us at the
- 24:25S1: land and thebook.org. Deborah, your last word to listeners who say,
- 24:30S1: you know, I want to do something I can't stand
- 24:33S1: by and do nothing. As Christians, we're called to stand
- 24:36S1: with Israel. What's your number one thing that we should
- 24:39S1: maybe think about doing?
- 24:41S3: Well, first of all, I'm very grateful because whoever's listening
- 24:44S3: to this cares in the first place. I have been
- 24:48S3: saying for 30 something years, Israel has to work on
- 24:51S3: their hasbara and hasbara means like education, explaining. It's unfortunate
- 24:56S3: that Al Jazeera has become a lot of people's, quote,
- 24:59S3: news source. So what I would just say is just
- 25:02S3: spread the truth. Knowledge is what we really need to
- 25:06S3: get out there because, um, we have two wars. We
- 25:09S3: have the real war on the ground in the Middle East,
- 25:12S3: and we have this awful propaganda war. We're fighting against
- 25:16S3: a huge, growing, incorrect, biased, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rhetoric. And the
- 25:23S3: best things you can do are spread the word, spread
- 25:26S3: the truth.
- 25:27S1: Well, that's great advice and I hate to wrap it
- 25:30S1: up here, but we've got to. The clock says we must,
- 25:32S1: but we'll surely connect again. Deborah, thanks so much for
- 25:34S1: your time.
- 25:35S3: Thank you so much. It's really an honor.
- 25:37S1: One last quick reminder. The website to go to is
- 25:40S1: The Sword of gideon.org. We love that Bible character, the
- 25:45S1: Sword of Gideon dot ORG. And up next on the
- 25:48S1: land in the book, Doctor Gerald Federman is in the
- 25:50S1: studio to answer your Bible questions. All ahead on today's
- 25:53S1: edition of The Land and the book. Hope you've been
- 26:07S1: enjoying today's edition of The Land and the book. I'm
- 26:10S1: John Gager looking forward to hanging out with Doctor Gerald Peterman.
- 26:13S1: He's here in the studio. He's smiling. He's got questions.
- 26:16S1: Where do we get these questions? Where do they come from?
- 26:18S4: Doctor Peterman we listeners send them in to us every week.
- 26:21S4: Every day, every ten days. It's so much fun.
- 26:24S1: Yeah, yeah. A stack of them. As always. waiting for
- 26:26S1: your careful attention. Actually, here's the secret. If you've written
- 26:30S1: Doctor Peterman, you've already gotten his response. See, that's the magic.
- 26:33S1: You send it to us in an email at the
- 26:35S1: land and the book@moody.edu. In just a few days, maybe
- 26:39S1: a week later, you get a personalized response, right?
- 26:42S5: That's right.
- 26:43S1: Yeah. So don't be afraid to take advantage of this
- 26:45S1: great resource. Your question in Doctor Peterman's inbox. And believe me,
- 26:49S1: this is the guy to get it to because he's
- 26:51S1: been teaching at Moody for how long?
- 26:53S4: Since 2002.
- 26:55S1: That's that's a that's a long time to be teaching
- 26:57S1: the Bible. He knows the word, loves the word, and
- 26:59S1: shares it with you as you email that question to
- 27:01S1: the land and the book@moody.edu. We are quickly approaching the
- 27:07S1: third anniversary of the October 7th attack on Israel, and
- 27:11S1: these past few years have been a time of profound
- 27:13S1: grief and hardship for Israelis and for Jewish people around
- 27:17S1: the world. In addition to the horrors of October 7th itself,
- 27:21S1: the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism has stunned. has saddened all
- 27:25S1: those who love Israel. And as a response, our friends
- 27:28S1: at Life in Messiah have been working on a documentary
- 27:31S1: called Shadows of October Israel Under Siege. This fantastic film
- 27:36S1: addresses the hard questions of where was God in the
- 27:39S1: events of October 7th? Why is anti-Semitism rising around the
- 27:43S1: world and how should we move forward? Through powerful testimony
- 27:47S1: from survivors alongside expert analysis, Shadows of October investigates the events,
- 27:53S1: long term impact and spiritual implications of the October 7th, 2023,
- 27:58S1: attack on Israel.
- 28:00S2: Yeah, I've watched the film myself, John and Shadows of
- 28:02S2: October forces viewers to confront the reality of anti-Semitism and
- 28:07S2: its impact on the Jewish people following the Hamas attack
- 28:10S2: on October 7th. You experienced the hatred, the heartache, and
- 28:14S2: the hope through the eyes of those who were there.
- 28:17S2: This film is currently available on streaming services. For details
- 28:21S2: on how you can watch the film or arrange a
- 28:24S2: screening for your church. Visit Life in messiah.org and click
- 28:27S2: on the Moody radio button. That's life in messiah.org.
- 28:32S1: All right, without further ado, let's get to our first
- 28:34S1: question of the day from Dave. He emailed to ask,
- 28:38S1: could you please speak to whether there is a place
- 28:40S1: for a reconciliation ministry in the local church? How would
- 28:44S1: you biblically support a proposition for one, if you think
- 28:47S1: it's appropriate?
- 28:49S4: I do think it's appropriate. I think many of us
- 28:52S4: need help. Some of our relationships aren't going the way
- 28:55S4: we like, and we need others to come along and
- 28:57S4: help us with that. And a good place for us
- 29:00S4: to go now would be to Philippians four, verse two.
- 29:03S4: Paul says, I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to
- 29:08S4: agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you, true companion,
- 29:13S4: help these women who have labored side by side with
- 29:16S4: me in the gospel. So apparently there's some sort of
- 29:19S4: conflict between the two of them. Paul doesn't tell us
- 29:21S4: what it is. We don't need to know. But notice
- 29:25S4: how he names them both and then doesn't demean them,
- 29:28S4: doesn't accuse them. He praises them. They are laborers in
- 29:33S4: the gospel. They've worked with him and yet they need someone.
- 29:36S4: And then he calls on the third person. We don't
- 29:39S4: know who he is. True companion yokefellow in the KJV,
- 29:43S4: but somebody else is in the congregation to help them.
- 29:47S4: That is reconciliation ministry. So I think it'd be a
- 29:51S4: good idea if every congregation, if they've got the resources
- 29:54S4: or maybe talk to a sister congregation for the resources,
- 29:57S4: is to have two or 3 or 4 wise people that,
- 30:01S4: you know, whether they're housewives or lawyers or doctors or whatever,
- 30:04S4: but you just know they're filled with the spirit and wisdom,
- 30:07S4: and they can be called on whenever they're needed for
- 30:10S4: doing reconciliation.
- 30:12S1: I remember when I was younger, attending a church where
- 30:14S1: they were going through some significant issues, and they called
- 30:17S1: in a third party reconciliation ministry. And it was just that.
- 30:21S1: It was hard work. They were honest, they were thoroughly
- 30:24S1: biblical at every point, and our church got tremendous benefit
- 30:27S1: out of it.
- 30:28S4: I can see it. I think it's very valuable.
- 30:30S1: Yeah. Well, thanks for bringing that issue to our attention, Dave.
- 30:33S1: Appreciate that. Uh, here's Susanna's question. I seem to remember
- 30:37S1: from a previous broadcast that you said there's no James
- 30:40S1: in the New Testament. Did you mean that James shouldn't
- 30:43S1: be in the New Testament? Could you please clarify?
- 30:45S4: I'm glad that Susanna is following this up. Even though
- 30:49S4: some parts of James are hard and difficult. I think
- 30:52S4: James belongs in the New Testament. It's very valuable. Love
- 30:55S4: to have it. So when I talked about this on
- 30:59S4: a previous broadcast, here was the issue. When we encounter
- 31:03S4: in our English translation the name Jacob. And that's the
- 31:08S4: brother of Esau, right? Well, obviously that's his name. It's Jacob.
- 31:13S4: When we encounter in our English translation the name James.
- 31:19S4: That's the name Jacob. But we're talking about the New
- 31:22S4: Testament character Jacob. The New Testament apostle Jacob. So there's
- 31:26S4: an inconsistency.
- 31:28S1: I see what.
- 31:28S4: You're saying in English translation. This has been going on
- 31:31S4: since 1611. Sometimes Jacob is properly translated as Jacob, sometimes
- 31:36S4: as James. So in the New Testament we have a
- 31:39S4: wonderful letter called James, but it's really the Epistle of Jacob.
- 31:44S1: Yeah. And if you want to get further confused, just
- 31:46S1: travel to Israel, where every city that you read about
- 31:48S1: in your Bible has about 14 different names.
- 31:51S4: Yes.
- 31:51S1: Right. Modern, ancient, uh, different varieties. Yeah. So and, you know,
- 31:55S1: we're really no different. You know, we've got a son
- 31:58S1: named James, let's say, what do we call him? Jim
- 32:00S1: or Jimmy or it's not James.
- 32:02S4: Yeah. And we've got several wonderful students on Moody's campus
- 32:06S4: whose names are Jacob. And they often get called, of course, Jake.
- 32:10S1: Yeah. I mean, so you can understand how these names
- 32:12S1: do get a little bit muddied, but it's all there.
- 32:15S1: It's all reliable. It's all in Scripture. You can email
- 32:18S1: your question to us at the land and the book@moody.edu.
- 32:23S1: The land and the book@moody.edu. Doctor Gerald Peterman is in
- 32:28S1: the studio. He's on the Moody faculty. I'm John Gager,
- 32:31S1: and this is Robin's question. In reading the book of acts,
- 32:35S1: I came to Peter's escape from prison with the angel's help.
- 32:39S1: But I wondered about two things. Was Rhoda a slave?
- 32:42S1: And when Peter knocks at the door, why did they
- 32:44S1: say it's his angel?
- 32:46S4: Oh, wonderful. Wonderful questions. So we're in acts 12, and
- 32:52S4: Peter's imprisoned, and the church is gathered in Mary's house,
- 32:56S4: and they're praying for him. And Peter gets let loose
- 33:00S4: by an angel that comes, and he doesn't even realize
- 33:03S4: the angel is letting him loose until he comes out
- 33:05S4: through the gate into the city. And then Peter goes
- 33:07S4: straight to this house, and he knocks on the door.
- 33:10S4: And Rhoda, the servant girl, yes, she is a slave.
- 33:15S4: PDC is her label. This word occurs 12 times in
- 33:18S4: the New Testament. It's always about a female slave, so
- 33:23S4: it's a really neat word. So she goes to the
- 33:25S4: door and she hears his voice. And she's so excited
- 33:29S4: because she recognizes Peter's voice. She doesn't even open the door.
- 33:32S4: She goes back in and says, It's Peter, it's Peter. Well,
- 33:34S4: here's part of the problem. This church has been praying
- 33:38S4: for Peter, but when she hears his voice, they don't
- 33:42S4: believe her. So they say it's his angel. Now, what
- 33:46S4: could that possibly mean? It could possibly mean they think
- 33:50S4: he's died. And this is his spirit.
- 33:54S1: Which is not illogical based on Herod's conduct, having executed others.
- 33:58S4: Yes, absolutely. It's not illogical at all. And it just
- 34:01S4: it makes total sense. When the disciples encounter Jesus after
- 34:06S4: his resurrection, he says, peace to you. And they think
- 34:11S4: they're seeing a spirit. So they recognize Jesus voice, but
- 34:14S4: they think they're seeing a spirit? Let's get back to
- 34:18S4: the question. What about a slave in the first century church? HMM.
- 34:23S4: We have a good letter on this, and it's called
- 34:25S4: the letter of Philemon. I'm going to summarize it quite quickly.
- 34:28S4: So Philemon, the slave owner, has a slave named Onesimus.
- 34:32S4: What does Paul encourage him to do? Set the slave free. Actually,
- 34:36S4: Paul doesn't say that. Treat him as a brother in Christ. Oh,
- 34:41S4: better than that. When you see Onesimus, treat him as
- 34:45S4: if he is the Apostle Paul. Wow. Wow. So I
- 34:49S4: think Rhoda is being treated like a sister in Christ
- 34:52S4: and honored in her context.
- 34:54S1: Thanks for that question, Robin and Jerry, thanks for your answer.
- 34:57S1: Let's go on to Paul, who takes us to revelation
- 35:00S1: chapter 22, verse seven. Look, I am coming quickly. What
- 35:05S1: does quickly mean here?
- 35:07S4: Oh, thank you so much, Paul. Many Christians have asked
- 35:10S4: this question over the years. There's plenty of evidence in
- 35:13S4: Scripture that Jesus is returning imminently. That is, it can
- 35:18S4: be at any time. So part of what soon or
- 35:21S4: quickly can mean here is it's imminent. That is, what
- 35:24S4: is the next issue. What's the next thing that our
- 35:27S4: Lord's going to do? Our next thing is he's going
- 35:30S4: to come back so soon can mean it's the next
- 35:33S4: thing kind of on the agenda, but soon can also
- 35:36S4: mean something like unexpected. So no matter how many times
- 35:40S4: Jesus has talked about his coming, he keeps predicting it
- 35:44S4: as unexpected. That is, be alert, always watchful, because the
- 35:50S4: Son of Man will come at a time you do
- 35:53S4: not expect. Matthew 2244. So why do the writers of
- 35:57S4: Scripture come back to this over and over? He's coming quickly.
- 36:00S4: He's coming soon so that we will be ready at
- 36:04S4: any moment because we don't know when. It could be now.
- 36:08S1: It's so hard to maintain that intensity of life, though,
- 36:12S1: of preparation, don't you think it is?
- 36:14S4: It's a difficult focus to maintain. It can be exhausting.
- 36:17S4: So we got to constantly pray to be able to
- 36:20S4: have the proper focus.
- 36:21S1: I mean, Jesus himself talks about this, you know, with
- 36:24S1: the parable of the virgins and their oil. Some were ready,
- 36:26S1: some weren't.
- 36:26S4: Right, right. And that's unexpected. Also on, on their part,
- 36:31S4: they don't know when the bridegroom is coming. It's difficult.
- 36:34S1: Always a fascinating segment here on the land in the book.
- 36:37S1: Questions and answers. And you're welcome to be a part
- 36:40S1: of it. As you email us at the land and
- 36:42S1: the book@moody.edu, the land and the book@moody.edu. We've got one
- 36:49S1: more segment on the program. Doctor Charlie Dyer is back
- 36:52S1: with his devotional. You don't want to miss It. It's
- 36:54S1: next here on the land and the book. Welcome back
- 37:10S1: to the land and the book. I'm John Gager grateful
- 37:13S1: for your company. You're going to be glad you stuck
- 37:14S1: with us, because we're going to talk about how not
- 37:17S1: to pray. Well, sort of. That's not quite the title
- 37:19S1: of today's devotional, but Charlie, is that the gist of it?
- 37:22S2: It really is. John.
- 37:23S1: Yeah. And I suppose like anything, there's a right way
- 37:26S1: and a wrong way to pray. And maybe some of
- 37:28S1: us are doing more of the wrong stuff than we thought.
- 37:30S1: We'll find out. First, though, let's take in this Holy
- 37:33S1: Land experience a testimony from somebody who's been to the
- 37:36S1: Holy Land and is really impressed with the thought that
- 37:38S1: they want to share with you and me. Listen.
- 37:44S6: One thing I'm going to take back from me from
- 37:46S6: this trip to Israel is just perspective. I think that's
- 37:48S6: what a lot of people will say. But just being
- 37:51S6: where Jesus walked and seeing the wilderness where he was
- 37:54S6: tempted is just mind blowing. You know, he was tempted
- 37:57S6: in every way and yet without sin. And just seeing
- 38:00S6: the wilderness he was actually in just puts that in
- 38:02S6: a whole new perspective. And that's from from Dan to Beersheba.
- 38:06S7: A highlight for me has been being able to look
- 38:08S7: out at the Sea of Galilee and see the three
- 38:10S7: points that Charlie pointed out that make a triangle of
- 38:13S7: where Jesus did most of his miracles. Seeing that will
- 38:18S7: allow me to have more of an image when reading
- 38:20S7: the Bible and knowing where that all took place.
- 38:23S8: The highlight of the trip for me has been on
- 38:26S8: the Mount Bental, where the Army installation is, and we
- 38:31S8: learned how Israel prevailed with some 60 or 70 tanks
- 38:35S8: over 1500 Syrian tanks, and God's involvement in that. And
- 38:40S8: it just brought to life for me the the presence
- 38:43S8: and the power and the providence and the protection of
- 38:47S8: our God for his people.
- 38:50S1: Charlie, I'm ready to listen and learn.
- 38:53S2: Thanks, John. Well, our bus is just pulling into the
- 38:55S2: parking area at the Mount of Beatitudes. When we stop,
- 38:59S2: I want you all to get off the bus and
- 39:00S2: then follow me. Don't use the restrooms or pause to
- 39:03S2: take pictures. At least not yet. Trust me, you'll have
- 39:07S2: time to do both afterward. I need to run ahead
- 39:09S2: and talk with the nun inside the chapel to get
- 39:12S2: the key. That opens the gate to the spot where
- 39:14S2: we'll be meeting. So when you're all off the bus,
- 39:17S2: just head toward the chapel and I'll meet you there. Okay,
- 39:21S2: we're all here, so follow me down these steps, through
- 39:24S2: the gate and down the walkway on the other side.
- 39:27S2: When we get to the small theater at the end
- 39:29S2: of that path, find a spot and make yourself comfortable.
- 39:32S2: I want to start a new series, and I think
- 39:34S2: this is the perfect place to begin. Now, for the
- 39:37S2: next few weeks, I want to look at some of
- 39:39S2: the prayers of the Bible. And today we're going to
- 39:41S2: start by focusing on the model prayer Jesus gave during
- 39:45S2: the sermon on the Mount. We usually call it the
- 39:47S2: Lord's Prayer, but it's probably more appropriate to call it
- 39:50S2: the Disciple's Prayer, since Jesus was explaining to them how
- 39:54S2: they ought to pray. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
- 39:57S2: We're at the traditional Mount of Beatitudes, and it's really
- 40:00S2: a beautiful place. We don't know for sure if this
- 40:03S2: is the exact spot where Jesus delivered the sermon on
- 40:06S2: the Mount, but it had to be somewhere in this
- 40:08S2: general area. The book of Matthew says it took place
- 40:11S2: on a mountainside in Galilee. And the next place Jesus
- 40:15S2: went afterward was the town of Capernaum. If you look
- 40:18S2: down the hillside, you can actually see the remains of
- 40:21S2: ancient Capernaum down on the Sea of Galilee. It's only
- 40:24S2: a mile away from this hillside where you're now sitting.
- 40:27S2: It's not hard to imagine Jesus, seated somewhere in this
- 40:30S2: area with his disciples and other followers, gathered around listening
- 40:34S2: to his words. And it soon became obvious to those
- 40:37S2: in the crowd that Jesus was describing a standard for
- 40:41S2: following God that exceeded anything practiced by the religious leaders
- 40:45S2: of his day. You have heard that it was said,
- 40:48S2: he announced, and then he would summarize the standard teaching
- 40:51S2: of the Pharisees. But I say unto you, he replied,
- 40:55S2: explaining in full measure what a holy God really expected
- 40:58S2: of his followers. Eventually, Jesus came to the subject of prayer.
- 41:03S2: And he began by focusing on two approaches to prayer
- 41:06S2: that missed the mark when it comes to talking with God.
- 41:09S2: The first approach was that of the Jewish religious leaders
- 41:12S2: of his day, who used prayer as a way of
- 41:14S2: boasting about their own spirituality. And when you pray, you
- 41:19S2: are not to be as the hypocrites, for they love
- 41:21S2: to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the
- 41:23S2: street corners in order to be seen by men. Truly
- 41:27S2: I say to you, they have their reward in full.
- 41:30S2: Prayer isn't something that we do to try and impress others. Prayer.
- 41:35S2: True prayer is a deep, intimate, personal conversation with God.
- 41:40S2: When you pray, go into your inner room and when
- 41:43S2: you have shut the door, pray to your father who
- 41:45S2: is in secret, and your father who sees in secret
- 41:48S2: will repay you. Jesus's first lesson on prayer focuses on
- 41:53S2: our motive for praying. Are we doing it to impress
- 41:56S2: others or to talk with God? The second approach to
- 42:00S2: prayer that misses the mark was the kind of praying
- 42:03S2: often done by religious Gentiles in Jesus's day. Jesus tells
- 42:07S2: those gathered. When you are praying, do not use meaningless
- 42:11S2: repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they
- 42:15S2: will be heard for their many words. The expression meaningless
- 42:19S2: repetition comes from a Greek word that literally means babbling
- 42:23S2: or speaking without thinking. Jesus's second lesson on prayer focuses
- 42:29S2: on the method behind our praying. He was warning his
- 42:32S2: followers against mindlessly saying the same prayer over and over
- 42:36S2: again without really even thinking about what's being said. Sadly,
- 42:41S2: I've seen times when the so-called Lord's Prayer, the very
- 42:44S2: next word spoken by Jesus, are used this very way
- 42:48S2: as something memorized and mindlessly repeated without any real understanding
- 42:52S2: of what the words actually mean or what Jesus was
- 42:56S2: trying to teach. Prayer isn't shooting spiritual spitballs at heaven,
- 43:01S2: hoping somehow to grab God's attention by using some magic formula. Instead,
- 43:06S2: Jesus told his audience that prayer is talking with an
- 43:09S2: understanding heavenly Father. Your father knows what you need before
- 43:13S2: you ask. You don't need to impress others, and you
- 43:17S2: don't need to try to impress God either. Jesus calls
- 43:20S2: God our Father four times in the 13 verses he
- 43:24S2: devotes to prayer. And by doing so, he was reminding
- 43:27S2: them and us that prayer is a family discussion with
- 43:31S2: a Heavenly Dad who cares very deeply for his children.
- 43:35S2: It is a conversation, not a contest. So if prayer
- 43:40S2: isn't about looking good in front of others, or mindlessly
- 43:43S2: repeating some formula to get God's attention, then what exactly
- 43:47S2: are we supposed to be doing when we pray? Jesus
- 43:50S2: supplies the answer in verses 9 to 13, where he
- 43:53S2: gives us a model we can use to guide us
- 43:56S2: in our praying. And that's going to be our focus
- 43:59S2: next week. When we look at the prayer we've come
- 44:02S2: to call the Lord's Prayer, but that Jesus really intended
- 44:05S2: as a model prayer for his disciples. So we'll circle
- 44:09S2: back here next week. But what can we take away
- 44:11S2: from our time on the Mount of Beatitudes today? I
- 44:14S2: think the answer is both encouraging and convicting. The first
- 44:19S2: thing Jesus wants us to remember is to check our
- 44:22S2: motive when we pray. Are we praying to impress others
- 44:25S2: or to have an intimate conversation with our Heavenly Father?
- 44:29S2: None of us can judge another's motives, but God can
- 44:33S2: see into each of our hearts, and he sees not
- 44:35S2: only what we do, but why we do it. Jesus's
- 44:39S2: remedy for those who might be tempted to show off
- 44:42S2: in prayer was very simple. Stop praying in public and
- 44:46S2: focus more on praying in secret by yourself. So the
- 44:49S2: discussion really is between you and your heavenly Father. But
- 44:54S2: the second thing Jesus wants us to remember is to
- 44:57S2: check our method of praying. Have we become mechanical and
- 45:01S2: wrote in our prayers. Do we disengage our mind and
- 45:04S2: simply recite something we memorized long ago? Such babbling assumes
- 45:10S2: that all God is looking for are the words coming
- 45:12S2: out of our mouths, even if we're not mentally engaged
- 45:15S2: in the process. Prayer is a conversation with God, and
- 45:19S2: He wants us to be actively engaged in that conversation.
- 45:24S2: Next week, we'll move from the negative to the positive.
- 45:27S2: If this is how we're not to pray in the
- 45:30S2: next verses, we'll explore what Jesus says our prayers ought
- 45:33S2: to look like.
- 45:35S1: Charlie, quick clarification if you would. When we talk about babbling,
- 45:39S1: we're not trying to discourage people from daily coming to
- 45:42S1: our Heavenly Father on behalf of lost family members, that
- 45:46S1: kind of thing. Are we?
- 45:47S2: Oh, not at all. No. In fact, I use the
- 45:49S2: Lord's Prayer as an example. What he's really saying is
- 45:51S2: don't go. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
- 45:53S2: thy name. And running through the Lord's Prayer, but not
- 45:57S2: even thinking what we're saying, you know, to go to
- 45:59S2: God again and again with the same request is perfectly
- 46:02S2: fine because we're thinking about it. We're focused on it.
- 46:05S2: And that's what God really wants.
- 46:06S1: Yeah. Well, we're looking forward to the second half of this.
- 46:09S1: We learned today how not to pray. Next week, how
- 46:11S1: to pray. And I'm also impressed, Charlie, with the brevity
- 46:15S1: of that prayer from the Lord.
- 46:17S2: You're exactly right. It packs an awful lot in it.
- 46:19S2: There's a tremendous number of topics there, but he compresses
- 46:22S2: it all into a very short formula that we can
- 46:24S2: remember and focus on in our prayer life.
- 46:27S1: And again, we'll do more next week. Hope you'll look
- 46:28S1: forward to that. Hope you'll be around then. Meanwhile, do
- 46:31S1: visit our website if you would, The land and thebook.org.
- 46:35S1: And if you've got a Bible question, get that to
- 46:37S1: us as well. You can email us at the land
- 46:40S1: and the book@moody.edu. Our thanks as always to the ever
- 46:45S1: energetic Charlie Dyer, to our producer, Dan Anderson. I'm John
- 46:49S1: Gager The land and the book is a production of
- 46:51S1: Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.