Well, this is the last
of our series of programs.
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Sort of seems a pity it
all has to end, doesn't it?
00:00:09.51\00:00:12.87
because this has been more than
just a presentation of history
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and geography. Its really
the presentation of a message-a
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message which I
believe. I believe the bible.
00:00:23.77\00:00:25.97
I believe its message. And
now we come to the last of the
00:00:26.00\00:00:30.86
programs and maybe its the
best. Its a story of Petra,
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the rose red city, half as
old as time. 2000 years ago
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Petra was a fabulously wealthy
city. And people everywhere
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knew about Petra. It
boasted of its independence.
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and prosperity. But all this
came to the ears of the Romans
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who were interested in wealth.
And in the year 106 A. D.
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Roman legions fought their way
into the valley and conquered
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and occupied Petra. They built
a beautiful road right through
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the center of the city.
And the emperor, Trajan, had a
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gateway erected to commemorate
the victory. And under Rome
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Petra prospered. But as the
centuries rolled by, the camel
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caravans that used to
plod their way from Arabia to
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Jerusalem and Damascus
found an alternate route by the
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Mediterranean and bypassed
Petra. And as the result,
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Petra's prosperity waned. Its
population drifted away until
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finally about 800 years ago,
the valley lapsed into silence
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and was deserted. Nobody
knew where it was. Scholars knew
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about Petra but they
didn't know where it was.
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And it was not until the year
1812 that the Swiss explorer,
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Johann Burckhardt stumbled
across these amazing ruins
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and came out to tell an
astonished world of what he
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had seen - the lost
city of Petra had been found.
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Beautiful view from up
here The Oleanders are blooming
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all through the valley.
And I'm up on the obelisk tomb.
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It's called an obelisk tomb
because of the four obelisks
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that are on top of it; but
they're not really obelisks
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at all. They're fertility
pillars. They were part of the
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old Edomite type of worship
and Nabatean worship and they're
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the sort of thing that was
forbidden in the Old Testament.
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They're called Mesabot in Hebrew
and they were not supposed
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to worship these things. And so
the instruction was to destroy
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them. But actually its a
tomb down below is the place or
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triclinium where they had
a funeral feast and up here
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are the actual funeral vaults
where the bodies are buried.
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So this is
called the obelisk tomb.
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We are entering the ravine
or Seka, which it is called
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in Arabic, which leads into the
Petra valley. And it was into
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this valley that Johann
Burkhardt, the Swiss explorer
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came in 1812. Burkhardt was
actually on his way to Africa.
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He'd been employed by the
African exploration society,
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and they had advised him first
of all to go to Syria and learn
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the Arabic language,
become familiar with the Islamic
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religion before he went on to
Africa. So he did that and when
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he set out on his way to Africa,
from Syria, he passed along
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this way. Now he heard about
this valley and so he decided
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turn aside on the pretext that
as a Muslim which he pretended
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to be, he was going to offer
a goat - sacrifice a goat to
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Aaron's tomb. Aaron's
tomb is up on top of Mount Hor.
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And this was a sacred place
for Arabs. And so he decided to
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make this his pretext. But when
he got into the valley and saw
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inside, he was just absolutely
over-awed and he realized he
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must have found Petra. And
apparently his Arab guide got
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suspicious and threatened
to kill him so he hastily
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sacrificed his goat
and came out to tell
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the astonished world that he had
found the lost city of Petra.
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The walls of this ravine
are anything up to 100 meters
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in height. Just about meet
overhead so it is a very easy
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place for the defending army
to defend against just a few men
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against a whole army.
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This is rather a quaint concept
that the Nabateans had, well
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it's quaint to our
Western way of thinking, anyway.
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very natural to them what they
called God Houses. Solid stones
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Their principal deity was
a deity by the name of Dutra.
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And they had these god
houses. They're solid, you know,
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you knock on the door and there
is nobody going to open because
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of its solid inside. You
see they figure that god was a
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spirit. God could go through
stones so why go to the trouble
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of hollowing out the thing.
So this is one of the god houses
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with an altar in front of it.
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Well, you can imagine how
Burkhardt felt when he got
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to the end of the seek and this
magnificent view burst on his
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gaze. He must have
been overwhelmed and you can
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understand he betrayed his
feelings. And this of course
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also throws some
light on a bible prophecy.
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Now there's a special book
in the bible that's entirely
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debated the Petra, you know.
The book of Obadiah. It starts
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off by saying, The vision
of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord
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God concerning Edom. You who
dwell in the clefts of the rock
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who's habitation is high.
Well you can see why it says,
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the clefts of
the rock, can't you?
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Can you see that Arab man lying
down there having a sleep in
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the sun? Well, that'll give
you some idea of the perspective
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of the immensity of this
huge building. Well we call it
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a building, actually it's cut
out of the stone and that's a
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remarkable thing about Petra.
You see they didn't build things
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one on top of the other. They
just simply started at the top
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and began to work down and
cut these things out of the
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solid face of the mountain and
what worries me is, just suppose
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somebody makes a mistake? I
mean, if you're using stones
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or bricks, you just
throw it away, use another one.
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But if you make a
mistake here, you've had it.
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And so its remarkable that
they could make such fantastic
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structures, just simply
cutting them out of the stone.
00:08:03.88\00:08:06.73
Now this place is
called El Gazna in Arabic.
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which means, the treasury. It
is called that because up at the
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top there's a sort of an
urn, and the Arabs used to think
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that it was full of beautiful
treasures and they took pot
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shots with their rifles and
held out their hands underneath
00:08:19.13\00:08:22.11
hoping that it would split open
and all these fabulous treasures
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would fall down into their
hands but never did, of course.
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The reason that its called
the Treasury is because of that
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but the question is, Is
it a tomb or is it a temple?
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Opinion is divided on this. I
personally think it is a temple
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because inside there are niches
where I think that the deities
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could have been installed,
you know, images. Well whatever
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it was it is a fantastic piece
of architecture and workmanship.
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Well really ladies, wouldn't you
like this for your front doorway
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just look at these beautiful
colors here and you've got all
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the annuals growing
in your front garden.
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You see they even carved their
houses out of the solid cliff
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face. It must have been
beautiful. Well this house is
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rather badly weathered as
you can see, but what a beauty
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it was. Look, I'm sitting
in somebody's windows here.
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How about that for a window?
And over there is one of the
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other rooms and look
at the ceiling, will you?
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I mean, you'd pay a million
dollars to get a ceiling painted
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like that. Here it is, just
natural, it just comes naturally
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The early inhabitants of Petra
were the Edomites who of course
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were descendents of Edom,
which is another name for Esau.
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You know the story of Jacob
and Esau, the twins-had a bit of
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friction between them and that
Jacob had to go off to Bethel
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and so on. And later on
Esau came down here and his
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descendents occupied this area.
And they found it naturally a
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very suitable place,
very easily defended, not only
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because of the seek which could
be easily defended, but right up
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on the hill behind me, up
there is what is known as Sela.
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Now Sela is the Hebrews
word for rock, a very big rock.
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And you can see it is a
very big rock. It's flat on top.
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And it has some cisterns up
there, in fact the Arabs today
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Um al Biara, the place of
cisterns and so at the last
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resort they were able to retire
up there and obviously it would
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be very hard to dislodge
them. That's why the bible spoke
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about the Edomites, as,
You who live as an eagle.
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You know, up in the nests. So
it was very high. However it was
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conquered by the
Israelites under King David.
00:10:49.30\00:10:52.77
Joab, the army captain
came down here and conquered it.
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He killed most of the males,
actually. And then later on
00:10:55.78\00:10:58.81
in the days of King Amaziah,
of Judah, we have the record
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in 2nd Chronicles, and
in chapter 25 and verse 12
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And the children of Judah took
captive another 10,000 alive
00:11:06.90\00:11:10.64
brought them to the top of the
rock and cast them down from the
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top of the rock so that
they were all dashed in pieces.
00:11:13.93\00:11:16.73
Well I can tell you, it's a long
way down. I've been up there,
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looked down. You
wouldn't want to go down there.
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And this is what happened
during the days of Amaziah.
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However as time went by, the
Edomites became very arrogant
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and in particular they
allied with the Babylonians.
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And they were very vindictive
against the Israelites.
00:11:32.37\00:11:36.07
And so it was that we have the
record in the book of Obadiah,
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the prophet who spoke
against Petra-verse 10.
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For your violence against your
brother Jacob shame shall cover
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you. You shall be cut off for
ever. In the day that strangers
00:11:48.49\00:11:52.11
carried captive his forces, when
foreigners entered his gates,
00:11:52.14\00:11:56.24
you were as one of them.
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It was very malicious on their
part. In fact it tells us over
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here in the book of Psalms
just what they said as they
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united with the Babylonians.
Psalm 137: Remember O Lord,
00:12:05.04\00:12:09.03
against the sons of Edom,
the day of Jerusalem who said,
00:12:09.06\00:12:11.89
Raze it, raze it to
its very foundation.
00:12:11.92\00:12:14.96
They egged the Babylonians on
to completely destroy Jerusalem.
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And so Jeremiah came up
with the prophecy in chapter 49.
00:12:19.03\00:12:24.43
Against Edom, Thus says the Lord
of Hosts, I have made Esau bare.
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I have uncovered his secret
places. Just have a look around,
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will you? There's just
absolutely nothing left here.
00:12:33.41\00:12:35.70
Its as bare as anything. Oh you
who dwell in the clefts of the
00:12:35.73\00:12:39.75
rock, who hold the height of
the hill, thought you make your
00:12:39.78\00:12:42.81
nest as high as the eagle, I
will bring you down from there,
00:12:42.84\00:12:46.17
says the Lord. Edom
shall be an astonishment.
00:12:46.20\00:12:48.81
Everyone who goes by
it will be astonished.
00:12:48.84\00:12:51.45
And you've just got to come here
and listen to the exclamations
00:12:51.48\00:12:55.38
that people make-tourists
make. They're just absolutely
00:12:55.41\00:12:57.92
astonished at what they
see. No one shall abide there.
00:12:57.95\00:13:02.20
Well, these prophecies often
take a long time in fulfillment.
00:13:02.23\00:13:05.85
In fact, it almost seems as
if it wasn't going to happen.
00:13:05.88\00:13:08.83
But it did.
00:13:08.86\00:13:10.17
In the 4th century B.C. a people
by the name of the Nabateans,
00:13:21.39\00:13:25.89
came to Petra and
squeezed the Edomites out.
00:13:25.92\00:13:29.25
And we're on the way up to the
most spectacular edifice that is
00:13:29.28\00:13:35.50
attributed to them and
that's a place called al-Deir,
00:13:35.53\00:13:38.31
on the way of course we
past these beautiful walls.
00:13:38.34\00:13:41.65
You'd think that they
were murals, wouldn't you?
00:13:41.68\00:13:43.97
Only they're too good for that.
Well, the Nabateans are actually
00:13:43.98\00:13:47.69
descended from a character
by the name of Nabayat who was
00:13:47.72\00:13:51.78
descended from Ishmael,
Abraham's son, and they pushed
00:13:51.81\00:13:56.14
the Edomites out.
They occupied this place,
00:13:56.17\00:13:58.04
And so the period of
the Nabateans begins.
00:13:58.07\00:14:02.16
This is the Nabateans
sacrificial high place.
00:14:42.02\00:14:46.55
You know the bible says
whenever Israel apostatized,
00:14:46.58\00:14:49.73
they offered sacrifices on every
high hill and under every green
00:14:49.76\00:14:57.16
tree. It seems to have been
a system they had back there.
00:14:57.19\00:15:00.97
There's being a lot of
fanaticizing About this.
00:15:01.00\00:15:03.82
Some people imagine that there
were animals or human sacrifices
00:15:03.85\00:15:07.49
offered here. Well, there's
no scriptural evidence to
00:15:07.52\00:15:11.08
support such an idea and
from the size of this slab,
00:15:11.11\00:15:14.62
I would say its quite obvious
it has just been for animal
00:15:14.65\00:15:16.91
sacrifices. So this apparently
is where animals were sacrificed
00:15:16.94\00:15:21.70
and no doubt their blood
was taken up here to the place
00:15:21.73\00:15:27.63
where oblations were made and
where sacrifices were poured out
00:15:27.66\00:15:32.35
you know the blood, water-holy
water poured out on here and it
00:15:32.38\00:15:36.33
ran down here through
this little drain here.
00:15:36.36\00:15:38.36
Well, as you can see, I made it
to the top. And what a fantastic
00:16:09.74\00:16:16.23
thing this is! Just look at it,
will you. Cut out of the solid
00:16:16.26\00:16:20.74
face of the mountain and so
beautifully done, so symmetrical
00:16:20.77\00:16:24.32
and it's a
masterpiece of sculpturing.
00:16:24.35\00:16:29.01
For many years stories of
Petra's fabulous wealth must've
00:16:37.27\00:16:41.88
reached Roman ears. But it was
00:16:41.91\00:16:44.01
not until the year 106 A.D. that
Roman armies finally marched
00:16:44.04\00:16:48.41
into Petra, conquered it.
And established the Roman way of
00:16:48.44\00:16:51.63
life here. Behind me is a
victory gateway which they
00:16:51.66\00:16:55.23
built to commemorate the
event. They ran a paved road
00:16:55.26\00:16:58.50
right through Petra and
built this beautiful colonnade.
00:16:58.53\00:17:02.60
There were shops here. And so
from then on you have the Roman
00:17:02.63\00:17:07.13
way of life here.
00:17:07.16\00:17:08.22
And here is a theater
that was used in Roman times.
00:17:13.49\00:17:16.10
You know this could hold 30,000
spectators, so a lot of people
00:17:16.13\00:17:19.76
living here and you can see when
they cut it or carved through
00:17:19.79\00:17:23.75
some of the tombs and left
gaping holes there. Well some
00:17:23.78\00:17:27.08
body could get a
good view from up there.
00:17:27.09\00:17:28.66
The tomb that you see up here on
the left is thought to represent
00:17:34.95\00:17:39.84
the facade of a Roman palace.
Actually this whole group of
00:17:39.87\00:17:42.94
tombs is of Roman style,
adopted during the Roman period
00:17:42.97\00:17:46.59
by the Nabateans. The
one away over there on right,
00:17:46.62\00:17:50.04
you see the one with the arches,
well that's rather interesting
00:17:50.07\00:17:52.91
if you take a close look at it.
00:17:52.94\00:17:54.38
Early in the Christian
era, Christianity came to Petra.
00:18:06.55\00:18:11.66
And this place was
converted into a vast cathedral.
00:18:11.69\00:18:16.05
And what a place to worship!
00:18:16.08\00:18:18.71
In the 7th century A.D. Islam
came here. But then the trade
00:18:24.77\00:18:31.38
routes began to alter. Caravans
no longer threaded their way
00:18:31.41\00:18:36.34
through Petra. And
the city began to die.
00:18:36.37\00:18:39.46
People drifted away and by the
year 1200 A.D. the last record
00:18:39.49\00:18:44.98
we have is of the crusaders
building a small fortress on the
00:18:45.01\00:18:49.29
hill. And then the valley lapsed
into silence and there were only
00:18:49.32\00:18:54.35
the occasional nomads weaving
their way around the valley.
00:18:54.36\00:18:58.47
Do you realize that what
happened to Petra is a symbol
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of what is going to
happen to the whole world.
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Let's turn back to the
prophet of Petra, Obadiah.
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And in his little book talking
about Petra, he finishes up
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by saying this. Verse 15,
For the day of the Lord is upon
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all the nations and it is near.
And they shall be as though
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they had never been. So you
see it's not just a case of what
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was going to happen to Petra.
Obadiah was given a message
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concerning the entire world
at the end of time. And this,
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of course, is consistent with
what the other prophecies say.
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For instance, in first
Thessalonians, chapter 4,
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and in verse 16, the great
apostle Paul says, For the Lord
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himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of
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the archangel and with the
trumpet of God, and the dead
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in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain
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shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet
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the Lord in the air.
What a great day that will be.
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All the good people who
are ready to meet the Lord
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will be raised from the dead
and they'll be swept up from
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this world with those who
are ready who are living to meet
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Christ in the air. Thou
wilt forever be with the Lord.
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Okay, what about those who are
not ready? In Luke chapter 17
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and in verse 28, it says,
Likewise as it was also in the
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days of Lot. They ate, they
drank, they bought, they sold,
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they planted, they built but
on the day that Lot went out of
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Sodom, it rained fire
and brimstone from heaven and
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destroyed them all. Even so
will it be in the day when the
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Son of man is revealed. And so
the same thing's going to happen
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All those who are not
ready will be destroyed.
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Now let me ask you a question.
If all the good people go to
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heaven and all the rest are
destroyed, tell me, How many
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people are going to be
left alive in this world?
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To answer that question, I turn
to a very interesting prophecy
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in Revelation, chapter
20, verse one where it says,
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then I saw an angel coming
down from heaven having the key
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of the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand.
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He laid hold of the dragon, that
serpent of old who is the devil
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and Satan, and bound
him for a thousand years.
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Now apparently what John saw
in vision was one of these big
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water systems that we've
seen around the middle east,
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you know, with a big stone
on it's mouth and this angel
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grabbed the devil, threw him
into this pit. John couldn't see
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the bottom to it so he
called it a bottomless pit.
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And then he put the stone on top
of it, sealed it up, and he was
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kept there for a thousand years.
Now its quite apparent that this
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symbolizes the condition of the
world during the thousand years.
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This world is going to
be desolate. Its going to be
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uninhabited. Its going to
be just bare like this piece of
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Petra that we
have behind us here.
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Well, just look at
that. Absolutely desolate.
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And that's the way the world's
going to be for 1,000 years.
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How come? Well, when Christ
returns this world is just
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going to be devastated. The
bible tells us that mountains
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are going to come
crashing down into the plains.
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Inhabited cities are just
going to crumble. These proud
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buildings that are in the world
today, they're just going to
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topple down. The inhabited
islands are going to sink
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beneath the
foaming billows of the sea.
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Everything is just going to be
turned upside down. And inasmuch
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as all God's people have
been taken up there to heaven,
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God's dwelling place, a very
real place, wonderful place.
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And all those who are
lost are going to be dead.
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there's just going to be nobody,
nothing left in this world
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for a thousand years. And the
devil is going to have to join
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in the ranks of the unemployed.
He'll be out of a job. Nobody to
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tempt. Nobody to annoy. No
trouble to do. And so he just
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going to be engaging in a lot
of bickering and arguing with
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all his fallen
angels for a thousand years.
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Serves him right.
Well what happens then?
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It says in Revelation 20 and in
verse 7, Now when the thousand
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years of have expired, Satan
will be released from his prison
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and will go out to deceive
the nations which are in the
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four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog,
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to gather them together
to battle, whose number is as
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the sand of the sea. Now here's
lots of people, Where do they
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come from? I think the answer
is in verse 5, where it says,
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The rest of the dead did not
live again until the thousand
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years were finished. So at
the end of the thousand years,
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apparently, the wicked people
are going to be raised from the
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dead. And the devil is
going be in a job again.
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Here are all the people to
deceive and goes out and says,
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Look, let's get going. We've
got something to gain here. It
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says, verse 9, They went up
on the breadth of the earth and
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surrounded the camp of the
saints, and the beloved city.
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Oh, where did this beloved
city come from? It tells us in
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Revelation 21, verse 2, Then
I, John, saw the Holy City, New
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Jerusalem coming down
out of heaven from God.
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At the end of this thousand
years God's people inside
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this beautiful, wonderful
city come floating down
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and it settles on this earth.
And so the devil goes out and he
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says, Look! we ought to be
inside there, we're the rightful
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owners of this world. Come
on, let's go up and attack them.
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There are more of us than there
are of them. Futile, of course.
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Because you're up against
God. But that's what he does.
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It says, however, and fire
came down from God out of heaven
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and devoured them. And the
devil who deceived them was
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cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone. Just as the world was
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deluged with water in the days
of Noah-came pouring down out of
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the sky and turned this whole
world into a vast lake of water
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so at the end of the thousand
years fire is going to come down
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pouring out of the sky, and its
going to turn this whole world
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into a vast lake of fire. And it
says in verse 13-14, I'm sorry,
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then death and Hades, that's the
grave, were cast into the lake
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of fire. This is the 2nd death.
Now nobody's going to enjoy
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dying. I've told you, you don't
need to be afraid of death,
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if you're ready for it. But
nobody's going to enjoy dying.
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Who wants to die a 2nd time?
And yet here are people who have
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rejected Christ, who
have rebelled against his laws
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and government and they're
going to die a second time
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in this lake of fire. Now this
lake of fire is the only hell
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fire the bible talks about.
People don't go soon as they die
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and get burned and frazzled for
millions of years. That's not
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the way God deals with people.
And the bible doesn't teach
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that. This is hell fire. This is
the lake of fire and it does its
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work completely. It completely
burns them up, so that
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they'll be finally destroyed and
the devil, all his wicked angels
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and all his followers are
going to be completely devoured
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in this lake of fire.
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Well, when those fires
have finished their deadly work,
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and cleared away. When the
tragedy of sin is forever ended,
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God is going to make a beautiful
new world, a lovely new world
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just like it was in the garden
of Eden and perhaps even better.
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It tells us here in the
2nd book of Peter, chapter 3,
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and in verse 2, But the day
of the Lord will come as a thief
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in the night in the which
the heavens will pass away
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with a great noise and the
elements will melt with fervent
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heat, looking for and hasting
the coming of the day of God;
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because of which the heavens
will be dissolved, being on fire
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and the elements will melt
with fervent heat, nevertheless,
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we according to his
promise look for new heavens
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and a new earth. I think
we could do with a new heavens
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and a new earth, don't
you? A beautiful new earth,
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where nothing ever goes wrong.
But then Peter asks a very
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significant question. He says
this, Therefore since all these
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things will be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought you to
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be? How do you like that
question? What manner of persons
00:28:31.39\00:28:35.57
ought you to be? You know I hope
you've enjoyed these programs
00:28:35.60\00:28:41.94
we've presented to you. You've
seen me a lot on these programs.
00:28:41.97\00:28:45.61
I've never met you, but I
feel as though I've been talking
00:28:45.64\00:28:50.68
to you and I want to meet you.
I'd like to meet you in that
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wonderful kingdom. You know,
there's something we should
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consider, and that is at the
end of that thousand years, all
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humanity is going to be
alive together at one place.
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I mean, some will be inside
God's city, and the others
00:29:06.29\00:29:10.76
will be outside. I
sure want you to be inside.
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I want to meet you there.
Won't you promise me, please
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promise me that you will accept
Jesus Christ as your Savior
00:29:20.53\00:29:24.63
and do everything he tells
you to do so that we can meet
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together at Jesus' feet.
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