Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG021644A
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00:00 (MUSIC)
00:15 >>WE ARE CONTINUING A SERIES THAT WILL PROBABLY JUST 00:18 HAVE ABOUT THREE PARTS TO IT, DEALING WITH THE SUBJECT OF 00:22 ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY IN PROPHECY. LAST WEEK WE TALKED 00:26 ABOUT SIBLING RIVALRY AND TODAY WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT 00:31 FROM MECCA TO ROME AND WE THINK THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT STUDY 00:36 FOR WHERE WE ARE IN THE WORLD TODAY AND I DO SOLICIT YOUR 00:40 PRAYERS AS I SHARE AND I JUST WANT TO BE FAITHFUL TO HIS WORD. 00:45 I DON'T CLAIM TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON, BUT 00:48 I DO FEEL IMPRESSED THAT WE ARE ON THE - ON THE CUSP OF A LOT OF 00:56 BIBLE PROPHECY BEING FULFILLED AND I THINK GOD WANTS US TO 00:59 UNDERSTAND AND, ALSO, TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT DOES MATTER 01:04 WHAT YOU BELIEVE. >>AMEN. 01:06 >>I THINK MOST OF US KNOW THAT THE MIDDLE EAST HAS BECOME 01:10 SOMETHING OF A TINDERBOX IN RECENT YEARS. 01:15 SOME ARE DATING THE LATEST IMPLOSION OF STABILITY TO EARLY 01:20 IN 2011 WHEN THEY HAD WHAT THEY CALLED THE 'ARAB SPRING'. 01:25 A LOT OF THE COUNTRIES ACROSS NORTH AFRICA AND THROUGH THE 01:29 MIDDLE EAST THAT WERE DICTATOR REGIMES, THEY WENT THROUGH A 01:34 GREAT DEAL OF UPHEAVAL AND IT LOOKED LIKE DEMOCRACY WAS GOING 01:37 TO SETTLE IN AND A NUMBER OF THESE COUNTRIES BEGAN TO PROTEST 01:43 AND ASK FOR MORE RIGHTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA, BEING AVAILABLE, 01:47 MADE A LOT OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE SAY, YOU KNOW, 'WHY DON'T WE 01:49 HAVE FREEDOMS OF SOME OF THESE OTHER COUNTRIES?' 01:51 AND IT LOOKED LIKE IT WOULD BE A FRESH AWAKENING LIKE, KIND OF, 01:55 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION - LOOKING FOR FREEDOM AND 01:58 DEMOCRACY - BUT WHAT STARTED OUT AS AN ARAB SPRING QUICKLY TURNED 02:04 TO WINTER AND IT DESCENDED INTO VIOLENCE AND INSTABILITY. 02:08 AND COUNTRIES LIKE TUNISIA AND EGYPT, LIBYA, YEMEN, BAHRAIN, 02:14 SYRIA, ALGERIA, IRAQ, JORDAN, KUWAIT, MOROCCO, SUDAN, OMAN, 02:21 AND OTHERS ALL, ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY, BEGAN TO 02:25 UNRAVEL. I THINK WE KNOW, AT LEAST AT THE TIME OF THIS 02:29 RECORDING, THAT THERE'S BEEN AN ONGOING CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA AND 02:34 AS MANY AS 300,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN THOSE STRUGGLES. 02:40 PEOPLE ARE WONDERING AT WHAT POINT IS THIS TENSION IN THE 02:45 MIDDLE EAST GOING TO REACH CRITICAL MASS AND WHAT WILL THAT 02:49 MEAN? AT THE SAME TIME, THERE'S THIS 02:51 KIND OF INSTABILITY IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD. 02:55 WE ALSO SEE THAT THERE'S A GREAT DEAL OR GROWING TERRORISM THAT 03:01 IS, MORE TIMES THAN NOT, ASSOCIATED WITH THE RELIGION OF 03:06 ISLAM. NOW, I WANT TO QUICKLY REPEAT 03:09 THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO BE AFRAID OF 03:14 OUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS. I WAS PLAYING RACQUETBALL, WITH 03:17 A MUSLIM FRIEND I'VE KNOWN FOR YEARS, THIS WEEK. 03:21 BUT WE ALSO NEED TO ADMIT AND BE HONEST AND AWARE THAT THERE IS 03:26 AT LEAST A VARIETY OF MUSLIMS THAT HAVE BEEN RADICALIZED BY 03:32 THEIR BELIEF AND SOME OF THEM ARE VERY FUNDAMENTAL IN THEIR 03:37 BELIEFS AND THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE QURAN AND WE'LL TALK MORE 03:40 ABOUT THAT A LITTLE LATER. YOU REMEMBER LAST WEEK WE 03:45 EXPLAINED THESE TWO GREAT RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD - 03:47 LARGEST RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD: CHRISTIANITY - NUMBER 1 - ABOUT 03:49 2.2 BILLION - ISLAM - NUMBER 2 - ABOUT 1.7 BILLION - THERE'S 03:54 VARYING NUMBERS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED, BUT THAT'S - I'M 03:58 PICKING A MEDIUM NUMBER. IT'S ANYWHERE BETWEEN 1.5 AND 04:03 1.8 BILLION MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD. 04:07 WHILE IT IS TRUE MOST ARABS, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE THAT DESCENDED 04:11 FROM ISHMAEL, ARE MUSLIMS, NOT ALL ARABS ARE MUSLIMS. 04:15 THERE ARE SOME ARABS THAT HAVE BEEN CHRISTIANS FOR 2,000 YEARS 04:19 BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY, WHEN IT SPREAD THROUGH EGYPT - AND RIGHT 04:22 NOW MANY OF THE CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT ARE BEING PERSECUTED BY 04:26 THE MUSLIMS THERE. AND THERE ARE ARAB JEWS, BELIEVE 04:30 IT OR NOT, AND I'VE MET THEM BEFORE. AND SO, I JUST - AND 04:35 THEN ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT OF THE 1.7 BILLION MUSLIMS IN THE 04:41 WORLD, MOST ARE NOT ARAB. MOST OF THEM ARE LIVING IN 04:45 PAKISTAN AND NORTH AFRICA AND MOSTLY INDONESIA. 04:51 BUT IN THE SAME WAY, MOST CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD ARE NOT 04:55 JEWS - THE EARLY CHURCH WAS ALL JEWISH. 04:58 THEY ALL SPRANG FROM ISAAC AND JACOB, AND THE ARABS HAVE 05:05 PRINCIPALLY - I'M SORRY, THE MUSLIMS HAVE PRINCIPALLY SPRUNG 05:09 FROM THE ARABS, BUT IT HAS SPREAD WAY BEYOND THEIR COAST. 05:12 THEY WERE VERY AGGRESSIVE IN THEIR MISSION OUTREACH. 05:16 NOW I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING TO SHARE WITH YOU - 05:19 IT'S BEEN NOW SUBSTANTIATED BY SCIENCE THAT THERE IS A COMMON 05:25 PARENTAGE BETWEEN THE JEWS AND THE ARABS. 05:30 AS THE FIGHTING CONTINUES IN THE MIDDLE EAST THERE IS A NEW STUDY 05:34 THAT REVEALS MORE THAN 70% OF JEWISH MEN AND MORE THAN 50% OF 05:40 ARAB MEN WHOSE DNA WAS STUDIED, INHERITED THEIR Y CHROMOSOME 05:45 FROM THE SAME PATERNAL ANCESTORS DATING BACK ABOUT 3,000 YEARS 05:50 AGO. DO YOU KNOW THAT IS EXACTLY 05:51 WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS? >>AMEN. 05:53 >>AND THAT'S BEEN CONFIRMED - THAT THE JEWS AND THE ARABS, 05:57 THEY DO GO BACK TO THE SAME COMMON ANCESTOR. 06:00 YOU KNOW, NOT ALL OF THEM BECAUSE THERE'S - WITH CONQUESTS 06:03 THERE'S A LITTLE INTERMARRIAGE THAT HAPPENED WITH THE LOCAL 06:05 PEOPLES, BUT THEY CAN PRETTY WELL PROVE THAT. 06:09 AND SO IT IS A LARGE SIBLING RIVALRY THAT'S CARRIED ALL THE 06:13 WAY FROM THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM DOWN TO OUR PRESENT DAY. 06:16 AND I WANT TO REMIND YOU AGAIN - I KNOW SOME WERE NOT HERE - SOME 06:23 MAY BE VISITING TODAY - THE WAY YOU SEE THESE TWO GREAT 06:27 RELIGIONS CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE BATTLE THAT HAPPENED IN THE 06:32 FAMILY BETWEEN ABRAHAM AND THERE WAS ISHMAEL AND THERE WAS ISAAC. 06:40 ISHMAEL, GALATIANS TELLS US, CAME INTO THE WORLD THROUGH 06:43 NATURAL MEANS, WHEREAS ISAAC WAS BORN OF FAITH - IT WAS A 06:47 SUPERNATURAL EVENT. ISHMAEL WAS CIRCUMCISED AT THE 06:51 AGE OF 13, WHEN YOU TECHNICALLY BECAME AN ADULT AND 06:54 AGE OF RESPONSIBILITY. ISAAC WAS CIRCUMCISED - 8 DAYS 06:58 OLD - AS A BABY - AN AGE OF DEPENDENCE. ISHMAEL - MOUNT 07:03 SINAI IN ARABIA - DON'T MISS THAT - THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS 07:07 'MOUNT SINAI IN ARABIA' AND WAS BORN AFTER THE FLESH - ISAAC, 07:14 BORN AFTER THE SPIRIT. HE IS CALLED 'THE ONLY SON'. 07:17 WHEN [GOD] TOLD HIM TO OFFER ISAAC HE SAID, 'TAKE YOUR SON, 07:20 YOUR ONLY SON' - BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY SON HE WAS SUPPOSED TO 07:23 HAVE. HE WAS THE SON OF PROMISE. ISAAC - ISHMAEL REPRESENTS 07:29 THE ONE WHO IS - OR ISHMAEL PERSECUTES ISAAC, THE SON 07:34 WHO IS BORN AFTER THE SPIRIT. ISAAC REPRESENTS JERUSALEM - THE 07:38 NEW JERUSALEM IS THE PLACE OF THE FAITHFUL. 07:40 ISAAC HAS A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE, HAGAR PRAYS, AN 07:44 ANGEL SPEAKS TO HER, AND HE IS DELIVERED - ISHMAEL 07:47 HAS A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE - RIGHT, ISHMAEL HAS A NEAR-DEATH 07:50 EXPERIENCE, HAGAR PRAYS - ISAAC HAS A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE ON 07:54 THE MOUNTAIN AND GOD - THE ANGEL STOPS ABRAHAM FROM OFFERING HIM. 07:58 BOTH THE NAMES ISHMAEL AND ISAAC ARE GIVEN BY GOD. 08:03 IT SHOULD ALSO BE MENTIONED THAT - IT TELLS US THE ANGEL OF THE 08:06 LORD THAT APPEARED TO MOSES, MOST CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT WAS 08:10 A CHRISTOPHANY - JESUS APPEARED TO MOSES. 08:15 DO YOU KNOW IT SAYS THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO HAGAR? 08:19 SO GOD WAS INVOLVED IN - IN BOTH OF THESE NAMES BEING GIVEN. 08:25 IT'S INTERESTING, NOW, THE DISTINCTION - ISAAC ENDS UP 08:29 GOING EAST FOR HIS WIFE - ACTUALLY NORTHEAST - ISHMAEL 08:34 GOES SOUTH - OR SOUTHWEST - FOR HIS WIFE. 08:38 THEY GO IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. ONE WIFE CHOSEN BY THE FATHER, 08:41 THE WIFE OF ISHMAEL CHOSEN BY THE MOTHER - ISAAC 08:45 CHOSEN BY THE FATHER. AND THEY ALMOST SEEM TO BE - 08:48 IT'S THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS AND THAT STILL 08:54 TRANSLATES INTO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD TODAY - 08:57 WHAT YOU SEE BACK THEN. I'LL GET TO THAT A LITTLE LATER. 09:01 THERE WAS A PROMISE THAT WAS GIVEN BOTH TO ISAAC AND TO 09:04 ISHMAEL, THAT THEIR DESCENDANTS WOULD BE INNUMERABLE, AND THE 09:08 ANGEL OF THE LORD SAID TO HER, 'RETURN TO YOUR MISTRESS AND 09:11 SUBMIT TO HER.' GOD SAID TO HAGAR, 'I WILL MULTIPLY YOUR 09:15 DESCENDANTS EXCEEDINGLY SO THEY WILL NOT BE COUNTED FOR 09:19 MULTITUDE.' NOW, WE HAD THIS PICTURE UP ON THE SCREEN LAST 09:22 WEEK AND I NEVER ACTUALLY DID ADDRESS IT. 09:24 THIS IS A COUPLE OF EGYPTIAN PIECES OF ART OF CHARACTERS THAT 09:29 LIVED - AND I ALWAYS SAY HER NAME WRONG - QUEEN NEFERTIRI - 09:34 OR NEFERTITI - YEAH, THAT'S WHO SHE IS - IT'S ACTUALLY - IT'S AN 09:38 EXQUISITE PIECE OF EGYPTIAN ART BECAUSE IT'S ONE WHERE THE PAINT 09:42 WAS PRESERVED AND YOU REALLY GET AN IDEA OF WHAT THE PEOPLE 09:45 LOOKED LIKE. AND THERE'S A STATUE OF ONE 09:48 OF THE RAMSES, I BELIEVE. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THUTMOSE - IT 09:54 TELLS YOU HOW MUCH I KNOW ABOUT EGYPTOLOGY - BUT ANYWAY, THESE 09:56 ARE SOME OF THE EGYPTIANS THAT COULD READ HIEROGLYPHICS. 09:59 THEY WERE NOT ARABS. NOW, THE REASON I EMPHASIZE THAT 10:05 IS BECAUSE YOU GO TO EGYPT TODAY AND YOU GO - AND I'VE BEEN IN 10:09 THE PYRAMIDS AND I'VE BEEN TO THE SPHINX AND I'VE SEEN THIS 10:11 AND THEY SAY, 'WE BUILT THIS' AND IT'S GREAT PATRIOTISM BUT, 10:15 IN REALITY, THEY DID NOT. THEY COULD NOT READ THE 10:18 HIEROGLYPHICS. THEY HAVE DONE DNA STUDIES ON THOUSANDS OF 10:22 MUMMIES - WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY DID IT ON THOUSANDS - THEY 10:24 FOUND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MUMMIES - AND THEY WERE ACTUALLY 10:27 A DIFFERENT PEOPLE. THE ARABS MOVED IN. THE ARABS HAVE SPREAD 10:32 AND BECOME INNUMERABLE. THE BABYLONIANS THAT ONCE RULED 10:36 THE WORLD, THEY WERE NOT ARABS. THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE 10:40 IN IRAQ NOW ARE ARABS. THE PERSIANS, WHO RULED THE 10:43 WORLD - IN IRAN, THERE IS PERSIAN BLOOD, BUT WHEN YOU DO 10:47 THE DNA TEST, THEY'RE MORE ARAB THAN ANYTHING. 10:51 SAME THING WITH THE SYRIANS AND THE ASSYRIANS. 10:54 THESE WERE OTHER EMPIRES THAT WERE BASICALLY ECLIPSED AND 10:57 DISPLACED BY THE ARABS THAT SPREAD THROUGH THERE. 11:03 AND SO THE PROMISE THAT GOD MADE TO HAGAR - THAT THEY WOULD 11:05 MULTIPLY EXCEEDINGLY - QUITE LITERALLY DID COME TRUE - 11:09 AND IT IS STILL HAPPENING. IT'S INTERESTING THAT GOD SAID 11:15 THAT ISHMAEL WOULD HAVE TWELVE SONS AND WE KNOW HE HAD AT 11:18 LEAST ONE DAUGHTER BECAUSE ESAU MARRIED HER. AND THEN ISAAC'S 11:22 SON JACOB HAD TWELVE SONS AND AT LEAST ONE DAUGHTER, DINAH. 11:26 AND SO, AGAIN, YOU SEE IT'S JUST - IT'S ALMOST LIKE TWO RIVERS 11:30 FLOW FROM ABRAHAM THAT END UP IN CONFLICT AT THE END. 11:35 IT SHOULDN'T SURPRISE US - CAIN AND ABEL - YOU'VE GOT A CONFLICT 11:38 AT THE BEGINNING, BUT - TWO BROTHERS, BOTH CLAIMING TO 11:41 WORSHIP THE SAME GOD - YOU GOT THAT? 11:43 CAIN AND ABEL BOTH CLAIMED TO WORSHIP THE SAME GOD - ONE WAS 11:46 RIGHT AND ONE WAS WRONG - ONE KILLED THE OTHER. 11:49 HISTORY'S GOING TO REPEAT ITSELF AT THE END OF TIME. 11:53 THEY'LL BE ALL CLAIMING TO WORSHIP THE SAME GOD. 11:56 AND, AS OF 2010, THE EUROPEAN UNION WAS HOME TO 13 MILLION 12:03 MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS. FROM THAT TIME TO THE PRESENT IT 12:07 HAS GROWN ALMOST EXPONENTIALLY, WHICH IS INTERESTING BECAUSE ALL 12:12 THROUGH THE DARK AGES, ISLAM TRIED TO CONQUER 12:15 EUROPE THROUGH WARS. THEY'D MAKE PROGRESS AND 12:17 THEN THEY'D BE DRIVEN BACK. NOW, IT SEEMS, THROUGH 12:21 IMMIGRATION, THEY'RE ACHIEVING WHAT THEY COULD 12:23 NOT DO THROUGH WAR. I'M NOT TRYING TO BE DEROGATORY, 12:27 I'M JUST SAYING IT'S A FACT, IF YOU TRAVEL THERE. 12:30 THE MOSQUES IN FRANCE, MANY OF THEM WERE ONCE CHURCHES. 12:35 AND, AS YOU GO THROUGH ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, WHICH 12:37 USED TO BE - THEY'D BE FILLED EVERY SUNDAY - ARE VIRTUALLY 12:41 EMPTY NOW AND MANY OF THEM HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO MOSQUES. 12:45 AND SO THERE IS A GREAT CHANGE HAPPENING IN THE RELIGIOUS 12:48 LANDSCAPE OF EUROPE, WHICH PLAYS INTO WHY POPE FRANCIS AND HIS 12:54 PREDECESSOR, POPE JOHN PAUL II, HAVE BEEN SO INTERESTED IN 13:00 DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHRISTIANS IN THE WEST - BECAUSE 13:04 THEY ARE LOSING THEIR FOOTHOLD IN THE HOMELAND OF EUROPE. 13:09 AND ALL OF THIS IS FACTORING INTO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE 13:13 WORLD. ARABS ONLY CONSTITUTE ABOUT 20 13:15 PERCENT OF MUSLIMS WORLDWIDE, AS I MENTIONED THAT, OVER 200 13:19 MILLION IN PAKISTAN AND INDIA - 350 MILLION COMBINED 13:23 BETWEEN THOSE COUNTRIES. SO WHO ARE THE ARABS? 13:27 IF YOU GO BACK TO THE BIBLE HERE - IF YOU LOOK, FOR INSTANCE, IN 13:29 GENESIS 25, ABRAHAM GAVE ALL THAT HE HAD TO ISAAC, THE SON OF 13:35 PROMISE, BUT HE GAVE GIFTS TO THE OTHER SONS OF THE CONCUBINES 13:40 - MEANING HAGAR AND KETURAH - THAT HE HAD WHILE HE WAS STILL 13:44 LIVING. SO HE SEPARATED HIS SUBSTANCE 13:46 WHILE HE WAS ALIVE, LIKE THAT STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON, AND 13:50 HE SENT THEM AWAY FROM ISAAC, SO THERE'D BE NO CONFUSION ABOUT 13:54 WHAT HIS PLAN WAS, TO THE COUNTRY OF THE EAST. 13:58 THEY WERE SENT TO AN AREA THAT IS SOUTHEAST OF ISRAEL, BETTER 14:04 KNOWN AS ARABIA. YOU CAN READ IN GENESIS 25:18, 14:09 SPEAKING OF THE PEOPLE OF ISHMAEL, "(THEY DWELT FROM 14:11 HAVILAH AS FAR AS SHUR, WHICH IS EAST OF EGYPT AS YOU GO 14:16 TOWARD ASSYRIA.)" I THINK MOST OF YOU, IN YOUR MINDS, HAVE 14:19 A LITTLE BIT OF GEOGRAPHY. CAN YOU SEE THE MIDDLE EAST? 14:22 YOU KNOW WHERE EGYPT IS THERE BY THE NILE, ON THE SHORES IN THE 14:25 MEDITERRANEAN. YOU GO EAST OF EGYPT, YOU 14:28 END UP IN SAUDI ARABIA. IF YOU GO THROUGH SAUDI ARABIA 14:31 - ALMOST NO ONE WENT TO ASSYRIA THAT WAY - YOU'D 14:33 END UP IN ASSYRIA. THIS IS THE TERRITORY WHERE 14:37 THE ARABS, OFTEN CALLED THE BEDOUINS, FOUND THEIR HOME. 14:45 WHERE DID MOSES GO WHEN HE WAS LOOKING FOR REFUGE? 14:49 HE FLED TO THAT SAME TERRITORY. YOU CAN READ IN EXODUS 2, VERSE 14:53 15, "WHEN PHARAOH HEARD OF THIS MATTER, HE SOUGHT TO KILL MOSES. 14:57 BUT MOSES FLED FROM THE FACE OF PHARAOH AND DWELT IN THE LAND OF 15:01 MIDIAN; AND HE SAT DOWN BY A WELL." 15:04 THE PEOPLE OF MIDIAN WERE - THEY'RE THE DESCENDANTS OF 15:09 KETURAH. THEY INTERMARRIED, BECAUSE THEY 15:12 WERE ALL SENT TO THE SAME PLACE, WITH THE CHILDREN OF ISHMAEL. 15:15 AND SO, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ARABS TODAY, YOU'RE TALKING 15:18 ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE THE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM'S THIRD 15:23 WIFE - YOU'VE GOT SARAH, HAGAR, KETURAH - MIDIAN WAS ONE OF 15:28 THOSE SONS. THEY ARE CALLED THE MIDIANITES 15:30 AND SOMETIMES THEY'RE ALSO CALLED THE ISHMAELITES 15:33 IN THE SAME PHRASE. YOU REMEMBER LAST WEEK? 15:35 JOSEPH WAS SOLD TO THE MIDIANITES AND IT ALSO CALLS 15:38 THEM THE ISHMAELITES - BECAUSE THEY INTERMARRIED - AND ESAU 15:41 MARRIED ISHMAEL'S DAUGHTER. SO THERE WAS A LOT OF, KIND OF, 15:46 FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS HAPPENING THERE. 15:49 THOSE PEOPLE GREW INTO A GREAT PEOPLE - ALL RELATED TO ABRAHAM 15:55 - BETTER KNOWN AS THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST, AT THAT TIME. 15:59 SOMETIMES THEY CALLED THEM THE MIDIANITES AND THE AMALEKITES 16:03 AND THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST. MATTER OF FACT, TAKE YOUR BIBLE 16:06 - TURN TO THE BOOK OF JUDGES CHAPTER 7. YOU KNOW THE STORY OF 16:09 GIDEON? A LOT OF THE TIME ISRAEL GOT ALONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE, BUT 16:16 WHEN THEY BECAME A NATION AND THEY CAME OUT OF EGYPT, THEY 16:19 OFTEN HAD CONFLICT AND THERE WAS WAR WITH THE PEOPLE OF MIDIAN 16:22 BECAUSE THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT RESOURCES SO THEY'D FIGHT OVER 16:26 TERRITORY. AND THERE WERE TIMES - BRIEF 16:29 TIMES - OF PEACE BETWEEN THE JEWS AND THE DESCENDANTS OF 16:33 ISHMAEL, BUT THERE WERE ALSO TIMES OF WAR. 16:36 ONE TIME OF WAR WAS DURING THE TIME OF GIDEON. 16:39 REMEMBER, IT SAYS PEOPLE OF GOD WERE UNFAITHFUL? 16:41 AND SO THEY WERE OPPRESSED BY THE MIDIANITES FOR SEVEN YEARS. 16:44 BUT YOU CAN READ HERE IN VERSE 12 OF JUDGES 7, "NOW THE 16:48 MIDIANITES AND AMALEKITES, ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST," - 16:52 THAT'S WHAT WE WOULD CALMLY SAY WERE THE ARABS. 16:56 ALSO, NOTICE SOMETHING IT SAYS HERE IT DOESN'T SAY ABOUT OTHER 16:58 BATTLES - "WERE...AS NUMEROUS AS LOCUSTS;" - NOW, WHEN YOU GET TO 17:03 REVELATION 9 WE'RE GOING TO HOPEFULLY HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT 17:06 TODAY, IT TALKS ABOUT THIS TRUMPET WHERE THERE'S LOCUSTS. 17:12 "AS NUMEROUS AS LOCUSTS; AND THEIR CAMELS WERE WITHOUT 17:15 NUMBER," - SO YOU SEE, THE MIDIANITES, AMALEKITES, PEOPLE 17:18 OF THE EAST - HAVE I MADE MY CASE WHO THE ARAB PEOPLE ARE? 17:21 I TRIED TO, YOU KNOW, DO THE DETECTIVE WORK HERE AND SHOW YOU 17:24 THAT. HERE YOU CAN LOOK IN 2 CHRONICLES 9:14, "BESIDES WHAT 17:30 THE TRAVELING MERCHANTS AND TRADERS BROUGHT. 17:32 AND ALL THE KINGS OF ARABIA" BROUGHT GIFTS TO SOLOMON - 17:37 SILVER AND GOLD - THEY WERE VERY RICH. QUEEN OF SHEBA CAME DOWN 17:41 THROUGH THE ARABIAN PENINSULA - BROUGHT TREASURES AND THERE WAS 17:47 - IT WAS A DIFFERENT CLIMATE THEN AND THEY HAD A LOT OF 17:48 NATURAL RESOURCES. BUT YOU COULD ALSO SEE THERE WAS 17:52 WAR - NOT ONLY IN THE TIME OF GIDEON, LOOK AT NEHEMIAH. 17:56 NEHEMIAH 4:7 - THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN SAN BALLAT, 18:00 TOBIAH, THE ARABS, THE AMMONITES, AND THE ASHDODITES 18:05 HEARD THAT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM WERE BEING RESTORED 18:07 AND THE GAPS WERE BEGINNING TO BE CLOSED, THAT THEY BECAME VERY 18:09 ANGRY," - BECAUSE TO THE SOUTH OF JERUSALEM, THE ARABS HAD SORT 18:14 OF ANNEXED SOME OF THAT TERRITORY AND NOW, IF JERUSALEM 18:16 WAS REESTABLISHED, THEY WERE GOING TO LOSE IT. AND SO THERE 18:20 WAS A CONFEDERACY OF THE ARABS THAT WERE FIGHTING AGAINST 18:23 ISRAEL. NOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THE ARABS RELIGIOUSLY? 18:29 WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY, I DON'T WANT IT TO SEEM UNKIND, BUT A 18:32 LOT OF THE EARLY ARABS WERE DEEP INTO MOON WORSHIP. 18:39 IT'S THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TO THE JEWS - THE JEWS 18:41 OFTEN SLIPPED FROM THE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH INTO PAGAN FORMS OF 18:45 WORSHIP. AND SO I'M NOT SAYING ANYTHING 18:48 ABOUT THE ARABS I'M NOT ALSO SAYING ABOUT THE JEWS AND EVEN 18:50 THE CHRISTIANS THAT SLIPPED INTO SUN WORSHIP WHEN THEY STARTED 18:55 TO MERGE WITH THE ROMANS. WE ALL KNOW THAT, RIGHT? 18:58 THEY SORT OF CO-MINGLED SOME OF THE THINGS FROM SUN WORSHIP; 19:02 INDEED, THAT'S WHERE SUNDAY COMES FROM. 19:04 WELL, THE ARABS WERE INTO MOON WORSHIP - I WAS READING 19:07 SOMETHING FROM HISTORY HERE - AND THIS IS A BOOK SHORT HISTORY 19:09 OF THE ARABS BY PHILIP HITTI - HE SAID, "THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE 19:14 PENINSULA, THE ANTIQUATED PAGANISM OF THE ARABIANS, WHICH, 19:18 FOR THE BEDOUINS, CENTERED CHIEFLY ON THE WORSHIP OF A MOON 19:22 GOD, AS IS LIKELY TO BE THE CASE WITH A PASTORAL PEOPLE IN HOT 19:25 CLIMATES WHO FIND THE COOLNESS OF THE NIGHT THEIR FRIEND AND 19:29 THE SUN THEIR ENEMY." SO IT WAS NATURAL FOR THEM TO WORSHIP THE 19:31 MOON BECAUSE THE SUN WAS - THEY DIDN'T WORSHIP THE SUN FOR 19:34 CROPS, IT WAS AN ENEMY. BUT THEY'D FINALLY REACHED A POINT 19:38 IN THEIR RELIGION WHERE IT FAILED ANY LONGER TO MEET THE 19:41 SPIRITUAL DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLE. THIS WAS PREPARING THE WAY FOR A 19:45 NEW RELIGION. THEY HAD BECOME DISSATISFIED WITH MOON WORSHIP. 19:48 NOW, WHILE THEY'RE WORSHIPING THE MOON, THEY STILL PRACTICED 19:51 CIRCUMCISION BECAUSE THEY'VE COME FROM ABRAHAM, THEY DON'T 19:55 EAT PORK BUT THEY HAVE STARTED EATING CAMEL. 20:01 NOW, YOU KNOW, THE UNCLEAN - THE LAWS SAY YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO 20:04 EAT CAMEL. YOU GO TO ARABIA TODAY, THEY'LL 20:06 MAKE A BIG DEAL AND SAY, 'OH, WE DON'T EAT PORK. 20:08 PIGS ARE UNCLEAN.' BUT THEN THEY'LL SACRIFICE A CAMEL. 20:11 YEAH, SO YOU KNOW, JESUS SAID, 'THEY STRAIN A GNAT AND THEY 20:15 SWALLOW A CAMEL.' NOW HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE PHARISEES, WHO 20:19 WERE VERY FASTIDIOUS TO MAKE SURE THEY DIDN'T GET ANY BUGS IN 20:22 THE WATER BECAUSE BUGS ARE UNCLEAN, BUT THEN THEY'D EAT A 20:24 CAMEL STEAK, WHICH WAS JUST AS FORBIDDEN AS EATING PORK, IN THE 20:30 BIBLE. SO THEY DRIFTED INTO MOON 20:33 WORSHIP AND JUST AS, YOU KNOW, GOD'S PEOPLE NORTH OF THEM HAD 20:37 DRIFTED IN THEIR WORSHIP TOO. THE PRE-ISLAM PAGAN ARABS 20:42 WORSHIPED THE MOON GOD THEY CALLED 'ALLAH'. 20:44 NOW ALLAH'S A GENERIC TERM FOR GOD SO THAT SHOULDN'T SHAKE YOU. 20:48 BY PRAYING TOWARDS MECCA - MECCA WAS A HOLY SITE EVEN BEFORE 20:52 MOHAMMED - SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, MAKING A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA, 20:56 RUNNING AROUND THE TEMPLE OF THE MOON GOD CALLED THE KABA, 21:00 KISSING THE BLACK STONE THAT SUPPOSEDLY FELL FROM HEAVEN - 21:03 LATER, MUSLIMS SAID IT WAS GIVEN TO ADAM AND LATER ABRAHAM BUILT 21:07 A TEMPLE - KILLING AN ANIMAL IN SACRIFICE TO THE MOON GOD, 21:11 THROWING STONES AT THE DEVIL, FASTING FOR THE MONTH, WHICH 21:14 BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE CRESCENT MOON - RAMADAN IS ALL 21:18 BUILT AROUND THE MOON - GIVING ALMS TO THE POOR, ETC. AND IF 21:22 YOU'VE READ THE NEWS RECENTLY, YOU KNOW THAT MODERN-DAY MUSLIMS 21:25 PRACTICE MANY OF THESE VERY SAME RITUALS STILL TODAY, BUT THEY 21:29 CAN BE TRACED ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE TIME WHEN IT WAS INVOLVED 21:32 IN LUNAR WORSHIP. SO THIS WAS THE STATE OF 21:35 THINGS OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO ISHMAEL'S DESCENDANTS. 21:39 SOME OF THEM CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY DURING THE TIME OF 21:42 CHRIST. THEY HAD CHURCHES IN EGYPT. 21:45 SOME OF THEM CONVERTED TO JUDAISM IN ALEXANDRIA - THERE 21:49 WERE ARABS THAT ACCEPTED THE SCRIPTURES OF THE JEWS. 21:51 THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH INFLUENCE 21:55 AMONG THE ARABS BECAUSE THEY LIVED IN - THEY WERE NEIGHBORS - 21:58 IN PROXIMITY. BUT THEN, AFTER 538, WHEN THE POPE BEGAN TO BE A 22:10 RULER - A POLITICAL FORCE - AS WELL AS A RELIGION, AND IT 22:16 SEEMED LIKE IDOLATRY HAD BECOME INSTITUTIONALIZED AND THE 22:22 MUSLIMS HAD NO RESPECT FOR THAT - THAT - THEY WEREN'T MUSLIMS 22:24 YET, SORRY - THE ARABS HAD NO RESPECT FOR THAT BECAUSE MANY OF 22:27 THEM DID NOT BELIEVE IN IDOLATRY. THEY BECAME VERY 22:31 DISSATISFIED. IT WAS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT THAT A MAN WAS BORN, 22:38 THAT WE KNOW TODAY AS MOHAMMED. 570 - IT'S INTERESTING THAT FROM 22:43 ROME YOU'VE GOT ONE RELIGION ARISING 538 - AND ANOTHER 22:49 ARISING - WELL, HE WAS BORN 570 - THE RELIGION DIDN'T REALLY 22:53 RISE UNTIL ABOUT 50 YEARS AFTER THAT. 22:59 AND I DON'T WANT TO MAKE TOO MUCH OF THIS BUT, YOU 23:00 REALIZE, EVEN THOUGH ISHMAEL WAS BORN FIRST, ISAAC OUTLIVED HIM. 23:06 HE LIVED TO 180 - ISHMAEL 137 - AND BECAUSE ISHMAEL WAS 13 YEARS 23:12 OLDER - ABOUT 12 YEARS OLDER - HE - YOU'VE GOT THIS SPAN OF 23:19 LIKE 50 YEARS. THIS IS ABOUT THE DISTANCE OF 23:21 TIME BETWEEN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 538 AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 23:27 ISLAM. YOU GETTING ME? 23:29 THERE'S ACTUALLY A GAP BETWEEN THE BROTHERS - YOU CAN SEE - YOU 23:32 CAN MATCH UP WITH THE GAP BETWEEN THE RELIGIONS LATER - 23:36 THAT HAD BECOME THE TWO GREAT RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD. 23:40 HE WAS BORN IN 570 - DIED JUNE 8, 632 IN MEDINA - HE WAS BORN 23:47 IN MECCA. HE'S ACCEPTED BY MUSLIMS AS THE 23:52 LAST OF THE PROPHETS OF GOD. NOW MOHAMMED WAS ORPHANED AT 23:56 AN EARLY AGE AND HE WAS RAISED UNDER THE CARE OF 23:59 HIS PATERNAL UNCLE. PERIODICALLY HE WOULD SECLUDE 24:02 HIMSELF IN A MOUNTAIN CAVE FOR SEVERAL NIGHTS OF PRAYER. 24:05 AT AGE 25, MOHAMMED WED HIS WEALTHY EMPLOYER, WHO WAS 15 24:10 YEARS OLDER THAN HIM - SHE WAS 40 - A MERCHANT, KADALIA. 24:15 THIS MARRIAGE WAS, FOR THE MOST PART, HAPPY. 24:17 AND IT WAS A MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGE AND SHE HELPED HIM IN MANY WAYS 24:23 BECAUSE SHE HAD SOME WEALTH. AND 25 YEARS LATER, WHEN SHE 24:28 DIED, HE ENDED UP TAKING SEVERAL WIVES, ONE OF THEM AS 24:31 YOUNG AS 9 YEARS OLD. AND IT WAS DURING THIS TIME THAT 24:35 HE KIND OF WENT FROM A PROPHET TO A LITTLE BIT OF A POLITICIAN. 24:39 MOST OF HIS EARLY VISIONS WERE VERY PEACEFUL; LATER VISIONS, 24:42 WHEN HE WAS FIGHTING FOR POWER, THERE WAS A LITTLE MORE VIOLENCE 24:45 INVOLVED. SOMETHING - AND THIS IS FROM THE BOOK WRITTEN BY 24:48 RAMON BENNET - I'M READING A LOT IN PREPARING FOR THIS - ISLAM 24:52 REVEALED PAGE 48, "AS A YOUNG CHILD, MOHAMMED WAS NURSED BY A 24:57 BEDOUIN WOMAN BY THE NAME OF HALIMA AND, IN HIS THIRD AND 25:01 FOURTH YEARS, THE CHILD HAD NUMEROUS FITS, WHICH MADE HALIMA 25:04 THINK HE WAS DEMON-POSSESSED. LATER, AT AGE 40, HE REPORTED 25:09 BEING VISITED BY GABRIEL IN A CAVE WHERE HE STARTED TO RECEIVE 25:12 HIS FIRST REVELATIONS FROM GOD. THREE YEARS LATER MOHAMMED 25:16 STARTED PREACHING THESE REVELATIONS PUBLICLY PROCLAIMING 25:19 THAT GOD IS ONE AND THAT COMPLETE SURRENDER" - BY THE 25:22 WAY, THAT'S WHAT THE WORD 'ISLAM' MEANS - CONNECTED WITH 25:24 THE WORD SALOM OR SHALOM - SALAM IS HOW YOU SAY IT IN ARABIC 25:30 - "THAT HE IS THE ONLY WAY ACCEPTABLE TO GOD AND THAT HE 25:33 WAS THE PROPHET OF GOD, SIMILAR TO OTHER BIBLE PROPHETS. 25:38 EARLY MUSLIM TRADITION RECORDS THAT WHEN MOHAMMED WAS ABOUT TO 25:41 RECEIVE A REVELATION FROM ALLAH, HE'D OFTEN FALL DOWN ON THE 25:44 GROUND, HIS BODY WOULD BEGIN TO JERK, HIS EYES WOULD ROLL 25:47 BACKWARD, HE WOULD PERSPIRE PROFUSELY, AND THEY'D COVER HIM 25:51 WITH A BLANKET DURING SUCH EPISODES." 25:53 HE'D COME OUT OF THESE VISIONS AND HE'D SAY HE HAD A MESSAGE. 25:57 AND THIS IS FROM THE BOOK THE ISLAMIC INVASION PAGE 71, "AND 26:02 DURING THE TIME THAT HE WAS IN THIS TRANCE-LIKE STATE HE 26:05 RECEIVED THESE DIVINE REVELATIONS." 26:10 THAT'S FROM THE BOOK THE GREAT DECEPTION . 26:13 "MOHAMMED GAINED A FEW FOLLOWERS EARLY AND HE MET WITH HOSTILITY 26:16 FROM THE OTHER MECCAN TRIBES. TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION 26:20 HE LEFT MECCA. GRADUALLY HE BUILT AN ARMY AND 26:24 HE GAINED CONVERTS IN MEDINA. HE RETURNED TO MECCA WITH 10,000 26:28 SOLDIERS AND WAS MET WITH LITTLE RESISTANCE" - VERY LITTLE 26:32 BLOODSHED - HE BASICALLY TOOK THE CITY. 26:34 IT LATER BECAME THE CENTER FOR THE RELIGION. 26:37 AND THAT THE BEDOUINS WERE SPREAD ALL OVER SAUDI ARABIA AND 26:41 THE MIDDLE EAST, THEY REALLY DIDN'T HAVE A NATIONAL RELIGION. 26:45 MOHAMMED BECAME THE NATURAL ONE TO SORT OF COALESCE THEM ALL. 26:50 SOME OF THEM LEANED TOWARDS THE JEWS AND SO HE SAID, YOU KNOW, 26:55 'I AGREE WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT.' SOME OF THEM LEANED 26:57 TOWARDS THE RELIGION OF THE CHRISTIANS, HE SAID, 'I AGREE 27:00 WITH THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS.' BUT THE PROBLEM WAS, HE SAID, 27:04 'YOU CANNOT TRUST THEIR SCRIPTURES.' THE ORIGINAL 27:07 SCRIPTURES OF THE CHRISTIANS AND THE JEWS WERE TRUE, BUT THEY 27:11 HAVE BEEN TAMPERED WITH AND YOU CAN'T BELIEVE THEM ANYMORE.' AND 27:14 SO, ISLAM TEACHES, NOT JUST WHAT MOHAMMED SAID, THEY STILL TEACH 27:18 TODAY, 'YES, WE AGREE WITH THE BIBLE. 27:22 WE AGREE WITH THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS, BUT THE BIBLES YOU HAVE 27:26 TODAY CANNOT BE TRUSTED. THERE IS NO COPY LEFT OF THE 27:30 BIBLE AND THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT REALLY CONTAINS THE ORIGINAL. 27:34 IT'S ALL BEEN CORRUPTED. SO THE ONLY SCRIPTURES THAT CAN 27:37 BE TRUSTED TODAY ARE THE QURAN.' SO THEY KIND OF SAY, 'OH YES, WE 27:41 AGREE' BUT THEY SAY, 'WE DON'T AGREE WITH YOUR SCRIPTURES. 27:45 IF THERE'S ANY CONFLICT BETWEEN YOUR SCRIPTURES AND WHAT WE 27:48 SAY.' AND SO, IT SORT OF - HE WAS TRYING TO FIND A RELIGION 27:53 THAT WOULD BRING THEM ALL TOGETHER, BUT NOT HAVE THEM GO 27:55 TO THE SCRIPTURES FOR THEIR TRUTH. 27:59 AND SO YOU'LL FIND A LOT OF REFERENCE TO THE OTHER RELIGIONS 28:02 IN THE QURAN. MOST - OH, BY THE WAY, ONE MORE 28:06 THING ON MOHAMMED, YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE MORE MEN IN THE WORLD 28:09 TODAY NAMED MOHAMMED THAN ANY OTHER NAME? IT IS THE MOST 28:13 POPULAR NAME IN THE WORLD. SO WHO WROTE THE QURAN? 28:18 MOST MUSLIMS FREELY AGREE THAT MOHAMMED WAS PROBABLY 28:21 ILLITERATE. THERE WAS NO INDICATION 28:23 IN HISTORY THAT HE WROTE. ABOUT 19 YEARS AFTER HE DIED - 28:29 HE DIED SUDDENLY AFTER A TRIP TO MECCA. 28:32 HE CAME BACK TO MEDINA AND GOT SICK. 28:34 SOME SAID THAT HE HAD A JEWISH SERVANT WHO POISONED HIM - 28:37 THERE'S BEEN ALL KINDS OF SPECULATION BUT HISTORY REALLY 28:39 DOESN'T SAY WHAT HAPPENED. AND SO ABOUT 19 YEARS AFTER HE 28:44 DIED, THE RELIGION CONTINUED TO GROW. 28:49 THERE WAS SOME FIGHT ABOUT WHO WAS TO BE HIS SUCCESSOR AND 28:54 THAT'S WHERE YOU GET THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SUNNI AND 28:57 THE SHIA. NOW, SUNNI MUSLIMS REPRESENT 28:59 ABOUT 80% OR 85% OF THE MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD. 29:03 THE SHIA CONTEST THE - THE LINEAGE AND THE POWER AND THE 29:07 AUTHORITY. AND THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES 29:10 IN THEIR BELIEFS, BUT THEY ALL CLAIM TO BELIEVE THE QURAN 29:12 AND HAVE MOST BELIEFS IN COMMON. THEY SAY THE QURAN IS THE WORD 29:17 OF GOD AROUND WHICH THEIR RELIGION IS BASED. 29:21 THE QURAN IS 20% SMALLER THAN THE NEW TESTAMENT - AS FAR AS 29:25 THE NUMBER OF WORDS. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PARALLEL 29:28 PASSAGES BETWEEN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE QURAN. 29:31 THERE ARE SOME PLACES WHERE THE QURAN ACTUALLY QUOTES SOME OF 29:34 THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS. YOU'LL FIND REFERENCES TO 29:38 ABRAHAM 70 TIMES IN THE QURAN. MOSES' NAME OCCURS 29:42 40 - IN 34 CHAPTERS. YOU'VE GOT REFERENCES TO DAVID, 29:47 SOLOMON, SAUL, ELIJAH, JOB - JONAH, THOUGH IT'S A SMALL BOOK 29:51 IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN THE QURAN AND 29:56 THE FALL OF ADAM IS CITED FIVE TIMES. 29:59 NOW, THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE: IN THE QURAN THEY SAY THE FALL 30:02 HAPPENED IN A PLACE CALLED PARADISE THAT WAS NOT ON EARTH. 30:05 AND ADAM AND EVE WERE LATER CONSIGNED TO EARTH AFTER THE 30:09 FALL. SO THEIR CREATION ACCOUNT IS DIFFERENT. 30:12 YOU'LL FIND SOME OF THE TEACHINGS - LIKE AN EYE FOR AN 30:14 EYE - IT TALKS ABOUT WHERE JESUS SAID, 'A HOUSE BUILT UPON THE 30:17 SAND' - SO IT'S EASY TO SEE THAT MOHAMMED WAS AT LEAST ACQUAINTED 30:23 WITH SOME OF THE TEACHINGS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, FROM 30:26 LISTENING, BECAUSE A LOT OF IT IS INCORPORATED THERE. 30:29 YOU'VE PROBABLY ALL HEARD ABOUT THE BOOK OF MORMON AND, OF 30:35 COURSE, MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THE BOOK OF MORMON IS INSPIRED. 30:38 AND THERE ARE A LOT OF JUST LOVELY MORMON PEOPLE OUT THERE. 30:41 I, FRANKLY, DO NOT BELIEVE THE BOOK OF MORMON IS INSPIRED AND, 30:45 IF YOU STUDY INTO THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON , THERE WAS A 30:48 PASTOR IN A PLACE - I THINK IT'S CALLED BELLFLOWER, NEW YORK - IT 30:53 MIGHT BE MAYFLOWER, NEW YORK - I THINK IT'S BELLFLOWER - HIS NAME 30:57 WAS SPALDING - AND HE WAS A PASTOR - WELL ACQUAINTED WITH 31:00 THE BIBLE - NEW AND OLD TESTAMENTS - AND THEY HAD A 31:02 BUNCH OF INDIAN MOUNDS AND RUINS AROUND THIS TOWN AND HE BEGAN TO 31:08 WRITE A STORY CALLED MANUSCRIPT FOUND , ABOUT JESUS COMING TO THE 31:12 NEW WORLD. IT WAS VERY FANCIFUL - HE'D 31:13 WRITE A CHAPTER EVERY WEEK AND SUNDAY NIGHT, AFTER CHURCH, THE 31:16 CHURCH WOULD GET TOGETHER AND HE'D READ THEM THIS STORY. 31:19 AND IT WAS A STORY ABOUT WHAT JESUS WOULD HAVE SAID TO THE 31:21 INDIANS AND THAT THE PEOPLE OF NORTH AMERICA WERE FROM THE TEN 31:24 LOST TRIBES AND - AND EVERYONE GOT TOGETHER AND THEY'D LISTEN 31:28 TO THIS AND HE GOT THIS WHOLE STORY - HAD A LOT OF BIBLICAL 31:31 LANGUAGE IN IT BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, HE WAS A PASTOR. 31:34 WELL, A YOUNG MAN NAMED JOSEPH SMITH HEARD THE STORY AND HE 31:37 SAID, 'I'VE GOT TO GET THAT MANUSCRIPT.' AND, AFTER PASTOR 31:40 SPALDING DIED, JOSEPH SMITH TALKED HIS WIDOW OUT OF THE 31:44 MANUSCRIPT. HE SAID, 'YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT 31:46 TO MAKE A COPY OF IT AND WE'LL GET IT BACK TO YOU.' 31:47 IT NEVER CAME BACK TO HER. WELL, THE NEXT THING THEY KNEW 31:51 THERE WAS THIS PEOPLE CALLED THE MORMONS WHO SAID THEY HAD THIS 31:53 BOOK FROM GOLDEN PLATES THAT HAD BEEN DELIVERED. 31:57 WELL, IT WAS A NOVEL THAT HAD BEEN STOLEN, FULL OF BIBLICAL 32:01 LANGUAGE BECAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN BY A PASTOR, AND THAT'S WHAT I 32:04 BELIEVE IS THE ORIGIN OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. 32:08 THAT'S WHY IT MAKES ALL THESE BIBLE REFERENCES, IT WAS WRITTEN 32:10 BY A PASTOR, HE'S TALKING - TELLING WHAT MEANT TO BE A 32:13 NOVEL. ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN 32:15 WITNESSED PASTOR SPALDING'S BOOK. 32:18 WELL, THEY HAD NO COPY TO PROVE IT. 32:21 WELL, I THINK THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE QURAN ARE - MANY OF THEM 32:27 WERE SAYINGS THAT MOHAMMED SHARED, WHERE HE'S QUOTING 32:30 DIFFERENT PRINCIPLES OF TRUTH - IT DOESN'T GO THROUGH STORIES 32:35 LIKE WE DO, THEY'RE JUST LITTLE SOUND BITES. 32:37 SOME ARE SHORTER, SOME ARE LONGER AND I DON'T KNOW IF 32:40 YOU'VE READ THE QURAN - I HAVEN'T READ IT ALL, BUT I'VE 32:42 READ A LOT OF IT. THERE'S A LOT OF CONFLICT 32:46 BETWEEN THE QURAN AND THE BIBLE. YOU CANNOT RECONCILE THE 32:49 RELIGION OF THE QURAN WITH SCRIPTURE. 32:53 AND I SAY THIS VERY GENTLY BECAUSE I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF 32:55 MY FRIENDS IN MINISTRY AND OTHER CHRISTIANS THAT ARE SAYING 32:58 THERE'S REALLY NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS - 33:02 THAT WE ALL COME FROM ABRAHAM AND WE ALL WORSHIP THE SAME GOD. 33:06 I RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE. >>AMEN. 33:08 >>I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T - YOU CAN BELIEVE THERE 33:11 ARE GOOD PEOPLE IN MANY DIFFERENT CHURCHES, BUT YOU 33:14 DON'T COMPROMISE YOUR CONVICTIONS ABOUT 'IS IT TRUE?'. 33:17 >>THAT'S RIGHT. >>AND SO, I - LET ME JUST GIVE 33:22 YOU A LITTLE LIST HERE OF WHAT SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES ARE: 33:24 YOU'VE GOT - THE QURAN AND THE BIBLE PORTRAY DIFFERENT GODS. 33:29 THE BIBLE SAYS SALVATION COMES ONLY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST - JOHN 33:32 14:6 - WHILE THE QURAN SAYS THAT 'ONLY THROUGH ISLAM AND 33:36 OBEDIENCE TO ALLAH AND TO HIS PROPHET MOHAMMED CAN ONE BE 33:40 AVOIDING THE BLAZING FIRE' - THAT'S FROM THE QURAN 3:85. 33:44 THE QURAN DENIES JESUS' DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 33:48 THAT'S PRETTY FUNDAMENTAL TO CHRISTIAN FAITH. 33:51 >>YES. >>THEY SAY THAT OUR BIBLE'S BEEN 33:53 CORRUPTED - IT NEVER HAPPENED - IT WAS CHANGED. 33:56 THE JEWS DIDN'T REALLY CRUCIFY HIM. 33:58 AND YOU FIND THAT IN THE QURAN 4:155 THROUGH 159. 34:04 THEY SAY ALLAH JUST MADE IT APPEAR TO THE JEWS AS IF JESUS 34:06 WAS CRUCIFIED. THE QURAN DENIES THE TRIUNE GOD 34:10 - FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN 34:12 UNDERSTAND THEIR CONFUSION ON THAT. 34:14 I'VE TALKED TO SOME OF MY MUSLIM FRIENDS ABOUT THIS; THEY SAY, 34:17 'YOU GUYS BELIEVE IN MANY GODS.' I SAY, 'NO, WE BELIEVE IN 34:19 ONE GOD. 'HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE.'' THERE'S 34:21 ONE GOD. NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT. BUT THE WORD 'ONE', BIBLICALLY 34:26 MEANS 'UNITED' - IT'S NOT NUMERICAL QUANTITY. 34:28 OUR GOD - FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT - IS UNITED - HE'S ONE. 34:33 NOT LIKE ALL THESE - THIS PANTHEON OF GODS THE GREEKS HAD 34:36 ALWAYS FIGHTING WITH EACH OTHER. 34:37 THE BIBLE SAYS WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE - THAT WE CAN BE SAVED 34:40 THROUGH FAITH ALONE, NOT BY WORKS LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST 34:43 - OF COURSE, IN EPHESIANS 2:8 AND 9 - THE QURAN STATES - AND 34:47 THAT'S IN 23:102 THAT IN THE JUDGMENT GOD WILL, KIND OF 34:52 BALANCE - HE'LL PUT YOUR GOOD DEEDS ON ONE SIDE OF THE 34:55 BALANCE, YOUR BAD DEEDS ON THE OTHER AND YOU NEED TO HAVE MORE 34:57 GOOD DEEDS THAN BAD DEEDS AND YOU'LL MAKE IT. 34:59 MY DAD SORT OF BELIEVED THAT - THE QURAN VERSION - GOD WAS 35:04 GOING TO ADD EVERYTHING UP LIKE THAT. 35:06 IT'S NOT BASED ON HOW MANY GOOD WORKS WE DO THAT WE'RE SAVED, 35:08 AMEN? >>AMEN. 35:10 >>THIS IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S IN CONTRADICTION TO THE BIBLE. 35:12 IT SAYS IN THE BIBLE, 'GOD IS LOVE'. 35:14 QURAN NOWHERE SAYS GOD IS LOVE. THE BIBLE SAYS TO MAKE DISCIPLES 35:20 OF ALL NATIONS AND DO IT WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT. 35:24 BUT, FOR MUSLIMS, THERE'S A VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH PROSCRIBED IN 35:27 THE QURAN: IT SAYS, "FIGHT AND SLAY THE PAGANS WHEREVER YOU 35:32 FIND THEM. SEIZE THEM, BELEAGUER THEM, LIE IN WAIT FOR THEM IN 35:35 EVERY STRATAGEM OF WAR, BUT IF THEY REPENT AND ESTABLISH 35:39 REGULAR PRAYERS AND PRACTICE AND REGULAR CHARITY, THEN OPEN THE 35:43 WAY FOR THEM AND I WILL INSTILL TERROR INTO THE HEARTS OF THE 35:47 UNBELIEVERS. SMITE YE ABOVE THE NECK. 35:51 SMITE THEIR FINGERTIPS OFF OF THEM." 35:54 IT'S INTERESTING THAT A FEW YEARS AGO WE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, 35:58 WHEN YOU READ IN THE BIBLE ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE BEHEADED FOR THEIR 36:02 FAITH IN JESUS, THAT WAS JUST A METAPHOR. 36:06 WE THOUGHT THAT WITH THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE GUILLOTINE, 36:09 BEHEADING WAS PRETTY MUCH GONE AS A MEANS OF EXECUTION, AND 36:13 WE'VE ALL SEEN THAT'S BEEN REVIVED IN PRETTY GRISLY WAYS IN 36:16 SOME OF THESE TERRORIST ACTIVITIES. 36:19 IT MAKES YOU WONDER AGAIN. AND I CAN GO ON - THERE'S JUST - 36:23 THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENCES THAT THERE'S JUST REALLY NOT TIME 36:25 TO CITE THEM BETWEEN THE TWO RELIGIONS. 36:28 AND SO, THE BIBLE AND THE QURAN ARE VERY DIFFERENT BOOKS AND THE 36:33 RELIGIONS ARE VERY DIFFERENT. SOMETIMES YOU'LL SEE A QURAN 36:37 AND PEOPLE OR MUSLIMS WILL BE PRAYING AND THEY'VE GOT BEADS. 36:41 IT'S SIMILAR TO ROSARY BEADS EXCEPT THE PURPOSE OF IT THEY'RE 36:44 NOT WORSHIPING THE BEADS, SOME STRINGS OF BEADS WILL HAVE A 36:47 HUNDRED BEADS BECAUSE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO RECITE THE HUNDRED 36:50 NAMES OF ALLAH - THEIR NAMES - OR THEY CALL THEM 'ATTRIBUTES OF 36:55 ALLAH' AND IF YOU GO THROUGH THAT, IT SAYS ALL YOUR SINS WILL 36:58 BE FORGIVEN. THAT'S KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, 37:01 IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IT SAYS, 'SAY THIS MANY 'OUR FATHERS' AND 37:03 THIS MANY 'HAIL MARYS' AND THEN YOU'RE FORGIVEN.' IT'S ALMOST 37:07 LIKE YOU'RE PRAYING IN VAIN REPETITION TO GAIN FORGIVENESS, 37:10 AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS AN INTERESTING CONNECTION. 37:15 IS ALLAH AND JEHOVAH - ARE THEY THE SAME GOD? 37:19 >>NO. >>NOW, YOU'VE GOT TO BE CAREFUL. 37:22 THIS IS A LOADED QUESTION. LET ME - LET ME SEE IF I 37:25 CAN ANSWER THIS CAREFULLY. YOU CANNOT DENY THAT THE ARABS 37:31 AND THE JEWS SPRING FROM THE SAME ANCESTOR OF ABRAHAM, THAT 37:36 THERE ARE TRAPPINGS AND TRAITS THAT ARE SIMILAR. 37:40 I MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THEY PRACTICE CIRCUMCISION, THEY SAY 37:42 THERE'S ONE GOD - YOU CAN FIND SIMILAR ROOTS - BUT YOU CANNOT 37:47 RECONCILE THE PICTURE OF GOD THAT IS WORSHIPED BY THE MUSLIMS 37:51 WITH THE PICTURE OF GOD THAT IS WORSHIPED BY BIBLE CHRISTIANS. 37:55 >>AMEN. >>FOR EXAMPLE, 1 JOHN 2:22, "WHO 37:59 IS A LIAR BUT HE WHO DENIES THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST?" 38:04 - WELL THEY DENY THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST - "HE IS ANTICHRIST 38:08 WHO DENIES THE FATHER AND THE SON. 38:11 WHOEVER DENIES THE SON DOES NOT HAVE THE FATHER EITHER; HE WHO 38:15 ACKNOWLEDGES THE SON HAS THE FATHER ALSO." 38:17 I'LL ALSO READ 1 JOHN 4 - THERE'S MANY SCRIPTURES I COULD 38:20 READ - 1 JOHN 4, VERSE 1, "BELOVED, DO NOT BELIEVE EVERY 38:24 SPIRIT, BUT TEST THE SPIRITS, WHETHER THEY ARE OF GOD; BECAUSE 38:28 MANY FALSE PROPHETS HAVE GONE OUT INTO THE WORLD. 38:32 BY THIS YOU KNOW THE SPIRIT OF GOD: EVERY SPIRIT THAT CONFESSES 38:36 THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH IS OF GOD, AND EVERY 38:40 SPIRIT THAT DOES NOT CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN 38:43 THE FLESH IS NOT OF GOD, AND THIS IS THE SPIRIT OF THE 38:47 ANTICHRIST, WHICH YOU HAVE HEARD WAS COMING, AND IS NOW ALREADY 38:50 IN THE WORLD." AND IT SAYS MANY FALSE 38:53 PROPHETS ARE IN THE WORLD. WELL, I JUST PERSONALLY BELIEVE 38:57 THAT MOHAMMED IS NOT A TRUE PROPHET, BASED ON THE BIBLE, 39:01 WHICH ONLY LEAVES ONE ALTERNATIVE. 39:05 AND YOU MIGHT SAY, 'BUT THERE'S MANY THINGS THAT HE SAID THAT 39:07 ARE GOOD AND TRUE.' THAT'S TRUE OF EVERY RELIGION. 39:11 I FIND WONDERFUL THINGS IN HINDUISM - I LOVE IT WHEN I GO 39:13 TO INDIA BECAUSE I CAN FIND GOOD VEGETARIAN FOOD. 39:17 THERE'S WONDERFUL THINGS IN EVERY RELIGION. 39:19 THERE'S WONDERFUL THINGS IN BUDDHISM - THERE ARE TRUTHS IN 39:22 BUDDHISM ABOUT PEACE. THERE ARE TRUTHS IN ALL KINDS OF 39:26 DIFFERENT RELIGIONS. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY ARE 39:28 THE TRUTH. MATTER OF FACT, IF YOU'RE THE 39:30 DEVIL, THE WAY THAT YOU DECEIVE PEOPLE IS BY MINGLING ELEMENTS 39:34 OF TRUTH THAT RESONATE WITH PEOPLE AND THEN YOU BRING IN 39:37 THE DECEPTION THAT'S DEADLY. AND THIS IS WHAT I 39:42 BELIEVE IS THE CASE. DOES THAT MEAN THERE'LL 39:44 BE NO BUDDHISTS IN HEAVEN? OR MUSLIMS IN HEAVEN? 39:47 OR PEOPLE - NO, I THINK GOD IS REACHING OUT TO HEARTS ALL OVER 39:51 THE WORLD. >>AMEN. 39:52 >>AND THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE IN MANY RELIGIONS AND WE'VE GOT 39:54 SOME NASTY PEOPLE IN OUR RELIGION. (LAUGHTER) SO WE'RE 39:57 NOT TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, RIGHT? >>RIGHT. 39:59 >>WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS THE TRUTH. 40:01 REVELATION IS DEALING WITH THE BATTLE IN THE LAST DAYS ABOUT 40:05 WHAT IS THE TRUTH. AMEN? ARE WE TOGETHER ON THAT? 40:08 >>YES. >>ALRIGHT, BEFORE I GET INTO THE 40:12 PROPHECY PART OF THIS, AND I'VE GOT A LOT TO SAY, I WANT TO JUST 40:15 REVIEW FOR YOU SO YOU CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT SOME OF THE 40:18 TEACHINGS OF ISLAM ARE. I'VE TALKED ABOUT THE QURAN A 40:22 LITTLE BIT, BUT I WANT TO JUST GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW. 40:25 AND THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST - I TOOK A LIST THAT WAS 40:28 MUCH LONGER AND SHORTENED IT. THE WORD 'ISLAM' MEANS 40:30 'SURRENDER' OR 'SUBMISSION' - AGAIN, IT COMES FROM THE WORD 40:34 'SALOM' - SALAM, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO 'PEACE'. 40:38 I'VE BEEN IN SOME COUNTRIES WHERE THE WAY YOU SAY HELLO IS 40:40 THAT. AND BY THE WAY, THE WAY YOU SAY 'GOD' - A CHRISTIAN IN 40:46 INDONESIA, IN CHURCH, CALLS GOD 'ALLAH'. 40:50 SO THAT'S WHY I SAID IT'S A TRICK QUESTION: THE WORD 'ALLAH' 40:52 JUST MEANS GOD. SO IF YOU'RE IN A CHRISTIAN 40:55 CHURCH IN INDONESIA, YOU WILL BE PRAISING AND SINGING TO ALLAH. 41:01 NOW THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU SQUIRM A LITTLE BIT, BUT THAT IS THEIR 41:04 WORD FOR GOD. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. 41:06 THE WORD 'MUSLIM' - YOU MIGHT WONDER WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE 41:09 BETWEEN ISLAM AND MUSLIM? MUSLIM, TECHNICALLY, MEANS 41:12 ANYONE OR ANYTHING THAT SURRENDERS ITSELF TO GOD, WHICH 41:15 MEANS, BY DEFINITION, EVEN A TREE OR AN ANIMAL CAN BE A 41:18 MUSLIM IN THAT IT SURRENDERS TO THE WILL OF GOD. 41:21 THAT'S FROM THEIR WRITINGS, NOT FROM MINE. 41:24 STUDIES SHOW - I ALREADY MENTIONED THAT - ABOUT 1.7 41:26 BILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IDENTIFY WITH ISLAM. 41:31 THERE ARE FIVE PILLARS OF PRACTICE IN ISLAM AND HERE THEY 41:35 ARE: A) DECLARATION OF FAITH IN ONE GOD AND THAT MOHAMMED IS THE 41:40 PROPHET OF GOD. 2) FORMAL PRAYER FIVE TIMES A DAY. C) THERE'S A 41:46 PORT TAX THAT IS DUE - 2.5 PERCENT - THEY'RE GETTING 41:50 DISCOUNTED ON OUR TITHE, ACTUALLY - (LAUGHTER) 2.5 41:53 PERCENT OF ONE'S EXCESS WEALTH IS GIVEN TO THE NEEDY ONCE A 41:56 YEAR. FASTING DURING THE DAYLIGHT 41:59 HOURS IN THE MONTH OF RAMADAN - THEY FAST ALL DAY AND THEN THEY 42:02 EAT QUITE A BIT AFTER DARK, WHICH ISN'T THAT 42:05 HEALTHY, I THINK. PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA AT LEAST 42:08 ONCE, IF YOU'RE PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY ABLE TO. 42:13 AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE EVER HEARD ABOUT IF YOU GO TO MECCA 42:17 THERE'S A GRAND MOSQUE THERE - THEY JUST DID A BUNCH OF 42:19 RENOVATION WORK, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE HEARD, BUT THEY MADE TWO 42:22 LAYERS. SO MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE, THEY'RE GETTING KILLED IN 42:24 THE CRUSH BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY MUSLIMS. 42:26 IT USED TO BE A SMALLER GROUP WOULD COME, THEY'D WALK SEVEN 42:29 TIMES AROUND THIS - THIS SIMPLE CUBE - ITS ABOUT 45-FEET BY 42:33 45-FEET BY 50-FFET - IN THE EASTERN CORNER OF THIS CUBE - 42:37 THIS CUBE HAS FOUR SIDES GOING TO THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE 42:41 GLOBE. THE EASTERN CORNER HAS A BIG SILVER PLAQUE AND IN THE 42:46 PLAQUE IS THE BLACK STONE AND EVERY MUSLIM WANTS TO KISS THAT 42:49 STONE AFTER YOU WALK AROUND IT SEVEN TIMES COUNTER CLOCKWISE. 42:53 THEY KISS THE STONE AND THAT WILL HELP ABSOLVE YOU OF YOUR 42:55 SINS. SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT LIKE, YOU 42:59 KNOW, IDOLATRY, AND YOU CAN KIND OF - SALVATION BY 43:04 WORKS, IN ANY EVENT. BUT THEY HAD AN ACCIDENT A 43:08 FEW YEARS AGO WHILE THEY WERE BUILDING TWO LAYERS - THEY 43:10 COULDN'T GET ALL THE PEOPLE AROUND - THEY'VE HAD SEVERAL 43:13 CRUSHES WHERE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CRUSHED TRYING TO GET TO KISS 43:15 THE STONE - BECAUSE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE GONE THOUSANDS OF 43:18 MILES AND THOUGHT, 'AM I GOING TO GET CLOSE ENOUGH?' 43:19 THEY'RE ALL FIGHTING THEIR WAY IN. 43:22 AND I DON'T KNOW IF I'D WANT TO KISS THE STONE AFTER THOUSANDS 43:23 OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE KISSED IT. BUT, YOU KNOW, IN THE CATHOLIC 43:26 CHURCH THEY LAUGH AT US BECAUSE - NOT THAT I'M A CATHOLIC - THEY 43:29 LAUGH AT CHRISTIANS, I SHOULD SAY, BECAUSE THEY GO TO ST. 43:31 PETER'S ON PILGRIMAGE AND THEY KISS - THEY'VE LITERALLY 43:34 KISSED THE FOOT OFF ST. PETER'S STATUE - IT'S BEEN 43:37 REPLACED SEVERAL TIMES. AND IF YOU GO THERE, 43:38 IT'S ALL WORN SMOOTH. IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S GOT A POINTY 43:40 FOOT BECAUSE IT'S JUST BEEN WORN SMOOTH. 43:43 AND SO, A CRANE FELL A COUPLE YEARS AGO - THEY WERE BUILDING 43:47 TWO OR THREE LAYERS SO PEOPLE COULD GO AROUND THE CUBE LIKE A 43:51 CAKE IN MANY LAYERS, AND A CRANE FELL ON THEM - OVER A HUNDRED 43:55 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN MECCA FROM THAT TERRIBLE ACCIDENT A FEW 43:58 YEARS AGO. BUT IT'S THE HOLY CITY THERE. 44:02 SIX ARTICLES OF FAITH AND THIS IS THE ONE GOD - I'VE MENTIONED 44:06 THIS ALREADY. OH, THE SIX ARTICLES OF FAITH 44:10 ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE FIVE BELIEFS. 44:12 ONE GOD, ALL OF THE PROPHETS OF GOD ARE TRUE, THE ORIGINAL 44:17 SCRIPTURES REVEALED TO MOSES, DAVID, AND JEREMIAH - YOU KNOW 44:20 WHAT THEY ARE - TO JESUS - THE ORIGINAL SCRIPTURE - SINCE WE 44:23 DON'T HAVE ANY ORIGINAL SCRIPTURES, YOU CAN'T TRUST YOUR 44:25 BIBLES, SO THAT'S SORT OF A MOOT POINT. 44:28 THEY BELIEVE IN ANGELS, THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, THE HEREAFTER AND 44:31 DESTINY. THEY BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF 44:34 VICARIOUS ATONEMENT - THAT JESUS DIED FOR THE SINS OF HUMANITY, 44:39 BUT THEY BELIEVE YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE, REALLY, FOR YOUR 44:42 WORKS IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT - BUT THEY DON'T LOOK TO JESUS FOR 44:46 THE FORGIVENESS OF THEIR SINS. SO THEY DON'T REALLY HAVE A 44:50 REDEEMER IN THAT RELIGION. NOW WITH THAT, I'M NOT GOING TO 44:55 GO LONG ON THIS BECAUSE I'LL HAVE TO TAKE IT UP NEXT WEEK. 44:57 I WANT TO AT LEAST INTRODUCE - I TOLD YOU THE SERMON TITLE IS 45:00 FROM MECCA TO ROME - GAVE YOU THE BACKGROUND ABOUT THE BIRTH - 45:03 OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN 538 IN ROME, WHEN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 45:07 FELL INTO APOSTASY - INFLUENCED BY SUN WORSHIP. 45:12 ABOUT 50 YEARS LATER YOU'VE GOT THE BIRTH OF ISLAM, THE OTHER 45:16 MAJOR WORLD RELIGION, WITH TRAPPINGS OF MOON WORSHIP - AND 45:23 THEY SAID YOU COULD ONLY READ THE SCRIPTURES IN ARABIC, WHERE 45:27 IN ROME THEY SAID YOU COULD ONLY READ THEM IN LATIN. 45:31 AND IT - JUST VERY INTERESTING PARALLELS THAT WERE HAPPENING 45:33 THERE. NOW, IF YOU LOOK IN REVELATION 45:36 CHAPTER 9, VERSE 1, "THEN THE FIFTH ANGEL SOUNDED: AND I SAW A 45:42 STAR FALLEN FROM HEAVEN TO THE EARTH." 45:44 - FALLING STAR - A STAR WAS LIKE AN ANGEL. 45:47 THIS IS A FALLEN ANGEL - "TO HIM WAS GIVEN THE KEY TO THE 45:50 BOTTOMLESS PIT." - THE ABUSSOS. YOU REMEMBER WHEN THE DEVILS 45:54 WERE CAST OUT OF THAT MAN IN MARK CHAPTER 5? 45:56 THEY SAID, 'DON'T CAST US INTO THE DEEP.' THE WORD THERE? 46:00 SAME EXACT WORD IN GREEK, IT'S ABUSSOS. 46:02 'DON'T SEND US WHERE DEVILS GO WHERE THERE'S NOTHING TO 46:05 POSSESS.' AND SO IT'S LIKE THIS PORTAL - THIS ABUSSOS IS LIKE A 46:10 PORTAL OF DEVILS - IT'S THE WORLD IN ITS CHAOTIC STATE WHERE 46:15 THE - SATAN IS BOUND AT THE END. AND IT SAID, "SMOKE AROSE OUT 46:21 OF THE PIT LIKE THE SMOKE OF A GREAT FURNACE. 46:23 SO THE SUN AND THE AIR WERE DARKENED BECAUSE OF THE SMOKE OF 46:26 THE PIT." - THAT'S OFTEN CONNECTED WITH WARS THAT WILL 46:29 HAPPEN - "THEN OUT OF THE SMOKE LOCUSTS 46:32 CAME UPON THE EARTH." - YOU REMEMBER I JUST READ TO 46:34 YOU IN JUDGES 7:12, IT SAYS THAT THE MIDIANITES AND THE 46:39 AMALEKITES AND THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST COVERED THE EARTH LIKE 46:43 LOCUSTS' - THEY CAME UPON THE EARTH - "AND TO THEM WAS GIVEN 46:47 POWER, AS THE SCORPIONS...HAVE POWER." 46:50 SCORPIONS, UNLIKE SOME SNAKES, IT'LL STING YOU BUT IT WON'T 46:52 TYPICALLY KILL YOU; BUT IT'S PAINFUL - AND THEY HAD POWER ON 46:57 THE EARTH AND "THEY WERE COMMANDED NOT TO HARM THE GRASS 46:59 OF THE EARTH, OR ANY GREEN THING, OR ANY TREE, BUT ONLY 47:01 THOSE MEN WHO DO NOT HAVE THE SEAL OF GOD ON THEIR FOREHEADS." 47:06 - GENUINE CHRISTIANS WERE PRESERVED DURING THIS TIME OF 47:10 GREAT BATTLE AND PERSECUTION BECAUSE IT WAS FOCUSING ON THE 47:14 EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE - "AND THEY WERE NOT GIVEN AUTHORITY TO KILL 47:19 THEM, BUT TO TORMENT THEM FOR FIVE MONTHS." 47:23 NOW, IF A DAY IS A YEAR IN PROPHECY, AND THE HEBREW MONTH 47:28 HAS 30 DAYS - YOU KNOW THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT THE WOMAN FLED FOR 47:30 42 MONTHS? THOSE HAVE TO BE - FOR THAT TO 47:33 REACH 1,260 DAYS YOU HAVE TO USE 30-DAY MONTHS. 47:38 AND SO, IF YOU HAVE 30 DAYS IN A MONTH AND IT SAYS FIVE MONTHS - 47:43 THAT'S 150 DAYS, RIGHT? FIVE TIMES TEN - 150 - OKAY. 47:49 THIS WAS A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN ISLAM HAD GROWN AND SPREAD, IN 47:55 ALMOST ONE GENERATION, ACROSS NORTH AFRICA AND MADE ITS WAY UP 48:00 INTO THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT, BUT THEY HAD TO CONQUER ASIA MINOR. 48:06 AND IT REALLY BEGAN WITH OTHMAN, WHO ATTACKED CONSTANTINOPLE. 48:12 I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER CONSTANTINE - THEY TRANSFERRED 48:15 THE CAPITAL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, LATER KNOWN AS THE BYZANTINE 48:19 EMPIRE, TO CONSTANTINOPLE AND IT STILL WAS CHRISTIAN BACK THEN. 48:25 AND SO THEY THOUGHT, 'IF WE CAN CONQUER CHRISTIANITY, WE'VE GOT 48:28 TO CONQUER CONSTANTINOPLE.' HE BEGAN THAT ATTACK, OTHMAN, LATER 48:31 KNOWN AS THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, WHICH BECAME A VERY PROMINENT 48:37 FORCE. THAT HAPPENED IN 1299. 48:42 IT WENT ON FOR NOT 150 DAYS BUT 150 YEARS. 48:46 WHEN CONSTANTINOPLE FINALLY RECOGNIZED THE TURKISH POWER, 48:50 THEY SURRENDERED IN 1449 - 150 YEARS LATER. 48:58 AND SO IT HAPPENED EXACTLY AS THE PROPHECIES FORETOLD. 49:01 I WANT YOU TO NOTICE SOMETHING: ITALY IS IN A GREAT PENINSULA - 49:06 IT IS NORTH OF ISRAEL - BECAUSE LATER WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING 49:10 ABOUT THE KING OF THE NORTH AND THE KING OF THE SOUTH. 49:13 SAUDI ARABIA IS THE GREATEST PENINSULA IN THE WORLD, 49:17 ACTUALLY, AND IT IS SOUTH. ON THE WEST SIDE OF ITALY YOU'VE 49:21 GOT A CAPITAL THAT IS THE RELIGIOUS CENTER 49:24 OF CHRISTENDOM. ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE 49:27 PENINSULA OF SAUDI ARABIA YOU HAVE THE CAPITAL THAT IS THE 49:31 RELIGIOUS CENTER OF ISLAM. PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD 49:36 GO TO ROME ON PILGRIMAGE. PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD 49:41 GO TO MECCA ON PILGRIMAGE. AND IT'S JUST INTERESTING THAT 49:47 ONE NOW - AND YOU GO TO THAT OTHER MAP THAT YOU SHOWED, 49:50 SHERLE, A MINUTE AGO ABOUT THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH. 49:54 ALRIGHT, STAY RIGHT THERE FOR JUST A SECOND. 49:56 I WANT YOU TO NOTICE SOMETHING ON THIS MAP. 49:58 AND WHILE YOU NOTICE THAT, I WANT YOU TO - I'M GOING TO READ 50:02 DANIEL CHAPTER 11 AND WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE 50:08 LAST DAYS HERE A LITTLE BIT AND I WANT TO JUST GIVE YOU A 50:10 BACKGROUND. IF YOU GO IN DANIEL 11 YOU'RE 50:12 GOING TO NOTICE, ALL THROUGH DANIEL 11, TALKS ABOUT A BATTLE 50:16 BETWEEN THE KING OF THE NORTH AND THE KING OF THE SOUTH. 50:18 GO TO VERSE 40, FOR INSTANCE, "AT THE TIME OF THE END" - WHEN 50:24 DO YOU THINK WE'RE LIVING NOW? 50:26 - "THE KING OF THE SOUTH SHALL ATTACK HIM; AND THE KING OF THE 50:29 NORTH SHALL COME AGAINST HIM LIKE A WHIRLWIND, WITH CHARIOTS, 50:33 HORSEMEN, AND WITH MANY SHIPS;" - THAT'S ONE THING YOU NOTICE, 50:37 THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE WATER NEARBY BECAUSE THERE'S SHIPS - 50:41 YOU'VE GOT WATER ON BOTH THOSE TWO PENINSULAS THAT I MENTIONED. 50:46 IN ISRAEL, WHEN THEY TALKED ABOUT THE KING OF THE NORTH AND 50:49 THE KING OF THE SOUTH, YOU'VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING 50:52 ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHY. ISRAEL WAS LIVING 50:56 IN A LAND BRIDGE. YOU'VE GOT AN OCEAN TO THE WEST, 51:02 YOU'VE GOT A VAST, VIRTUALLY UNCROSSABLE DESERT TO THE EAST. 51:08 WHENEVER AN ARMY CAME TO INVADE ISRAEL - IF YOU'RE LIVING IN 51:11 ISRAEL - THEY CAME FROM THE NORTH. 51:13 AND SO YOU SEE - YOU SEE IRAQ - THAT'S WHERE BABYLON WAS. 51:16 YOU SEE IRAQ THERE ON THE EAST, BUT WHEN IRAQ CAME IN, THEY HAD 51:22 TO FOLLOW THE VALLEY AND THEY CAME IN FROM THE NORTH. 51:24 THEY DIDN'T GO ACROSS THE DESERT. 51:26 WHEN SYRIA ATTACKED, THEY CAME FROM THE NORTH. 51:29 WHEN THE HITTITES ATTACKED, UP AROUND TURKEY THERE, THEY CAME 51:32 IN FROM THE NORTH. WHEN EGYPT ATTACKED, OR WHEN 51:36 THESE OTHER KINGDOMS ATTACKED, THEY CAME IN FROM THE SOUTH. 51:39 AND SO, YOU'RE GOING TO ALWAYS HEAR ISRAEL TALKING ABOUT AN 51:42 ATTACK - THE KING OF THE NORTH AND THE KING OF THE SOUTH. 51:45 A LOT OF TIMES THEY WEREN'T ATTACKING ISRAEL; THE NORTH AND 51:48 THE SOUTH WERE ATTACKING EACH OTHER, BUT IN ORDER TO GET TO 51:51 THE ENEMY, THEY HAD TO GO THROUGH ISRAEL AND ISRAEL WAS 51:54 OFTEN A CASUALTY OF THESE BATTLES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND 51:58 THE SOUTH. WHO WAS ONE OF THE BEST KINGS 52:00 THAT EVER LIVED IN ISRAEL? >>DAVID. 52:03 >>YOU'VE GOT DAVID. HOW ABOUT JOSIAH? 52:06 JOSIAH WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST KINGS - GODLY KING - IT SAYS 52:09 NOTHING BAD ABOUT HIM. PHARAOH NECO, IN THE SOUTH, WENT 52:14 TO WAR WITH BABYLON IN THE NORTH - OR IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ASSYRIA 52:18 DURING THIS BATTLE, ACTUALLY - IN THE NORTH. 52:20 AND ON HIS WAY THROUGH JOSIAH WENT OUT TO MEET HIM AND PHARAOH 52:24 NECO SENT HIM A LETTER. HE SAID, 'KING JOSIAH, KING OF 52:27 ISRAEL, WHY DO YOU COME OUT AGAINST ME?' 52:28 IT SAYS, 'I DON'T HAVE A QUARREL WITH YOU, BUT MY GOD HAS SENT ME 52:30 TO FIGHT WITH THE GODS OF THE ASSYRIANS. 52:33 DON'T MEDDLE, IT WON'T BE GOOD FOR YOU. 52:35 I JUST HAVE TO GO THROUGH YOUR LAND TO FIGHT THE KING OF THE 52:38 NORTH.' AND JOSIAH WENT OUT TO BATTLE AGAINST PHARAOH NECO AND 52:42 HE WAS HIT BY THE ARCHERS AND HE ULTIMATELY DIED IN THAT BATTLE. 52:46 SO ISRAEL IS OFTEN A CASUALTY OF THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE KINGS OF 52:51 THE NORTH AND THE KINGS OF THE SOUTH. 52:52 I COULD GIVE YOU CASE AFTER CASE WHERE THIS HAPPENED. 52:55 WHEN NEBUCHADNEZZAR FIRST WENT TO ATTACK EGYPT, HE HAD TO GO 52:57 THROUGH ISRAEL. ALONG THE WAY, ISRAEL GOT INVOLVED IN A WAR. 53:01 AND WHEN THE PHARAOH GOES NORTH AND WHEN THE OTHER KINGDOMS WENT 53:03 NORTH - AND SO YOU'VE GOT THIS GOING ON - YOU'VE GOT IT GOING 53:07 ON FROM THE TIME OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT THROUGH THE ROMAN 53:10 CONQUEST. WHEN YOU GET TO THE END OF THE 53:12 TIME AND IT TALKS ABOUT THE KING OF THE NORTH AND THE KING OF THE 53:16 SOUTH, WELL, YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP COMING, FRIENDS. 53:21 YOU'RE GOING TO FIND IT REALLY INTERESTING (LAUGHTER) BECAUSE I 53:26 DON'T WANT TO TIP MY HAND, AS THEY SAY, TOO MUCH ON THAT RIGHT 53:31 NOW. I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU THAT I 53:38 THINK THAT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO REACH CRITICAL MASS. 53:42 THE WORLD OF ISLAM, RIGHT NOW, IS VERY UNSTABLE AND IT IS PRIME 53:49 TIME FOR ANOTHER STRONG LEADER TO SOLIDIFY THAT RELIGION. 53:55 AT THE SAME TIME, WE KNOW THAT POPE FRANCIS IS MAKING VERY 54:00 STRONG CLEAR OVERTURES TO REACH OUT TO THE CHRISTIANS OF THE 54:05 WORLD BECAUSE THEY REALIZE THEY'RE LOSING THEIR BEACHHEAD 54:09 IN EUROPE AND THAT THE REAL BATTLE IN THE WORLD TODAY - 54:13 IT'S GOING TO END UP BEING A RELIGIOUS BATTLE - IT'S NOT 54:16 GOING TO BE A POLITICAL BATTLE, IT'S GOING TO BE SOMETHING MORE 54:18 PHILOSOPHICAL THAN THAT. YOU KNOW, WHEN I DRIVE THROUGH A 54:23 NATIONAL FOREST, EVERY NOW AND THEN IN THE SUMMERTIME YOU'LL 54:27 RUN INTO ONE OF THESE FORESTRY SIGNS THAT WILL TELL YOU 54:29 ABOUT THE FIRE DANGER. YOU EVER SEE ONE OF THESE SIGNS? 54:34 I THINK WE'VE GOT ONE WE'LL PUT UP THERE ON THE SCREEN FOR YOU. 54:36 IT'LL SAY, 'FIRE DANGER: LOW' - YOU KNOW, IN WINTER IT OUGHT TO 54:41 BE ON LOW - AND THEN, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WHEN IT STARTS TO DRY 54:44 OUT IN THE SPRING/SUMMER IT MIGHT BE UP THERE IN MODERATE. 54:48 WHEN IT STARTS TO GET DRY OR THERE'S DANGER IT'LL SAY HIGH. 54:51 SOMETIMES YOU'LL ACTUALLY SEE A STATUE OF SMOKEY THE BEAR NEXT 54:53 TO ONE OF THESE SIGNS. THEN YOU'VE GOT VERY HIGH AND 54:59 THEN BY AUGUST, IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD ANY RAIN AND EVERYTHING'S 55:01 DRY, IT'LL SAY EXTREME. I ACTUALLY SAW ONE SIGN IT ADDED 55:07 ONE MORE AND IT WAS BLACK AND IT SAID CATASTROPHIC. 55:13 I THOUGHT YOU'D GET THE MESSAGE IF I JUST PUT UP THE SIGN THAT 55:15 SAID EXTREME. IF I WAS TO TELL YOU WHERE WE 55:19 ARE RIGHT NOW IN PROPHECY AND THE VOLATILITY, IF IT WAS NOT 55:24 FOR THE ANGELS OF GOD THE BIBLE SAYS 'ARE HOLDING BACK THE WINDS 55:28 OF STRIFE' RIGHT NOW, I THINK WE WOULD SEE THE FIRES OF WAR 55:32 JUST BLAZE UPON THE WORLD. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF WHAT'S 55:36 GOING ON RIGHT NOW - THE INSTABILITY, NOT ONLY AMONG THE 55:39 NATIONS OF EUROPE, IN OUR OWN NATION, AND WHAT'S HAPPENING 55:44 WITH THE ECONOMIES OF THE WORLD, IT IS SO DELICATE RIGHT NOW. 55:49 SO MANY THINGS COULD JUST - COULD YOU IMAGINE 55:52 WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN NORTH AMERICA? 55:54 I'M NOT TRYING TO FRIGHTEN YOU, BUT IT'S A FACT. 55:56 IF THERE WAS NOT A SUFFICIENT QUANTITY OF FUEL FOR THE 56:01 TRUCKERS AND THE TRAINS TO BRING THE GROCERIES AND THE SUPPLIES - 56:05 MOST PEOPLE NOW LIVE IN CITIES; USED TO BE, IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE 56:08 FOOD, WELL YOU'D JUST GO TO YOUR GARDEN. 56:10 BUT TODAY, AS OF ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO, THE MAJORITY OF THE 56:14 WORLD LIVES IN URBAN AREAS - IN CITIES - THEY DON'T GROW THEIR 56:18 FOOD, THEY GET IT FROM THE MARKET, WHICH IS BROUGHT BY THE 56:20 TRUCKERS THAT RUN ON GAS. AND OIL IS GOING TO BECOME AN 56:25 ISSUE, I THINK, IN THE LAST DAYS. 56:28 WE'RE LIVING IN A VERY VOLATILE TIME IN THE WORLD AND I THINK WE 56:32 NEED TO UNDERSTAND THESE PROPHECIES - NOT THAT - I WANT 56:35 TO EMPHASIZE - NOBODY IS SAVED BY UNDERSTANDING THE SEVEN 56:39 TRUMPETS OR THE KING OF THE NORTH OR DANIEL 11. 56:42 IT'S NOT GOING TO SAVE ANYBODY. WHAT'S GOING TO SAVE PEOPLE 56:45 IS A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. >>AMEN. 56:48 >>AND JUST KNOWING THAT HE'S YOUR GOD. 56:51 AND, NO MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE, IT'S NOT GOING TO STOP. 56:54 HOW YOU VOTE IS NOT GOING TO STOP PROPHECY FROM HAPPENING. 56:58 I'VE ACTUALLY HEARD PEOPLE SAY, 'WELL, I'M VOTING THIS WAY 57:00 BECAUSE OF THE PROPHECIES.' YOU'RE NOT GOING TO VOTE 57:03 PROPHECY. (LAUGHTER) WHAT'S GOING TO 57:07 HAPPEN IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. 57:09 I THINK CHRISTIANS OUGHT TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO PRESERVE 57:13 THE FREEDOM TO PRACTICE OUR RELIGION AND PROCLAIM OUR 57:16 RELIGION AND DO GOOD AS LONG AS WE CAN. 57:19 YOU UNDERSTAND THAT - BUT I DO THINK THAT, AT SOME POINT, THOSE 57:24 ANGELS ARE GOING TO LOOSEN THEIR GRIP AND YOU'RE GOING TO SEE 57:27 THESE THINGS UNFOLD, AND WE'LL BE TALKING A LITTLE MORE IN OUR 57:31 LAST PRESENTATION. I'VE GOT ONE MORE IN THIS SERIES 57:33 ABOUT HOW I THINK IT'S GOING TO PLAY OUT - AND SOME MORE 57:36 ABOUT DANIEL AND REVELATION. I HOPE YOU'LL BE PRAYING. 57:40 BUT WE'RE LIVING DURING EXTREME CONDITIONS RIGHT NOW. 57:43 THAT'S WHY I HOPE YOU'RE CLOSE TO THE LORD AND WHY ALL THESE 57:47 DIFFERENT VOICES ARE SAYING 'WE'VE GOT THE TRUTH' AND 'WE'VE 57:49 GOT THE SCRIPTURES' - YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW WHO ONLY HAS THE TRUTH. 57:53 JESUS SAID, 'THY WORD IS TRUTH.' 57:54 >>AMEN. >>AND WE NEED TO TRUST HIM. 57:56 IS THAT YOUR DESIRE? >>YEAH. 57:58 >>FOR LIFE-CHANGING CHRISTIAN RESOURCES VISIT AFBOOKSTORE.COM . 58:04 (MUSIC) |
Revised 2017-01-13