>>John Bradshaw:
This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw.
Thanks for joining me.
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You can't hear the
sounds now, but you can imagine.
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This is, or was, New Echota.
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For a time, for
one people group,
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it was the center of the world.
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In 1825, New Echota became the
capital of the Cherokee Nation.
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There was a courthouse here.
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The first Indian-language
newspaper was printed here.
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There was a council house.
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The home of missionary
Samuel Worcester was here.
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There were stores.
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It was a small
sort of settlement,
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but extraordinarily important.
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And when
councils were held here,
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hundreds of
Cherokee would gather.
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But eventually,
soldiers would fill this place,
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and the people for whom
these lands had been home
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for hundreds or,
or thousands of years,
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would be removed
and marched 800 miles
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on what the Cherokee
would call "Nunna daul Tsuny,"
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"The Place Where They Cried."
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We know it today
as the Trail of Tears.
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Entire people groups would
be dispossessed of their land.
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Thousands would die in a series
of acts of gross inhumanity.
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The United States had been
populated by Native Americans,
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American Indians.
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Hundreds of tribes
lived across what would become
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the 49 states, with
Hawaii being the exception.
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From the Wabanaki in
Maine in the Northeast
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to the Navajo and the
Chumash in the Southwest,
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from the Muckleshoot and
the Quinault in Washington
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and the Aleuts and
Athabascans in Alaska
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to the Seminoles in
Florida in the Southeast,
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North America
was Indian country.
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Europeans first came to what
we'd now call the United States
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early in the 1500s.
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Settling here didn't come easy,
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and to begin with, it
didn't go well at all.
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The Calusa people resisted
attempts made by Ponce de León
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to settle in
Florida, and he left.
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Other conquistadors and
explorers followed in his wake:
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Verrazzano, Gómez.
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De Soto explored the Southeast
from Florida to Arkansas,
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becoming likely
the first European
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to cross the Mississippi.
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Spanish settlers founded
St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565,
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and in 1585, British
settlers attempted to establish
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a colony on Roanoke
Island, on what today we call
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the Outer Banks
of North Carolina,
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incidentally, just 10
miles or so from where
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the Wright Brothers would
become the first in flight.
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The first permanent European
settlement in the Americas
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was Jamestown, near present-day
Williamsburg, Virginia,
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established in 1607.
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The Mayflower arrived
in Plymouth, Massachusetts,
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in 1620, and there
could be no going back.
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For the settlers, there was
a massive expanse to explore
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and tame and...colonize.
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But there was a
delicate question:
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What to do about the
people already living here?
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American history is colored
with stories romanticizing
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the early
settlement of this country:
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stories about
European-Native relations,
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Pocahontas, and Squanto,
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and cowboys and
Indians in the Wild West.
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But what can be easy to overlook
is that the earliest inhabitants
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of this land were real
people, with real families,
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and a very real way of life.
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This was going to get difficult,
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this question of
the native peoples.
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This was their land.
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What do you do about that?
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[rasping sound of cicadas]
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President George
Washington favored assimilation,
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meaning that, over time, the
native peoples and the Europeans
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would become so intertwined
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that they would
basically become one people.
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In other words,
Indians would assimilate
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into the European culture.
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Their own culture
would basically die out,
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and the Europeans
would end up with the land.
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President Thomas Jefferson
urged Indian tribes in the East
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to relocate to the West.
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He hoped that the Louisiana
Purchase would provide land
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for eastern tribes
to voluntarily relocate.
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Some did.
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The government wanted
Indians out of the East.
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It's hard to say how
many Indians were living
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in what became the United States
when Europeans first arrived.
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No question it
was in the millions,
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maybe tens of millions.
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But once Europeans arrived,
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and along with them disease
epidemics and then conquest,
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those numbers plunged.
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But there were more than enough
Indians in North America to...
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well, to get in the way,
and they were in the way.
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They were in the way of
progress, as some saw it.
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They were in the way of
expansion and domination,
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and they were in the
way of power and wealth.
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By the 19th century, there were
five Native American tribes--
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or nations actually--in the
Southeast of the United States.
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They were known as
the Five Civilized Tribes.
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They were the Chickasaw,
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the Choctaw, the Creek,
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the Seminole, and the Cherokee.
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They had adopted
Christianity to some extent.
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There was literacy,
intermarriage with whites,
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and generally good
relationships with Europeans
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and the United
States government.
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The Cherokee in particular
had adopted many European ways.
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But in the 19th century,
the federal government initiated
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Indian removal, the
forced relocation of the tribes,
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or nations, living
east of the Mississippi.
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The government would
compel people who had occupied
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certain territory for
hundreds, thousands of years
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to leave their homes,
their possessions, their land
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and everything on it,
and everything below it,
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and move almost a
thousand miles away--on foot.
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Obtaining Indian land
had been a stated goal
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of the U.S. government since
the 1790s, perhaps even before.
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But in the 1800s,
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the whole process was
kicked into high gear.
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Almost 40 different treaties
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enacted between 1721 and 1819
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saw Cherokee lands
reduced drastically
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from what they were
before European settlement.
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Much of the Cherokee land
in Tennessee had been lost.
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The land in Kentucky, Virginia,
and West Virginia was lost.
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The Cherokee lost 90
percent of their territory.
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After he was elected the seventh
president of the United States
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in 1829, Andrew Jackson said
during his inaugural address
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that he wanted to "observe
toward the Indian tribes
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"within our limits a
just and liberal policy,
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"and to give that humane
and considerate attention
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"to their rights and their wants
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"which is consistent with
the habits of our Government
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and the feelings of our people."
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Some hoped this might mean
the United States would honor
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the numerous agreements and
treaties it had already signed
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with native peoples.
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But that was not to be.
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Things became truly
dire for the Cherokee in 1829
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when gold was
discovered in northern Georgia.
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The Georgia state
legislature enacted
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a series of draconian laws.
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Cherokees could not
dig for gold, for example.
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A Cherokee couldn't testify
against a white man in court.
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Contracts between a Cherokee and
a white man had to be witnessed
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by two whites.
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Cherokee land was
sold to European settlers
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through a lottery system.
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Cherokee were
driven from their homes;
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often their homes
were looted and burned.
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A year later, May 28, 1830,
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President Jackson
signed the Indian Removal Act,
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which stated the Five Civilized
Nations would have to leave
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their ancestral lands and
move to present-day Oklahoma.
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In 1835, a group of Cherokees
signed the Treaty of New Echota
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in a home right here, making the
Trail of Tears an inevitability.
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And God watched on,
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hoping to see
humanity rise to the occasion,
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strengthening those in
the position of weakness,
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and hoping that those in
authority would be humble enough
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to act with dignity
and fairness and honor.
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God is familiar with tears.
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I'll be back in just a moment.
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¤[music swells and ends]¤
00:09:01.30\00:09:07.31
>>John: There is
power in the Word of God,
00:09:10.08\00:09:12.25
and power available to you
through the promises of God.
00:09:12.28\00:09:16.92
God wants you to experience
that power, and so do I.
00:09:16.95\00:09:19.95
I'd like you to
have today's free offer,
00:09:19.99\00:09:21.86
"Promises of Power,"
00:09:21.89\00:09:23.46
new from It Is Written.
00:09:23.49\00:09:25.06
To receive "Promises of Power,"
00:09:25.09\00:09:26.66
call 800-253-3000.
00:09:26.70\00:09:29.66
You could write to
the address on your screen
00:09:29.70\00:09:31.50
or visit us
online at iiwoffer.com.
00:09:31.53\00:09:35.67
And be sure you
receive "Promises of Power."
00:09:35.70\00:09:39.51
¤[ominous music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw: Thanks for
joining me on It Is Written.
00:09:43.51\00:09:46.31
The New World was a vast expanse
promising wealth and opportunity
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to those who settled here.
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But the reality for those who
came to this new land was that
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they'd invited themselves
into someone else's backyard.
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So the government
of the United States,
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along with state governments,
were determined to move
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the original
habitants of this continent
00:10:03.90\00:10:06.30
off their ancestral land.
00:10:06.33\00:10:09.47
President Jackson's Indian
removal bill, signed in 1830,
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passed in the
House of Representatives
00:10:13.81\00:10:15.38
by just five votes.
00:10:15.41\00:10:18.01
The Cherokee took the
state of Georgia to court.
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Supreme Court decisions
meant that Georgia had no right
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to enforce its laws
in Cherokee territory.
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A reprieve for the Cherokee.
00:10:27.79\00:10:30.23
But President Andrew Jackson,
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President Andrew Jackson ignored
the ruling of the Supreme Court.
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The Cherokee would be
rounded up and moved out.
00:10:38.87\00:10:43.84
Now, people everywhere
knew that this was wrong.
00:10:43.87\00:10:47.11
This wasn't
something which at the time
00:10:47.14\00:10:49.01
appeared less
deplorable owing to the times
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and was only seen for
what it was many years later.
00:10:52.35\00:10:55.78
No, at the time, this
was recognized by many
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as a reprehensible,
morally repugnant, criminal act.
00:11:00.26\00:11:05.56
But the people entrusted
with the responsibility
00:11:05.59\00:11:08.06
to stop such actions wouldn't.
00:11:08.10\00:11:11.53
The Seminole would be removed
from their home in Florida.
00:11:12.53\00:11:16.14
The Creek occupied
parts of Georgia, Florida,
00:11:16.17\00:11:19.21
South Carolina, and Alabama.
00:11:19.24\00:11:21.34
The Choctaw were located mainly
in Mississippi and Alabama.
00:11:21.38\00:11:24.75
The Chickasaw were in Alabama,
Mississippi, and Kentucky,
00:11:24.78\00:11:28.18
while the Cherokee
originally were in Tennessee,
00:11:28.22\00:11:31.39
North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia,
00:11:31.42\00:11:34.62
parts of West
Virginia, and Virginia as well.
00:11:34.66\00:11:38.49
All would have to leave.
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Other smaller tribes to the
north would also be removed,
00:11:40.93\00:11:44.03
but they were small enough that
they couldn't really provide
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any real
resistance to the government.
00:11:46.27\00:11:49.07
The five larger tribes
strongly resisted removal.
00:11:49.10\00:11:53.17
But by 1832, four of
the five had signed treaties
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with the government
agreeing to move west.
00:11:57.28\00:12:00.65
What else could they really do?
00:12:00.68\00:12:02.55
Their removal was inevitable.
00:12:02.58\00:12:05.05
The Cherokee held out
for several more years.
00:12:05.09\00:12:07.92
Their opposition was led
by a man named John Ross,
00:12:07.96\00:12:10.99
who for nearly 40 years was the
principal chief of the Cherokee.
00:12:11.03\00:12:15.53
Ross himself had felt the sting
in the tail of the government.
00:12:15.56\00:12:19.53
After traveling to Washington
to represent his people in 1833
00:12:19.57\00:12:23.61
in an attempt to
stop their removal,
00:12:23.64\00:12:26.11
Ross returned home
to Georgia to discover
00:12:26.14\00:12:29.01
that his plantation had
been given away by lottery.
00:12:29.04\00:12:32.78
He found his family walking
to Tennessee in the rain.
00:12:32.81\00:12:37.22
He moved to
Tennessee and settled
00:12:37.25\00:12:39.19
in present-day Chattanooga.
00:12:39.22\00:12:41.22
This is the site
of Ross's Landing.
00:12:42.22\00:12:44.83
Cherokee gathered here as
they prepared to move west,
00:12:44.86\00:12:49.13
never again to
see their homeland.
00:12:49.16\00:12:51.53
Now, not all
Cherokee felt as Ross did.
00:12:51.57\00:12:54.70
Some felt that the
prudent thing to do
00:12:54.74\00:12:56.54
would be to sign a
treaty and move west,
00:12:56.57\00:12:59.21
believing that resisting the
federal government was futile.
00:12:59.24\00:13:03.35
A small group of Cherokee signed
a treaty with the government
00:13:03.38\00:13:06.15
at a council at New Echota.
00:13:06.18\00:13:08.52
The government would
give the Cherokee $5 million,
00:13:08.55\00:13:11.59
a place to live, and
the Cherokee would move.
00:13:11.62\00:13:15.49
The problem was the
group who signed the treaty
00:13:15.52\00:13:18.23
were not authorized to do so.
00:13:18.26\00:13:20.16
John Ross traveled
to Washington, D.C.,
00:13:20.20\00:13:22.36
to protest the treaty,
00:13:22.40\00:13:24.47
but he wasn't permitted
to meet with the President.
00:13:24.50\00:13:26.97
The Senate approved
the treaty by one vote,
00:13:27.00\00:13:31.91
and that was
enough for Andrew Jackson,
00:13:31.94\00:13:33.58
who passed it into law.
00:13:33.61\00:13:35.71
Approximately 16,000 Cherokee
would eventually sign a petition
00:13:35.74\00:13:39.68
protesting the treaty,
00:13:39.71\00:13:41.58
but new president Martin
Van Buren ignored the petition.
00:13:41.62\00:13:46.32
Under General Winfield Scott,
the Cherokee were rounded up
00:13:47.32\00:13:50.73
at military posts and
taken to one of 11 camps
00:13:50.76\00:13:54.36
in Tennessee and Alabama.
00:13:54.36\00:13:56.20
They were
typically kept in stockades.
00:13:56.23\00:13:58.73
The possessions they left
behind were looted by settlers.
00:13:58.77\00:14:02.77
A soldier who had grown up
among the Cherokee later said
00:14:02.80\00:14:05.87
that he "witnessed the execution
of the most brutal order
00:14:05.91\00:14:09.88
"in the History
of American Warfare.
00:14:09.91\00:14:12.31
"I saw the helpless
Cherokees arrested and dragged
00:14:12.35\00:14:15.18
"from their homes, and
driven at the bayonet point
00:14:15.22\00:14:18.12
"into the stockades.
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"And in the chill of a drizzling
rain on an October morning
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"I saw them loaded
like cattle or sheep
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"into six hundred
and forty-five wagons
00:14:26.76\00:14:29.56
and started toward the west."
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By the end of June of 1838,
00:14:32.03\00:14:34.70
the last Cherokee had
been expelled from Georgia.
00:14:34.74\00:14:38.41
Fifteen hundred
departed from right here.
00:14:38.44\00:14:41.81
Their removal to the west
was to be carried out by boat,
00:14:41.84\00:14:45.11
but a severe drought caused
river levels to become so low
00:14:45.15\00:14:48.88
this wasn't possible.
00:14:48.92\00:14:50.15
It was also
very hot that summer.
00:14:50.19\00:14:52.55
The forced removal would be
delayed until later in the year.
00:14:52.59\00:14:56.32
Conditions in the
Cherokee camps were...abysmal.
00:14:56.36\00:15:01.20
So Chief John Ross negotiated
00:15:01.23\00:15:03.03
for Cherokee to
lead their own removal.
00:15:03.06\00:15:06.74
¤[ominous music]¤
00:15:06.77\00:15:08.74
[traffic noise]
00:15:08.77\00:15:10.24
When the Cherokee
finally left to head west
00:15:10.27\00:15:12.87
in October of 1838,
rain and cold weather came.
00:15:12.91\00:15:18.05
The multiple groups
took varying routes.
00:15:18.08\00:15:21.22
One group left from
Fort Cass, Tennessee,
00:15:21.25\00:15:23.99
in what is present-day
Charleston, Tennessee.
00:15:24.02\00:15:27.32
Those that would go to Oklahoma
00:15:27.36\00:15:28.92
via the northern
land route assembled here.
00:15:28.96\00:15:31.96
Some sources say the majority
of Cherokee were gathered
00:15:31.99\00:15:35.00
at the internment camp
that was situated here.
00:15:35.03\00:15:38.27
General Winfield
Scott's headquarters were here.
00:15:38.30\00:15:41.40
[rasping sound of cicadas]
00:15:41.44\00:15:43.10
Here at Blythe Ferry
on the Hiwassee River,
00:15:43.14\00:15:45.94
many of the groups that
left their ancestral homeland
00:15:45.97\00:15:49.01
crossed right here
into an uncertain future.
00:15:49.04\00:15:53.38
The man who operated the
ferry was William Blythe,
00:15:53.42\00:15:56.15
who, according to historians,
left the area himself
00:15:56.18\00:15:59.49
and headed west
with his Cherokee wife.
00:15:59.52\00:16:03.12
[footsteps]
00:16:03.16\00:16:05.19
¤[ominous music]¤
00:16:05.23\00:16:06.86
The memorial here
today features the names
00:16:06.90\00:16:09.50
of 2,500 heads of household.
00:16:09.53\00:16:13.40
Although there are
no accurate records
00:16:13.44\00:16:15.10
for the numbers of deaths that
resulted from the relocation,
00:16:15.14\00:16:18.24
it's generally
believed that around 4,000
00:16:18.27\00:16:21.04
of the 16,542 Cherokees forcibly
removed from their homeland
00:16:21.08\00:16:26.75
perished as a result
of the Cherokee removal
00:16:26.78\00:16:29.42
in 1838 and 1839.
00:16:29.45\00:16:32.05
Of course, that number
could be significantly higher.
00:16:32.09\00:16:34.89
The wife of John Ross was
one who died along the way.
00:16:34.92\00:16:39.36
The Trail of Tears
wasn't simply one road or trail
00:16:39.39\00:16:42.66
from the east to Oklahoma.
00:16:42.70\00:16:45.23
The Cherokee and those
who traveled with them,
00:16:45.27\00:16:47.34
including slaves they owned,
traveled in 17 or so groups
00:16:47.37\00:16:51.74
along three main land
routes and a river route.
00:16:51.77\00:16:55.38
Those who traveled
by land either walked
00:16:55.41\00:16:58.05
or traveled by
wagon or on horseback.
00:16:58.08\00:17:01.62
Many of them traveled
for more than three months
00:17:01.65\00:17:04.45
during what was an
especially harsh winter.
00:17:04.49\00:17:09.49
Over the years, the
Cherokee did whatever they could
00:17:09.52\00:17:12.19
to appease the
people wanting their land.
00:17:12.23\00:17:14.73
They often ceded great
chunks of land to the settlers
00:17:14.76\00:17:17.67
in an attempt to keep the peace.
00:17:17.70\00:17:19.90
But peace couldn't be kept.
00:17:19.93\00:17:22.40
It was land the settlers
wanted, and they would get it.
00:17:22.44\00:17:26.54
And they did.
00:17:26.57\00:17:28.21
It reminds me of
another land grab.
00:17:28.24\00:17:30.81
Someone who came from
a faraway place to a land
00:17:30.85\00:17:34.32
that was not his own and claimed
dominion he had no right to.
00:17:34.35\00:17:39.49
That story,
however, has a happy ending,
00:17:39.52\00:17:42.62
because Somebody
else came to the world
00:17:42.66\00:17:45.39
and walked His
own trail of tears.
00:17:45.43\00:17:48.63
I'll have more in just a moment.
00:17:48.66\00:17:51.10
¤[music swells and ends]¤
00:17:51.13\00:17:57.41
>>John: There is
power in the Word of God,
00:17:59.87\00:18:02.28
and power available to you
through the promises of God.
00:18:02.31\00:18:06.88
God wants you to experience
that power, and so do I.
00:18:06.92\00:18:09.85
I'd like you to
have today's free offer,
00:18:09.88\00:18:11.75
"Promises of Power,"
00:18:11.79\00:18:13.32
new from It Is Written.
00:18:13.36\00:18:15.06
To receive "Promises of Power,"
00:18:15.09\00:18:16.56
call 800-253-3000.
00:18:16.59\00:18:19.66
You could write to
the address on your screen
00:18:19.69\00:18:21.36
or visit us
online at iiwoffer.com.
00:18:21.40\00:18:25.53
And be sure you
receive "Promises of Power."
00:18:25.57\00:18:29.10
>>John: Join me on It Is Written
00:18:29.94\00:18:31.94
for one of the great
chapters of the Bible:
00:18:31.97\00:18:35.04
Isaiah chapter 53.
00:18:35.08\00:18:37.58
Isaiah has been
called the gospel prophet
00:18:37.61\00:18:39.71
because how he
repeatedly brings Jesus to light
00:18:39.75\00:18:43.12
throughout the book of Isaiah,
00:18:43.15\00:18:44.85
and there's no
chapter in the book of Isaiah
00:18:44.89\00:18:46.72
where he does that
more than Isaiah chapter 53.
00:18:46.76\00:18:50.46
Isaiah 53 has been quoted in the
New Testament numerous times,
00:18:50.49\00:18:54.73
and you see why
when you study God's Word
00:18:54.73\00:18:57.53
and focus on Isaiah chapter 53.
00:18:57.57\00:19:00.60
It's about Jesus
Christ crucified,
00:19:00.64\00:19:03.77
the One who died for
the sins of the world.
00:19:03.81\00:19:06.04
The Jesus that you and I know
is coming back to this world
00:19:06.07\00:19:09.88
to take us home.
00:19:09.91\00:19:11.35
Don't miss "Great Chapters of
the Bible: Isaiah [Chapter] 53."
00:19:11.38\00:19:16.95
You will be
moved. You'll be blessed.
00:19:16.99\00:19:19.59
And you will be
encouraged in faith in God.
00:19:19.62\00:19:23.63
"Great Chapters of
the Bible: Isaiah 53."
00:19:23.66\00:19:26.70
Watch now on It Is Written TV.
00:19:26.73\00:19:29.36
>>John Bradshaw: The Trail
of Tears was the forced removal
00:19:30.53\00:19:33.10
of the Five Civilized Tribes
from the American Southeast.
00:19:33.13\00:19:37.84
They were far from the only
tribes removed and dispossessed
00:19:37.87\00:19:40.98
of their ancient lands.
00:19:41.01\00:19:42.41
But the Cherokee were
the last to be removed.
00:19:42.44\00:19:45.51
They were taken
from various locations.
00:19:45.55\00:19:48.22
The vast majority walked the
800 miles to what would become
00:19:48.25\00:19:52.15
their new home in Oklahoma.
00:19:52.19\00:19:54.82
Thousands died along the way.
00:19:54.86\00:19:57.86
Before the journey began, they
were kept in hideous conditions
00:19:57.89\00:20:00.60
in internment camps.
00:20:00.63\00:20:02.90
Forty minutes from Ross's
Landing is Red Clay State Park.
00:20:02.93\00:20:08.47
It's where the Cherokee national
government met for the last time
00:20:08.50\00:20:11.61
before the enforcement
of the Indian Removal Act.
00:20:11.64\00:20:15.04
Between 1832 and 1837, a
dozen or so general councils
00:20:15.08\00:20:19.58
were held right here.
00:20:19.61\00:20:21.85
Thousands of
Cherokee would attend,
00:20:21.88\00:20:24.02
again and again rejecting
the proposed agreements
00:20:24.05\00:20:27.49
to surrender their
land and move west.
00:20:27.52\00:20:30.26
The Trail of
Tears really began here.
00:20:30.29\00:20:33.63
An eternal flame
burns here at Red Clay,
00:20:33.66\00:20:36.67
a perpetual memorial to
those who suffered and died
00:20:36.70\00:20:39.73
during the atrocity.
00:20:39.77\00:20:43.47
Now, sometimes in stories like
this you find a silver lining.
00:20:43.51\00:20:46.04
"Well, at least this happened."
00:20:46.07\00:20:49.11
Except there's no
silver lining in this story,
00:20:49.14\00:20:51.75
no fairytale ending.
00:20:51.78\00:20:53.85
The Cherokee and other tribes
were driven from their land,
00:20:53.88\00:20:56.69
sent to live in
another time zone,
00:20:56.72\00:20:59.89
and that was that.
00:20:59.92\00:21:01.72
That's often
what happens in life.
00:21:01.76\00:21:03.79
We're reminded that the
Bible speaks about a time
00:21:04.79\00:21:07.23
when people would
lose their liberties
00:21:07.30\00:21:10.10
through no fault of their own.
00:21:10.13\00:21:12.20
According to the
book of Revelation,
00:21:12.23\00:21:14.30
there'll be a time when
people who are faithful to God
00:21:14.34\00:21:16.91
will not be
able to buy and sell,
00:21:16.94\00:21:19.17
and ultimately, many
will lose their lives.
00:21:19.21\00:21:23.14
Daniel wrote about
"a time of trouble,
00:21:23.18\00:21:25.48
such as never was
since there was a nation,"
00:21:25.51\00:21:28.48
in Daniel 12 and verse 1.
00:21:28.52\00:21:31.05
If there's someone
who understands injustice,
00:21:31.09\00:21:33.82
it's God.
00:21:33.86\00:21:35.22
"In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth,"
00:21:35.26\00:21:38.09
according to the very
first line of the Bible.
00:21:38.13\00:21:41.36
He created a
beautiful dwelling place
00:21:41.40\00:21:43.47
for our first grandparents.
00:21:43.50\00:21:45.33
But it wasn't long
before an enemy had robbed them
00:21:45.37\00:21:49.37
of their homeland.
00:21:49.40\00:21:51.14
They were banished
from the Garden of Eden,
00:21:51.17\00:21:54.01
and everywhere they
went, sin followed them.
00:21:54.04\00:21:58.21
When were the first
tears shed on this earth?
00:21:59.21\00:22:03.39
Was it then, when Adam and
Eve were banished from Eden?
00:22:03.42\00:22:06.86
Was it when
they began to realize
00:22:06.89\00:22:08.52
the awful consequences of sin?
00:22:08.56\00:22:10.99
The Bible doesn't say,
but it's hard to imagine
00:22:11.03\00:22:14.20
that there were no tears around
the time sin entered the world.
00:22:14.20\00:22:18.23
Animals died to provide
clothing for Adam and Eve,
00:22:18.27\00:22:21.60
the first animals to die.
00:22:21.64\00:22:23.87
We could safely suppose
that there were tears then.
00:22:23.91\00:22:27.58
It's interesting that
the first time you find tears
00:22:29.34\00:22:32.05
explicitly mentioned in
the Bible, it's in the case
00:22:32.08\00:22:35.35
of people who'd been
banished from their home.
00:22:35.38\00:22:38.42
In Genesis 21, Hagar is
rejected by Abraham and Sarah.
00:22:38.45\00:22:42.56
She believes her child
Ishmael is going to die.
00:22:42.59\00:22:45.89
"So she sat opposite him,
and lifted her voice and wept."
00:22:45.93\00:22:50.73
Tears of desperation.
00:22:50.77\00:22:53.20
In Genesis 23:2 we read:
00:22:53.23\00:22:55.47
"And Sarah died...and
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah
00:22:55.50\00:22:59.84
and to weep for her."
00:22:59.87\00:23:02.01
Tears of lamentation.
00:23:02.04\00:23:04.15
Joseph wept when he was
reunited with his brothers.
00:23:04.18\00:23:07.28
They were tears
of reconciliation.
00:23:07.32\00:23:09.85
Baby Moses wept
in the basket boat.
00:23:09.88\00:23:12.79
Tears of innocence.
00:23:12.82\00:23:14.46
The children of
Israel wept in the wilderness
00:23:14.49\00:23:16.29
as they remembered the
food they had back in Egypt.
00:23:16.32\00:23:18.89
Tears of greed,
of faithlessness.
00:23:18.93\00:23:23.00
Hannah wept because
she was without child.
00:23:23.03\00:23:25.40
Tears of supplication.
00:23:25.43\00:23:27.44
Israel wept in the Psalms
when they remembered Zion,
00:23:27.47\00:23:29.90
Psalm 137.
00:23:29.94\00:23:31.44
Tears of, of
regret, tears of longing.
00:23:31.47\00:23:35.21
Jeremiah has been
called "the weeping prophet."
00:23:35.24\00:23:38.11
He said, "Oh that
my head were waters,
00:23:38.15\00:23:40.95
"and mine eyes a fountain
of tears, that I might weep
00:23:40.98\00:23:43.99
day and night for the slain
of the daughter of my people!"
00:23:44.02\00:23:47.89
Jeremiah 9, verse 1.
00:23:47.92\00:23:50.56
Mary Magdalene washed Jesus'
feet with tears of repentance.
00:23:50.59\00:23:54.93
Peter wept.
00:23:54.96\00:23:56.43
Matthew 26:75 says that
after he had denied Jesus
00:23:56.46\00:23:59.80
the third time, "he
went out, and wept bitterly."
00:23:59.83\00:24:04.14
The shortest verse
in the Bible tells us
00:24:04.81\00:24:07.28
that as He stood at the
tomb of Lazarus, "Jesus wept."
00:24:07.31\00:24:11.21
John 11:35.
00:24:11.25\00:24:13.25
Jesus' ministry was
its own trail of tears.
00:24:13.28\00:24:17.29
He came to this world to live
the life that we could not live
00:24:17.32\00:24:20.46
and to offer us
everlasting life, as a gift.
00:24:20.49\00:24:24.19
You know, I don't want
to stretch this too far,
00:24:24.23\00:24:26.73
but if God doesn't weep
over seeing people reject
00:24:26.76\00:24:30.37
the gift of salvation, at
least it has to break His heart.
00:24:30.40\00:24:34.54
But what happens in
the end of all this?
00:24:35.47\00:24:38.91
One of the most
hopeful verses in the Bible
00:24:38.94\00:24:42.48
is Revelation 21, verse 4.
00:24:42.51\00:24:44.28
It says,
00:24:44.31\00:24:45.45
"And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes;
00:24:45.48\00:24:48.78
"and there shall
be no more death,
00:24:48.82\00:24:50.25
"neither sorrow, nor crying,
00:24:50.29\00:24:52.42
"neither shall
there be any more pain:
00:24:52.45\00:24:54.59
for the former
things are passed away."
00:24:54.62\00:24:56.89
In this world, there's
injustice; there's pain.
00:24:57.89\00:25:01.63
Some of that can be addressed.
00:25:01.66\00:25:03.20
Sometimes wrongs are righted.
00:25:03.23\00:25:06.40
Sometimes.
00:25:06.43\00:25:07.74
It didn't happen in the
case of the Trail of Tears.
00:25:07.77\00:25:10.74
But there's coming a time when
every wrong will be righted,
00:25:10.77\00:25:14.34
when every illness
will have been cured,
00:25:14.38\00:25:16.88
where death no longer happens,
00:25:16.91\00:25:19.41
where tears will
never more be shed.
00:25:19.45\00:25:23.22
For some people, the pain
of this earth is just too much.
00:25:23.25\00:25:25.92
Seems that way.
00:25:25.95\00:25:27.59
But one day, one
day when Jesus returns,
00:25:27.62\00:25:30.83
He's going to make
all the wrongs right,
00:25:30.86\00:25:33.66
and He wants you to
be ready for that day.
00:25:33.70\00:25:36.40
Jesus has been
through enough pain already.
00:25:36.43\00:25:38.97
He shed enough tears.
00:25:39.00\00:25:41.14
Your salvation
will mean more to heaven
00:25:41.17\00:25:43.94
than you could possibly know.
00:25:43.97\00:25:47.18
Can you make a decision today to
allow Jesus to have your heart?
00:25:47.21\00:25:51.18
To look beyond this
world to the world to come,
00:25:51.21\00:25:53.31
to accept Jesus
into your life by faith?
00:25:53.35\00:25:56.02
One day, no more tears,
just perfection forever.
00:25:56.05\00:26:00.66
You want to be there.
00:26:00.69\00:26:02.82
God wants you to be there.
00:26:02.86\00:26:04.86
>>John: Thank you for
remembering that It Is Written
00:26:06.13\00:26:08.03
exists because of the kindness
of people just like you.
00:26:08.06\00:26:11.47
To support this international
life-changing ministry,
00:26:11.50\00:26:14.74
please call us
now at 800-253-3000.
00:26:14.77\00:26:18.81
You can send your
tax-deductible gift
00:26:18.84\00:26:20.34
to the address on your screen,
00:26:20.38\00:26:21.91
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:26:21.94\00:26:25.75
Thank you for your prayers
and for your financial support.
00:26:25.78\00:26:28.58
Our number
again is 800-253-3000,
00:26:28.62\00:26:32.75
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:26:32.79\00:26:35.82
>>John Bradshaw:
Let's pray together now.
00:26:37.03\00:26:38.79
Our Father in heaven,
00:26:38.83\00:26:40.30
we thank You that one day
00:26:40.33\00:26:41.53
there will be no more tears.
00:26:41.56\00:26:44.47
The Trail of Tears
reminds us that this is a world
00:26:44.50\00:26:48.10
of injustice and harshness and
cruelty and sadness and pain.
00:26:48.14\00:26:53.81
But we are reminded today
00:26:53.84\00:26:55.21
that this is still
a world of blessing.
00:26:55.24\00:26:57.81
Your Word reminds us that Your
mercies are new every morning,
00:26:57.85\00:27:01.95
and our hope today
is in the blessed hope.
00:27:01.98\00:27:04.62
One day Jesus will come back and
take care of all of those things
00:27:04.65\00:27:09.56
that trouble us.
00:27:09.59\00:27:10.89
Friend, where
is your hope today?
00:27:10.93\00:27:12.96
Can you look beyond this world?
00:27:12.99\00:27:15.00
To a Savior who
has shed tears for you
00:27:15.03\00:27:18.70
and is looking forward
to coming back to this world
00:27:18.73\00:27:21.57
so that you can
be with Him forever.
00:27:21.60\00:27:23.61
Is the return of
Jesus your hope, friend?
00:27:23.64\00:27:25.71
If it isn't, tell God right now
00:27:25.74\00:27:28.18
you wish Jesus
to be your Savior.
00:27:28.21\00:27:30.48
Invite the God of heaven to take
your heart and make it His own.
00:27:30.51\00:27:34.92
And He will.
00:27:34.95\00:27:36.79
Father, we look
forward to that day,
00:27:36.82\00:27:38.95
and we thank You that
through Jesus we have now
00:27:38.99\00:27:43.16
the hope of everlasting life
in a land with no more tears.
00:27:43.19\00:27:47.60
And we pray in Jesus' name,
00:27:47.66\00:27:50.37
amen.
00:27:50.40\00:27:51.53
Thanks so much for joining me.
00:27:51.57\00:27:52.87
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:52.90\00:27:54.74
Until then, remember:
00:27:54.77\00:27:56.84
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:27:56.87\00:28:00.28
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:28:00.31\00:28:04.95
¤[dramatic theme music]¤
00:28:04.98\00:28:12.99