Caption transcript for “Letters and Joshua preview”

• 00:01 ♪♪♪ David Hart: Welcome to "Our Jewish Roots," with insightful Bible teaching by
• 00:10 Dr. Jeffrey Seif. Today, we answer your letters and take a look at our new
• 00:13 series, "Joshua: More than a Conqueror."
• 00:18 David: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 00:19 I am David Hart.
• 00:21 Kirsten Hart: I'm Kirsten Hart.
• 00:22 Jeffrey Seif: I am Jeffrey Seif.
• 00:24 And do you know that love is a two-way street,
• 00:26 that we do love you, in fact, and people respond back?
• 00:29 They write us and send letters, and we get the conversation
• 00:32 going, and what we have on the menu today is to do some
• 00:36 of those letters.
• 00:38 I have not seen one of them.
• 00:39 I don't know if these guys are gonna throw some curve balls at
• 00:41 me, but we'll find out.
• 00:43 David: We're gonna do that in a minute,
• 00:44 but let's talk real quick about the series that we
• 00:46 just finished, "Faith of Our Fathers."
• 00:48 David Barton, an amazing guy, the artifacts that he's brought
• 00:52 to the series has been incredible.
• 00:54 Jeffrey: Yes, yes.
• 00:55 David: Where's he from
• 00:56 Jeffrey: Well, he's from Texas.
• 00:58 David: I thought so.
• 00:59 Jeffrey: I don't know where he's from originally,
• 01:00 but he has deep roots here.
• 01:02 Kirsten: With WallBuilders, right?
• 01:03 That's his ministry.
• 01:04 Jeffrey: He started that, yes, and, really,
• 01:06 he's a librarian on steroids.
• 01:08 I mean, he's collected all of this primary-source data,
• 01:12 volumes of stuff to take us back to what they were sayin' and
• 01:15 doin' when this country got started,
• 01:18 and we've so lost sight of "The Faith of Our Fathers," and he
• 01:23 brought it to life.
• 01:24 Kirsten: I gotta be honest.
• 01:26 You know, when we watch these programs--
• 01:28 this is kind of a little bit more of a laid-back program
• 01:29 for all of you today.
• 01:31 We're gonna answer viewer mail and kind of talk about
• 01:33 the series that we were just in and what we're going into,
• 01:36 but to be honest, when you guys were on set together and David
• 01:40 had these books in front of him, I legit thought that they were
• 01:43 just kind of, props, and then he started saying,
• 01:45 "This is from 18-- or this is from 1700."
• 01:49 It's amazing what he had in front of them.
• 01:51 They were real books and documents.
• 01:55 Jeffrey: You weren't there when we filmed it,
• 01:57 but we had a number of people there with the crew.
• 01:59 He shocked everyone.
• 02:00 No one expected him to bring out all the heavy cannon.
• 02:02 David: Original.
• 02:04 Jeffrey: Yeah, and he did, and he really takes this
• 02:05 seriously, and his point--
• 02:07 you know, I've always been interested in the Jewish
• 02:09 roots of the Christian faith.
• 02:11 He's really interested in the Christian roots of America,
• 02:14 and we kind of juxtaposed those in that series, and,
• 02:18 you know, he brought forth the evidence, like you said.
• 02:21 Kirsten: Well, I love how you paralleled and you brought in
• 02:23 some of the founding fathers of our faith,
• 02:26 and he brought in Founding Fathers of America, and it's
• 02:29 very interesting how many of those lives kind of
• 02:31 paralleled each other.
• 02:33 Jeffrey: Yeah, but I'll tell you,
• 02:34 those Founding Fathers made it easy to do because they speak
• 02:36 so much about the Bible.
• 02:37 What you hear in today's culture,
• 02:40 the mantra is "separation of church and state."
• 02:42 No one told them, because the documents of our fathers are
• 02:47 just dripping with biblical language.
• 02:50 Kirsten: If you are just tuning in to this program,
• 02:52 to our program today, and you're thinking,
• 02:54 "What series are you talking about?"
• 02:55 We just finished an eight-segment series,
• 02:58 eight full weeks, all about the faith of our Founding Fathers
• 03:01 of America.
• 03:02 It is available to you.
• 03:04 You can watch it on our website.
• 03:06 You can purchase the DVDs.
• 03:08 It's a wonderful resource, especially for all of you
• 03:11 homeschoolers out there.
• 03:13 It'll teach your kids American history and Bible history.
• 03:16 Thank you for everything that you put into that.
• 03:18 Jeffrey: And, look, if I can weigh in,
• 03:19 you can see it for free on our website.
• 03:21 By all means, do it, but if you have a few extra dollars,
• 03:23 order the series, because what happens is it pays our bills.
• 03:27 We wanna give it to you free of charge.
• 03:29 If that's what it has to be, it's all good,
• 03:31 really is, but we don't get all this free of charge,
• 03:34 and we appreciate your help in advance.
• 03:36 Kirsten: Okay, you have some viewer--
• 03:38 what were you just gonna say?
• 03:39 David: I do.
• 03:40 I was gonna say somebody wrote in here about a question that
• 03:42 it sounds like something that I would write in, about to ask
• 03:44 you, so are you ready for this question?
• 03:46 Jeffrey: You go.
• 03:47 David: "Should you forgive someone
• 03:48 even if they are not sorry?"
• 03:51 Jeffrey: People have been hurt in this world.
• 03:53 There's a lot of hurt, and there are people that are
• 03:55 recalcitrant--that is to say, they refuse to bend subsequent
• 03:59 to that, so it's a reasonable question.
• 04:02 You know, Jesus is on record in the Matthean Gospel,
• 04:04 the Matityahu in Hebrew, the Gospel of Matthew,
• 04:08 in the Lord's Prayer, giving voice to "Forgive us our debts
• 04:12 as we forgive our debtors," and then he follows it up,
• 04:16 by the way, saying, "If we don't forgive others, then--"
• 04:19 I mean, so there certainly is a premium on it.
• 04:21 It's an interesting word, by the way.
• 04:23 There's different words for "forgive" in Hebrew.
• 04:25 You're walkin' down the street,
• 04:26 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:27 "excuse me," "pardon me."
• 04:29 There's another one,
• 04:30 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:31 which means "to absolve," "to pardon," "to forgive,"
• 04:36 and to be sure, biblical virtue beckons us to be
• 04:40 on the side of forgiving.
• 04:43 With that said, I only add to that
• 04:45 that we need to give people space to do
• 04:47 that at their own time.
• 04:49 In the immediate aftermath of a shock,
• 04:51 of a hurt, of a grievous insult to one's person,
• 04:55 they're gonna be disinclined to go,
• 04:57 "Oh, but that's okay. Forgive and forget."
• 04:59 They might wanna rage for a while,
• 05:01 and I think we need to give people space to do that.
• 05:04 Those with the Holy Spirit, with a biblical constitution
• 05:08 are gonna recover their equilibrium and learn
• 05:10 to let that go and learn to let that person go because the Lord
• 05:15 beckons us to be that kind of person but at its own time.
• 05:18 That's what I have to say.
• 05:19 David: There was a time in my life when I had to forgive
• 05:22 someone where they didn't ask for that forgiveness,
• 05:24 but it was a healing in my life that I was just feelin' the pain
• 05:30 in my gut, and once I released that,
• 05:33 I had freedom.
• 05:35 Jeffrey: Yeah, we're beckoned to forgive,
• 05:36 but we're not told that we have to forget.
• 05:39 That is to say, you know, someone could do us wrong,
• 05:43 and to forgive them, to let it go,
• 05:44 but that doesn't mean we have to run into their embrace as though
• 05:47 it never happened.
• 05:48 Now, some can take issue with me on that,
• 05:50 but, you know, I don't wanna be angry at anybody,
• 05:54 but there are certain people I don't wanna associate
• 05:55 with either.
• 05:57 David: That same time that I was going through that time
• 05:59 in my life, I heard a pastor say--
• 06:02 and he wasn't speaking to me, but he really was, and he said
• 06:05 that "If you can't forgive, you can't be forgiven."
• 06:08 Do you believe that?
• 06:10 Jeffrey: Well, he's parroting the Lord's words right here
• 06:13 that--and, again, what I understand the Lord to be
• 06:15 saying, in effect, is he wants us to be on the side
• 06:17 of forgiving, and the word "forgiving" comes from two
• 06:20 words: "for" and "give."
• 06:23 You know, we wanna be forgiving, whether it's giving a dollar,
• 06:28 whether it's giving a hand, whether it's giving a break,
• 06:30 whether it's giving time, whether it's giving someone
• 06:33 a chance, a second chance to recalibrate.
• 06:35 It's the kind of people we are, and if we're not oriented to be
• 06:38 that way, that's problematic.
• 06:40 That's evidence of a lack of a Christian constitution to my way
• 06:43 of thinking.
• 06:45 Kirsten: I do love that, we are "for" "giving," in many
• 06:47 different ways.
• 06:48 I have to-- I was gonna say, "harken."
• 06:51 That's such a fancy word or old-school word.
• 06:53 You mentioned "Matthean," and I literally, literally,
• 06:57 in my e-mails this past week,
• 07:01 got a letter of someone that watches the program and said,
• 07:04 "Dr. Seif said 'Matthean.'
• 07:06 Does he just mean the book of Matthew?
• 07:07 What's this 'Matthean'?"
• 07:09 So if you could explain that just really quick 'cause that
• 07:11 legit was something that just came in this week.
• 07:13 Jeffrey: Yup, I've been a Bible college,
• 07:15 seminary professor for over 30 years,
• 07:16 and I tell my students I use big words 'cause it creates
• 07:20 the impression I know what I'm talking about.
• 07:22 Part of it's habit.
• 07:23 You know, Matthew is referred to as the Matthean gospel;
• 07:26 Luke, the Lukan; Mark, the Markan;
• 07:29 and John, the Johannine gospel.
• 07:31 It's just academic language that slips out because, you know,
• 07:36 I've spent, you know, 30 years as a college professor.
• 07:38 Kirsten: That really was someone saying,
• 07:41 "What does that mean?"
• 07:42 So it was just a formal way of saying,
• 07:44 "The Book of Matthew."
• 07:45 Jeffrey: Yeah.
• 07:47 Kirsten: Look at you.
• 07:48 David: Ready for another question?
• 07:49 Jeffrey: Fire away.
• 07:51 David: And this is kind of happening a lot right now.
• 07:52 We're seeing, or hearing, a lot of prophecy going on.
• 07:55 Someone says, "How important is prophecy?
• 07:58 What importance does prophecy play in a believer's life?"
• 08:02 Jeffrey: Well, I think, ultimately,
• 08:04 different people, different ways.
• 08:05 You know, not everybody is trying to figure out what's
• 08:07 happening for the end of the world and how it all comes
• 08:10 together, but if prophecy talks about looking over the horizon,
• 08:15 eschatology speaks of last things.
• 08:17 Certainly the hope of the Christian,
• 08:20 of the believer, is an eschatological event--
• 08:23 that is to say, their translation into the
• 08:26 world to come, it's futuristic.
• 08:29 I mean, prophecy beckons us to the future.
• 08:32 It's an impulse.
• 08:34 To understand it, to put something together
• 08:37 is theological construction: "Well, here's what it says in
• 08:40 the Word, and here's what's happening
• 08:42 in Israel and this today."
• 08:43 That's a theological construction.
• 08:45 But prophecy is an impulse as distinct from theology.
• 08:50 Let me explain.
• 08:51 If you look at the words for "prophet" in the Bible,
• 08:54 there's the word for "navi."
• 08:57 It means to bubble forth.
• 08:58 That is, there's an impulse within that needs to come out.
• 09:01 Another way is "roeh," a seer.
• 09:03 Someone has a vision.
• 09:05 It's not necessarily all this theological writing thick books
• 09:10 to explain world events.
• 09:12 Some people are more interested in Bible prophecy than others.
• 09:15 I think we do well to be interested in it.
• 09:18 You know, if we're praying, "Lord, your Kingdom come,
• 09:20 your will be done," it's not beyond the pale
• 09:22 of reason to search out the Scriptures about the coming
• 09:24 Kingdom, especially as the Bible talks about "as you see the day
• 09:28 drawing near," there certainly is a place for it,
• 09:31 but different people are in different places
• 09:33 in their own life.
• 09:34 Not everyone is oriented toward things to come.
• 09:38 David: A lot of prophecy in politics right now.
• 09:42 Jeffrey: Well, people are looking at, you know,
• 09:43 what's going on here, the evil empire emerging,
• 09:46 and so forth, and, yeah, it's hard to--
• 09:49 we gotta pull away from the series--
• 09:51 for this segment, you know, it's hard to go into all of
• 09:54 that, but, yeah, people are looking for prophetic,
• 09:57 you know, hints and all of that.
• 09:59 Kirsten: You're so good.
• 10:00 We throw this at you and in your brain,
• 10:03 and God gives you the answer.
• 10:04 You're just--
• 10:06 Jeffrey: Well, you're kind. It's my answer.
• 10:07 It's not rehearsed, by the way.
• 10:08 Kirsten: I was gonna say you're a treat to work with.
• 10:10 We have more to come in our program.
• 10:11 Stay with us.
• 10:13 ♪♪♪
• 10:19 David: Our resource this week,
• 10:20 the series "Faith of Our Fathers," on DVD.
• 10:23 These eight programs reveal how the creation of Israel in the
• 10:26 Old Testament inspired a future generation to carve
• 10:28 out a modern, yet godly nation in the New World.
• 10:33 This series features Bible teaching by Dr. Jeffrey Seif,
• 10:36 interviews with Christian historian David Barton,
• 10:39 plus dramatic reenactments of colonial times.
• 10:42 Contact us for your own copy of "Faith of Our Fathers."
• 10:48 David: Join us right now for additional content that is only
• 10:51 available on our social media sites:
• 10:53 Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
• 10:56 David: Visit our website, levitt.com,
• 10:58 for the current and past programs,
• 11:00 the television schedule, tour information,
• 11:03 and our free monthly newsletter, which is full of insightful
• 11:06 articles and news commentary.
• 11:08 View it online, or we can ship it directly to your mailbox
• 11:11 every month.
• 11:13 Also, on our website is the online store.
• 11:16 There you can order this week's resource,
• 11:18 or you can always give us a call at 1-800-WONDERS.
• 11:23 Your donations to "Our Jewish Roots,"
• 11:25 help us to support these organizations
• 11:27 as they bless Israel.
• 11:29 David: Please remember we depend on tax-deductible
• 11:32 donations from viewers like you.
• 11:35 David: For many, a trip to the Holy Land is the dream
• 11:38 of a lifetime.
• 11:41 David: The Bible truly comes alive as you see the sights
• 11:44 where so many biblical events happened.
• 11:47 Come on a Zola Tour to see Israel and Petra.
• 11:53 See the land of the Bible for yourself.
• 11:57 Contact us to reserve your dream of a lifetime.
• 12:06 David: I love the testimonies of people who get on our tour
• 12:09 bus and say, "We didn't think we'd ever have the opportunity
• 12:13 to come to Israel, but God opened up the door.
• 12:16 There's no way financially we could do it on our own,
• 12:18 but God opened up the door for us to go to Israel."
• 12:23 If you'd love to join us, but you don't feel like you ever
• 12:26 can, pray about it.
• 12:27 Somebody wants to send you to Israel.
• 12:30 Kirsten: Right, we're a television program, obviously.
• 12:32 You're probably either watching us on TV or on your computer.
• 12:36 We're a television program, but we're also a tour company.
• 12:39 This is something we've done for decades,
• 12:41 and you're probably watching this program again because it
• 12:45 says, "Our Jewish Roots."
• 12:46 You're interested in your Jewish roots of your faith.
• 12:50 There's no better way to learn about it than actually to walk
• 12:53 the land itself.
• 12:54 We go two times a year-- gorgeous hotels, phenomenal bus.
• 12:58 You will be safer there than you will be going
• 13:00 to your local Walmart.
• 13:02 We'd love for you to come with us.
• 13:04 David: Dr. Seif--
• 13:05 Kirsten: Ha-hah, you're just sittin' there, smiling.
• 13:07 Jeffrey: No, because I'm thinking of a time when
• 13:08 I was leading a tour when Zola was alive,
• 13:11 and some guy got up in the back of the bus and snapped out.
• 13:14 He says, I'm tired of all this Jewish stuff."
• 13:16 And I'm thinkin', "You know, what a bozo."
• 13:19 I mean, he's in Israel, and he came with us.
• 13:22 "What did you expect me to sound like?
• 13:23 A Franciscan friar giving a lecture through the Vatican?"
• 13:27 You know, it is stupid.
• 13:29 Kirsten: I know, maybe I shouldn't even say this--
• 13:31 Jeffrey: No, no, no, you're good at the--
• 13:33 Kirsten: But this isn't-- this, a little different.
• 13:34 We had one person, and she goes,
• 13:35 "When are we gonna have spaghetti?
• 13:37 We need more spaghetti."
• 13:38 And I'm just, like--
• 13:39 [gasps]
• 13:41 These buffets of phenomenal, fresh, gorgeous Israeli food.
• 13:43 Jeffrey: Listen, lady, she might be watching the program.
• 13:45 The story that I told was 25 years ago.
• 13:48 Kirsten: I still love you but--I know.
• 13:50 Jeffrey: I don't think he's still alive, you know?
• 13:51 Eat your spaghetti, love, but let's move on from that.
• 13:54 But that's why I was smiling.
• 13:55 I was remembering that unique moment.
• 13:57 Kirsten: But it's a wonderful aspect of this program is taking
• 14:00 tours, and you and I hop on those buses,
• 14:02 and we pray every morning, and we dine together.
• 14:07 We sing everywhere.
• 14:08 We get baptized in the Jordan River.
• 14:10 It's just hard to beat.
• 14:11 Jeffrey: But it's definitely a Jewish operation.
• 14:13 Kirsten: It is.
• 14:16 Jeffrey: A little confusing.
• 14:18 Kirsten: But it's a good operation.
• 14:19 We'd love for you to go with us.
• 14:21 So this week's program is kind of a little different than our
• 14:24 normal--we're not in a normal series with you.
• 14:26 We're looking at viewer questions.
• 14:29 A lot of you write into the ministry,
• 14:31 and we have some more questions for you.
• 14:34 You have one, don't you?
• 14:35 David: I do. People ask this a lot.
• 14:36 I think, they know you, but they really don't.
• 14:40 So a question is "How could a Jewish boy become
• 14:44 a biblical theologian?"
• 14:47 Jeffrey: Well, my mother asked the same question--
• 14:50 David: Yes.
• 14:52 Jeffrey: Because I wasn't raised into all of this.
• 14:55 My wife too, Barri, she has a PhD in biblical studies.
• 14:58 She was born and raised Jewish from both parents,
• 15:01 and I was born and raised Jewish from both parents.
• 15:04 Actually, my mom was a Holocaust survivor.
• 15:07 She was smuggled out of the war.
• 15:09 Kirsten: Your mom?
• 15:10 Jeffrey: Yeah, she was smuggled out--
• 15:12 her and her sister.
• 15:13 My mother died in a mental hospital, however.
• 15:16 Kirsten: In the states or--
• 15:17 Jeffrey: In the states, yeah, because, you know,
• 15:19 she was a little girl.
• 15:21 You get her out of Germany, but it's kind of weird, you know?
• 15:24 And you can get Mom out of Germany,
• 15:25 but it's another thing to get Germany out of Mom, you know?
• 15:29 And so I grew up in that post-Holocaust
• 15:32 Jewish experience.
• 15:35 Jewish neighborhoods, Jewish synagogue--
• 15:38 pretty involved.
• 15:39 Went to a religious Jewish school, you know.
• 15:41 People send their kids to Christian school because they
• 15:44 wanted to get Christian education.
• 15:46 I went to religious Jewish school--
• 15:48 half a day Hebrew stuff, half a day English, you know--
• 15:51 and I wasn't gonna be a rabbi, but I definitely was more
• 15:56 introduced to things Jewish.
• 15:57 It wasn't just casual, but in my case, you know,
• 16:03 the '60s, the '70s, hippies, young people, it's not at all
• 16:09 uncommon for young people to kind of press--
• 16:11 to push off against the values of their
• 16:14 family of origin to go experience the world themselves.
• 16:17 And in the context of doing that,
• 16:19 I ran into Christian people. I knew nothing about it.
• 16:22 I was challenged.
• 16:24 A guy wanted to talk to me about Jesus.
• 16:25 He leaned on me, and I said, "I don't believe in Jesus.
• 16:28 I'm Jewish."
• 16:29 And we started to get into the Bible, and the Lord--
• 16:32 David: You were in San Francisco at the time, weren't you?
• 16:34 Excuse me.
• 16:35 Jeffrey: No, on the way to San Francisco,
• 16:36 I went out, but I ran into Christian people,
• 16:40 but it was on the way back in Pennsylvania.
• 16:42 I'm from Harrisburg.
• 16:44 That's where a guy buttonholed me and leaned on me, and he got
• 16:46 me to pray with him, and the rest is history.
• 16:48 Kirsten: How did I not even know that you're
• 16:50 from Harrisburg.
• 16:51 You know, I'm from New Jersey. Did you know that?
• 16:53 Jeffrey: No, I didn't know.
• 16:54 Kirsten: Ah, East Coast people.
• 16:55 Jeffrey: Knew there was somethin' about you that
• 16:57 I liked.
• 16:59 David: I'm thinkin' about friends that we have made
• 17:00 in Israel, Chaim Mailspin, Dov Schwartz.
• 17:05 They're on our program, and they're on fire for God
• 17:09 as Israelis.
• 17:11 It's amazing.
• 17:12 Jeffrey: Well, I think you have to be.
• 17:13 I mean, you're gonna pray a price for it
• 17:15 because it is so against the norm.
• 17:16 You're not gonna sit on the fence.
• 17:17 I mean, I knew early in the game that my decision was gonna be
• 17:22 confusing for people in my webs of relationships,
• 17:25 family of origin, and if you're not serious about it,
• 17:28 then you're just not--
• 17:30 you know, if you're gonna do it, you're gonna lean in on it,
• 17:32 so I was pretty zealous, and my wife too.
• 17:35 Kirsten: Well, how did that work with your family dynamic?
• 17:37 What did your parents feel?
• 17:38 Jeffrey: They were offended, disturbed,
• 17:42 and, you know, when you're young and stupid,
• 17:44 there's probably a better way I could've articulated what it was
• 17:47 all about.
• 17:49 My parents were disturbed, and they went to their graves with
• 17:56 that disconsternation.
• 17:58 Kirsten: I'm so sorry about that.
• 17:59 Jeffrey: It's okay.
• 18:00 My sisters, however, were at peace, you know,
• 18:02 that, they don't believe like me, but we're close.
• 18:06 There's love.
• 18:07 And Jews tend to be very liberal and gracious and realize,
• 18:12 you know, let people live and breathe, you know,
• 18:14 and do their own thing.
• 18:16 And they look at me as "He's not hurting anyone.
• 18:19 He makes a living on it, you know.
• 18:20 Yeah, he went to college, became a college professor.
• 18:23 You know, he's a doctor, but he's not a doctor of a
• 18:26 discipline that I necessarily approve of,
• 18:27 but, look, it's an honest living.
• 18:29 Kirsten: Right, because the Jewish doctors--
• 18:30 lawyer or a doctor, right?
• 18:31 You got the "doctor" part but--
• 18:33 Jeffrey: Yeah, I don't write any prescriptions.
• 18:34 Someone said--my sister said, "This is my brother,
• 18:35 Doctor so-and-so."
• 18:37 Someone says, "What's he a doctor in?"
• 18:38 She says, "Don't ask."
• 18:39 You know, but there's love there because Jewish people tend to be
• 18:42 a gracious people but--
• 18:44 Kirsten: But you had a price to pay.
• 18:46 You have been paying a price in following Messiah.
• 18:54 Jeffrey: Yeah, there's a price to pay from the
• 18:56 beginning and today even.
• 18:57 You know, there's a lot of people that don't get it.
• 18:58 You can talk about, here, you have this Jewish-Christian
• 19:01 television program.
• 19:02 "What's that?"
• 19:04 People think the terms are mutually exclusive:
• 19:05 "You're either a Jew, or you're a Christian.
• 19:06 What do you mean you're Christian-Jewish,
• 19:08 Messianic Jewish?"
• 19:09 It seems it's an anomaly and a contradiction,
• 19:13 people perceive, but Jesus was a Jew.
• 19:14 The disciples were Jewish.
• 19:16 It all took place in Judea, and we like to look at the good news
• 19:20 through the eyes of the Jews, and I'm glad
• 19:21 to have an opportunity to come here and do it.
• 19:22 Not everybody gets it. I get that, but I don't care.
• 19:25 David: So your journey is, really, a miracle.
• 19:28 Jeffrey: I think it's a miracle when anybody accepts the Lord,
• 19:30 but when a Jewish person does,
• 19:32 it's a miracle on steroids, in my opinion.
• 19:34 Kirsten: Another miracle is the fact that, years ago,
• 19:38 thousands of years ago,
• 19:39 a man named Joshua brought the Israelites into a new land,
• 19:45 and he conquered them.
• 19:46 Coming up, well, actually, right now,
• 19:48 you're gonna see a little bit of our series
• 19:50 "Joshua: More than a Conqueror."
• 19:54 ♪♪♪
• 20:04 ♪♪♪
• 20:14 ♪♪♪
• 20:24 ♪♪♪
• 20:30 Joshua: Canaan has proven to be everything promised
• 20:32 by Adonai.
• 20:34 Just as lush as it was when Moses sent Caleb and me to
• 20:39 scout the land.
• 20:41 And now the time has come to partition the land to the tribes
• 20:45 of our people.
• 20:47 Eleazar the priest joins me on this hallowed occasion.
• 20:53 Just as we've done in Gilgal, we have gathered in Shiloh to cast
• 20:59 lots for the land that the Lord has given us.
• 21:03 Eleazar: We do so to confirm what Adonai said in ages past
• 21:06 to Jacob and then to Moses.
• 21:09 It will not be Joshua nor I who will decide.
• 21:12 It will be the Lord God of Israel.
• 21:17 Joshua: You've surveyed the land.
• 21:19 You know it well.
• 21:21 We've gathered in Shiloh to cast lots for Judah,
• 21:25 Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
• 21:28 They have already received their portions--
• 21:30 this side of the Jordan.
• 21:33 Eleazar: Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh
• 21:36 are acquiring their portions over the Jordan to the east as
• 21:41 was pledged by Moses.
• 21:44 ♪♪♪
• 21:51 Eleazar: Benjamin.
• 21:53 Joshua: The land between Judah and Ephraim.
• 21:56 ♪♪♪
• 22:02 Eleazar: Simeon.
• 22:05 Joshua: The land within Judah with the cities and villages
• 22:08 encircling Beersheba.
• 22:11 ♪♪♪
• 22:18 Eleazar: Zebulun.
• 22:21 Joshua: The land as far as Sarid,
• 22:23 then to the north to the valley of Jiphthahel.
• 22:26 ♪♪♪
• 22:31 Eleazar: Issachar.
• 22:33 Joshua: The land from Jezreel, reaching to Tabor.
• 22:37 ♪♪♪
• 22:41 Eleazar: Asher.
• 22:46 Joshua: The land from Mount Carmel, to the city of Tyre.
• 22:50 ♪♪♪
• 22:55 Eleazar: Naphtali.
• 22:58 Joshua: The land from the terebinth tree in Zaanannim,
• 23:02 to the Jordan and the Kinnereth.
• 23:05 ♪♪♪
• 23:11 Eleazar: And Dan.
• 23:12 Joshua: The land from Zorah, to Joppa.
• 23:15 ♪♪♪
• 23:24 ♪♪♪
• 23:26 Eleazar: And to you, Joshua, son of Nun,
• 23:30 we give Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim,
• 23:35 just as you requested.
• 23:38 ♪♪♪
• 23:42 Jeffrey: It was a dream come true.
• 23:44 His mission complete, Joshua would spend the last few years
• 23:47 of his life in the green heartland of Israel within
• 23:50 the boundaries given to his tribe: Ephraim.
• 23:55 Jeffrey: We've come here to Shiloh many times before, as
• 23:58 it is such an important biblical site.
• 24:01 And this time, especially because it's central
• 24:04 to the very land allotted to Joshua,
• 24:08 it happened that the Lord blessed the land with rain
• 24:10 on our visit, so we found shelter within some ancient
• 24:14 ruins while outside it poured.
• 24:17 ♪♪♪
• 24:20 Jeffrey: Everyone in Israel prays for rain,
• 24:23 and I'm good with that, but I say,
• 24:25 "Lord, why today, here in Shiloh,
• 24:28 where we have a special TV program?"
• 24:32 It is special, but you know what?
• 24:34 So is rain.
• 24:35 If there wasn't rain, we wouldn't have any of these
• 24:38 goodies right here.
• 24:39 We wouldn't have 'em today, and they surely wouldn't have had
• 24:43 them yesterday.
• 24:44 They were all farmers,
• 24:46 and they relied on the produce of the earth.
• 24:50 In fact, "mayim," the word for "water," is related to the word
• 24:54 "shamiam," or "heavens."
• 24:56 The point is you look at the rain, this outpouring,
• 25:00 as blessings.
• 25:01 Even in biblical literature, we talk about the outpouring of the
• 25:05 Holy Spirit.
• 25:06 Lord, pour out your blessings, and it's water language,
• 25:10 and it harks to this agrarian language.
• 25:13 Well, we're in the thick of it here in Shiloh,
• 25:17 a fascinating place today, an important place yesterday in
• 25:22 Joshua's day.
• 25:24 We're told, in fact, in the 18th chapter,
• 25:27 that when the battles had run their course,
• 25:31 Joshua led the Israelites, and they knocked the backbone of the
• 25:36 local Canaanite resistance,
• 25:38 and now it's time to divide up the tribes.
• 25:43 They get their parcels of real estate, their inheritances.
• 25:47 We're told in the 18th chapter,
• 25:50 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 25:55 "And that the whole congregation of the
• 25:58 children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh."
• 26:03 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 26:06 "And they gathered themselves.
• 26:08 They assembled themselves at the tent of meeting."
• 26:12 And this is where it was, you know?
• 26:14 In fact, before--
• 26:15 ♪♪♪
• 26:21 David: We really enjoy bringing you series every week,
• 26:25 but I think the letters program is one of our favorite times
• 26:29 that we sit at this desk with you, Dr. Seif.
• 26:31 Thank you for just being honest with us today,
• 26:34 answering these questions.
• 26:36 Really insightful information today.
• 26:37 Kirsten: Just kind of really-- I mean, you bore your heart,
• 26:40 and that's something that you just don't
• 26:41 see a lot on the television airways.
• 26:44 I mean, we just appreciate that.
• 26:45 Jeffrey: Well, you're kind, of course, but I'm more of a
• 26:47 professor type. and education is conversational,
• 26:48 so it's a little easier.
• 26:49 Most people used to administer as a monologue,
• 26:52 giving a lecture, but it's more conversation--
• 26:54 Kirsten: Thank you so much. New series next week.
• 26:57 Join us. Set your DVR.
• 26:59 Get ready to watch on your computer.
• 27:00 However you watch our program,
• 27:02 we look forward to seeing you again next week.
• 27:05 David: We end this program today with a song from our
• 27:07 founder Zola Levitt--
• 27:09 Jeffrey: And a word from the Scripture.
• 27:10 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 27:12 Kirsten: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• 27:16 ♪ For us, your blood was a outpoured. ♪
• 27:21 ♪♪♪
• 27:30 ♪♪♪
• 27:32 ♪ All we like sheep have gone astray, ♪
• 27:38 ♪ every one to his own way. ♪
• 27:44 ♪ But you alone took the blame, ♪
• 27:50 ♪ and now we ask in your holy name. ♪
• 27:56 ♪ For we like sheep have gone astray, ♪
• 28:03 ♪ every one to his own way. ♪
• 28:08 ♪ But you alone took the blame, ♪
• 28:14 ♪ and now we ask in your holy name. ♪
• 28:23 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 abercap.com