Caption transcript for “The Light of the World”

• 00:00 SHALOM, HELLO AGAIN.
• 00:03 THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL PROGRAM WE'RE MAKING IN ISRAEL ABOUT 2 RELATED MIRACLES.
• 00:09 FIRST, THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, WHAT YOU KNOW AS HANUKKAH, THE FESTIVAL OF DEDICATION.
• 00:15 THIS ONE WAS ESTABLISHED A LONG TIME AGO, 165 B.C. OR SO AND CELEBRATED BY THE LORD HIMSELF.
• 00:23 SECONDLY, THE BIRTH OF LIGHT.
• 00:25 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, BORN IN A MANGER IN BETHLEHEM A FEW MILES FROM WHERE I'M STANDING.
• 01:19 IN THE FIRST CENTURY IT WAS TRADITION TO LIGHT AN OIL LAMP
• 01:22 ON EACH NIGHT OF THE 8 DAY CELEBRATION CALLED HANUKKAH,
• 01:27 THE FEAST OF DEDICATION, OR FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.
• 01:31 ON THE 25TH DAY OF KESLEV, IN 164 B.C., THE PREVIOUSLY DEFILED TEMPLE
• 01:37 WAS CLEANSED AND REDEDICATED TO THE SERVICE OF THE LORD.
• 01:41 THE MESSIAH AND HIS DISCIPLES CELEBRATED THIS TRADITION.
• 01:45 AS IT STATES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, CHAPTER 10
• 01:49 AT THAT TIME THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION TOOK PLACE AT JERUSALEM
• 01:53 IT WAS WINTER AND JESUS WAS WALKING IN THE TEMPLE IN THE PORTICO OF SOLOMON
• 02:02 WELL, HERE WE ARE AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH.
• 02:05 BEHIND ME THE TEMPLE MOUNT OF JERUSALEM WITH THE DOME OF THE ROCK AND THE AL AQSA MOSQUE
• 02:10 AND BEHIND IT THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM AND BEHIND THAT THE WESTERN SIDE, THE NEW CITY.
• 02:16 THIS IS THE PLACE OF THE FUTURE TEMPLES.
• 02:20 IT WAS THE PLATFORM ON WHICH STOOD SOLOMON'S AND HEROD'S TEMPLE, THE OLD TEMPLES.
• 02:27 THAT BRINGS A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORY TO THIS PLACE.
• 02:31 THE HISTORY WE'RE INTERESTED IN FOR OUR PURPOSES TO LOOK AT HANUKKAH
• 02:36 TOOK PLACE IN THE 160'S B.C. WHEN A GRECO-SYRIAN COMMANDER ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES
• 02:42 WENT INTO THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND ON PURPOSE, SACRIFICED A PIG ON THE ALTAR.
• 02:49 HE HAD ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE FINAL SOLUTIONS TO THE JEWISH PROBLEM
• 02:54 SO HE OFFENDED THE CHOSEN PEOPLE IN THIS WAY.
• 02:58 HE DESECRATED THE TEMPLE. HE RAIDED THE PLACE AND OCCUPIED IT, TRUTH BE TOLD.
• 03:03 THE JEWS HAD A REVOLT AGAINST HIM.
• 03:06 THE MACCABEE FAMILY, MACCABEE MEANS HAMMER, THEY LEAD A REVOLT AND THREW HIM OUT.
• 03:12 BUT WHEN THEY RECOVERED THE TEMPLE, THEY HAD A REAL PROBLEM.
• 03:16 IT SEEMED THAT BY THE CANDLESTICK THERE WAS JUST ONE DAY'S OIL.
• 03:21 THEY HAD TO HAVE IT LIT ALL THE TIME.
• 03:26 THE LAW IS VERY CLEAR IN EXODUS 27:20, GOD SAYS THIS ABOUT THE TABERNACLE,
• 03:32 THE FORERUNNER OF THE TEMPLE:
• 03:45 SO IT TOOK A SPECIAL PROCEDURE.
• 03:46 THEY BEAT OLIVE TREES WITH STICKS FOR THE OLIVES TO COME DOWN.
• 03:49 THEY LEAVE THE OLIVE OIL THAT THEY FINALLY PRESS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME
• 03:56 WHILE ALL THE SEDIMENT FALLS TO THE BOTTOM AND IT'S CLEAR LIKE WATER.
• 04:01 THAT IS THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN USE THE OIL CONSECRATED PROPERLY FOR THE LAMP.
• 04:08 BUT WHAT WERE THEY TO DO?
• 04:09 THERE WAS JUST A ONE DAY SUPPLY OF OIL
• 04:12 AND TO START BEATING TREES AND LETTING OIL SIT AND SO FORTH WOULD TAKE 7 MORE DAYS.
• 04:19 THE MIRACLE WAS THAT THAT ONE DAY'S OIL LASTED THE ENTIRE TIME.
• 04:25 THEY LIT IT.
• 04:26 THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE TO DO BUT POUR IT INTO THE CANDELABRA
• 04:29 AND THEN IT WOULD BURN UP IN A DAY, THEY THOUGHT.
• 04:34 BUT THEY PRAYED OVER IT AND IT DID LAST. IT BURNED ON AND ON.
• 04:38 IT BURNED 8 DAYS AND THE NEW OIL WAS READY THEN.
• 04:41 THEY FILLED THE LAMP AND IT NEVER DID GO OUT.
• 04:44 THE MIRACLE IS REMINISCENT OF THE WIDOW WITH THE OIL AND THE BIT OF FLOUR
• 04:49 THAT ELIJAH CAME AND CAUSED TO LAST ON AND ON AND ON AND FED THE THREE OF THEM.
• 04:57 THAT WAS ONLY ONE MEAL'S WORTH.
• 04:59 SHE SAID SHE WAS GOING TO PREPARE IT FOR HER AND HER SON
• 05:01 AND THEN THEY WERE SIMPLY GOING TO SIT DOWN AND DIE.
• 05:03 THERE WAS TERRIBLE FAMINE. THEY HAD NOTHING ELSE.
• 05:07 THEN, THE LOAVES AND THE FISHES OF JESUS WHERE ONE LITTLE BOY'S LUNCH, FIVE LOAVES AND 2 FISHES.
• 05:15 WE EAT THOSE AT BREAKFAST HERE. THEY ARE SMALL LOAVES AND 2 BITS OF FISH.
• 05:20 HE TOOK OUT OF THAT BASKET ENOUGH TO FEED THE 5,000 PEOPLE
• 05:25 AND THERE WERE BASKETS, 12 BASKETS OF LEFTOVERS.
• 05:28 GOD CAN MAKE THINGS LAST ON EARTH AS HE CHOOSES.
• 05:33 THIS WAS ANOTHER INSTANCE OF THAT, THAT OIL.
• 05:36 AND IT CAUSED THE CREATION OF A NEW MENORAH.
• 05:38 NOW, MENORAH IS A CANDLESTICK. THIS IS ONE. THIS IS A HANUKKAH MENORAH.
• 05:44 THIS ONE BACK HERE IS THE ORIGINAL TEMPLE MENORAH.
• 05:48 THAT IS THE ONE IN THE TABERNACLE.
• 05:50 IT HAS 7 BRANCHES AS YOU CAN SEE, A MIDDLE ONE HERE AND THESE OTHERS AROUND IT.
• 05:55 ONE LIGHTS THOSE WITH THE MIDDLE CANDLE.
• 05:58 IN THE MENORAH, THERE IS A CENTER CANDLE WITH 4 ON EITHER SIDE.
• 06:03 IT LOOKS LIKE 9, IT'S REALLY 8, BUT THIS ONE IS CALLED THE SHAHMISH CANDLE.
• 06:08 YOU LIGHT ALL THE OTHERS WITH THIS ONE.
• 06:10 THE FIRST NIGHT, YOU LIGHT THE FIRST,
• 06:12 THE SECOND NIGHT THE FIRST AND SECOND, THE THIRD NIGHT THE FIRST 3 AND SO FORTH.
• 06:16 OBVIOUSLY, THIS IS THE MESSIAH. HOW THE JEWS CAN MISS IT IS A MYSTERY.
• 06:22 OF COURSE HE'S THE ONE.
• 06:24 HIS FLAME IGNITES ALL THE OTHER BELIEVERS IN TURN
• 06:27 AND THAT BECOMES A TYPE OF THE MESSIAH, A REAL SYMBOL OF HIM.
• 06:33 THERE'S A JAR TO FILL THE OLD CANDLESTICK WITH OIL AT THE BOTTOM.
• 06:39 THE NEW MENORAH, OF COURSE HAS CANDLES IN IT,
• 06:43 OR IT'S REPRESENTED BY A BEAUTIFUL, MODERN ISRAELI CREATION BASED ON THE OLD OIL LAMPS.
• 06:50 THERE'S THE JAR, THE SHAMISH, THE SERVANT.
• 06:54 ALSO, THERE'S A DREIDEL. THIS IS A LITTLE TOP.
• 06:56 YOU CAN SEE THERE ARE LETTER ON IT. THE LETTERS ARE NUN, GIMEL, HAY, PAY.
• 07:03 THEY MAKE AN ACRONYM THAT SAYS "A GREAT MIRACLE OCCURRED HERE".
• 07:09 WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID WE PLAYED WITH THESE DREIDELS.
• 07:12 IT'S A GAME YOU PLAY, SPIN THE TOP AND IT LANDS ON A CERTAIN LETTER.
• 07:16 WE SANG A SONG. IT WENT:
• 07:18 ♪ DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL, ♪ ♪ I MADE IT OUT OF CLAY, ♪ ♪ DADADADA, DADADADA DEDEDE ♪ AND SO ON.
• 07:26 IT'S A HAPPY HOLIDAY, A TRIUMPHANT HOLIDAY.
• 07:30 AND NO WONDER!
• 07:31 WHEN THE MESSIAH RETURNS, THIS IS THE HOLIDAY
• 07:34 ON WHICH HE'S GOING TO EVIDENTLY REBUILD THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE AND START THE KINGDOM.
• 07:41 THE FEAST OF DEDICATION. DANIEL 8 GIVES THE WHOLE STORY OF THE HISTORY OF ANTIOCHUS.
• 07:48 IT TELLS THE STORY OF THE EMPIRE BEING DIVIDED IN 4 PARTS AND ONE OF THEM, THE LITTLE HORN,
• 07:54 WHICH IS ANTIOCHUS, COMES AND RAIDS THE BEAUTIFUL PLACE, THE TEMPLE SITE.
• 07:59 IN FIGURE HE GIVES THE STORY.
• 08:02 IT'S REALLY A PREDICTION SINCE DANIEL LIVED CENTURIES BEFORE THAT MIRACLE.
• 08:06 IT'S A PROPHECY AND IT WAS FULFILLED BY ANTIOCHUS.
• 08:10 BY THE WAY, DANIEL DIGRESSES WHILE TALKING ABOUT THIS STORY OF THE LITTLE HORN
• 08:15 TO TALK ABOUT THE ANTI-CHRIST OF THE END TIMES. DANIEL 8:25:
• 08:19 BY PEACE, SHALL HE DESTROY MANY, DANIEL SAYS
• 08:24 IT'S A HINT THAT THE ANTI-CHRIST IS PERHAPS GRECO-SYRIAN IN BACKGROUND.
• 08:29 HE COMES OUT OF ROME, BUT HE PERHAPS HAS THAT BACKGROUND,
• 08:33 BECAUSE IT'S AS IF DANIEL, WHILE I'M TALKING ABOUT THIS GRECO-SYRIAN TYRANT,
• 08:38 LET ME ALSO SPEAK OF THE DARK PRINCE WHO IS TO COME.
• 08:41 A VERY TELLING PASSAGE IN DANIEL'S END TIMES PROPHECY.
• 08:47 JESUS ALSO CELEBRATED THIS FESTIVAL.
• 08:50 IT WAS A NATIONAL FESTIVAL NOT LISTED IN LEVITICUS 23 WITH PASSOVER AND UNLEAVENED BREAD
• 08:55 BUT IT'S LISTED IN PROPHECY IN DANIEL 8.
• 09:01 THE LORD COMMEMORATED IT HIMSELF.
• 09:16 YES, IT'S IN DECEMBER.
• 09:18 JESUS CAME ALL THIS WAY.
• 09:22 IT WAS A 5 DAY JOURNEY SLEEPING UNDER THE STARS TO COME HERE FROM CAPERNAUM IN GALILEE.
• 09:27 YET HE CAME FOR THIS FESTIVAL. THAT GIVES IT CREDENCE.
• 09:30 THEN, IN DANIEL 12, THERE'S A COMPLEX SERIES OF NUMBERS: 1,290 DAYS, 1,335 DAYS.
• 09:38 IF YOU GET OUR BOOK ON THE SEVEN FEASTS,
• 09:39 YOU'LL SEE THE CALCULATION THAT SHOWS THAT THESE NUMBERS ADD UP TO THE FACT
• 09:45 THAT THE LORD WILL PROBABLY DEDICATE THE NEW TEMPLE, THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE,
• 09:50 ON HANUKKAH IN THE KINGDOM TO COME.
• 09:53 IT IS THE 25TH DAY OF KESLEV.
• 09:55 IT OCCURS AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME AFTER THE 2ND COMING.
• 09:59 SO, IN THAT MILLENNIAL TEMPLE WHERE WE WILL WORSHIP WITH THE LORD,
• 10:05 THAT TOO WILL BE ESTABLISHED ON A FEAST OF DEDICATION.
• 10:22 I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO ZOLA FOR 5 OR 6 YEARS
• 10:25 AND WHEN MY MOTHER CALLED AND SAID, "I'M PLANNING A TRIP TO ISRAEL,
• 10:28 WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO"? I DIDN'T HESITATE. I SAID, "ABSOLUTELY".
• 10:31 SHE SAID, "DO YOU KNOW ANYWHERE OR HOW TO GET THERE"?
• 10:33 AND I SAID "ABSOLUTELY LET ME GIVE ZOLA A CALL".
• 10:35 THIS IS THE MOST SPECIAL PLACE IN THE WORLD AND THIS IS THE PLACE WE WANTED TO BE.
• 10:39 WE CAN'T IMAGINE THAT WE'RE HERE WE JUST CAN'T IMAGINE.
• 10:53 AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THOSE DAYS THAT THERE WENT OUT A DECREE FROM CAESAR AUGUSTUS
• 10:57 THAT ALL THE WORLD SHOULD BE TAXED.
• 11:01 AND JOSEPH WENT UP FROM GALILEE OUT OF THE CITY OF NAZARETH INTO JUDEA
• 11:06 UNTO THE CITY OF DAVID,WHICH IS CALLED BETHLEHEM TO BE TAXED WITH MARY,
• 11:11 HIS ESPOUSED WIFE BEING GREAT WITH CHILD.
• 11:14 AND SO IT WAS THAT WHILE THEY WERE THERE
• 11:16 THE DAYS WERE ACCOMPLISHED THAT SHE SHOULD BE DELIVERED.
• 11:20 AND SHE BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRSTBORN SON AND WRAPPED HIM IN SWADDLING CLOTHES
• 11:25 AND LAID HIM IN A MANGER, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR THEM IN THE INN.
• 11:36 AND THERE WERE IN THE SAME COUNTRY SHEPHERDS ABIDING IN THE FIELDS
• 11:38 KEEPING WATCH OVER THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT.
• 11:41 AND LO, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME UPON THEM
• 11:45 AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHOWN AROUND THEM AND THEY WERE SORE AFRAID.
• 11:54 AND THE ANGEL SAID UNTO THEM, FEAR NOT,
• 11:56 FOR BEHOLD I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY, WHICH SHALL BE TO ALL PEOPLE.
• 12:03 FOR UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID, A SAVIOR, WHICH IS CHRIST, THE LORD.
• 12:10 AND THIS SHALL BE A SIGN UNTO YOU.
• 12:16 YE SHALL FIND THE BABE WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES LYING IN A MANGER.
• 12:40 WE'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE VERSE, I THINK.
• 12:42 IT'S THE PREDICTION BY MICAH THAT THIS LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM,
• 12:48 THE TOWN YOU SEE IN THE DISTANCE BEHIND ME WITH THE SPIRES AND CHURCHES AND MINARETS,
• 12:55 AN UNIMPORTANT LITTLE TOWN, BECAUSE IT HAD 400 FAMILIES AT THE TIME JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN THERE,
• 13:02 WAS SELECTED BY GOD TO BE THE BIRTH PLACE OF THE KING OF ISRAEL.
• 13:07 NOW, LET'S TELL THE STORY LIKE IT IS.
• 13:10 MANY PEOPLE TELL THE CHRISTMAS STORY AND CHURCHES BUILD NATIVITY SETS
• 13:14 AND MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL AND COMFORTABLE WITH WOODEN BARNS WITH CLEAN STRAW IN WOODEN CRADLES,
• 13:21 BUT IT WASN'T QUITE LIKE THAT.
• 13:24 MARY AND JOSEPH CAME FROM NAZARETH, RELATIVELY YOUNG KIDS
• 13:27 ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED AND AWARE THAT SHE BORE A CHILD BY THE LORD, BY GOD.
• 13:35 SHE WAS A VIRGIN.
• 13:38 SHE WAS A 9TH GRADER, BY THE WAY.
• 13:40 SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL. MARY WAS NOT A WOMAN.
• 13:43 WE OFTEN SEE HER PORTRAYED AS A GROWN WOMAN,
• 13:45 BUT SHE REALLY WAS, AS MOST BRIDES IN ISRAEL OF HER TIME, A YOUNG TEENAGER.
• 13:53 THEY CAME ALONG THE WAY THAT YOU SEE BEHIND ME.
• 13:56 THAT IS, ROADS WENT THROUGH THE HILLS, DOWN FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHLEHEM.
• 14:01 JERUSALEM IS IN FRONT OF ME. ACTUALLY, I'M STANDING ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF JERUSALEM.
• 14:07 BEHIND ME YOU CAN SEE BETHLEHEM, WHICH IS ONLY ABOUT 5 MILES AWAY.
• 14:10 THEY HAVE BEEN TOGETHER A LONG TIME, AT LEAST 3,000 YEARS.
• 14:14 BETHLEHEM IS EVEN OLDER THAN JERUSALEM.
• 14:16 IT WAS 1,000 YEARS OLD WHEN DAVID WAS CORONATED AS KING HERE.
• 14:23 IN ANY CASE, THEY CAME ALONG THE ROAD AND THEY CAME TO SHEPHERDS WHO PROBABLY TOLD THEM,
• 14:30 THE TRUTH IS, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T GO ALL THE WAY INTO TOWN,
• 14:33 THE SHEPHERDS PROBABLY TOLD THEM, NOW LOOK, THERE'S NO USE YOU'RE GOING IN THERE.
• 14:37 BECAUSE OF THE CENSUS, BECAUSE OF THE TAXATION,
• 14:41 AND ALL THE PEOPLE HAVING TO RETURN TO THEIR NATIVE TRIBAL HOME LIKE YOU TWO ARE,
• 14:47 ALL THE HOTELS ARE FULL. THERE'S NO ROOM AT THE INN. THERE'S NO PLACE TO STAY THERE.
• 14:53 IF YOU LIKE, MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE IN OUR CAVE,
• 14:57 WHICH WAS REALLY, IT WASN'T A BARN AT ALL.
• 15:00 THERE ARE NO WOODEN BUILDINGS IN ISRAEL EVEN TODAY, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TREES FOR THAT.
• 15:04 YOU SEE BEHIND ME OLIVE TREES.
• 15:07 THEY ARE NATIVE TO THIS COUNTRY, BUT THEY DON'T PROVIDE MUCH LUMBER.
• 15:11 THEY PROVIDE OLIVE OIL AND OLIVES TO EAT.
• 15:13 THEY DIDN'T MAKE BUILDINGS OUT OF TREES.
• 15:16 THEY PUT THE ANIMALS IN CAVES.
• 15:19 SO, THE SHEPHERDS PUT THEIR ANIMALS IN THE BACK OF A CAVE
• 15:23 AND BUILT A FIRE AT THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE TO KEEP THE PREDATORS AWAY.
• 15:27 AND THEY ENTERED THESE FIELDS AROUND BETHLEHEM,
• 15:30 SOME OF WHICH ARE THE VERY FIELDS WHERE RUTH MET BOAZ.
• 15:36 SHE SLEPT OUT IN HIS FIELD AS YOU RECALL, AT THE FEET OF BOAZ
• 15:42 AND SIGNALED HIM THAT SHE WAS AVAILABLE TO HIM.
• 15:45 THAT STARTED A MARRIAGE WHICH IS IN THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST.
• 15:48 RUTH, A MOABITESS WHO CONVERTED TO JUDAISM, WHO SAID,
• 15:56 AND WENT WITH NAOMI, HER MOTHER-IN-LAW TO ISRAEL AND THEN MARRIED BOAZ.
• 16:04 NOW, WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?
• 16:06 IT REALLY, PROBABLY WAS NOT DECEMBER 25TH.
• 16:09 THE TRUTH IS, THE ANIMALS HAD THEIR BABIES IN THE SPRING
• 16:14 AND IT'S MORE LIKELY THE SHEPHERDS WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSE TO THEIR FLOCKS IN THE SPRINGTIME,
• 16:19 BECAUSE PREDATOR ANIMALS WOULD COME AND TAKE AWAY THE BABIES.
• 16:24 SO THEY GUARDED THEIR FLOCKS MUCH MORE CAREFULLY AT THE TIME THAT THEY HAD THE BABY ANIMALS.
• 16:29 WE HAD A TOUR DRIVE BY HERE ONE TIME
• 16:32 AND ACTUALLY SAW A SHEPHERD CARRYING A BABY LAMB ON HIS SHOULDERS,
• 16:37 A SCRIPTURAL PICTURE IF THERE EVER WAS ONE,
• 16:40 THE UMBILICAL CORD STILL EXTENDED FROM THE BRAND NEW BABY WHO COULDN'T WALK YET.
• 16:45 THEY WERE JUST KEEPING UP WITH THE FLOCK.
• 16:47 IT WAS A SPRING TOUR AND HE HAD A SPRING CHILD, A BABY, A BABY LAMB AND HE WAS PROTECTING IT.
• 16:53 THAT PROBABLY WAS THE TIME OF JESUS' BIRTH.
• 16:56 WE CAN'T REALLY SAY. IT'S NOT PUBLISHED IN SCRIPTURE.
• 16:59 DECEMBER 25TH, THOUGH, WAS CHOSEN, I SUPPOSE,
• 17:04 BECAUSE OF THE ROMAN SATURNALIA FESTIVAL, WHICH WAS AT MID-WINTER.
• 17:10 THE GERMANS ALSO, WITH ODON, HAD A SIMILAR FESTIVAL.
• 17:15 IT WAS CHOSEN AS A TIME PEOPLE WERE USED TO CELEBRATING A HOLIDAY
• 17:19 AND SO IT WOULD WORK WELL. THEY WOULD COME. THEY WOULD ATTEND AND SO FORTH.
• 17:25 ANOTHER THEORY IS BASED ON THE DATE OF HANUKKAH.
• 17:29 HANUKKAH IS GIVEN IN SCRIPTURE. IT'S THE 25TH DAY OF KESLEV.
• 17:35 JESUS CELEBRATED IT.
• 17:36 IN JOHN 22 HE WENT DOWN TO JERUSALEM; IT WAS WINTER, IT SAYS,
• 17:41 TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF DEDICATION, WHICH IS THE FEAST OF HANUKKAH.
• 17:45 THE 25TH OF KESLEV, I CAN PICTURE A ROMAN COMING TO A RABBI AT THE TIME, OR A PRIEST
• 17:52 AND SAYING, WHICH MONTH OF YOURS IS EQUAL TO OUR DECEMBER?
• 17:59 THE RABBI SAYING, WELL, ROUGHLY KESLEV, BECAUSE KESLEV CAN START IN NOVEMBER.
• 18:05 THE LUNAR AND SOLAR CALENDARS DON'T AGREE THAT CLOSELY.
• 18:09 BUT HE PROBABLY SAID DECEMBER. USUALLY MOST OF KESLEV IS IN DECEMBER.
• 18:13 AS IT WAS ON THE 25TH DAY, PERHAPS THE ROMAN CONCLUDED,
• 18:16 ALRIGHT, THEN IT'S THE 25TH OF DECEMBER THAT WE'LL HAVE THIS FESTIVAL.
• 18:21 THAT'S POSSIBLE. LOOK, IT'S NOT IMPORTANT.
• 18:25 THIS COMES UP A LOT AND PEOPLE TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT.
• 18:27 IT'S NOT FIGURED OUT.
• 18:29 WHEN GOD WANTS TO GIVE US A DATE, HE GIVES US AN EXACT DATE,
• 18:32 AS WITH THE 7 FEASTS IN LEVITICUS 23.
• 18:37 THESE FESTIVALS ARE REPORTED EACH ON A PRECISE DAY:
• 18:41 THE 14TH DAY, THE 1ST MONTH AT EVENING IS THE LORD'S PASSOVER.
• 18:46 THE NEXT NIGHT IS UNLEAVENED BREAD.
• 18:48 THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY IS FIRST FRUITS.
• 18:51 50 DAYS LATER IS PENTECOST.
• 18:54 THE 1ST DAY OF THE 7TH MONTH IS TRUMPETS.
• 18:56 THE DAY OF ATONEMENT IS THE 10TH DAY AND THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES,
• 19:00 THE 15TH DAY OF THAT 7TH MONTH.
• 19:03 OF COURSE, HANUKKAH, A NATIONAL FESTIVAL, WHICH CAME ALONG LATER,
• 19:06 IS THE 25TH OF KESLEV, 2 AND 1/2 MONTHS LATER.
• 19:11 IF GOD GAVE THOSE FEAST DAYS, IT WAS SO THAT WE WOULD KNOW
• 19:17 JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED ON PASSOVER AND BURIED ON UNLEAVENED BREAD AND RAISED ON FIRST FRUITS
• 19:24 AND SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT AT PENTECOST.
• 19:26 AND WE'LL RETURN, PERHAPS, LITERALLY, PERHAPS SYMBOLICALLY
• 19:30 ON A FEAST OF TRUMPETS IN THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.
• 19:34 THE JEWS WILL MOURN FOR HIM AS FOR AN ONLY SON ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
• 19:38 AND ON THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES HE'LL REESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM.
• 19:44 WHY THIS LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM?
• 19:46 WHY WASN'T HE JUST BORN IN JERUSALEM?
• 19:47 IT ADDED AN EXTRA 5 MILES TO AN ALREADY DIFFICULT JOURNEY.
• 19:51 IT MUST HAVE BEEN 75 MILES DOWN INTO THE JORDAN RIVER VALLEY, DOWN TO THE JERICHO AREA,
• 19:57 UP THE MOUNTAIN TO JERUSALEM AND DOWN HERE TO BETHLEHEM.
• 20:02 FOR A YOUNG GIRL IN THE NINTH MONTH OF HER FIRST PREGNANCY,
• 20:09 VIRTUALLY ALREADY IN LABOR AND RIDING A DONKEY, THAT'S VERY DIFFICULT.
• 20:14 IF AT LEAST IT WERE JERUSALEM IT WOULD SAVE SOME TIME.
• 20:16 BUT YOU KNOW, IF YOU WERE BORN IN JERUSALEM,
• 20:19 THEN HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOUSANDS BORN AT THAT TIME.
• 20:23 WHO WOULD REMEMBER IT?
• 20:25 BUT WHEN HE'S BORN IN A LITTLE TOWN IN BETHLEHEM, THAT'S NEWS IN A LITTLE TOWN.
• 20:29 A GIRL ARRIVES, SHE STAYS IN A CAVE OF A SHEPHERD AND SHE HAS A BABY.
• 20:35 PEOPLE BROUGHT BLANKETS. PEOPLE DID THINGS.
• 20:37 THEY SAW THE MAGI COME. WHAT AN EVENT IN A LITTLE TOWN LIKE THIS!
• 20:41 AND 30 YEARS LATER WHEN A SEEKER LIKE NICODEMUS CAME ASKING QUESTIONS SAYING,
• 20:46 I'VE HEARD THIS SPELL BINDING SPEAKER,
• 20:48 BUT I CAN'T RECEIVE THE MESSIAH UNLESS IT AGREES WITH SCRIPTURE.
• 20:53 WAS THIS FELLOW BORN OF PEOPLE FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH?
• 20:57 THEY WOULD HAVE SAID, OF COURSE, WHO COULD FORGET IT.
• 21:00 HIS MOTHER AND FATHER CAME HERE BECAUSE THEY WERE BOTH OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID, FROM BETHLEHEM.
• 21:05 THEY CAME HERE FOR THE CENSUS.
• 21:07 THEY HAD TO BE HERE DESPITE HER PREGNANCY.
• 21:10 SO, YES, BOTH WERE OF COURSE OF JUDAH.
• 21:12 THAT SATISFIED THAT.
• 21:14 THE PROPHET SAID THAT HE WAS TO BE BORN OF A VIRGIN.
• 21:17 WHAT COULD THEY SAY?
• 21:20 SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL. SHE WAS A GOOD GIRL. SHE WASN'T MARRIED YET.
• 21:24 THAT'S WHAT THEY COULD REPORT. THAT MUCH EVIDENCE IS EVIDENCE INDEED.
• 21:29 SO, THE RIGHT TIME, THE RIGHT TRIBE, THE RIGHT CITY AS MICAH SAID.
• 21:37 I SHOULDN'T SAY CITY- THE RIGHT VILLAGE, THE RIGHT TOWN,
• 21:41 EVEN TO THE POINT OF IT BEING IN HEBREW BET-LE-HEM THE HOUSE OF BREAD.
• 21:45 HE'S THE BREAD OF LIFE.
• 21:47 IT ALL WORKED TOGETHER FOR THEM TO MAKE A REAL WITNESS.
• 21:52 IT'S NOT EXACTLY IMPORTANT WHEN JESUS WAS BORN,
• 21:56 BUT IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE REALIZE HE WAS BORN FOR US, BORN FOR THE REBORN.
• 24:37 MY VERY BIBLE I'VE CARRIED AROUND HERE IN ISRAEL FOR YEARS IS SCOFIELD, THE OLD SCOFIELD.
• 24:43 I HAVE WRITTEN ON IT IN HEBREW [HEBREW] - THE LIGHT.
• 24:47 IT'S GOT THE STORY OF HANUKKAH IN DANIEL 8 AND THE STORY OF JESUS' BIRTH.
• 24:54 WHAT CAN WE SAY IN CLOSING ABOUT THESE TWO FESTIVALS?
• 24:58 HANUKKAH WAS WONDERFUL.
• 24:59 IT WAS A REVOLT BY THE MACCABEES AGAINST PERSIAN RULE,
• 25:03 AGAINST ANTIOCHUS, WHO SACRIFICED A PIG ON THE ALTAR.
• 25:07 IT WAS A HATEFUL THING TO DO.
• 25:09 IT WAS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE FINAL SOLUTIONS TO THE JEWISH PROBLEM.
• 25:12 IT DIDN'T WORK OUT THAT TIME EITHER.
• 25:14 THERE IS NO FINAL SOLUTION.
• 25:16 A FINAL SOLUTION TO THE JEWISH PROBLEM IS THE KINGDOM TO COME
• 25:19 WHEN JERUSALEM WILL AT LAST BE THE HEAD OF THE NATIONS AND THE CAPITAL OF A RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT.
• 25:25 WELL, IT WAS WONDERFUL THAT THE LORD CELEBRATED THE FESTIVAL.
• 25:29 IT WAS WONDERFUL THAT THE OIL LASTED 8 DAYS.
• 25:33 IT WAS A MIRACLE RATHER LIKE HIS BIRTH, WHICH WAS ANOTHER GREAT MIRACLE.
• 25:39 THEN, WHY WAS HE BORN?
• 25:40 AFTER ALL, GOD MADE ADAM AND EVE IN HEAVEN OUT OF HEAVENLY STUFF.
• 25:44 HE COULD HAVE MADE JESUS THE SAME WAY AND SET HIM DOWN HERE 30 YEARS OLD.
• 25:48 WE WOULDN'T LACK MUCH.
• 25:50 HE WOULD MINISTER AND DO HIS SAME 3 YEARS AND HIS SAME SERMONS AND TEACHINGS.
• 25:54 BUT THEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE PASTOR SAID YOU WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS,
• 25:59 WE CAN SAY IN OUR HEARTS, OH NO, I WASN'T MADE IN HEAVEN OUT OF SOME HEAVENLY STUFF.
• 26:05 I WAS JUST BORN OF A WOMAN WITH NORMAL FLESH. JESUS DOESN'T KNOW MY PROBLEMS.
• 26:11 NO, WE CAN SAY THAT HE WAS BORN OF A WOMAN LIKE THE REST OF US.
• 26:15 HE HAD FLESH LIKE OURS. HE GOT TIRED. HE GOT HUNGRY. HE WEPT.
• 26:19 IT HURT TO BE CRUCIFIED. HE WAS AFRAID OF IT.
• 26:23 THE GOSPEL GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO SAY HE WAS TEMPTED IN ALL THINGS AND YET HE DID NOT SIN.
• 26:31 IT'S A GREAT THOUGHT. WE CAN WIN THIS BATTLE IN THIS EQUIPMENT.
• 26:35 SHA'ALU SHALOM YERUSHALAYIM, PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.