The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of scripture.
Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. Why does the Bible contain prophecy? And what does Bible prophecy mean personally to you and me and each one of us?
Hi, Alex McFarland here. Well, as I record this program in the second week of October, the eyes of the world are on Israel. You know, it's interesting, we have a brand new book out called 100 Bible Questions and Answers for Families. And there are a number of questions in this book about parenting and marriage and families, but there are questions about Bible prophecy.
And last week on Friday, I was recording audio and video for a couple of questions about Bible prophecy, and specifically Ezekiel 38. Now, in the Old Testament, Ezekiel 38 has a lot to say about Gog and Magog and the nations of the Arabian Peninsula that will, just before the return of Christ, attack Israel. And we had had questions from radio listeners about what does Ezekiel 38 mean, and the Arabic and Gentile nations that fight against Israel, and many believe that it indicates they are under the direction of Russia and perhaps China. But it says God will fight for Israel, and once returned to their land, the Jews will never again leave, and Jerusalem will never again be in the hands of non-Jews until Christ returns. Now what's interesting is, Ezekiel 38 was written several hundred years before the birth of Christ, and we know in March 70 AD that Rome ransacked Jerusalem and Israel was dispersed, and for 1900 years there was no nation of Israel.
In fact, that was one of the things that atheists, they were called infidels in the 1718 and 1900s, really the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries. Infidels would mock prophetic prophecies in the scripture, and they would say well the Bible says Israel this and Jerusalem that, but there is no nation of Israel. Well fast forward to May 14 of 1948, and there were some years leading up to this, but that was the date that the nation of Israel was reborn, 75 years ago. And so we are living in exceptionally exciting times because the Ezekiel 38 prophecy that talks about armies attacking Israel just before the return of Christ presuppose the existence of the nation of Israel, and that began 75 years ago in the lifetimes of many of the people still, you know, living that would be listening to this program. So as I woke up Saturday morning, just 18 hours after doing a day of recording about biblical prophecy and how the Bible says just before the return of Christ there will be wars and rumors of wars, imagine my surprise I woke up about 5.30 Saturday morning a week ago and there is Israel under attack being attacked by Hamas.
And I want to talk about what all this means, basically what Hamas is, how it got to be so volatile. But in really queuing this up, let me point out that it's been calculated that roughly 26%, maybe a little over 26% of the entire Bible is devoted to prophecy. Predictions about the future. Over 1800 verses in Old and New Testaments contain predictions about future events. And some have come to pass already, like Jeremiah 24 verse 6 stating that the Jews would quote, be planted in the land of their fathers, end of quote, in the last days. And again, there are more Jewish people in the nation of Israel right now than at any other time since the first two centuries.
Of the roughly 9 million people living in Israel right now, not all are Jews, but the vast majority are. And other Bible prophecies are apparently, and I believe, materializing before our very eyes, such as latter day Israel rebuilding the ancient cities, that's in Isaiah 61 verse 4, Israel turning the desert into a blossoming garden, that's Isaiah 51 verse 3, travel and technology increasing dramatically just before the end of history, Daniel 12 verse 4. And my goodness, we've seen just an explosion of technological capabilities the world over. And what's been so ironic and really unsettling is that our explosive increase in technological capabilities has been paralleled by an equally dramatic absence, decrease, and really suppression of moral knowledge.
It's like Augustine said 1600 years ago that education without salvation merely makes men into more clever devils. And we're living in a time where so much is going on that lead many people, incredibly reflective, meticulous thinkers, insightful people, people not prone to flights of fancy, but some of the greatest scholars of the last 50 to 100 years believing that we're very near the return of Christ. Because the Bible prophesies that Jesus Christ will literally return to earth one day. Now in light of Scripture's seamless track record of prophetic accuracy, the Bible has a 100% track record of prophecies being fulfilled and coming to pass exactly as the Bible says. And the Bible's promise that Christ will literally return, Jesus Christ will come back. In Acts chapter 1 the Bible says this same Jesus will return in like manner as he left. As he ascended into heaven up to the skies, one day the eastern sky will open and Jesus Christ will return. And this fact is astounding.
It really is. The Bible clues us in on some of the indicators that Christ's return is near. Predicted are wars, godlessness, violence, immorality, unspeakable sexual sin, and persecution of those who affirm morals and righteousness. Proverbs 29 says that bloodthirsty people hate those who are godly and righteous, but the righteous pray for their soul.
And indeed we do. But some of the verses, and that's why I would encourage you to perhaps listen to this again and share this broadcast with somebody. Verses like Matthew 24, 5-8 speak of these things. 1 Timothy 4, 1. 2 Timothy 3, 1-19 which famously says in the last days perilous dangerous times will come. 2 Thessalonians 2, 3-10 just to name a few of the verses that talk about the sin, the violence that will come about just before Christ's return and before the end of time.
Now the prophetic accuracy of the Bible points to its divine origin and the complete trustworthiness of the Bible's content is referenced in Acts 3, 21 where the Apostle Peter states, quote, God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Indeed. Well stay tuned, we've got a brief break. We'll come back, we'll talk about the Israeli war in light of Bible prophecy and what Bible prophecy might mean to you and me today.
Stay tuned. Alex McFarland here, Truth for a New Generation is back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert.
Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. In recent years our nation has suffered greatly and we seem to be on a rapid moral decline. We've rejected God, morality, and we've almost completely lost our sense of patriotism. It's no wonder that many are asking the question, is this the end of America? Hi, Alex McFarland here and I want to make you aware of my book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. You know, our nation has seen politicians that are corrupted by greed and they've got a vested interest in power and many of our elected officials seem to care little about the country that they've been appointed to serve. Read my book, The Assault on America, We Can Stand Up for Our Great Nation and Defend America Before It's Too Late.
It's available everywhere. You can learn more on my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Read the book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. It's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show.
Welcome back to the program. We're talking about prophecy in our times, prophecy in you and me, and I'm going to give five facts about Bible prophecy that are relevant to you and me today. But as I record this, Hamas, as everyone knows, the entire world is following this. Hamas has viciously attacked the nation of Israel. Some 1,000 Israelis have died.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally declared war, the first time since 1973. Let's give a little bit of backstory on what's going on. You know, Hamas leaders lead or hold authority over roughly a 21 to 25 mile strip, a densely populated piece of land called Gaza. And more than 2 million people live in Gaza. And Hamas began in 1987.
They were an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and they have fought against the Israeli occupation of parts of Gaza and the West Bank. Now, let me just say, Mohammed was born in 571. Islam started in 622. But you've got to understand, in Islamic theology, they can conquer new lands, but they do not believe in ever giving up any land. So for 1300 years, from the 600s to the early 20th century, all of that land, Jerusalem, what we call Israel today, was occupied by Muslims. Even though Islam did not exist until 622 AD.
But Muslims, at the time of the birth of Mohammed, had been in what we call the Holy Land for 3,000 years. So by divine right, by historical precedent, by the Word of God, that land is the land of Israel. The Palestinians, which is the more modern word for Philistine, one of the perennial enemies of Israel throughout the Old Testament, the Muslim Palestinians are the squatters.
They are the trespassers. But they don't believe that. The Islamic terrorists believe that what they're doing is the work of Allah to kill the interlopers. Look, I've been to Israel. This is what they call, the Palestinians, call Jews, quote, lying rats. So what's ironic is, the anti-Semitism, we're living in an age where racism is condemned nearly universally, and it should be condemned, but it's like the one form of racism that's allowed to exist, very much unchecked by those in the West, certainly by Western liberal academics, woke globalists, and liberal Democrats.
The one form of racism that is allowed to get a pass is anti-Semitism. Now in October of 1997, the USA designated that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Now Hamas is supported by Iran. Just weeks ago, six billion American dollars were given by President Biden to the Muslims and to Iran. And a lot of people have noted that if a different occupant were in the Oval Office, a stronger president, not, and I'm not just speaking of Joe Biden's weakness as an elderly man who appears to be cognitively compromised, but nearly anyone that had a stronger foreign policy and a more clear, decisive alliance with Israel, that this clearly wouldn't have happened.
And the fact that we just gave them six billion dollars certainly didn't help. But let me talk about the real founder of Hamas and the terrorism. Hamas actually being an acronym, but it basically means the Islamic Resistance Movement. Now I dare not try to pronounce the Arabic words that make up the H-A-M-A-S acronym, but it basically is an Islamic movement designed to kill Israel and take Israel's land from them. Now Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was a Palestinian Imam, a Muslim clergy, who became an activist in the 70s and 80s.
He was born in 1937. He was assassinated in 2004, but Ahmed Yassin was really the leader of the terrorist actions of Hamas. Interestingly, he was born in Ashkelon, where David fought Goliath. Isn't this ironic? 1 Samuel 17, the armies of Israel were fighting the Philistines, and the man that is the modern-day instigator of all of this terrorism and unjustified shedding of Jewish blood, Ahmed Yassin, was born in Ashkelon, where David, so many centuries ago, killed the Philistine giant Goliath.
Now tell me this is not just really supernatural deja vu almost. I mean that this is happening. But in the 1970s, there was the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Yassin was arrested in 1984 for illegal possession of arms, organizing military organizations, and calling for the annihilation of Israel. That's why folks, whenever you hear American liberals saying that Islam is a religion of peace, that is false. Now our school kids are told that the word Islam means peace. It does not mean peace, it means submission. I suppose it could be somehow construed to mean peace, as if someone breaks in your home and holds a gun to your head and the assailant says, don't move and I won't kill you.
I suppose an uneasy truce might result as you stand still for a would-be assassin in fear of your life, but the word Islam means submission. And that is the goal of the terrorists, Hamas, the subjugating of all non-Muslims. Well Yassin called for jihad, operations against Israel. And throughout the mid to late 80s, he worked to foment hatred against Israel. In 1989, Yassin ordered Hamas, which he had helped form, to kidnap Israeli soldiers and to murder them, torture them, bury their bodies, and negotiate for the release of terrorists. And by the way, as this war is unfolding in Israel right now, I don't know if you saw it in the news, but in Canada, journalists in Canada were told on Tuesday October 10 that they could not refer to Hamas as terrorists.
And part of the problem that the world is less safe today, the world is less safe because in the Obama administration, we gave nuclear secrets to Iran. Here in the Biden administration, we've given billions of American dollars to the enemies of Israel and frankly to the enemies of the US and the West. But also the world is a less safe place and murdering terrorists have been emboldened and empowered thanks to leftist journalism and the Department of Education here in America and people that don't have the moral courage and the intellectual temerity and presence of mind to say that terrorists commit terrorism and Hamas are terrorists. Well Hamas, under the tutelage of Ahmed Yassin, they were the primary instigators of suicide bombings, terrorist attacks beginning in the year 2000. And Muslims refer to him as Sheik Yassin because he was perceived as a leader of Hamas. Now he was almost killed in 2003 when Israeli bombs were dropped on a Gaza building where terrorists were gathered for a staff meeting.
But Yassin escaped, but March 22, 2004, he was killed as he was getting out of a car while he was leaving a mosque in Gaza. Now when we come back, we're going to talk more about Bible prophecy, what's going on in Israel, and I've said this many times before to countless audiences, the best favor a president could do to the American people is to stand with Israel. They're our longest friend in the Middle East, the only stable democracy, they believe in human rights, it is their land. And it's been said that if Hamas would stop fighting, the war would end. If Israel stopped fighting, Israel would come to an end.
God in his word gives individuals and nations the right to self-defense. When we come back, we'll talk more about Bible prophecy and current events in light of the eternal truth of God's word. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Over the last several decades, it's been my joy to travel the world talking with children, teens, adults, people of all ages about the questions they have related to God, the Bible, Christianity, and how to know Jesus personally.
Hi, Alex McFarland. I want to make you aware of my book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. You know, we interviewed hundreds of children and parents and families to find out the questions that children and people of all ages are longing to find answers for. In the book, we've got practical, biblical, real-life answers that they have about how to be a Christian in this modern world.
My book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, you can find it wherever you buy books or at resources.afa.net. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program. And before we resume our talk about Bible prophecy, I want to say a big, big thank you to all of the people that pray for us.
They've helped us financially. We've had an incredible year. As this year draws to a close, I'm still on the road speaking. And if you go to my website, which is alexmcfarland.com, you'll see my travel schedule. But we're working on a big youth event in Cincinnati, Ohio. That will be January 5 and 6, basically a winter blast biblical worldview weekend for youth.
You can go to my website and learn about signing up. It's going to be an amazing weekend where we get students grounded as they go back to school after Christmas holidays for God and country. And as you probably know, in our viral truth clubs, not only do we talk to kids about the gospel and biblical worldview, apologetics, defending the Christian faith, we talk about America. We talk about the mountains of influence, the home, the church, the classroom, the media, the marketplace, the judiciary, the arts, the sciences. And we tell kids about going into these realms. Maybe a young person is called a ministry.
Fair enough. But the vast majority of people that even make decisions for Christ, they're not going to wind up in a pulpit somewhere, but they'll go into the marketplace, the classroom, the boardroom, the laboratory, medicine, law, politics. And what we say is, number one, give your heart to Christ. Number two, build a Christian family.
And number three, vocationally, whatever you do with your life for your work and vocation, go with your biblical worldview. And what we're challenging young people to do, and let me say they respond enthusiastically. We're inspiring people of all ages, but especially young people, to have something to live for. And our winter event is going to be that. Then we've got a Truth for a New Generation, one of our national apologetics conferences that will be in Texas later in the year.
A lot of time to talk and bring you up to speed on these things. But let me just say two things and then we want to conclude our look at Bible prophecy for today. I will be at the Cove, again, the Billy Graham Training Center in western North Carolina, July 12th through 14th. I'll be teaching the book of 1st John, The Believer's True Identity. What does it mean to be saved?
And as a Christian, is there more to your Christian life than you could have ever dreamed? Be at the Cove. This is a great gift.
Many people give a trip to the Cove as a Christmas gift. And so if you go to their website, thecove.org, I would love to see you next summer, July 12th through 14th, at the unforgettable, life-changing Billy Graham Training Center in western North Carolina. Angie and I will be there. We'd love to see you there as we go through the book of 1st John together. Well, one final thing, folks. I've been on the road this fall giving out thousands of our Gospel booklet, What Does God Say About My Relationship With Him?
We need to reprint because we've given out over 5,000, I believe, just this year. And so we need to print some more because people are coming to Christ and especially with the conflict in Israel. People, even young people, middle schoolers, high schoolers, they want to be ready. You know, heaven forbid that a nuclear device is detonated. Heaven forbid that this war in Israel escalates to World War III, which it very well could do because one of the most hotly contested pieces of real estate on planet earth, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which you and I call the Temple Mount, it's being arm wrestled over right now. And folks, between Russia and China, the Middle Eastern nations, Hamas is basically daring any Muslims to engage in a peace process. That's why so many years ago Anwar Sadat of Egypt was assassinated because he dared try to bring peace to the Middle East. You've got to understand these terrorists do not want any nations to recognize Israel's existence. People talk about Israel's right to exist. It's like Ilhan Omar called this week, Israel, the genocidal aggressors.
That is utterly false. So be ready and help us help people get ready to meet the Lord because we're living in a time of historic fulfillment of Bible prophecies. I mentioned the Ezekiel 38 prophecies, but let me talk about five basic reasons prophecy is so important because I believe we're living very near the time of Jesus' return. Now think about these reasons prophecy matters. Number one, the Bible contains accurate prophecy because only God writes history in advance and God wrote the Bible. So the only book that has accurate demonstrable fulfilled prophecy is the Bible, which is the Word of God. Now secondly, Bible prophecies show God's sovereign reign over world history. Isn't that something? The globalists, they're not plotting the future of the world.
Those that would have us go to cryptocurrency and recognize the LGBTQ trans agenda, those Marxists that would like to see us reinvent what human life is like and get rid of internal combustion engines and ban light bulbs and gas appliances and make traditional values obsolete, no. God is in control. History quite literally is His story and fulfilled prophecy shows that God is in control. The third thing that I would like to say is that fulfilled prophecies demonstrate God's omniscience and foresight.
Now omniscience means all knowledge. God knows everything. Whatever miscreant or terrorist is plotting evil right now, God knows about it. And the problem of pain and suffering and violence, it doesn't mean that God is asleep. The Bible says he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
God is not asleep. God is sovereign and God is in control and God knows and the Kingdom of Christ will be ushered in. Now fulfilled prophecies prove that the biblical God is the true God and that He reigns in time and eternity.
As we often say on the program, God rules and overrules. And finally let me say this, fulfilled prophecy, like the very existence of Israel and the way they are being attacked and persecuted, fulfilled prophecies should compel every thinking person to bow before the Savior who alone can offer salvation and amnesty. Acts 1 verse 7 reminds us that God holds, quote, the times and seasons of history in His own hands, end of quote. You see, scholars talk about eschatology, meaning last things. There is general eschatology. What will become of the world? What does the future hold?
But folks, there is also personal eschatology. Not only what does the future hold for this world, folks, what does eternity hold for you? There's no gospel song that says, what will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be. One day your soul will be asking, what will He do with me? You see, the season of time that we're in is irrevocably pointing us to history's greatest moment, Christ's return. And so if you've never personally accepted Christ, do that today. Call on Jesus today. Being ready can begin with a simple prayer which He has promised to hear. That's John 6 37 and Romans 10 13. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That's Psalm 122 verse 6. Do pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The Bible says, they will prosper that love thee. Genesis 12 says, if we stand with Abraham, God will bless us. And so, please, turn to Christ, help others find Him, and I want to say thank you to those who pray for and support our ministries. If you would care to donate online, you may do that securely at alexmcfarland.com or you could mail a check to TNG, as in Truth for a New Generation, P.O.
Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408. May God bless you. May God bring peace to the nation of Israel. May God bring salvation to the Muslim world.
And may God bless, keep, revive, and restore the United States of America. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us at alexmcfarland, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404 or by calling 1-877-YES-GOD and the number 1.
That's 1-877-YES-GOD-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.
Do you have a desire to deepen your faith, better understand Christian apologetics, or to get a biblical perspective on current events? Well, I've tried to make it simple for you to do just that. On my website, alexmcfarland.com, there's a new section called Ask Alex Online. It's simple, it's clean, and you can read my answers to common questions about God, faith, and the Bible. So visit the website alexmcfarland.com and look for the section that says Ask Alex Online.
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