Hi, everybody. This is Jimmy DeYoung Jr. with Prophecy Today. Along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. And Rick, this is a very important weekend when you've got Passover.
You've got Easter, the ending of the Passion Week, and they all come together at the same time. That's right, Jimmy.
So many things taking place around the world today. And we've got our normal lineup of broadcasters, plus a few extra. We've got Ken Timmerman talking about geopolitical affairs. Dave Dolan with the Middle East News Update. Steve Herczyk will be here with us, Friends of Israel.
And then at the end of the program, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung will come in and he will give us his understanding of how we get Jesus Christ in the grave three days and three nights. That's all coming up on the program.
Well, we've got a lot to cover, so let's get started.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Ken Timmerman with us to give us an update on geopolitical affairs, especially to see what's taking place in Iran right now. Ken's an author and an analyst. Ken's latest book, The Iran House, tells of revolution, persecution, war, and intrigue is particularly relevant right now. Ken, thanks for being with us today.
Pleasure to be with you, Rick. Thanks for having me on. Ken, as we get started here, can we get an update on the situation in Iran?
Well, the President addressed the nation on Wednesday. He said the war is going well. We're nearly at the end of reaching all of our war aims. He berated the Europeans, and in particular, UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer, who has said repeatedly, this is not our war. We will not be drawn into the conflict.
That's a direct quote from Starmer. He says it just about every day, so you can pick your quotes there, Rick.
So much for the special relationship. You know, the US and the UK used to have this extraordinary cooperation in defense, in foreign policy, even in intelligence. We would tell the Brits things, we would share intelligence with them, and vice versa, that we wouldn't even share with Israel, for example. But no, I think today that is ending. Every day that Keir Stormer says no to President Trump, says no to sending minesweepers to the Persian Gulf, to the Strait of Hormuz.
The President is also getting fed up with NATO. And he mentioned that in his speech as well. The NATO countries have been with us in previous conflicts. They have been with us to keep the Strait of Hormuz open in previous conflicts. As recently as December of 2023, the UK Navy and several NATO countries joined us in the Red Sea to attack the Houdis because they were threatening internationalist shipping.
So all of those things are forward-looking. We are going to have to deal with our relationship with Europe in the future. We're going to have to deal with our relationship with NATO in the future. But as for the war, the war is going well. The President says another two weeks, perhaps.
Remember, we're starting week six today. And the president said it would be a four to six week war.
Well, it may be a four to seven week war, perhaps six to eight week war. But we are close to the end. We're now hitting targets such. As bridges that allow the Iranians to transfer missiles from east to west in their country and vice versa. We're going to start hitting their electrical power plants with graphite bombs.
Now, these are very special weapons that the U.S. has developed. We use them apparently in the Venezuela strike. They do not destroy power plants. They short them out temporarily until they can be fixed.
And my guess is that we will keep on striking them if the Iranians try to send crews there to fix them.
So we have a lot of weapons still in our arsenal. We have a lot of targets still to attack. The Iranians continue to launch missiles, but way fewer than they were at the beginning of the war. Can this conflict has highlighted the importance of the Straitor Fremus does that situation need to be solved before this war can end for the United States?
Well, interestingly, the President on Wednesday said no. He said the strait will open by itself once the war is over. And in a way, he's right. It will open by itself because the Iranians need it to open so they can send oil and make money. They have no other outlet to sell their oil.
The other Gulf countries do. And they're talking about a new outlet in Sharjah and Fujara on the Gulf of Oman, so you could take by truck or by pipeline out that way to international markets. The strait wreck will open by itself. The only reason it's closed is because the Iranians are threatening ships. There were two more strikes this week on tankers in the Gulf.
They didn't do serious damage, but they did actually hit them. There were a couple more where projectiles, presumably drones, fell into the water near two other tankers.
So the Iranians are keeping this up. They want to impose a toll booth on the Gulf. Is something that has never been done by any nation since the Barbary pirates, really, in the early 1800s on a strait. You can have a toll going through a canal because you built the canal, you're maintaining the canal.
So, Suez Canal, high tolls. Panama Canal, high tolls. But a straight, the Strait of Malacca, the Bab al-Mandeb in Yemen, the Strait of Hormuz, not so much. The U.S. will insist that there is no toll booth there.
And by the way, the other thing the President said to the NATO allies, he said, You want the oil? You need oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz? Why don't you go get it? Don't rely on the US Navy. Don't ask us to do it.
You go get it yourselves. See how that works for you. I did hear him say that. And he also mentioned that we don't need that oil, right? We have our own oil here in the United States.
We are a net oil and gas exporter, Rick. We don't. And the other thing he said to the Europeans: hey, you can buy more from us. Buy more oil and gas from the United States if you're worried about the straight-off horror move.
Now, look, I think he's got the Euros literally over a barrel here, and they just don't know what to do. Too much champagne, too much caviar, and they are frittering away their future.
Well, we look at the situation there in the Middle East, especially the Straight Up for Muse. It's driving up oil prices, which is costing us at the pump here in the United States. And potentially, the President's approval polls are slipping. I'm not sure that he worries about that all that much. But if we dig a little bit deeper and we look at the actual reason we went into Iran to stop their nuclear program, that was of paramount importance, wasn't it?
It was. And the Iranians were two weeks away from making a bomb. As I said here last week, that meeting on February 28th, where the Supreme Leader was killed, was the last meeting of his Security Council to approve the weaponization of their 460 kilograms of highly enriched uranium.
So, in two weeks, they would have been able to enrich it to weapons grade, and then. Quickly thereafter, actually make the metal spheres for the nuclear weapons. They already had the designs, we knew it. The IAEA has told us that. They had tested all the non-nuclear components.
So they were two weeks away from the bomb. This was an imminent threat, as the president has said. And we're also seeing from their extraordinary missile arsenals. And the president said, we've seen weapons fired by the Iranians we did not know they had, such as those 4,000-kilometer-range missiles fired at Diego Garcia.
So the Iranians have weapons we didn't know they had. They had far more missiles than we thought they had. They also have these underground missile cities with dozens and dozens of pre-scoped-out firing points.
So they just have to pop up for a couple of seconds, fire off their missile, and then they can scoot back underground. It makes them very difficult to take out the launchers. And these are capabilities we probably did not know that all of it. existed, especially not in the quantities that we've seen.
So Iran was a very serious threat, a military threat. They've been a terror threat for forty seven years. But they were in a position, Rick, where they could hold the whole region hostage along with its oil supplies. And that was a threat the U. S.
simply could not allow to exist. They certainly couldn't, Ken.
Well, let's continue on. You mentioned NATO, and I think that this may fundamentally change our relationship, at least President Trump's relationship with NATO. Can you talk about what the relationship between the United States and NATO may look like in the future?
Well, Trump is threatening to pull the US out of NATO. And he makes the argument, which I think by now has become self evident, what purpose does NATO serve? When we need it, it's not there for us. When they need us, we're always there.
So the US taxpayer is footing the bill for the defense of Europe And the Europeans are not helping us to maintain oil supplies for the entire world. We are protecting international shipping. We have been doing this, by the way, since 1947. This is a long-standing role of the United States, of the U.S. Navy.
We will defend international shipping lanes, and in exchange, we will allow the Euros to get fat, rich, and happy.
Well, the President is saying enough of that. Enough of that. It's time that you pony up. That was his first approach to reforming NATO. And if you don't pony up, then we're out of here.
And I think we're getting closer and closer to a rupture, Rick. I really do. I think the President is getting close to unilaterally pulling out of NATO. And this will have legal repercussions here in the United States. The Congress is telling him he can't do it without a two-thirds vote of Congress.
And Chuck Schumer has said that Democrats will not vote to withdraw from NATO. But the president could withdraw without Congress. He's got a legal opinion from 2020 that says he can do it, since the president has exclusive authority over treaties. If he does so, this will wind up in court. And by the time the courts determine what is going to happen to NATO, We'll be gone.
Very interesting, all that in the light of the war between Russia and Ukraine as well. How does that relate to this situation?
Well, obviously, Putin is happy to see the problems within NATO because he believes he's fighting a proxy war against NATO and against the United States, but more against the European allies in NATO.
So as they are weakened, Putin thinks he's stronger. But it hasn't helped him that much on the battlefield, Rick. The reports that we've been getting the past couple of weeks show that this long-planned spring offensive of the Russians, which was launched a couple of weeks ago, stalled. They are losing just huge, huge numbers of soldiers. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago.
And I think Putin is going to end up with another Afghanistan here, Rick, where the Russian mothers come out on the streets of Moscow banging their tin pots and say, bring our children home. Ken Timmerman reporting for Prophecy Today. Ken, as always, you provide excellent insight. And as I mentioned earlier, for our listeners who would like to find out more about you, you can go to your website at kentimmerman.com. There they can see the books you've written, articles you've written, and also some news hits that you've done on major network programs.
Ken, as always, thanks so much. Look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks so much, Rick. God bless. Great job, as always, Ken.
And on this Resurrection Sunday, we want to wish you a happy resurrection and you and your family. And it only reminds me everything that you're talking about. only reminds me that we are getting closer and closer. to Bible prophecy. To the stage of Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
But first the rapture of the church must take place. We've got to take a break when we come back. David Dolan, right here on Prophecy Today Weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. At least 30 people in Nigeria's plateau state were killed by Muslim militants on Palm Sunday.
Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA says it was a coordinated attack, and the community in Jos is almost 100% Christian. People came in on bikes and motorcycles, opened fire. The initial reports were at least 30 people killed. I think that number is going to rise as some were badly injured, but it is an attack, and the gunmen were yelling, Allahu Akbar, or Allah is great, as they were conducting this attack.
So there clearly was an Islamist ideology that was driving this, and the fact that it was on Palm Sunday, I don't think that is insignificant in this story as well. Pray Christ's comfort for those who are grieving. And in the Middle East, North Africa region, also called the MENA, following Jesus often means walking a dangerous road. Governments monitor Christian activity. Believers risk rejection, arrest, and worse.
And yet the gospel isn't bound. Dane of Unfolding Word says partners are bridging the gap for minority language communities. In partnership with the Bible Society of Jordan. Unfolding Word is trying to equip church networks with free and open scripture texts, translation tools, translation training materials to meet the scripture and discipleship needs of all the minority communities in the Middle East and in North Africa. MENA church networks are gaining the tools needed to translate God's Word into unreached languages.
Pray for receptive hearts across the MENA to encounter the truth of Jesus. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries. We're listener-supported by people just like you.
So by giving to Mission Network News, you enable us to keep the stories of God's kingdom coming. And together, the Great Commission happens. Look for links at missionnews.org. That's missionnews.org arm with Kramer. Welcome back to Prophecy Today Radio, the program that looks at current events in the light of Bible prophecy.
Well, this is the portion of our program. We call it our Middle East News Update. We look at news coming out of the Middle East in general, but Israel in particular. To do that, we have with us journalist Dave Dolan. Dave, thanks for being with us today.
As always, Rick, it's a blessing.
Well, David, of course, the war with Iran continues, the war in the north, and also Passover.
So many things taking place in Israel. Can you give us an update right now of the news coming out of Israel this week?
Well, yes, Rick. In Israel itself, it was the heavy barrage, one of the heaviest of the war, from Iran just as Passover was beginning at sundown on Wednesday. The Tel Aviv area was struck the the most And a number of rockets did get through. There were a number of cluster bombs. But Jerusalem was hit.
The south was hit again. The Beersheva area and the North received a lot of Hezbollah fire along with Iranian fire, especially that evening. The defense minister said that Hezbollah would suffer greatly for that. And they do like to attack on Jewish holidays. And Friday evening, yesterday evening, there was another major barrage of rocket fire, especially from Hezbollah in the north.
Damaged buildings in the coastal city of Nahariya and other places. But on Thursday evening, Rick, one of the Iranian rockets made a direct hit, and this wasn't a cluster, it was the full 500-pound rocket. In the city of Pedaktikva, outside of Tel Aviv.
Now that was the first place I lived when I moved to Israel in nineteen eighty. It was a small town then.
Now it's a thriving A metro area, and they hit the Israel an Israel Aerospace Company that makes intelligence gathering drones. It took a direct hit. There was a lot of damage.
So that will put that out of line for several weeks. Again, all of this just illustrating that Iran, even after a month of warfare, does still have the capability, obviously, to send rockets not only to Israel there. They again bombed the Gulf countries and that sort of thing. But of course, in Iran itself, we had the downing of an F 15 E U S jet. later in the week.
One of the pilots rescued right away. Then a search was was uh launched for the second one. They of course have two two men on them, the F fifteen Es. They're not a stealth aircraft, and so of course it would have been easier to hit. The Iranians gloating big time and their media over it, really playing it up, saying what a great victory.
Later in the day on Friday, they claimed to have shot down a second U. S. jet, an F thirty five jet in the center of the country. No confirmation of that. Israel, meanwhile, continued its airstrikes in Iran.
They particularly hit several more steel production facilities And the IDF said Friday seventy percent of Iran's steel production is now offline. But they did suspend Israeli flights in the area that's Khuzestan province. It's close to Carg Island, right along the coast. They suspended all Israeli activities so that the U.S. rescue teams could.
search for the other pilot and do that sort of thing.
So the war continues there. And then of course in the north, Rick, you mentioned heavy fighting. I mentioned the Hezbollah barrages have been strong. Uh all week. Israel, though, on the ground, continued taking area up to the Latani River, announcing earlier in the week that a security zone, it's being called, was set up.
In the south is being set up. It's five to eight miles deep in most areas. going up to the Latani River and in other places beyond that. The IDF said that it has killed more than forty Hezbollah fighters In the month-long conflict so far. And of course, we remember that Hezbollah joined in.
Israel was urging it not to, of course. They joined in. And so now we have the war going. The Prime Minister says the goal is to eliminate Hezbollah as a force in Lebanon. But the IDF on Friday said no, we don't have that capacity without a full ground invasion of all of Lebanon.
We'd have to go back into Beirut and do all of that. And there's just no appetite for that, nor is the there the manpower because, of course, we still have simmering conflict down in Gaza. That isn't completely over by any means. The IDF also announced Friday that reserve soldiers called up at the beginning of the campaign a month ago would be serving at least another nine weeks and probably longer than that. But Rick, finally I'll just say there was on Friday again the release of tape recordings of interrogation of two Hezbollah fighters, Rodwan Force Fighters, that's the elite unit in the south that.
is set up to invade northern Israel and do what Hamas did essentially in the Ga near the Gaza Strip. And they said that the morale is very, very low. The men don't want to be fighting once again against Israel. They were asked. They asked why are we doing this, and we're told it's to avenge Khomeini's death in Iran.
well, they said we'd rather be with our families. We know that they just are d using us as cannon fire, and they don't care if we die at all. And of course, Rick, that's one of the problems with this version of Shiite Islam that we find in Iran and in its proxies is they are committed to death. And although obviously, not all the men are as committed as the leadership, but the leadership doesn't care. They just want to wage war on jihad until they destroy the infidels.
And of course, they do believe that's what's going to happen.
Well, they certainly do. And we look at the situation, you talk about Iran, and that geographically is not very close to Israel, although they do provide, especially with the nuclear aspect, an existential threat for Israel. But we look at what is taking place in the north, that is right on Israel's northern border. It's an area that you have so much experience with. You live there.
You've reported there for so long. As we look to the future, that is a threat that Israel has to figure out because they have to live on that border and they can't do so under this constant bombardment. What do you see in the future? Ulrich, I was actually in the area when the original security zone was declared. Following the June 1982 IDF operation into Lebanon.
Of course, a much greater operation. That one did go all the way up to Beirut and into the Shouf and the mountains in the north and that sort of thing. a different enemy. It was Yasser Arafat in the PLO. in those days.
Hezbollah was just being established. But I have to say this, the PLO, they were mainly secular Muslims. They were Muslims, Arafat and the others, and they prayed and they made a show of all that. But they didn't have the same deep Um advocacy for Gihad. that the Shiites have.
They just didn't have the passion and the willingness to die as high as we see in Iran and in Hezbollah and these other proxy forces.
So that's what Israel is fighting against. But yes, it's a buffer zone. I was there, like I said, for the original and traveled through, went up to Sidon and other places. Basically, the IDF had checkpoints everywhere, which they again have. They had pushed quite a few of the South Lebanese residents, especially in Shiite villages, further to the north.
That's happened again. We had this week the announcement from several Christian villages. And there's about 15,000 RIC Lebanese Christians that live right along the border in four or five villages there, Marjaoum being sort of the largest one where I worked at a Christian radio station. And they announced that they will not leave They're going to stay in their homes. They're not enemies of Israel, and they're not harboring Hezbollah.
And the IDF seems to be willing to allow that, but they're destroying a whole row of. homes that are right along the border. Homes and buildings, Rick. Right along the border with Israel, where you can literally put a rifle in somebody's hand in Lebanon and shoot and kill someone. It's that close, and the fields, the Israeli kibbutz fields, are right up against the border, as the kibbutz I was on had as well, avocado trees there.
And we go out and work. Uh always knowing that we might have to run We had sort of in the ground shelters periodically holes basically that have been dug that we could dive into when that sort of thing happens.
So I know what it's like. But yes, that is Israel's ongoing problem. That's certainly not going to end When the Iran war ends, probably, unless the Hezbollah leadership just decides that, hey, our men are. Have such slow morale, and we've done enough damage to Israel, and we don't want to get any more pummeling. But keeping the Southrick, and four IDS soldiers were killed earlier in the week.
In the fighting there, keeping that clear of Hezbollah. They don't trust the Lebanese army to do it because the Lebanese Army did not do it and they were supposed to after the ceasefire a little over a year ago. They're afraid of Hezbollah as well, of course. The army is mostly Sunni Muslims and Christians. There's Shiites in it, but they're not the radical Shiites.
So it's a real problem for Israel, Rick, and something that I'm very sad about because again, I lived up there and I know what all the residents of Keriat Shmona, a town of twenty five, thirty thousand today and all the Kibbutz settlements up there and the coastal cities and everything. And of course, Hezbollah demonstrated again during the week several times that they do have longer range missiles, not just rockets, Katusha rockets or localized rockets and drones, but they have missiles that can hit the center of the country, meaning Tel Aviv.
So they're a real threat for sure. They certainly are, David, and a reason to keep Israel and that area in our prayers for the future.
Well, David, I want to talk a little bit more about Passover because that is going on this week as well, and Easter coming up. If you could, could you stick around with us for the next segment? I'd be glad to do it. Our man on the Middle East, David Dolan. We'll be back more with David in just a moment, right here on Prophecy Today weekend.
Okay. Jesus, our Saviour. This is Ken Ham inviting you to visit our full-size Noah's Ark in northern Kentucky. For two weeks we've seen the Bible makes it clear that Jesus is and was God. He's the second member of the Trinity, God the Son, and he's existed from eternity past.
But why does it matter who we think Jesus is? It matters because a false Jesus won't save you. Jesus said, unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. And to be saved we must confess Jesus as Lord. There's no question more important than the one Jesus asked his disciples, who do you say I am?
Starting with the Bible, Jesus was and is God, our perfect Savior who died in our place that we might have forgiveness and eternal life. The place to go for more solid content on the Bible, science, culture, and more is AnswersRadio.com. And learn about our full-size Noah's Ark at AnswersRadio.com. Uh Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr.
Along with Rick, we're examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. This is the weekend that we focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It really should be every day of the year. We're going to go back to David Dolan in just a moment, but coming up, Steve Herzig, looking at how Christ fulfilled the four spring feast and will fulfill the three fall feast. And missionary John Page will be here.
He's focusing on the country of Africa.
Well, Rick, as you know, I've been in upstate Maine. The third time I've been in the area of Farmington, Maine. Great things are happening in this city. And on Thursday night, we did the biblical meal at Western Mountains Baptist Church. Pastor Tom Dubois and his people, Jim Cochrane, put it all together.
The ladies of the church, 160 people were in the room for this meal where we talked about the Lord's Supper, where the Lord instituted that the Passover is no longer needed. This is my body. This is my blood that will be broken and shed for you. And he institutes the Lord's Supper.
So we had a great time here in Maine, and the Lord is doing great things here. And I had such a again, I can't explain the excitement that I had at the meal. But, Rick, let's go back to our good friend David Dolan.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Dave Dolan back with us as we look ahead to Easter Sunday.
Now, this is a special holiday as we remember the most important event in all of history: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this is a special time for us. But, Dave, I know you spent many years in Israel, in the location, Jerusalem there. Much of your time there in Israel was in Jerusalem, right where that happened. Can you talk a little bit about experiencing Easter in Israel and then how it's coincided with Passover this year?
Just give us a little bit of the flavor of what that's like and what it means.
Well, Rick, I always Found it especially exciting when the two holidays overlapped. That happens maybe once or twice a decade. Where Passover and Easter are on the same dates or near each other, really close to each other. And sometimes they're very far apart, weeks apart from each other. This year, it was mainly local Christians, Palestinians, and others.
And of course, tomorrow is Easter, and all during the week, As Christians, we're marking the holiest events of what many call Holy Week, the Last Supper on Thursday, and of course the crucifixion on Friday, and then of course the resurrection tomorrow. all of that during the festival of Passover. I always found that the most exciting. But obviously, when they are separate, it's also good. But that reminds us just exactly what Easter is.
because to many Christians around the world, and I've traveled all over the place, it's a Christian holiday. It's something that they don't really see the association with Israel necessarily or with Jesus being Jewish. uh or the fact that the Last Supper was a Passover seder.
So when they coincide, it really reminds everyone that this is the origin. Of Christianity and of Christ, that he is Messiah, Mashiach in Hebrew. That he's fully Jewish, that his mother was Jewish, that his disciples were all Jewish, and this was a religious Jew. He really was. He wasn't ultra-Orthodox in that sense.
He obviously turned over the money changer tables and did other things that upset the religious establishment of his time, but that he was Jewish and is Jewish. And of course, I enjoyed it when we would have a Seder meal at a friend's house just below. the walls of the old city. And that would be maybe a day or two or three, some years before Easter, or maybe as this year, right on it. and then go to the Garden Tomb.
And celebrate the resurrection of the Lord on Sunday morning, one of my favorite places to be. And as a journalist, it was usually where I wanted to be anyway to send back stories and interview people. And I think I've shared this before on previous programs, but my greatest thrill, Rick, was being able to interview for CBS. And I point out to people, that's not the Christian broadcasting service. It's the Columbia Broadcasting System.
It's a secular network, obviously. But one of the only two times in the year that I could send New York, the headquarters of New York, Testimonies of Christians, either at the Christmas at Bethlehem, why they were there and the birth of the Lord, etc., or even more, why they were at the Garden Tomb and what it meant to them and what the resurrection meant. And it was so thrilling to To hear from friends in the States, hey, I heard you interviewing so-and-so from Sheboygan, and they were talking about Jesus on the network, on the news, you know. And so I was blessed in that way to be there for so many Easters and for so many Passovers, and I do miss that. I celebrate wherever I'm at and occasionally go on the the tube, on the T V or YouTube or whatever, and and look at a service.
And they do broadcast the Garden Tune service on several of the Christian networks. Broadcast that live. And where I'm at, it's the day before, but you don't have to get up early.
Well, David, I appreciate your recollection. And, of course, I appreciate the fact that you do connect this. And this is why we focus on Israel. God had a plan for Israel. God used the nation of Israel to bring about the Savior as was prophesied.
And all those prophecies that we look at in the Old Testament that were pointing towards the birth of Jesus Christ and the eventual death, burial, and resurrection. That's what we remember at this Easter. Of course, we know that there's that connection with the Jewish people and Israel. And we know as believers that God is not finished with the Jewish people, He's not finished with the nation of Israel. He's going to fulfill those promises that He made to them, just as He is to the promises that He made to us as Christians.
So this is a good time of year to remember that, and a good time of year to make sure that we are using Bible prophecy to help motivate us to share the good news of the gospel that we celebrate at Easter. Exactly. And, you know, the news headlines that we've been discussing extensively over the past year and a half. The wars, the attacks, the crises everywhere. Just remind us how fragile this world is and how precarious things are here.
But we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and we're going to be in his kingdom forever. And his kingdom is going to be based where in Jerusalem, a real place. If there's anyone listening that doesn't know him, he's worth getting to know. He is your Lord and Savior, and he is the one that can give you that entrance to an eternity with him and to eternal life.
So choose rightly, and he has risen indeed. Indeed, he is, David. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this pre-Easter program. We look forward to talking to you again soon. Thank you, Rick.
God bless. Let me remind people that if you want to find out more about Bible prophecy, you can go to our website. There, you can see materials that we offer. You can learn how to support our ministry and look at our top stories of the day. Yes.
Speaking of websites, we're going to go back to continuing our conversation with Steve Herzig. And, Steve, you've got a phenomenal website. I love their radio program. I love everything that they do. Israel, My Glory.
So much solid, solid information that we can recommend. Steve, we have always talked about Steve's books. I believe there's volume one and volume two, right, on the holidays and the feast. Yes. Uh, except that they just re redid it and they took the two books, Jimmy, and made it into one.
And that happened this year.
So uh but it was two two wor I saying two volumes is kind of uh Complimentary, but a little bit of a lie. I think each book had like 140 pages.
So that's not really two volumes.
Now I have one regular sized book. These are excellent books.
Well, let's talk about the Passover. What can we learn? And I know that you're doing some Seder meals and you're going through that. What do you find is the most important thing for people that will, for the first time, possibly be sitting through a Seder meal as you teach it? What I want them to understand is the connection of the Lamb.
John the Baptist. His cousin. Said in the Gospels, Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God. The blood had to be applied on the door, and if there was no blood, there was judgment.
And Jimmy, if there is no blood for you and me, that is, if we have not. received Jesus Christ as our Savior? Have we not taken the blood that doesn't just cover our sins but remove it? We're good for judgment. And Jimmy, if you and I stand on our own, if If the Jewish people during the time of Moses just said, you know what?
I don't want to do this plague. I don't want to put the blood on it. It wouldn't matter if they were Jewish. It wouldn't matter if they were nice people. It wouldn't matter if they knew people in high places.
If there's no blood, there's judgment.
So, Jimmy, for the believer today, even those. People who go to church and there will be priesters. I don't know if you're aware of that word priesters. I call people who come to church on Christmas and Easter priesters. They come twice a year.
And just because they're in church does not mean they're saved. Just because they say, oh, yes, Easter, I believe Jesus died. You could say that. But unless you appropriate it, unless you receive it, unless you repent and turn to him. You're not, you're outside of the camp.
But the beauty of Passover, and the thing that's so neat is it happened one time, Jimmy. And my family, 3,000 years later, raised in a Jewish home, we remembered redemption. And Jimmy, Jesus Christ died once. And for all. And once we receive him, we remember what he has done for us.
That, to me, is a great thing. And then when you think about. The feast immediately following the Passover, which is a one-time event, and we remember it, is the feast of unleavened bread. That's why Jewish people will tell you that Passover lasts eight days. But it really lasts one day, and immediately following that is unleavened bread.
That lasts seven days, and that gives you eight. And that reminds us of sanctification. That reminds us of being set apart. And Jimmy, the moment we receive Jesus Christ, we are set apart. And then the third feast outlined in Leviticus 23, and it takes place on the third day, is first fruit.
And Jimmy, that's what Resurrection Day is all about. Jesus Christ, Paul tells us, is our first fruit. And first fruits is the idea of the Jewish people were to offer God the first fruits of the barley. It was agriculture, barley. And they knew that once they offered God the first, that more would follow.
And it's the same thing. Jesus Christ is the first fruit He rose from the dead. Jimmy, we're looking for a future day either with the rapture of the church or the resurrection of the saints. To be with him because Jesus resurrected, we will be with him too. Boy, that's exciting to me.
That's so exciting. And that's what Easter is all about. In the future, I know that you mentioned briefly about the prophetic significance of the high holy days or the festivals. What do you see, how does this play out for us in the future? Oh, Jimmy, you could take the seven feasts, the first one being Passover redemption, the second one Feast of unleavened bread, sanctification, setting apart first fruits, as we mentioned.
Then you go 50 days from Passover and you get to Shavuot or Pentecost, the birthday of the church. Jewish people believe that's when God gave them the law. Then fast forward to the fall feast. When uh it's Russia Shana, the new year. Uh and the call of the chaufar.
Which is the calling in Ezekiel chapter 37 of God's call to the Jewish people back to the land, and then Yom Kippur. Where they'll be saved in a day, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the Lord Jesus Christ redeeming them, and then the Feast of Tabernacles. Uh and We know from Zachariah. That 10 Gentiles will grab the clothing of a Jewish person and want to go to Jerusalem and worship. There.
We know that's the Millennial Kingdom and God's program that He promised. To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled. And Jimmy, you know the rest of the story: a thousand years, Satan let loose. That's the book of Revelation. And finally, a new heaven and a new earth.
What a day that will be. That's fast forward, and that's fast speed, but I hope that Steve, thank you for blessing us today by giving us this information, telling us about it. How I think it will help people to understand. Easter better. And, you know, I know that we celebrate Easter one day a year, but really, we should celebrate Easter every single moment of our lives because without that most important event, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything in the past pointed to this.
Everything in the future is going to point back to the moment of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 1:18, he says, I am he that was alive, dead, and now live again. And that's so very important as we approach this weekend and thinking about not only Passover, but Easter. Thank you for sharing with us. Hey, Jimmy, always good to be with you.
Well, a byproduct of the resurrection should be evangelization. You've got to have both edification and evangelization. And we're going to bring to the program now a good friend of ours, Rick. John Page.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have a good friend of both yours and mine, John Page. He's the regional director for Word of Life Fellowship in Africa. John, thanks for taking the time to join us today. And if you could, tell us where you're at right now.
Oh, thanks so much for the opportunity. Yeah, I'm actually sitting in Entebbe, Uganda. Word of Life has a Bible Institute here in Uganda, but I'm on my way to Harare, Zimbabwe. We've had a family that has joined the team there in the last two months, and I'll be spending a week with them just as they transition and settle into a new ministry for them, but an existing ministry for us there in Zimbabwe.
Well, that's great.
Well, thanks again for taking the time to be with us. And as I said, I mentioned you are an old friend.
Now, I say that often, but this is really true. In fact, let me know. It is true. Yeah, it certainly is. Let me just give you some details.
Your mother was my elementary school teacher. You and I worked in the Word of Life Camping Ministry at the Word of Life Ranch for many years, along with Jimmy, of course. And you and I were even roommates in college.
So we certainly are old friends. And this is a great chance for us to catch up with you. In fact, for our listeners, for those that are listening to the program right now, just give us a little bit about what you do in your ministry and what Word of Life Africa, what is going on there.
Well, it is interesting to look back at how long our friendship has been and how God moves you in different places. I often loved what I was doing when I was in the United States. We had a camp ministry that you mentioned and working with the Bible school students, and that was fantastic. We really thought that's where we would be forever. But then we realized in hindsight that was training because God moved us 20 years ago to Johannesburg, South Africa.
We've been serving in that country for many years. And about four years ago, Word of Life asked us to continue serving in Africa, but to take our focus instead of just focusing on South Africa as a country, to look at the entire continent of Africa and develop some strategies for really reaching more young people with evangelism and discipleship. And then, about two years, because of North Africa connecting into Middle East language-wise, Middle East, North Africa, in Mission Speak, they would say MENA. That became part of our region, too.
So now we still have a lot of hands-on with ministry and missions, but also oversight strategy and kind of development as we try to look at expanding our reach through local churches across really just a massive, massive area.
So it's a very different world for me. I grew up in a town of 2,000 people with no traffic lights and three bars. And then God plopped us into Africa, which is a great change. And we realize that every step along the way, God has been training us for what's next. Even if it's uncomfortable, that's where he sends us to.
And so we're learning a lot. Certainly are. And I grew up in that same town with you, John. But it's so great to hear what the Lord is doing in your life right now.
Well, this pre-Easter program, of course, we're looking ahead to Easter Sunday tomorrow. And I just wanted to talk a little bit. In a minute, I want to talk about what the Lord is doing as far as evangelization. But right now, there was a story that was a United States pastor, Josh Sullivan, was kidnapped in South Africa. He was rescued.
So, if you could let us know what you know about that situation, but also what kind of persecution do missionaries and Christians face in Africa? It really is interesting because obviously, with the news reporting, it's really highlighted a specific situation there in South Africa. The irony, and people ask Christy and I this all the time: like, well, we don't see this in your newsletters or your updates. And it's not something that, as missionaries, that's what our focus is.
However, in this situation, obviously, it's a very specific highlight, and it is the reality. When we ask people to pray for us, sometimes you're praying for safety, but you don't even know how to describe that to people. It might be crazy driving in Johannesburg, or it might be this very situation that this pastor faced. Where it's an economic kidnapping. Matter of fact, our missionaries up in Nigeria have had friends, at least six friends in this last year that have been in that same situation.
Two of them lost their lives in economic kidnappings, where people are doing that in such a way, whether you're a foreigner or whether you're a national, really just to try to get ahead money-wise, they do specific. Tracking, they figure out who's got the money, what would be the possibility of them making quick cash and that type of turnover. And so, you do, you do. It's interesting, Rick.
Somebody told me one time when you look at missionaries and you look at safety, those two often go opposite.
So, you need to develop a theology of fear because oftentimes, missionaries, you don't look at a situation and say, is it safe or not safe? You want to be wise, you want to be smart, but that's oftentimes where we have to go into those situations.
However, the comforting aspect is to realize that That's that call of God. He doesn't have to remove you from danger, but he goes with you into the danger. What I love about this situation: one, is he's alive. Praise the Lord.
So thankful that the special unit of the Hawks there over the police were able to get him freed. But two, Even though it's tragic, think about that. Easter weekend. And what was that pastor's desire as a missionary there in South Africa? His desire was to get out the gospel.
And all of a sudden, God has given him this worldwide platform that two weeks ago he didn't have. And they're even saying in the headlines, like this was a pastor, this was a missionary. They're not even hiding that fact.
So even though it's a tragedy, and it very much is because it's a very young family with young kids, it is interesting how God can leverage a tragedy for his glory because of the testimony and the prayers that have gone out around the world. I was amazed at how quickly that filled into our WhatsApp groups and our prayer groups that we're part of in Africa, and how many people literally were unified in praying for his release. It doesn't always turn out that way, but praise the Lord in the situation, it did.
So, yeah, that type of reality is very. Very, I want to say common, but it does happen very often with our missionaries across the globe. But my whole focus of area, really, Middle East and Africa, I'm very tuned into where our teams are, where our missionaries are, and what's happening in their personal lives on a daily basis.
So, yeah, we praise the Lord that he was rescued, and we thank the Lord that this is a platform. Even in Easter, will people understand their need of a Savior? What a great perspective. And we certainly appreciate what you are doing there and all the missionaries there.
Well, on this program, and I know you know a little bit about us, we look at current events in the light of Bible prophecy. But we are doing this not just because we want to know what's going on geopolitically or in the Middle East, but we want to look at Bible prophecy because it shows us where we are. It's a sign to where we are in God's timeline, and it gives us a sense of urgency to get out there and to share the gospel. And that is what you are doing, your ministry that you work with, word of life.
Now, that's something that Jimmy and I and Dad were involved in for quite some time. And they have a specific goal. They have a goal, and I would like you to talk about that: this evangelization goal. They want to reach a certain amount of people. If you could talk about that goal, but then also what you're doing specifically in Africa to help reach that goal.
Yeah, thanks so much. I think oftentimes of your ministry, because every time we look at prophecy and current events, Christy and I, my wife, we look at each other and go, this is such easy motivation because God's coming back soon. I think when I was younger, I always thought it was something in the distance, and now you see things and it gets you excited. I know some people stress out and panic, but I'm going, this is just all evidence that God is coming back so soon.
So, yeah, the evangelism goal.
Now, Word of Life has a focus of young people reaching them through local churches with evangelism and discipleship.
So, we're like professional people saying, hey, our goal is to share the gospel.
However, even in that, we've realized that we can get comfortable.
So, how do you not just depend upon yourself and strategies, but really depend upon God? And that's where God laid it on the heart of our leaders to say: if we did something. For a focused month of April, which is perfect because it's the month of Easter this year, what would it look like around the world? And what would a goal be that would totally take us out of our comfort zone?
Now, the goal is 5 million people, but that's not just a number when we look at that, it's individuals. Because, and I'll share with you this. Our teams across Africa As a team, but also as individuals, they are doing an incredible job.
So it's not about the numbers. We're going to see a major impact as we're doing it together. We have a new missionary couple in Court d'Ivoire in Ivory Coast, and they're the only missionaries that we have there with Word of Life that just joined our team. And they've shared the gospel with 40 people one-on-one in their neighborhood. And to me, that's amazing.
You look at the team in Uganda, where I'm at right now.
Now, they have incredible infrastructure. They've been working on building relationships with up to 400 churches and they've really mobilized their churches. But they have a massive team doing this. They've shared so far to date almost gospel conversations with almost 200,000 people just in this month. Part of that is that's part of their regular DNA.
Nigeria is blowing up from the aspect of partnering with rappers, with musicians, with basketball, with sports. And they're seeing this movement where all of a sudden they're realizing like if Christians link arms and do something that we know we're supposed to do, but you do it together, that impact can really spread. And so I just praise the Lord for every one of our missionaries. This week, just today, I was sharing, I had an Uber driver go into the airport and I shared the gospel with him. Turned out he was a pastor.
Now, you would think when I say he's a pastor that you would understand that he's born again, but that's not always true in Africa. We often see pastors trust Christ.
So I shared the gospel with him and he was born again. My wife, Christy, is working finishing up a counseling certification. She's doing 50 hours of counseling, and right now she's based in the U.S. just for this month. But she had a conversation in a small world with a gal from South Africa who's living in the U.S.
And just two days ago, she shared the gospel with her and she trusted Christ.
So, just out of a counseling session.
So, even though we would say it's really a heart movement trying to help all of us, even as missionaries, really rely on God, trust in God, partner with the local church, and really push evangelism, not just the Easter story, because the Easter story is about evangelism.
So, not just the knowledge of that, but really challenging people to be born again, having a personal faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And it's just so exciting to watch. God will get all the honor and glory for it. But we're always thankful to be challenged to step out of our comfort zone and do what God's asked us to do. I'm talking to John Page.
He's the Regional Director for Word of Life in Africa. John, it's been so great catching up with you. If there are listeners to this program right now that want to either support you in prayer or maybe even financially, how can they find out more about your ministry and the Ministry of Word of Life Africa? Yeah, if they'd like to go to give.w-o-or-r-g, they would be able to search out the different countries there. They can look by country or they can look by missionary, Johnny Christy Page, and they can be part of what God is doing in this amazing area of Africa and the Middle East.
John, it's been great catching up with you. Thanks so much for taking the time on your busy travel schedule there in Africa to be with us. Look forward to talking to you again soon now that we've made this connection again. Thanks for your ministry and your impact of really motivating people to share the gospel. We appreciate you very much.
There's no better way to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ than telling others about God's gift of eternal salvation through the death and resurrection of his Son. We're going to take a break and when we come back, the Legacy Series with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, right here on Prophecy Today weekend. Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., and along with Rick, we are examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word.
We're getting ready for the legacy series, and we'll do that in just one moment. But this is that weekend that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm reminded of Revelation chapter 1, verse 18: I am He who Who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and death.
When we look at this event, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the most important event in history, everything hinges on it. Everything in the past points up to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything in the future points back to it.
So we're so very thankful, and we want you to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on this celebration. of the life of Jesus. We should do it all year round.
Well, on this day before Resurrection Sunday, we would like to continue our study in the prophetic book of Isaiah. We will begin in Luke chapter 4, where Dr. Luke records Jesus at the synagogue there in Nazareth. That's where he was reading from the book of Isaiah. Please look with me at that account in Luke chapter 4, verse 16.
Dr. Jimmy D. Young and the Legacy Series. Go to the book of Luke chapter 4 to chapter 4.
Now Jesus Christ is a grown man. He's lived in Nazareth for 28 of his years. Two years he went to Egypt, remember, because of the fear of being killed by Herod the Great or one of his descendants. He comes back, they go to Nazareth, he lives there for some 28 years. And a very interesting thing happens, verse sixteen, and it came and he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.
And there was delivered unto him, notice, there was delivered unto him. The book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Verse 20, and he closed the book.
And he gave it again to the minister. And he sat down. And the eyes of all were fastened on him. He began to say unto them, This day. Is this scripture fulfilled in your eyes?
One problem. Keep your finger here. Go back over to Isaiah chapter 61 just a moment. Isaiah chapter sixty one. There was something left.
Here in Luke chapter 4, he says to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. That's in verse 2 of the 61. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and then Jesus quit reading. Look at the rest of it. And the day of the vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn.
He didn't read all of it. By the way, you know where this synagogue was located? On the slopes of Nazareth. Overlooking, hello, the Jezreel Valley. And from the slopes of these mountains of Nazareth.
Overlooking the Jezreel Valley, he does not read that very important passage, and the day of the vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn. When we look at And see how everything is going to proceed to move into the kingdom. We'll go back to Isaiah 63, where that. Day of Vengeance. will be fulfilled.
But not now. And Jesus said, and this day, Chapter 4, verse 21 of Luke, and this day, this scripture has been fulfilled in your eyes. One thought, and we'll go along as we think through what Isaiah had to say about the Messiah. Look back, if you got Luke chapter 4, look back in verse 18, and it says this: And the recovering of sight to the blind. That is so key.
Because Jesus Christ. Is the only one. That ever Healed the blind. Look at the life. Of every one of his disciples.
All of the apostles.
Some of them, some of the prophets. Raise the dead. Made the lame to walk. May the sick be well. They never healed.
the blind and gave them sight. Oh, Jesus did that. He did it on the Mount of Olives. He did it on the Temple Mount. He healed three different blind men as he went through Jericho.
If you ever have a problem about studying that passage when Jesus is going through Jericho, It says, as he entered into the city, as he left the city, as he entered into the city. If you read the text of the account of that.
Well, you must know there's residential Jericho and municipal. Jericho. And so those are two different cities. And so the record is absolute.
So he healed the blind, and Jesus. By fulfilling that minute detail. In Isaiah Sixty-one. proved he was the Messiah. The one.
who came, Emmanuel. God with us. Go back to the book of Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53, here's a very another important passage of Scripture. That there's a lot of controversy surrounding Isaiah 53.
The Jews do not want to recognize that this is talking about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In fact, When Isaiah was given the prophecy, that's exactly what he was told. Look at Isaiah 53:1. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? These Jews are not going to believe you, Isaiah, but I want you to give the prophecy anyway.
Now, indeed, maybe you've heard someone speak trying to be an apologist on this and making the statement: hey, this is not talking about Messiah Jesus Christ. This is talking about someone else. I beg to differ with you. I have to show you what the Word of God has to say. I hate to keep going back and forth, but I just must show you what the Word has to say about this.
Go to Acts chapter 8. You remember Acts chapter 8? Acts chapter 8 is the record of Philip, who was a close associate of Jesus Christ. He was involved, became very much involved in preaching the gospel. And he would go wherever it took to go preach the gospel.
They took him out to the Negev desert near Gaza. The Negev Desert is that southern portion of Israel south of Jerusalem. And Gaza is in the western section of the Mediterranean coast. Look at the account here, chapter 8 of Acts, verse 26. And the angel of the Lord.
Spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, into the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza, which is the desert. By the way, Gaza, that's God's land. You know, that ought to cure that debate up, but that's another story for another time. Verse 27, and he arose and he went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all of her treasury and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.
Now, this was in the springtime. He had come up. One of the pilgrim feasts was Passover.
So he had come up to Passover, and then he stayed through Pentecost. And he was now on his way back. That's another pilgrim feast when the Jewish men from all over the world had to make aliyah, had to go up to Jerusalem. The third one would be in the fall, and that's the Feast of Tabernacles. But this Ethiopian with great authority was going through the desert, making his way back to Ethiopia, going south out of Jerusalem.
And now I always used to teach that this Ethiopian was riding through the desert, you know, and he had the chariot whip in his hand, and he had the Bible in his hand, and he's reading and going through the desert, you know. And old Philip came running by and jumped up on the chariot. Scared him, the Ethiopian eunuch, to death. This man was of royalty. He was probably seated in his elongated chariot.
had a cover over the top. a servant there meeting his needs. a driver of the chariot And Philip comes up to him and he's reading. And Philip starts a conversation. I love this.
Look at here in verse 30. And Philip ran tither unto him, and he heard him read the prophet Isaiah. And he said, understandest what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
And the place of the scripture, notice, the place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearers, so opened he not his mouth in his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare this generation, for his life was taken from the earth. That's a direct quote from Isaiah 53.
Now notice. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself or some other man. Notice what Philip said. Then Philip opened his mouth, and he began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
End Of subject. Isaiah Fifty three. talking about Jesus Christ. And every Jew that tries to put that down. has no Basis upon which to make the statement.
In fact, go back to John 12. In John 12, And let's notice here just very quickly in John 12 verses 37 and 38. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed him not, verse 38 of John 12. Then that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? To whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Where was that?
Well, we just read that, Isaiah 53, 1. Isaiah 53, 1. In the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, and let me just point out a couple of things to you very quickly. Go back there, Isaiah 53:1. Let me just point out to you, Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus Christ.
It says in verse 1: the Jews are not going to believe that this is the one, the Messiah. They are going to be. Blinded in part, Romans chapter 11 verse 25. Blinded in part until temporary blinded. Partially blinded.
Some will come to know Christ, but most are going to reject because of their. It's not because they can't see with their eyes, it's their hard head, stiff neck, hard heart. As we look through this passage, and I'm not going to try to exegete it, but as we look through the passage, we'll notice in verses 3 to 5 how he's going to suffer. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed, not healed physically, healed spiritually. We come to know Christ as Lord and Savior in that. Look at verse 6.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, he who knew no sin. became sin.
For you and me. Here's the prophecy. Isaiah 53, he will take on our sin. We were born in sin. It's evidenced by the fact nobody had to teach us how to lie.
We knew how to lie. Psalm 51 says, From our mother's womb we came forth liars. He took on our sin, on him. to be What we needed to be. He was crucified.
Verses seven and eight: He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Verse eight, and he was taken from prison and from judgment. It shall be declared this generation, he was cut off out of the land of the living. That's that same phrase in Daniel chapter 9 where it says he will be cut off. It's a term referring to crucifixion.
He was cut off out of the land of the living. But look at verse 10. He will resurrect. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief.
When he shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He will be resurrected. This will happen. Isaiah 53 is pointing to the person of Jesus Christ. Philip testifies to that.
Jesus himself testifies to that. We conclude our study of Isaiah to day in the classic passage of Isaiah fifty three. This chapter presents Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. I pray that you know Jesus Christ as your Saviour. If not, please admit that you're a sinner.
That Jesus died and resurrected as proof that He can save each of us and especially you, and call upon Him to save you right now. Dr. Jimmy D. Young and the Legacy Series. We've got to take a break, and when we come back, Rick and I will wrap it up with taking a look at the book and the time period of the three days and three nights in Scripture.
Right here on Prophecy Today weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. With no end in sight for the Iran war, the conflict is leaving invisible scars. Trans World Radio's director for Israel, Pavel Schiffman, says: The situation of the war is not something unusual for the Israelis. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, he has been going through a Major war conflict every 10 years.
However, the trauma runs deep. Schiffman says many people have stopped responding to sirens. Because they can't handle the stress of just running to both shelters three, four, five a day or during night.
Some people just, you know, decide to stay at home and whatever happens, happens. TWR's team shares the hope of Christ through social media, Bible study, Zoom calls for seekers, and much more. Pray for open hearts to Christ, especially during Passover this week. And reaching deaf people with the gospel isn't always easy, but it is happening. Alan Arozco is a deaf man overseeing DOAR International's church planting program called 2x2.
Speaking through a female interpreter, Orozco says, Door helps pairs of church planters begin work in unreached deaf communities. And each time, their mission is the same: introduce the deaf to Jesus. Many of these deaf communities have no deaf leadership, no deaf churches that are accessible. Connect with DOAR at missionnews.org to help this work continue. Often, we're sending deaf missionaries who don't have a community to raise support through.
We want to see their ministry continue regardless of this lack of support.
So providing support from the outside can be so beneficial. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries. We're listener-supported by people just like you.
So by giving to Mission Network News, you enable us to keep the stories of God's kingdom coming. And together, the Great Commission happens. Look for links at missionnews.org. That's missionnews.org. I'm with Kramer.
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., and along with my brother Rick, we've had the privilege of being able to begin this weekend of where we look at the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, where we talked about the fulfillment of those feasts of God, the holidays or the holy days of God, and the Passover, unleavened, first fruits, as Steve Herzog talked to us about. You know, on the program today, we looked at events and we examined them in the light of God's prophetic word. As we looked at the events presented to us by Ken Timmerman, we see how God is actively using world leaders to accomplish his will.
And then, of course, as we talk to David Dolum, we see what's going on in Israel and how. What's taking place there? God is moving behind the scenes, plus, his thoughts on the garden tomb. And, Rick, as we're looking at this weekend, you know, for some people it's a totally secular event, but for us, it's the most important event in all of history. It certainly is the most important event in all of history, and we should be celebrating it not just on Easter, but year-round.
And I've heard you say, Jimmy, not only do you celebrate Easter year-round, but you celebrate Christmas year-round. And there have been many times when you and I have been in Israel, and we've taken people to the shepherd's fields, and we sing Christmas carols. And then we've taken them to the Mount of Olives, and we've taken them into the Old City and retrace the steps, the crucifixion, and we sing songs that remember that moment. And we don't necessarily just do that at Easter. We don't just do it at Christmas.
We do it year-round because we're remembering these events, the most important thing to us as Christians. Yes, in fact, that's what Jesus said in the upper room. When he was observing that Passover meal where he instituted the Lord's Supper, and he said, In the future, I want you to do this in remembrance of me. And of course, he was talking about, and the disciples had no clue of what Jesus was talking about because Christ hadn't gone to the cross, his body had not been broken yet, his blood had not been shed. But can you imagine, Rick, what the disciples thought about after they saw that and they remembered the words of Jesus Christ, This do in remembrance of me.
Absolutely. We recently had communion at church and we rehearsed that year-round, like you, and not just at Easter, but year-round because it is so important. It's so important. What took place is the basis of our salvation.
Well, this week we have a special, our legacy series, which usually we follow up with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung and his teaching. We will continue that next week. But we thought it would be special to go back, and it is special for us, and I hope it will be special for you. My father had an understanding and really taught how Jesus Christ was in the grave for three days and three nights.
Using Scripture. He developed an understanding of how that takes place. And today on the program, we're going to close out for this Easter weekend, this ending of Passion Week, the beginning of Passover. Dr. Jimmy DeYoung is going to teach his understanding of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and how Christ was in the grave fulfilling that prophecy of Jonah for three days and three nights.
But let me now focus on a couple of issues that are key for you and me as we first of all come to salvation and then make preparations for the future that God has planned for us. I'm going to focus on Passover, which is a Jewish high holy day, and Resurrection Sunday, the key day in the life of Jesus Christ and His authenticity when He tells us that He can give us salvation, but also tells us about the future. God does have a plan. He started to reveal that plan to the Jewish people in the book of Leviticus, chapter 23. When you read Leviticus 23, you find that God gave the Jewish people seven Jewish feasts.
These feasts were annually to be observed by the Jewish people.
Now, in these feasts, God gives us a prophecy. In fact, all of the feasts are focused on the person Jesus Christ. He was to fulfill each and all of the feasts. There are seven feasts: Passover, celebrating the Exodus out of Egypt by the Jewish people, unleavened bread, the separation between bondage and freedom, first fruits, and when the Jews come into the land, presenting the first fruits of their harvest at the temple, Pentecost, which is the presentation of the wheat harvest, and when you look at trumpets, it's talking about celebration creation, the day of atonement, the time of giving the Jewish people one more year under the blood that is sacrificed on the day of atonement, the day of covering, so that they can extend their time under the leadership of God the Father. And finally, tabernacles, a celebration of how the Jewish people wandered in the wilderness.
And what was God's Procedure. He had a plan. He set in place prophecy. What was his procedure? When you study the Word of God, especially the book of Matthew, chapters 26 to 27.
you'll see that after the Passover Seder, which would take place on Passover, and the beginning of the day for the Jewish people in the evening, and then Passover the next day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus Christ was crucified on Passover. He was buried on unleavened bread. Unleavened bread is separation. It means it was separating Jesus Christ from life unto death. And the fact is, he was in the grave, as the Bible called for, three days and three nights.
That has to mean that he was crucified on Thursday afternoon, resurrected before sunup. On Sunday night, because remember, a Jewish day, the night in the day.
So, Sunday night before sunup, as John says in his book, when the three Marys went there to the grave site and were told that he had already resurrected. By the way, That was first fruits. And that was a part of that Jewish set of feasts that would prophesy the person of Jesus Christ. Crucified on Passover, buried on unleavened bread, resurrected on first fruits.
Now, this time we're not going to be able to talk about the three fall feasts. Jesus Christ will fulfill those as well. He'll come back to the earth on the feast of trumpets. He will enter into the temple on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, and then the kingdom begins on tabernacles.
So he fulfills all seven of the Jewish feasts. By the way, even before He returns to the earth, the next event will be Jesus calling all of us who know Him as Lord and Saviour to be with Him in the heavenlies. That's called the rapture of the Church, and that happens before the Second Coming, seven years before. Which, in fact, when we think about what we've talked about today, that rapture actually could happen today. And having said that, nothing left for me to say, except let's keep looking up.
Until Thank you so much for joining us today. This is Jay Johnson inviting you to join us again next week for more of Prophecy Today. Prophecy Today is a listener-supported production of Shofar Communications in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
