Welcome to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy D. Young Jr., and along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Rick, later on this week, Russia Shanah begins in the nation of Israel. And all around the world, Jews will be celebrating, and this is a sound that they will hear.
On today's program, our good friend Steve Herzig will be coming to tell us about the three fall festivals that are listed in the book of Leviticus. Also on the program today, Ken Timmerman, David Dolan, Usama Dakdak, and Mike Jendren, all with news that you need to know, and doctor Jimmy D. Young will be talking about the fight against the Jewish people during the day of the Lord, the tribulation period. Rick, we've got a lot to cover, so let's get started with our first, Ken Timmerman.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I'm joined by Ken Timmerman. He's our expert in geopolitical affairs. He's an author and an analyst. You can find out more about him by going to his website at kentimmerman.com.
Ken, thanks for being with us today. Rick, thanks for having me on. It's always a pleasure.
Well, Ken, we'll start with the situation in Iran and President Trump's plan of not only bringing military force, but also sanctions, economic isolation. How is that working? What's the situation right now? Rick, the Treasury Department's Operation Economic Outcast got a big boost this week when Scott Besant, our secretary, was in Asheville, North Carolina for that G20 finance minister's meeting. And the EU, the European Union, said, we will support you.
We will help. The United States to isolate Iran from the international economic system, from the banking system in Europe, and from the economic system in general. This is actually a big win because many of Iran's big suppliers, in addition to Russia and China, of course, have been members of the European Union. The French, the Germans, the Italians, the Brits. They've all been supplying Iran with high-technology items, which they incorporate into their military systems.
The Germans, for example, are the ones who produce the engines for Iran's Shahed drones. Eventually, they sold that company to a company in China, and those engines are now produced in China, but they were designed in Germany. All that is coming to an end thanks to the Treasury Department sanctions and Scott Besson's really amazing diplomatic effort behind the scenes.
So, this is good news for us. We had, of course, a renewed series of strikes on Tuesday at Think it was against Iran. The president said there were 60 sorties after he caught the Iranians, or the military caught the Iranians trying to launch a missile that would plant mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians, of course, are getting desperate here. They're getting desperate militarily.
They're also getting desperate economically. Inflation is well over 100%. The reports that they cannot pay the salaries of the Revolutionary Guards. Scott Besson warned them quite publicly: we know where your $100 million houses are around the world, those mansions, and we're going to seize them. We know your nominees, the names of your nominees in the British Virgin Islands front companies you've set up.
We're going to seize those assets as well. They are in disarray, and I think this economic side of the war is proving almost as effective as the kinetic side during that first 60 days. Certainly, very interesting to see all this going on. But, you know, we have political realities here at home in the United States. And we look at this war, it's not necessarily popular, even though it needs to proceed.
But there are certain Republicans that worry that this might affect the midterm elections. Can you talk about that? Yeah, those Republicans are going to have to grow a spine. They're going to have to grow up as well and realize that we finally have a President who has taken the action against a clear and present danger to the United States that previous Presidents have deferred for seven years. All of them for 47 years have deferred taking this kind of action against the Islamic regime in Iran.
And they're going to have to explain the war to their constituents. They're going to have to explain to the voters why this war is important, why it is necessary, why we are waging it. Why, when President Trump says Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, why that is important for your security at home in Illinois, in Indiana, in South Carolina, in Florida. Just think what would happen if the Iranians launched two nuclear weapons in the upper atmosphere as. EMP weapons, electromagnetic pulse weapons, to take down our electric grid.
Already in 2004, the EMP Commission warned us that if that kind of attack happened, and the Iranians they knew were already working on it twenty years ago, if that kind of attack against America took place, they wipe out our electric grid, we go back to the population we had in 1880. And Rick, that was about 80 to 90 million people. In other words, there would be mass casualties in this country. Because our electric grid goes down and all civilization goes down with it.
So these Republicans have got to grow a spine and they've got to actually learn a bit about the war and learn why we are fighting and why it is important. And they need to explain that to their voters. One of those reasons we are fighting this horror is the ability of Iran to export terrorism around the world, especially around the Middle East. And that is being curtailed by their economic problems right now, especially in Lebanon, isn't it? They're having a lot of problems in Lebanon with Hezbollah.
Their prime proxy, the Israelis, have been fighting for the past two weeks to get control of an area called the Al-Taher Ridge in South Lebanon. And this is a place where Hezbollah has a massive, massive underground facility with sophisticated weapon systems. They were hoping to use these tunnels to launch an attack against Israel, possibly during the High Holy Days, which are coming up, similar to the attack that. Was launched from Gaza on October 7th.
So the Israelis saw it coming. They have wiped that out. They've taken out that facility and killed quite a number of Hezbollah fighters. And this is, look, Rick, it's part of a piece. This is a terror regime in Tehran, and they are exporting terror not just in Lebanon, not just in Yemen or elsewhere.
They are using terror tactics in the Strait of Hormuz. And here's where President Trump's strategy has been absolutely brilliant. This week, we've learned that on a single day, it was Wednesday this week, the United States escorted 40 supertankers carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. That was in a single day. That's almost as much oil as was going through the strait before the war.
And by the way, the extra 2 million barrels, because there are about 20 million going through the strait, those were Iranian barrels. Those barrels of oil are not going through the strait at all.
So we're almost back to pre-war shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Hormuz and Scott Besson has said because of the way the Saudis and the UAE and others are diverting their exports through pipelines to other areas, not the Strait of Hormuz, it's only a matter of time before the Strait itself becomes a quote useless waterway. Very interesting.
Well, we look at this situation and we've talked about the struggles that Iran is facing. Also, Vladimir Putin in Russia is facing struggles as well. And these two entities, these two allies are looking towards each other for help.
Well, we've said it many times on the show, the rogues hang together. Putin was in Kyrgyzstan along with the Iranian President Pezheshkin this week on Tuesday. There's a photo op of the two of them standing side by side facing the cameras and shaking hands. Neither of them look particularly happy, Rick, but there they were, joined at the hip, so to speak, two rogue nations fighting the world. Putin reportedly told Pezheshkin, quote, Russia stands in full solidarity with the people of Iran.
We admire your courage and resilience in your fight for your national interests.
Well, he's hoping, of course, to have the same kind of support from the Iranians. He is using Iranian drones. Let's not forget that. And he's improved on some of them. This is a test of wills now in Iran, but also with Russia.
President Trump is waging war without U.S. troops engaged on the ground. This is something new for recent. Recent U.S. policies.
Americans aren't used to it yet, and they can't understand how we are winning if we're not actually seizing territory on the ground.
Well, we're winning because we're defeating both Russia. And Iran, economically, we're defeating their ability to survive as coherent regimes. That's where the victory lies. Of course, Ken, this comes at a time when the Russians seem to be threatening Europe, including a recent incident in Germany. The Germans have done an investigation over the past couple of weeks about this drone that they found, an armed drone they found in Leipzig airport in the beginning of August.
And they have now concluded definitively that it was a Russian drone. It was a Russian attack, if you wish. The drone was found within 100 yards of a Ukrainian cargo plane. probably carrying weapons from Germany back to Ukraine. The Germans are saying there were three drones in all.
One of them might have hit a cargo plane, which is kind of curious because I haven't seen any reporting on that. And I would think we would have seen it. But there was a third drone that was found also at the same airport by another Ukrainian cargo plane.
So they're saying Russia is behind this. We are not at war, but we are a daily target of hybrid attacks. That's the German Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrint, talking to reporters on Tuesday. He said they are raising Germany's threat level assessment from general Too high. Pretty important if you think about it, Rick.
Germany is now on high alert of Russian unconventional threats to either cyber or to these airports or other infrastructure.
Well, Ken, it certainly seems like there is chaos in Europe right now, especially when it involves Russia. It's something that we are looking ahead at and we will be watching in the future.
Well, Rick, and it's not just Russia. The Europeans are suffering from their own stupidity, their environmental silliness over the past. 10 to 15 years. The Germans have shut down their nuclear power plants. The Swedes have done the same thing.
They're installing windmills that, of course, when the wind doesn't blow, they don't work.
Now you have natural gas and electricity prices, which are among the highest in the world. The electricity is over three times the price of what we pay here in the United States. Europe is an economic freefall, and they don't know what to do.
So the Europeans could learn a lot from the U.S. economy. They could learn a lot from President Trump. They just don't seem to want to go back to school. Ken Timmerman reporting for Prophecy Today.
Ken, as always, we appreciate your insight. Look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks so much, Rick. God bless. Great job, as always, Ken.
And that's our world report. We've got to take a break when we come back. Our Middle East news update with David Dolan right here on Prophecy Today, weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. Officials dig mass graves in Nepal as the death toll passes a thousand following catastrophic flooding in the Himalayas.
The August 26 disaster left at least 2.2 million tons of debris, according to the United Nations. Greg Yoder of Keys Vickus Ministry says partners have been in touch with believers throughout the affected region. We're hearing stories that churches destroyed. At least one pastor is missing. Others that are obviously devastated by what has taken place.
Church partners are on the ground looking for ways to help survivors. Pray for gospel opportunities. There are a lot of people searching for truth right now, and many people are asking why are the gods angry? And it gives Christians clearly an opportunity to declare the liberating power of the gospel. And back in May, SetFree Global hosted their first training in Ethiopia.
Alumna Belicho of Campus Crusade for Christ says the change has been transformational. One element of the SetFree training that makes it different is the focus it places on helping pastors and leaders reflect on their personal lives, addressing problems such as burnout. Most of the pastors and leaders expect something to take for their church. Not for their life. The first two days were a little bit challenging for them to open up their heart and deal with the issues deeper in their life.
But through the Prayers through the one-on-one conversation. The transformation they've experienced is immeasurable. Pray God would continue growing these leaders. You can find your place in the story at missionnews.org. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries.
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So, by giving to Mission Network News, you enable us to keep the stories of God's kingdom coming. Look for links at missionnews.org. I'm Ruth 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.
Good to be with you, Rick.
Well, David, let's start with an update out of the Middle East, especially as it relates to a renewal of the conflict between Israel and Iran. Yes, it's been a return to active warfare this week, as everyone knows, I'm sure, by now. That, of course, began on Sunday when the U.S. spotted the Iranian regime, the Revolutionary Guards, about to fire on a rocket.
some mines back into the Strait of Hormuz area. And of course, aiming to shut down the increasing traffic that President Trump has been talking about. that the U. S. has been escorting out.
of uh the gulf up to about two thirds of what was happening before the war began, the White House said. And the Iranians responded in a very strong way by hitting four Arab countries nearby, They hit a US airbase in Iraq. They hit two bases. Belonging to the U.S. in Jordan, one a marine base Rick down near the port of Aqaba.
On the Red Sea. They hit Kuwait, they hit Bahrain, but not Israel, not so far. But last evening, Rick, there was another Iranian missile barrage aimed at U.S. bases in Jordan, very close to the Sea of Galilee. And people in Tiberias in that area said they saw the anti-missile batteries in action.
They saw the tracers in the sky, et cetera.
So close action, really. And to the north of that, in Lebanon, Rick, we had an important announcement on Thursday that the IDF has completed its two-month mission. to dismantle, take apart and then destroy a whole series of underground bunkers really, but one a large, very large one that has an operating theater in it and lots of beds and lots of munitions and obviously where fighters could hide for many weeks. And come out of holes and basically hidden exits under brush and near rocks and different things.
So it's taken them a while to complete that, but on Thursday they said they had completed that. That's right next to the Beaufort Castle that the IDF Captured earlier this year. Marvelous action there. And of course, it's from there that Hezbollah's fighters could. Spot everything going on in northern Israel basically in Metula, and they could see down into some of the kibbutz settlements there, they could see onto the Golan Heights.
So it's a very strategic site. And Rick, it was also revealed that there were actual Iranian Revolutionary Guards in this bunker. uh at least twelve with the trapped Hezbollah fighters. And by the way, they say that everyone is now gone from inside of them. They either starved or possibly some of them did escape.
As I said, there's a lot of different entrances and exits and that sort of thing to these Several underground bunkers really along this ridge. And they said the idea that it was in 2006 that Iran started building this underground system.
So for over twenty years, they've been doing this, and that's a major advance there. And then down in Gaza Rik, we had Israel destroy a couple of tunnels there that Hamas had used. We had them capture a senior Hamas leader, Mu'in Arabib. He was the Hamas Internal Security Chief.
Now whether that was for the whole Gaza Strip or just for Gaza City, we're not sure, but he was a senior man and very much involved in the planning of the october seventh attacks upon Israel three years ago.
So they have him and they're questioning him. And there's some indications, Rick, that Homas is preparing to again fire rockets. into Israel. That was noted by the IDF. The Prime Minister made some pretty strong statements about that, and also about Iran, and the Defense Minister also.
After Iran again said, if you don't please us in Lebanon and lay off Hamas in Gaza. we may strike you again. The Prime Minister said the regime is very weak and that they know the force of our blows. And he said, I say to our enemies, don't mess with us, because you will get a very potent response. They certainly will, David.
And as we look at this situation, one thing that you mentioned that is very interesting to me is that Iran is striking very close to the border of Israel, but not striking Israel. Can you tell us why that is?
Well, Rick, it's uh Pretty well known in Iran that it was the Israeli Air Force that did a lot of the damage to the country in the six-week war earlier this year. The U.S., of course. had the huge bunker buster bombs, which were essential to get to further degrade the nuclear facilities there. But the other targets were mostly hit by Israel. And the defense minister said this week, if Iran strikes us, we will hit everything in the country, their infrastructure, their oil facilities.
We will make sure that this regime is crippled, basically. And it seems that the Iranians know that that's probably the case. and um Bahrain and Kuwait and The UAE, these other countries they've been hitting, Jordan, they're not going to start bombing Iran directly themselves. I mean, they may launch something or other, and there's reports that they have done. A limited amount of that.
But the Kuwaiti officials, Rick, said this is Aggression against us this week. They were very angry at the renewed Iranian fire. And of course the RON said it was all that the US said. Struck them first.
Well, yes, they struck them trying to replace mines in the Gulf, you know, after it's mostly open.
So the regime is weak, Rick. The Israeli analysts I've been reading this week believe that the Sanctions should have been put on and the blockade should have been put on. six months ago that they are really effective and that they are at the point where they're not able to pay any of their soldiers or their corps members or anybody. basically. And so and gasoline is running out.
A country with one of the world's largest oil supplies is running out of gas. and their refineries have been bombed and other things like that.
So they are weak, and Israel remains very strong. And as you and I were talking before we went on the air, Israel wants to see this regime gone very badly. They're almost eager not to get bombed themselves, of course not, but if it happens, there will be no hesitation. And of course, they have this all very detailed mapped out, Rick, what they would do. And the White House knows this, President Trump knows this.
And he's also he also on Friday said he may order bombings in a new location in Iran where they think some renewed nuclear activity may be taking place.
So he's fed up with them. All the Arab countries pretty much are fed up with them. They have a few short allies. But of course, the President of Iran met during the week with the President of Russia, Putin. They still have him as an ally.
And China, maybe a little less so, but still more or less on their side.
So it's not over till it's over, but Israel is a key factor in what's going to happen here in the next days and weeks probably.
Well, David, we do know that the nation of Iran, referred to as Persia in Ezekiel thirty eight, will come against Israel in the last days, but there seems to be, at least on the horizon right now, the possibility of a reprieve and a check on Iran's power. Can you talk about that? Well, Rick, we do know that Persia is listed as being part of the Gog and the Gog invasion of Israel in the last days. But are we on the verge of that now? Or will this regime go and then later another one come in?
that's against Israel. And of course, Zachariah said all the nations of earth will in the end be against Israel.
So PERS is uh amongst those countries presumably But it is prophesied that these things would happen. We see things lining up, but of course, we can't jump the gun. I've heard your brother talk about this, Jimmy, talk about this quite often, that we see the signs and we should be watching those But we shouldn't say, oh, we've got the puzzle all figured out. Here's where it's going to be tomorrow and the next day and the next week, because It's all in the hands of the Lord, and of course, it depends, the scripture tells us, Jesus told us, on the spreading of the gospel to the entire world. Starting with Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
The last words spoken by our Lord before his ascension were the names Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. We've got to remember that in the fight over the quote West Bank, but it's lining up, Rick, and God's in the whole thing, and we can rest assured in that. And President Trump said on Friday Israel could rest because he's got their back. And that's good, and that's true, but obviously the fact that the God of Israel also does. is a very comforting thing indeed.
It certainly is. David Dolan providing us a perspective as we look at what is taking place in the Middle East and Israel, and looking forward prophetically to what is going to happen in the future. Dave, as always, we appreciate your insight and your wisdom. Thank you so much. Look forward to talking to you again soon.
You're welcome, Nick. God bless. Always a great job, David, and you're exactly right. We can hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ by leading others to a saving knowledge as Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We're going to take a break when we come back.
Osoma Dakdak talking about Iran and Mike Jendren right here on Prophecy Today weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. Lebanon's effort to disarm Hezbollah in the South faces an early task. Under a U.S.-brokered pilot program, the Lebanese army is moving into areas vacated by Israeli forces, confiscating Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure. Israel says progress is slow, with concerns Hezbollah could return.
Heart for Lebanon's Camille Melke says they're serving displaced people with humanitarian aid and proclaiming the gospel's power over fear. Pray for the peace of Christ. And On Eagle's Wings equips Indigenous Christians to reach their own people. Brad Hutchcraft says its leadership center typically serves native North American youth, but last year welcomed a student from Mongolia. After completing OEW's Gap Year program, that connection grew into an active partnership.
Earlier this year, OEW sent a team to train Mongolian Christians. Praise God for unexpected connections. You can find your place in this story at missionnews.org. Mission Network News, Service of One Way Ministries. I'm Ruth Kramer.
Okay. Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., and along with my brother Rick, we're examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. This next half hour, we're going to talk about two of the fastest-growing religions in the world. The first one will be the Muslim religion or the religion of Islam, which doesn't mean peace, it means submission.
Muslims, if you know anything about them, Islam expanded more rapidly than any other major faith between 2010 and 2020. Data from the Pew Research Center shows the Muslim population grew by 347 million people in that decade. The main driver comes from natural demographic factors rather than religious conversion. Fertility rates: Muslim women have 2.9 children, which is higher than the average for non-Muslim women. And Muslims have a younger average age than members of other major religions.
So we thought it would be good to bring Osama Dakdak, who is a missionary, to the Muslim community in the United States.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Osama Dakdak with us. He's a good friend of ours and a friend of the program. Osama, thanks for being with us today. It is always my joy to be with you and all our wonderful audience, brother.
Usama, you have a ministry. It's called the Straightway of Grace Ministry. And the purpose of this ministry is equipping Christians and reaching Muslims. And I think that's a very apt title, but if you could, could you just talk a little bit about yourself, your testimony, and what you are, what your goal in life is as you travel around and speak at these different places? Sure, brother.
Well, uh I was born in Egypt in a Christian home. And I learned about Islam all the years of my life, even in college. I studied a couple of years of Sharia, Islamic law. in the subject of marriage and divorce. I came to America in 1991, and I was shocked in South Carolina to meet the first black Muslim American.
Who is a convert, and then I realized that there are Muslims everywhere, and the more I dig into that, the more I found out. Hey, the Lord is doing the American people a great favor. He asked them to go to the end of the world to make disciples of all nations, and obviously were a little bit lazy.
So we did not do that.
So he makes it a lot easier, a lot safer.
So he brought the Muslims to us here in America. Sadly, sadly, the church in the last 35, 36 years since I came to this country. did not take advantage of this great golden opportunity. And the opposite is true. The Muslims in America are reaching out to the Americans, right and left, leading Thousands of Americans who do not know anything about Islam to a brave against Islam.
And if we continue to do that, brother, believe me, it's going to be a bad ending, which means That actually the Lord will use the Muslims in America to discipline not America. but the church who did live in obedience, but lived in disobedience to the Greek Commission. That's why I believe it's very important. It it's it's my heart desire to see Christians equipped not only to protect themselves from the established cult of Islam, but to do a offensive spiritual warfare, that is to reach out to the lost Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine if we were able to lead one of the nineteen hijackers of September eleven, just one, If we have led one of them to Christ before September 11, 25 years ago, do you know that we would not have lost these thousands and thousands of American lands?
And we would not have lost this country all these years because we're slowly losing America to the Muslims simply because we're not doing our job to love the Muslim right with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, that's a segue into my next question then as we look at the Muslim impact in America.
Now, we have several Muslim congressmen right now, and we have a senator that we have a candidate for Senate that is running in Michigan, and we have a mayor in New York that is a Muslim. If you could, could you talk about How their influence and their religion is impacting the United States, and why should we be concerned about that? Absolutely. Muslims are not here to become an American. I mean, literally, think about all the leaders of the Muslims.
Those who are in politics, like Ilhan Omar, Rashid Khalib and Mamdani and Abdul Saeed, Muhammad, and this is a german talk about, who is uh running as a Senate in Michigan. All these are not just normal Muslims, uh what they call the Muslims in name only. These are the Muslim Brotherhood. He says the Muslim Jihadi they could not. For the same office in my home country, Egypt, which is the home base of the Muslim Brotherhood.
So they're not here to become part of America. And if you say that, they will say, oh, you're a climate folk. No, I'm not. As in the question, will you assimilate with us? Will you become an American wi within the depths of your heart?
Not just raise your right hand and give a false or they call prepaganda oath, which is supported by Allah's word in the Quran to lie. It's okay to lie when you give an oath to the to the infidel. And so on. You find that the Muslim are very clear. We're not here to assimilate, we're not here to become part of the military part of the United States of America, but we're here to make America a Muslim country.
We're here to infiltrate, to invade America. This is the reality, Brother. And I don't know how how far or how many ways I can say it to wake up the Christian and not even talk about the Americans. You have to understand now that 35% or so, maybe 40% of the Christians in America are not registered to vote. They cannot vote.
Unless in the next few weeks, they get out of their lazy seat and go and register to vote. And then you get to half of those who are registered, they don't vote. And and what is sad is not just Muslims are reaching out to the American people with the propaganda, Islam to listen to Islam, they are reaching out to our politicians to make them believe in the agenda of the Muslim boy oh boy, not not only Bosnia years ago used to be Muslims working with the Democrats, now Muslims working with everybody. We got I was just speaking in Phoenix, Arizona, a few months ago, and I was shocked. The two Muslim men Abraham Hamada and Mohamed Zurdi Jasser in Phoenix, Arizona, running as Republican.
And they have been endorsed by Charlotte Kirk Group. I mean, literally, I believe Charlotte Kirk is turning in his grave, as American people say, because of what has happened to this country.
So it is sad. The Muslims are here not to become part of us. The Muslims are here to take over America, and sadly, we are voting for them. And sadly, not only Democrat, but now the Republican. And don't forget Muhammad Ali, he's supposed to be a senator, and Mr.
Trump himself endorsed him. And it's just it just seems to me that American people are not realizing what they're doing. They're digging graves by their own hands for themselves and for their children, because simply they have lack of knowledge about Islam. As the scripture have already said, you know, the Bible is very clear, Hosea 4:6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. That's why I believe it's very important for the church to learn the truth about Islam, to teach the truth about Islam, and to reach out to the lost Muslims with the gospel before the Muslims take over the entire country in both IELTS, the Republican and the Democrats.
I certainly appreciate the passion and what you're saying and what you are sharing with our listeners. And you mentioned something there about the fact that Muslims are oh it's okay for them to lie if it furthers their religion. That's a principle. Can you talk a little bit about that and what that means? Mm-hmm.
Sure. First of all, and according to the teaching of Muhammad, It is lawful for Muslims to lie. And Muhammad limited it to three cases, not four, but only three. You can lie to your wife.
So that they can be believed with you. You can lie to your enemy because war is deception. And you can lie to your friends to make peace between them, which in simple words, you lie to your wife, your enemy, and to your friends. I do not know who else can you lie to, your camel, or maybe your mule?
So, obviously, it is in Islam, it's okay to lie.
Now, there are plenty different types of sins. Concerning lies.
So there's another thing, it's called Kitman. What is Kitman? You know, something bad is gonna happen. And you don't do anything to stop it.
So I can guarantee you: not only the 19 hijackers in America 25 years ago. Planned September eleventh. But I guarantee you a few hundreds of the Muslims of America know about it, but they choose not to say anything about it because that is another lawful sin, the sin of kitman. Keep it to yourself. Don't say anything about it.
If it is Allah's will, it's gonna happen.
Now you can go to also to the lies of the Takaya. at this Quran chapter three, verse twenty five. And and and and he says that throughout the Quran, which is it's okay for Muslim to take friends to make friends of infidels, that's Jews and the Christians. Not real friends, but temporary friendship. Why?
To protect yourself from them. Imagine with me, if I come to you right now, brother, and I say, I'm a Muslim believer, I'm a Muslim jihad, and I'm here to kill the last one of you. What is the chance for me to live, especially when I have plans to hear? I'm going to show you. Here's what I'm going to do this day.
Here's what I'm going to do on this occasion. Of course, you're going to arrest me. You're going to put me in prison or throw me out of the country.
So the best way for me is to do taqiyah. I'm protecting myself for the love of Islam, for the love of jihad.
So I'm going to pretend to be a friend.
So the word of Allah is very clear. I should not take any influence of a friend except That I should guard myself from them. The word guard yourself from them means ah. You protect yourself from them.
So keep it quiet, keep it nice, take them as friends, according to the interpretation of the Greek Muslim scholar Ajalain. Take them as friends with your tongue, not with your heart. Why? Because if you take them as friends with your heart, you will never kill them. But that's not the goal of why Muslims are here in America.
They're here to perform jihad. They're here to invade this country. And slowly they're doing that. Yes, yes indeed. They can practice taqiyya on us.
And we can go on and on with so many types of lies and deception islands. Don't forget that Muslims follow Allah and Allah declared himself in the Quran that he is the best deceiver. As Allah stated, they deceive and Allah deceive and Allah is the best deceiver.
So deception and lies, all these are breaches of Islam, sadly, most American people do not know anything about. I'm speaking with Usama Daktak from thestraightway.org. And Usama, you're helping to educate us as we need to have a proper perspective on what is going on.
Now, I said at the beginning of this interview that the purpose of your ministry is equipping Christians and reaching Muslims. If you could, my last question to you, you've talked about helping to equipping Christians to understand the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic mindset, but could you also talk about your ministry in reaching Muslims? Absolutely. We have a great part of our ministry, which this is the presentation which I love to do in every church in America. The first thing is you have to know a little bit about Islam before you start ministering to the Muslim.
And we have a position that's called How to Witness to Muslim. Also, in our ministry, we have this small green booklet called The Straight Way to Eternal Life. The Straightway to Eternal Life. And I believe. I mean, the Lord can use anybody to minister to the lost Muslims.
As a matter of fact, I don't believe there's the special way or the perfect way to reach out to the lost Muslim of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I believe. At least there are three very important portions we need to study, we need to learn about, or we need to use to minister to the lost Muslims. The first one is we need to expose the lies which Muslims have been spreading for many years that the Bible has been corrupted, that the Bible has been changed. Because, I mean, face it, you can talk to the Muslim and he tells them, Jesus loves you. He died on the cross to your sin.
He's God Almighty. He came in the flesh. And he was buried and he rose again on the third day. And the Muslim will smile and shake his head as you may think, oh, they're smiling. They like what they're hearing.
No, no, no, no. They're smiling because they already know that. And we already know that to be falsehood. And the reason it is false was because somebody corrupted the Bible. But can you imagine if we take on the Quran?
And share from the Quran plenty of verses. Literally, in that green booklet, we only quote four or five verses, but in our seminar, has a Baba been corrupted. We talk about that for two and a half hours. Verse after verse after verse, the saying of Muhammad is the interpretation of many of the verses of the Quran, which assured our dear Muslim friends that the Bible is the perfect word of God, and no one can change the word of God. That is fact number one.
Now, Muslims believe also that the Quran is the perfect word of Allah, and if the Quran is a perfect word of Allah, why do I need the Bible?
Now we have the second portion of our green booklet, the straightway to eternal life, is we can use the Quran to prove to the Muslim that the Quran is not from God because Allah said in the Quran, had they not considered the Quran, if it was from others than Allah, they would have found in it many inconsistencies, which means if there is any contradictions in the Quran, that means the Quran is not from God. If there is any errors in the Quran, that means the Quran is not from God. And that is exactly the story of the Quran. One error after another. We also cover that in our presentation.
Is the Quran infallible? And boy, oh boy, we're talking about two and a half hours also, plenty of information. scientific error, historical error, immoral error. I mean literally sins beyond imagination all over the Quran. And we use that as the Quran to share with the Muslim and prove to the Muslim that the Quran cannot be the word of God.
So first of all, we use the Quran to prove that the Bible is the perfect word of God, cannot be changed, it will never be changed. We use the Quran to destroy the Quran because the Quran cannot be the word of God with so many errors and contradictions in it. And then we take the Muslims to the gospel where we share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Muslims. And the way I like to do it is not to go to the New Testament and hear what the Apostle Matthew said and here's what John said and here what the Apostle Paul said, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to use the New Testament, but I would like to use the Old Testament.
Why? Because there are plenty of prophecies written throughout the Old Testament concerning the coming of Christ, the deity of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the death and resurrection of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. And I will use the Old Testament prophecy to tell the Muslim, look. It's not something we invented in the Council of Nicaea 325. It's not something invented by the Apostle Paul or the disciples of Jesus Christ.
No, no, no, no. This is the fulfillment of the prophecies, which was written for hundreds of years before it ever took place, before it even was invented. Think about it. The crucifixion is mentioned in the Bible by David. One thousand years before Christ, even though crucifixion did not Was not invented or come to exist for 300 years after Christ.
How did David know the crucifixion of our Lord 700 years before the invention of crucifixion? It's very simple because he's a prophet and he was prophesying about what is to come in the future. Imagine using over 300 prophecies. In the Old Testament, and we will point at that case at one prophecy at the time to the fulfillment of these prophecies in the New Testament. And that is how I believe the best way, in my personal opinion, the Lord can use somebody else in many different ways.
to reach the last movement with the gospel of Jesus Christ. First of all, we have to prove the Bible is the perfect word of God from the Quran, not from the Bible, because they believe the Bible is corrupted. Second of all, we have to destroy the Quran, destroy Islam by showing them all the errors and contradictions and the huge amount of sinful teachings throughout the Quran. And then we take them back to the Bible, Old Testament prophecy and New Testament fulfillment. And that's how we can share the truth of the gospel with our lost Muslim friends.
Usama Daktaka. Usama, as always, we appreciate your insight. We want to encourage our listeners to go to your website at theestraightway.org. They can learn more about your ministry, learn more about how to equip themselves to understand the Muslim mindset and to be able to witness to those Muslims in the world. Usama, thanks so much for all that you do.
Look forward to talking to you again soon. Absolutely, brother. And to make it even better, if people will go to our website or call 941. 223-1703. We're one call away from coming to their church, to their political organization, to their synagogue, to their whatever place where people can gather together.
We would love to come and speak face to face and meet with people and we'll do all our best sessions. But once again, thank you so much for having me on and look forward to another chance in the future to have one more interview, Lord's Williams. Very insightful interview, Osama. You know, Rick, the other fastest-growing religion in the world is within Christianity, but not where we would normally think it. And that's why I thought we should get Mike Gendren on the program today with us.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Mike Gendren with us. He's a frequent guest on the program. Mike, as always, glad to have you on. Thanks for coming back.
Well, thanks for having me. It's always good to be on your show.
Well, Mike, we have you on because we like to talk about a lot of different things.
Now, you're a former Catholic. You now run an organization called proclaiming thegospel.org. And Jimmy and I came across this article, which talks about in the United States, Catholic churches are seeing a record number of conversions, and it's a real shift, is what the article says. Can you talk about this? Yes, Roman Catholicism is growing.
In fact, many much of their growth is coming from Protestant churches. And I recently did a message at the Masters' Seminary, and that was part of the message: why are so many Protestants converting to Catholicism? And when you look at it, it's really because of six reasons primarily. There's a great influence of Catholic apologists on social media. And, Rick, many of those Catholic apologists are former Protestants that know the scriptures well.
But what they do is they twist and distort the Scripture so it conforms to Roman Catholic traditions, many of which go against the Bible. There's also a strong influence of church fathers and church history That's influencing Protestants to leave their churches to join a church that has 2,000 years of history and Yeah, the Roman Catholic Church, for the most part, cannot establish its credibility in the scriptures alone.
So they want you to read the early church fathers. And by doing that, They say you'll be convinced that the second and third century church was Roman Catholic. But that's the furthest thing from the truth because you have church fathers on both sides of every issue, so you haven't really accomplished anything. And my principle is always we need to test the uninspired words of men with the inspired word of God. That must be our ultimate authority.
The third reason many Protestants are converting is they've been convinced that the Eucharist is necessary for the fullness of salvation. And Rick, you and I already have the fullness of salvation. We have the complete forgiveness of sin. We've been imputed or credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We have the assurance of eternal life based on the promises and power of God.
But the Roman Catholic Church says no, until you come home to the Eucharist, you won't have the fullness.
Well, that's interesting because Catholics don't have the assurance of eternal life. They don't know where they're going to spend eternity because it's based on what they do rather than what Christ has done, and they can never know if they've done enough. And the fourth reason Protestants are converting They were told that the Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation. And that's part of the catechism of the Catholic Church. You must belong to the Catholic Church in order to be saved.
But the fifth reason is really a problem with our Protestant churches. As you know, many of them are very worldly. They have compromised the gospel. They do a lot of worldly music. They've invited the world in.
So there's a lack of reverence and formality. And solemnity in many Protestant churches. And so, when a Protestant goes to the Catholic Church, they'll see the reverence. They'll see the formality and that draws them in. And the last reason, I think we need to lay part of the blame at the feet of the pastors.
They're not warning their congregation. that the Roman Catholic religion is apostate. It Departed from the faith of the apostles, and now it follows many doctrines of demons. Um I'm not saying this to offend any Catholic that might be listening, but just look at your catechism and look at the Word of God, and you'll see that there. is no unity between the two, and you really have to choose Am I going to trust my catechism or my Bible?
Because it's impossible to believe both when it comes to the issue of salvation. And that's the most important issue we all face. I'm talking with Mike Gendren for proclaiming thegospel. org. If you go to that website at proclaimingthegospel.org, you can sign up for Mike's newsletter.
I highly suggest you do that because there is so much good material coming out of there.
Now, just kind of apropos to what we were talking about right now, you answer questions from people that you know send in questions to you. And I want to read this and maybe you can address it somewhat how you did on the newsletter.
Somebody watched an interview with you with a you know a social media influencer and they said I'm quoting here. I must say you made over 30 assertions that are essentially incorrect about the Catholic Church. You believe that converting weak in the faith Catholics is doing God's work. They're saying this about you, Mike. You are a false prophet and a heretic that leads people away from the holy apostolic Catholic Church of Rome.
Can you address that? Yes, I can. It's always amazing to me how Roman Catholics will write emails and letters and even phone calls to us and they broad brass the accusations, just like this person did. You made over thirty assertions. that are incorrect, we'll name one.
Name one so that I can address it. But I don't make false assertions about the Catholic Church. As you know, Rick, all I do is quote their official sources. I quote the Catechism of the Catholic Church. And so if you think my assertion is false, take it up with your catechism.
But all I do is present the authority of the Catholic Church in contrast with the authority of God's Word.
So to call me a false prophet as this person did and a heretic without providing even one example. tells me a lot about the person's character. And I'm always willing to answer any questions, to sit down with Roman Catholics with their Bible and let God answer all of their questions for them. And that's really the best way to do it because we need to submit to the supreme authority of God's Word. The Catechism has no authority over Scripture.
And so ultimately, Catholics need to recognize there's only one authority that is supreme over everything else, and that's the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. Final question for you, Mike, as we continue to talk about this. I was looking at your website, and you have several. Meetings coming up, appearances at different places, different conferences in different churches. And I noticed that you're talking about how things that are taking place in the world today Are the catalyst for what God says is going to happen in the end times?
Can you explain that?
Well, sure, Rick. We know that the end times is going to be marked by A one-world government, a one-world economy, and a one-world religion. And and one of the Churches that I'm speaking at in South Carolina, I'm going to be talking about the catalyst for the global religion. And if you look at everything that's going on today, there is one religion that is really building bridges into all the other religions. And that's the Pope of Rome, the Roman Catholic religion.
is very strong in the ecumenical movement to unite all professing Christians under the power and influence of the Pope, but they're also building bridges into Islam And you may remember the Pope was recently in Africa building bridges into the Muslim community, and so. One of my messages will be the convergence of Islam and Roman Catholicism. And I share ten common characteristics between the two religions that will one day bring unity between these two global religions. And when these two religions come together, that represents forty percent of the world's population, and most of the other religions will follow suit after this takes place. And so it again, not to offend any Catholics, but it's all documented facts that the Roman Catholic religion has more in common with Islam than it does with Biblical Christianity.
And so if anyone's interested in that message, it'll be available. after I give it in October in South Carolina. Mike Gendren from ProclaimingTheGospel.org. As always, Mike, we appreciate your insight as we look at what's going on in the world from a scriptural point of view. We start with the fact that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God.
We work out from there, and again, we do everything in truth and love. Thanks so much for coming on the program. We look forward to talking to you again soon.
Well, thanks for having me, and blessings to you and your ministry, Rick. Great information, Mike. In our next segment, we're going to focus on the Jewish people, the legacy series, and Steve Herzig. with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah coming up. Right here on Prophecy Today weekend.
Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr. Rick and I are examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. That's right, Jimmy. And I have always felt that we are so blessed to be able to do what we do.
We've had the opportunity in our lives over the last 30, 35 years to what I believe is witness tangible evidence of Bible prophecy being fulfilled in Israel, in the Middle East, and around the world as it sets the stage for God's prophetic scenario to happen. Jimmy, we appreciate so much those that listen to this program. We appreciate those so much that support this program. If you want to find out more about our program and figure out a way to get more involved and a way to support us, go to our website, prophecytoday.com. Hopefully, this will encourage others.
to do what you can do. To help educate and edify the body of Christ.
Well, Rick, as always, our legacy series. And today we begin with Zachariah chapter 12, verses 2 and 3, with a focus On the city of Jerusalem. Then we will quickly move to a focus on the Jewish people during the tribulation period. The Antichrist, who has a false Messiah, has a plan for the Jews in that. Seven-year tribulation.
It will be worse than the Holocaust of World War II. in the nineteen forty four. At that time, God allows one-third of the Jewish living then to be killed. During the tribulation, which we'll focus on today, we'll focus on the two-thirds of the Jewish people that will be killed. That means two out of every three Jews alive.
in that time period just ahead will die. As we watch what's happening in the world today, let's go to Zechariah 13, verse 8, as we continue our study in the book of Zechariah. Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, and the Legacy Series. Jerusalem.
intoxicating Jerusalem, a burdensome stone you're not able to pick up. It's something too heavy to pick up and carry out. Jerusalem. The Jew will be the focus. Chapter 13.
and verse 8, chapter 13 and verse 8. With this attempted devastation, Antichrist at the controls, he's going to attack Jerusalem, but he's also going to attack the Jew. He has to annihilate the Jew. What's going to happen? Verse 8, chapter 13.
And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts thereof shall be cut off and die, but a third shall be left therein. And you say, wait a minute, that's talking about the land. The land, two-thirds of the land's going to be cut off, a third of the land's going to be left.
Now, wait a minute, you've got to read the next verse. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them with silver and gold, and will try them as gold is tried, and they shall call upon my name. The land doesn't call upon the name of Jesus Christ. It's talking about people. Two out of every three Jews are going to be killed on the face of the earth during this seven-year period of time.
The world's greatest Holocaust. Can you understand that? Look at the Jew. If you see three of them together, two of them. will be killed.
I believe in the very near future. Only one third. will be left. I tell my Jewish friends the Holocaust was bad. I denounce the Holocaust.
but there is a worse holocaust yet to come for you, my friend. Unless you turn to Jesus Christ. Two out of every three. Two out of every three are going to be killed, and that third will turn to him. But he's going to bring him through the fire.
He's going to try them as gold. He's going to protect them. You could write the word between verses 8 and 9. Petra. Petra.
I believe with all of my heart that's the location that God has. In chapter 12 of the book of Revelation, verse 6, he says, I have prepared a place for you. When you see the persecution coming. Flee to the mountains. Or it says flee to the wilderness there.
In chapter 24 of Matthew verse 15, he says, When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, flee for the mountains. And then he said, pray it be not in the winner. Interestingly, He is giving all the qualifications for the locations where he's going to take care of them, protect them. You see, Petra is a 25-square-mile impregnable city. Only can you enter it through the Sikh.
A Sikh is an Arabic word, which means a narrow gorge. It's approximately 18 feet wide at the widest point and approximately 600 feet high. And you go through about a mile and a third or a mile and a quarter, you get into this impregnable city. There's already God-made caves all over the place where people could be housed. Man-made caves, the Nebateans came in.
As you walk in, you see the beautiful treasury building. It's a five-story building. The Nebateans carved that thing. You won't believe it. How they carved it, they went up the top of the mountain, got on ropes, and they started lowering themselves down, and they carved from the top to the bottom.
I mean the building, the room inside, they carved in and then they started carving down. They were masters at carving. And there is a 5,000 seat Coliseum in Petra. And it's unbelievable. They're to flee to the wilderness.
This is wilderness. This is the desert out there with a mountain. But you know what happens? I was there and asked my Bedouin guide, how's the winter here? He said, We have six to ten feet of snow.
Here in the winter. Why did Jesus say, Pray at me not in the winter? I mean, you know, he knew what he was talking about. He knew what it would be like, so he's got this place prepared for him. It's prepared and they can know how to get by the way I have over there in my briefcase The peace agreement signed between Israel and Jordan.
You know what the main point in that is? It opens up the borders between the Israelis and their Jordanians. I put our son Jimmy on the street. He asked, man on the street operation, What do you think the most significant result of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel is? 96% of the people said, Now.
We can visit. Petrol. Jerusalem Post put a man on the street. When do you want to visit Petra? This week, next week, next month, next year?
76% say we don't want to visit Petra next year, next month, next week. We want to visit Petra today. You know why? God is put into the heart and soul of the Jewish people to know about Petra. I believe so, they'll know how to get there.
when the abomination of desolation shows up. When two out of every three Jews are being killed, attempted devastation, antichrist moving in with persecutions intensified in the last three and a half years, and God sets up a location, prepared place to house one-third of those Jews who are going to turn to Him. Look at chapter 14, verses 1 and 2. Chapter 14, I said Jerusalem in chapter 12 is going to be Jerusalem in chapter 14 as well. Jerusalem in chapter 12 becomes a cup to trembling, a burdensome stone.
Jerusalem chapter 14 becomes the battle site for all that's going to take place. Behold, in that day, what are we talking about? He defines it. In that day. In that day.
The day of the LORD cometh, and they spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee, for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished. In other words, they'll be raped. And the women ravished, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, either be killed or imprisoned. And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Here's the city of Jerusalem surrounded. You know what it says back in chapter 16 of the book of Revelation, verses 13, 14, 15, and 16? It's a parenthetical phrase in chapter 16 because chapter 16 of the book of Revelation is dealing with the vile judgments. But parenthetically, Jesus gives John something to say, and he says, look. You see the satanic trinity, Antichrist, Satan, and the false prophet?
Out of their mouth come spirits, demonic spirits. And what they do, it says there, they use signs. And wonders. and miracles. to attract all the nations of the world to the Battle of Armageddon.
Are we ready for that? Never in history have signs, wonders, and miracles. have been as prolific as they are today. Turn on any television Christian so-called, you'll see signs, wonders, and miracles, and you'll see lies. He said, don't you believe Christians have miracles?
I believe they do. I've talked about it before. But I know Satan performs miracles, and I know the people doing some of the things they say they're doing are not born-again people. And Satan is using some of these so-called. Christian leaders.
You better pay attention to what you're watching. You better try the spirits by the Word of God. Because Satan Is going to use signs, wonders, and miracles to bring all the people against the city of Jerusalem for the attempted devastation. that is yet to come. There is attempted devastation in addition to that.
there is anticipated deliverance. Here in 12, 13, and 14. We're going to see the deliverance, and it was anticipated. Why was it anticipated? Why did they anticipate?
The deliverance. of the Jewish people.
Well, Look back here with me in chapter 2 of the book of Zechariah. Let me just remind you about the visions that God gave Zechariah to give to the Jewish people. Remember in chapter 2, a man with a measuring line? What did he promise there? He promised that I will restore the people to the land.
And then he promised, I will bless the people. He says in there three times, I will dwell among them. He says in chapter 2, the Jews are the apple of my eye. I'm going to restore them. I'm going to bless them.
We then come to chapter 3. He sees a vision of Yeshua, of Joshua, the high priest, who is representing all the Jewish people. What does he say? I'm going to cleanse. The Jewish people from their sin, and I am going to re-instate them as kingly priests.
Now these are the visions that we studied through chapter 4. What does he see? A candlestick with two olive trees. What does he see there? He said, The Jew, once cleansed, once reinstated as a kingdom of priest, restored to the land with the blessings, shall be.
Hey. light unto the world. A light unto the nations of the world. What do we see in chapter 5? In the first couple of verses in chapter 5, we see that there's a scroll comes, and he says, You're going to be judged individually.
Execute judgment yourself because you're going to be judged individually. But then in the last part of chapter 5, verses 5 and following, he talks about the ephach. That has the woman in it. that the two women come out of like storks. They're dirty birds and they fly.
What are they doing? They are taking the sin of rebellion, the sin of idolatry, which are the two main sins of the Jewish people: rebellion and idolatry. They're taking them. the sin over to Babylon where it will ultimately be destroyed.
Now, if you have just seen... or heard Zacharias say, hey, listen to me. God has promised to restore you to the land. to bless you once you're in there. He's promised to cleanse you and make you a kingdom of priest.
He's promised to make you a light unto the nations. You better judge yourself. He's going to judge you. And he's going to remove your rebellion and your idolatry. If that's what Zachariah said to you.
What do you do? You anticipate deliverance. You know what? There's going to be spiritual deliverance. And that's exactly what Zachariah says back in chapter 12.
Look with me in Zachariah chapter 12, verse 10. There's going to be spiritual deliverance. Spiritual deliverance. Look what it says. In that day, verse.
Chapter 12, verse 10, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. In other words, he's going to pour out his grace upon them. That which he remember we talked about him removing his grace? What was Greece? That was The staff of Beauty.
He breaks it. Removes his mercy, removes his grace.
Now he says in verse 10: I'm going to pour out on the house of David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. Supplication. They're going to want to get right. Look here. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn over him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
There's going to be spiritual deliverance anticipated because of the visions that God gave Zechariah of what was going to happen in the end time. God's vision of the end times, which He gave to the ancient Jewish prophet Zachariah. Talks about a spirit of deliverance for the Jewish people. We saw that as we were looking at Zachariah chapter twelve and verse ten. And that is where we closed our study for today.
I wish I had more time to continue our study. We do not. We'll have to do that next week. Please join us at that time. Dr.
Jimmy DeYoung and the Legacy Series. But we're going to take a break and when we come back. I'll be talking to Steve Herzig with Friends of Israel on the Feast of Trumpets right here on Prophecy Today weekend. I'm Steve O'Dell with Mission Network News. Maharashtra state just became the 13th domino in India to fall to religious restriction, with an anti-conversion law now in effect.
Bible for the World's John Padaite says, Each time a state passes it, the restrictions get tighter and tighter, the penalties get more stringent. The law bans religious conversion through broadly defined allurement, making it easier to target Christian outreach. Yet God is moving. You thought every time a law like this comes out, we think, okay, it's going to shut down from there. And then often it's from the same very state that just passed the law, we'll get a request, you know, we need 20,000 Gospels of John here for our outreach activities.
I'm like, wow, I thought you guys would be backing off a little bit, but you're not at all. Pray the people of India know and follow Jesus. And at Transform Iran, Bible translation for many of Iran's ethnic languages is on the cusp of breakthrough. But your help is needed. Here's the beginning of John chapter 4 in the Gilaki language.
Lana Silk with Transform Iran says they have begun assembling translator teams for 20 other ethnic languages. These are local speakers who will create authentic content despite the great personal risk. We've had people arrested. We've had people who we still haven't a word for, that are unaccounted for. Silk says openness to the gospel is happening almost exclusively in the Persian-speaking part of Iran, but that's less than half of Iran's population.
Pray for the work and consider partnering financially to help spread God's word into more languages. Thank you for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries. We're listener-supported by people like you. Join us here on our social media network or stream our podcast on Amazon Alexa, iTunes, or TWR360. Together, the great commission happens.
Look for the links at missionnetworknews.org. That's missionnetworknews.org. I'm Steve O'Dell. Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., along with my brother Rick.
We have on the line with us today Steve Herzig. Everybody that knows our ministry when it comes around the Jewish holidays, we speak to Steve Herzig from Friends of Israel about what's taking place and to explain the Jewish holiday that is either coming up or just passed. Steve, before we get started on Rosh Hashanah, can you tell us what it meant to your family? That's a great question. Rush Hashanah is one of The high holidays, as Jewish people will call it.
It's a very important day. Uh it's the beginning of the fall feast. falls in the month of Pishre, which is September. October. This year all three holidays are in September.
And Rosh Hashanah is the kind of holiday that you have to have a special meal. Uh which we always had, the family gets together. I recall With great joy, going to synagogue with my dad. I come from a Orthodox background, which meant that the men sat in one side of the synagogue and the women sat in another. There was a dividing wall.
And so that was meaningful to me because I was with my father. I'm the only I was his only son. We had two sisters. And so the idea of this day is repentance. And you have to think about your sins over the past year and trying to make things right.
So we not only confess to God, There's actually a liturgy for the sins which I have sinned before thee, and then we list them. Uh and but you also want to repent to people. Things you have said, ways you have wronged them. And so for me, it's a special time. Apples and honey are eaten.
We greet each other with Lashana Tova, which means a happy year. A blessed year. It's the idea of We know that In ten days, Yom Kippur is coming And you're going to be sealed in the book of life or in the book of judgment, so you have 10 days. between Russia, China and then so My memories are it's a solemn time. The Bible talks about it in the book of Leviticus.
Uh as a Sabbath day, which means it's a holy day. It's a day of no work. It's a day of uh time spent with family and with God And after all, that's a wonderful thing, and it was for me growing up.
Now, from your perspective as a Christian, and if you were to look at that, how are Christians to relate to Rosh Hashanah? You know, there is an easy segue, at least from a Jewish point of view, to Christianity, and that is this. The Feast of Trumpets, which it's also called head of the year, Rosh Hashanah means head of the year. The Feast of Trumpets is the ho one of the names of the holiday in the Bible in Leviticus twenty-three. And the uh Christians We go to church, and depending on the denomination or the independent church that it might be, how often they celebrate communion.
But when we go into communion or breaking the bread or Eucharist, whatever it's called, Uh the Bible says in Second Corinthians, it says that we are to examine ourselves to see if we're in the household of faith. Paul's writing to Christians there.
Well That concept is a Jewish concept. That takes place at Rosh Hashanah. Where we examine ourselves, we examine our life. We find out where we've been short of what God expects us, and we confess it. We confess it before God, we confess it before man.
And so for me, The transition from Rosh Hashanah, from a Jewish point of view, is natural to a Christian point of view because There's nothing we can do on our own. Judaism teaches we can, we can do mitzvot good deeds. But once you read the the scripture, the Older Testament text is very clear. And certainly the New Testament, that there's nothing we can do in the flesh, no amount of works. Yeah.
to be holy. Only the Messiah, the Savior, can make us holy. But Rosh Hashanah teaches me. That, hey, I have to have a contrite heart. I have to examine myself.
And it's a contrast between an unholy person that I am and how holy God is, and how grateful I am. that God redeemed me through Jesus Christ. There's a passage in Genesis 22 called the Akita, which is a binding in Hebrew, in which Abraham takes his son and offers him up as an offering. Genesis 22 for the Christian is such a vivid picture of God. uh taking uh willing to offer his son And his son, Jesus, being willing To suffer and die.
In Genesis 22, Isaac asked his dad as they're journeying to Mount Moriah, he said, Dad, I have the fire, I have the wood, but where's the sacrifice? And Abraham says, Oh, the Lord himself. Will be the sacrifice, my son. And so you have the willing son, the obedient son. You have the father who loves his son, his only son.
And in the eyes of God, Abraham's son, Isaac, was his only son. He was willing to offer him, but he didn't, a ram caught in a thicket. But for us, we see the picture, the great gospel message, where loving God. is offering his Son, the second person in the Godhead, who incarnated on the earth Lived, breathed, Lived a human life as 100% God, 100% man, and then was willing to. To suffer and die for us.
It's a great picture, I think, and a great transition for us as believers.
Well, if you look at it, we as Christians don't observe the Jewish feast. But we have an application that we can take from them. And the Feast of the Trumpets, the shofar, the call to action that's blown repeatedly throughout this period, it's a call to action for the Jewish people. But if we were to take that alert, that urgency that that is tended to create, and we were to translate that to Christians, what would be that call to action for us as Christians today?
Well, we know that as you described, the shofar being a call. It's a call. It's a reminder. It's a call back. It could be if Jews that were outside of the wall, safety behind the wall, they blew the shofar.
Joshua blew the had the shofar blown and the stones came tumbling down that wall. The chauffeur is a call. And as Christians, We wait for a trumpet to last. We really do. And that trumpet blast is described in 1 Thessalonians.
Knowing that at any moment God can call his church to be with himself, it is a reminder, a call to action. The time is late. It is great. The need is great. We need to be about the Father's business, which is to communicate biblical truth.
communicate the gospel message, which is exactly what your radio program is doing on a weekly basis and what the whole De Young family has wanted to do and continues to want to do, which is a wonderful blessing so that people can grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ And also communicate the gospel wherever they can. I think that trumpet call is a great reminder for us as believers. that it's getting close to the midnight hour. Amen. Thank you for that exhortation and thank you for joining us today, Steve.
We look forward to talking to you again soon.
Hey, thanks a lot. Excellent encouragement. And, Rick, we are listening for that trumpet. 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.
