Scott Moore: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family Podcast" with Steve Demme.  I'm your host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How  are you today? 

Steve: If I wasn't bald, I would say harried. Today, we're going to talk about  something that I noticed in my Bible reading. Let's pray. 

“Father, thank You for Your word. We know that every word is inspired. We know that  we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I pray that as we  contemplate these words today and these two characters in Your divine plan, You will  draw near to us, help us, and give us ears to hear what You're saying to us today in  Jesus' name. Amen. 

Scott: Amen. 

Steve: I have been reading in 1 Kings 18, which is always inspiring as Elijah, with  God's help, takes on 450 prophets of Baal. I have been to Mt. Carmel. They have a  statue on the top of Mt. Carmel of Elijah with his foot on the neck of a prophet of Baal  and his sword raised high. 

It overlooks the Valley of Esdraelon and the town of Megiddo, which is where we get  Har Megiddo, Mountain of Megiddo. It's a very significant place, and even as I  describe it, I'm standing there in my mind. 

What I noticed was in the 19th chapter, Elijah has been told that Jezebel is going ti  take his life. I'll start reading in the third verse "Then he was afraid and he arose and  ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant  there. He himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat under a  broom tree. 

He asked that he might die saying, 'It's enough, O Jehovah, take away my life, for I'm  no better than my father's.' He lay down and slept under a broom tree, and behold, an  angel touched him and said to him, 'Arise and eat.' He looked, and behold, there was  at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. 

He ate, drank and lay down again. Then the angel of Jehovah came again a second  time and touched him and said, 'Arise and eat,' for the journey is too great for you. He  arose, ate and drank and went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to  Horeb, the mount of God." 

You know the rest of that while he's there, he's in a cave. God speaks to him. First,  there was the great wind, then there was the earthquake, and after that, God spoke to  him in a low whisper. What I noticed was he went to Horeb, the mount of God, and  based on two meals provided by an angel, he went 40 days and 40 nights without  eating.e drank anything. 

My first thought was, "Boy, this is almost identical to Moses meeting God." I looked,  and sure enough, it speaks of Horeb several places in the Bible, I chose Deuteronomy  5, "Jehovah our God made a covenant with us in Horeb." This is where the children of  Israel went after they left Egypt ‑ they went to Horeb. 

Let me go back and read who else met God at Horeb ‑ it was Moses. In Exodus 3, the  first couple verses, "Moses was keeping the flock of his father‑in‑law Jethro, the  priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to  Horeb ‑ the mountain of God. 

The angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He  looked and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Moses said, 'I'll  turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush isn't burned?' 

God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses,' and he said, 'Here I am.' Then he  said, 'Do not come near. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you  are standing is holy ground.' He said, 'I'm the God of your father, the God of  Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Moses hid his face, because he was  afraid to look at God." 

We know that then, after he led them out‑them, the children of Israel ‑ out of Egypt,  they went to Horeb, the same place where he met God. Their God, not only met him  again; he met the whole nation. He gave them His law. He made a covenant with  them, and Moses went up on the mount for 40 days and 40 nights. Then he came down, broke the tablets, went back up for 40 days and 40 nights again.  The only other person I knew who had [laughs] been 40 days without eating was Jesus  himself. Here we have Moses ‑ 40 days, 40 nights on the mountain of God. That's  what he called it ‑ Horeb, the mountain of God. 

Elijah, when things get rough, Jezebel's trying to kill him. He flees to the mountain of  God. Now, I'd like to tuck in a little something here. this is interesting. When Elijah ‑ and I'm going to ask you a question, so perk up here now, buddy. When Elijah went a  day's journey into the wilderness, what kind of tree did he sit under? Scott: I don't know. I could guess. 

Steve: A broom tree. 

Scott: OK. 

Steve: I would never have noticed that except when I was in Israel in 2003, had my  sons with me. We took a class in geography of the land. There was a certain tree there  that during the night would soak up moisture and during the day would release it. It  was like an air‑conditioning unit. 

Scott: Weird. 

Steve: I thought, "I wonder if Elijah was sitting under this air‑conditioning tree."  That's how I call it in my mind. I have a friend who knows a lot more about Israel than I do, so I texted her this morning ‑ or message ‑ and said, "Was that a broom tree?  Was that the air‑conditioning tree that we learned about in 2003 when we were  there?" 

She said, "No. It was a tamarisk tree." I looked it up. It only appears three times in the  Bible. Genesis 21. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on  the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God. Abraham planted one. 

Then two other places this word appears, has to.do with Saul. It says Saul was sitting  under a tamarisk tree in Gibeah surrounded by all his warriors. Now, if I was in Israel  in the heat of the summer ‑ by the way, it's been almost a 100 degrees here where we  are for the last couple days ‑ I would like to have a tamarisk tree. [laughs] That's  before they had AC. I would sit under it during the day as well. 

Something I didn't notice until I started digging was this is where Saul was buried.  After he was killed, he and his sons, the men ‑ I think of Jabesh Gilead ‑ they went  over, took his body, and buried it under a tamarisk tree. 

I wonder if it was the same one. I wonder if that was like Saul's place where he met  with his troops and his advisers, and perhaps that's why they buried him. I don't  know. It doesn't say for sure. Don't you find that fascinating? 

Scott: Well, it's wild. 

Steve: Well, it was cool, and you really could feel it. If you stood real close to this  tamarisk, you could feel this moisture. Now, I don't know if you've ever been in  Phoenix in the summer. That's when they have their homeschool convention. Must be  when the convention centers are cheaper. 

It was 115°F when I was out there. When you walk out the door of the hotel to go to  the convention center, they have mist blowing. It's almost like a cloud, and it blows  out of these little, whatever you call them, little plumbing units, and it mist, but it  cools you down. God had the idea first when He planted a Tamarisk tree. Now, we have Moses and Elijah, and we see the similarities. We see the similarity with  Jesus, who also spent 40 days and 40 nights. In Matthew 17, first three verses, " After  six days, Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John, his brother, and led them up into  a high mountain by themselves." 

There's different thoughts on that. Some people think it's Mt. Tabor. I personally think  it's Mt. Hermon because Mt. Tabor, while it's big, it'd be tough to be there by yourself.  You can it's pretty visible. Regardless, we don't know for sure. 

" While he was there, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as  light. Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him." Isn't that  fascinating? Here's Moses and Elijah now together. Both have passed on from this life.  Moses was taken on the top of a mountain before they entered into the land. 

Elijah was taken up in chariots of fire. I think that's what it was. If I remember, I have  to go back and look at that. Elisha was watching him, but these two men are now  there talking with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. We that Peter didn't know  what to do and he said, "Would you like us to build you some tents?" [laughs] Then  Moses and Elijah disappeared. 

I think that's fascinating to me. Here's the last one, and here's why I find it  fascinating. Malachi 4, the last three verses in the Old Testament, I'll say this before I  read the passage. I have been involved in the home education movement for over 40  years. I've watched it begin. I've watched it grow. I've been involved in it. I think I know almost all of the key players from speakers to state leaders to lawyers  who've defended the rights of parents to Raymond and Dorothy Moore, the founders  of home education. I think I've met about everybody that was involved in this  movement. If you would ask me, "What do you think home education is in the grand  scheme of things?" I would've quoted Malachi 4:6. 

"He hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."  That phrase right there is what I would have said, "I believe, home education about.  It's about the restoration of the family. It's when fathers are turned towards God first,  but then they're turned towards their children. The hearts of the children are turned  toward their fathers." 

I don't think there's anything that touches my heart as deeply as seeing when I'm go  to these conventions to see families walking around, and you can tell they're all  comfortable in their own skin. They like their parents. Their parents like them. Scott, your own family, it's beautiful. I love looking at your pictures on Facebook of  your sons that are a lot like you. You enjoy life, but you like each other. That's a mark  of something that I think has been missing in our culture, and God is renewing it and  restoring it. The whole context is I'm going to start with the fourth verse and read  through the sixth. 

"Remember the law of My servant, Moses. The statutes and rules that I commanded  him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great  and awesome day of Jehovah comes. He will turn the hearts of fathers to their  children and the heart of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with  a decree of utter destruction." 

That's the end of the Old Testament. Next thing we know, you know who appears in  the scene? John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. In my journey,  again, for as long as I've been speaking at conferences, much of those 40 years, I  have quoted Deuteronomy 6:7. 

When somebody asks me, "Why are you home schooling?" I said, "Well, I read the  Scriptures. I believe it's parents' responsibility to train their children." The verse that,  was like my Magna Carta for our home was, "You shall teach your children diligently,"  which I took to mean teach them the Bible - Have family worship time - Read the  Scriptures together as a family.  

Then you shall talk of them, these commands, when you sit in your house, when you  walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Then, coupled with  Malachi, the turning of the heart ‑ those were the two passages that shaped my  journey. 

Interestingly, in 2012, when God took my journey to a different level, it was from  Deuteronomy 6:5‑6. "Before I can teach my children to love God in his word, I need to  love God with all my heart, soul, and might, and His words will be on my heart. Then I  can teach them." 

Again Deuteronomy, which was where we find the words of Moses, and Malachi,  which we find the words about Elijah turning the hearts of fathers to their  children.period. Moses provides this great foundation. That's why verse four says,  "Remember the law of My servant Moses. Remember him." 

Then right on top of that, he says, "Then I'm going to send you Elijah." There was  something special about Elijah that when he died, his spirit didn't die. I should put it  this way. Then Elisha got a double portion of his spirit, and then John the Baptist  comes in the spirit and power of Elijah. 

I found that really interesting how these two men are woven together from Exodus,  from Kings, from Matthew, [laughs] through Malachi, and I owe a great debt to them.  I'm not sure how the spirit of Elijah is working in our day, but I have continued to pray  that God would continue to restore families and turn the hearts of fathers to kids and  kids to fathers. 

We know that this has to happen before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes,  which we have not seen yet. Prior to his coming, the great and terrible day, there's  going to be a restoration of families, and that's what I see when I see the home  education movement. 

The math is good. It will do better and win spelling bees, and all that stuff, but I think  the bigger picture is the restoration of the family. All right. There you go, brother.  There's a lot to respond to. 

Scott: I could not agree more as far as the homeschooling goes and all that. I agree  with all the rest of it as well. The connections you're making here, I mean, you've been  doing this for years now, for me anyway, making these connections. The more I read the Bible for myself, the more I realize these aren't random  connections that we see in Scripture. 

Steve: To me, the little link was that 40 days. 

Scott: Then Horeb. It caused me to dig a little deeper. When I did, I said, "Wow, that's  awesome." This is where Israel went, Horeb. I wonder if we should do a little series of  studies of really significant places in the land because the land is tied into this. I  mean, they didn't go to any mountain. They went to Horeb. 

Scott: Right. 

Steve: Their experiences were similar. God spoke to Moses on Horeb. God spoke to  Elijah on Horeb. God spoke to the children of Israel from Horeb. [laughs] There's a lot  to that. Amen. Well, it'd be fun to hear what people think and if they have any  questions, Scott will tell you what to do, and you can [laughs] reach out to us. You can  ask questions. You can give us feedback. 

I love to hear from people that are listening. Every once in a while, I get an email and I  get a question, and it makes me know that Scott and I are not doing this for our own  edification. That's very helpful. Let's pray. 

Father, thank You for these nuggets that You've revealed in Your word. Thank You  that as Scott said, they're not little interesting stuff. You are the one that wrote the  Bible. You're the one that placed them there, and You've written everything for our  edification. 

Teach us what we can glean from this. Help us to continue to have our eyes open and  our ears peels, so to speak, or vice versa, so that we can hear what you're saying to us  and see what you want us to see as we read your word. In Jesus' name. Amen. Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the  Building Faith And Family with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the show,  email Steve at spdemme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.