Ep.55: War In Iran

Welcome to "Ask Me Anything" with Frank Santora. This is the podcast where we give you biblical answers to questions that you may have on your mind, have wanted to ask, or have been afraid to ask. Here we talk about it all!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Here is a prophecy about the weakening of their military, about the way they're weakening the military is going to be weakened. It's going to come from far away, the four winds of the earth. This is where it's going to happen. But then God's going to sit his throne there. And one of the things that's happening in Iran right now is there's an underground movement of Christianity that is off the charts. And so one of the things that we always have to realize is oftentimes God brings tremendous revival out of circumstances that look really horrible.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Matt, are we good? Yeah, all right. That's all right. We're a little unofficial today. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Welcome everybody to another episode of Ask Me Anything. I'm Frank Santor. This is my co-host, Ronald Juliet.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

What's up? How are you? I'm feeling good.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

How's those glasses doing today?

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Great.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Are those fashion glasses?

SPEAKER_03 1:01

These are these are mostly fashion glasses. Thanks for calling me out. Thanks for having me admit this.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

The only reason is I left my I left my real glasses.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

But they are blue tint though. So they helps with, you know, helps with the computer stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

So they're really that way.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

I've heard of people who do this before.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

But I feel like I'm starting to have to squint more nowadays. You know, looking at um, I started giving our kids uh fish oil.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Fish oil. Yeah, yeah. To make it three.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

But well, if you're the one to squint, then why are you giving them the fish oil?

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Well, because it's not for it's for brain support and and overall health. I took it as a kid. I took fish oil as a kid. Okay. But I'm turning it over and looking at the directions to see, you know, the serving amounts and how often, and I'm like having to like adjust here and there. Oh, okay. This is not true.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

I thought you were going to say in for poor ice, you need to take two.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

No, so I heard growing up that carrots, carrots were permanently rise, but I don't think it's true. I think that's just another little I love carrots.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Really? I'm I'm I'm a big fan of carrots.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

I can't say I love carrots. I would say carrots.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Hold on, I got notes coming in, guys. We we we're very unofficial here, so we can we can just do it. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

Yeah, I would say uh I'd like carrots in something, like in a in a nice stew or something like that, but to just be walking around eating carrots.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

How about how about like carrots with maple syrup? You ever have them? You lost me.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

You meant to say yams. You meant to say sweet potatoes.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Same type of thing, man. No, it's not. Yeah, it is. It's very it's you know what I've been on lately?

SPEAKER_03 2:25

Well, speaking of sweet potatoes, I've been doing sweet potatoes and ground beef. Oh man. Listen, sweet potatoes, ground beef, cottage cheese, and hot honey.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

I've seen this. Yes. This is a this is a trend.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

You didn't just make it up. It's a trend.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

It's a trend, yeah. No, do you do you do it where you cut the sweet potato in half? You you you turn it over face down, you sprinkle the back side with with Earl, uh-huh. Right? And then you roast it.

unknown 2:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

And when you when you and then you let it rest, and when you lift it up, it's caramelized on one side.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But your ground beef, 97 lean, though. 97 lean, so not a lot of fat.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

You know, just so you know, depending upon how you're eating, the fat content may or may not be the issue, though. Because high fat content on a low carb diet is actually better for weight loss.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Yeah, but it's the right kind of fats, though. Yeah, yeah. Well, sweet potato fats the right kind of five. I put avocado with it as well, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

No, I know all the tricks, bro.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

All the shits.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

I know all the tricks. I know how to make all the the low carb uh, you know, uh few ingredient desserts.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Bro, I mean I got one for you though, man. Tell me too much. I was telling your daughter-in-law about this last night. So you get non-fat Greek yogurt. Yeah, you get a scoop of vanilla protein, and you whisk it together. Get it all blitzed. Oh man, it's so good. Frozen berries, almonds, a little zero sugar uh uh chocolate fudge, bro.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Yeah. Oh, you that's that's good, but I mean, the same type of ingredients, you can make ice cream out of that. Here's a banging ice cream. You ready for this? Yeah. You get you get the Greek yogurt, you get the cottage cheese.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

But you told me that already. You already told me that.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

You get you get you get dates.

SPEAKER_03 4:08

Yes, for sweet.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Dates, and then you get um monk fruit sweetener.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

And and you and you make that into an ice cream base, and uh, bro, and then you put a little uh uh caramel on.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

This was like deja vu.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Did we talk about this last week? I don't know, but it's just good. It's just good. It is good, it's good. Matter of fact, I'm gonna go home and have some tonight. All right, yeah, yeah. So what's happening?

SPEAKER_03 4:30

What is happening? Um, you know, listen, uh all my life I have managed to go through life.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

There's a song that sauce out like that.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a love song.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

No, no, it's not. There's a Christian song. All my life, you have been face.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Well, that's not the that's that's not the title of the song.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

There you go. Let's go. So good. Turn it up. So good. Turn it up. I got some chops. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Just because I'm asking you to sing doesn't mean you have chops. That means I just want to hear. We've never, this is the first. This is the first.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

That wasn't that bad.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

It wasn't that bad. Towards the end, I felt like pride started to creep in. And so your nose started to nose started to win a little bit, you get a little more pitchy towards the end. That pride maybe comes before a fall.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

But I think you got something to work with if you ever want to teach me. You do. You just I'm thinking that there might be a little angst there. I feel like, you know, if I haven't learned it could be this could be a problem.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

I I feel like, you know, not being able to sing is your thorn in your flesh to keep you humble. That's too much to keep you dependent on Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

That's yet to be determined. I mean, I I think I might be able to pull it off, but I just haven't ventured out into that into that lane yet. Well, you know, and and and it I but in fairness, I should try because you got all these worship people trying to, you know, skip their lane and come into the preaching department. So why shouldn't the preachers go into the worship department?

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Well, because some of the preachers can't hold the note. That's that's that's basically it right there. You know, but but you should take it as a form, it's a form of flattery, man. We we admire what you guys do so much that we want to, you know, aspire to be dislike you. Well, anyway, I so yes, I was saying I've been singing and playing piano all my life, instruments, all these different things. I've managed to go through life um without breaking any bones.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Oh, this is the big reveal.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

This is a big reveal I didn't even know.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

And last week, you know. Um last week, man, I messed around and I had a moment of flesh, moment of cardinality. I my my emotions got the better of me, and I got into a fight with the door. Was it the song I fought the law, the law one? I fought the door, and the door won. And the door won, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

When you were growing up, I have no idea where you're teaching. No. No, it was the song you you teach the kids the different kinds. Yeah, but not thumpkin. Yeah. That's the way it's called? Yeah. Well, one of the lines was I don't know what the song is called. Where is Thumpkin? Where is Thumpkin? Here I am. Really? Here I am.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

I mean, I know this. I've never heard of Thumpkin, though.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Thumpkin, yeah. Somebody can help us out with that. What am I talking about? I'm sticking in my mind right now. I thought it was Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Yeah, a lot of fables were made with that same melody, though.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

So wasn't that where you you know you go like this?

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Um, no. Yeah, you know maybe in an Italian home. Maybe. Maybe an Italian home. I don't think we had any thumper in the black. Well, nevertheless, so I broke my fifth metacarpal. Um broke my fifth metacarpal, and so I had to have surgery on it on Monday. And so um, you know, I'm I'm feeling real helpless, man, because it's my dominant hand. Uh-uh. I want to play the piano so bad, I I miss it, you know. And so here I am now having to nurse this. And uh we got a I got a big assignment in a couple of weeks, man. So I gotta get this thing off.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

You do. Uh, who are you playing in the play?

SPEAKER_03 8:03

I'm playing uh Jesus himself.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

I'm playing uh I'm honored to play that role, man.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

We're going to play Jesus again, baby.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

We are very modern church.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Uh speaking of which was going on with the speaking of which, five free performances.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Broadway imagined. Reimagined. Reimagined. Yes. Um we're we're telling the Easter story through the famous songs of Broadway. Yes. Friday, March 27th, 7 p.m., Saturday the 28th at 3 and 6, Sunday, March 29th at 9 and 11:30. Pastor Ronald is playing Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Yes. The man himself.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Jesus, the man himself?

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Are you doing anything like costume-wise, long dreads? Yeah, yeah. You are. Yeah. They're doing the dreads. Oh, yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Jesus with dreads. Oh, yeah. Didn't you write a song about Jesus with dreads? And isn't that one of the lines in the song? Yeah. How's it going?

SPEAKER_03 8:54

If Jesus walked the earth today, would he have dreads? Would they be great? I wonder what kind of clothes he would wear.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

That doesn't sound familiar. Can I get the melody?

SPEAKER_03 9:02

It's on iTunes, it's on Spotify. You can look it up. It's called What Would Jesus Do? WWJ.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

It's actually a great song. Um, speaking of great songs, uh-huh. This coming Easter.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

This coming Easter.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

We are officially releasing not one, not two, but three, right? Three? Three. Three Faith Church originals on Easter. And man.

unknown 9:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

We're going to have a good time. It's going to be good. We're going to have a good time. Very good. So you want to come out for that? And then we also have our obviously our Easter services coming on. The Easter series this year is going to be called From Garden to Grave to Gone. There are little mini invites right there. And that's we have Good Friday services at 7 p.m. and then Easter Sunday service at 9, 11:30, all of our locations. So you can check all that out. Gonna be good. So that's what's going on, man.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

This is for every church. This is like, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

This is this is the Super Bowl. Super Bowl, baby. This is this is go time.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

So March is that month. We're grinding, man. Long days, but you know, it's gonna be great. It's all worth it.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

All worth it. So um a lot of other things going on too. You know, um, you know, anything else going on in your world? I just became a grandpa. Yes, congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Melani Chalet, uh uh Lachey.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Lache.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Joseph has officially arrived. She is uh nine pounds, two ounces, nineteen inches long. Those are the stats. Wow. And uh, matter of fact, right before here, I was there, I was uh holding her for about an hour, and uh I just keep telling her, I'm your number one spoiler. That's right. I'm your number one spoiler.

SPEAKER_03 10:42

That's right. Uh well, congratulations, obviously, to you and the family, man. I'm so glad Nicole's doing well, healthy. I mean, I was gonna say, are is it are you allowed to announce it first? But I realize by the time this airs, it'll be announced. It'll it'll be known.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Yeah, they I mean they've already let everybody, you know, who needs to know know, and the rest is kind of you know as it drips.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know how you know how it goes. Once once once a few folks know.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Yes, that's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

Well, that's awesome, man. Wishing uh uh Kaishawn and Nicole and Milani an amazing, happy, amazing, fruitful life. Yes. Amen. All right, praise the Lord. So uh I think we talked enough about all the all the uh pleasantries, and now we're gonna get into the meat of today's conversation. There's there's one specific thing that's going on today. It's a very, very serious thing. And so we wanted to try to like uh create some context and have a conversation um around uh this uh well uh some people are haven't called it a war just yet, but it is a conflict uh between uh Iran and and uh the US and uh and uh Israel. Israel, yes. And so there are a lot of implications here, and so we want to try to bring some context because there's a lot of different points of view that you can look at this war from. And so we want to try to lean in on the the the man of God himself, the theologian himself.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

My my expertise is is Bible.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

My expertise is not political, my expertise is not historical. Um I mean you gotta know a little bit of that kind of stuff to keep your context straight. Um and and there are different ways to look at this, right? There's the the historical context, there's the the political context, but the most important one for us as believers is is the uh biblical and prophetic context. And we we know that anything that surrounds Israel is uh something that uh catches our attention, right, uh primarily because we know end time events revolve around Israel and the Middle East. And so whenever these things happen, Christians begin to ask questions. You know, what does this mean in terms of what the Bible says about the end of time? And um, you know, the the the basis for this needs to start with what Jesus said in Matthew 24. He says, You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, see that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. He says, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And so um one of the things that I want to set the stage with is that global conflicts are an inevitable part of living in a world. Yes, right? And so these are things that are constantly gonna happen. What makes these this one interesting is is the players that are involved, and specifically Israel and Iran. Um the US involvement is consequential, but but not in terms of really deciphering what the Bible has to say about things. Because, um, and we'll talk about this a little bit, the Bible is virtually silent on the US's involvement in end time events. There are some different points of view on it. I'll mention those as we get a little deeper into it, but it's virtually silent. So, what really draws our attention as believers is Israel and it's Iran. And um, you know, I would encourage people to go back and study the history, um, you know, the the the over hundred-year history of the interactions between Iran and Israel and the United States, and you know, some good, some bad, you know. Um not I'm not here to speak really from that point of view. Um, but I think we need to address what the Bible has to say about this. Yeah and I think the first takeaway is this that when you think of Iran, modern day Iran, you have to really think of um two biblical terms. And the first one is Persia, because you won't find the word Iran in the Bible, but you will find Persia over and over and over and over again. And the other word that you find is Elam in the Bible, and that's southeastern or southwestern Iran. Okay. And both of those are really essential to understanding Bible prophecy. Um, and so um I'll give you a couple of uh scriptures so people can write these down and go back and look, but but uh Persia is is frequently addressed in scripture as a powerful empire. Um Daniel identified it prophetically in Daniel chapter 8, verse number 20. He says, The ram which you saw having two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. So he recognized it then. And then in Ezra chapter 1, verse number 12, thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem. And so one of the things you see that that Persia isn't always negatively talked about in the Bible. Yeah, sometimes it's actually God uses Persia uh actually to assist and help Israel. And um Esther takes place, the story of Esther takes place in Persia. Esther um, you know, opens during the Persian Empire under King uh Arxer Xerxes. I always pronounce his name wrong, and it says um uh it it says in in uh actually King Ahazarus often identify historically as Xerxes I. Okay, now here's what it says. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahazarus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces. That's Esther 111. Now, so Persia is a huge landmass, and and modern day Iran is huge. I mean, geographically, it's it's enormous, right?

SPEAKER_03 16:36

90 million people, I think.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Is it that many people? Yeah, it's it's it's big, it's populated, all of that. Um, the capital of this empire um was Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire, and that's located in modern Iran. And the entire story of Esther takes place um within the Persian Empire, and so it demonstrates to us um Persia's central role in the biblical world and the biblical theme and and in end times. And so the other term we should be familiar with is Elam. And um Elam was was uh an ancient kingdom that eventually became part of Persia, and it's also referred to in the Bible in Daniel chapter 8, verse number 2. He says, I was in Shushan, the citadel, which is the provin province of Elam. That's also, again, um uh northwestern Iran. And so um Elam refers to a specific region inside of Iran. I keep getting it wrong, but it's the southwestern part of Iran near the Persian Gulf. That's exactly where it's located. Now, here's where this thing starts to get really interesting. There's a prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 49 and verse number 34 through verse number 39. And um, here's what it says The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam. And here's the word I will break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might. Jeremiah chapter 49, verse 35. In the ancient world, the bow symbolized military strength. So here's the prophecy that there's gonna come a time in history when the military might of Elam or Iran is gonna be broken. It's gonna be it's gonna be severely weakened. And then it says, Against Elam, I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven and scatter them. I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies. Jeremiah chapter 49, verse 36 and 37. And then he says this, and this is really unusual. Follows that all, so he talks about the weakening of Iran's military, and it talks about the weakening of Iran's military coming from the four winds of the earth, from a faraway nation. Okay, and then it says, I will set my throne in Elam, which is kind of really weird because here is a prophecy about the weakening of their military, about the way they're weakening the military is gonna be weakened. It's gonna come from far away, the four winds of the earth. This is where it's gonna happen. But then God's gonna set his throne there. And one of the things that's happening in Iran right now is there's an underground movement of Christianity that is off the charts. And so one of the things that we always have to realize is, and I'm gonna talk about this at the end part of uh today's podcast, is oftentimes God brings tremendous revival out of circumstances that look really horrible. One of the things that we do see in Iran, again, no matter where our political affiliations lie, is the people of Iran themselves are rejoicing that their um, what do you call their government structure has been overthrown. I mean, they're on the streets, they're rejoicing. It's it's long known that they were a tyrannical type of government, and so the people are really happy about this. And here's how the prophecy ends it ends with hope, and he says, But I will, but it shall come to pass in the latter days that I will bring back the captives of Elam. And so there's hope for the people, even of Elam or Iran. So here's the prophecy destruction of their military power, scattering of the people, divine judgment, eventual restoration, and revival. That's happening right now. Now, is this the fulfillment of that exact prophecy? We don't know. But here's what I would say, and we'll see this again as we dive deeper into it. It's at least, from an objective point of view, a beginning of that whole structure that's happening there. At the end of time, Israel's arch enemy right now is gonna be militarily weakened. Um, there's gonna be a revival that's gonna happen, that military weakening is gonna happen, not just from Israel, but from the four winds of the earth. That's where the United States could play into this, right? Because we know right now what is happening unequivocally is that Iran's military capabilities are being wiped out. Um, all their missiles are being wiped out, all their ability to launch missiles, all their nuclear sites, all of that kind of stuff. Now, many of the people who teach prophecy um believe that ultimately what's going to happen in the Middle East is going to be some type of nuclear stuff that goes on. Okay. And so the fact that this is weakening the power of Iran from a nuclear point of view and a missile point of view is biblically significant. Now, here's a second part of what the Bible says prophetically it says that there's going to be a coalition between Gog and Magog that attacks Israel. And that's found in Ezekiel chapter 38 and verse 39. Here's what it says it says, Son of man, set your feet. Face against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubul. Now, uh Magog originates in the table of nations that's found in Genesis chapter 10, verse number 12, where it says the sons of Japheth, Wagomer, Magog, Medei, Javon, Tubul, Meshach, and Tyrus. That's the table of nations. And basically, here's what this prophecy is saying when you understand who Gog is in the Bible, Magog, Rush, Meshach, and these other nations that are mentioned. Ezekiel is referring specifically to, and he says it in Ezekiel chapter 38, verse number five: Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, are with Gog and Magog. Gog is Russia. Magog is the prince or the ruler of Russia. So what the Bible talks about is in the end times, there's going to be a coalition of Russia, Persia, the other nations that I just mentioned. What's that? Turkey is one of them, Cush and Put, one of them is Turkey. India, I think it was the other one. India is the other one. These all come together to form a coalition that attack Israel. Matter of fact, the reason why we know that this forms is because of these prophecies, but the prophecy even gets a little bit more specific. In Ezekiel chapter 38, verse number six, it says Gomer and all its troops, the house of Togermore from the far north. This is actually clarifying to us the far north again being Russia. So it's southern Russia, this area that is the far north, oftentimes historically, it's Magog and the descendants that have migrated into the Eurasian uh parts of the world. And that's southern Russia, Ukraine, uh, Kazakhstan, areas of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, kind of in that direction. So also when you read ancient history, Josephus connects Ma uh uh Magog with the Scythians, the nomadic peoples living north of Israel. So when you put this all together, this aligns with what what Ezekiel prophesies when he repeatedly says in Ezekiel chapter 38, verse number 15, that the people who are going to attack Israel are from the far north. So that's Russia. Now here's what we see. Even though Russia hasn't officially, right, and this this happens, we talked about this a little bit, all throughout history. There are nations who don't officially enter the war, but they enter the war. They enter the war by supplying weapons, by supplying intel, all of that kind of stuff. So Russia is already on record, right, as they were giving Iran intel onto where uh U.S. all that kind of stuff, right? So we could see that alliance happening already. So again, is this the exact prophecy? That would probably be too far, but it's definitely the setting of the stage. We can see the alignment of all of this kind of stuff begin to happening. Um the other thing that is interesting about what Ezekiel prophesies is he says this, that Israel's condition when Gog and Magog happens is gonna be there's gonna be absolute peace. That Israel's gonna be able to live and in what the Bible calls unwalled villages. Okay, Ezekiel chapter 38, verse 11, you'll go up against a land of unwalled villages, a people gathered from the nations dwelling in safety, Ezekiel chapter 38, verse number nine. So, um, and what happens is the invaders, they come to plunder Israel. Um, Ezekiel chapter 38, verse 13, have you come to take plunder? So, because Israel today, right, and this is why I say this is, I don't know if what's happening now is the predecessor to it, um, the setting of the stage for it. Um, but Israel today is not living in unwalled villages. They're living, they're living on edge. They're there, it's there's not a place where they feel they can absolutely live in uh safety without having to worry about any of this kind of stuff. Now, here's another interesting thing. Where what's China's role in all this, right? Because people often think about that. Well, Revelation, um China's not mentioned in Ezekiel 38, but Revelation says in that the Great End Time Battle, the kings from the east might be prepared, and it says that the number of the army was 200 million. The only nation that has population that can make that happen is probably China. Okay. So the alignment, right, of this is is like you said, it's it's it's Russia, it's Persia, it's it's Iran, um which is Persia, it's Turkey, um, it's India. They're all gonna come together. China might be involved in it somehow, some way. Right now, China is kind of, you know, officially staying out of it. But again, there are always proxies and you know, intelligence sharing and different things like that, and weaponry. And, you know, I think even North Korea recently said that they would supply Iran if uh certain things happened. Um, so all of that's kind of going on. Um, here's the one place that the United States could appear in Ezekiel chapter 38. Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshus and all their young lions will say to you, Have you come to take plunder? This group questions the invasion but does not stop it. Okay. Again, this is why if this is, and most people blink Tarsus may refer to the maritime trading power, often associated historically with regions like Spain or the Western Mediterranean, young lions could also represent colonies or offspring nations of those maritime powers. Because nations like the United States historically developed from European powers such as Britain, some prophetic teachers speculate that the young lions could represent Western nations, including the United States. Okay. Okay. So there's speculation about that, but that's not, it's just a guess.

SPEAKER_04 28:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Right? So scripture doesn't really specifically mention the United States. Now here's what it does say at the end of Ezekiel chapter 38. It says, not a military alliance destroys the invading armies, but that God Himself does. Here's what it says: Ezekiel chapter 38, verse 19 and 20. Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. I will rain down on him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. And then God explains why in in verse number 23. He says, Thus will I magnify myself and sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. And so here's the picture that's being painted. There's gonna come a time when Iran is gonna have their military really, really weakened, missiles taken out, nuclear capabilities taken out, all that kind of stuff. When that happens, Israel is going to be able to live in unwalled villages. There'll be a time of settled peace in the Middle East. Okay? We can also see that happening now because a lot of the Arab nations are joining the Abrahamic covenant. They're signing the Abrahamic Covenant, they're they're joining with that. They are actually on the US and Israel's side right now, primarily because Iran shot missiles at them. And the reason why Iran shot missiles at them is because they were cooperating with all this kind of stuff. Maybe a foolish tactical mistake. Uh, the new whoever of Iran actually tried to walk it back a little bit so that didn't get the Arab nations against him. But there seems to be the setting of the stage, right, for there to be this real chill, peaceful time in the Middle East.

SPEAKER_04 30:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Everybody's gonna think it's great. Everybody's gonna think amazing, this is what we always wanted, peace in the Middle East, and blah, blah, blah, blah. And then out of nowhere, an alliance is gonna be formed, right? Between Russia, Persia, or Iran, and the other nations that we and they're gonna invade Israel. And it's gonna seem like they're gonna be able to overtake Israel. There are gonna be other nations that are watching from the outside, going, ah, you came to plunder, but they're not gonna be involved. Maybe one of them is the United States. And then supernaturally, God is gonna show up and he's gonna defend Israel, and everybody's gonna know that he's God. Now, these prophecies are pretty much agreed upon by all Bible scholars that this these prophecies, this is what it's talking about. Having said that, it's hard not to see how what's happening now is not at least the alignment of these things, right? And here's what we need to realize whether the moral reasons are right, wrong, or indifferent, there's a bigger something going on, right? Because we know that every nation in the existence of history has blood on their hands. Yes, that every nation in the existence of history has done things pretty much for the same reasons power and economic prosperity, right? We can't ignore the fact that this is all oil is in the background, this is all a fight for supremacy on who's gonna control the economic order of the world. Yes. This this is all weakening or an attempt to weaken China's position as the potential leader of the economics in the world. President Trump has not he hasn't been shy about saying that he wants to weaken China in these areas. So there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes from the geopolitical point of view. Sure. Be that as it may, God, the Bible says, removes kings and raises up kings. There is, and and sometimes God uses nations that aren't even godly nations in order to move stuff into place so that his prophetic calendar can come into order. And so what I see really happening through all of this is exactly that. This is at the very least a stage setter for those prophecies to come to pass. And that's why I think it's it's interesting. Yeah. And I think that's why we should all kind of keep our eye on it.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

Wow. Wow. Thanks for that crash course. Uh in uh Ezekiel prophecy, specifically around uh chapter.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel 38 and 39. That's the that's the big one if you're gonna go home and kind of read it. The other one is um uh I mean another great one is is Zachariah, where it talks about Jerusalem becoming the center of conflict, right? And it's Jeremiah that prophesies about you know the invasion and all of that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

So I I I think that that's that's a great sort of summation. I have a couple of questions that I want to ask. So um when we talk about Israel, the the nation of Israel, there's a lot of controversy around um the promise and the covenant and the you know the the land promise. Can you speak a little bit about you know, kind of how we got here with Israel? I obviously most of us know 1948, the world kind of recognized Israel as a as a state, you know. Um and so there are there are people, and I know we'll I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of dispensationalism or pre-dispensation. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole, but I think it bears to mention like how how we as believers should look at right, Israel becoming its own state. And and I guess the question is um when we talk about the the promise, the land of Canaan versus the whole world, in in uh Romans chapter 4, verse 13, it says Abraham would inherit the world, not just the land. So I I guess my question is where do we parse this land of promise that God promised Israel versus what Paul is talking about in the sort of like the wall being torn down between Gentile believers?

SPEAKER_00 35:16

So, I mean, I think there are two separate things, right? First of all, um there is definitely something to be said about the geographic importance of the nation state called Israel. All of the prophecies revolve around that. Yeah, right? The prophecies don't revolve around Jewish people in any part of the world, they they revolve around the nation state of Israel. Um prophetic teachers have also taught there'll be a great returning to that nation, that nation state. Now, just because just because God selects a nation, like Israel to be his own people, um, doesn't mean that God himself approves of everything that they do.

SPEAKER_04 36:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

Because I mean, you could see it in the old covenant all the time. God disapproved of tons of things that Israel did. So just because there's that covenant promise and that all prophecy revolves around that, doesn't mean that God himself says, Yep, I agree with that. Yep, I agree with that, yep, I agree with that. Just like we love the United States, but we don't agree with everything that that has ever been done in the United States. So I think what happens sometimes with believers is that we think that because of the prophecies about that revolve around the nation state of Israel, that that means that we have to agree with and and think that Israel's right in everything that they do. And we have no obligation as believers to put our stamp of approval on everything that any nation does.

SPEAKER_05 36:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

The the key what we do is we judge every action by the word of God. People who are in covenant with God can do wrong things.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

And and and that's okay. I mean, every human being is gonna do wrong things. So I think that's really where we can go overboard is is we think, well, God's behind this, and God's behind that, and God's behind this, and God's behind that. Right. Where what God is behind is the master plan, right? God is behind eventually moving all of this thing, all of these things toward the prophecies that we just read, so that Jesus could ultimately be magnified and glorified. And notice the beautiful thing about this is in everything that's happening around Persia, what is part of the prophecy? That there's gonna be a revival in the people of Persia coming to Christ. God loves them too. Like we think like God hates Iranians. Yeah, God hates Arabs.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Not so.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

No, God loves them, God wants them saved, God wants them to see Jesus. And that's part of what is going to happen in these in these end time events, is that Christ is gonna be magnified and seen as the one because God's heart in all of this, right, is not just to save Israel, right? Not just for his people to be his people and for his people to spend eternity with him, but for as many people who are not his people to spend eternity with them. And that's why us, the Gentiles, we're not the chosen people, but we've been grafted in and we've become, you know, the people of God, his people. And anybody, and anybody can be. So I just think that we need to be careful about that because oftentimes we align or uh make decisions on what's right and wrong by our, you know, our love for something or someone. Yeah. You know, we do the same thing with America. America can never do anything wrong. We we look because we love America, right? But everybody does things that that aren't expeditious all the time.

SPEAKER_03 38:49

Yeah, it's good. Um, you mentioned earlier about, like you said, about someone doing wrong versus not doing wrong, and we can bring that down to the to the singular person group. Like, you know, I love you, but if if I recognize you're doing something wrong that that is that goes against the character and the nature of who you claim to be as a believer, what should my responsibility be? It should be to call you out.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Call me out, talk well, talk to me, right? You know, we as we as believers don't dismiss wrong because we like someone or something or a party or a nation or whatever the case may be is yeah. We can have those conversations and we could say, This is not right. This is the but what we have to also realize is there's a bigger picture at play.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

There's the natural and the spiritual. Like one of the things that Daniel talks about when Daniel gets understanding of the vision that he had, and he prays and he seeks the face of God for 21 days. And then finally, you know, the angel appears and he says, What took you so long? And he says, The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days, and I needed help. I needed Michael the archangel to come and help me to win that battle. And so what we see behind the scenes is is spiritual warfare over that area.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Right? So it's not that it's not that the the people are the devil, right? Right. Or the the people are this or that. It's that the spiritual influences over the people, over those regions move people sometimes in different directions. But despite how people are being used or otherwise, God still wants to save all of those people.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Yeah. Uh I would tell you a funny story, real quick. When I was in college, um uh this Jewish girl liked me. Uh she liked me a lot. And um, and I was I was genuinely nervous because I'm like, like, I talk I talked to my pastor, I'm like, and I was young and gullible and naive at the time. I was like, it's like, you know, she likes me and and and and you know, I don't really like her that way. But do I have to like, you know, I know it sounds crazy now, you know, do I have to like her back? You know, so I so and I'm that was just a little funny question.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Well, because because she was because she was Jewish. Oh, so you thought you had the obligation and automatically of love. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:13

So so but I know like throughout the course of of my existence as a Christian, you know, we we see we see this, we post this. I've I've I've posted it throughout maybe a time or two about standing with Israel, right? So the idea of, you know, no matter what, or seemingly, like you said earlier, we have to stand. But we see examples even in in scripture where God sort of like pours out his wrath on on a on a on Judah for standing with on different parts of Israel.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Yeah, yeah. And sometimes even anoint and empowers nations who are pagan nations to defeat Israel.

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

And part of that is judgment for them doing the wrong thing.

SPEAKER_04 41:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

But that never that never takes away God's ultimate design and covenant and care for them.

SPEAKER_06 42:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

And so, listen, a lot of the reason why we have stood with Israel for a long time is because it served our best interest. Right? Um, so there's spiritual reasons, that's what we talked about before. There's spiritual reasons, there are historical reasons, there are their geopolitical reasons. All of those I'm gonna leave for people who are much more educated and astute in those things than I am. My expertise is Bible and how I see these things playing out and what they're saying to us as believers. And for me, what they're saying to us as believers is look up your redemption draweth not. Yeah. That these things are, you know, if if at the very least, the beginning of birth pains, they're the beginning of sorrows, they're the setting of the national stage. And we do know that these kind of events are going to happen to reset the geopolitical stage in the Middle East.

SPEAKER_06 43:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

And this very well may be one of those events that has that kind of consequence to it.

SPEAKER_03 43:07

Yeah, yeah. And and it definitely appears that way, just through a through a biblical, a prophetic lens. Um there are there's a growing sentiment, right or wrong, but there's a growing sentiment in our country by by by some sex of Christians, um, by some non-Christian, atheists, or whatever the case may be, who um say one of two things that says the people in in Israel right now are not the true Jews, right? What would you say to those people?

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Um I mean, this is kind of like one of those questions where uh it depends what you mean by the true Jews. Right. Right? So, like the there's a scripture that says not all Israel is Israel, right? There's even a scripture that talks about that. Um you know some people even believe that that we are now, you know, as as in Christ, you know, the true Israel. I think for me, there's something to be said about the nation state, but there's also something to be said about Jewish people abroad, right? I think that I support, you know, their covenant, their special identity in the eyes of Christ. I also support their right to have a homeland. Okay. Um, and you know, that's also difficult because God in the Old Testament clearly gave Israel the land, including what they've been fighting over for years and years and years. Now, histor history caused it to change hands, and some could see it as Israel taking away what didn't belong to them. But if you go back to biblical perspective, these were places that God identified as belonging to Israel. So as a Christian, that's where my heart and my stand is on the situation. Um, but I think that you know what people are doing when they ask those questions sometimes is trying to look for ways to avoid biblical prophecy and teaching. And I think we just ought to let the word of God speak for itself. Yeah. That we know that the nation state of Israel is absolutely a key geographic location of all of end time events. Yeah. And the people that reside in it, you know, um eventually God's people are going to return to it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Um, I wrote a few more questions down I want to ask because I think that these are kind of pivotal to, then we'll try to we'll try to transition. Um and again, I'm not trying to go down the the the commerce the the the uh the tension between dispensationalism or non-dispensationalism.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

I'm a dispensationalist, yes, yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:53

Um so so again, Galatians chapter three, yeah, verse twenty eight says if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Yeah. Here's the question: if believers in Christ are Abraham's seed, according to Galatians, does that mean that covenant promise is fulfilled in the church rather than the ethnic nation?

SPEAKER_00 46:17

So I think that the particular promise that God is referring to there is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Okay. And specifically us having salvation through him and the Savior coming through the loins of Abraham.

SPEAKER_05 46:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:37

And that's what that scripture is referring to. And so that's available for anybody, whether you're a Gentile, whether you're a Jew, whether you're an Arab that gives your life to Jesus Christ, you become heirs according to the promise of Abraham and all of the inheritance that belongs to you in Christ once you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior. I think there are specific promises that are made regarding the nation state of Israel and the Jewish people that are not part of that. Those promises being that they will eventually see Jesus as the Messiah. Yeah. Right? Eventually worship him. Yeah. Eventually God will set up his rule and his millennial kingdom in that part of the world. That's where the throne of God will be established. That's where Jesus will return again on the Mount of Olives. All that is unique to the nation-state of Israel and the Jewish people.

SPEAKER_03 47:35

That's good. That's good. I have one more question, and you kind of you kind of hinted at it, but I'm going to ask it anyway because I think it's it's it's healthy dialogue. Um in Exodus chapter 19, verse 6, um, scripture refers to Israel as a chosen race, right? A royal priesthood, a holy nation, right? We see that same language, those same titles titles in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9. So here's the question: why would the Apostle Paul apply Israel's covenant language to the church? And you kind of hinted on the same title.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

I think it's because the the rights and privileges and positional authority and justification and righteousness that we we receive in Christ applies to us whether we are Jewish, Gentile, or whatever. Yeah. But then there are those specific things that are specific to Jewish people, the nation-state of Israel. Um and I and I think that's the distinction. But one of the other things that I really think is is powerful about all this is there's a biblical pattern of divine reversal that happens around the 17th day of the month of Nisan.

SPEAKER_05 48:52

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:54

The 17th day of the month of Nisan is, for example, when the Red Sea was parted. It's for example when Haman was hung on the gallows. It's when Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Divine reversal is the theme. Haman being hung on the gallows was a divine reversal of when the Jewish people were going to be extinct by Persia.

SPEAKER_04 49:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:22

Right? What I find particularly interesting about that is this conflict is happening right around the time of Easter. Right around the time of the resurrection of Christ, the Lent season, and who knows whether the timing will be exactly on the 17th day of Nisan. But I think it's kind of unique that this these prophecies are hinting to this divine reversal.

SPEAKER_05 49:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

And we're entering a time that is typically celebrated as divine reversal. Not just divine reversal for Israel, but divine reversal for the people of Iran, in terms of them seeing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And this absolute swelling of revival of the underground church in Iran coming to Jesus Christ. That's like a divine reversal. And so there are things that, here's what I what I always think. There are things that every believer ought to always celebrate. Seeing people flock to Jesus, no matter what the circumstances are that surround it, should be something where we're like, God, look, God, you're even using a conflict like this. And let's let's not whitewash it. War is war.

SPEAKER_04 50:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:43

People die.

SPEAKER_04 50:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

Families lose loved ones. It's tragic. It's tragic. You know, I mean, we we mourn over, I think there were seven of our soldiers lost so far. I don't know if the number has gone up.

SPEAKER_05 50:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:58

But we mourn over our seven. But what about the countless that are have lost loved ones in Iran?

SPEAKER_04 51:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

And in that, in that part of the world. I mean, it's horrible. And even in the midst of all that, what is happening is revival and people coming to Christ in just record proportions in Persia.

SPEAKER_03 51:19

Yeah, that's good. That's good. Well, we're going to transition now. I mean, I, you know, the question that the the uh ask me anything question that we got, it kind of you kind of hinted at it just now, actually. So we're gonna move on to that portion of our of our uh podcast now, the Ask Me Anything segment, um, brought to you by Faith Worship. All right, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 51:40

It's a song we're featuring. And we're featuring a song.

SPEAKER_01 51:43

Yeah, well, are we gonna put it put a little clip of the song East? Which one are we which one are we slipping in? I think I think Calvary, name it.

SPEAKER_00 51:53

So the three songs that we're releasing, by the way, you know, are Calvary, um, you know, Easter Good Friday song. Yeah, um, The Name, uh-huh. Which and and my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

My favorite again and again. We're we're gonna take the gospel world by storm. Let's go. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

Let's go. Here's a question. As a believer, in this war, do we have to choose a side, or can we just choose the side of life?

SPEAKER_00 52:20

Um, so I tend to think that if you're an American, obviously, right, you're gonna choose America's side. Um and you're gonna want what's in the best interest of the nation of America, right? I always look to choose God's side in whatever the circumstance and situation is. Um, and the reason why for me, I look at it and say, I'm choosing to look at this through a biblical paradigm. And the biblical paradigm is this is setting the stage for the Lord Jesus to return. And so I root, I root for that. I'm not gonna hide the fact that I don't root for America. I'm not gonna hide the fact that I don't root for, you know, I'd rather us have economic world dominance than China have economic world dominance. I'd rather us have control of oil than some other nation have control of oil. I mean, it's it's it's it's selfish, but I'd rather that be the case. And the truth of the matter is, to some level, everybody roots for their own.

SPEAKER_04 53:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

Right? So, but I think that the thing is this that don't ever choose to side with something that is biblically clearly wrong. And that's the thing we have to be careful of is that as we root for our nation, our national interest, and all of that kind of stuff. The other thing to remember here is there is a there is a religious war happening in all of this, right? Yeah. And and you know, clearly, clearly, Islam in its in its um radicalized form is an extraordinarily evil and uh aggressive and perverse religion in its radicalized form. There are a lot of people who practice the Islamic faith who don't necessarily subscribe to that, don't necessarily even know all of that, um, and they're not the radicalized people that we see. But the agenda of Iran and the specifically the um the leadership that was in place was without question, unequivocally, to radicalize Islam. And that's where there's also a religious war happening behind the scenes. And so there is a lot of um there is a Christian versus Islam backdrop to this that is also a subject for another another podcast, but that's definitely happening in this.

SPEAKER_03 55:02

Yeah. And just for a quick sort of educational thing, so when Pastor Frank talks about uh the really radical, um radicalized violent version of the Muslim faith, um, there's there's so there are two types of Muslims. There's the Shia and then there's the Sunni. If I'm if I have my numbers correct, I think the Sunni makes up about 90% of the Muslim faith. And they're they're you know, they're just kind of living their life, but then there's that radicalized 10%. That's that's really wanting to see death to Christianity, death, you know, and that that is what the what the leadership of Iran is.

SPEAKER_00 55:36

They're the radicalized portion of it.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 55:38

And that's why you have Hezbollah, and that's the radical wing of it. And you know, they actually train to you know do the things that uh they in their radical way profess. One of them is death to the great Satan. Yeah, and that's America.

SPEAKER_03 55:54

Yeah. All right. Um, so now we're gonna move on to our uh real life react, is where we watch uh uh a reel and we react to it in real time for the first time. So here we go.

SPEAKER_02 56:05

Will come on Israel from the north and the south, and then that will be the final war, the war to end the war, so it will occur in the end of time. And this is the question are we entering into that war right now? And if he can put it in mind, it mentions native mag and mega mog. That's the uh that that would be like modern day Russia. It also mentions Kaza and Zeke her in the nine. That corresponds to modern day a land. What we do know is that if I land enters the war, then Kersia and Russia will probably go with the modern man will be more coming in time. And if all of the world powers start attacking from the north and the south start coming to attack Israel, that would be the war to the world. Because we know how that battle is. But the Bible says exactly at the moment when it looks like all hope is lost, forgotten for the descendants of Isaac, then the Lord himself, Jesus Christ, will descend. He will take the battlefield and he will win the war once and for all.

SPEAKER_00 57:13

So so that's Josh Howarton, and he's pretty much saying what we just kind of laid out. Yeah, um, here's what what I think though. I don't think this is that war. I don't either. And and the reason why I I don't think this is that war is because I am a dispensationalist. Yes. Okay. And and the way that the Bible lays out, um, and to me, it's it's a very clear thing. I know to some people it's not, but to me it is, is that we are now living in the church age um or the the dispensation of grace. And in order for all of this stuff to really take place, the church age has to come to an end. Namely through the rapture of the church. Um, and Daniel's 70 weeks is really where I hang my hat on in terms of interpreting Bible prophecy correctly. It talks about there'll be 69 weeks to the cutting off of Messiah, 70 weeks to the fulfillment of the law. Well, we know that 69 weeks to the coming of the Messiah has already happened. We know when Jesus was was was cut off, was crucified. Well, there have been more than 70 years that have taken place than that. In the Bible, each week is 70 years, 490 total years. So there has to obviously be a gap in time, a break in time, because the last week, the last 70 years has not taken place yet, because that's when it describes all of these events. So if the time were continuous, it wouldn't make any sense. So there had to be a break in time. That break in time is spoken about by the Apostle Paul as the mystery, the the thing that was hidden since the beginning of the time. And that mystery is the grafting in of the Gentiles. That, see, what Jewish people thought was going to happen is when Messiah showed up, he was immediately going to usher in the millennial kingdom. And that was going to be the fulfillment of the law. Well, something interrupted that. It was called the mystery dispensation, the time of the Gentiles. What the Bible teaches is that that time comes to an end with the rapture of the church, and then God's prophetic time clock continues from there. And so, because of that, because of what Daniel says about the 70 weeks, because of what you know Paul writes to the Thessalonican church, to the to the Corinthian church about the rapture. Um, because of all that, I don't believe this is the war unless, unless the rapture happens like kind of now.

SPEAKER_03 59:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:00

Which which still wouldn't completely line up with the way that the Bible describes the end time events, because the Bible also talks about um the end time events beginning with three and a half years of absolute peace on earth, where there is a um false um religious world leader that comes and sets up peace, you know, on the earth. And then I know what people are thinking right now. Well, maybe that's Donald Trump, right? Um and then what happens is he eventually demands that worship be given to him, and the Jewish people see him as the Antichrist, and then the abomination of desolation set up in the temple, right? That's the middle of the, and then all hell breaks loose, then the judgments upon the earth break loose, then the battle of Armageddon, then the return of Christ, then the millennial reign.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

Well, speaking of which, you you you know that there are reports that the military uh uh officers have uh and again uh I was just talking to one of the other pastors about this. It's so unfortunate now that we're living in a time where you just don't know everything you hear now, you you don't know what you have to vet it to believe, you have to vet it. And even the vetting, you have to vet the veters and all these other things. But there's a report, I don't know if you've heard this, that they have uh the military officers are telling the soldiers not to worry because Donald Trump has been anointed by Jesus to usher in Armageddon and that Jesus is gonna come back and and kind of have you heard anything about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

I haven't heard about that, but it doesn't surprise me. I mean, you know, there's been how many times have we labeled a president as either the antichrist or you know, the person or the savior? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's happened all throughout history. I mean, when somebody gets this entrenched in Middle Eastern activities, right, it's it's a common reaction of people. I think what's more likely in this situation is it's setting the stage for that. I think that this is the predecessor to the events that we described being set up so that all the rest of the stuff can happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:01

Yeah. All right. Good stuff. All right, and not last but certainly not least, we want to hear from uh our good friend Ralph.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:10

Can I say it?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:12

Go for it. The first thing is what Ralph has to ask today.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:33

What does reconciliation look like in conflicts rooted in history and trauma?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:40

Wow. Um, I mean, there have been so many uh peace accords that have been made in in the history of the world. And typically when peace accords are made, they're made for one of two reasons. Either everybody loses a little something that they wanted, so there's compromise, or some persons losing one nation is losing so much that they have no choice but to surrender and sign some type of peace accord. Um, you know, again, there were numerous reports out there that there were uh peace talks that preceded all of this, and that there were uh opportunities given to prevent military action from being taken. And again, as if you depending upon where you're listening, um supposedly Iran didn't want to hear any of those things, and uh that's what prompted the US and Israel to then act. Um so you know, we're not in those discussions, but but in any case, uh, you know, there's always either peace to where everybody can live with it, everybody either gives a little bit, or there's peace because uh one nation or another nation has no choice but to say, okay, we we we cry uncle.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

And that's how history has kind of went.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:12

You know, peace, peace treaties are not always because everybody thinks this is favorable to us. Absolutely. Sometimes they just think that the alternative is just yeah, we can't, you know, it's extinction.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:23

Um, yeah, this is uh these are some uh very uh dynamic times we're living in right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:32

Here's what it motivates me to do, though. Like we ought to be about Jesus' business. Yeah. Like at the end of the at the end of the day, it motivates me to think does really much else matter?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

We need to lift Jesus high so that all men are drawn to him. The biggest thing that we can do for people is give them an encounter with Jesus Christ. And that's what I hope motivates people as they hear all this, not fear, because at the end of the day, um, you know, we have that eternal security in Christ.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:02

And that's what I was going to say. You hit on it, and I think our real life reacted on it too. Like there's so much hope in that prophetic uh uh word that Ezekiel's giving in 38 and 39, and we have to lean on that. And so um the idea of us being fearful, of being fretful, of us trying to sort through all of this. And you know, I I love having, you know, you and I talk about stuff like this all the time, the more geopolitical side of things, you know. But at the end of the day, that's the goal. The goal is we know that at Jesus is coming back.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

And so if we should be about our father's business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:35

And not let this also distract so much of our time and attention, especially during the passion season.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:42

Where, you know, we ought to be lifting up the name of Jesus. Yeah. And if anything, all of this points to the fact that his word is true. Yeah. He's coming back, and he's he he is not a way, but he is he is the way.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:56

Yeah. E Way. Yeah. Beautiful. Awesome. Well, I think this is another good podcast, man. I hope that you guys um listen to this, learn because I've I've definitely learned a lot from uh from this one. And um uh share this with your friends and your loved ones. Subscribe, you know, uh so you can get the notifications when a new episode comes up. Uh, I don't know if we'll be here next week because Pastor Frank is in full grandpa mode.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:16

So easy. They're gonna have to peel me away from that little girl. I am her number one spoiler. I've already been telling her, I've already been whispering in the ear.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:30

Well, listen, thank you guys for joining in. I'm Ronald Julian. This is Pa Frank Santora. Yes. Join us next time for Ask Me Anything.