Program 43: Jerusalem & the End of the World:

The prophetic expectations of all three Abrahamic religions center on Jerusalem.

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Hello, and a warm welcome to today’s program on WLC Radio. I’m Miles Robey and with me is Dave Wright.

Dave Wright: Hello! And thanks for tuning in.

Miles: Have you ever been to the Holy land, Dave?

Dave: No. Always wanted to, but no, I haven’t had the chance. I’ve seen pictures friends have taken. It’s really interesting. Have you?

Miles: Actually, I have. A couple years ago my wife and I were able to join a tour; went all around. Someday, I’d like to go again and this time, take the kids. It was really fascinating.

Dave: I’m sure it is. It’s the place that birthed three world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Miles: That’s actually what I’m wanting to talk about today. The role that Jerusalem plays in all three Abrahamic religions.

Before we get started though, I just want to give our typical heads-up to our first time listeners. Scripture repeatedly urges us to “call upon the name of the Lord.” Well, when you look up that word, “Lord” it actually gives the Father’s personal name!

It’s a real pity it’s been translated as a title when the original gives His personal name and that is Yahuwah, or Yah. The name of the Son is similar, and that’s Yahushua, which means Yahuwah saves.

You might also hear us use el, or elohim. These are Hebrew titles that refer to Yahuwah.

Anyway, I just want to get that out there so if you’re joining us for the first time, you’ll know who we’re talking about.

Dave: Always a good thing to have clarified.

Miles: Right!

The other day, my daughter was watching some YouTube music videos and one of the videos she watched was of a song by Paul Wilbur entitled, “These are the Days of Elijah.” Ever hear it?

Dave: No, doesn’t sound familiar.

Miles: Well, Paul Wilbur is a Christian singer who, I don’t know if he does it every year, but he will hold this concert in Israel at the time of Feast of Tabernacles and Christians from all over the world flock there. It’s a pretty big event. I think the video she was watching was filmed during one of his concerts there.

Anyway, it’s a real feel-good song. You listen to it and you just want to go out and do great things for Yah. And watching the video, you could see the entire audience was swept up in that same feeling. The third verse goes:

These are the days of Ezekiel,
The dry bones becoming as flesh;
And these are the days of Your servant, David,
Rebuilding the temple of praise.

And when he sang that last line, you could hear this huge up swelling from the audience. Everyone was cheering. It gave me chills. It’s a really beautiful inspiring song. But I just found it interesting: out of this entire feel-good song, the line that got the most attention was that about rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem.

Apparently, that’s a really big thing, and not just among Jews, but among Christians, too.

Dave: It really is, Miles. A lot of very sincere believers are very dedicated to doing everything in their power to help rebuild the temple. They’ll give offerings self-sacrificially to contribute to the building up of the temple.

Miles: I know part of that is based on Yah’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 that says, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee.” [Genesis 12:3]

But is there anything more going on there? Why all this focus on Jerusalem, and rebuilding the temple, and, most importantly, are there Biblical grounds for this? Is this something we should know about and participate in, too?

Dave: I’m glad you asked, Miles. Jerusalem is unique in that it holds a central, emotional attachment for the world’s three largest monotheistic religions.

What’s more, these three religions share a common ancestry, each claiming a descent from Abraham, either by blood, or as a spiritual descendant.

While Judaism and Christianity–I’m just going to refer to them as Judeo-Christianity–while they’ve traditionally ranged themselves together against Islam, these three religions are strikingly similar in many significant areas.

In addition to claiming a religious descent from Abraham, all three religions have some beliefs in common.

Miles: Well, I know they all believe in one supreme deity and all three accept the Old Testament as a holy book. What else?

Dave: All three claim that the Messiah/Saviour/Mahdi of the other two is anti-Christ.

They all want a theocratic dictatorship ruled by their Messiah/Saviour/Mahdi.

They also all believe that end-time destruction can only be survived by their religion being uppermost.

And, finally, all three have apocalyptic expectations centering on Jerusalem to establish a theocratic dictatorship.

Miles: Wow. That’s a recipe for trouble if I’ve ever heard one. That’s really scary when you realize that significant numbers of all three religions either teach, or act on, the concept of Convert or Die!

We hear about the acts of violence committed by Palestinians against Israelis all the time. But the many instances of innocent Palestinians, and even foreigners, American citizens, and others who are baited and antagonized by Israeli troops—and even killed outright! That rarely makes the news.

Dave: Rarely, if ever!

Miles: Right, and yet such atrocities by Israelis against Palestinians and others are an on-going reality. So what gives? Is this why we never have peace in the Middle East?

Dave: Well, actually, yes. A lot of different scholars have worked hard to expose the Zionist agenda behind many, many different wars.

Miles: I’ve read some of that. Including collusion with the Nazis during World War II!

Dave: Boggles the mind, doesn’t it? But you take it all together and a really alarming picture starts to emerge of an all-out war for theocratic dictatorship leading to worldwide control. And, what’s even scarier is that this theocratic dictatorship is envisioned at the cost of the annihilation of all other religions.

Miles: Whew! That’s a mighty bold statement, Dave. Can you back that up?

Dave: I believe so, yes. Let’s take a look at Islam, first. Muslims are looking for a coming Mahdi that will be the redeemer of Islam. They believe he will come and rule for a period of some years before the Day of Judgment. They also believe the Mahdi will rid the world of evil.

Now, what’s significant is that, just like Judeo-Christianity, Islam has an agenda focused on Jerusalem, too.

Miles: What’s that?

Dave: During the last twenty years or so, there’s been a real increase in war rhetoric by various leading Imams urging their believers to jihad. Some Muslims believe that turmoil and fighting in the Middle East prepares the way for the Mahdi to come and lead their armies to victory. They expect to capture Jerusalem for Islam and once it has been conquered, the Mahdi will lead them in victory over the rest of the world.

Other Muslims believe that as soon as they are in complete control of Jerusalem, then the Mahdi will be occulted (appear) and lead them to conquer the rest of the world for Islam.

Miles: Hmmm. Either way, Jerusalem is central to their end-time expectations.

Dave: It really is. Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated publicly, quote: “Our revolution’s main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi.”

Miles: It’s not something most people would pick up on unless they understood the significance of the Mahdi to Muslims.

Dave: But once you understand the link to Jerusalem, it becomes very portentous.

Dr. Bilal Na’im served as an assistant to the head of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, the Iranian-controlled Lebanese Shiite organization. In an essay discussing the details of how the Mahdi is supposed to appear before the world, according to Shiite doctrine, he states that initially the Mahdi reveals himself in Mecca and, quote: “he will lean on the Ka’abah and view the arrival of his supporters from around the world.”

Miles: The Ka’abah. Now that’s that big black cube they circle around in Mecca, right?

Dave: Correct. After Mecca, they expect the Mahdi to go to Karbala in Iraq. But his most important destination, in Na’im’s descriptions, is clearly Jerusalem.

Miles: But why? What’s so special about it for Muslims?

Dave: Because it is in Jerusalem that the launching of the Mahdi’s world conquest will be declared. Na’im says, quote: “The liberation of Jerusalem is the preface for liberating the world and establishing the state of justice and values on earth.”

Miles: What you’re saying is that Jerusalem serves as the launch pad for the Mahdi’s global jihad.

Dave: Exactly.

Miles: Well, that’s scary!

Dave: There’s more. Muslims are divided over whether they must gain control of Jerusalem before the Mahdi comes, or if they capture Jerusalem with his help after he comes. Either way, both groups view turmoil in the Middle East as a positive development because it advances their agenda for the Mahdi’s arrival.

Miles: So they’re not really looking for peace there, are they?

Dave: Not at all. Do you know who Louis Farrakhan is?

Miles: Isn’t he like the head of a political and religious movement or something? Nation of Islam, I think.

Dave: That’s it. On February 27, 2011, at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviour’s Day event, Farrakhan told a capacity crowd of 16,000+ people that the rioting in the Middle East was evidence that the Mahdi had, in fact, returned.

Miles: 2011 – that was the year of the Arab Spring, wasn’t it?

Dave: It was, and that is what Farrakhan was saying proved the Mahdi had come. He said, quote:

“What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Yemen, in Jordan, in Libya, in Bahrain, soon, very soon, in all the nations of the world, and even sooner to take place in America. . . . It is the sign that the great Mahdi that the Muslim world has been looking for is present in the world, that the Christ that you hoped for, God is stimulating the rise of the masses! And soon, it will come to these shores–” he was speaking here of the United States. And then he ended by saying: “Indeed, it has already begun.”

Miles: So, in essence, any violence that occurs simply supports their belief in the arrival of the Mahdi.

Dave: Exactly. But they aren’t the only ones. Jerusalem is also central to Jewish apocalyptic expectations, because it is crucial to Jewish-Zionist plans for world dominion.

Michael Baigent wrote a book entitled Racing Toward Armageddon: The Three Great Religions & the Plot to End the World. In there, he wrote a quote I’d like you to read.

Here, I printed it off.

Miles: All right, it says: “Judaism, at first sight, seems to be trying to keep its people together rather than to take on the task of converting the world, for Judaism is the history and faith of a specific nation. But this is not quite the whole story. Fundamentalist Judaism, like that of Christianity and Islam, sees its success in terms of influencing the rest of the world. It makes much of the rabbinical statements in its tradition that ‘God first sends a blessing to Jerusalem, and from there it flows to the entire world.’ It is to Jerusalem that the Messiah will come and ‘redeem and perfect the Jewish people’ . . . [who will then] perfect the world around them, teaching all nations to live in peace under the law of God.”

Dave: The thing is, it’s not just a handful of radicals only. Leading, influential (and well-funded) men are preparing to rebuild the third Temple as soon as they’re given the opportunity.

Miles: I’ve read that they’re actually training priests in how to perform blood sacrifices, as well as working on making the necessary implements for use in the new temple.

Dave: Yes, I’ve heard that, too. And it sounds good! It sounds very laudable, especially when you combine it with texts claiming that Yah will bless those who bless the descendants of Abraham. But, at heart, is the drive for world dominion with the Messiah sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem.

Miles: Don’t they teach that as soon as they have a king of the lineage of David once again seated on the throne of Israel, that Messiah will come and they’ll rule the world?

Dave: Yes, they do.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan wrote a book entitled Jerusalem, The Eye of the Universe. In there he stated, quote: “In Jerusalem, the Jewish people will thus become established as the spiritual and moral teachers of all mankind. At that time, Jerusalem will become the spiritual capital of all mankind.”

So, again, like the Muslims, Jerusalem is central to Jewish expectations for the coming of the Messiah.

Miles: We’re going to take a very quick break and when we return, I’d like to hear why Jerusalem is so important to Christian eschatology.

Don’t go away, folks! Be right back.

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* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: In our last segment, we saw why Jerusalem is important to the end-time scenarios of Judaism and Islam.

But what about Christians? Why is Jerusalem so important that many Christians will even pay offerings to the support of the Jews?

Dave: Again, it has to do with their expectations of how the world will end. Like the Jews, many sincere Christians believe that the temple must be rebuilt. They also expect the blood descendants of Abraham through Jacob, to return to Israel.

This is also why many Christians are supportive of Israel as an independent state.

Miles: I see. An independent Jewish State is necessary to fulfill their apocalyptic expectations.

Dave: Precisely. How can the descendants of the Biblical Israelites return and have a descendant of David rule from Jerusalem if they don’t own Jerusalem and Palestine?

Miles: Okay. Makes sense.

Dave: Earlier, we quoted from Michael Baigent’s book,

Racing Toward Armageddon: The Three Great Religions and the Plot to End the World. On page 25, he makes a very insightful statement. He says, and I quote:

“The Christians want the Temple rebuilt because this means that the second coming of Jesus is that much closer. The Jewish groups are happy to accept their patronage since it represents backing for Israel as well as significant financial aid for their organizations and for Israel itself.” Unquote.

Miles: Sounds like the Jews are happy to accept the help of Christians when such help furthers their own goals.

Dave: Financially, militarily, yes. They are.

Miles: Okay, but blood sacrifice was done away with at the cross. Why would any Christian give money to support the Jewish religion knowing full well that, if the Jews ever do build a third temple, they’ll be giving blood sacrifice again? How can they do it, when the very idea dishonors the Saviour?

Dave: Well, they believe that the Jews as a whole will be converted to Christianity during a seven-year tribulation just before the “Second Coming of Jesus.”

I don’t typically like to read a lot of quotes on air, but I want to read one more from Baigent’s Racing Toward Armageddon. It’s very revealing. He says, quote:

To render Mosaic law redundant is to negate all the learning of the rabbis and the value of everything that they believe and teach. The only conclusion one can draw is that the continued acceptance of support from Christian fundamentalists by these Orthodox rabbis who wish to rebuild the Temple is an act of breathtaking cynicism. For the Christian fundamentalist groups to continue to give their support is an act of naïveté, equally breathtaking.

Miles: He’s right. Christianity may have sprung from Judaism, but it is anathema to Orthodox Judaism, so for the Jews to continue accepting funds from Christians is incredibly self-serving.

Dave: He’s not finished. Listen to what he says next. Quote: “What both groups are choosing to ignore is that the Christians are intent upon converting all the Jews to an acceptance of Christ as the Messiah at the end times. In the minds of these fundamentalist Christians, those Jews who do not accept this will unfortunately die. . . . ”

Miles: Incredibly self-serving. I don’t know if you’ve read it, but John Hagee wrote a book entitled From Daniel to Doomsday.

Dave: No, haven’t read it.

Miles: Well, Hagee is a huge supporter of Israel. He’s the founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, a Christian-Zionist organization. He’s met with every Israeli Prime Minister since Menachem Begin.

Anyway, in his book as well as his preaching, he teaches that the Jews will covert to Christianity! He says, quote:

“The hearts of the Jewish people – warmed toward God because of His intervention – will fully turn to their true God. In that moment, Israel will look upon her Messiah with recognition . . . Jesus Christ, the true Messiah . . . shall rule and reign forever from the city of Jerusalem, the city of God.”

Dave: And there you go. All of these end-time scenarios are focused on Jerusalem. These scenarios differ a bit, between evangelical Protestants and Catholics.

Miles: Based on what I’ve seen, evangelical Protestants are some of the most out-spoken in support of Israel as an independent state.

Dave: Absolutely. However, the thing to understand is that their love of Israel is not because they love Judaism. Instead, the existence of Israel as an independent state proves—to their way of thinking—that their interpretation of prophecy is accurate. Furthermore, it’s just the first in a series of events they believe point to the “Second Coming” at which time the Saviour will rule from Jerusalem.

Miles: What do they base this on? It seems quite a stretch.

Dave: There are a number of Old Testament verses they quote as support for their position. For example, turn to Psalm 102 and start reading at verse 13.

Miles: “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. . . . So the heathen shall fear the name of Yahuwah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When Yahuwah shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. . . . When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve Yahuwah.” [Psalm 102:13, 15-16, 22]

Dave: Many of the texts which have a future application to the New Earth are also taken out of context to apply to modern Israel. Isaiah 60 is one such passage. Why don’t you read a few verses from there for us?

Miles: Okay … uh:

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Yahuwah is risen upon thee. . . . And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: . . . And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. . . . The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of Yah, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” [Isaiah 60:1, 3-4, 10-12, 14]

Huh. Yeah, I can see how that would be interpreted that way.

Dave: Sincere, humble believers are urged to pray for the peace of Jerusalem because they have been told Yah will bless them if they do so.

Miles: Spiritual bribery.

Dave: I hate to say it, but, yeah. It really is. The point these sincere believers are missing, though, is that all of Yahuwah’s promises are given on condition of obedience.

Miles: That’s true. It’s easy to forget that.

Dave: Just as the Israelites of Christ’s day took Scriptures that pointed to his triumphant return at the end of the world and applied them to his life on earth, so many sincere people today take Scriptures which apply to the Earth made new and eternity future and reapply it to modern Israel.

Miles: I’d think the very fact that Jerusalem was utterly destroyed and its people scattered is convincing evidence that Yahuwah’s patience was finally exhausted. Yahushua Himself denounced the Jews of His day as hypocrites and a brood of vipers.

Dave: Stephen, as you’ll recall, was the first Christian martyr and it was then that the Israelites as a race were finally rejected by Yah. It doesn’t mean that individuals can’t still be saved. It simply meant that they were no longer His chosen based on their physical lineage.

Miles: I remember Stephen told the Sanhedrin at his trial: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” [Acts 7:51]

Dave: The Jews have always insisted that the promises of Yah are intended only for them. They reinforce this teaching today by telling Christians that they’re still Yah’s chosen, so anyone who “blesses” the Jews will be blessed by Yah Himself.

Paul emphatically rejected this exclusive mindset. I printed out some verses from Galatians 3. Would you read these please?

Miles: “And the scripture, foreseeing that Yahuwah would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”

Dave: Did you catch that? “They which be of faith are blessed with Abraham.” It’s not dependent on your DNA! Okay. Keep reading.

Miles: “For ye are all the children of Yahuwah by faith in the Anointed Yahushua … There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in the Anointed Yahushua. And if ye be Yahushua’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” [Galatians 3:8-9, 26, 28-29]

Dave: Another false expectation that ties into this but doesn’t have Biblical support is the theory of the Rapture. This belief holds that the Saviour will come secretly and “rapture” His chosen ones out of the world to save them from seven years of Tribulation.

Miles: Aw, yeah. The pre-Tribulation rapture.

Dave: People who accept this unbiblical doctrine believe that all of the Jews will be converted and accept Yahushua as the true Messiah during the seven years following the secret rapture. Then, at the end of the seven years, they believe those who were raptured will return to earth to reign for 1,000 years of peace.

This is the key to Evangelical support of Zionist Judaism. They give offerings because they believe that, in the end, all the Jews will be converted.

Miles: You said this was what Evangelicals believe. What about Catholics? Do they have any interest in Jerusalem?

Dave: Catholics were the first to want Jerusalem. The papacy has always wanted it. Remember the crusades?

Miles: Oh, yeah. The Catholics slaughtered thousands upon thousands of Muslims, Jews, and apostolic Christians during the crusades.

Dave: But what we forget is that the sole purpose of the crusades was to capture Jerusalem for the pope so that he could reign from there.

Miles: I can see that. Popes have always wanted world dominance.

Dave: Vatican II, in the 1960s, was a big step to bringing the Catholic Church into the modern age and making it palatable to Protestants. And they’ve succeeded! Concessions have been made to Catholicism that, just a couple of generations ago, would have been unheard of.

Miles: I remember the late John Paul II made more international trips than any previous pope. He was wildly popular among non-Catholics the world over!

Dave: John Paul II’s trips were for the express purpose of reconciling the Holy See with her, quote/unquote: “separated brethren.” His efforts were so successful that in 1994, a land-mark document was signed entitled, Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission In The Third Millennium.

Miles: I remember that! It was unheard of for the time.

Dave: And even more surprising was when the leaders of the Russian and Greek Orthodox patriarchate made concessions to the Holy See. Benedict XVI picked up right where John Paul II left off. In November of 2006, he prayed in Istanbul’s famous Blue Mosque. It was his first papal visit to an Islamic place of worship.

Miles: It wasn’t just the Muslims. He reached out to Jews, too, didn’t he?

Dave: Yes. On March 2 of 2011, Reuters News Service reported that Benedict, quote: “personally exonerated Jews of allegations they were responsible for Jesus Christ's death, repudiating the concept of collective guilt that has haunted Christian-Jewish relations for centuries.”

So you can see how he worked hard to unify the Abrahamic religions under his influence.

Miles: What about the current pope, Francis?

Dave: Well, that’s where it gets really interesting. The current pope, ostensibly, doesn’t appear to be as pro-Israel. However, when you take all the mitigating factors into account, it is clear he’s still trying to position himself in a central role, as that of some important mediator.

On December 6 of 2017, the New York Times reported that U.S. president, Donald Trump set in motion a plan to move the US embassy out of Tel Aviv and to Jerusalem, formally recognizing it as the capital of Israel.

Miles: I remember hearing a news clip at some point where Trump referred to Jerusalem as the “eternal capital” of Israel.

Dave: Interesting word choice, isn’t it? The pope has expressed concern that this will only agitate the already shaky balance in the Middle East. But remember that the pope is a politician. Politicians garner supporters by frequently taking the unpopular side, only to switch sides later on when it’s more convenient.

On February 23, 2018, ABC News reported that the US embassy would be moved to Jerusalem by May, of 2018.

Miles: May of 2018? Well, now that’s interesting.

Dave: Why is that?

Miles: May of 2018 marks the 70^th anniversary of Israel’s independence as a nation.

Dave: Very interesting. We must never forget that the all-important goal driving the Catholic Church’s desire for ecumenism is the desire to rule the world from Jerusalem. As Joye Jeffries Pugh observed in her book, Eden, the hidden plan in the merger of all religions is for the Catholic Church itself to gain world power and dominion.

Miles: Ultimately, the push for Jerusalem, each religion’s desire to “own” Jerusalem, is based on the desire for their own religion to be the one on top, ruling and converting all others.

Dave: Political ambitions like these hardly sound like the Saviour, do they?

Miles: No, they really don’t.

Next up: our daily mailbag where we answer questions from our listeners. Stay tuned.

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* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: Welcome back to the WLC Daily Mailbag! Our question today is quite heavy. It comes form Kaliq in Tunisia. He writes: “Dear brothers: Does the Bible offer any hope for a person that has committed suicide? A brother and sister in Christ are suffering because their son recently committed suicide. What can I share that will comfort them?”

Dave: I’m glad to be asked. There’s so much misunderstanding over the topic of suicide.

Miles: I was always told that suicide is the unpardonable sin, since you can’t repent once you’re dead.

Dave: I was always taught that, too. But what a terrible thing to be told at a time someone is already grieving!

Miles: It just adds to the terrible burden of grief family and friends are already feeling.

Dave: More than that, it just doesn’t fit what we know of the character of Yah.

I actually made a study of this a few years ago. I wanted to see what Scripture really taught about it. The first thing I can say with absolute assurance is that suicide is not the unpardonable sin.

Scripture presents only one sin as being unpardonable, and interestingly enough, it’s not suicide.

Miles: Oh, yeah. It’s the sin against the spirit of Yah, isn’t it? So what does the Bible say about suicide?

Dave: Not a whole lot, which, if it truly were unpardonable, you’d think would be spelled out. Can you think of anyone who committed suicide that was a good person?

Miles: Well, I read about this resistance fighter during World War II that was captured by invading forces and tortured. He committed suicide rather than betray his friends. I always thought that was very honorable.

Dave: Okay. I was actually asking about Bible figures, but I’m glad you brought this up. John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” And that man did. Even if it was at his own hand, he sacrificed his life rather than give into torture and betray his friends.

Can you think of any Biblical figure who committed suicide and yet everyone accepts will be saved?

Miles: Well … Oh! Samson?

Dave: Right! Sure, he sinned. Haven’t we all? But he also repented. We know he repented because his strength came from Yah. The Bible is very clear on this. In fact, let’s read it in Judges 16.

You remember, Samson had been kidnapped and blinded by the Philistines. Later, so they could gloat over him—and by extension, his God—they brought him out. Start reading at verse 27.

Miles: “Now the house was full of men and women; … and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women…

“And Samson called unto Yahuwah and said, O Yahuwah Adonai, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once….

“And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood …

“And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell … So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.” [Judges 16:27-30]

Dave: Samson clearly knew where his strength came from, so he prayed and asked to be given the strength to pull the support pillars of the building down, knowing full well it would kill him in the process. And we know that Yah forgave him and accepted him because his prayer was answered.

So who are we to say that Yah will not accept a brother or sister who, in a moment of despair, decides to escape the pain by taking his or her own life?

Miles: True.

Dave: There’s one more Bible passage that really states it well. Romans 8:33-39. Would you read it, please?

Miles: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Yah's elect? It is Yahuwah that justifieth!

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of Yah, who also maketh intercession for us.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of Yah, which is in Christ Yahusua our Lord.”

Dave: This says that no created thing can separate a Christian from the Father’s love. You’re a created thing; I’m a created thing. A Christian who commits suicide is a created thing. So, even suicide cannot separate a believer from Yah’s love.

Yahushua died for all of our sins. If a true Christian, in a moment of weakness and despair, commits suicide, his sin is still covered by the Saviour’s blood.

One last thought: modern science has revealed that depression is frequently caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. I cannot see a loving Father condemning under such circumstances, can you?

Miles: No, absolutely not.

Dave: So here, too, we can hear the Saviour saying, “Neither do I condemn you.” And if He doesn’t condemn, neither should we.

Miles: Very good.

Keep your questions coming, folks! Just go to WorldsLastChance.com and click on contact us to send them in.

* * *Daily Promise

Hello! This is Elise O’Brien with your Daily Promise from Yah’s Word.

The picture is grainy, the lighting making it difficult to see detail. But still, you can see the woman in the picture is young, less than 30. She is smiling bravely for the camera, but you can make out the tension in her face. Her right hand clutches the hand of her toddler as they walk down the street.

Walking on her left is another woman—a woman standing so closely, one would be forgiven for assuming the women are sisters, or at the very least, best friends. But it is this second woman standing on the left that makes this photo a testimony to true courage.

The second woman is dressed nicely in black hose and high heels, under a mid-calf length coat. She is also facing the camera, but you can’t see her face. Instead, her head and shoulders are hidden behind a heavy veil. You see, the second woman, the woman hidden behind a heavy veil, is a Muslim.

The year is 1941, and the women are walking through the streets of Sarajevo, in what used to be Yugoslavia. The Muslim woman has linked arms with an unveiled stranger. A stranger who, by law, is forced to wear a Star of David on her coat sleeve, indicating she is a Jew.

The Muslim woman sees a Jew, but she doesn’t see a stranger. She doesn’t see someone to hate or fear. She sees simply another woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister. The Muslim woman is linking arms in order to cover up the Star of David on the coat sleeve of the other woman. She is doing this to protect her.

This one, old photograph is one of the most stunning examples of true, selfless courage that I have ever seen.

Courage is defined as that quality of mind, which enables individuals to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness and resolution. It is not lack of fear! Often the most courageous are the most fearful. But they are courageous precisely because they do what their conscience dictates, regardless of their fear.

We are all living in a sinful world. We’re living in the land of the enemy! Trials and persecutions, dangerous situations will confront all of us between now and the end. But Yahuwah has provided a promise to meet every emergency.

Philippians 4, verse 13, contains a simple statement of fact that is, itself, a promise. It declares: “I can do all things through Yahushua which strengtheneth me.”

Regardless of what Satan throws your way, you have a Friend who walks beside you. He doesn’t hurry ahead, too fast for you to follow. He doesn’t linger behind, leaving you to fumble along on your own. He paces His stride to yours. And every problem, every trial, every danger, He is at your side, to strengthen you and to bring you through.

We’ve been given great and precious promises. Go, and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: We’ve seen how each of the three Abrahamic religions have end time beliefs that center around Jerusalem. But would this really be such a bad thing if one of them were to obtain Jerusalem for their headquarters?

Dave: If that is all it were, no. It wouldn’t make a difference. But as we’ve seen, each religion’s plans include world dominance. Now how much dissent and religious liberty do you think would be allowed under Sharia law if the Muslims were to win?

Miles: None.

Dave: And history proves how intolerant Jews are of others beliefs. The Catholic Church, too, is responsible for the deaths of millions of dissenters.

Miles: And I have to say, Protestants aren’t exempt, either.

Dave: No, they’re not.

The belief that Jerusalem is crucial to the fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecies is one of Satan’s largest and most successful lies. Its seriousness is found in the fact that it embraces the world’s three largest religions. Each religion, and each division within that religion, has a variation of the lie tailor-made for it by Lucifer, himself.

Satan has implanted these false beliefs because he’s running the long game: he wants to make good on his original boast, made at the time of his fall in heaven.

Let’s take a look at it. It’s been preserved in Scripture for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Turn to Isaiah 14, and read verses 12 to 14, would you please?

Miles: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of . . . [Yahuwah]: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Dave: The principles of Satan’s kingdom are two-fold.

First, falsehood. And, when that fails, secondly: force.

All three of the world’s monotheistic Abrahamic religions have been guilty of using both principles to gain greater power and control over the masses.

Any belief that promotes Jerusalem, that calls for a return to that specific piece of real estate, that solicits funds for the rebuilding of a temple in Jerusalem, is a deception that has been planned by Satan himself to either unite the religions of the world under one umbrella or, conversely, to “divide and conquer” those who refuse to unite.

When Yahushua was on earth, His followers were looking for precisely what is now being promised in this end-time delusion

Miles: That’s true! They all wanted the same thing: Israel as a world-dominant power, crushing all of her enemies. In fact that’s why the priests and rulers first sought Him. They were expecting Him to declare Himself king and lead the Israelites to victory over the Romans.

It was all for political dominance, wasn’t it?

Dave: Well! Remember how quickly they turned on Him when they realized He had no such intentions.

Miles: They ended up accusing Him to the Romans of doing the very thing they had originally wanted Him to do, which, if He had, they would have accepted Him!

Dave: Yahushua was consistent He always taught that His kingdom was a spiritual kingdom. Read Luke, chapter 17, verses 20 and 21 for us.

Miles: “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of Yahuwah should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of Yahuwah cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of Yahuwah is within you.”

Dave: That’s a spiritual kingdom made up of spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham.

Miles: And that’s precisely why the Jews rejected the Messiah. They didn’t want to hear it!

Dave: When Yahushua refused to join in their ambitious plans for world dominance, they rejected Him. Using their own ambitions as a weapon against Him, they accused Him before Pilate of being engaged in seditious and rebellious behavior against Rome. But when Pilate asked Yahushua if the charges were true, the Saviour again reaffirmed that His was a spiritual kingdom.

I’ve got some verses from John 18 here that makes it very clear. Would you read them for us?

Miles: “Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Yahushua, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? . . . Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?

“Yahushua answered, My kingdom is not of this world.”

Aw, yeah! There it is.

Going on: “If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Yahushua answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” [John 18:33, 35-37]

Dave: The Bible is consistent. The Saviour’s kingdom is still a spiritual kingdom. The promises of Yahuwah to literal Israel will be fulfilled to spiritual Israel.

Only after the destruction of the wicked, when a New Heaven and a New Earth are created, will these promises reach their ultimate fulfillment to spiritual Israel.

Miles: Spiritual Israel being those who, by obedience, have met the required condition of fulfillment, which is obedience to the divine law.

Dave: That’s right. Each of these groups is going to try to exert their dominance. The martyrdom that, even now, continues in many countries is proof of that.

Christians are killed in many Muslim countries. Muslims in Christian countries are feared and frequently targeted as well.

Miles: Then, you’ve got the Jews that kill both Muslims and Christians if they get on their wrong side. And I’m not just saying that. It’s not often reported on, but it happens.

Dave: Ultimately, though, all such efforts will fail. Would you read Revelation, chapter 21, verses 1 and 2?

Miles: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from Yahuwah, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Dave: Everyone who, through faith in the atoning merits of the blood of Yahushua has made a full surrender and allowed the divine law to be inscribed on the heart, those alone will inherit all the promises given to Abraham.

Miles: I want to read just one more verse here. You cut me off a bit too soon. Verse three says: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of Yahuwah is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and Yahuwah Himself will be with them and be their Eloah.”

Dave: That, right there, is the true glory that awaits the faithful. Everyone who makes a full surrender to Yah, trusting solely in the merits of the Saviour’s blood, will have the privilege of living forever in the presence of the Father and the Son.

Now is the time to get to know the Father. Now is the time to make it a habit to hang all on His promises.

Miles: If you know Him, if you’re covered with the righteousness of Yahushua, you will be safe. Psalm 121 declares: “Yahuwah shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. Yahuwah shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” [Psalm 121:7-8]

Join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.