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next hour as we study God's word and take your Bible questions. Welcome to Exploring the Word. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place. But the end is not yet. Yet. Well, with that very well known verse from Matthew 24, verse 6, we welcome you to today's edition of Exploring the word. Alex McFarland here along with Bert Harper. And I'm not coming to you from North Carolina, I'm not coming to you from South Carolina where we just had a big conference. I'm actually in the studio at the American Family Radio Network, Tupelo, Mississippi. And I'm in the room with Brent Austin on the board, Bert Harper to my left. And it's great to be here guys.
It is good to have you. Alex, I'm telling you, there's a little extra energy when we know you're coming. And when you're here it really pops up. And there's people say, you mean he's not in the studio all the time? No, he's usually on the road or somewhere. But we're glad you're here.
Well, it's great to be here. I've got a. Before we get into Matthew 24, I just want to give God the praise. We had a big event on Saturday with two former Muslims sharing their testimony about how they came to Christ. And they were hearing how gravely concerned they are about the future of America, the presence of Sharia law, different candidates running like in Michigan, and the presence of mosques in Texas. And they were urging, just this sellout audience to vote at our conversations that matter. I want to thank everybody for praying for that. Lots of AFR listeners, came. But then yesterday I had the great privilege. Morning and night I was at Stewartsville Baptist in Laurenburg, North Carolina. Pastor Rodney, we had a great day talking about our book, Bert, the book we did on prophecy. And many, many people came up and they said, we listened to you on afr. People drove from pretty far away. And then this morning, I'll say this, we'll get to Matthew 24. I had the great joy of being with, let me make sure I get his name right, in Huntsville, Alabama. Well, I've got a dear friend there named Terri Williams. But there is another pastor and his name will come to me. But we, had a planning meeting with pastors this morning in Huntsville about a big crusade we might do in the fall of 27. And then I drove to Tupelo and
here we are on the road again. Okay, well, it is good to have you. I met. Glad you made it here. And by the way, this is the day that we'll just do Bible study. Starting tomorrow we'll be in the m. We'll be beginning of Sharathon.
Yes.
And we do give ourselves. Yes, we bring up scripture and do some Bible study, but not intense. But in Sharathon we really try to let you hear the listener testimonies. The, the partnerships we have with different ministries that makes afr the effective ministry in missions and activities active in whole thing in your society from voting to being a part of, of looking at what you need to do and how you need to live. So we're looking forward to that. That'll be share a thon starting tomorrow. But we're in chapter 24 now. Let me share this with you. Did you know, and I had not noticed this, in chapter 22 there's three questions. Now the questions are asked by individuals that are trying to trick Jesus. But in chapter 24, guess what happens? Three questions are asked. Let me share that with you. chapter 24, verse one and following. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple. That's where he went out from. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple, because you know, he had been talking about there's not going to be one stone on top of the other. And Jesus said, do you not see all these things? Assuredly I said to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now here's the three questions in verse three.
Yes.
Now he sat on the Mount of Olives getting ready for what is called the Olivet discourse. The disciples came to him privately, trying to get away from the multitude, saying, now here it is. Tell us, when will these things be? Question number one. And what will be the sign of your come coming question number two and of the end of the age, question number three. And Jesus here in Matthew 24, by the way, and I'm going to get this first. The first question about when will this happen concerning the temple did not get answered in Matthew 24. But guess what happened in Luke chapter nine. Excuse me, not nine, in Luke, chapter 21, verses 20 through 24. Here's what Jesus said. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. Then. Now the desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains. And let those who are in the midst here depart. And let those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant, so forth and so on, and notice at 24. And. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Now, again, I think this is one of those double, answers. Yes, this is going to happen. We know ultimately, but it was going to happen in 70 AD when they were surrounded. And verse 24 is the one that says they will be taken captive in all the nations. What happened to the Jewish, culture in 70 AD?
Well, Rome ransacked Jerusalem and they were
dispersed all over the nations. Yeah, so. But after they're through, Jesus does answer those other questions as well, Alex.
Well, you know, in Matthew 23:38, when Jesus had pronounced this woe and said, you, house is left desolate, people have speculated what meant, what was meant by the word house. Did it mean just the temple worship? Which of course, once he shed his blood, blood on the cross, the sacrificial system was no longer efficacious. But in a way, I think Matthew 23:38 also foreshadows the dispersion of March of AD 70. And Israel and the nation for 1900 plus years really didn't exist. And in the lifetimes of many people listening, it was a nation was reborn in a day. But, you're right. These three, three questions are in verse three. When will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Bert, we are not to set dates, because no man really knows the exact day or the hour. I do think we are to stay ready, stay faithful, stay fruitful, but at the same time, the signs of the last days. I really think it's, we can't miss the fact that Israel is in their land. There's been a rise of terrorism. There's just been the wiring of the planet. Lawlessness, violence, earthquakes. They estimate that there were more earthquakes since 1900 than in all of previous history combined. And then I think, let me just say this, the, unspeakable sexual deviancy and gross immorality that is just, forcibly, legal means are used to impose immorality on people these days. And I'll say this. Unless Christ in his sovereignty, gives a great revival, it seems like the world is on an inevitable trajectory toward the end times.
All these things has been a part of a fallen world.
Yes.
But as you see this day approaching. I'm using this word. They're enhanced.
Yeah.
By that I mean, it gets more of. More difficult than. And again, we've had all these. There's nothing new under the sun now. I, mean, you know, deviancy has been there.
Look.
Look at the Old Testament. Look at what took place. Read. Read the book of Romans, and you see that. But what you have is an enhancement of this. And so someone yesterday at Ozark Baptist Church, where I preach, they sang Midnight Cry.
Ah.
And I got up there, I said, I'm not listening. I'm not looking for signs now. I'm listening for the sound.
Amen.
And, so again, we don't want to set dates, but we do see the days approaching. But again, we find this, outlined in verse, chapter 24. Jesus answered to them and said, take heed that no one deceives you.
Yes.
Okay. There's. Have you noticed how many times God warns us of not being deceived?
I know. Colossians 2, 8 is another one of those that we are to take care and not be misled.
So having the word of God and not misusing the word of God, using the word of God, the Holy Spirit of God, and having this accountability helps us to know that for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of war. They've been around a long time. See that you are not troubled. For all these things m must come to pass. But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdoms against kingdoms. And there will be famines, pestilence and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows now, Alex. The beginning of sorrows. They're real and says all these things again. Jesus is painting this picture. There's going to be wars. There's going to be these things that's happening. But these are the beginning of war, beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up, to tribulation, kill you. You'll be hated by all nations. For my name's sake. And, Alex, again, we've had tribulation since the founding of the church. Yeah, okay, but it's usually areas not worldwide.
Yeah.
So again, when I say the word enhancement, it is not it's the severity and the wideness of it, the severity of lawlessness and it getting more proficient. I was just looking at an article, closing schools because of the anger and, the evilness that's going on in the schools of killing and shootings. We are living in difficult days, aren't we?
Well, we really are. And I think about in Jon 16:2, Jesus said, the day will come when those who kill you think they do God a service. And I think about the jihadists and the terrorists killing Jews and Christians, killing people for converting, like in Iran right now. And I've interviewed, in the last month, I've interviewed four people from Iran who say at least a thousand people a month, and it might be a thousand a week, are coming to faith in Christ. Many are promptly martyred for believing in Jesus. And so, when Jesus talks about the birth pangs, the beginning of sorrows, in verse 8 of Matthew 24, then verse 9, believers being delivered up to be killed. Now look at verse nine, Jesus is, speaking to Christians. You will be hated by all nations on account of my name. And I think about if you advocate for traditional marriage, if you say that marriage is between a man and a woman and males, should not play in female sports and life, is sacred and abortion on demand is wrong, I mean, you might as well put a target on your back. This thing about being hated for righteousness and truth, are we already beginning to see some of that, Bert?
We are. And there will be betrayals. They will. Have you ever heard of, wolves in sheep's clothing? In other words, which book is it in? the seven, churches in Revelation, one of them has. Satan has his seat. I forgot exactly which one of the churches it was.
The book Galatians.
It probably was, knowing your memory. That's probably correct. But Satan has his agents everywhere. They're planted purposely. To do what? To find out who the Christians are. Because we are hated. You're listening to Exploring the word. Alex McFarland, Bert Harper. And it's our joy to be coming with you today, Alex. Being in the studio with us, being live, and we're going to go ahead and start, but we also will take questions in the last segment, so get your questions ready. Hello, I'm, Bert Harper. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netgive. that's afr.netgive.
I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind. And it's closer now than it's ever been. I can almost hear the trumpet
as
Gabriel sounds a cold.
Hm. Amen. Amen. I. I think somebody picked up on what we were discussing and they picked a song out.
Alec, don't we have a good producer?
He does. Way to go. You only think I don't listen. Okay. I didn't know what you were. I knew you were doing stuff. I didn't know you were getting that up. Good work, brother.
Was. Was that Squire Parsons?
Ivan Parker.
Ivan Parker. Okay. that's Brent Austin, our producer, who's also. I think he's got an inner DJ that wants to show up sometime.
Now. He's been practicing for a long time. He'll get out one day. Yeah, he'll get out. Hey, all this bad news that we've been talking about here, and it's going to continue. Listen right in the middle of this verse 14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end will come.
Amen.
Now, again, different views. And let me share. When you're talking about eschatology, you nail this down. Jesus Christ said, I, am coming back. He's coming in his body. He hasn't come already. The Pentecost wasn't the second coming. He is coming back. And so there is those who have that I love with all my heart, man, they don't believe everything like I do, and I don't believe everything they do. But here it is, verse 14. It's going to be preached. There's those that say, oh, man, this is us, the church, getting the gospel out to all the nations. And we're doing that effectively. I do the program exploring missions, Alex, that people, here, my son and I do on the weekends, and we're going to interview someone that's coming up real quickly, and they're going to tell us how many missionaries are volunteering and they're going into dangerous, dangerous locations to share the good news of Christ. So we are trying to fulfill that. But if it's not fulfilled in our day, in the church age, in the time of the Gentiles, guess what's going to happen at the tribulation. There's 144,000, as you say it, Billy Graham, Jewish Billy Graham, that's going to carry the gospel around the world. So verse 14 is going to be fulfilled When? Well, we have different thoughts on that. But that's good news. No matter when that it's going to be fulfilled.
Well, and you know, by the way, it's very significant where Jesus says this gospel, the kingdom, verse 14 of Matthew 24. You know, religions. And they estimate that there are 24,000 religions in the world. Dos and don'ts rituals, religion. But Jesus came and yes, he preached the gospel, which is the good news. The death, burial, the resurrection of Christ for the sins of the world. If anybody ever asks, you know, what is the gospel? Well, gospel means good news. But the good news is that the son of God died on the cross, paid our sin debt from the dead, and by putting our faith in Christ, we're forgiven. That's good News. But Matthew 24:14, to amplify it a little bit, over and over, Christ talked about the gospel of the kingdom, the kingdom of God, the coming kingdom of God. And Bert, many of the scholars that we've worked with and interviewed, I think about Gary Habermas and others say the idea of the kingdom of God is utterly unique. How Jesus, he said the kingdom of God is like a man that saw a treasure in a field and he sold everything to get that field and thus get that treasure. The kingdom of God is like a householder who went away on a long journey. And so, Bert, I think this is really important, and I'd love for you to comment on it when we become a Christian. Yes, our sins are forgiven. Praise God. Our name is written in the Lamb's book of life. Praise God. But we are now citizens of the coming kingdom of Almighty God. Absolute, sure, secure in Christ. His kingdom is coming. And the fallen, sinful kingdom of this world is not for long.
Amen.
Of his kingdom, there will be no end, and he shall reign forever and ever. That's good news, folks. And the only way to do that is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There's no plan B. There's no alternate route. There are some highways here in Mississippi, and you'll come to a division. It will say highway this way, and then it'll say alternate that way, both and.
And.
But not when it comes to Jesus Christ.
Right?
It's either he or not he. Will you trust him now, Alex? After he says that verse 15, there seems to be a change. I believe, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. Then let those who are in Judah flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop come down and take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant, to those who are nursing babies days and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Now, again, when you read this, notice how much Jewish language is in here.
Exactly.
And it talked Judea the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation. Okay, Great tribulation. Alex. I believe it's the beginning of birth pains. We've had that showing us that it is coming. But then there's going to be a time of great tribulation. I would say even I'm using this word added greater tribulation. Yes, and the greater has the idea of more severe and more widespread.
Well, exactly. And you know, by the way, one of the reasons that I think a lot of this is, post rapture, because the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel. Now that's a reference. Verse 15 is a reference to Daniel 9:27. standing in the holy place. Now, Jesus knew that the temple would be destroyed. The temple that would have been there in the time of Christ and the apostles was built by Herod. really kind of rebuilt the temple. Temple of Solomon. The Solomonic temple had been destroyed. There is going to be a third temple. You know, I've had people ask me, do you really think the temple would be rebuilt? Absolutely. Guarantee. And some people have said, well, that's kind of ambitious. Do you really think the temple is going to get rebuilt? Well, the nation of Israel got reborn. I mean, if God after 1900 years could rebirth and resurrect the nation, yes, the temple will be rebuilt, but the temple will be profaned. And this is also in 2 Thessalonians 4, the man of sin, the son of perdition. I mean, think about it. just as Jesus is God incarnate, righteousness, truth personified, there will be a man that is wickedness incarnate, and that's going to be the Antichrist, and he's
going to make his presence known. Seems like the first three and a half years it will be, oh, we've got peace and safety. then there's going to be some upheaval. And, I'd say Satan can only hide who he really is. I think I want you to come in it for a while. Not only in the Antichrist that does that, but I would say even politicians today, the true covers come out okay, the true cover. Ultimately, when you have, and I'm going to say demonic, thoughts concerning, image. Okay. Concerning image in creation.
Yeah.
it's going to finally result in the truth coming out. Truth will finally come out. And here it is. He reveals himself after three and a half years at the midpoint, and then all the things that takes place in the horribleness that is described in Revelation and others, it's going to start happening, happening. I agree with you. The church been raptured out of that there with the Lord in, with him in heaven waiting for his second coming. He comes for the rapture. That's not his second coming. That's the rapture of the church. His literal second coming to earth is at the end of that point in time.
I agree. I completely agree. And, and folks, I'll grant you there's a lot here. This is pretty complex. Bert and I did a book almost a year ago, about 11 months
ago called, yeah, matter of fact, that was the premium gift, last fall
in the Share a thon.
Yeah.
You know, Bert, it's been my joy to travel and preach virtually every weekend and everywhere I go, people say that that book has been a blessing. They say that that book has caused them to recommit their life to Christ and their family to Christ. We give God all the glory for that. But, I want to connect, if I could ver. And verse 24. Now, the word Christ we think of, of course, Jesus Christ. In Greek, Christos means anointed one. Now, Jesus warned, many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will mislead many. And then over here, it's talking about during this time of tribulation and great tribulation, unless those days were cut short and, and no life would be saved then. Verse 23, if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Now, two things I want to say as we get further into the world of AI, it's getting harder and harder to discern, what is true, what is false, what is authentic. And there have been people that claimed to be Jesus. There was a false teacher down in Mexico probably 15 years ago that he didn't just claim to be spiritual, he claimed to be Jesus. Obviously he wasn't. But I think there are going to be people who say that they are anointed ones. Oh, I've got great. You know, one of the new age words is avatars. These ascended, wise teachers, gurus, Maharishi type people. Don't believe it, folks. The one revelation from God, the only revelation from God is the Bible. The only savior Messiah from God is Jesus Christ. The only pathway to God is the gospel, by being born again through Jesus. And in a world not only of sinners who mislead people, people led by the devil that are wicked. But even with the technology and the AI and I know the Internet and computers can do great good, there's also potential for great evil. And more than ever, more than ever, it's time to stay ready, keep your house in order, walk with, but intimately know His Word.
Amen. his word is truth.
Amen.
Without that, falsehood will reign. And we've talked about the condition of America and we're concerned about the midterm election and what's going to take place. and we look at it politically, but the bottom line is the spiritual depth. We talked about this early. When did the Declaration of Independence and when was that all taking place? After the first Great Awakening? I am not sure with, all my heart, I don't believe it would. I'm not the historian David Barton and others are. I know that I keep. But I do not believe we would have the founding documents that we have if it had not been for the first Great Awakening, Alec.
Oh, true.
And they want to make light of the Founding Fathers. Oh, they were not that religious. Well, some of them were more committed to Christ than others. Hey, guess what? That's always been the case. That's the way it is. It never will be. But not only their convictions, but also what brought them to that place. And so when we see spiritual life here in America. So we're praying God send a revival. We really do. We're looking for this new generation. I still have hope. We've seen God do some great things. You're just talking about in the youth camps that you do. We're talking about, so many things that has taken place and, that we see and understand on the college campuses. There's the evil, but also out of that is coming some awesome, awesome people who know the Lord and is speaking up. Alex.
Amen.
M so we're praying God. Hey, 12 men turned the world upside down in the NewSong Testament. Yes, I believe that's possible even in 2026.
I believe it too. That's why, folks, please pray for this election coming up now in just under four weeks. You, know, the False teachers. Now, verse 25, in a way, this is a little bit of, ah, a turning of the corner. Behold, I have told you in advance now verse 26. If, therefore they say to you, behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go forth, or behold, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe them. For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. Verse 28 is a key that this return, I think is at the battle of Armageddon, where the corpse is there, the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Verse 30. And all the nations will mourn. I really think up to the end of verse 24, we're talking about the Tribulation.
I do too.
And then we. Because what you've got to do with Bible prophecy, and I realize it's a lot and I certainly wouldn't claim to have all the answers, but you've got Daniel, you've got Ezekiel 38, 39, you've got the Gospels, you've got, first Thessalonians, you've got even Titus. Then you've got Revelation. All these prophetical words. And the bottom line, Bert, I believe it's Rapture, Tribulation, Armageddon return, Thousand year millennia, NewSong Heaven and NewSong Earth Eternity proper.
Amen. Give us a call. We'd like to thank our sponsors, including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion and has seen over 100,000 commitments to Christ. Will you join PreBorn in continuing this good work supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today. Go to preborn.com afr.
But what if the door swings open to all I've been hoping to break through?
And what if my season of waiting
was changing and leading to something more? Welcome back to Exploring the word. Alex McFarland, Burke Harper. Hey, I want to give the number. It's If you've got a Bible question, call us toll free nationwide. It's 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8880. We will welcome your Bible questions. And hey, if you've never called in before, don't be shy. We'd love to hear from you. And Bert, I know we have some recurrent callers that call pretty regular and it's just so special. It's like a, kind of a family and a, a small group. If Nationwide radio could be called our afternoon small group, but it's pretty special.
Well, we try to make it that close. We really do. We want it to be like a small group meeting, and we teach, and then you hold up your hands and you ask your questions. We do our best to make it conversational and, not just another preaching time, you know what I mean? So we do our best. So we got people that are calling Alec.
We do. We're going to begin in Arkansas. Tony. Tony in Arkansas. Welcome to Exploring the Word.
Hey, Bert and Alex. I got, Listen, you guys, I've called before, and, I just had a question. I thought about it when you were speaking about Christ, and I thought about this a few weeks ago. Alex, Bert, have y' all ever studied or known anybody named Christ before our Jesus, Before Jesus Christ was actually born? Like, did the people in the past, before Christ, ever named their kids Jesus, is what I was wondering. You never see the name Jesus in the Bible other than Jesus Christ himself. So I'm just curious if anybody had ever named their child that before actually Christ was born. And I'll, hang up and listen to the answer.
Thank you, Tony. Alex. Joshua.
That's what I was going to say, really. in the. In the Old Testament, the closest one that I can think of would be Joshua, which really means Jehovah saves, or God is our salvation. and you know what's interesting is very often, Yeshua Mashiach, that's Jesus Messiah. And like in Isaiah 12, 2, which is 1 of my favorite verses, it says, the Lord is my strength and my song, and has become my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. If you look in the Hebrew, it says, the Lord is my strength and my song and my Yeshua, my salvation. So the name Jesus really means salvation. But, I really. I can't think of another.
There's a guy named Bar Jesus. Where was that? He was a Come, on Alex is my concordance. Oh, I think of stuff, and Alex says, okay, I know where that is. I got such a.
You.
Yeah, you remember that? Bar Jesus. At least in the King James version, that would really.
Bar means son of. I'm. I'm trying to think. Let me. Before I misspeak, let me look into that.
We'll do that. Hey, is it. All right, I'll. While you're looking, I'll take us to this one, and that way we can do that. Okay. Let's go to Ricardo in Virginia. Ricardo. Go ahead. With your question. Thank you for calling, brother.
I just wanted to ask, I know we expecting the third Temple to be built and in modern times. And I just wonder if when they build it, if you guys have an opinion how long it would take and what materials and how close to the original temple would this be?
Okay, Alex, we know David could not build the temple, right? But guess what he did.
He got, he got the lumber there,
he got everything ready. You remember what he told his son, Solomon, do it.
Yeah.
Nike thought there was something. Just do it. David had that thousands of years before. Solomon, just do it. So if you heard that they possibly are gathering the material, we hear a lot about the red heifer having that developed to be there. But have you heard that they've got even the plans and everything ready?
Do you know there is something in Jerusalem, and I've been to it called the Temple Institute, and they are collecting a lot of the priestly garments and the things that would be needed for the resumption of Jewish sacrifice, which we know is not needed right now. But as far as the temple, it's interesting. There have been many, what are called feasibility studies. And guess how long they think it would take to build the way they want it. Three and a half years. Now that I, remember well over a decade ago I was reading. And this is completely secular. Well, I don't know if I would say secular. It's not evangelical Christians, but they were saying, if they could do it without causing a world war with the Muslims, because as of 67, Muslims have control of the Temple Mount. Now I think, Bert, what the Antichrist will do to broker, a, momentary temporary world peace that he's going to get, an agreement where the Jews can rebuild their temple without being attacked by Muslims. And they've said to build that temple is going to take three and a half years. Well, midway, through the tribulation, three and a half years is when the Antichrist is going to really pull back his cape and say, listen, I'm going in this temple. I've allowed it to be built. Now the world must worship me or be executed. so this, I think we're in high gear.
Let me add a little bit to that. With what took place in Syria and with, the Muslims infiltrating Europe by, by the thousands and millions, this anti Semitic, front, has spread all over. It's not just in any area. And that would be a worldwide conflict that we're looking at. And it all centers over as they say, from the river to the sea, wanting that land. So I see it happening.
exactly, Ricardo. Thank you for that. Good question. Let's go to Texas. Angie in Texas. Angie, welcome to Exploring the Word.
Hi. Good afternoon, Brother Bart and Brother Alex. my question is, who was the first to refer to Jesus as the son of David? And also, how did the Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter, how she. How would she know to call him the son of David if she was a Gentile?
Okay. Go to the first place when you see that. And then Jesus calls her out about the dog. You know, I think he referred to the, her as the dogs, you know, feeding Alex. Their influence was in that area, not to. Just to the Jews, but the Gentiles would be knowledgeable of that as well.
Well, you know, what's interesting is, there was an outer court and an inner court. Gentiles could be in the outer court of the temple. And we've said a number of times there was a tablet found decades ago, the inner court. And then there was the Holy of Holies, where only a priest could go once a year. But, there was a tablet that said, no responsibility can be taken for the probable death of any gentile that goes beyond this point. So the gentil were aware now, I think in the NewSong Testament, in Matthew 9 and Mark 10, two blind men on the road cried out, have mercy on us, son. of David. In Matthew 21, when Christ is going into Jerusalem, the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, they said hosanna to the son of David. And what that meant was, at least on some level, they understood Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David, son of David.
So if they didn't use that title, that was inferred in the Old Testament from being from the seed of David out of him. Okay. Yeah, I think so.
Great question. William in North Carolina. William, welcome. And, God bless you. From my home state of North Carolina.
Absolutely. I'm down here on the coast in Wilmington, and we're starting to feel a little fall weather finally. So bless the Lord for that.
I've got a dear friend. I gotta say this. A big shout out to Herb McCarthy. He's probably listening. He's. His career was working with Billy Graham. And Herb is a fantastic Christian leader, lives in Wilmington. Down there now. Herb, if you're listening, God bless you, sir. But, William, what you got, brother?
I was going to inquire about, y' all had spoke about Nation, the Israel nation, and then coming back into their homeland. We know that kind of started taking place in 1948, and we've seen it progress from there. My question is, I know I've heard statistics between 96 and 98% of the population are non believers. However, and I was going to reference a verse In Ezekiel, Ezekiel 36:28 to be exact. I mean Ezekiel 26:30. yes, Zeke 36:28, where it talks about, I will bring you back into your land, and after bringing you back into land, I will cleanse you and sprinkle holy water on you and you will be mine and your impurities and idols will go away. Is that not speaking of them in. And I do understand, or my understanding prophecies been my wheelhouse for 30 to five years. I love it. It's what brought me back into the fold, if you will, as a, as a middle aged adult. but I finally realized the real times that we're living in and that just put me in a ghost event. It really did. it's amazing what's going on now, truly amazing. But it seems to me that it's speaking that he will bring them back into the land and then cleanse them. And I know a lot of tribulation is dealing with the nation of Israel to begin with. So the fact that they're non believers now living there really doesn't nullify the times are truly living in.
Well, let me say this, I'll throw it to you Bert, in at least three places. And I'm going to give these Genesis 28:15, Jeremiah 29:14 and Ezekiel 36:24. God says to the Jews, I will be with you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have completed all things. And you know, the cleansing, maybe it does speak of the fact that you know, at some point when a maximum amount of Jews are back in their homeland will come the time that the majority believes right now it's kind of the inverse of that. Although I do, I want to say this, that Dr. Micah Rydelnik, formerly of Moody, now at Cornerstone University. Dr. Micah Brown, the late great Dr. Barry Leventhal from Dallas Seminary. I've known a lot of born again Jews and they would tell you there are more Jewish believers in Messiah all around the world right now than at any other time since Pentecost. and I've got to say this, and we'll go to the next call but a few Months ago I interviewed Dr. Micah Rydelnik, born again Jewish person. He said, Alex, 50 years ago during the Jesus movement, he said, those of us that were born again Jews, we almost knew all the other born again Jewish people in the world because it was three to 500. He said, Now I don't even know all the born again Jewish people in NewSong York or Chicago. There are so many and more coming all the time.
Well, what's happening, even on our network, we're having these Jewish teachers and they're sharing on Sunday morning Jewish teachers and they're reaching other Jews. we've had individuals here and they're ministering God's the chosen people. I mean God's using them and carrying the gospel throughout the world. And listen, that's what happens when you share the seed. Okay, 25% here, 25 there. But there's, there is, there are those that land on good ground.
Amen.
In the Jewish, nation. And it's happening and they believe.
Let's we're going to try to get two more in Charlie in North Carolina. Charlie, are you there?
Yes, I'm here.
Welcome.
I just want to say thank you to you guys, for what you do, every day. It's it's just a very, it's a blessing to have this on, on the radio and for everybody that tunes in and also had Alex, at our church in Greenville, Christope Church a couple months back, really enjoyed Amen. Getting to hear him directly.
Thank you all. That, that was fantastic. I would really love to come back.
Oh yeah, we'd have you back. I just have a quick trivia question for you. We're gonna kind of pretend this is the Friday Trivia Show. So the question is, there's only one person named in the Bible as being left handed. What was his name and why was it important that he be left handed?
Ehud.
You got it.
Okay. And he was left handed because, the sword is usually on the outside and he'd do it, but he had it hidden. And I've got a sermon on that. You know what it is? Yeah. When lefty let fatty have it.
That's true.
Yeah. Read that story. There's a lot of good stories. Shamgar and others. That's in the Book of Judges. Hey Charlie, thank you man. You've made my day. I love trivia Friday as well.
God bless you. thank. Call again at some point, Charlie. Let's go to Jon in Pennsylvania because I want to try to get this in. By the way, I'll be in Somerset, Pennsylvania this weekend. I'll tell you more about that. But, Jon, you're on.
Sir, do you think Jesus would have forgave ah, Judas if he would have came to him when he was hanging on a cross for what he did?
Well, we know that Judas went out and committed, suicide, Hung himself. you know, let me say, this is what's called a counterfactual. In other words, it might be something we theorize about, but, anyone that comes to Christ, he would forgive.
Father, forgive them. They know not what they're doing. And was Judas. Was he involved in that?
Oh, yeah. It was Judas that betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. But the thing was, for there to be forgiveness, there has to be repentance and remorse.
And there's a difference in ungodly m. human resource and then divine contrition. That's right.
And Judas was not.
We find that nowhere where he.
Yeah. Well, Bert, it's been a good day.
Thank you for being here, man. Shake hands and do nux bow.
There we go. All right.
Well, we thank you for listening. Tomorrow will be share aon. we're praying God would just give us a, great harvest. Not only of what he wants for us, but what we need from him. Thank you for listening.
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next hour as we study God's word and take your Bible questions. Welcome to Exploring the Word. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place. But the end is not yet. Yet. Well, with that very well known verse from Matthew 24, verse 6, we welcome you to today's edition of Exploring the word. Alex McFarland here along with Bert Harper. And I'm not coming to you from North Carolina, I'm not coming to you from South Carolina where we just had a big conference. I'm actually in the studio at the American Family Radio Network, Tupelo, Mississippi. And I'm in the room with Brent Austin on the board, Bert Harper to my left. And it's great to be here guys.
It is good to have you. Alex, I'm telling you, there's a little extra energy when we know you're coming. And when you're here it really pops up. And there's people say, you mean he's not in the studio all the time? No, he's usually on the road or somewhere. But we're glad you're here.
Well, it's great to be here. I've got a. Before we get into Matthew 24, I just want to give God the praise. We had a big event on Saturday with two former Muslims sharing their testimony about how they came to Christ. And they were hearing how gravely concerned they are about the future of America, the presence of Sharia law, different candidates running like in Michigan, and the presence of mosques in Texas. And they were urging, just this sellout audience to vote at our conversations that matter. I want to thank everybody for praying for that. Lots of AFR listeners, came. But then yesterday I had the great privilege. Morning and night I was at Stewartsville Baptist in Laurenburg, North Carolina. Pastor Rodney, we had a great day talking about our book, Bert, the book we did on prophecy. And many, many people came up and they said, we listened to you on afr. People drove from pretty far away. And then this morning, I'll say this, we'll get to Matthew 24. I had the great joy of being with, let me make sure I get his name right, in Huntsville, Alabama. Well, I've got a dear friend there named Terri Williams. But there is another pastor and his name will come to me. But we, had a planning meeting with pastors this morning in Huntsville about a big crusade we might do in the fall of 27. And then I drove to Tupelo and
here we are on the road again. Okay, well, it is good to have you. I met. Glad you made it here. And by the way, this is the day that we'll just do Bible study. Starting tomorrow we'll be in the m. We'll be beginning of Sharathon.
Yes.
And we do give ourselves. Yes, we bring up scripture and do some Bible study, but not intense. But in Sharathon we really try to let you hear the listener testimonies. The, the partnerships we have with different ministries that makes afr the effective ministry in missions and activities active in whole thing in your society from voting to being a part of, of looking at what you need to do and how you need to live. So we're looking forward to that. That'll be share a thon starting tomorrow. But we're in chapter 24 now. Let me share this with you. Did you know, and I had not noticed this, in chapter 22 there's three questions. Now the questions are asked by individuals that are trying to trick Jesus. But in chapter 24, guess what happens? Three questions are asked. Let me share that with you. chapter 24, verse one and following. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple. That's where he went out from. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple, because you know, he had been talking about there's not going to be one stone on top of the other. And Jesus said, do you not see all these things? Assuredly I said to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now here's the three questions in verse three.
Yes.
Now he sat on the Mount of Olives getting ready for what is called the Olivet discourse. The disciples came to him privately, trying to get away from the multitude, saying, now here it is. Tell us, when will these things be? Question number one. And what will be the sign of your come coming question number two and of the end of the age, question number three. And Jesus here in Matthew 24, by the way, and I'm going to get this first. The first question about when will this happen concerning the temple did not get answered in Matthew 24. But guess what happened in Luke chapter nine. Excuse me, not nine, in Luke, chapter 21, verses 20 through 24. Here's what Jesus said. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. Then. Now the desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains. And let those who are in the midst here depart. And let those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant, so forth and so on, and notice at 24. And. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Now, again, I think this is one of those double, answers. Yes, this is going to happen. We know ultimately, but it was going to happen in 70 AD when they were surrounded. And verse 24 is the one that says they will be taken captive in all the nations. What happened to the Jewish, culture in 70 AD?
Well, Rome ransacked Jerusalem and they were
dispersed all over the nations. Yeah, so. But after they're through, Jesus does answer those other questions as well, Alex.
Well, you know, in Matthew 23:38, when Jesus had pronounced this woe and said, you, house is left desolate, people have speculated what meant, what was meant by the word house. Did it mean just the temple worship? Which of course, once he shed his blood, blood on the cross, the sacrificial system was no longer efficacious. But in a way, I think Matthew 23:38 also foreshadows the dispersion of March of AD 70. And Israel and the nation for 1900 plus years really didn't exist. And in the lifetimes of many people listening, it was a nation was reborn in a day. But, you're right. These three, three questions are in verse three. When will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Bert, we are not to set dates, because no man really knows the exact day or the hour. I do think we are to stay ready, stay faithful, stay fruitful, but at the same time, the signs of the last days. I really think it's, we can't miss the fact that Israel is in their land. There's been a rise of terrorism. There's just been the wiring of the planet. Lawlessness, violence, earthquakes. They estimate that there were more earthquakes since 1900 than in all of previous history combined. And then I think, let me just say this, the, unspeakable sexual deviancy and gross immorality that is just, forcibly, legal means are used to impose immorality on people these days. And I'll say this. Unless Christ in his sovereignty, gives a great revival, it seems like the world is on an inevitable trajectory toward the end times.
All these things has been a part of a fallen world.
Yes.
But as you see this day approaching. I'm using this word. They're enhanced.
Yeah.
By that I mean, it gets more of. More difficult than. And again, we've had all these. There's nothing new under the sun now. I, mean, you know, deviancy has been there.
Look.
Look at the Old Testament. Look at what took place. Read. Read the book of Romans, and you see that. But what you have is an enhancement of this. And so someone yesterday at Ozark Baptist Church, where I preach, they sang Midnight Cry.
Ah.
And I got up there, I said, I'm not listening. I'm not looking for signs now. I'm listening for the sound.
Amen.
And, so again, we don't want to set dates, but we do see the days approaching. But again, we find this, outlined in verse, chapter 24. Jesus answered to them and said, take heed that no one deceives you.
Yes.
Okay. There's. Have you noticed how many times God warns us of not being deceived?
I know. Colossians 2, 8 is another one of those that we are to take care and not be misled.
So having the word of God and not misusing the word of God, using the word of God, the Holy Spirit of God, and having this accountability helps us to know that for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of war. They've been around a long time. See that you are not troubled. For all these things m must come to pass. But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdoms against kingdoms. And there will be famines, pestilence and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows now, Alex. The beginning of sorrows. They're real and says all these things again. Jesus is painting this picture. There's going to be wars. There's going to be these things that's happening. But these are the beginning of war, beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up, to tribulation, kill you. You'll be hated by all nations. For my name's sake. And, Alex, again, we've had tribulation since the founding of the church. Yeah, okay, but it's usually areas not worldwide.
Yeah.
So again, when I say the word enhancement, it is not it's the severity and the wideness of it, the severity of lawlessness and it getting more proficient. I was just looking at an article, closing schools because of the anger and, the evilness that's going on in the schools of killing and shootings. We are living in difficult days, aren't we?
Well, we really are. And I think about in Jon 16:2, Jesus said, the day will come when those who kill you think they do God a service. And I think about the jihadists and the terrorists killing Jews and Christians, killing people for converting, like in Iran right now. And I've interviewed, in the last month, I've interviewed four people from Iran who say at least a thousand people a month, and it might be a thousand a week, are coming to faith in Christ. Many are promptly martyred for believing in Jesus. And so, when Jesus talks about the birth pangs, the beginning of sorrows, in verse 8 of Matthew 24, then verse 9, believers being delivered up to be killed. Now look at verse nine, Jesus is, speaking to Christians. You will be hated by all nations on account of my name. And I think about if you advocate for traditional marriage, if you say that marriage is between a man and a woman and males, should not play in female sports and life, is sacred and abortion on demand is wrong, I mean, you might as well put a target on your back. This thing about being hated for righteousness and truth, are we already beginning to see some of that, Bert?
We are. And there will be betrayals. They will. Have you ever heard of, wolves in sheep's clothing? In other words, which book is it in? the seven, churches in Revelation, one of them has. Satan has his seat. I forgot exactly which one of the churches it was.
The book Galatians.
It probably was, knowing your memory. That's probably correct. But Satan has his agents everywhere. They're planted purposely. To do what? To find out who the Christians are. Because we are hated. You're listening to Exploring the word. Alex McFarland, Bert Harper. And it's our joy to be coming with you today, Alex. Being in the studio with us, being live, and we're going to go ahead and start, but we also will take questions in the last segment, so get your questions ready. Hello, I'm, Bert Harper. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netgive. that's afr.netgive.
I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind. And it's closer now than it's ever been. I can almost hear the trumpet
as
Gabriel sounds a cold.
Hm. Amen. Amen. I. I think somebody picked up on what we were discussing and they picked a song out.
Alec, don't we have a good producer?
He does. Way to go. You only think I don't listen. Okay. I didn't know what you were. I knew you were doing stuff. I didn't know you were getting that up. Good work, brother.
Was. Was that Squire Parsons?
Ivan Parker.
Ivan Parker. Okay. that's Brent Austin, our producer, who's also. I think he's got an inner DJ that wants to show up sometime.
Now. He's been practicing for a long time. He'll get out one day. Yeah, he'll get out. Hey, all this bad news that we've been talking about here, and it's going to continue. Listen right in the middle of this verse 14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end will come.
Amen.
Now, again, different views. And let me share. When you're talking about eschatology, you nail this down. Jesus Christ said, I, am coming back. He's coming in his body. He hasn't come already. The Pentecost wasn't the second coming. He is coming back. And so there is those who have that I love with all my heart, man, they don't believe everything like I do, and I don't believe everything they do. But here it is, verse 14. It's going to be preached. There's those that say, oh, man, this is us, the church, getting the gospel out to all the nations. And we're doing that effectively. I do the program exploring missions, Alex, that people, here, my son and I do on the weekends, and we're going to interview someone that's coming up real quickly, and they're going to tell us how many missionaries are volunteering and they're going into dangerous, dangerous locations to share the good news of Christ. So we are trying to fulfill that. But if it's not fulfilled in our day, in the church age, in the time of the Gentiles, guess what's going to happen at the tribulation. There's 144,000, as you say it, Billy Graham, Jewish Billy Graham, that's going to carry the gospel around the world. So verse 14 is going to be fulfilled When? Well, we have different thoughts on that. But that's good news. No matter when that it's going to be fulfilled.
Well, and you know, by the way, it's very significant where Jesus says this gospel, the kingdom, verse 14 of Matthew 24. You know, religions. And they estimate that there are 24,000 religions in the world. Dos and don'ts rituals, religion. But Jesus came and yes, he preached the gospel, which is the good news. The death, burial, the resurrection of Christ for the sins of the world. If anybody ever asks, you know, what is the gospel? Well, gospel means good news. But the good news is that the son of God died on the cross, paid our sin debt from the dead, and by putting our faith in Christ, we're forgiven. That's good News. But Matthew 24:14, to amplify it a little bit, over and over, Christ talked about the gospel of the kingdom, the kingdom of God, the coming kingdom of God. And Bert, many of the scholars that we've worked with and interviewed, I think about Gary Habermas and others say the idea of the kingdom of God is utterly unique. How Jesus, he said the kingdom of God is like a man that saw a treasure in a field and he sold everything to get that field and thus get that treasure. The kingdom of God is like a householder who went away on a long journey. And so, Bert, I think this is really important, and I'd love for you to comment on it when we become a Christian. Yes, our sins are forgiven. Praise God. Our name is written in the Lamb's book of life. Praise God. But we are now citizens of the coming kingdom of Almighty God. Absolute, sure, secure in Christ. His kingdom is coming. And the fallen, sinful kingdom of this world is not for long.
Amen.
Of his kingdom, there will be no end, and he shall reign forever and ever. That's good news, folks. And the only way to do that is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There's no plan B. There's no alternate route. There are some highways here in Mississippi, and you'll come to a division. It will say highway this way, and then it'll say alternate that way, both and.
And.
But not when it comes to Jesus Christ.
Right?
It's either he or not he. Will you trust him now, Alex? After he says that verse 15, there seems to be a change. I believe, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. Then let those who are in Judah flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop come down and take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant, to those who are nursing babies days and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Now, again, when you read this, notice how much Jewish language is in here.
Exactly.
And it talked Judea the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation. Okay, Great tribulation. Alex. I believe it's the beginning of birth pains. We've had that showing us that it is coming. But then there's going to be a time of great tribulation. I would say even I'm using this word added greater tribulation. Yes, and the greater has the idea of more severe and more widespread.
Well, exactly. And you know, by the way, one of the reasons that I think a lot of this is, post rapture, because the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel. Now that's a reference. Verse 15 is a reference to Daniel 9:27. standing in the holy place. Now, Jesus knew that the temple would be destroyed. The temple that would have been there in the time of Christ and the apostles was built by Herod. really kind of rebuilt the temple. Temple of Solomon. The Solomonic temple had been destroyed. There is going to be a third temple. You know, I've had people ask me, do you really think the temple would be rebuilt? Absolutely. Guarantee. And some people have said, well, that's kind of ambitious. Do you really think the temple is going to get rebuilt? Well, the nation of Israel got reborn. I mean, if God after 1900 years could rebirth and resurrect the nation, yes, the temple will be rebuilt, but the temple will be profaned. And this is also in 2 Thessalonians 4, the man of sin, the son of perdition. I mean, think about it. just as Jesus is God incarnate, righteousness, truth personified, there will be a man that is wickedness incarnate, and that's going to be the Antichrist, and he's
going to make his presence known. Seems like the first three and a half years it will be, oh, we've got peace and safety. then there's going to be some upheaval. And, I'd say Satan can only hide who he really is. I think I want you to come in it for a while. Not only in the Antichrist that does that, but I would say even politicians today, the true covers come out okay, the true cover. Ultimately, when you have, and I'm going to say demonic, thoughts concerning, image. Okay. Concerning image in creation.
Yeah.
it's going to finally result in the truth coming out. Truth will finally come out. And here it is. He reveals himself after three and a half years at the midpoint, and then all the things that takes place in the horribleness that is described in Revelation and others, it's going to start happening, happening. I agree with you. The church been raptured out of that there with the Lord in, with him in heaven waiting for his second coming. He comes for the rapture. That's not his second coming. That's the rapture of the church. His literal second coming to earth is at the end of that point in time.
I agree. I completely agree. And, and folks, I'll grant you there's a lot here. This is pretty complex. Bert and I did a book almost a year ago, about 11 months
ago called, yeah, matter of fact, that was the premium gift, last fall
in the Share a thon.
Yeah.
You know, Bert, it's been my joy to travel and preach virtually every weekend and everywhere I go, people say that that book has been a blessing. They say that that book has caused them to recommit their life to Christ and their family to Christ. We give God all the glory for that. But, I want to connect, if I could ver. And verse 24. Now, the word Christ we think of, of course, Jesus Christ. In Greek, Christos means anointed one. Now, Jesus warned, many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will mislead many. And then over here, it's talking about during this time of tribulation and great tribulation, unless those days were cut short and, and no life would be saved then. Verse 23, if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Now, two things I want to say as we get further into the world of AI, it's getting harder and harder to discern, what is true, what is false, what is authentic. And there have been people that claimed to be Jesus. There was a false teacher down in Mexico probably 15 years ago that he didn't just claim to be spiritual, he claimed to be Jesus. Obviously he wasn't. But I think there are going to be people who say that they are anointed ones. Oh, I've got great. You know, one of the new age words is avatars. These ascended, wise teachers, gurus, Maharishi type people. Don't believe it, folks. The one revelation from God, the only revelation from God is the Bible. The only savior Messiah from God is Jesus Christ. The only pathway to God is the gospel, by being born again through Jesus. And in a world not only of sinners who mislead people, people led by the devil that are wicked. But even with the technology and the AI and I know the Internet and computers can do great good, there's also potential for great evil. And more than ever, more than ever, it's time to stay ready, keep your house in order, walk with, but intimately know His Word.
Amen. his word is truth.
Amen.
Without that, falsehood will reign. And we've talked about the condition of America and we're concerned about the midterm election and what's going to take place. and we look at it politically, but the bottom line is the spiritual depth. We talked about this early. When did the Declaration of Independence and when was that all taking place? After the first Great Awakening? I am not sure with, all my heart, I don't believe it would. I'm not the historian David Barton and others are. I know that I keep. But I do not believe we would have the founding documents that we have if it had not been for the first Great Awakening, Alec.
Oh, true.
And they want to make light of the Founding Fathers. Oh, they were not that religious. Well, some of them were more committed to Christ than others. Hey, guess what? That's always been the case. That's the way it is. It never will be. But not only their convictions, but also what brought them to that place. And so when we see spiritual life here in America. So we're praying God send a revival. We really do. We're looking for this new generation. I still have hope. We've seen God do some great things. You're just talking about in the youth camps that you do. We're talking about, so many things that has taken place and, that we see and understand on the college campuses. There's the evil, but also out of that is coming some awesome, awesome people who know the Lord and is speaking up. Alex.
Amen.
M so we're praying God. Hey, 12 men turned the world upside down in the NewSong Testament. Yes, I believe that's possible even in 2026.
I believe it too. That's why, folks, please pray for this election coming up now in just under four weeks. You, know, the False teachers. Now, verse 25, in a way, this is a little bit of, ah, a turning of the corner. Behold, I have told you in advance now verse 26. If, therefore they say to you, behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go forth, or behold, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe them. For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. Verse 28 is a key that this return, I think is at the battle of Armageddon, where the corpse is there, the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Verse 30. And all the nations will mourn. I really think up to the end of verse 24, we're talking about the Tribulation.
I do too.
And then we. Because what you've got to do with Bible prophecy, and I realize it's a lot and I certainly wouldn't claim to have all the answers, but you've got Daniel, you've got Ezekiel 38, 39, you've got the Gospels, you've got, first Thessalonians, you've got even Titus. Then you've got Revelation. All these prophetical words. And the bottom line, Bert, I believe it's Rapture, Tribulation, Armageddon return, Thousand year millennia, NewSong Heaven and NewSong Earth Eternity proper.
Amen. Give us a call. We'd like to thank our sponsors, including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion and has seen over 100,000 commitments to Christ. Will you join PreBorn in continuing this good work supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today. Go to preborn.com afr.
But what if the door swings open to all I've been hoping to break through?
And what if my season of waiting
was changing and leading to something more? Welcome back to Exploring the word. Alex McFarland, Burke Harper. Hey, I want to give the number. It's If you've got a Bible question, call us toll free nationwide. It's 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8880. We will welcome your Bible questions. And hey, if you've never called in before, don't be shy. We'd love to hear from you. And Bert, I know we have some recurrent callers that call pretty regular and it's just so special. It's like a, kind of a family and a, a small group. If Nationwide radio could be called our afternoon small group, but it's pretty special.
Well, we try to make it that close. We really do. We want it to be like a small group meeting, and we teach, and then you hold up your hands and you ask your questions. We do our best to make it conversational and, not just another preaching time, you know what I mean? So we do our best. So we got people that are calling Alec.
We do. We're going to begin in Arkansas. Tony. Tony in Arkansas. Welcome to Exploring the Word.
Hey, Bert and Alex. I got, Listen, you guys, I've called before, and, I just had a question. I thought about it when you were speaking about Christ, and I thought about this a few weeks ago. Alex, Bert, have y' all ever studied or known anybody named Christ before our Jesus, Before Jesus Christ was actually born? Like, did the people in the past, before Christ, ever named their kids Jesus, is what I was wondering. You never see the name Jesus in the Bible other than Jesus Christ himself. So I'm just curious if anybody had ever named their child that before actually Christ was born. And I'll, hang up and listen to the answer.
Thank you, Tony. Alex. Joshua.
That's what I was going to say, really. in the. In the Old Testament, the closest one that I can think of would be Joshua, which really means Jehovah saves, or God is our salvation. and you know what's interesting is very often, Yeshua Mashiach, that's Jesus Messiah. And like in Isaiah 12, 2, which is 1 of my favorite verses, it says, the Lord is my strength and my song, and has become my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. If you look in the Hebrew, it says, the Lord is my strength and my song and my Yeshua, my salvation. So the name Jesus really means salvation. But, I really. I can't think of another.
There's a guy named Bar Jesus. Where was that? He was a Come, on Alex is my concordance. Oh, I think of stuff, and Alex says, okay, I know where that is. I got such a.
You.
Yeah, you remember that? Bar Jesus. At least in the King James version, that would really.
Bar means son of. I'm. I'm trying to think. Let me. Before I misspeak, let me look into that.
We'll do that. Hey, is it. All right, I'll. While you're looking, I'll take us to this one, and that way we can do that. Okay. Let's go to Ricardo in Virginia. Ricardo. Go ahead. With your question. Thank you for calling, brother.
I just wanted to ask, I know we expecting the third Temple to be built and in modern times. And I just wonder if when they build it, if you guys have an opinion how long it would take and what materials and how close to the original temple would this be?
Okay, Alex, we know David could not build the temple, right? But guess what he did.
He got, he got the lumber there,
he got everything ready. You remember what he told his son, Solomon, do it.
Yeah.
Nike thought there was something. Just do it. David had that thousands of years before. Solomon, just do it. So if you heard that they possibly are gathering the material, we hear a lot about the red heifer having that developed to be there. But have you heard that they've got even the plans and everything ready?
Do you know there is something in Jerusalem, and I've been to it called the Temple Institute, and they are collecting a lot of the priestly garments and the things that would be needed for the resumption of Jewish sacrifice, which we know is not needed right now. But as far as the temple, it's interesting. There have been many, what are called feasibility studies. And guess how long they think it would take to build the way they want it. Three and a half years. Now that I, remember well over a decade ago I was reading. And this is completely secular. Well, I don't know if I would say secular. It's not evangelical Christians, but they were saying, if they could do it without causing a world war with the Muslims, because as of 67, Muslims have control of the Temple Mount. Now I think, Bert, what the Antichrist will do to broker, a, momentary temporary world peace that he's going to get, an agreement where the Jews can rebuild their temple without being attacked by Muslims. And they've said to build that temple is going to take three and a half years. Well, midway, through the tribulation, three and a half years is when the Antichrist is going to really pull back his cape and say, listen, I'm going in this temple. I've allowed it to be built. Now the world must worship me or be executed. so this, I think we're in high gear.
Let me add a little bit to that. With what took place in Syria and with, the Muslims infiltrating Europe by, by the thousands and millions, this anti Semitic, front, has spread all over. It's not just in any area. And that would be a worldwide conflict that we're looking at. And it all centers over as they say, from the river to the sea, wanting that land. So I see it happening.
exactly, Ricardo. Thank you for that. Good question. Let's go to Texas. Angie in Texas. Angie, welcome to Exploring the Word.
Hi. Good afternoon, Brother Bart and Brother Alex. my question is, who was the first to refer to Jesus as the son of David? And also, how did the Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter, how she. How would she know to call him the son of David if she was a Gentile?
Okay. Go to the first place when you see that. And then Jesus calls her out about the dog. You know, I think he referred to the, her as the dogs, you know, feeding Alex. Their influence was in that area, not to. Just to the Jews, but the Gentiles would be knowledgeable of that as well.
Well, you know, what's interesting is, there was an outer court and an inner court. Gentiles could be in the outer court of the temple. And we've said a number of times there was a tablet found decades ago, the inner court. And then there was the Holy of Holies, where only a priest could go once a year. But, there was a tablet that said, no responsibility can be taken for the probable death of any gentile that goes beyond this point. So the gentil were aware now, I think in the NewSong Testament, in Matthew 9 and Mark 10, two blind men on the road cried out, have mercy on us, son. of David. In Matthew 21, when Christ is going into Jerusalem, the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, they said hosanna to the son of David. And what that meant was, at least on some level, they understood Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David, son of David.
So if they didn't use that title, that was inferred in the Old Testament from being from the seed of David out of him. Okay. Yeah, I think so.
Great question. William in North Carolina. William, welcome. And, God bless you. From my home state of North Carolina.
Absolutely. I'm down here on the coast in Wilmington, and we're starting to feel a little fall weather finally. So bless the Lord for that.
I've got a dear friend. I gotta say this. A big shout out to Herb McCarthy. He's probably listening. He's. His career was working with Billy Graham. And Herb is a fantastic Christian leader, lives in Wilmington. Down there now. Herb, if you're listening, God bless you, sir. But, William, what you got, brother?
I was going to inquire about, y' all had spoke about Nation, the Israel nation, and then coming back into their homeland. We know that kind of started taking place in 1948, and we've seen it progress from there. My question is, I know I've heard statistics between 96 and 98% of the population are non believers. However, and I was going to reference a verse In Ezekiel, Ezekiel 36:28 to be exact. I mean Ezekiel 26:30. yes, Zeke 36:28, where it talks about, I will bring you back into your land, and after bringing you back into land, I will cleanse you and sprinkle holy water on you and you will be mine and your impurities and idols will go away. Is that not speaking of them in. And I do understand, or my understanding prophecies been my wheelhouse for 30 to five years. I love it. It's what brought me back into the fold, if you will, as a, as a middle aged adult. but I finally realized the real times that we're living in and that just put me in a ghost event. It really did. it's amazing what's going on now, truly amazing. But it seems to me that it's speaking that he will bring them back into the land and then cleanse them. And I know a lot of tribulation is dealing with the nation of Israel to begin with. So the fact that they're non believers now living there really doesn't nullify the times are truly living in.
Well, let me say this, I'll throw it to you Bert, in at least three places. And I'm going to give these Genesis 28:15, Jeremiah 29:14 and Ezekiel 36:24. God says to the Jews, I will be with you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have completed all things. And you know, the cleansing, maybe it does speak of the fact that you know, at some point when a maximum amount of Jews are back in their homeland will come the time that the majority believes right now it's kind of the inverse of that. Although I do, I want to say this, that Dr. Micah Rydelnik, formerly of Moody, now at Cornerstone University. Dr. Micah Brown, the late great Dr. Barry Leventhal from Dallas Seminary. I've known a lot of born again Jews and they would tell you there are more Jewish believers in Messiah all around the world right now than at any other time since Pentecost. and I've got to say this, and we'll go to the next call but a few Months ago I interviewed Dr. Micah Rydelnik, born again Jewish person. He said, Alex, 50 years ago during the Jesus movement, he said, those of us that were born again Jews, we almost knew all the other born again Jewish people in the world because it was three to 500. He said, Now I don't even know all the born again Jewish people in NewSong York or Chicago. There are so many and more coming all the time.
Well, what's happening, even on our network, we're having these Jewish teachers and they're sharing on Sunday morning Jewish teachers and they're reaching other Jews. we've had individuals here and they're ministering God's the chosen people. I mean God's using them and carrying the gospel throughout the world. And listen, that's what happens when you share the seed. Okay, 25% here, 25 there. But there's, there is, there are those that land on good ground.
Amen.
In the Jewish, nation. And it's happening and they believe.
Let's we're going to try to get two more in Charlie in North Carolina. Charlie, are you there?
Yes, I'm here.
Welcome.
I just want to say thank you to you guys, for what you do, every day. It's it's just a very, it's a blessing to have this on, on the radio and for everybody that tunes in and also had Alex, at our church in Greenville, Christope Church a couple months back, really enjoyed Amen. Getting to hear him directly.
Thank you all. That, that was fantastic. I would really love to come back.
Oh yeah, we'd have you back. I just have a quick trivia question for you. We're gonna kind of pretend this is the Friday Trivia Show. So the question is, there's only one person named in the Bible as being left handed. What was his name and why was it important that he be left handed?
Ehud.
You got it.
Okay. And he was left handed because, the sword is usually on the outside and he'd do it, but he had it hidden. And I've got a sermon on that. You know what it is? Yeah. When lefty let fatty have it.
That's true.
Yeah. Read that story. There's a lot of good stories. Shamgar and others. That's in the Book of Judges. Hey Charlie, thank you man. You've made my day. I love trivia Friday as well.
God bless you. thank. Call again at some point, Charlie. Let's go to Jon in Pennsylvania because I want to try to get this in. By the way, I'll be in Somerset, Pennsylvania this weekend. I'll tell you more about that. But, Jon, you're on.
Sir, do you think Jesus would have forgave ah, Judas if he would have came to him when he was hanging on a cross for what he did?
Well, we know that Judas went out and committed, suicide, Hung himself. you know, let me say, this is what's called a counterfactual. In other words, it might be something we theorize about, but, anyone that comes to Christ, he would forgive.
Father, forgive them. They know not what they're doing. And was Judas. Was he involved in that?
Oh, yeah. It was Judas that betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. But the thing was, for there to be forgiveness, there has to be repentance and remorse.
And there's a difference in ungodly m. human resource and then divine contrition. That's right.
And Judas was not.
We find that nowhere where he.
Yeah. Well, Bert, it's been a good day.
Thank you for being here, man. Shake hands and do nux bow.
There we go. All right.
Well, we thank you for listening. Tomorrow will be share aon. we're praying God would just give us a, great harvest. Not only of what he wants for us, but what we need from him. Thank you for listening.
The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.
Join Alex McFarland and Bert Harper in the studio for today’s edition of Exploring the Word on American Family Radio. Together, they walk step-by-step through Jesus’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, examining prophetic signs, the rising threats of global deception, the future of Jerusalem, and the ultimate return of Christ. The hosts also answer live caller questions about the Third Temple, the title 'Son of David,' and finding assurance in God's word amid uncertain times.
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