THIS IS THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
WHERE, ACCORDING TO THE
BIBLE, JESUS WAS LAST SEEN. HERE MANY WITNESSED HIM
MIRACULOUSLY ASCENDING
INTO THE CLOUDS. NOW, FOR ALMOST 2,000 YEARS, FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST HAVE
LIVED IN ANTICIPATION OF
HIS PROMISED RETURN, HIS PROMISE TO RETURN
BEFORE THE END OF TIME. FROM THEN UNTIL NOW
PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED TO THE
PROPHECIES OF SCRIPTURE... FOR SIGNS AND CLUES AS TO
THE TIMING OF HIS RETURN. WHAT HAVE JESUS' FOLLOWERS
BEEN WATCHING FOR? ON THIS DAY OF DISCOVERY. ON MARCH 29, 2006, THE NATION
OF ISRAEL EXPERIENCED AN 80
PERCENT ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. ALTHOUGH THE ECLIPSE WAS A
SCIENTIFICALLY PREDICTED EVENT, IT WAS A REMINDER TO MANY
THAT DOWN THROUGH HISTORY, ECLIPSES OF THE SUN
HAVE BEEN ACCOMPANIED
BY SUPERSTITIOUS FEARS, AND OMINOUS SPECULATION
ABOUT THINGS TO COME. SO IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT DAY
OF DISCOVERY'S MART DE HAAN AND
JIMMY DEYOUNG... WOULD TAKE THE OCCASION
NOT ONLY TO WATCH HOW OTHERS
RESPONDED TO AN ECLIPSE, BUT ALSO TO TALK ABOUT WHAT SOME HAVE CALLED THE SIGNS
OF THE ENDTIMES. THEIR VANTAGE POINT WAS THE
TOP OF JERUSALEM'S HISTORIC
TOWER OF DAVID. JIMMY: I'M STANDING HERE
OVERLOOKING THE NEW... MART: HEY, JIM! HEY, YOU KNOW
ALL THE TALK IN THE PAPERS
ABOUT, DON'T LOOK AT THE SUN? YOU'VE READ THAT, TOO? JIMMY: YES. YOU DIDN'T
LOOK, DID YOU? MART: NO, I GOT PICTURES
OF PEOPLE! THERE'S PEOPLE... JIMMY: THEY'RE LOOKING? MART: IN GROUPS. THEY'RE
LOOKING UP AT THE SUN. JIMMY: THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO. MART: THEY'RE GONNA GO BLIND! (LAUGHTER) DOES IT TELL YOU SOMETHING
ABOUT HUMAN NATURE OR NOT? JIMMY: IT CERTAINLY DOES.
THE ECLIPSE, THIS IS AN 80 PERCENT
ECLIPSE OF THE SUN HERE
IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. MART: FOR SOME PARTS OF
THE EARTH IT'S GOING TO
BE 100 PERCENT. ACCORDING TO THE NEWSPAPERS,
THIS IS A MUST-SEE. AND HERE
WE ARE IN JERUSALEM. JIMMY: WHAT A PLACE
TO BE TO SEE IT. AND WE'RE ACTUALLY HERE,
AS I WAS SAYING, ON THE
TOWER OF DAVID'S ROOFTOP. THE TOWER OF DAVID IS
THE JERUSALEM MUSEUM. IT'S A LOCATION THAT WHEN
THE TOURISTS TRAVEL INTO
JERUSALEM AND TO ISRAEL, THEY WANT TO COME HERE BECAUSE
IT REVEALS THE ENTIRE HISTORY
OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. BUT NOT ONLY THAT, DOWN THROUGH
HISTORY AS IT RELATES TO ISRAEL, AND THEN EXPANDING OUT
TO THE MIDDLE EAST. MART: HEY LOOK AT THIS. IT'S ABOUT FOUR TO 1:00, THE
NEWSPAPER SAID WE SHOULD HAVE
ABOUT 80 PERCENT ECLIPSE, AROUND 83 PERCENT
AT FIVE TO 1:00. SO... I REALLY THOUGHT IT
WOULD BE DARKER THAN THIS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE CLOUDS
THAT ARE HERE IN AIR. BUT THERE'S AN
EERINESS, ISN'T THERE? THERE'S A... THE AIR,
IT'S A DIFFERENT COLOR
HERE RIGHT NOW... THAN IT WOULD BE AT
1:00 IN THE AFTERNOON. JIMMY: NOT THAT
BRIGHT SUNLIGHT. KNOW WHAT IT REMINDS ME OF? MART: WHAT? JIMMY: THE SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS. THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT THEM AT
THE BEGINNING OF THAT SEVEN YEAR
TRIBULATION PERIOD, DURING THE MIDDLE, AND WHEN
JESUS CHRIST COMES BACK. MART: OK, BUT WHAT
ARE YOU IMPLYING, JIM? YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU
EVEN SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BECAUSE DOWN THROUGH
HISTORY, PEOPLE HAVE
LOOKED AT SIGNS IN THE SKY, THEY'VE LOOKED AT ECLIPSES
AS BEING INDICATIONS
THAT THE LORD... THAT CHRIST WAS GOING TO
RETURN MOMENTARILY, AND THAT'S BEEN GOING ON
FOR HUNDREDS AND EVEN
THOUSANDS OF YEARS. JIMMY: WELL, THAT'S TRUE. AND THE FACT IS, THERE'S BEEN
THOSE WHO HAVE NAMED DATES. THOSE DATES HAVE PASSED AND
JESUS CHRIST DID NOT COME BACK. BUT I THINK WE HAVE TO
CONTINUE TO GO TO THE BIBLE. BECAUSE AS I'VE STUDIED
PROPHECY OVER THESE MANY YEARS,
THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS, THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR
PROPHETS, EVEN IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT, THOSE WRITERS OF THE
NEW TESTAMENT THAT
DEALT WITH PROPHECY, I'VE SEEN FOUR MAJOR TRENDS
THAT UNFOLD IN ALL OF PROPHETIC
TRUTH THAT GIVE US EVIDENCE. MORE THAN JUST AN
ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. MORE THAN SOME ACTIVITY
IN THE HEAVENS. MART: I'M GLAD
YOU'RE SAYING THAT. BECAUSE I WOULD IMAGINE
THAT WE HAVE FRIENDS RIGHT
NOW WHO ARE SAYING, "THERE YOU GO JIMMY,
THERE YOU GO MART.
YOU'RE TAKING OFF ON SOME..." AND EVENTS LIKE
THIS TEND TO GIVE... THEY SURFACE SUPERSTITIONS. AND
THEY SURFACE, AS YOU INDICATED, STATEMENTS WHERE PEOPLE
GO BEYOND WHAT THEY KNOW. AND THEN THE RESULT IS, THAT
OVER TIME, I THINK PEOPLE
GET BURNED OUT ON PROPHECY. AFTER A WHILE THEY SAY,
"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THE
PREDICTIONS OF THE BIBLE." PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING
THIS FOR CENTURIES. AND ALL IT DOES IS IT CAUSES A
CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CYNICISM, A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF
SKEPTICISM AND... OK, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT,
BUT LET'S BE REALLY CAREFUL. JIMMY: LET ME SHOW
YOU SOMETHING. LOOK OUT OVER HERE. THIS IS
THE NEW CITY OF JERUSALEM. NOW, THE CITY OF
JERUSALEM NUMBERS ABOUT
700,000 IN POPULATION. WE MOVED HERE TO
JERUSALEM BACK IN 1991. FROM THAT TIME UNTIL THIS TIME, THE POPULATION OF JERUSALEM HAS INCREASED BY SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND IN JUST OVER A DECADE. AND ONE OF THE PEOPLE GROUPS
THAT HAS MADE THEIR WAY IN THIS
LAST DECADE INTO THE LAND... WOULD BE THE RUSSIANS. SINCE 1991 WHEN WE
ARRIVED HERE IN JERUSALEM, 1.3 MILLION RUSSIANS HAVE COME TO LIVE HERE IN THE LAND. YOU GO TO THE BIBLE, IN THE
BOOK OF EZEKIEL, FIRST OF ALL,
GOD SAYS IN THE 34TH CHAPTER, IN FACT HE SAYS IT 18 TIMES,
"I WILL FIND MY PEOPLE WHEREVER
THEY HAVE BEEN SCATTERED, "I WILL GATHER THEM IN,
BRING THEM INTO THEIR LAND. "I WILL FEED THEM LIKE
A GOOD SHEPHERD WOULD FEED
HIS FLOCK HERE IN THE LAND." IN THE SIXTH CENTURY BC, THE PROPHET EZEKIEL
SPOKE THESE WORDS ON
BEHALF OF GOD: JIMMY: 1.3 MILLION RUSSIAN JEWS
COMING TO LIVE HERE IN THE LAND. JEREMIAH 16, JEREMIAH 23,
JEREMIAH 31, ALL TALKS ABOUT
REACHING INTO THE NORTH... AND BRINGING THE PEOPLE
BACK INTO THE LAND. IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY BC, THE PROPHET JEREMIAH SPOKE
THESE WORDS ON BEHALF OF GOD: JIMMY: AN INDICATOR, A
TREND THAT YOU CAN WATCH, AND SEE THAT WE'RE MOVING CLOSE TO THE TIME THAT WAS PROMISED... MART: OKAY AGAIN, I APPRECIATE
THE FACT THAT YOU'RE SAYING
AN INDICATOR, A TREND, BECAUSE AGAIN, ESPECIALLY WHEN
WE'RE STANDING HERE IN THE
MIDDLE OF JERUSALEM, ON THE TOWER OF DAVID AND AN
80 PERCENT ECLIPSE AT 1:00, JIM. JIMMY: ON THE DOT. MART: AND YOU KNOW,
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT
HOW DARK IT WOULD BE. AND IT'S NOT AS DARK AS
I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. BUT YOU'RE SAYING, EVEN
SINCE YOU'VE BEEN HERE, YOU
REALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS IS... AT LEAST PREPARATION FOR THE...
AND YOU'RE IMPLYING THE RETURN
OF CHRIST, RIGHT? THE END TIMES. JIMMY: I WOULD USE
THIS TERMINOLOGY: IT IS THE ALIYAH OF
THE JEWISH PEOPLE.... THAT IS THAT FIRST
TREND, THE REGATHERING. MART: YOU LOST A LOT
OF PEOPLE WITH ALIYAH. JIMMY: OK, LET ME
EXPLAIN THAT WORD. ALIYAH MEANS LITERALLY
"TO GO UP TO JERUSALEM." TODAY IT'S APPLIED TO THOSE WHO
ARE IMMIGRATING INTO THE LAND, AND THEY'VE COME FROM OUT OF
108 NATIONS OF THE WORLD. AND ANOTHER UNIQUE THING
THAT'S HAPPENED HERE IS, WITH THESE 108
NATIONS REPRESENTED, YOU HAD 108 LANGUAGES OR
DIALECTS THAT WOULD BE SPOKEN. A MAN NAMED BEN...
ELIEZER BEN YEHUDAH,
BACK IN THE LATE 1800'S, CAME TO LIVE IN THE LAND. HE TAUGHT HIS NEW WIFE HOW TO
SPEAK HEBREW, HIS NEIGHBORS. HE DEVELOPED A DICTIONARY
OF HEBREW WORDS. HE DEVELOPED AN INSTITUTE
OF HOW TO TEACH PEOPLE, AND NOW THE HEBREW
LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN RIGHT
HERE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL. ANOTHER INDICATION, JEREMIAH
31 VERSE 23 SAYS: "WHEN I
BRING THE PEOPLE INTO THE LAND, "I WILL RESTORE UNTO
THEM THEIR LANGUAGE." ZEPHANIAH CHAPTER 3,
SAYS A SIMILAR STATEMENT. ZEPHANIAH CHAPTER 3 ALSO
REFERS TO THE ETHIOPIANS
COMING INTO THE LAND. JIMMY: THE STAGE
SETTING IS IN PROCESS. THAT'S NOT THE ONLY THING. THE ALIYAH , THE JEWS
RETURNING TO THE LAND, IS NOT THE ONLY INDICATOR
THAT WE MAY WELL BE LIVING
IN THAT SEASON, IN THAT TIME PERIOD. BUT COME OVER HERE
WITH ME. I WANT TO SHOW
YOU ANOTHER INDICATOR, AN EVIDENCE THAT WE POSSIBLY
COULD WELL BE LIVING IN THAT
PARTICULAR TIME. MART: OKAY, AT LEAST YOU'RE
BEING CONDITIONAL, YOU'RE BEING
CAREFUL, "POSSIBLY." BUT SINCE THE DAYS
OF THE APOSTLES, THERE WAS THAT LOOKING FORWARD
TO THE RETURN OF CHRIST. JIMMY: THE APOSTLE PAUL WHEN HE
TALKED ABOUT THE RAPTURE SAID,
"AND WE SHALL BE CAUGHT UP." HE ANTICIPATED THAT WOULD
HAPPEN. NOW NOTICE HERE... MART: NOW WAIT A MINUTE, BEFORE
YOU GO ANY FURTHER, LOOK, WE'VE NEVER LOOKED AT THE
DOME OF THE ROCK AT THE
TIME OF AN ECLIPSE. JIMMY:STILL PRETTY SHINY. MART: IT'S SHINY,
BUT IT'S NOT QUITE THE 1:00 IN
THE AFTERNOON DOME OF THE ROCK. I'M SORRY, WHAT WERE
YOU GOING TO SAY? JIMMY: OKAY, I WAS GONNA
POINT OUT, THIS WOULD BE
THE EASTWARD DIRECTION, AND WAY IN THE BACKGROUND,
YOU CAN SEE THE MOUNTAINS
OF JORDAN THERE. YOU FOLLOW THE JORDAN
VALLEY UP TO SYRIA. YOU HAVE LEBANON
OUT TO YOUR WEST. YOU HAVE OUT TO THE EAST,
IRAQ, SAUDI ARABIA,
THE OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES. AND IN THAT PARTICULAR THOUGHT
PATTERN, WE SEE THE SECOND TREND
THAT THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT. EZEKIEL CHAPTER 38, THE
BOOK OF DANIEL CHAPTER 11, AND THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH,
THE PSALM EVEN, TALKS ABOUT THE NATIONS THAT
SURROUND JERUSALEM, ALIGNING
THEMSELVES IN A COALITION... TO COME AGAINST
THE JEWISH STATE. IT TALKS ABOUT, IN EZEKIEL
CHAPTER 38, WHEN THE JEWS ARE
LIVING IN AN UN-WALLED CITY. I THINK THAT'S A MILITARY
TERMINOLOGY USED BY THE PROPHET
EZEKIEL SOME 2,500 YEARS AGO, TO TALK ABOUT A TIME WHEN
THERE'S PEACE IN THE LAND, WHEN
THEY'VE LAID DOWN THEIR WEAPONS. THE ONLY DEFENSE 2,500 YEARS
AGO FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE WAS
THE WALL AROUND THEIR CITIES. AND SO WHEN THEY LIVE
IN UN-WALLED CITIES,
A PERIOD OF PEACE, WHEN THIS ALIGNMENT OF
NATIONS, THIS COALITION OF
ENEMIES OF THE JEWISH STATE... WILL COME IN AND
TRY TO DESTROY THEM. SO THAT WOULD BE A SECOND
TREND THAT AS WE FOCUS ON
THESE NATIONS... THAT DO SEE THE JEWISH
STATE AS AN ENEMY. MART: OK, AGAIN WE'RE NOT,
EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE
MIDDLE OF AN ECLIPSE, 1:05 IN THE AFTERNOON,
IN THE MIDDLE OF JERUSALEM, ON
THE TOP OF THE TOWER OF DAVID, YOU'RE NOT SETTING TIMES, YOU'RE
NOT SAYING IT'S GONNA HAPPEN IN
THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. JIMMY: I AM NOT.
JUST WATCH THE TRENDS. MART: ...OF THE FIRST
CENTURY ON, OR FROM
THE TIME OF CHRIST ON, THE APOSTLES HAVE ENCOURAGED
US TO LOOK FOR THE SECOND...
THE RETURN OF CHRIST. JIMMY: THEY STOOD THERE ON
THE MOUNT OF OLIVES WATCHING
JESUS GO INTO HEAVEN, TWO MEN IN WHITE APPAREL
STANDING, THE BIBLE SAYS, THE AUTHOR LUKE WROTE IN THE
BOOK OF ACTS, "WHY STAND YOU
HERE GAZING INTO HEAVEN? "AS HE'S GONE, SO HE'S GOING
TO COME AGAIN ONE DAY." SO HE DID GIVE THE
PROMISE HE WOULD RETURN. HE SAID NOTHING
ABOUT THE EXACT TIME. IN FACT, JUST A BIT EARLIER
IN THAT FIRST CHAPTER OF
THE BOOK OF ACTS, HE SAID, "THAT TIME IS NOT DETERMINED
EVEN BY ME, BUT BY MY FATHER." JIMMY: SO IF JESUS
CANNOT PREDICT THE TIME, I WOULD NOT STEP OUT
ON A LIMB AND PREDICT
THE TIME HE WOULD COME. BUT YOU WATCH THESE INDICATORS,
THE ALIYAH, THE RETURN OF THE
JEWS BACK INTO THE LAND, THE ALIGNMENT OF THE NATIONS
THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT
HERE ON THE TOWER OF DAVID. MART: AND BY THE WAY,
YOU TALKED ABOUT HIS ASCENSION
FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. LET'S NOT MISS THE FACT
THAT RIGHT BEHIND THE
DOME OF THE ROCK, THAT'S THE MOUNT
OF OLIVES, RIGHT? JIMMY: IN FACT, DO YOU
SEE THAT TOWER OUT THERE, AT THE RIDGE OF THE
MOUNT OF OLIVES? THAT'S THE CHURCH
OF THE ASCENSION. THE TRADITIONAL SITE
WHERE JESUS MAY WELL HAVE
ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN. JIMMY: BUT NOW WE'RE
AT A VANTAGE POINT... AS WE CAN LOOK DOWN OVER
THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM. MART: AND WATCH ALL THE PEOPLE
LOOKING UP AND GOING BLIND! IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ECLIPSE. JIMMY: BUT WE CAN WATCH HERE AND
LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS. THE OLD CITY IS DIVIDED
INTO FOUR QUARTERS: THE ARAB QUARTER, THE CHRISTIAN
QUARTER, THE ARMENIAN QUARTER
AND THE JEWISH QUARTER. THE JEWISH QUARTER WOULD
BE BEHIND ME TO MY RIGHT, THE ARAB QUARTER HERE. AND THAT SPEAKS TO ME ABOUT
THE THIRD OF THESE FOUR
TRENDS, OR INDICATORS... THAT WE MAY WELL BE
LIVING IN THE TIME OF
THE RETURN OF THE LORD. THAT'S AN ANTICIPATION
FOR PEACE. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER, IN THE
MEDIA, CONTINUALLY, THEY ARE
REPORTING ABOUT WORLD LEADERS... WHO ARE DOING EVERYTHING
THEY POSSIBLY CAN TO BRING
PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST. THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN
CONFLICT CONTINUES. BUT ALL THE WORLD LEADERS
EXPENDING ENERGY TO TRY TO BRING
THESE TWO PEOPLES TOGETHER, EVEN THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
SAYING THAT... THE REASON WE'RE INVOLVED IN
TERRORISM IS BECAUSE OF THIS
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT... THAT'S GOING ON IN
THE MIDDLE EAST. MART: BUT JIM, ISN'T IT
TRUE THAT FOR CENTURIES
THE ARAB PEOPLE... HAVE GREETED ONE ANOTHER
WITH SALAAM, and THE JEWISH
PEOPLE WITH SHALOM. I MEAN, THE CRY FOR PEACE
HAS BEEN ROOTED IN THE
HEARTS OF BOTH ISRAELIS... OF JEWISH, AND ARAB
PEOPLES FOR CENTURIES.
THAT'S NOT A NEW THING. JIMMY: WELL, IN 1979, THE VERY
FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY... OF THE ARAB PEOPLE
AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE, THERE WAS A PEACE TREATY
- THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS, THAT WAS BROUGHT TOGETHER AS
THEN PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER... MET WITH THEN THE LATE
MENACHEM BEGIN, THE PRIME
MINISTER OF ISRAEL, AND ANWAR SADAT, THE LATE
PRESIDENT OF EGYPT. THEY MET AT CAMP DAVID, THE
PRESIDENTIAL RETREAT GROUNDS... THERE IN MARYLAND, OUTSIDE
OF WASHINGTON, DC. AND HE HELPED THEM FORGE
THE FIRST PEACE TREATY... THAT HAD EVER BEEN
SIGNED BETWEEN ISRAEL... AND ONE OF THEIR ENEMIES. YOU HAVE THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS, AND THEN IN SEPTEMBER OF 1993,
YOU HAVE THE OSLO ACCORDS, A PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
PALESTINIANS AND THE ISRAELIS. IN 1994, I WAS
THERE PERSONALLY... WHEN THEY SIGNED THE
PEACE TREATY BETWEEN
ISRAEL AND JORDAN. I SAW PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, I SAW KING HUSSEIN, THE LATE
KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN, AND THE LATE YITZAK RABIN,
THE PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL, PUT THEIR SIGNATURES
TO THAT PEACE TREATY. AND SO YOU HAVE THESE
THREE PEACE TREATIES,
THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS, THE OSLO ACCORDS,
A PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN
ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS, AND YOU HAVE THE PEACE TREATY
BETWEEN JORDAN AND ISRAEL. MART: PROVING WHAT? JIMMY:
WELL, I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY, PROOF THAT PEACE
TREATIES ARE NOT WORKING
AT THIS PERIOD IN TIME. YOU GO TO THE BOOK OF
DANIEL, THE PROPHET DANIEL
IN CHAPTER 9, AND VERSE 27, IT SAYS A WORLD LEADER WILL
APPEAR ON THE SCENE. HE WILL COME TO JERUSALEM AND
WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE HE WILL
CONFIRM A PEACE AGREEMENT. IT DOES NOT SAY THAT HE
WILL SIGN A PEACE AGREEMENT. THOSE PEACE AGREEMENTS, THE CAMP
DAVID ACCORDS, THE OSLO ACCORDS, THE TREATY BETWEEN ISRAEL
AND JORDAN, THEY'VE ALREADY
BEEN SIGNED. IN FACT, THEY'RE ON THE TABLE. BUT AS I'VE INDICATED,
THEY'RE NOT WORKING. IT SAYS HE WILL CONFIRM...
HE WILL COME ON THE SCENE, AND HE'LL SAY, "I CAN MAKE
THAT PEACE TREATY WORK. "I CAN MAKE IT STRONGER.
I CAN STRENGTHEN IT." MART: SO YOU'RE SAYING
THERE ARE PROPHETIC PATTERNS
WITHIN THE SCRIPTURES. WE KNOW FOR SURE THAT CHRIST,
FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES,
PROMISED TO RETURN. HE SAID, "AS YOU SEE ME
GO, I'LL RETURN." OKAY,
I'M WITH YOU THERE. I KNOW THAT OUR LORD SAID
TO BE READY, YOU KNOW,
BE READY FOR THE RETURN. WE DON'T KNOW WHEN
THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. AND YOU'RE SAYING NOW
THAT WITHIN THE SCRIPTURE, YOU'RE FINDING PATTERNS
THAT YOU THINK LOOK LIKE, OR YOU'RE SEEING EVENTS
TODAY, CURRENT EVENTS,
THAT LOOK LIKE... THE KINDS OF PATTERNS YOU SEE
IN SCRIPTURE FOR THE FUTURE. JIMMY: EXACTLY. NOW LET ME
GO THROUGH THOSE AGAIN. THERE WAS THE ALIYAH
OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, THE JEWISH PEOPLE IMMIGRATING FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, COMING BACK INTO THEIR
HOMELAND THAT GOD HAS
PROMISED TO GIVE THEM. THERE'S THE ALIGNMENT OF THE
NATIONS, THE NATIONS THAT
ARE SURROUNDING JERUSALEM, ALIGNING THEMSELVES,
FORMING COALITIONS TO COME
AGAINST THE JEWISH STATE. WE SEE THEN, THIRDLY, THE
ANTICIPATION FOR PEACE, AND WORLD LEADERS
ARE ALWAYS TALKING
ABOUT HOW WE CAN BRING... A SETTLEMENT TO THE
CONFLICT THAT'S GOING ON
HERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. BUT WE'RE STANDING HERE IN A
PERFECT VANTAGE POINT TO EXPLAIN
THE FOURTH AND FINAL TREND, WHICH I BELIEVE COULD
BE MAYBE ONE OF THE
STRONGEST INDICATORS... THAT WE MAY BE QUICKLY
APPROACHING THE TIME OF
THE RETURN OF THE LORD. AND THAT IS THE PREPARATIONS
TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE. IT WAS THE FIRST TEMPLE
THAT KING SOLOMON BUILT... THAT STOOD BEHIND ME
WHERE THAT GOLD-DOMED
BUILDING IS RIGHT NOW... ON MT. MORIAH, THE TEMPLE MOUNT. AND THEN AFTER THE RETURN FROM
THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITIES, ZERUBBABEL BROUGHT ABOUT 50,000 JEWS BACK HERE TO JERUSALEM. THEY REBUILT THE SECOND TEMPLE. IN THE TIMES OF CHRIST,
HEROD THE GREAT, WHO WAS REFERRED TO AS
THE KING OF THE JEWS AT
THAT POINT IN TIME, HEROD THE GREAT
REFURBISHED THE TEMPLE. AND HE MADE IT ONE OF THE
MOST BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS
IN ALL THE WORLD. WELL, THE ROMAN ARMY MARCHED
OFF OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, ACROSS THE KIDRON VALLEY, AND
THEY DESTROYED THE TEMPLE. THEY DEVASTATED THE CITY, AND
THEY DISPERSED THE JEWS TO THE
FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH. NOW THAT WAS A PROPHECY MADE
THROUGH MOSES, THE PROPHET, BACK IN THE BOOK OF
DEUTERONOMY, CHAPTER 28. IN FACT, IN THE CITY OF ROME,
THERE'S A MONUMENT TO THE
FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROPHECY, THE ARCH OF TITUS, WHICH
WAS A MONUMENT BUILT BY
THE ROMAN EMPEROR, TITUS' FATHER, WHEN
HE RETURNED VICTORIOUS
AFTER DESTROYING THE CITY, DEVASTATING THE TEMPLE
AND DISPERSING THE JEWS TO
THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH. IF I COULD TAKE YOU DOWN INTO
THE CITY NOW, I COULD TAKE YOU
TO THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE, WHERE THERE'S A GROUP OF
ORTHODOX JEWS WHO HAVE BEEN
WORKING TO TRAIN THE PRIESTS. YOU NEED 28,000 PRIESTS TO
OPERATE THE NEXT TEMPLE. AND THEY'VE BEEN TRAINING
THOSE MEN, THEY HAVE THEIR
PRIESTLY GARMENTS, THEY HAVE ALL THE IMPLEMENTS. MOST RECENTLY THEY TOOK
100 POUNDS OF PURE GOLD,
NOT 100 OUNCES, 100 POUNDS OF PURE GOLD,
AND THEY MADE A REPLICA
OF THE MENORAH... THAT STOOD IN THE TEMPLE,
IN THE HOLY PLACE DURING
THE TIMES OF JESUS CHRIST. NOW THEY'VE EVEN MADE THE HARPS
THAT THE LEVITES WOULD PLAY. MART:
AND THERE'S A LOT OF MEN AND
WOMEN, STUDENTS OF SCRIPTURE, WHO WOULD REALLY RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT FUTURE TEMPLE. I MEAN, NOT EVERYBODY IS
GOING TO AGREE WITH THAT. BUT YOU'RE SAYING THAT'S THE
WAY, WHEN YOU STUDY SCRIPTURE,
THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE. YOU SEE A LITERAL INTERPRETATION
OF SCRIPTURE THAT WILL LEAD YOU
TO THAT CONCLUSION. JIMMY: YES, YOU GO TO
THE BOOK OF REVELATION, CHAPTER 11, VERSES 1 AND 2,
IT TALKS ABOUT A TEMPLE. JESUS, WHEN HE SAT THERE
ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES,
MATTHEW CHAPTER 24, HE TALKED ABOUT, WHEN
THE DISCIPLES SAID, "CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT
IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE
WHEN YOU COME BACK?" HE SAID THERE WILL BE
A TEMPLE ON THE TEMPLE
MOUNT IN JERUSALEM. SO ALL THESE PREPARATIONS
TO BUILD THAT TEMPLE, THE
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE TEMPLE, I THINK A VERY STRONG INDICATOR
THAT WE MAY WELL BE... LIVING IN THE TIMES
OF HIS RETURN. MART: OK, AGAIN YOU QUALIFIED
IT, AND I APPRECIATE,
JIM, YOUR STUDY... YOU KNOW, OVER THE YEARS
WE'VE SPENT TIME WITH JIM, AND HAVE WATCHED THIS SENSE
OF ANTICIPATION GROW IN YOU, AS YOU'VE SEEN THE PEOPLE
COME BACK TO THE LAND AND
AS YOU'VE DESCRIBED TODAY. WELL, IT'S PROBABLY RAISED A
LOT OF QUESTIONS IN YOUR MIND, WE'RE NOT SAYING YOU HAVE
TO AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS. JIM CERTAINLY HAS STUDIED
THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES, AND WE'RE CERTAINLY
AGREED THAT YOU CAN'T
READ THE NEW TESTAMENT, YOU CAN'T READ THE GOSPELS, YOU
CAN'T READ THE LETTERS OF PAUL, WITHOUT SEEING THAT CHRIST
HAS PROMISED TO RETURN, AND THE WARNING,
THE ENCOURAGEMENT IS
THAT WE NEED TO BE READY. NOW THERE'S ONE
THING WE DID, JIM. AND LOOK AT WHAT TIME IT IS NOW. IT'S BEYOND THE FULL ECLIPSE. WE AT LEAST HAVE NOT
GONE BLIND BECAUSE WE'RE
TALKING TO ONE ANOTHER. BEFOREHAND, I WAS WATCHING
DOWN BELOW, THE NUMBER
OF PEOPLE LOOKING UP. BUT THERE'S SOMETHING THAT
I'M REMINDED OF WHEN WE TALK
ABOUT ECLIPSE TODAY. AND YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW
JESUS THE MESSIAH FULFILLED
SO MANY OF THESE PATTERNS, SO MANY OF THESE SYMBOLS THAT
WE FIND IN THE TABERNACLE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM. THERE WAS ALSO A TIME
OF DEEP DARKNESS AT THE
END OF JESUS' LIFE. NOW, WE DON'T KNOW
THAT IT WAS AN ECLIPSE. COULD HAVE BEEN, I GUESS THE
LORD COULD HAVE SOVEREIGNLY... THAT GOD COULD HAVE SOVEREIGNLY
ARRANGED TO HAVE THAT ECLIPSE, BUT WE KNOW IT WAS A
TIME OF DEEP DARKNESS. AND YOU REMEMBER WHEN THAT WAS? IT WAS WHEN JESUS
HUNG ON THE CROSS. IT WAS THAT MOMENT WHEN HE
CRIED OUT, "MY GOD, MY GOD,
WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" YOU READ THE NEW TESTAMENT
AND THE UNDERSTANDING
THAT IT GIVES US... IS THAT WHEN HE WAS DYING,
IT WAS NOT SIMPLY THAT HE
WAS A TROUBLE-MAKER, IT WAS NOT SIMPLY THAT
HE WAS BEING A BLASPHEMER, BUT IT WAS INDICATION THAT
GOD HIMSELF, THE CREATOR... HAD SLIPPED INTO HUMAN
HISTORY IN FULFILLMENT... AND THIS IS WHAT I
FIND SO COMPELLING... IN FULFILLMENT OF ALL OF
THESE PATTERNS, IN FULFILLMENT
OF A SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM, IN ORDER TO PAY FOR
OUR SINS, OUR WRONGS. AND THAT'S SOMETHING
WE ALL HAVE IN COMMON. WE HAVEN'T EVEN LIVED UP
TO OUR OWN EXPECTATIONS,
LET ALONE GOD'S. AND HERE WE HAVE ONE WHO IN SO
MANY WAYS GAVE US REASON TO
BELIEVE THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH. WELL, IN THAT HOUR OF DARKNESS,
OUR DEBT WAS PAID. THE PRICE
WAS PAID FOR OUR RESCUE, IF, ACCORDING TO THE NEW
TESTAMENT, IF WE ACCEPT THE
GIFT, THE OFFER OF SALVATION. AND THAT'S REALLY NOW
THE MESSAGE THAT NEEDS TO
GO OUT TO ALL THE WORLD. AND I KNOW JIM, THAT THAT'S
ONE OF THE REASONS YOU'RE SO
CONCERNED ABOUT... ABOUT THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES, BECAUSE THEY REMIND US THAT
LIFE WILL NOT GO ON AS IT
IS TODAY, NOT FOREVER. THERE WILL COME A TIME,
CHRIST WILL RETURN. WE NEED TO BE READY. "NOW IT IS HIGH TIME TO
AWAKE OUT OF SLEEP, "FOR NOW OUR SALVATION IS NEARER
THAN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED. "THE NIGHT IS FAR SPENT,
THE DAY IS AT HAND, "THEREFORE, LET US CAST OFF
THE WORKS OF DARKNESS, "AND LET US PUT ON
THE ARMOR OF LIGHT."
