Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002103S
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00:01 Today we are in the midst of a rebellion
00:02 against old customs, traditions and long held beliefs 00:05 that were the foundation of our society. 00:08 Some call it the culture wars, 00:10 and nothing is considered to be sacred. 00:13 We are witnessing the destruction of old values 00:15 and the emergence of a brave new world 00:17 where truth is what you want it to be. 00:20 Everything, including marriage, 00:22 family, and the Christian church 00:24 is up for grabs. 00:26 Where can security be found? 00:28 John Carter has traveled the Middle East more times 00:31 than he cares to remember. 00:32 He has walked in the footsteps of the ancient Hebrew prophets. 00:36 He has explored the crumbling remains 00:38 of an ancient civilization. 00:39 He believes he has found the answer 00:42 in an ancient book. 00:45 How do you know the Bible is true 00:47 when some people of science 00:49 call it fiction and even nonsense? 00:51 Isn't it time to accept the fact that 00:54 it is a collection of myths? 00:58 Hello, friend. Thanks for joining us today. 01:01 I'm John Carter. 01:03 Welcome to my house. 01:04 It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, 01:08 and I'm so glad that 01:09 you're going to be my neighbor today. 01:12 That's really a very good question. 01:16 But you know, there's a better answer 01:18 than the question 01:19 because the question even though it's good... 01:22 Well, it's not so good. 01:24 Because the question is said that 01:26 all the scientists in the world 01:28 believe that the Bible was false 01:30 and all the scientists in the world are atheists. 01:33 Well, that isn't true. 01:36 Have you heard of Francis Collins, 01:39 one of the most distinguished scientists in the world, 01:42 some say, the greatest scientist in the world. 01:45 He wrote the book, the Language of God. 01:49 He is a firm believer in God, and in Christ, 01:53 and in the Holy Scriptures. 01:56 But you know, I believe in God 01:59 and I believe in the Holy Scriptures, 02:01 not because of my blind faith. 02:04 I don't believe in this thing called blind faith. 02:06 I just don't believe that idea. 02:09 I know we're often criticized as Christians, 02:12 because people say, atheists say to us, 02:14 "You've got blind faith." 02:15 That's what Richard Dawkins says. 02:17 But I don't believe in blind faith. 02:20 I believe in a faith that is based upon hard, 02:25 concrete evidence. 02:27 Are you listening to me? 02:30 I was down in Egypt some time ago 02:32 with my great friend, 02:34 Dr. Randy Younker from Andrews University. 02:38 Dr. Younker is one of the world's 02:41 great archaeologists, a great biblical archaeologist. 02:44 And we went along in the town of Luxor deep 02:48 in the heart of Egypt. 02:50 And we went to the tomb of Rekhmire. 02:54 What's so important about the tomb of Rekhmire? 02:58 When you go inside this tomb, and on the walls, 03:00 you see these fantastic paintings 03:03 that go back about 3,500 years, 03:07 back to the days of the Bible, 03:10 and portrayed in living color after thousands of years, 03:15 you've got pictures of Egyptians beating up Asiatic 03:20 and Semites exactly as you read in the Bible. 03:25 Now, I believe in the historicity 03:27 of the Bible, 03:29 not because of blind faith, 03:30 I believe it because of the evidence, 03:33 I'm going to read you a text now 03:35 out of the Book of Exodus. 03:36 Exodus, let me see 1:11-14. 03:42 It says, "So they put slave masters over them 03:46 to oppress them with forced labor, 03:48 and they built Pithom 03:51 and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh." 03:54 These cities were probably 03:56 called this after the time of the great persecution. 04:01 'But the more they oppressed, 04:02 the more they multiplied and spread as the Egyptians 04:05 came to dread the Israelites 04:09 and they worked them ruthlessly. 04:13 They made their lives bitter 04:15 with hard labor in brick and mortar 04:18 and with all the kinds of work in the fields, 04:22 in all their hard labor 04:23 the Egyptians used them ruthlessly." 04:27 You can read it in the Bible. 04:29 You can read it in the ancient Chronicles, 04:32 and you can see it on the walls of the tomb, 04:35 or the worship center of Rekhmire. 04:41 And who's this guy Rekhmire? 04:43 You say to me, 04:45 "Now, John Carter, who's this guy Rekhmire? 04:46 What's he gonna do with believing God? 04:50 While Rekhmire was a high official 04:53 under Thutmosis III. 04:58 When I was in the Cairo Museum some time back, 05:01 I was taken into the Royal Mummy room 05:04 and I saw Thutmosis III. 05:09 Remember this name, Thutmosis III. 05:12 He's even got Moses in his name. 05:16 Now, if you go according to the ancient chronologies, 05:20 including 1 Kings 6:1, 05:24 it appears that the children of Israel got out of Egypt 05:29 at the death of the pharaoh 05:31 in 1450 BC. 05:36 This was the time of Thutmosis III 05:40 and the time of Rekhmire. 05:44 There you go into the worship center of Rekhmire in Luxor, 05:49 and you see the Semites, 05:52 most likely the Israelites being enslaved 05:55 and beaten up by the Egyptians. 05:58 Don't tell me 05:59 this is a matter of blind faith. 06:02 I believe in the Bible, not because of blind faith, 06:07 my friend, 06:08 but because of the evidence. 06:14 "You mentioned Egypt, but what about Iraq? 06:18 In the Bible, Iraq is known 06:20 as the land of Mesopotamia, or Assyria. 06:23 What evidence have you found there 06:26 to support your claim the Bible is not fiction?' 06:31 I've been to Iraq on many, many occasions. 06:35 I've been there for going there sort of regularly 06:38 for the past 40 or 50 years. 06:41 I know the ancient land of Mesopotamia. 06:45 The word Mesopotamia 06:47 means the land between the rivers. 06:51 It is the land of modern Iraq 06:54 that is sitting between the River Euphrates 06:57 and the River Tigris. 06:59 Of course, it's mentioned in the Bible 07:02 over and over and over again, 07:04 because this is where much of the Bible 07:07 came from the land of Mesopotamia. 07:11 Now, let me tell you something, which I find quite amazing. 07:16 Have you heard of Jehu? 07:21 The Bible says, hey, he's coming pretty fast. 07:24 He's driving like crazy. 07:26 He's driving like Jehu. 07:30 Now Jehu was the king of Israel. 07:34 Now, many people say 07:36 you can't believe any of this stuff in the Bible, 07:37 because it's all fiction. 07:39 It's all as my old father used to say, it's all hooey. 07:45 That's what my father used to say once he did, John, 07:47 it's all hooey, but he changed his mind. 07:51 And maybe some people who are watching me today 07:53 and watching this telecast, 07:55 you're going to change your mind too. 07:57 Now Jehu is mentioned in the Bible 07:59 and the skeptic used to say, 08:02 there was no such person as Jehu 08:06 until this happened. 08:08 I'm going to tell you about it. 08:10 They found what is called the Black Obelisk. 08:15 It was found in Nimrud, 08:18 that is now called Kalhu. 08:20 Have I been there? Yeah, heapful times. 08:23 And on the Black Obelisk, you got a picture. 08:28 It's been carved into the stone of Jehu, 08:32 of King Jehu kneeling 08:35 before the great dictator, Shalmaneser. 08:41 Now both these characters are mentioned in the Bible, 08:44 they are real historical characters. 08:48 I believe it. 08:50 Now, I'm gonna tell you something else. 08:54 On a recent trip to Iraq, 08:58 I was taken to the city of Nimrud, not Nineveh. 09:03 Nimrud or Kalhu is about, 09:07 let me think, 20, 30 miles from Nineveh. 09:12 I was the first person from the west to get there 09:17 when they were making 09:18 this extraordinary archaeological discovery. 09:23 They opened up the pavement of an old building, 09:27 they had worked on that old building 09:30 for hundreds of years 09:31 and they had missed the discovery of the century. 09:36 Because there they had found a royal tomb containing... 09:41 If my memory is working correctly, 09:43 I think it was 100 pounds, 09:46 maybe is 50 large quantity 09:49 of gold jewelry 09:52 that I've actually seen. 09:54 I was the first foreigner from the west to see it. 09:58 It was such a hot discovery that the Los Angeles Times 10:02 sent a reporter to my home 10:04 in the United States and they interviewed me 10:07 and the Los Angeles Times put a page about it. 10:11 The fact that I was there and I had seen it. 10:15 What's so significant, 10:17 because it was the jewelry of the wife of Sargon 10:23 the Great who was mentioned in the Bible. 10:28 Just another little bit of evidence, 10:30 so that you can believe that the Bible 10:33 is an historical document. 10:35 I've been there, I've seen it. 10:41 "What about Belshazzar and Nabonidus?" 10:45 That's a great question, Belshazzar and Nabonidus. 10:49 Now for many, many, many years, 10:52 skeptics said there was no such character 10:54 as Belshazzar. 10:56 That's what they said. 10:58 Now, when you turn in the Bible to the Book of Daniel, 11:03 you read there that the last king 11:05 or the last person ruling on the throne 11:09 of the ancient Babylonians was a guy 11:11 by the name of Belshazzar. 11:15 But secular historian said, 11:18 "No, the Bible is completely wrong here. 11:20 It wasn't Belshazzar. 11:21 It was a guy by the name of Nabonidus." 11:26 Now have I been to Babylonian? 11:27 Yes, heaps of times. 11:29 Have I been to Nebuchadnezzar's palace? 11:31 Yes, heaps of times. 11:33 Have I seen the inscriptions? 11:34 Yes, heaps of times. 11:37 I was almost put in prison 11:39 because I'd gone to Babylon at the time 11:41 when Saddam was going there at the same time. 11:44 I could have easily been killed, 11:46 but I was there because I was on an exploration 11:50 looking for truth. 11:53 Now, in old Babylonia, in Mesopotamia, 11:58 they have discovered some time back 12:01 quite a while back, 12:03 they have discovered a clay cylinder. 12:07 Wait for it, written with Cuneiform. 12:12 The cuneiform are those funny little wedge shaped letters. 12:16 You know what I'm talking about? 12:19 And this one, 12:20 which was celebrating the moon goddess 12:24 ends with a prayer for Nabonidus 12:28 and his son, Belshazzar. 12:33 We now know for certainty that the Bible was right, 12:36 because Nabonidus retired, 12:38 he got sick of the rat race in Babylon. 12:42 And so he left Babylon, 12:44 he retired and he put his son 12:46 as the power on the throne of Babylon. 12:52 So there you got it. 12:54 Nabonidus in inscription, 12:55 the Belshazzar in inscription, 12:57 you put it all together, 12:58 we are not talking about fiction, 13:00 we are talking about hard historical facts. 13:05 I believe in the Bible, not because of blind faith, 13:08 but because of the evidence. 13:12 "Who was Nebuchadnezzar?" 13:16 The Old Testament talks a great deal 13:18 about a great king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. 13:22 It's a great name, isn't it? 13:24 Nebuchadnezzar. 13:26 There's a book in the Bible by the Book of Daniel. 13:29 He was a prophet in the Old Testament. 13:32 And when he was a young man, 13:33 he got to know another young man, 13:35 his name was Nebuchadnezzar 13:36 who was the king of the great Babylonian Empire. 13:40 For many, many years, 13:41 of course, skeptics thwarted the Bible 13:44 because of its insistence 13:47 upon the historicity of characters like 13:50 Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar, 13:52 and also characters like Daniel. 13:55 They can't say this any longer, my friend. 13:59 I've been to Babylon, 14:00 and I've seen with my own eyes 14:02 the inscriptions that were written by Nebuchadnezzar. 14:05 I've been to the great museums in the Middle East. 14:09 I've been to the great museums in Baghdad. 14:13 And there you can see for instance, 14:15 the stele that actually mentions 14:18 Nebuchadnezzar's building list. 14:21 Now in the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar was walking 14:23 around his palace on one occasion, 14:24 and he said, "Isn't this great Babylon that 14:26 I built for my glory?" 14:28 He was a great boaster. 14:31 He was a... 14:33 He would have fitted into well into politics today. 14:36 I would think he was the great bolder, 14:39 boaster and the great builder, 14:42 but he left a record of these things. 14:45 We now know that Belshazzar was a real person. 14:50 Nebuchadnezzar was a real person. 14:52 We now know that the Bible 14:54 is an accurate historical record. 14:57 You can believe in the scriptures. 15:01 "What about discoveries in Israel? 15:03 Do they prove the Bible is historically true? 15:06 Can we follow everything it says in confidence 15:09 as our world changes so fast? 15:11 Can we put our trust in this book 15:13 or is it a collection of fairy tales?" 15:17 No, it's not a collection of fairy tales. 15:19 It is an accurate historical record. 15:23 Even Richard Dawkins, 15:25 the world's greatest atheist and skeptic says that 15:28 Jesus was a real person. 15:31 Of course, he didn't always say that, 15:33 for a long time Richard Dawkins 15:35 derided the historicity of Jesus Christ. 15:39 But even Richard Dawkins today says, 15:41 yes, there was a Jesus. 15:46 There's so much evidence, so much historical evidence. 15:50 All of these great events 15:51 were written down by eyewitnesses, 15:53 and they were preserved. 15:55 And we have those records today. 15:59 You've heard about Pilate, haven't you, Pontius Pilate? 16:02 He was the Roman governor, 16:04 who handed Jesus over to the Jewish authorities 16:07 to be put to death. 16:09 Every person has heard about Pilate. 16:11 For a long time, people never believed 16:13 because the skeptics never believed in Pilate. 16:17 But then they found this inscription, 16:20 the pile of stone. 16:22 It actually has the name of Pilate, 16:25 the procurator, the Roman governor. 16:28 These events that are written down 16:30 in the Bible have been shown to be reliable 16:34 by the most amazing discoveries in archaeology. 16:40 I've gone to the Middle East, 16:42 time after time I've gotten there as a bit of a skeptic. 16:47 I've gone there because I wanted to check it out. 16:49 I don't want anybody fooling me. 16:51 I don't want any church fooling me. 16:53 I don't want any preacher deceiving me. 16:55 I want to know for myself, and I have seen the evidence. 17:00 And my testimony is this, 17:02 you can believe in the historical records 17:06 of the scriptures. 17:07 I believe it is the Word of God. 17:10 And let me give you 17:11 an astounding piece of evidence. 17:14 It concerns the destruction of the city of Jerusalem 17:19 in the year 70 AD. 17:22 Now I'm going to turn here to Matthew Chapter 24. 17:25 And I'm going to read it to you out of the scriptures. 17:28 Matthew 24:1-2, 17:31 "Jesus left the temple and was walking away 17:35 when His disciples came up to Him 17:37 to call His intention towards buildings. 17:42 'Do you see all these things?' 17:43 he asked. 17:44 'I tell you the truth, 17:46 not one stone here will be left on another, 17:49 every one will be thrown down.'' 17:54 Jesus predicted the destruction of the Jewish temple. 17:59 Jesus said it would be completely destroyed. 18:04 And Jesus went on and gave other prophecies 18:06 concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, 18:09 prophesies which are so amazing. 18:12 It is evidence of a divine presence. 18:18 Now, about 40 years after Jesus gave this prophecy, 18:22 the Romans came against the city of Jerusalem, 18:25 they completely destroyed it. 18:28 That is an amazing story. 18:30 In 66 AD, the Jewish people 18:34 tired of the injustice 18:36 of the Roman overlord rose up 18:40 and tried to kick the Romans out. 18:42 That was in 66 AD. 18:46 And for a while they were succeeding. 18:49 They struck a coin that said, in the first year of liberty. 18:55 The Romans sent down their governor from Assyria, 18:58 a guy by the name of Cestius Gallus. 19:01 He attacked Jerusalem 19:02 but he could not really defeat the Jews. 19:07 But it seemed for a while 19:08 that he was going to destroy them. 19:10 But then for some strange, 19:12 inexplicable reason he withdrew 19:14 and went down 19:16 the Beth-horon road to the coast. 19:18 The Jews who were fantastic fighters, 19:21 they came out like wild hornets, 19:23 and they attacked the Romans 19:25 and they killed thousands of them 19:27 in the Beth-horon passes. 19:30 But Jesus said, "Don't be taken in," 19:33 because He said, 19:34 "Jerusalem is going to be utterly destroyed." 19:38 The Romans came back. 19:40 They came back a few years later, 19:43 under General Vespasian and Vespasian 19:47 drove all the Jewish people towards the city of Jerusalem, 19:51 destroying all the cities and all the towns. 19:55 And then he was called to be 19:57 the emperor of the mighty Roman Empire, 20:00 and his son became the general 20:03 who was going to 20:04 overthrow the city of Jerusalem. 20:09 And that general was General Titus, 20:12 who later became the emperor of Rome himself. 20:17 This is an amazing, amazing story, 20:20 because you got Bible prophecy here, 20:23 and I'm going to take my Bible 20:25 and I'm going to turn to a text in the Old Testament. 20:28 I'm going to turn to the Prophet 20:31 Daniel 9:26. 20:37 This chapter written about 550 years 20:42 before Christ is a prophecy 20:45 about the destruction of Jerusalem. 20:47 It was amazingly fulfilled, 20:51 it's quite incredible. 20:54 "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' 20:59 the Anointed One 21:00 who is the Messiah will be cut off, 21:03 and will have nothing." 21:04 In other words, the Messiah would be murdered. 21:06 That's what happened to Him in 31 AD. 21:10 "The people of the ruler who will come," 21:12 that is Titus, the people of the ruler, 21:15 the ruler was Titus, 21:16 "who will come will destroy the city 21:19 and the sanctuary. 21:21 The end will come like a flood: 21:24 War will continue until the end, 21:28 and desolations have been the decreed." 21:30 The text is quite explicit. 21:33 This text which is about 2,500 years old, 21:35 it says, the people of the ruler 21:38 who will come, 21:39 the people of the prince who will come. 21:42 Now the prince was Titus. 21:44 In 70 AD, Titus tried to save 21:47 the Jewish city of Jerusalem. 21:49 The city had been surrounded for months 21:51 and months and months. 21:53 There were hundreds of thousands of Jewish people 21:55 inside the city of Jerusalem. 21:56 It was chaos. 21:58 The people were dying of starvation. 22:00 There was a civil war that was raging. 22:03 And Titus eventually broke down the walls 22:05 of Jerusalem exactly 22:07 as the prophecy predicted. 22:10 But some of the Roman soldiers 22:13 just caught up in the passion of warfare, 22:16 rushed to the Jewish temple, and they decided 22:18 that they were going to destroy the Jewish temple. 22:21 In fact, they took flaming torches, 22:23 and they threw them into the Jewish temple. 22:26 But Titus rushed down to the Jewish temple, 22:29 because he said, 22:30 this is the temple of Almighty God, 22:32 this is the temple of Yahweh. 22:34 And he said to the Roman soldiers, 22:36 "You must spare the Jewish temple. 22:38 It is the temple of Almighty God.' 22:43 But strangely, miraculously, 22:47 the Roman soldiers would not listen to Titus. 22:51 And the Roman soldiers rushed into the temple 22:53 and completely destroyed 22:55 and they burned it to the ground. 22:57 Titus did not destroy the temple, 22:58 he tried to destroy the temple, the Bible said 2,500 years ago. 23:02 The people of the prince, 23:06 the people of the prince, the Roman soldiers, 23:09 they shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. 23:12 The prophecy came to pass. 23:14 I believe in Holy Scripture 23:16 because of Bible prophecy and also 23:19 because of archaeological evidence. 23:22 It is not a case of blind faith, 23:24 it is a case of overwhelming evidence, 23:27 my friend. 23:30 "With so much evidence, 23:32 why do so many people 23:33 and scientists not read the Bible? 23:36 What is it that they do not understand 23:39 about Christians and Christianity?" 23:44 One of the most famous scientists 23:45 in the world is a guy 23:46 by the name of Richard Dawkins, 23:49 the professor from Oxford University. 23:52 He wrote the book, The God Delusion. 23:55 He says, "If you believe in God, 23:57 you are completely deluded. 23:59 Now, I'm not saying Richard Dawkins 24:00 is a dishonest person, not for one moment. 24:04 But I don't think Richard Dawkins 24:06 knows the evidence. 24:09 There is overwhelming evidence 24:10 why you can believe in the Bible 24:12 simply from the viewpoint of archaeology, 24:14 and the viewpoint of Bible prophecy. 24:16 I haven't scratched the surface today. 24:19 I can take you to heaps and heaps and heaps of places. 24:22 I am a firm believer, 24:24 I say not because of blind faith. 24:26 Richard Dawkins says, "You believers, you're crazy 24:28 because you just simply believe because of blind faith." 24:31 He says, "There's a difference between faith and evidence," 24:34 and that's where he gets it completely wrong. 24:38 Like the great professor from Oxford University, 24:42 Professor John Lennox, mathematician, 24:46 I believe that faith has to be built 24:49 upon truth and evidence. 24:52 I do not believe in blind faith. 24:55 I believe in an intelligent faith 24:57 that rests upon the pillars of truth, 25:01 and the pillars of evidence 25:04 that can be tested. 25:07 Let me give you just a little bit of evidence, 25:10 departing for a moment for... 25:12 departing from the field of biblical archaeology. 25:14 Let's just talk about science for a moment. 25:18 Now, the idea that all the scientists in the world 25:20 are unbelievers is absolutely false. 25:23 I know heaps and heaps of world rate scientists 25:27 who have complete faith in God, 25:29 and they believe in Jesus. 25:31 And they don't have a blind faith. 25:33 They have a faith that is based upon evidence. 25:36 Now the greatest statement that was ever made, 25:39 I believe, is Genesis 1:1. 25:42 Now most people can say it off by heart. 25:44 "In the beginning, 25:46 God created the heavens in the earth." 25:48 The Bible teaches that the heavens and the earth, 25:51 all the universe had a beginning. 25:54 Are you with me? 25:56 Up until about 60 years ago, or 70 years ago, 26:00 almost all the scientific community 26:02 did not believe that the universe 26:04 had a beginning. 26:06 You say to me, no, you... 26:08 You can't be telling me the truth here. 26:10 Absolutely. 26:12 Scientists believed in the eternity of matter. 26:16 They did not believe that there was a point in time 26:21 when the universe came into being. 26:25 In the 1950s, and the 1960s, and the 1970s, 26:30 scientists discovered that 26:32 there was overwhelming evidence to support 26:35 Genesis 1:1 that says, "In the beginning, 26:39 God created the heavens and the earth." 26:43 I listened to a remarkable program 26:44 sometime back on PBS, 26:46 it was called the Echo of Creation. 26:51 Scientists have discovered with their listening devices 26:56 that are out there in space, there is a murmur, 27:00 there is an echo. 27:03 It is the echo of that cataclysmic, 27:08 amazing creative event. 27:11 Scientists call it the Big Bang. 27:13 I don't care what you want to call it. 27:16 But scientists say now, "Yes, the universe had a beginning." 27:21 That's exactly what the Bible says. 27:23 Have you ever thought about this? 27:26 The whole of the scientific world, 27:29 virtually every one of them except believers 27:32 had got it wrong. 27:35 They had got it wrong. 27:38 The Bible was right. 27:39 And the whole scientific, 27:40 almost the whole scientific organization, 27:43 including the Richard Dawkins were wrong. 27:48 I believe in Scripture, not because of blind faith, 27:52 but because of the evidence. 27:55 So I say to you today, my friend, 27:57 this is John Carter from his home, 28:00 saying it's been good talking to you today. 28:02 But my message to you is this, 28:04 believe in the God who believes in you. 28:21 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:24 at P.O. Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, 28:27 California 91358. 28:31 Or in Australia, contact us at 28:34 P.O. Box 861, Terrigal, 28:37 New South Wales 2260. 28:40 This program is made possible 28:42 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:45 We thank you for your continued support. 28:48 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2021-05-23