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Caption transcript for Esther (2017): “Fight We Must!” (7/8)

• 00:05 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
• 00:09 is that they might be saved,
• 00:12 for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek,
• 00:15 for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
• 00:40 Welcome to "Esther, For Such a Time as This"
• 00:43 here on Zola Levitt Presents.
• 00:45 I'm Kirsten Hart.
• 00:46 And I'm David Hart
• 00:48 On today's program the theme is,
• 00:50 "fight we must".
• 00:52 Dr. Jeffrey Seif is our special teacher in Israel,
• 00:57 and he will be speaking to us
• 00:59 from "Ammunition Hill" right in Jerusalem.
• 01:02 We'll see today that Esther's story
• 01:04 still applies to us today.
• 01:06 And in today's drama
• 01:08 Haman gets hanged,
• 01:10 but the genocidal order for the Jewish people
• 01:13 still remains.
• 01:15 Let's go to our drama now.
• 01:20 Haman has found his just reward.
• 01:23 His wicked schemes have left him hanging from atop
• 01:27 the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai,
• 01:32 but from within the walls of the magnificent palace in Shushan
• 01:37 Queen Esther remains heartbroken.
• 01:41 She appeals to the king on behalf of her fellow Jews.
• 02:20 She wanted to be a help,
• 02:23 she wanted to save her people.
• 02:25 and so she arranges to visit her husband again
• 02:29 and petition on their behalf
• 02:30 that Jews be allowed to make a spirited defense
• 02:34 given the fact that a decree was enacted for their destruction.
• 02:39 In chapter 8, verse 6, I can feel the emotion dripping from the text,
• 02:45 in the Hebrew first, where Esther says,
• 03:14 She humbly, fearfully, tearfully petitioned her husband on their behalf
• 03:21 that the Jews, her Jews, her people be allowed to make a spirited defense
• 03:28 for their own lives in Persia.
• 03:31 Here at Ammunition Hill some years ago Jews made a very spirited defense
• 03:39 for the battle royal that raged over Jerusalem,
• 03:43 and many lost their lives here.
• 03:46 Hand to hand combat was effected in these trenches
• 03:51 where every man was a general.
• 03:53 Many took initiative and fighting with knives on occasion.
• 03:59 They hacked it out till finally the Lord gave them success
• 04:03 which lent itself finally then
• 04:06 to the unification of Jerusalem.
• 04:09 What a place here.
• 04:12 What a place here in the Esther story
• 04:15 where we read in verse 11 of the same chapter,
• 04:19 in Hebrew, where there's a decree that's enacted at her behest
• 04:23 where Jews are allowed to offer a spirited defense we read in verse 11...."
• 04:59 Destruction is not pleasant business but sometimes circumstances
• 05:03 are such where we're thrown on our heels and we simply have to act.
• 05:09 It seems to be in ways, that the world likes Jews that are weak and sheepish..."
• 05:14 Oh pity the Holocaust Jews, or whatever,
• 05:17 but Jews are just not of that ilk to lay down and be docile.
• 05:21 And when I look in the biblical text I see individuals standing up,
• 05:27 I see allowances made for the obvious, that is that
• 05:31 people can in fact fight to defend home and hearth.
• 05:35 It's great to see Esther using her influence in the struggle.
• 05:40 Similarly I'm pleased to see the allowance made for Jews in the biblical text
• 05:45 to go ahead and defend home and hearth.
• 05:48 It's a story back then,
• 05:50 it's a story today,
• 05:52 and its story that took place here at
• 05:54 Ammunition Hill where the battle for Jerusalem was waged.
• 06:01 Our Resource this week, the Series
• 06:04 "Esther, For Such A Time As This" on DVD.
• 06:07 This 8 part Series presents the Biblical account of
• 06:11 the young, beautiful Jewish woman
• 06:13 who becomes the Queen of Persia.
• 06:15 When Esther is confronted with murderous racial hatred,
• 06:19 she allows herself to be used by God
• 06:21 and saves the Jewish people from genocide.
• 06:24 Contact us for the DVD Series,
• 06:26 "Esther, For Such A Time As This"
• 06:31 We'll return to the program in just a moment,
• 06:33 but first, I wanted to ask
• 06:35 if you've ever thought about what it takes to put this program together.
• 06:39 I can assure you it's a lot more than just lights, camera, action.
• 06:43 There's a lot of prayer and planning.
• 06:45 Our family is a lot like yours.
• 06:48 We pray and we plan,
• 06:50 and we hope that you'll be praying for us,
• 06:52 and planning to help support us too.
• 07:02 Zola Levitt Presents is more than just a television program.
• 07:05 There are many ways to connect with us on Social Media...
• 07:32 Many of you watching today
• 07:34 are connected with us on our social media,
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• 07:40 And if you're not, you're missing out.
• 07:41 We would live for you to join us.
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• 07:45 what's going on with this ministry
• 07:46 And you can contact us.
• 07:48 Remember...
• 07:49 I'm going to go "old school" David with this one.
• 07:51 When you used to have a dime,
• 07:53 that's old, old school.
• 07:54 Or, a quarter for a pay phone to talk to someone.
• 07:57 I do remember that.
• 07:58 And, if you didn't have it, you couldn't talk to them.
• 08:00 Now, with Social Media it's wonderful.
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• 08:07 Very easy, and you don't have to have
• 08:08 a dime or a quarter in your pocket.
• 08:11 Now, let's go to our story of Esther,
• 08:14 and review what Esther and Mordecai have done so far.
• 08:29 It had been a difficult task for Mordecai.
• 08:32 While in exile he had faithfully raised his cousin Esther as his own,
• 08:37 counseling her, nurturing her.
• 08:41 He had been supportive of the king,
• 08:45 defensive of his fellow Jews.
• 08:48 He had refused to bow before prince Haman.
• 08:52 Alas, Haman's wicked plan to exterminate the Jews had been thwarted.
• 08:59 And in every state throughout the empire
• 09:02 there was joy and elation for the Jews.
• 09:10 And the story of the salvation of the Jews
• 09:13 is played out every generation
• 09:16 from biblical pages right on through the ages.
• 09:20 And here at Ammunition Hill, Jewish people and the world that's
• 09:25 interested remembers the struggle for modern Jerusalem.
• 09:30 Many died here in hand to hand combat
• 09:33 and they're commemorated,
• 09:34 their names are remembered behind me.
• 09:37 And similarly not far away to my left is a big flag pole
• 09:41 beneath which is a plaque commemorating
• 09:44 "the Eternal City Jerusalem".
• 09:49 The plaque is beneath it and the blue and white flies above it.
• 09:54 And speaking of the blue and white flying,
• 09:57 it always interested me in chapter 8, verse 15
• 10:01 how when Mordecai is saved he is donning blue and white apparel.
• 10:06 That's striking!
• 10:08 Let's see it in chapter 8, verse 15 were told,
• 10:31 Well today Israel flies under the banner
• 10:35 of the blue and white does it not,
• 10:37 to celebrate it's a triumph,
• 10:40 it's victory over the forces of darkness.
• 10:44 And interestingly today as yesterday, as we'll see,
• 10:48 individuals that are not of Jewish extract are
• 10:52 given to joining themselves to the people of Israel,
• 10:55 and I'm talking about you who are grafted in.
• 10:58 If you'll look in chapter 8, verse 17
• 11:02 there's an interesting expression here.
• 11:04 I'll give it to you in Hebrew and then in English.
• 11:22 They became Jews.
• 11:25 It seems that even in this bad news world people saw God at work,
• 11:31 and they wanted to join themselves to the people of Israel where God was at work,
• 11:35 and similarly today,
• 11:38 happily, in a bad news world where Israel is abandoned by many,
• 11:43 similarly many are joining themselves to the people of Israel,
• 11:47 people just like you.
• 11:51 Oh, keep at it please!
• 11:55 Thank you, thank you, thank you for who you are.
• 11:59 You see what God is doing in the world today and you want to get behind Israel.
• 12:04 Here people got behind Israel and it cost them their life.
• 12:09 I'd ask you to pray, please, and ask God what He would have you to do
• 12:13 in order to be supportive of what God is doing amongst the Jewish people.
• 12:37 Our Resource this week, the Series
• 12:40 "Esther, For Such A Time As This" on DVD.
• 12:44 This 8 part Series presents the Biblical account of
• 12:47 the young, beautiful Jewish woman
• 12:49 who becomes the Queen of Persia.
• 12:52 When Esther is confronted with murderous racial hatred,
• 12:55 she allows herself to be used by God
• 12:58 and saves the Jewish people from genocide.
• 13:00 Contact us for the DVD Series,
• 13:03 "Esther, For Such A Time As This"
• 13:07 Hello, my name is Andrea Davis,
• 13:09 and I've been working with Zola Levitt Ministries
• 13:12 for over 20 years.
• 13:14 For me, this is not just a career, it's a calling.
• 13:17 And I'm so grateful
• 13:19 for those who feel called along side us.
• 13:21 Your prayers and financial support
• 13:24 help us produce informative,
• 13:26 anointed television from Israel.
• 13:29 So please, continue to give as you are able,
• 13:32 And let's continue this journey together.
• 13:35 Thank you.
• 13:44 The wonders of the Bible can only be experienced in Israel.
• 13:49 Zola Tours invites you to join a dream vacation you will never forget.
• 14:15 There's a song that I've been singing
• 14:18 for probably the last 30-35 years,
• 14:22 And I had the chance to sing it in Israel
• 14:24 not long ago.
• 14:25 I think you might have heard this song.
• 14:26 ♪ I walked today where Jesus walked ♪
• 14:29 ♪ in days of long ago ♪
• 14:32 If you come with us on a Zola Levitt Tour
• 14:36 I have a feeling I will sing this song for you on our tour.
• 14:39 You can find all the information on levitt.com
• 14:42 Go there, and we'd love for you to join us
• 14:45 on a Zola Levitt Tour.
• 14:46 Now, let's go to our Hebrew Lesson with Deana Malespin.
• 14:54 Shalom Havarim
• 14:55 Hello Friends
• 14:56 This is my little one here.
• 14:58 And she is learning about Purim as well,
• 15:01 and about ge'ulah
• 15:03 "redemption"
• 15:04 The story of Esther is about ge'ulah ,
• 15:06 redemption for the Jewish people,
• 15:09 and for Israel.
• 15:10 And we like to remember that
• 15:11 and continue to be in prayer as
• 15:13 the whole story continues of
• 15:15 redemption of the Jewish people.
• 15:19 Thank you Deana
• 15:20 I love that her daughter
• 15:22 is learning at a young age,
• 15:24 ge'ulah , which is redemption.
• 15:28 And isn't it wonderful to teach the younger,
• 15:31 because the younger ones remember the language easier
• 15:34 than when we are old.
• 15:36 "Old", like this?
• 15:37 And something else I learned this week
• 15:39 watching some Hebrew videos
• 15:41 and reading about the Hebrew language is
• 15:43 the emphasis is usually on the last syllable.
• 15:47 So instead of ge' U lah
• 15:49 it's, ge'u LAH
• 15:50 Let's say it one more time.
• 15:52 ge'ulah
• 15:53 Redemption
• 15:55 Now, let's watch as Esther requests Haman to be hung.
• 16:40 Honey...just one more time.
• 16:44 Seems that one day wasn't enough
• 16:47 to attend to the business of the day
• 16:49 which wasn't pleasant to be sure.
• 16:52 but if you're going to go after a tumor
• 16:54 don't just take half of it get all of it.
• 16:57 Because if you don't get all of it you're going to
• 16:58 have to come back, and take it out the next day anyway.
• 17:00 You're going to have to revisit the surgery.
• 17:03 Well they were cleaning house happily, that is,
• 17:07 that individuals were given permission to fight for their own life.
• 17:10 The net result is that anti-Semites are being pushed back some.
• 17:15 But here we see the drama of Esther who petitions the king, her husband,
• 17:20 "Please...we need to continue this business".
• 17:24 And it reminds me how the story doesn't end,
• 17:27 that we have to continue that business
• 17:28 even to this day it seems to me.
• 17:30 In any case, on this day,
• 17:32 I'm coming to you from a place where
• 17:35 we've interviewed the soldier that fought here by the way.
• 17:38 Ammunition Hill, as I said earlier in this segment,
• 17:40 was a battle royal for Jerusalem.
• 17:42 It was fought here and people are commemorated
• 17:45 for their giving their lives here.
• 17:48 And in this very place as well a struggle was ensued.
• 17:52 I want you to look with me please in chapter 9, verse 5.
• 17:56 We're told that Mordecai faired well as did others.
• 18:00 In the text we're told..."
• 18:27 Here again mobilized were forces to stay the hand of
• 18:32 those that would seek to destroy them.
• 18:36 I believe that warfare is both material and spiritual.
• 18:40 As you know we live in a day today where
• 18:44 individuals certainly need to contend for
• 18:47 a way of life, for biblical values, for biblical virtues.
• 18:51 And we do that socially,
• 18:53 we do that politically,
• 18:54 we do that spiritually.
• 18:56 When I look at the biblical text there's a way of being.
• 19:00 We call it Judeo-Christian ethics, Judeo-Christian values.
• 19:05 From the Old and New Testament both come a way, come a vision.
• 19:11 Interestingly and historically is the case that there are
• 19:15 forces amassed to snuff out that fire, to quench it,
• 19:21 to dim the vision, to hinder individuals
• 19:26 from seeing what God is doing in the world
• 19:29 and will do in the world in days to come.
• 19:33 It's important that individuals like me and you,
• 19:37 that we unsheathe our swords.
• 19:39 I'm speaking spiritually here
• 19:41 of a biblical sword at a place, by the way,
• 19:43 where people actually fought with knives for their lives
• 19:46 here on Ammunition Hill.
• 19:49 From this place, from this text speaking from me to you,
• 19:52 from my heart to yours,
• 19:53 let me encourage you to stand up for biblical ways.
• 19:58 Open up that Bible, read it, stand on it, advocate for it and
• 20:05 you will be indeed pleased that you did so,
• 20:08 and you will hear a voice at the end of days saying,
• 20:11 "Well done my good and faithful servant".
• 20:16 Thank you Dr. Seif.
• 20:17 We are back with our guest Analyst, Ted Pearce,
• 20:20 and we've had so many questions for you this series.
• 20:24 Thank you for your wonderful answers.
• 20:25 Oh, thank you very much,
• 20:27 Guest Analyst, WOW
• 20:28 It's a good title isn't it?
• 20:29 Yes, I guess so,
• 20:31 but I feel like I should be calling a football game though.
• 20:32 Well here's my question for the day for you.
• 20:34 Dr. Seif was just teaching about the forces that
• 20:38 are always going to be coming against the Jewish people
• 20:41 because they were Chosen and set apart,
• 20:45 and I see that Chosen as they're the apple of His eye,
• 20:49 and sometimes there's envy.
• 20:52 Is that what you see?
• 20:53 Well, yeah, I mean if you look at Deuteronomy 6,
• 20:57 God says He chose them, not because they were any better than anybody,
• 21:00 because actually they were smaller,
• 21:02 and He wanted to show His Glory through using
• 21:05 this small group of people who had no strength of their own.
• 21:08 So the interesting thing that I find though, is
• 21:11 "Chosen" in sort of in the Hebraic sense
• 21:15 has nothing to do with "better".
• 21:17 It just means "Chosen".
• 21:18 Like if you're going to hammer in a nail
• 21:19 you're going to choose a hammer instead of vice grips.
• 21:22 So it's not about them being better.
• 21:24 He "Chose" them to bring Salvation to us, to the entire world.
• 21:28 So it's not like He loves them more than the Gentiles,
• 21:31 It's because He loves the Gentile that He chose them.
• 21:35 But, unfortunately, I think over the centuries we've seen
• 21:38 sort of this Greek idea that chosen means better,
• 21:42 and so sort of envy arises
• 21:44 especially in European church kingdoms of the past,
• 21:50 where they say, "No, wait, we're the "Chosen"
• 21:52 because we believe in Jesus and they don't believe in Jesus,
• 21:55 so they're not "Chosen" anymore.
• 21:57 That's a totally wrong idea what "Chosen" is about.
• 22:00 They're "Chosen" so that we might know Yeshua.
• 22:04 So you think it's because we're hearing it taught in our churches wrong?
• 22:08 Well' it's just, you know, definitions change over time
• 22:12 and I think it's just an honest misunderstanding,
• 22:15 but it is a misunderstanding.
• 22:17 Yes, He loves them, but he loves us too.
• 22:19 You know, I mean obviously.
• 22:22 He wouldn't have made so many Gentiles, right?
• 22:23 Isn't that funny that we're all trying to
• 22:25 vie to be God's favorite?
• 22:28 That's just such a human mind set I think.
• 22:31 You know, especially in Israel,
• 22:33 there's a lot of Jews who don't like being chosen.
• 22:36 It's cost them quite a bit in their history.
• 22:38 You know, anti-Semitism I believe comes from the envy
• 22:42 of people who think of chosen as meaning better,
• 22:44 where it doesn't,
• 22:45 it just means they're chosen
• 22:47 for a responsibility,
• 22:48 and that responsibility has cost them quite a lot
• 22:51 for many, many millennia now.
• 22:53 And that's what I think we don't get,
• 22:56 that the Christian Church,
• 22:58 I mean, we see it, and we watch "Schindler's List",
• 23:02 and we see what they've gone through,
• 23:03 but we haven't had to digest that,
• 23:07 it hasn't become part of our DNA as it needs to.
• 23:10 We need to know,
• 23:11 along with "Choosing", there's a price to pay.
• 23:15 Well, He chose us from the foundation of the earth.
• 23:20 We're all chosen, but we're not all chosen for the same thing.
• 23:25 So, I think if we could just, you know,
• 23:28 I think envy happens to be sort of the
• 23:33 sin in the Church that we don't even see.
• 23:35 We find ourselves envying,
• 23:36 "Oh that person's up on stage and I should be there",
• 23:39 or, "That person the pastor likes and he doesn't...
• 23:42 Whatever, envy creeps in, in many ways,
• 23:48 and its really crept in, in our relationship as
• 23:50 Christians to the Jewish people
• 23:53 over the fact that God did choose them
• 23:55 to give us the Scriptures.
• 23:57 He chose them to give us the oracles of God,
• 24:00 to give us the Messiah,
• 24:02 to give us Yeshua.
• 24:04 And so it says clearly in Romans 11 that He did this so that we
• 24:08 would bring the Good News back to the Jewish people.
• 24:11 There's the story.
• 24:12 Yeah, we're chosen for that.
• 24:13 Right.
• 24:14 Yes, thank you so much for that insight today.
• 24:16 That really helped us a lot.
• 24:17 Amen!
• 24:18 How about a song
• 24:19 right now from Ted Pearce?
• 24:20 Yeah, I could do that.
• 24:24 ♪ For my days are like smoke ♪
• 24:26 ♪ and all my bones are in the furnace ♪
• 24:33 ♪ My heart so stricken and withered ♪
• 24:35 ♪ I can't even eat my bread ♪
• 24:37 ♪ No, Ahhh oh ♪
• 24:42 ♪ Shma Yisrael you have not be forgotten ♪
• 24:46 ♪ Oh your time is come! ♪
• 24:51 ♪ Shma Yisrael you will not be forsaken ♪
• 24:54 ♪ Oh, the time to favor Zion ♪
• 24:57 ♪ The time to favor Zion has come♪
• 25:00 ♪ Instrumental Interlude ♪
• 25:42 ♪ For the Name of the Lord will be declared in Zion, ♪
• 25:48 ♪ And His praise in Jerusalem ♪
• 25:58 ♪ Jerusalem ♪
• 26:06 ♪ This will be written for the future generation to come ♪
• 26:12 ♪ Who knows the time to favor Zion has come ♪
• 26:16 ♪ And for a people yet created who would praise the Lord ♪
• 26:21 "The time to favor Zion has come... ♪
• 26:26 ♪ Shma Yisrael , ♪
• 26:34 ♪ Shma Yisrael ♪
• 26:39 ♪ The time to favor Zion ♪
• 26:41 ♪ The time to favor Zion has come ♪
• 26:45 ♪ The time to favor Zion ♪
• 26:47 ♪ The time to favor Zion has come ♪
• 26:53 ♪ The time has come ♪♪
• 26:55 Thank you Ted.
• 26:56 We would love for you to join us next week
• 26:58 for our final program of this wonderful series
• 27:01 "Esther, For Such a Time as This."
• 27:03 But for right now our prayer is,
• 27:05 Sha'lu' Shalom Yerushalayim
• 27:07 Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
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