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Caption transcript for Faith for the Future: “Delivering the Unexpected” (3/10)

• 00:03 David Hart: Welcome to "Our Jewish Roots."
• 00:06 ♪♪♪
• 00:12 David: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
• 00:15 the conviction of things not seen, for by it the men of old
• 00:19 received divine approval.
• 00:22 For whatever was written in former days was written for our
• 00:25 instruction, that through endurance and through the
• 00:29 encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
• 00:36 "Faith for the Future: Our Journey with the Patriarchs."
• 00:43 David: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 00:45 I'm David Hart.
• 00:46 Kirsten Hart: I'm Kirsten Hart.
• 00:48 Jeffrey Seif: And I am Jeffrey Seif.
• 00:49 You ever said, "What! Who, me?
• 00:51 Impossible."
• 00:53 With God, better not say that, right?
• 00:55 Kirsten: Ooh, that's one of my favorite verses, though.
• 00:57 "With God, nothing is impossible."
• 00:59 And we see that in the story today, don't we?
• 01:01 Jeffrey: Yes, we do. David: That's good.
• 01:02 Kirsten: Babies. It's a baby show.
• 01:04 [laughing]
• 01:05 David: Actually, Abraham was 99 when this miracle took place.
• 01:08 That's in our drama. Let's go there right now.
• 01:13 narrator: "And when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared
• 01:17 to him and said, 'I am the Almighty God.
• 01:22 Walk before me and be thou perfect, and I will make my
• 01:26 covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly.'
• 01:34 And Abram fell on his face and God talked with him, saying,
• 01:39 'Behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shall be
• 01:42 a father of many nations.
• 01:46 Your name shall no longer be Abram, but thy name shall be
• 01:50 Abraham, for a father of nations have I made thee and I will make
• 01:56 thee exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of thee and
• 02:01 kings shall come out of thee.
• 02:05 And I will give unto thee and thy seed after thee the land
• 02:10 wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an
• 02:15 everlasting possession and I will be their God.
• 02:21 Every male shall be circumcised.
• 02:24 As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shall not call her name Sarai,
• 02:30 but Sarah her name shall be.
• 02:34 And I will bless her and give thee a son also of her,
• 02:39 and she shall be a mother of nations.
• 02:43 Kings of people shall be of her.'"
• 02:46 Abraham: [laughing]
• 02:54 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:01 ♪♪♪
• 03:06 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:20 Jeffrey: The word was [speaking in Hebrew]
• 03:23 in Hebrew: "Walk before me and do it continually."
• 03:29 In chapter 17 that was the word for 99-year-old Abram.
• 03:34 He might have said, "Look, I'm old.
• 03:36 How about a wheelchair? 'Roll before me'?"
• 03:38 No, walk. Yes, even you.
• 03:41 Because something good is about to happen.
• 03:47 Halak is the Hebrew "to walk," and that term for moving forward
• 03:54 by faith is an abiding term in biblical literature.
• 03:59 Yeshua, Jesus, spoke of the narrow way.
• 04:02 The expression "to walk" in the Jewish world, to be pious and be
• 04:08 religious, it's called halakhah from halak which means to walk.
• 04:13 And he says, "Walk before me," [speaking in Hebrew],
• 04:17 walk before the face, [speaking in Hebrew]
• 04:20 This sounds to me a little more than just going to church
• 04:22 for Christmas and Easter and for a wedding and a funeral.
• 04:24 I mean, we're talking here about as we make our journey
• 04:28 from the womb to the tomb, having our eyes on the Lord.
• 04:33 And as you'll see, when we do that, we discover that, yes,
• 04:39 he has his eyes on us, and sometimes it's really remarkable
• 04:48 the way he turns things around.
• 04:53 Abram is 99 years of age and Sarah's in close proximity.
• 04:58 People don't talk about ladies' ages, but I'm telling you
• 05:02 they're beyond what's going to happen to them.
• 05:06 In terms of pregnancy, you just wouldn't think of it.
• 05:09 But what happens here?
• 05:12 There's a name change.
• 05:15 Abram, we're told in verse 5, gets the name change from Abram
• 05:19 which, you know, Abba, again,
• 05:23 the same root for exalted Father.
• 05:27 He becomes Abraham, from Ha'am in Hebrew,
• 05:32 the father of the nation.
• 05:34 Sarah, later on, in verse 15, she's gonna get
• 05:38 a name change too.
• 05:40 Sarai, you're familiar with that Semitic term for a government
• 05:46 facility or a palace.
• 05:48 She is gonna be Sarah, with the "ah" at the end as in princess.
• 05:55 Sar is the Hebrew for prince; Sarah is princess.
• 06:00 We're going to see with her being the princess and him being
• 06:04 the father of the nation, she's gonna bring forth a prince,
• 06:08 someone of destiny.
• 06:10 Well, that'll come in reasonably short order,
• 06:13 but it just seems so unexpected right now.
• 06:19 I wanna speak to you about God delivering on the unexpected.
• 06:26 I think people give up in life way too soon.
• 06:32 I mention that here because when you look at these people,
• 06:35 they've run their course by and large, but, you know,
• 06:39 it's not over for older folk.
• 06:42 Sometime, people think that, you know, it's the younger folk
• 06:45 that have all the goodies and the excitement and the promise
• 06:48 for the future.
• 06:50 Well, you're gonna hear from my wife about how the Lord
• 06:52 orchestrated circumstances in our life.
• 06:56 You know, I can speak to that in my own agency
• 06:58 that when I had opportunity, I was married for 30 years.
• 07:03 My wife Patty, may she rest in peace, went on to her reward,
• 07:07 and really, I kind of sort of came out of nowhere with Barri.
• 07:12 I had had an interest in her, but she was disinclined.
• 07:18 So I accepted the rejection, you know,
• 07:21 dried my little teary eyes and got on with it,
• 07:23 and married Patty and had a good life.
• 07:26 Before Patty died, she said, "Look, why don't you go back
• 07:28 and see what Barri's all about."
• 07:29 And when I did, it was rather unexpected.
• 07:32 I didn't dance around.
• 07:34 I just said, "Look, you know, I'd like to have a conversation
• 07:37 with you."
• 07:39 I told Barri, I said, "When I met you 30-some years ago,"
• 07:43 that was before Patty and I were together.
• 07:45 I said, "When I met you, I thought you were
• 07:47 the most beautiful woman I ever met, inside and out.
• 07:51 And I think you're more beautiful now than then.
• 07:54 And I'm wondering if we can have a talk."
• 07:56 She knew exactly where that was going.
• 07:59 And I mention this, I'm not God,
• 08:02 but sometimes when God does something, he does it quick,
• 08:05 and it affects people's trajectories.
• 08:08 I mention that because Abraham and Sarah thought they
• 08:10 were somewhere between going, going, and gone, but not so.
• 08:15 God wanted to talk to them about faith for the future
• 08:18 and he adjusted them.
• 08:20 It wasn't a radical change.
• 08:22 It was a name change, that was more suited to their destiny.
• 08:27 Sometimes, people are suited up with the wrong kind
• 08:31 of interior dialog, and they need to change the name.
• 08:34 In the newer testament, we're told that with conversion
• 08:37 comes a new name.
• 08:39 We hear that elsewhere in biblical literature.
• 08:42 A new name.
• 08:43 There's what we think about us, there's the way we understand
• 08:46 ourselves, but then we're renamed,
• 08:48 and here's the story of people renamed with destiny.
• 08:52 Well, this series is all about moving on with faith in God
• 08:58 for the future and note how he adjusts these two,
• 09:02 and then he does it.
• 09:04 We're not talking about teenagers here.
• 09:06 We're talking about people that are of our age
• 09:09 and I mention that.
• 09:11 I'm 65, Barri's 67.
• 09:13 We got married a few years ago.
• 09:15 There is hope for the future for those of us that have faith
• 09:19 in God for the future.
• 09:23 male announcer: Our resource this week:
• 09:25 the Hebrew Names of God Cards.
• 09:27 This collection includes 12 vibrant,
• 09:29 high-quality art cards,
• 09:31 each with Old and New Testament connections on the back
• 09:34 with Scripture and beautifully written devotionals.
• 09:38 These art cards can be used for personal reflection,
• 09:41 group discussion.
• 09:43 Order as a beautiful gift for your friend or pastor.
• 09:45 For this resource and more, call 1-800-WONDERS
• 09:49 or visit us at LEVITT.COM.
• 09:54 David: "Our Jewish Roots" is more than just
• 09:56 a television program.
• 09:57 See what you are missing on our social media outlets.
• 10:01 Kirsten: On Facebook and Twitter, you'll find our daily
• 10:03 Name of God devotional, current news articles,
• 10:06 the Bearded Bible Brothers, and more.
• 10:09 David: On our YouTube channel you'll find faith foundations,
• 10:13 music, interviews, the Bearded Bible Brothers, and more.
• 10:18 Kirsten: Or find everything on our website, levitt.com.
• 10:22 David: We invite you to keep in touch and join us
• 10:24 on social media.
• 10:28 Kirsten: Abraham and Sarah took this incredible journey
• 10:32 of faith into a new land, and the exciting thing is we offer
• 10:38 that same adventure to you to take a trip to the Holy Land.
• 10:44 We go two times a year and, okay, I'm putting you
• 10:47 on the spot.
• 10:49 Name a favorite place.
• 10:50 David: Oh, goodness.
• 10:52 I think everybody says this: the Sea of Galilee
• 10:54 when we're on the Jesus Boat.
• 10:56 It's spectacular.
• 10:57 We would love to take you there.
• 10:59 We go two times a year, both the spring and the fall.
• 11:01 Information you can find right here on levitt.com.
• 11:04 Kirsten: Abraham and Sarah experienced miracles in that
• 11:08 land, and from our journeys with people, with the pilgrims
• 11:12 that go on our tours, I want you to know there are still miracles
• 11:16 in the land happening.
• 11:18 There's something about getting your feet on that dirt
• 11:21 and on that ground in Israel.
• 11:23 It's life-changing, just as it was life-changing for Abraham
• 11:27 and Sarah.
• 11:29 Speaking of, let's go back to their story.
• 11:32 We're gonna see the miracles spoken to both of them,
• 11:36 followed by Barri Seif giving us some wonderful insight.
• 11:44 narrator: "And the Lord appeared unto Abraham
• 11:46 in the Plains of Mamre."
• 11:48 ♪♪♪
• 12:00 ♪♪♪
• 12:17 Abraham: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 12:28 [speaking in Hebrew]
• 12:56 male: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 12:59 Abraham: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 13:03 male: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 13:08 Sarah: [laughing]
• 13:14 male: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 13:29 Sarah: [laughing]
• 13:32 Barri Seif: Sarah laughed.
• 13:34 I love this because Sarah was eavesdropping
• 13:37 and gets the message she's going to have a child.
• 13:40 She was eavesdropping but God was eavesdropping on her.
• 13:44 And this is such a special time for Sarah.
• 13:49 When Jeff and I got married, we had a wonderful wedding.
• 13:54 And during the wedding ceremony, I circled around him
• 14:00 seven times.
• 14:02 It's called Sheva B'rachot, when the officiant is recalling
• 14:06 seven blessings and the fifth one,
• 14:11 and I'll do it in my paraphrase, "May she who is barren
• 14:15 rejoice exceedingly as she gathers all of her children
• 14:19 around her."
• 14:21 And as you can see, I just shook my head,
• 14:24 shook my hand, I giggled.
• 14:26 Jeff giggled, the audience giggled.
• 14:29 It was a great highlight to our wedding.
• 14:33 And yet, generations passed.
• 14:35 We are still extolling Sarah's fruitfulness,
• 14:41 not her barrenness.
• 14:42 What a great promise.
• 14:44 God is full of promises and I love that word, "Amen," amen.
• 14:49 In Hebrew, it's [speaking in Hebrew]
• 14:52 and the root is emet, which is the first letter,
• 14:56 the middle letter, and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
• 14:59 aleph, mem, tav.
• 15:00 In John 14 we're told that Jesus is the way, the truth,
• 15:04 and the life.
• 15:05 Truth.
• 15:07 Not only is he the beginning, the first and the last,
• 15:11 but he is the beginning, the middle, and the last.
• 15:15 He's everything.
• 15:16 Everything about our faith is exemplified that he, Yeshua,
• 15:22 is the yes and the amen, amen?
• 15:29 Kirsten: Okay, so Barri was mentioning a part
• 15:32 in your wedding ceremony about fruitfulness,
• 15:34 a little dance, a little--
• 15:36 Jeffrey: Well, in the Jewish tradition, the bride goes
• 15:38 around the groom a number of times, and she did that, yeah.
• 15:42 Kirsten: Any news do you wanna share?
• 15:45 Jeffrey: Oh, about her being pregnant?
• 15:46 Well, she's 67. She hasn't told me yet.
• 15:49 Kirsten: But that was a major thing back then, right?
• 15:53 I mean, now we're thrilled to have two boys and happy
• 15:57 about that, but there was almost a stigma on women back then
• 16:01 if you couldn't carry on the name and produce a son, right?
• 16:04 Jeffrey: It's construed as a providential affliction,
• 16:06 something of a curse, actually.
• 16:08 A stigma, to be sure.
• 16:10 Kirsten: That kind of gave me goose bumps, though,
• 16:12 that God changed that curse.
• 16:14 Ooh, that's good.
• 16:16 Jeffrey: She went through her life thinking
• 16:17 there was something inherently wrong with her,
• 16:18 but actually she was the chosen.
• 16:20 Isn't that amazing?
• 16:21 Kirsten: No, I love that.
• 16:22 Look, I literally have goose bumps from that.
• 16:24 David: That's really good. Kirsten: Totally.
• 16:25 David: Right now, let's go to our drama where the chosen son
• 16:27 has been born.
• 16:32 narrator: "And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said,
• 16:36 and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
• 16:39 For Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age,
• 16:44 at the set time of which God had spoken to him."
• 16:48 ♪♪♪
• 16:51 Sarah: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 16:53 Abraham: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 17:13 Sarah [speaking in Hebrew]
• 17:15 Abraham: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 17:32 Abraham: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 17:39 Sarah: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 17:46 Sarah: [speaking in Hebrew]
• 18:15 Jeffrey: One of the benefits of being 65 years of age is that
• 18:22 that season in life entitles you to lecture every now and again.
• 18:27 Begging your indulgence, I need six minutes and I'm gonna speak
• 18:32 to you from the Scripture about something
• 18:34 that I think is supremely important.
• 18:38 I'm gonna put on my professorial hat, a little more from the head
• 18:43 than from the heart, but I hope it speaks to both of yours.
• 18:48 Of course, I don't know where I find you right now,
• 18:51 but I know where I find Genesis 21, verse 1.
• 18:55 It's a story about a woman and we're told: "Then Adonai,"
• 19:00 then the Lord, "visited Sarah just as he had said,
• 19:07 and Adonai did for Sarah just as he had spoken."
• 19:15 I wanna speak to that for a minute.
• 19:18 When I think of visiting, it's not like she's in the hospital,
• 19:21 and visiting hours are from 6 to 8 and he so happens
• 19:24 to show up then.
• 19:26 When it says he visited her, we're looking at the Hebrew
• 19:30 "paqad," and it's comparable to the word "remembrance."
• 19:36 It's a different word, "zakar."
• 19:38 But the point is, some people find themselves at a place
• 19:43 in life where they're like Jesus saying, "My God, my God,
• 19:48 why have you forsaken me?"
• 19:52 And people carry the sense of dreams lost,
• 19:58 realizations not experienced, hopes not materialized.
• 20:06 And for those that find themselves at that place,
• 20:10 I wanna tell you this is the space that that woman occupied.
• 20:16 The Lord was gracious to her.
• 20:18 Quite frankly, based on other things that I see in the
• 20:21 literature, I think her husband, by the way, had faith that kind
• 20:26 of carried her along in it, because she was, you know,
• 20:30 in all fairness, something of a doubting Thomas.
• 20:32 Pregnant, who me? She smiles.
• 20:35 There's a kind of like a cynicism there.
• 20:39 But, speaking to the dramas, and I love the dramatic vignettes
• 20:43 that you pay for that go along with these series,
• 20:46 rather than just a talking head giving voice to the literature.
• 20:49 And I hope you find me--that I do a reasonably good job
• 20:53 in so doing, but it's the picture that's worth 1000 words.
• 20:57 And the facial expressions on Sarah, to my way of thinking,
• 21:02 are priceless.
• 21:04 There's beauty here, there's a moment when the Lord visits her,
• 21:10 when the Lord remembers her.
• 21:13 I think of Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 12, where we're told that
• 21:17 God "watches over his word," to neglect it.
• 21:23 No, "to perform it."
• 21:26 To give it form and substance.
• 21:29 I like that.
• 21:31 Similarly, I like it in Psalm chapter 25, verse 7.
• 21:36 Even with the foibles that we have, not because we're wicked,
• 21:41 but just because we're weak.
• 21:42 Some of us feel that success in life, some of us feel that
• 21:45 God's will, that his ultimate fulfillment for us, is 13 inches
• 21:52 away but the problem is we only have a 12-inch reach.
• 21:56 And we can't quite get to it.
• 21:59 So what do we do? We give up.
• 22:01 I can understand that.
• 22:03 We don't give it up--we don't give up because we're wicked.
• 22:05 We give up because we're weak.
• 22:08 And God understands human weakness.
• 22:13 Don't take my word for it.
• 22:15 What do I know?
• 22:17 In Psalm chapter 25, verse 7, we're told here, David says,
• 22:23 "Remember not the sin of my youth, nor my rebellion.
• 22:32 According to your mercy remember me."
• 22:38 And isn't that what we want at the end of the day?
• 22:42 Sometimes we can be like Jesus, "My God, my God,
• 22:45 why hast thou forsaken me?"
• 22:47 He felt it and gave voice to it.
• 22:49 You know, he had a human nature, among other things.
• 22:53 Certainly, the divine enclosed therein.
• 22:56 God didn't really forsake him but he's giving voice
• 22:59 to the feelings that people have.
• 23:02 This series is all about faith for the future,
• 23:07 not faith in the future.
• 23:09 Some people say, "Well, I just believe it's all gonna work out.
• 23:12 You gotta be optimistic.
• 23:14 You gotta be confident."
• 23:16 I'm not talking about self-confidence here,
• 23:18 though I'd rather see someone have it, than not.
• 23:20 I'm talking about faith in God, the one who holds the key
• 23:25 for the future.
• 23:28 You might be waiting for your ship to come in, you don't even
• 23:31 see it over the horizon.
• 23:32 The net result is that you don't live with the anticipation.
• 23:34 Let me encourage you.
• 23:37 If you're just tuning in to this series now, you know,
• 23:40 go to our website, find what came before it.
• 23:43 And we're midway here.
• 23:45 See what comes after it.
• 23:47 The name of the game is to build up faith in order
• 23:50 that we can experience what David talked about here,
• 23:54 what Jeremiah remembered, and what we read in Genesis
• 23:59 when we're told that God visited Sarah.
• 24:04 He visited her, he can visit you.
• 24:08 Have faith in God for the future.
• 24:13 David: Join us right now for additional content that is
• 24:16 only available on our social media sites:
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• 24:22 Visit our website, levitt.com, for the current and
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• 24:57 from viewers like you.
• 25:01 David: Twenty-eight years ago, we were anticipating
• 25:03 the birth of our first son and we were thinking of names,
• 25:07 but I don't think we were thinking like back
• 25:09 in the Bible days where they named people
• 25:11 for a reason, like Isaac, for example.
• 25:14 Jeffrey: Yitzhak.
• 25:15 David: There was a reason-- Jeffrey: Yitzhak.
• 25:17 David: Which means-- Jeffrey: Laughter.
• 25:19 David: Yes.
• 25:20 Kirsten: Well, here's my question.
• 25:21 As a woman, I'm thinking about what Sarah was feeling
• 25:23 when she heard that she's gonna have a baby.
• 25:26 It said she laughed.
• 25:27 Do you think it was sarcastic, like, "Okay, I'm gonna have
• 25:30 a baby," laughter, or laughter of joy?
• 25:33 Jeffrey: She's not here to defend herself, unfortunately,
• 25:35 but I think it's more sarcasm, just it's so unbelievable.
• 25:38 Kirsten: It is, and in the naming of her son, meaning
• 25:43 laughter, there's so much purpose to a name and then
• 25:46 we see in this program also that God gave Sarah and Abraham,
• 25:50 Sarai and Abram, new names for their future,
• 25:54 for a new future.
• 25:56 Jeffrey: Yes, indeed.
• 25:57 Kirsten: A new part of their journey.
• 25:58 Jeffrey: Yeah, new identity which is something
• 26:00 that people need, by the way.
• 26:02 You know, we're pivoting away for an old way of being,
• 26:04 and an identity that's more congruent with our future.
• 26:08 Kirsten: And apparently, names are very important to God.
• 26:10 Jeffrey: Yes, people carry a lot of baggage from the past,
• 26:13 from yesteryear, old ways of thinking.
• 26:15 You know, pivoting away to a new identity, a new name,
• 26:18 a new calling, finishing up life like that,
• 26:20 that's the way to do it.
• 26:22 Kirsten: It is, and he's still a God of miracles, isn't he?
• 26:24 David: Yes, we're gonna hear more about that and more dramas
• 26:26 coming up in our series, more teaching from you
• 26:29 and your wonderful wife who'll be at this table.
• 26:31 It's time to end this program today.
• 26:34 Jeffrey: Sorry about that.
• 26:35 I wish we could go on but we can't.
• 26:36 As we go now, "Shaalu shalom Yerushalayim."
• 26:39 David: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• 26:41 ♪♪♪
• 26:45 ♪ One day on the hillside ♪
• 26:49 ♪ you will see how much I care ♪
• 26:55 ♪ as I pay the price of love with the life ♪
• 27:03 ♪ I long to share ♪
• 27:08 ♪ Then I can embrace you with my arms ♪
• 27:15 ♪ held open wide ♪
• 27:19 ♪ Jerusalem, my chosen ♪
• 27:25 ♪ beloved, my bride ♪
• 27:31 ♪ I showed you, I taught you ♪
• 27:37 ♪ I loved you forever ♪
• 27:43 ♪ Jerusalem, I'll hold you ♪
• 27:49 ♪ My arms are open wide ♪
• 27:56 ♪ You'll see ♪♪
• 28:02 ♪♪♪