TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Holy Land Day 1: Ancient Roman City and Elijah's Mountain

Episode Date: April 27, 2022

Today was a busy first day for the TruNews team in Jordan. The morning started with a moving visit to the site where Jacob wrestled in Genesis 32.Next stop, Jaresh, the ancient Roman city known as Gesera of the Decapolis in the Scriptures. While there, the team visits the Arch of Hadrian, the Gesera Hippodrome, the Temples of Zeus and Artemis, the Southern Theatre and numerous other features.The final stop of the day takes the team to Mar Elyas, also known as Mount Elijah, where Rick and Doc examine the ruins of a 7th century church built on the site where tradition says Elijah the prophet was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.Rick Wiles, Doc Burkhart. Airdate 4/26/22.

The following program is made possible by the faithful prayers and financial support of listeners just like you. To find out how you can help, visit www.truenews.com. This is True News, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God. I'm Rick Wiles. And I'm Doc Burkhart. Hey, we are in Jordan, and we are touring the other half of the Holy Land, the part of the Holy Land that few people know about in America. Most tours when they come to the Holy Land only visit the state of Israel, and it's a beautiful place, many sites in Israel. But the other half of the

Holy Land is here in Jordan, and we are standing at the Jacob River. And Christians in Jordan believe that this site where we're at right now is the site where Jacob wrestled with the angel. Now, Doc, I know for a fact it was because I found Jacob's shoe. This is the sneaker that the angel ripped off of Jacob's foot. He had pretty small feet there. Yes, he did. But this is it. So we have archaeological proof right here. Doc, did you ever think you'd be standing here? No. And let me just say, it's beautiful right here beside the Jacob River.

And you read from Genesis chapter 32, the story where Jacob wrestled, the Bible says a man, wrestled with a man and then they called the place peniel yes peniel means meeting god face to face so he wrestled with more than an angel more than a man he wrestled with god himself that's right god touched jacob's thigh and for the rest of his life jacob had that injury as a result of wrestling with God all night. But it was that moment in time where God asked Jacob, what do you want? He said, I want my blessing. I want it. He said, I'm not letting go until you bless me.

And he said, from now on, you're no longer Jacob. Jacob meant deceiver. From now on, you're no longer Jacob. Your name is Israel, meaning chosen one. You are now chosen by me. And Rick, to be at the spot here where that event happened, we all go through that moment in our life where God touches us, touches our thigh, and changes your identity.

I'm not the person I was before I was born again. That's right. And neither are you. That's right. He gives are you. That's right. He gives you a new identity in Christ. You know, preceding the preceding chapters in Genesis, Jacob was married to the daughter of Laban. Yes. And he worked for his father-in-law for 20 years.

Yes. And his father-in-law cheated him every year for 20 years. Every time his father-in-law would make a deal with him regarding the flocks of sheep, Jacob would, I mean, Laban would always change the terms of the agreement. But God always blessed Jacob. Right. the agreement but god always blessed jacob no matter how much his father-in-law cheated his father couldn't out cheat god's blessing on jacob but you know jacob's whole life up to this moment in time where in genesis chapter 32 had been uh he'd been pursued by deception and by

cheating and in those 20 years with laban deception was chasing him. But it was at this moment in time where God changed Jacob's name, changed his identity, changed who he was as a person, that the real blessings of God began to be unfolded. It's also interesting, too, that it was at this moment in time he was trying to reconcile with Esau. Because that's where the deception began in his life way back when he was a teenager and he was making an effort to reconcile with Esau but was after this after God changed Jacob's name that he was able to reconcile with Esau and so you know we all need this moment in time in our life where God touches us and changes our name. It's interesting that he touched his thigh and made him weak. But you know, Revelation 19, 6 says that upon the thigh of Jesus

is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And so when God touched Jacob's thigh, he was putting his mark on him. The same mark that's on the thigh of Jesus right now. Think about it, Doc. We're standing along the river named for Jacob. This is now known as the Jacob River. And we may be this very site that we're on. Yes. It's somewhere along this river in this close vicinity. We may be standing at the very place that Jacob wrestled with the angel thousands of years ago in the story still alive today.

Hey, this is just the beginning of our journey. We're going to be here for two weeks, and I am very, very excited. I can't tell you how great our first day has been. We had some complications getting here, but that's normal when you travel internationally. Some luggage was lost. We had some delays getting our equipment through the airport, but we're here. Yes, we are. And now the journey has officially begun. So I want you to stay tuned. Now we're going to get back in our vehicle. We're going to travel to another historical site. So today, each True News program, each day, will be a series of short videos from different biblical sites. So I encourage you to watch every episode of True News throughout the next two weeks. And if you're interested in coming to Jordan with us, we are planning a trip in October of 2022.

We don't have the firm date yet. It's going to be somewhere in, it could be September to early November. We're going to lock down the dates. But Doc and I are here to scout out the Holy Land in Jordan. And I got to tell you right now, the people here are wonderful. Yes, they are. They are kind. They are warm.

They are generous. The food is great. It's awesome. You're going to love Jordan, every part of it. So stay tuned. We're going to get in our vehicle. We're going to drive to the next site and I'll see you in just a minute.

God bless. Well, we took a short drive from Jacob's River, and we are now in the ancient city of Joresh. And we are standing at what is known as Hadrian's Arch. Yes. This city is what, about 2,000 years old? Yes. General Pompey actually founded the city about 60 BC, Rick, and what you see behind us here is the Arch of Hadrian. Emperor Hadrian, the Roman Emperor Hadrian, this was Roman territory yes at that time they built this monument he was going to be visiting uh the Gisera Juresh modern day Juresh and they built

this arch for him this is about 129 130 uh you know 80. and so uh this uh structure you see behind us is nearly 2 000 years old amazing it's still standing. We're going to go inside and there is a massive theater behind this gate. But you know, Hadrian, before we go inside, I want to point out that Emperor Hadrian is the man who rebuilt on the ruins of Jerusalem. So whenever you go to Jerusalem and you think you're visiting the ancient city of Jerusalem, you're not. You're visiting Hadrian's city. Capillonia. Capillonia. The real Jerusalem is in the rubble below the ground because Jesus said, Jesus, he said, the temple is going to come down

and not one stone will be left standing on another stone. Right. And also another biblical reference here for our audience, Caesarea or Jeresh as it's known in modern times, this is part of the region known as the Decapolis, the ten city region. And they were kind of sort of under Roman rule, but they were allowed to be kind of independent too. So Jeresh was one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, the 10th city region. And they were kind of sort of under Roman rule, but they were allowed to be kind of independent. So Jures was one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis. Yes.

All right. Let's go inside and take a look at the theater. Thank you. ¶¶ We walked a distance from the Gate of Hadrian, and we're now in, I guess, I can't say the city square. It's more of the city circle. Yes, so behind us here, you've got this circular row of columns and everything and this massive slab of stones that have been laid out here. This was actually the heart of Jerish or Gisera back in the day, Rick, called the cardo. Cardo meaning heart.

Heart, okay. And so back over our shoulder here, you're going to see a row of columns going off into the distance and a road along there and that road actually was like the super highway of the day that allowed transport between Amman Philadelphia on that day and here in Juresh and so they had roads Roman roads that came out of the the cart of the heart right kind of like spokes out of a wheel yes and so they would go in different directions but the one behind us is the main one and it was like the you, the interstate highway of the day. And so can you imagine, Rick, Paul and the other apostles in the first century? This was the kind of city that they would come into.

This was generally Roman cities throughout Asia Minor and the Decapolis in Syria. And this is what they'd see. They'd have the heart of the city here with all the Roman features. Off in our distance here, we see the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Artemis behind the camera here. And so that was the influence and the culture of the day. And so it's truly amazing. All this was under sand until about 100 years ago. Really? This was just excavated? Yes, it's a fairly recent, as far as archaeology is concerned, fairly recent excavation. It was

completely buried under sand, all these features. And it's really amazing that they've restored it to such an extent to this day. So it's really amazing. It gives us a little picture of Bible time history and gives us a better picture of how they ministered the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire provided the perfect vehicle in order for the gospel to be transmitted and delivered throughout the entire empire. That's right. This is my first time in an ancient Roman city. And what you just said about how the gospel was circulated to the known world. The early church apostles and evangelists traveled on Roman roads.

Without the Roman roads, it would have been a lot more difficult to get to other cities and nations with the gospel. And what does that mean for us today? Our road today is the internet. It's the super highway to the world. So the gospel is traveling on the internet now. And today's modern preachers, evangelists, teachers of the Word are using the Roman road of today. America, the new Rome. And literally that's what Washington, D.C. was designed as, a Roman capital. So we're using the modern Roman roads, the Internet, to take the gospel. Here we are in Jordan, and you're watching us on the Internet.

So this message has been transported on a modern road, Internet streaming. And it's amazing that this is happening. I really am i'm in all i wish i wish you could just see the 360 degree panoramic view of what we're looking at right now is quite amazing well not only was this uh you know a place for people to go out it was also a place for people to come into and there's a story told in matthew 8 and mark chapter 5 about the demoniac uh you recall the story that's right so we're actually in the area, aren't we? Right. So you read in that, this is a Gentile area.

So Jesus was ministering out in these hills back in Matthew 8 and Mark 5. And he came upon a demoniac and cast the demons out and they went and hurt a swine. And there's something interesting in Mark 5 where the man that had been delivered by Jesus said that he wanted to follow Jesus and be his disciple. And you would think normally, well, sure, come on, pack up your bag and let's go. But Jesus said

something unusual to this particular man. He said to him, no, you stay here. You stay here in this city, this area, that being Gasser Juresh today, and you stay here. Why didn't he ask him to join? He asked the other men, I'll make you fishers of men. Why didn't he ask this man to become a fisher of men? Well, we don't know all the reasons, but one reason could be that he was a Gentile. And at the time, Jesus' ministry was to the Jews. Before the cross. Yes. And so even though he did many miracles among the people here in the Decapolis,

his primary ministry was to the Jewish people. And so this demoniac that had been delivered, Jesus was telling him, no, you stay in the city. Well, tradition has it that that guy, the demoniac that had been delivered, Jesus was telling him, no, you stay in this city. Well, tradition has it that that guy, the demoniac, later became one of the founding members or the founding fathers of the church that was established here. In this city. Yes. So when the apostles arrived later to establish elders in every city throughout Asia.

Among the Gentiles. Among the Gentiles. This was one of the cities. And the demoniac was already here telling people about Jesus. What a testimony. Yes. And he had been telling people for years. So you talk about the internet being the superhighway.

Well, Jerush was a hub, a website, if you will, and people were coming to it, and they were mingling with people, and they were hearing this guy that told, I used to be filled with demons, and this man, Jesus, delivered me. And they would come to an area like this, the heart of the city. And so this would be like a business place. What we would have today is social media. Yes. If you wanted to be heard, if you wanted a platform, if you wanted to hand out your leaflets, whatever you wanted to do, you came to this place, and this is where you would get a crowd. Right.

And so that very man had been delivered by Jesus Christ, later becoming a church elder in this city, most likely stood at this very place day after day and told visitors who were business people, travelers, saying, let me tell you about Jesus. I was out here in these caves, and I was possessed of devils, and it was Jesus Christ who set me free amen amazing story yeah all right we're going to take a another walk we're going to go closer to the uh to the main theater Thank you. Well, we are now standing inside the Temple of Zeus,

the Roman false god, the idol that the Romans worshipped. And this shrine to Zeus is still standing. Amazing. Yes, and it's amazing some of the architecture and some of the relief that you see on these columns that still stand the test of time. It's really amazing that there are buildings that exist in our modern times that die out 25, 50 years. This has been here nearly 2,000 years. Okay, so Doc, let's relate this, the history of this site and biblical times. What do we need to take away from this site right here that would help us understand biblical times? Well, in every Roman city of any size, there would always be temples built to the Roman gods.

The primary ones they would always build to, that was kind of the political gods of Rome, were that of Zeus and Artemis. Artemis was also called Hermes. So in America, it would be abortion and homosexuality. Right. So the temples of then were Zeus and Artemis. And so we're standing in the temple of Zeus here. Artemis is over here to our left. Was he a lesser god? Yeah, he's kind of a junior god.

But what's interesting about this, why it relates to what we're talking about here, is in the book of Acts, Barnabas and Paul went and ministered in Lystra and while they were in Lystra the crowds there uh identified Paul as kind of like the reincarnation of Zeus because he spoke so eloquently to the crowds and then they thought Paul uh because of his delivery of speech and everything as well that he must therefore be Hermes or Artemis of the God there and so uh Paul and Barnabas, you know, were saying, hey, we're not gods. We are men just like you, but we tell you of a god that is really greater than the gods of these temples. And so if you can imagine just, Rick, every Roman city had these temples here, and there was that confrontation that took place between what the gospel message that was being delivered first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles and the Gentiles were

worshiping in places like this here Rick and so they were defining the God of Paul and Barnabas so this city was built approximately about 150 years after the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. So Paul and the apostles were not here, but the first century church fathers were here in this city preaching the gospel. So you've got to think about this, that those preachers would come and stand in the temple of Zeus and tell the people who were worshiping a false Roman god, your god is not alive. I serve the resurrected Savior,

the resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ. And just by preaching it here at the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Artemis, they were guilty of a criminal offense. Of atheism. Atheism, worthy of execution. Because they didn't believe in the gods of Rome. Of atheism. Atheism. Worthy of execution. Because they didn't believe in the gods of Rome. That's right.

It's hard for a lot of Christians to understand today, but the early Christians were arrested and imprisoned by the Romans for atheism because they did not believe in the Roman gods. In America, the gods are abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, diversity, inclusiveness, all this kind. These are the gods of modern Rome today. And so if you preach against them in America, you will be deplatformed. And what happened to the Christians at the time this city was alive and thriving was those Christians that would come here to the Temple of Zeus and proclaim the name of Jesus often were carried away to the cages of where the wild beasts were caged up just a few thousand feet away from us right now. It was a very dangerous thing to do to come into this temple and preach Jesus Christ.

Rick, here's the encouragement of it. We look around here, and this temple's in ruins. Stones are scattered. Columns are knocked over and everything. But the gospel's still being preached. And the churches are still here in Jordan. Yes. The gospel is still alive.

So there is a victory. Christianity is thriving in Jordan. That's right. And it's a country where Muslims and Christians live side by side in peace and harmony. And it's just a wonderful place to be. Now, if you wonder, why are we here? Well, Doc and I are scouting out Jordan because we believe the Lord is inspiring us to lead tours of American Christians to the Holy Land in Jordan. A lot of Christians have visited Israel.

That's a wonderful thing, and I think everybody should see it. But you should also see Jordan. The rest of the Holy Land is over here in Jordan. And one other thing here, I don't know if the camera is catching it. This site that we're in, it's like a national park. It's under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Antiquities, and it's guarded by the military. And so we had to get a permit from the Jordanian government. And so as soon as we came in to this park, the military police greeted us to see if we had our proper permits to bring cameras in here and record.

But the thing I wanted to point out is that everywhere there are military watch posts and surveillance cameras. So, Doc, nothing has changed in 2,000 years. No, because they had sentries and everything up on the walls of the buildings and everything. The Romans were watching. So they had a surveillance state then too, didn't they? No, things changed. All right. This is the end for this segment.

We're going to take another walk, continue our journey into for our first day in Jordan, and it is absolutely a serene, peaceful place. Doc, tell our audience where we're standing. We're on the top of Mount Mar-Eliah, or Mount Elijah, basically. That's where we're standing right now. Yes, this is named for the prophet Elijah. And we are inside a 7th century church dedicated to the prophet Elijah.

Right. This was a massive complex, Rick, about 12,000 square feet. Now, that's hard to comprehend that this was built in the 7th century. On a mountain. On the top of a mountain, hauling all this stone up here. And it was a massive basilica. The stone and the steps behind us tell you just how big this was. And we're just in the entry area here.

The steps leading behind us go to the sanctuary up there. It was over 12,000 square feet. Right. But what was most stunning about coming up here and seeing was the floor of the Basilica and the beautiful mosaic that is still there. It's not complete, of course, because it's only been 14, 1500 years, but to still see tile work on the ground after all this time up here on this particular mountain.

Now this mountain here, as legend has it, Elijah was born not too far from here in the town of Tishba. He was a Tishbite, Elijah the Tishbite. So he was from the northern areas and grew up here. But what is more into the tradition is that this was the mountain supposedly that Elijah was caught up into the chariot of fire in the ninth century BC. That's the ancient church tradition. Right. This church was built where Elijah was taken up.

And there is, Doc, I do feel a serene peace here. Well, first of all, it's beautiful up here. I mean, you can see, I mean, dozens of miles from up here, beautiful mountains. Going straight out, it's kind of hazy right now, but Israel is in that direction. When the sky is clear, you can see Israel. And it's just beautiful up here. Just that part of it gives you a peaceful, serene feeling. But just the knowledge, Rick, that there were people that were dedicated to the worship of Jesus Christ so much that they decided, you know what, we're going to build a church on top of that mountain up there and we're going to worship there for a thousand years. Yes. And there's an inscription here in stone, and it says something like the old priest Saba and his wife gave from their own belongings this church in honor of Prophet Elijah. Right. And this isn't the only church up here, by the way. There is actually another church down below us, a smaller one that they used for, we understand according to what they're telling us

was used for funerals and weddings and things like that. But it was actually built a hundred years or more before this church. Right. It's cut into the wall down below us here. And we got a little bit of footage here that we can show you and that way you get some idea. And there's some tombs there. Yeah, these are tombs for the priests and the clergy that serve this church. I've heard of preachers being buried in their church, but they literally did that here. Yes, they buried pastors, yes. But the whole area up here, it gives you such a feeling like there's such a tradition of our faith, Rick, that there are people that have gone before us that have fought the good fight, that have run the race with patience, that built churches on top of mountains.

I'm thinking that the early Christians who were here, they drew out the living water and gave the living water to the people of this valley. And directly in front of us is a water well. Yes. And it looks quite deep. So this is where they were getting their water for the church. There's a wine press here. Yes. Very deep. Yes. They produced a lot of wine here. I mean, it was a massive, I would say about 1,000-gallon tank. You had a smaller tank, about 200 gallons, and a bigger tank of about 1,000. They would press the grapes in the smaller tank, and it would run out into the larger tank that was held. And there are two baptismal rooms at this church, one for children, one for adults. So the evidence is clear.

They were baptizing. The early church was baptizing children here in Jordan. Yes, in the 7th century. In the 7th century. And there's a baptismal area also in the older church. Yes. So people, you just have to deal with that. The early church did baptize children. Now, what we don't know, were they baptizing infants or were these older children that confessed Christ, knew who Christ was? That we don't know. We just know it was an area used by the church to baptize children. This is an impressive site.

It's one of those sites that aren't on a normal Holy Land tour. I know. And so this would be a treat for anyone to be able to see and have some connection with your faith from 1,000, 1,500 years ago. Doc, if I lived here, I would be coming out here often. What a place to sit, read your Bible, pray, meditate. It is so calm and peaceful here. And over to our right here, Rick, there's a cemetery actually over here of the saints that serve this church through the centuries that are buried over here along the mountain here. I think on the final day when Jesus Christ comes back,

they're coming out of the ground right here at this church. People who serve Christ for over 1,400 years here at this site, and they're going to come out of the ground and be given their resurrection bodies and go up in the air just like Elijah left from this mountain. Amen. That's a great connection there. So here on Mount Mar Elias, the place where Elijah went up into heaven. Wow. Awesome. Hey, we're going to wrap it up for today, but to close our program, we're going to take you back to the city of Joresh and the ancient Roman theater

because some Jordanian musicians wanted to do something for you for the Americans. Yes. And so they gave us Amazing Grace and Yankee Doodle Dandy. So this is from the Jordanians to our American friends, and you're going to enjoy it. This is it for today. We'll see you tomorrow. God bless you. Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Thank you. Hey! Thank you. To find out how you can help, visit www.trinews.com.