TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Putin Used ICBM to Send Message to West

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Russia used an RS-27 missile to strike Ukraine last night. The new missile sent shockwaves through the NATO alliance as Western leaders pondered the meaning of the Kremlin message.Rick Wiles, Doc Burkhart. Airdate 11/21/2024Join the leading community for Conservative Christians! https://www.FaithandValues.comCelebrate Christmas with TruNews! Donate $200 or more to TruNews and receive 8 gifts: 2 Final Day books, 2 Sacrificing Liberty DVD sets, 2 The Greatest Reset DVDs, and 2 talking Fauci Elves. Donate at https://www.TruNews.com/donate, call 800.576.2116, or mail to PO Box 399, Vero Beach, FL 32961. Request your gift bag today!Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!https://www.AmericanReserves.com             It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!https://www.amazon.com/Final-Day-Characteristics-Second-Coming/dp/0578260816/Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/final-day-10-characteristics-of-the-second-coming/id1687129858Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today.https://www.sacrificingliberty.com/watchThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today!https://tru.news/faucielf

True News has a great offer for you. Christmas is only weeks away. Could you use some help with your Christmas shopping? We have assembled a gift bag of assorted products from True News. What's in our gift bag? Two copies of Final Day, the ten characteristics of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Two DVD sets of the Sacrificing Liberty four-part docuseries. Two sets of the Greatest Reset DVD film. And, of course, two of those

ridiculous talking Fauci elves. The Fauci elves are collector items and great gag gifts to make people laugh. That's eight Christmas gifts, all for a donation of $200 or more to support True News. Donate online at truenews.com. Checks and money orders may be mailed to P.O. Box 399 Vero Beach, Florida 32961. You may also call 800-576-2116 at any time of day. Eight Christmas gifts from True News. Our gift to you for your gift of $200 or more. Make sure you request the Christmas gift bag when you donate $200 or more. russia used an rs-27 missile to strike ukraine last night the new missile sent shockwaves through the NATO alliance as Western leaders pondered the meaning of the Kremlin message. I'm Rick Wiles. This is True

News for Thursday, November 21st, 2024. Let's begin our analysis and commentary of today's news with this article published yesterday by London'son's telegraph newspaper and i want to emphasize this was yesterday russia threatens to strike kiev with massive new missile doc this is the reason the u.s embassy sent everybody into shelters yes now we know why so this happened yesterday and we didn't show this article yesterday but there was a threat by russia to use a new missile against kiev now the russians used the missile but it was not against the city of Kiev. They demonstrated it. Okay, so let's take a look at what the Telegraph said yesterday.

Right, so starting out here, Russia is threatening to strike Kiev with a massive new missile in revenge for the use of Western weapons against its territory. Vladimir Putin's armed forces are preparing to fire RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital local media reported Western nations including the US shut their embassies Thursday in anticipation of a large-scale airstrike the joint closure also involving Italy Spain and Greece marked the gravest expression of concern from foreign embassies since the early days of the war. Now, according to Moscovy Komsomolets, a Moscow-based newspaper, the Russian military is ready to launch RS-26 missiles from a site in the city of Ostrakhan by the Caspian Sea. The RS-26 has not been used in combat before, according to Western missile experts.

It is said to fly at five times the speed of sound, making it harder for Kiev's U.S.-supplied Patriot missile systems to shoot down. Which leads us to today. The next story, because they did fire the missile, not at Kiev, and the U.S. Patriot missile system did not shoot it down. Right. So this is France 24 here. You see the headline there. Russia targets Ukraine with intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. So Russia launched an ICBM during an attack on Ukraine Thursday in the first known use in the war of such a powerful nuclear-capable weapon with a range of thousands of kilometers now france's foreign ministry spokesman on thursday said he could not confirm that russia had launched an icbm in an attack on ukraine but added that such a move would be a serious escalation if reports are true and we

saw some of the video footage of the strike on Dnipro earlier today. A massive strike there. This missile, which has never been used before in combat, it is designed to fly thousands of miles. But last night it flew hundreds of miles. Right. A really short trip. Maybe 300 miles. I don't know the exact mileage from the launch site to the target in Ukraine, but it was in the hundreds of miles.

They used a missile designed to carry nuclear warheads thousands of miles, and they used it to deliver a conventional warhead, and they delivered it hundreds of miles. Is there a message? I think it's a message, in my opinion. Vladimir Putin is simply saying, you've crossed the line. I'm giving you an opportunity The next one will have a nuke on it

Isn't that what he's saying? The next missile will have a nuke on it We gave you an advance warning All your little diplomats in Kiev Ran into their hidey holes We didn't strike Kiev With a nuke But we demonstrated that we can and that

you can't shoot it down that's the important thing you can't shoot it down that's the important thing there so the next one that comes in will not be a decoy it will not have a dummy warhead it will not have a conventional warhead it'll have a nuclear warhead. And it defeated the Patriot missile system. It just proved it. NBC, Russia did not fire an ICBM, U.S. officials say. But what was that? What caused that flash of light? Was that a meteor?

What was that thing? Zelensky said it was an ICBM. Who do you believe? Zelensky or some unnamed person in Washington? I mean, Zelensky, of all people. He tells the truth all the time, right? Zelensky said Russia fired an ICBM at Ukraine last night. Headlines all over the world say an icbm but here in the united states some unnamed person in

washington told nbc news and they put the article at the top of their website russia did not fire an icbm why would you deny it because they you couldn't shoot it down that's right that's the problem that's the reason now Now, according to NBC News, Russia did not fire an ICBM at Ukraine on Thursday. This is coming from a U.S. official and a military officer with knowledge of the matter speaking to NBC disputing a claim by Kiev. Now, U.S. officials said the weapon was in fact an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile and that Russia has a limited supply of that particular missile. Intermediate-range ballistic missile, and that Russia has a limited supply of that particular missile. Intermediate-range ballistic missiles typically have a range of less than 3,500 miles.

Now, ICBMs typically have a range of more than 3,400 miles, so it's unclear why the Kremlin would have used one against its neighbor. Such missiles can carry either nuclear and non-nuclear payloads. Well, think it through, folks. Think it through. What's the mystery? There's no mystery. They used a missile that could have reached London. Right.

And you could not shoot it down. And that is a message to London. London has authorized storm shadow missiles to be used against Russian targets. They just demonstrated that wasn't just for Zelensky's benefit. It was to enlighten Keir Starmer in London. You see that thing that just hit Ukraine and the Patriot system couldn't shoot it down? Well, neither can your defense system. And it's going to land right in the middle of London.

And it will have a nuclear warhead. Doc, I truly believe a major Western site is going to disappear before the first of the year. If this is not brought under control, and I see no signs that it's going to be brought under control. I see just the opposite. They're just going to continue to push until Putin says, okay, I've given you all the warnings I can give you. The next one, I take somebody out. And when that happens, then the West either backs down or we go into a limited nuclear war with Russia. You know, and I've been trying to sort out in my mind what I believe the Holy Spirit told me during my week of prayer in Myrtle Beach, that the big war is in the early 2030s.

And I wrote down in my prayer notes, but there could be some major skirmishes between now and 2030 that would make us think that this is the war. It's possible. It's possible the West is going to have a limited nuclear war with Russia very soon like this month. And the big war in the 2030s is with China.

I'm not ruling that out. We may have a limited nuclear war before January with Russia. And it won't be just one city that's taken out. It would be multiple cities taken out. And yet that's not the big war. The big war is coming in the 2030s, and that's with China. So we're witnessing

very troubling developments. It's happening like within every 24 hours. So we don't know what we're going to report tomorrow. That's true. We don't. We don't know what we're going to report tomorrow. Yesterday, we're saying, okay, they just struck Russia with long-range missiles. They've used attack them from the United States, storm shadows from Great Britain.

They've crossed the line. Putin has signed a new nuclear doctrine. That's yesterday. Today, we're reporting Russia hit Ukraine with an ICBM designed to fly 3,500 miles carrying a nuclear warhead. So tomorrow, what do we report tomorrow? London no longer exists? Or Brussels has been turned to dust?

Oh, it's going to be London. The storm shadows didn't come from, it came from London. That's true. London's in danger. If you live in Great Britain, you're in great danger. But we in the United States are in great danger. Do you think Keir Starmer had something to say about that? Oh, yeah, he did. Let's see what he said.

Let's put the article up on the screen. This is the Telegraph. Intercontinental ballistic missile use would be depraved, reckless, and escalatory. Well, I think Putin's saying the same thing about authorizing Zelensky to hit Russia with British-made storm shadow missiles. He would say that's depraved, reckless, and escalatory. So Mr. Starmer, he may end up being the last prime minister of Great Britain, the shortest term of anybody, because his country may cease to exist in the next week. This is what he said.

So Russia's reported use of an intercontinental ballistic missile against Ukraine would be reckless and escalatory. Number 10 Downing Street said on Thursday, some Western analysts have cast doubt on whether an actual ICBM was used by Russia, partly as the RS-26 Rubase missile was mothballed by Moscow in 2018. Sir Keir Starmer said its use would be another example of depraved, reckless, and escalatory behavior from Russia if reports are confirmed to be true. No, it's, Russia's giving the West a chance to reconsider at this point. That's what's happening. You know what I've learned in my 71 years of life? The real divisions in the world,

it's not the West versus the East, the Left versus the Right, liberals versus conservatives, atheists versus believers. The real division in life is right versus wrong. And in this situation, the West is wrong. And the Russians are right. And I've been saying it for years, that we have depraved, demon-possessed warmongers

in charge of the Western nations, and they are leading humanity to a horrific catastrophe. The Russians are right in telling the West to stay away from their borders. I don't blame them. If Russia was encroaching on our borders and building military bases all the way around the United States, I would be livid. I would be saying, we've got to get rid of them. They're going to attack.

They're going to invade. So the Russians have the same attitude that we would have. So if you understand what's going on there, you see the Russians are right in their position that the West is seeking war. That the West is threatening them, threatening their existence. And right now it's the West that has escalated the situation. Every step of the way. Every step of the way. I can go back 10 years. I can go back 10 years.

I can go back 10 years to 2014, the Minsk agreements. I can go back to... Which were total fabrication. Remember, what's-her-face, Germany... I can't think of her name now. She admitted that the whole Minsk agreement... Angela Merkel. Yeah, Merkel, that's right. She said it was done to buy time for Ukraine

to build up their military. They had no intention of keeping the war. See what it was? We need 10 years to build up our military. Yes. This is why I'm saying the big war is in the 2030s. But this one right now is to go into a nuclear war this year with Russia so that the West only has to fight China in the 2030s.

Are you ready for a nuclear war this year? In the next 30 days? Are you ready for one in the next 30 days? Just a small one. A little one. Just a little limited, you know, 10 cities in this country 10 cities in that country are you okay with that because that's where these people are taking us uh what is the the rs-26 this is from z news in india and um it says it's a mobile ground ballistic missile derived from the more powerful RS-24 Yars.

That's the old, the one that the West called the Satan missile. Right, the Topal M. Topal M, yes. First tested in 2012, the RS-26 is a shorter version of the RS-24. It says, now this says with a range of okay five thousand and six thousand kilometers the rs26 has the capability to target europe the united states and the asia pacific region the rs26 carries a massive payload of 1.5 tons, making it a formidable weapon even with conventional warheads.

The missile follows a high ballistic trajectory, complicating interception, and heightening its threat level. Now listen to what Z News in India said. This is not NBC, this is not CBS, this is India. By deploying the RS-26 in a conventional strike,

Russia is sending a clear signal to NATO and its allies about the stakes in Ukraine. The missile's range and capabilities underline its potential as a deterrent against any further Western intervention. With its ability to carry nuclear warheads and strike vast distances, the RS-26 represents a grim reminder of how the conflict could escalate further.

Thank you, Z News. Somebody in the news media on planet Earth had a brain. It's the editors of Z News in India. Well, talking about if I only had a brain. Let's take a look at

the current Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austinin this is what he told mbc news about vladimir putin's reckless threats to use nuclear weapons how does our defense secretary see it is he concerned is he worried is he alarmed? He says it's not a threat. It's a bluff. He says it's a bluff. Let's watch. We spoke with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today in an exclusive interview where I asked him about that threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin to use a nuclear weapon. But Putin has also escalated just announcing that he's lowered the threshold

for using nuclear weapons. He announced this right after press reports that the U.S. had authorized attack on strikes inside of Russia. Is there a reason to believe that Vladimir Putin may use a nuclear weapon? We've known for several weeks that they were revamping their policy on the use of nuclear weapons. As I look at what they're doing and we watch their strategic forces very carefully, I don't see a change in their strategic force posture. And so we'll continue to remain vigilant in this regard. But at this point, no, I don't see an indication that there's an imminent intent to use nuclear weapons. Is he bluffing with this change?

He has rattled his nuclear saber quite a bit. And this is dangerous behavior, as you heard me say before. with nuclear capability be a heck of a lot more responsible in terms of how they act and what they're saying. When a homeowner has a loaded.45 and he's pointing it at a gang of thieves, a violent gang of thieves on his front lawn who were taunting him and saying we're coming inside and he's waving that gun and you think he's kidding you think he's bluffing you think that's irresponsible talk to stand on your front porch and wave a loaded gun at thieves threatening to come into your house?

These people are out of their mind, Doc. He knows it's not a bluff. He knows it's not a bluff. He's pushing Putin to pull the trigger. They want him to pull the trigger they want him to pull the trigger do you understand that your government wants putin to pull the nuclear trigger the british government the french government all of them they want putin to pull the trigger they're convinced they'll be able to take out the russian military and conquer russia

occupy it and rape the country of its natural resources they're convinced they can do it right that's and if you die that's just that's too bad the war you know so what it's war that's the way they see it they don't care care about you. They don't care about your kids, your grandkids. They don't care at all. They do not care. They've already calculated how many people are going to die. Let me remind you about the Deagle report. Remember the Deagle report, the Deagle website?

Those numbers aren't there anymore. Right. They took it down. But for at least a decade, that website predicted that the population of the united states would drop down to about 90 million in the year 2025. do you all remember that when does 2025 arrive well days in about what six weeks yes remember how we used to talk about the deagle report i said 10 years ago i was way back i know to 2012 2014 i was like who who owns this website what is this this thing's full of facts about militaries all over the world about tanks and airplanes i mean it's very accurate it's like it's somebody inside the defense industry who has data.

Why is it projecting the American population suddenly is reduced to 90 million plus people in the year 2025? What's coming in 2025? It didn't show massive declines in other nations, just America. Who is this guy? Who is this guy, Diego? We never found out found out i mean there's speculation about who it was i attempted one time to find the owner of the website and i kept you know following going down the rabbit hole and i finally ended up at a real small row house in Barcelona, Spain. Right. I remember that.

It's like, no, that's not the owner. The owner doesn't live in a tiny little house in Barcelona, Spain. That house is a decoy. We don't know who the owner is. That's as close as I got to finding the owner. Because we make trips to Barcelona each year. I thought, I'm going to go over there and knock on the door. But it didn't happen.

I'm just reminding you that somebody for years speculated that our population was going to drop to 90 million plus in the year 2025. Way back there in 2012, 2014, 2025 was so far off, way out there. Well, no, it's like six weeks away now. And what are we talking about? Nuclear war. Nuclear war. How about that? Could the population be reduced to 90 million in the next six weeks yeah it could

very realistic possibility now doc um susan told me yesterday we have people sending emails who are fed up furious with me for talking about war oh you know what i don't care i don't work for you i don't report to you i don't care. I don't work for you. I don't report to you. I don't owe you anything. I work for my Father in heaven. If you don't like the message, that's your problem. There were people who didn't like Jeremiah's message. He had to preach it 40 years. 40 years. I've only been doing it 26. I got off pretty easy. I got another six years, seven years to go with this till the big war is coming. I got off pretty light compared to Jeremiah.

What happened at the end of the 40 years? They went into exile. The Jewish people went into exile, meaning they were captured, conquered, and hauled off to Babylon. And how long were they slaves? Seventy years. Right. Which is about the time of a sacrum.

And they were a vassal state after that, too. Right. I mean, they weren't an independent nation. Right. Ever again after that. That's right. They died as a nation. That's right.

Forget that part. They died as a nation. That's right. Forget that part. They died as a nation. So those of you who are tired of me talking about World War III, why are you watching? Why do you watch? I don't get that part. Why do you watch? I mean, you're sending an email saying, Rick's always talking about war. Yeah, that's what I'm called to do.

He's been doing that for a long time because that's my assignment because obviously there are people watching this show who are boneheaded blockheads about understanding what's about to happen and i have to keep repeating it and it's not getting through their head i guess they watch because they want to pick up all the other news stories but they if they don't want to hear about the nuclear war stuff yeah that's bothering them want to tune into the days of our lives drama of u.s politics you don't want to hear about it watch there's a lot of podcasters out there who are not talking about world war three most of them most of them okay overwhelmingly um

what do we got here um moscow times look at this headline folks just absorb it pentagon allows nuclear exchange after Putin's threats. Am I understanding that headline correctly? I mean, it's pretty plain. Does that mean they've made allowance for a limited nuclear exchange? That's the inference I'm getting there. Yes, that's exactly right rick the uh the

moscow times reports that the u.s allows for an exchange of nuclear strikes if necessary but the country should retain part of its arsenal to further deter adversaries that's coming from rear admiral thomas buchanan a spokesman for the pentagon's stratcom strategic command all right let me because this is heavy if i'm reading this right rear admiral thomas buchanan spokesperson for stratcom said the united states has made allowance for a limited number of nuclear attacks but we should reserve a portion of our nuclear arsenal for future wars right is that what he just said i that's the way it sounds to me rick like we're not going to spend them all we're not going to shoot off all our missiles all our warheads in this war that's coming up with Russia.

We're going to save them for a bigger war in the 2030s. In fact, they have a direct quote from him, the source to Rio de Navaste. It says, we need to have reserve capacity. You're not going to spend all your resources to win, right? Because then you'll have nothing to deter with. According to him, the use of nuclear weapons should allow the United States to continue to lead the world. Oh, my God. So we can have a limited nuclear war and still lead the world, Rick.

Doc, these people have already made up their mind. It's their plan. Folks, do you understand we've reached, time-wise, we're at the place of the war. We're going into a limited nuclear war with Russia. We're here, Doc. I want to get out of here. What's next? What's left? What's left at this point?

A big war with China in the 2030s. This is confirming what i just said i think they're doing they've made the decision we're going to war with nuclear weapons against russia probably this year early 2025 but we're not going to use all of our warheads because we're going to save them for a bigger war. How many of us are going to die? I'm asking you a question right now. Of you and me, how many of us are going to die in the next 30 to 60 days?

You better answer that question. This is real, folks. This is real. We're not making this stuff up. This is what these people are talking about. They're saying it. They're telling you we're going to have a nuclear war, but we're not going to use all of our weapons. We've got to save some. Because we want to have a bigger war later.

So are you saved? I want to ask you right now, are you saved? I want to ask you right now, are you saved? Do you know for certain if you were vaporized today in a nuclear war today, do you know for certain you would spend eternity with Almighty God? Do you know for certain? If you can't answer that question you're not saved the good news is you can be right now confess your sins believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ find a pastor to baptize you in water you need to get it done and if you got loved ones family and friends who are not saved, you absolutely must go to them with this kind of news and tell them the world is about to change very soon. If God doesn't intervene to stop it, we're in deep trouble.

This is frightening, Doc. Switch over to rt and russia radical nato wing pushing for war with russia what are they reading in moscow today that's a press conference in moscow yes that's the spokesperson for their state department what did she say to the russians today There's a radical wing in NATO that's salivating for war. That's what the Russian people heard in their news stories. This is an Estonian proposal to deploy NATO troops in Ukraine in the event that U.s president-elect donald trump brokers a peace deal is a de facto call for war with moscow russian foreign ministry spokeswoman maria zakharova said she was referring to remarks made by estonian foreign minister margus Margus Sakna, in which he said the EU would have to step in and deploy troops

if Washington refuses to deploy its military to Ukraine. So, the foreign minister of Estonia is now calling for European troops to invade Ukraine if Trump sides with Russia. Well, Zakharova described Estonia and other Baltic states as a radical wing of the North Atlantic bloc Thursday,

citing provocative and belligerent rhetoric. Zanka's latest statement goads other members of the Alliance into a doomed Adventure in Ukraine she added the Estonian foreign minister told the Financial Times Wednesday that European NATO members should deploy troops to Ukraine if the Trump administration brokers that peace deal and that precludes Kiev from joining the U.S.-led bloc. RBC Ukraine is reporting this. Go to that story here. This is the story that we're talking about, that Europe must be ready to send military forces to Ukraine. That's coming from the Estonian foreign minister.

So they're in this all the way, aren't they? This is to Trump-proof the war. Right. If Trump doesn't go the way they want, they're going to send European troops into Ukraine. To do what? To go to war with Russia. Well, they're saying if Donald Trump forces a peace deal on them. Forces a peace deal. Isn't that what they're saying if if donald trump forces a peace deal on them forces a peace deal isn't that what they're saying if if he forces a peace deal on us now think about it doc if donald trump brings peace then we have to respond with troops

that's the way these people think. The only way to enforce Donald Trump's peace plan is for us to invade Ukraine. War is peace. Where did I read that? These people are demented. London Times. NATO's enemies threaten Western way of life, says German general.

You know what he's saying? Your cafes, your coffee, your pastries, your way of life. Europe, it's all at risk right now. So is he saying that Western civilization hangs in the balance on this? Yes. Yes, your way of life. He's telling the Europeans love their way of life, and they have a beautiful, awesome way of life. I mean, Europe is fantastic.

Yes, I agree. And I'd like to see it continue. And I want it to continue. I want to visit Europe because I love Europe. I love their lifestyle. And he's saying to them, you know how you love to go out and sit in the cafes out on the sidewalk? Drink espresso, eat pastries.

And talk for hours. It's all at risk if we don't go to war with Russia. We're going to have to use our nukes against Russia in order to save coffee. And croissants. and croissants and croissants let's read what the man said so the European way of life is in danger from NATO's adversaries as coming from the head of the German army speaking to his French counterpart that poor countries were beginning to acquire destructive technologies that could overtake the West. General Alphonse Maize, the German Army chief, said the time had come to be frank with the public about the price that would have to be paid to ensure their future safety in the form of considerably higher defense spending.

He says that it's our task to convey the message that the threat is real, Maize told the Berlin Security Conference. Our way of life is in danger, he said, before underlining his point with the words exclamation mark. He added, to maintain the cohesion of the alliance, Europe has to deliver. We cannot outsource our security to others. We have to tell this to the population as well because it will not be free. The European political and military leaders are telling the European people

we're going to war. We're going to war. And if you want to save your pastry and coffee and your wine, you're going to have to give up some things.'s going to cost you it's going to cost you coming out of your pocket yes because we're going to war and you're going to have to give us your sons and your daughters because we're going to invade russia and that's the real price that has to be paid that's right they're telling you get ready to give up your sons and daughters because

we're going to invade Russia. Well, you came across an interesting story today. This is in the New York Post. Russia threatens to attack new U.S. base in Poland with advanced weapons. Now, this came out just hours after reportedly launching the ICBM at Ukraine Thursday. Moscow leveled the warning after saying the opening of the ballistic missile defense base located in the Polish town of Radzikoło near the Baltic coast would lead to an increase in overall nuclear danger. The U.S. base, which opened on November 13th, is part of a broader NATO missile shield known as Aegis Ashore that can intercept short to intermediate range

ballistic missiles, according to the alliance. Except it didn't do it last night. Right. But it's telling you, you see that missile that we shot over at Dnepro? Well, guess what? We can hit Poland. Yes. You just opened a nuclear base in Poland.

What do you think their response is going to be? And this is what the Russian media, here's RT, Moscow reveals priority strike target in Poland. It's not just a target. Priority target. It's priority. It's like you're going to get one fast, soon and fast, Poland. You've been begging for a nuclear war. Well, you're about to get one fast, soon and fast, Poland. You've been begging for a nuclear war. Well, you're about to get one.

Talk a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago, Poland wasn't on the hit list. They weren't on the hit list. I remember when Medvedev started talking about well if the polish leaders start if they keep talking like this we're gonna have to change our attitude towards poland you know finland wasn't on the hit list sweden wasn't on the hit list this has all happened in the last two years right they've they've made their country's targets yes thanks a lot if i were finnish or swedish sweet you know i'd be saying to the politicians thank you thank you a lot we're now targets for russian nuclear weapons and it's likely that the missile

coordination out of ukraine came out of this particular base in Poland. Because Ukraine doesn't have the ability to fire these missiles on their own. They need the support of the West, particularly NATO and the U.S. They need that. And whether it's in London, whether it's Brussels, they can't do it at all. They can't do it at all without Western personnel and Western technology. They can't do it. That's why the Russians are saying these are direct attacks by the United States and Great Britain on Russia. It required active hands on involvement of Americans and Brits in delivering those missiles to Russian targets.

That makes Washington, D.C. and London prime targets for nuclear warheads. People can't even comprehend this, that there would be no U.S. Capitol, I don't, people can't even, they can't comprehend this. That there would be no U.S. Capitol, no White House in January for Donald Trump to go into and become the new president. No Capitol. You can't comprehend it, that there would be no Capitol in a month from now. That's where we're headed uh let's switch um to the middle east wall street journal international criminal court

issues war crimes arrest warrants for netanyahu and galant it's about time about time put him in prison lock him up lose the key turn the lights out and let him sit in a cell and rot wall street journal said the international criminal court said thursday it has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant. The ICC issued, it goes on to talk, it says the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant allege that they committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, including the use of starvation as a weapon and directing attacks against civilians yes when you when you cut off the food and water and the energy

when you bulldoze the streets and dig up the water lines uh when you block humanitarian trucks from entering in to feed the people yes yes you're starving the people when you're on record on record saying that you're going to lay siege to this to gaza and cut off the food and water when you're on record the evidence is is there. You intend to kill everybody. And that's what genocide is. And so the ICC has finally moved. They issued the arrest warrants now. So an ICC pretrial chamber found reasonable grounds

to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant are criminally responsible for perpetuating the targeting of civilians and using starvation as a method of warfare, which are war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity involving murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. It also found that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli restrictions placed on humanitarian relief operations in Gaza, which has resulted in a lack of food, water, electricity, and medicine, were justifiable. Dozens of people in Gaza have died from starvation. Dozens? That's an understatement. Dozens died? The alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza, the court chamber found. Both Netanyahu and Gallant could face the prospect of arrests if they visit most countries aside from the U.S., which isn't under the court's jurisdiction. It could diminish Israel's standing on the world stage by shrinking the spheres in which its officials can operate. Hey, we have some late-breaking news here. It's just before 1 p.m. Eastern, and Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name as a nominee

for Attorney General of the United States. All right, do we have the video? Yes. If we're ready, go ahead and roll that tape there, Lee. We have breaking news this hour. Matt Gaetz is stepping down from his nomination to attorney general of the United States. Many said this was the most contentious of the nominations made by former President Trump. And he has announced categorically that he will not be seeking confirmation to the post of Attorney General. Here are his words. I had excellent meeting with senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was

strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump-Vance transition. There's no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle. Thus, I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on day one. I remain fully committed to seeing that Donald J. Trump is the most successful president in history. Look, Griff, this was quick. I mean, the appointment. OK, translation. The evidence of having sex with teenage girls was overwhelming. That's what that means. Somebody in the senate laid it out on the table and said this is what we've got and he he ran okay um so i don't understand why uh donald trump even nominated matt gates knowing that this was going to happen.

So Matt Gaetz is out. I'm not surprised. And he'll probably end up in a White House job. Now, he's already resigned his seat from Congress. That's right. He's out. He's out of Congress. He is just like me right now.

Yes. He's just a citizen right now. He's not a congressman. And he's unemployed. Right. He does not have a job. He'll get a job that does not require Senate confirmation. Yeah. He'll become a political advisor.

He'll become a White House aide. He'll get something that does not require confirmation and a vetting process where this stuff will come out but folks uh he didn't he didn't tuck his tail and run because he's innocent he he ran because they had the evidence i i never felt good about matt gates ever i i stopped talking about the allegations because it went away you know they they never brought out any evidence and now i said okay i'll drop it so i don't like pedophiles i don't like anybody that messes with kids and uh if there's even a hint of it i'm going to be very suspicious of them uh so matt gates is out be curious now to see who becomes the attorney general it'll be mike rogers

mike rogers yeah they're got to get the deep state in there somewhere well because mike rogers is up one of the names for FBI director. Yeah. Along with Kash Patel. So that's probably a good way to solve the problem. Kash Patel gets FBI and Mike Rogers gets attorney general. Well, anyhow, that just happened. How is the political establishment responding to Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest warrants?

Let's look at the Times of Israel. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune threatens the court with sanctions. The U.S. government is going to go after the International Criminal Court because the criminal court is standing up for children in Gaza. Right. What does that make our government? Complicit. Yes. You better believe that it's complicit because we supplied Israel with the weapons and a lot of military assistance in the air.

Right. To deliver those rockets and those bombs that blew up the buildings and killed so many children. These remarks here, he said on Sunday, Senator John Thune said that the U.S. must pass legislation threatening the ICC with sanctions if it seeks arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and other israeli officials he was quoted sunday as saying if the icc and its prosecutor do not reverse their

outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against israeli officials the senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation as the house has already done on a bipartisan basis and then he had this to say today. This is on X. He said, if the ICC, well, this is actually dated November 17th. Basically, he's just reaffirming the information that he said in the- Well, did Lindsey Graham have something to say today? I'm sure he did. Oh, yes, he did.

So this is today. The International Corrupt Criminal Court has acted in the most absurd and irresponsible manner possible by issuing arrest warrants against the prime minister and former defense minister of Israel. While there's a serious cloud of allegations hanging over the prosecutor who sought these warrants. The court is a dangerous joke. Now it's time for the U.S. Senate to act. The court defied every concept of fundamental fairness and legitimized a corrupt prosecutor's actions. Do you notice, folks, how the American political leadership, Republican and Democrat, work for a foreign nation? They don't stand for justice.

They don't stand for justice they don't stand for children they stand for a a cruel foreign government that slaughters children and they will go to they will go to war on behalf of that government their loyalty is to the state of Israel. Far more than it is to America. And certainly, they have no heart, no compassion for children who have been killed. Lindsey Graham also had a message for President-elect Trump and President

Biden. To President Biden, President Trump, and current and excuse me, President-elect Trump and President Biden, to President Biden, President Trump, and current and future members of Congress, if we do not act forcefully against the ICC after their outrageous decision to issue arrest warrants, then I fear the United States is next. Israel is not a member of the ICC nor is it the U.S. Israel has a very robust legal system, and so does the U.S. If we do not fight back against the ICC's attack on Israel, it is as if we are conceding that they have jurisdiction over the United States. Gaza does not belong to Israel. Palestine does not belong to Israel. Israel is committing war crimes in another country.

They're occupying Gaza and the West Bank. AIPAC was quick to thank Lindsey Graham. In fact, AIPAC's Twitter channel is filled with congratulatory tweets to politicians who have jumped to stand in line with AIPAC. Thank you, Lindsey Graham, for standing with our ally Israel against the ICC's morally bankrupt and legally baseless attacks. What do you call a country that slaughters children? Do you call it morally bankrupt? Tom Cotton, he called it a kangaroo court. You get down to this Jerusalem Post, Mr. Trump's new incoming national security advisor, Florida Congressman Mike Waltz. You can expect a strong response from the United States, he said.

We now know where the Trump administration is going to be on this. That's right. There's going to be a strong response. And he said the court has no credibility. Mike Waltz, there's his tweet. And they're going to pass a law. The U.S. Congress is going to pass a law against the International Criminal Court. And their decision was anti-Semitic.

Yes. Yeah. They're already accusing the ICC of being anti-Semitic. Hey, I want to quickly jump down, lead to number 26. This is London Times. Gold price could surge to a record $3,000 an ounce under Trump. Now, why?

The Times said they are expecting, they quote Dan Struvian from Goldman Sachs as saying that the Trump administration will increase the national debt. And when that happens, gold will continue to climb. Right. Okay. So get in touch with GoldCo. Okay. Gold is not going down. Gold is constantly going to be your your your bastion against inflation. Got to go. Morning Manor coming up. True News has a great offer for you. Christmas is only weeks away.

Could you use some help with your Christmas shopping? We have assembled a gift bag of assorted products from True News. What's in our gift bag? Two copies of Final Day, the 10 characteristics of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Two DVD sets of the Sacrificing Liberty four-part docuseries. Two sets of the Greatest Reset DVD film. And of course, two of those ridiculous talking Fauci elves. The Fauci elves are collector items and great gag gifts to make people laugh. That's eight Christmas gifts, all for a donation of $200 or more to support True News.

Donate online at truenews.com. Checks and money orders may be mailed to P.O. Box 399 Vero Beach, Florida 32961. You may also call 800-576-2116 at any time of day. Eight Christmas gifts from True News. Our gift to you for your gift of $200 or more. Make sure you request the Christmas gift bag when you donate $200 or more. Good morning. Welcome to Morning Manna.

We're glad to have you with us wherever you are in the world. This is a weekday Bible study sponsored by Faith and Values Fellowship in Vero Beach, Florida. And every Monday through Friday, by the time the day is over, thousands of people have attended a Bible study. And so we're just delighted to have you with us, whether you're with us in the live real time at 8 a.m. Eastern or later in the day. You are welcomed, and we're just delighted that you would spend an hour with your brothers and sisters to learn about the Word of God. We are in the 27th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, today verses 11 through 18 let's pray dear gracious Father we exalt you for this awesome day we thank you for it we are alive and blessed and healthy and saved and in your kingdom and life

couldn't be better we're in your. No matter what is going on around us in this physical world, we are in your kingdom. That means we are blessed. Thank you, Father. Father, your sons and daughters desire to be fed and we ask for the Holy Spirit to take his seat at the table and lead this Bible study. Teach all of us the greatness of your son and the magnificence of his kingdom. In his name, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. We appreciate you tuning in today. We have folks from the Congo, from Australia, from Russia, from South Korea that are joining us today. If I don't mention your country, it's only because there's so many of them that tune in from around the world.

We appreciate you being here with us today. We're continuing our journey through the Gospel of Matthew, and we're in Matthew chapter 27 today. Picking back up in our study at verse 11, so if you have your Bibles, follow along, please. Verses 11 through 18 and Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him saying art thou the king of the Jews and Jesus said unto him thou sayest and when he was accused of the chief priest and elders he answered nothing then Pilate said unto him hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee and he answered him to never a word in so much that the governor marveled greatly now at that feast the governor was want to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would and they had been a notable

prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Who will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. So God bless the reading of his word today as we continue our exploration here in matthew chapter 27 and you can't really call it a trial before pilot it's really more of the sentencing here at this point you're right um this is where now we're getting into the serious stage of the plot against Jesus Christ. So verse 11, and Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying,

Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. So Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate he's the Roman governor he's ruling over Judea and this is part of the strategy of the Jewish leaders to secure his execution. They had to get somebody else to do it.

To stay religiously clean, they couldn't murder somebody at Passover. Again, this is the ridiculousness of religion. So they're trying to protect their religious purity. They want to murder the Son of God, but in order to keep clean during Passover, they've got to convince a Gentile to kill him. Look, this stuff still goes on today. Yes, it does. When General Soleimani was murdered several years ago, when President Trump was in his first term, more than several years ago. What came out later after Mr. Trump left the White House is that

the U.S. the U.S. killed General Soleimani at the behest of the Israelis. But at the last minute, Netanyahu disappeared. He just disappeared and he he put donald trump in the position of carrying out the execution yes it's the same tactic they haven't changed we'll set up the murder, and then we'll get somebody, we'll get a Gentile to do the murder.

And I'll just be honest with you, President Trump carried out a murder for the Jews. That's something he needs to deal with before he leaves this world. That may make a lot of people upset, but I'm not here to be political. I'm here to talk about the kingdom of God. And you don't have the right to schedule somebody's murder.

Thou shall not kill applies to everybody. And heads of state are not allowed to kill people. I would never, oh, Doc, I would never want to be the President of the United States because I would never want that pressure from people inside your government saying, Mr. President, we need you to sign off on killing this man. Anyhow, look, they got Pilate to do it. Yes. That's the point. That's the point I want you to understand.

They wanted Jesus dead, but because of their religion, they couldn't carry out the execution themselves because then they would be ceremonially defiled, unclean. So they get Pilate into the situation where he's going to carry out the execution. Now Matthew's account is brief compared to the other gospel versions. John provides a more detailed narrative about the exchange between Jesus and Pilate.

You can read it in chapter 18 of the gospel according to St. John. In fact, Doc, if you would turn to John 18. I was just turn in there. Verses 28 through 39, I think, are the key verses that we need for this lesson. So again, the things that are in verses in John are not in Matthew in this detail. So let's listen to what john said right so uh john chapter 18 starting in verse 28 in king james uh then they led jesus from caiaphas unto the hall of judgment and it was early and they themselves went not into the judgment hall lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the passover uh pilate then went out unto them and said, What accusation

bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not

lawful for us to put any man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake, signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thysyself or did others tell it thee of me Pilate answered am I a Jew thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me what hast thou done Jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight that I should not

be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate answered unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. But ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover.

Will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? That's John chapter 18, verses 28 through 39. A wicked, evil Roman politician said, I find no fault in this man. But the Jews wanted him killed. Jesus, Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? And in the version by John, Jesus said, is that your question? Or is that what somebody told you to ask me? We don't get that in Matthew. Matthew's details are very skimpy. And some may ask why that is. Well, it's likely, and we can kind of guess this, that maybe John was an eyewitness to this.

He was a relative of the high priest family. We know that from other scripture references. So it's quite possible that the apostle John was an eyewitness of this. Even though they were all outside the hall, they could enter the judgment hall, but they could look into the judgment hall. And so that's why John may have a more detailed description of the interchange that went on between Jesus and Pilate than we have in the other one. I think we mentioned this yesterday, that John was probably the disciple who traveled with Peter.

Right. And it was through John's connections that Peter was able to get inside the courtyard. Right. So, Pilate initially tries to shift the responsibility of judgment onto Jesus' accusers. And he asks this question, are you the king of the Jews? And this question is central because the accusation was brought by the Jewish leaders leaders and it was politically radioactive why because it was framing jesus as a potential revolutionary against rome the only way the jews could get pilate to execute jesus was to make make Jesus a threat against Roman Empire, against the authority of Rome.

A potential terrorist. Yes, a domestic terrorist, an insurrectionist. It's the only way they could get him to issue that death sentence. Pilate was not going to allow the Jews to kill Jesus on blasphemy charges. He didn't care. He did not care at all. He was like, that's your religious stuff. We don't care about that. This is Rome. Now, if you're telling me that this man wants to overthrow Rome in Jerusalem, now we've got a problem. So,

as we heard in John's account, Pilate questioned Jesus, left, came back for another session. Then goes back out and tells the Jews, I've questioned this man. I find no fault in him at all. This is an innocent man.

What are you doing here? He's innocent and yet the jews would not stop so although not explicitly stated the acu the accusation against jesus by the jews is implied by Pilate's question. So there's a strategic motive in the way they framed this accusation. King of the Jews. They're making it, they're shifting

it from religious to political. The only way to get the government involved is to make it a political issue. Then they had a chance of convincing Pilate to issue a death penalty verdict. Because sedition and rebellion against Roman authority was a serious charge. There was no way Pilate could ignore it. Reading John's version, it's clear that Jesus openly acknowledged his kingship.

But he clarified that his kingdom is not of this world. Yes. In other words, he said, this is not a political rebellion. My kingdom is not of this world. For Pilate, Jesus was an idealist. He was a guy living up in the clouds. This guy is a poet. This guy is a dreamer. He's not a threat. He's got a kingdom, but it's invisible. Pilate was like, I can't be overthrown by an invisible army. This guy, he's a dreamer.

I'm not going to deal with this man. I'm not going to do anything against him. He's not a threat to us. Verse 12, And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing now he's facing serious charges from the chief priests and elders about perverting the nation forbidding tribute to caesar claiming to be a king they're throwing everything out there they're i have a feeling pilate couldn't his his aides couldn't write down the accusations fast enough you know the the jewish leaders i think were shouting he told

people not to pay taxes another one's saying he's he's perverting our nation and somebody else says he wants to overthrow you, Pilate, and be the king. We want you, Pilate. He threatened to tear down the temple. Yeah, this guy's going to tear it down. Well, he's a terrorist. We'll have riots in this city

if he tears down the temple. You know, Pilate's probably like looking back and forth, like, what is going on here? This man said he's going to tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days? You believe that? But he's got a potential riot on his hands. Pilate knew the threat was not Jesus.

It was the Jewish troublemakers. That's really important to understand here. Pilate's standing there watching and listening. And he's given Jesus the scan. He's looked him up and down. He's questioned him. And he's concluded that guy is not a threat. He is not going to hurt me. He is not going to hurt me.

He's not going to hurt Rome. He is, that man, that's a pussycat. He's not a challenger. But these Jews out here, they are trying to inflame the people into into fury they they want to get a riot going and pilot knew it he was smart enough he was politician he's smart enough to know i've got my real trouble out here are these jewish rulers who are telling the crowd to shout crucify. And Pilate's like, I've got to make a decision how I'm going to deal with this man.

So despite the accusations, Jesus just stood there and remained quiet. Never, never defended himself. He demonstrated calmness, patience, poise amidst hostility. He's in a corrupt judicial hearing but he knew the futility of engaging with the accuser jesus knew his problem was in pilot pilot was on his side but pilot was a politician. Pilate knew he had to go with the majority.

If Pilate had done what was right, he would have released Jesus. And he was willing to do it. But Jesus' quiet demeanor reflected his awareness of his father's divine plan that Jesus would be the sacrificial lamb at Passover. That he was fulfilling the prophecy that Jesus gave to Isaiah centuries earlier. That the Messiah would be a lamb led to slaughter. The prophecy that Jesus gave to Isaiah centuries earlier. That the Messiah would be a lamb led to slaughter. Silent before its shearers. Remember, it was Jesus who gave that prophecy to Isaiah.

He's now acting out the ancient prophecy. But he wrote the prophecy. I'm still astonished, Doc, how many Bible scholars and pastors and Bible teachers, they talk about, well, here's proof that Jesus was the Messiah. We've got these prophecies, and he's doing it. There's the proof. But they miss the part that Jesus wrote the prophecy.

Yes. If you understand who he is, you understand he is God. The Godhead is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Not only did he fulfill the prophecies, he wrote the prophecies. Amen. I see it in people that hold up the Bible and say, you know, this is, you know, this is the word of God. And yet they miss that Jesus is the word of God.

Right. So Pilate is astonished he's he's he's blown away by jesus's quiet demeanor he's he's finding his silence unprecedented in such circumstances because pilot has presided over a lot of trials that's one of his main jobs collect taxes maintain law and order and preside over court trials he's never seen anything like this here's a man facing a death sentence and he's quiet he won't even he's calm and he won't even defend himself and And Pilate knew he was innocent. Pilate's like, you're innocent.

Speak up, boy, come on. Pilate knew he was innocent. He's there saying, you know, quietly, Pilate's saying to himself, come on, say something. You know where they're taking this. If you don't talk, they're going to kill you. You couldn't believe. You couldn't comprehend why.

Jesus was quiet. Well, Jesus, he was quiet for two reasons. Number one, it was pointless to argue with the Jews. Yes. They'd already made up their mind. He's going to die. No truth is going to change their minds. They're not motivated by truth.

And number two, he knew he had already worked it out in the garden. His father's plan was for him to go to the cross yes so those two things alone gave him

the confidence to stand there quietly take the verbal abuse he knew if I defend myself I could interrupt the plan the plan is for me to go to the cross but we need humans to fulfill their role this is his refusal to retaliate or defend himself

reveals Jesus' perfect submission to his father's will but even in his silence Jesus communicated truth but even in his silence, Jesus communicated truth, truth about his mission, truth about his identity,

truth about his kingdom, and his silence speaks to us about the importance of trusting God in the face of false accusations and injustice. When you are falsely accused, look, we've all been falsely accused. But I'm going to tell you, when it's on the Internet of what I've been accused of and the lies have been told about me in the smears that are on the internet you want to get angry and defend yourself but i learned i learned a number of years ago just be silent let God defend you let God protect you let God deal with your accusers and you pray to bless them and I went through I went through that

internal struggle for some time Lord I don't tell Lord, I don't want to bless them. I don't want you to bless them. I want you to smack them. I'm just being honest, okay? But I knew that that attitude in me was wrong. But what I was saying to God was, please help me get to the right attitude. I'm telling you, I've got a bad attitude about this.

I don't know how to get to the right attitude. Please help me. I want your attitude. Jesus said, bless your enemies. And I'm telling you, I don't want to bless them. But I want to obey Jesus. How do I get there? And God showed me.

What's the greatest blessing? To know your son, Jesus. To be saved, filled with the Holy Spirit. Then pray for that. Oh, Lord, that's easy. That's easy. Oh, Lord, I can pray that blessing on them. Lord, bless them with your presence.

Bless them with your spirit. Bless them with your salvation. Bless them, Father. See, now it's easy. So if you're going through any kind of situation like that, where you have enemies coming against you, bless them that they come to know Jesus Christ. Even if they claim to be Christians, if they're lying against you,

they've got something wrong in their walk with God. Right. And one of the challenges today, Rick, being in media ministry, is that old lies get regurgitated. And then you have to forgive them all over again. Yes. Somebody will pull up a lie from 20 years ago

and start it all over again. And you have to, Lord, there's that lie again. Yes. So Jesus' silence was not a sign of weakness or defeat, but it was a deliberate act of obedience in fulfilling God's redemptive plan for humanity. Right.

His refusal to defend himself shows us his trust in his father's plan, in his father's justice, his commitment to his mission as the Messiah. Verse 13. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against you? Don't you hear how many things they testify against you, Jesus? Listen.

I can't keep track of all the accusations against you it wasn't just one they didn't have one count pila here we brought to you one count Shouting them. Easy. We heard him promote drinking blood and eating flesh. We heard him. He's a cannibal. He's teaching cannibalism, Pilate. Now, you know that got Pilate to do a double take.

You did what? You told people to eat flesh, human flesh and drink human blood? You're weird, dude. Is that real? But they were shouting it. These are all the things, everything, every lie that they could think of. Yes.

He said, don't you hear how many things they testify against you? Multitude of lies. They were throwing everything they could throw. They wanted to cloud Pilate's mind with confusion. Hey, Pilate, don't you trust that man? He's crazy. Don't you fall for that quiet demeanor? This is a man that promotes cannibalism. So. Part of the reason Pilate asked that question is he's astonished at Jesus' silence. At Jesus' silence.

He's like, why are you standing there quiet? Listen to all of the accusations. Say something, boy. Come on, speak up. You got to help me here. You got to help me. I'm trying to get you out of this situation you're in. And you're not saying anything.

And the accusations are piling up. And you haven't refuted one of them. In fact, the first one, are you the king of the Jewss you said yes and the rest of them you haven't said anything you're just letting them make these accusations against you and the record is going into the court the court records are declaring the defendant said nothing they the defendant did not respond these are all the things Pilate is thinking I got to put it into the court record the sonographers are over here they're writing things down right now the the defendant said nothing count one count, count two, count three, count four, count five.

What were they up to? 60, 70, 80. How many accusations were against him? Don't you hear how many things they're testifying against you? And you're not saying anything about any of them. So, the Jewish leaders have accused Jesus of inciting rebellion, perverting the nation, forbidding payment of taxes, and on and on and on. And Jesus isn't responding. Again. His silence. Aligns with.

Isaiah 53.7. Which describes the suffering. Servant. Silent before his accusers. Like a lamb that is led. To the slaughter. Again he knows. Defending himself. Is unnecessary. again he knows defending himself is unnecessary would be unproductive anyhow he's trusting in his father's ultimate purpose for the trial and the crucifixion

you know pilot i believe was totally skeptical of the accusations. Well, he didn't trust the Jewish leaders. That's right. He knew they were liars. In fact, Pilate was probably standing there thinking, you know, if I was going to have a ruler of the jews it would be you maybe i could maybe i could convince caesar to get rid of caiaphas and put you in as the high priest because you're i could work with you jesus i think you know I'm just imagining what's going through Pilate's mind. He doesn't trust these Jewish leaders at all. He knows they're snakes.

He knows that this man, Jesus, is innocent. But he's a political appointee from Rome. At the end of the day, Pilate's going to take care of himself because he knows what these Jewish rulers can do to him. He knows they will send a delegation to Rome and accuse Pilate

of siding with an insurrectionist. Yeah. And he couldn't afford to let that get back to Rome. That's right. Verse 14. And he answered him to

never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. He gave no answer. Not one single word, and Pil and pilot marveled not just marveled but greatly marveled mistakes just stunned stunned and impressed sad but impressed he knows where this is going and yet he's stunned. He's amazed at Jesus' demeanor.

He's never seen anything like it in his lifetime. Because he sees inner strength. He sees calmness in the face of lies, false accusations, and demands calm. Pilate's probably thinking, I'd like to have this guy in my government. I could put him as a chief aide in my palace. This guy stays calm.

But, again, Jesus' silence is his full submission to the divine plan for salvation. Amen. This is the part that's so difficult for us to understand, that he had to allow himself to be killed for us. Isn't there another way to do this? Can't you accomplish this mission some other way? No, he had to go to the cross. The son of God who became the Son of Man had to die on a cross to reverse the curse from the first man.

Yes. Nothing else would do it. That's right nothing so once you get this understanding it you now comprehend the gospel I see a lot of people out there claiming to be Christians you see them in the media all the time they don't understand the gospel you can just tell listening to them talk about God you don't get it you really don't get it you're claiming to be a Christian but you really don't understand the gospel verse 15 now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would.

Modern version, now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the multitude one prisoner whom they desired. So this is not a Mosaic law rule. This is not a Jewish tradition. It was just like a custom of the day that the Romans did just to kind of keep the peace. Yes. So maybe some historians think that maybe Pilate was the originator of this custom. But somebody in the Roman government had started this practice to appease the Jews during their religious festivals. In other words, hey, somebody's going to die, but we're going to let you choose who dies. Isn't that awesome?

We're giving you the power to decide who lives and who dies. You know what? Bloodlust took over they knew every year hey we get to vote on who's gonna die and he knew hey that pleases the Jews they like this they get to decide who dies. I got to kill them. They don't kill them because they got to stay religiously clean. But we're giving them the you that opportunity right now. I'm going to give you a stark moral choice between Jesus Christ, whom Pilate has already deemed innocent. Right.

And Barabbas, whom everybody, everybody knows. He's guilty. Is he guilty? He's a bloody, violent criminal. A revolutionary. He's the true revolutionary. He's the true insurrectionist. He is a murderer.

He's a violent man you don't want to mess with barathas now um doc do you know anything about uh barabbas's uh full name no i i didn't investigate that did did you come across something okay well what I came across various commentators said Barabbas means son of Abba which is Abba is Arabic for Aramaic for father son of a father and they they said that some biblical manuscripts and and and church traditions say that his full name was listen to this, Jesus Barabbas. Yeah, now that I've heard, yes. Okay, so now think about this. If his name was Jesus,

and Barabbas, Barabbas meaning son of the father, you have Jesus, the son of the father, who's a violent criminal. And you have Jesus, the Christ, son of our father in heaven. You've got the son of the devil and the son of God, both with the names Jesus. Jesus Barabbas, Jesus Christ, the anointed one. I mean, the Jews had the starkest choice you could ever be presented with. Right. You've got the son of the devil named Jesus, and you've got the son of God named Jesus.

Which one do you want? We'll take the devil that's true that adds another level of complexity to this story doesn't it it does it that's true then the jews willingly knowingly deliberately chose the one that they knew was a son of a devil. Now, and you hit on something else there, too. Another way that Barabbas could be translated, it could be son of the rabbi. Yes.

And so it's possible that Barabbas, you know, that his father was a rabbi. And by, you know, by Jewish tradition, he might have been a rabbi at once too, but became an insurrectionist. And so either way, it's interesting to compare the two. They had a choice of Jesus, didn't they? They did. Two different versions. That's the thing. They had two Jesuses.

And, of course, Jesus is actually, that's the Greek iteration of Joshua. Right. So we know from Mark 15 Luke 23 John 18 Barabbas was an insurrectionist a robber and a murderer and they all knew it let's see the devil comes to kill steal and destroy that's Barabbas ins resurrection insurrection, robbery and murder he was probably known as a so called a patriot he's a Jewish patriot

he's a freedom fighter he's willing to physically take on the Romans he's a freedom fighter he's willing to he's willing to to physically take on the romans he's going to free judea from roman tyranny he's a literal insurrectionist i mean he wanted to overthrow rome yes and here's this this nandy pamby This Mammy, Pammy guy named Jesus, he won't even defend himself. Who everyone knows is innocent. Yes. But Barabbas' notoriety came from his leadership in a revolt against Roman authority.

And so people knew that he was a rebel. And believe me, Pilate knew it. I mean, this is like pulling out of the prison one of the most dangerous criminals in a federal prison. And say, okay, I'm going to give you this hardened, violent, bloody criminal that we locked up. His name is Jesus Barabbas. And you can choose between him and this other guy, Jesus Christ. Which one do you want to kill? How do you explain a mob, the mindset of a mob saying, kill the innocent man, kill the innocent one, kill the innocent one? We want, release to us the criminal.

I mean, it says that the mob was as sinful as Barabbas. Well, there's something to be said about an execution that people like. Yeah, but he would have executed, Pilate would have executed Barabbas. And they probably would have hollered to crucify him too, so they could see the show. I mean, Pilate was going to he was going to hey I'm going to please you guys which one do you want which one would please you

certainly you're going to choose Barabbas right he's thinking there's no way you're going to choose Jesus Pilate's thinking there's absolutely no way this crowd when it comes down to it is going to say execute this peaceful quiet non-threatening man

but he's astonished by the jewish mob's demand give us barabbas. So when they chose Barabbas, they rejected Jesus. They rejected their true Messiah. They chose a violent rebel over the submissive Messiah. Submissive to his Father in Heaven.

You know why? Because the Jews themselves are rebels. Yes. And they're still rebelling against their Heavenly Father today. By the way, today the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu. Let's see if they actually enforce it now. Oh, believe me, the U.S. government is going to attack the International Criminal Court.

Democrats and Republicans. Just watch, Doc. We will have so many quotes today for true news of prominent Republicans demanding economic sanctions on the International Criminal Court. They're going to demand all kinds of legal actions against anybody who supports the arrest of Netanyahu. But if the, not to get into all the politics and stuff, but if America is the recipient of Roman law and everything handed down to us, it's interesting that the same United States

cheered when the arrest warrants were issued for Vladimir Putin. Yes. So let's put it like this. On the stage with Pilate is a Palestinian child, six years old, innocent. And Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants to kill the child and has been killing children by the thousands by the tens of thousands think about it you have here you have an innocent child and over here you have a man who has killed tens of thousands of

children whom do you want me to release the american political establishment and the american evangelical churches which shout give us give us barabbas give us yahoo yes now do you understand this is where we're at as an as the american people we're as as sinful as as Jews were who demanded Barabbas. You put in that text, in that context, then it's shocking to examine the heart, the mindset of a majority of people in this country. That's a great example Rick so Barabbas represents a worldly violent approach to liberation.

The Jews needed to be liberated from their sinful nature. Not from Rome. Yeah. Praise God. It was their sinful nature that had them bound. And you and I were bound to our sinful nature before we met Jesus Christ. But if he had not gone to the cross, you and I wouldn't be set free. Verse 17, therefore, when they were gathered together,

Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ? Christ, the anointed one. So Pilate sought to transfer the responsibility of Jesus' fate to the crowd of Jews. He wanted to avoid personal accountability for condemning an innocent man.

Pilate was no church choir boy. I mean, he had a pretty bad reputation himself. But in this case, he's a saint compared to the Jews. He had enough decency in him to know Jesus Christ is innocent. I am not doing that one. I'm just not going to do it. I always say, man, I've sentenced a lot of people to death. I am not sentencing this man to death.

And yet Pilate himself is an evil sinner. But he was a saint compared to the Jewish rulers. Because he anticipated the crowd would favor releasing Jesus over Barabbas. That they would choose a peaceful teacher, a healer, a man that healed sick people, over releasing a notorious criminal. It's just the opposite. They chose the notorious criminal. It's just the opposite. They chose the notorious criminal.

And if this all happened again today, they'd still choose the violent criminal and reject the Messiah. Nothing has changed at all. So, Pilate makes this political move. I'll bring the crowd into this. I'll let the crowd make the decision.

Then they own the decision. But in his mind, he's certain, when it really comes down to it, they're going to choose Jesus. Yes. he's certain when it really comes down to it they're going to choose jesus yes but he's trying to placate the jews by appealing to their sense of morality and justice he's hoping they're going to make the right decision the most shocked person there was Pilate. Now, can you imagine the look on his face when they started shouting, give us Barabbas? I mean, you could, I mean, his ulcer probably kicked up when they said that,

because that meant that he was releasing an insurrectionist not just against himself but against caesar yes and now he's got to explain to caesar i released a peaceful man and i mean i i killed the peaceful man and i released the violent man that wants to overthrow you how How's that going to go down in Rome? But I had to do it, sir, because the Jews demanded that I release the violent revolutionary. I had a problem on my hands. If I didn't release the violent revolutionary, they were going to riot. Don't you see, sir, the problem I was in? The predicament I was in there was no way to please these Jews

other than to kill the peaceful man you know you can imagine you know a future meeting in Rome Pilate is talking to Caesar and the other Roman leader. He's saying, you have no idea what these people are like. None of you ever want to be sent to Jerusalem. Don't ask for that assignment.

Go to the worst part of the Roman Empire, but don't take the assignment of ruling over the Jews. And he's telling the story. So, Pilate, what did he say here? Do you want Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? Who is called the anointed one? Christ means the anointed one. And everybody knew the anointed one meant the Messiah. The Son of God. Shall I release to you the Son of the Father or the Son of God?

Yes. Pilate is now speaking the term Son of God, the anointed one, the Messiah. Pilate is recognizing, hey, this is the one they say is the Messiah. Certainly you want to release the Messiah right but the Jews wanted a Messiah who conformed to political and military expectations they were not interested in Jesus's plan of redemption that did not involve revolution sedition violence he was too boring

he offered no worldly power he offered no military power no wealth they listened to him talk about his kingdom, and they go, that's boring. We don't want it. We want a real king. And they still want one today. And that's why so many Jews love Netanyahu. Now that's our man. He'll kill.

He's not afraid to kill children they like it he is the Netanyahu is the most popular next to Donald Trump Netanyahu is the most popular man in the evangelical church world yes Yes. Barabbas. The evangelicals love Barabbas. They're enthralled by him. They would choose. If the International Criminal Court said, we have these little children of Palestine, and we have Netanyahu one of either Netanyahu

is going to be executed or all these children are going to be executed the evangelical Christians in America would say kill the kids give us Netanyahu doc this is sick this is sick I'm as I'm saying this is sick. This is sick. As I'm saying, this is sick. This shows the sickness of the American church. They are sick. It's making me right now just want to go throw up. And, you know, there is a parallel between Barabbas and netanyahu you know barabbas is called son of the father the uh name netanyahu means given from god given from god in other words a gift from god

yes but it's not his real name it's a name that he chose yeah that's not his real name. It's the name that he chose. Yeah. That's not his real name. Yeah. He changed his name. Verse 18, for he knew that for envy they had delivered him. Right. Pilate knew they were jealous of Jesus. That old boy standing there on that porch at the palace, he had enough smarts.

He's looking out there at that crowd and goes, you're jealous of this man. That's why you want to kill him. You're jealous of him. You're so jealous, you're willing to kill him you're jealous of him and you you're so jealous you're willing to murder him they weren't concerned for justice they weren't concerned for Roman authority they weren't concerned about public order they were driven by jealous jealousy because Jesus was popular with the common people. So who were the people in the crowd? Well, it's whatever rabble-rousers the Jewish rulers could round up

and get them down there to the palace as quickly as possible. At nine in the morning. At nine in the morning at nine in the morning the reward captains went out into the the neighborhoods they knew who to go to they're knocking on doors we need you right now pilots having a trial we got to have you there right now the general public that loved jesus didn't know anything about it or knew little about it. And when those other insurrectionists heard, hey,

they might just release Barabbas. Yeah. And they liked Barabbas because he was violent. This was great to them. They're going to release one of their most violent men. This was great to them. They're going to release one of their most violent men. This is wonderful. This is a twofer.

We're going to get Jesus killed, and we're going to get Rabbis out of jail. It don't get better than this. That's how they're thinking. This is a twofer. We got two for one. All we got to do is get down there, get enough of our people down there at the palace to shout, That's how they're thinking. This is a twofer. We got two for one. All we gotta do is get down there, get enough of our people down there at the palace

to shout, give us Barabbas. It was completely a political operation. They had their political ward captains moving out into the neighborhoods, knocking on doors to get their zealots, their Zionist zealots down to the palace before anybody else found out what was going on. But Pilate knew, you're jealous of him.

And you're so jealous, you're willing to kill the man. Okay, hey, we'll pick this up tomorrow. And even though you've got all this political intrigue going back and forth between pilate between the jews and everything god was still in control of the situation the cross was the destination and you know it doesn't matter what pilot or any of them did it doesn't matter boss was the destination that's. That's right. I'm just trying to give you the, I'm just trying to paint a picture of what the human dynamic

interactions was probably like. Yeah. Okay. But the father had the plan and the plan was we're taking my son to the cross so that you can live forever with me praise god remember remember the parable of the treasure buried in the field the the typical the the the common interpretation is that the treasure is the gospel. It's the kingdom of God.

And a man, a sinner, finds it and sells everything to buy the field so he can get that treasure. No. The treasure is you. That's right. You are the treasure. Don't ever say to God, I'm worthless. I wasn't, I don't,

I'm not worth you dying on the cross. Don't say that to him. He thought you were. He thought you're a treasure. He just needs, he's like, no, you're a diamond. I just got to,

I just got to clean all that worldly junk off of you so you're a diamond again. Yeah, he sold all he had. What he had was life. He sold all he had. And you're the pearl. You're the pearl. That's right. Okay.

Hey, quick reminder, tomorrow is Friday, of course. Hard to believe we've gone through a whole week here. But we always do the Lord's Supper on Friday mornings. We invite you to be here for that. Have prepared beforehand bread and either grape juice or red wine. And join us for the Lord's Supper. If you're a confessing believer in Jesus Christ, been baptized in water according to Scripture, you're welcome to join us. Friday morning, 8 a.m., we'll have our Bible study.

And at the end, we'll have the Lord's Table that we will celebrate. So be prepared for that. We'd love to have you there. So please make plans to be a part of the Lord's Supper on Friday morning.