Jerusalem Embassy: America Recognizes Jerusalem As The Capital- Recently we have become the first foreign nation in Israel to open our embassy in Jerusalem and to actively recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel! We also learn how President Trump is keeping campaign promises – especially in this regard! We have special guest, Pastor Hagee, on to talk about his experience on being in Israel during the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem! Tune in now to learn more!

Air Date: 05/29/2018

Guest: Pastor John Hagee

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! We”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy and faith in the culture. We do that always from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, he”€™s America’s premier historian and the founder of WallBuilders. Tim Barton”€™s with us, he”€™s a national speaker and pastor, and president of WallBuilders. And my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas legislator.

You can find out more about the program at WallBuildersLive.com. That website has all of the stations listed there, you can find out where we’re on the air close to you. You can also get archives of the programs, so you can go back over the last few weeks and listen to some of the recent programs.

Then also go to WallBuilders.com, that’s where you can get the materials that will equip you and your family to be better citizens and will also give you an opportunity to team up with us, come alongside and contribute to the program so that we can spread the word across the nation, and frankly, around the world. We”€™ve got a lot of folks that listen around the world.

Speaking about around the world, David, Tim, our topic today is actually going to take us to the Middle East.

David:

Rick, what’s going on in the Middle East right now– there’s a lot going on. We’ve talked recently about the crown prince of Saudi Arabia saying that he recognizes the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. We’ve seen Trump now change his position, or change the position of the United States government on Iran which is a big deal.

But the really big deal that was in the news last week or so was opening the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. And we become the first nation in Israel, first foreign nation in Israel, to open our embassy in Jerusalem. Which, that”€™s a big deal.

Tim:

Which, effectively recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which–

Clearly the Capitol of Israel

David:

I’ve got to say, everybody says, “€œSo what? it is.”€ Yeah, but see the Palestinians have been saying, “€œNo, no, no, it’s a divided Capitol, it’s our Capitol, it’s our–.”€ And only in Israel does that debate really carry any weight. Everybody else says, “€œSure, Jerusalem is clearly of the Capitol of Israel. What”€™s the deal?!”€

Tim:

Now, we say that now I would argue that probably that the Palestinian thought of Jerusalem was not really the capital of Israel and Jewish people. I wouldn”€™t say a lot of nations because if other nations thought that–

David:

That”€™s true.

Tim:

–they would have their embassies in Jerusalem.

David:

That’s true.

Tim:

So, you have all these nations who are, historically the last several decades, sided with the Palestinian argument. And said, “€œWait a second, no, Israel is really Palestinian land, and the Jews are almost intruders, and they’re making up these claims about Jerusalem being the holy land.”€ Even though I’m pretty sure the Bible talks about Jerusalem and Israel for thousands of years–

David:

Only 3500 years.

Tim:

Right. So, there’s a little bit of history involved here. But most nations have not taken a supportive position when it comes to Israel recognizing Jerusalem. And American presidents have long promised that they were going to do this, they would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, they were going to take that position and support Israel. And yet with all the promises presidents have made toward Israel we finally have a president who says, “€œI’m actually going to do what I promised.”€

Keeping Promises

David:

It’s striking, too, because this goes back to President Ronald Reagan who– actually Congress passed the law and he signed it– to move the embassy to Jerusalem, but we never have done it since then. And it’s because all the “€œexperts”€ say, “€œOh, if you do that  you”€™ll set that Middle East on fire, you’re going to have riots all over Israel. You’re going to have all of these protests, it”€™s going to be violent, we’re going to spark a revolution.”€ Don’t think that happened.

Tim:

Now, wait a second, no there were riots, there were protests, I saw it, CNN covered it.

David:

Yeah, that”€™s right.

Tim:

They were telling the story, there were definitely protests now. Now, wait a second. The U.S. embassy was opened in what city again?

David:

I think it was Jerusalem.

Tim:

Oh, Jerusalem. That’s right.

David:

That was in Gaza where all the protests were.

Tim:

Now wait, Gaza and Jerusalem, those are different places.

Rick:

Well, those pictures on the front page of most of the papers sure looked liked it was right next to each other.

The Muslims in Jerusalem Were Not the Ones Protesting

Tim:

It did and what’s interesting, so in Jerusalem there is a lot of muslims in Jerusalem and yet the Muslims in Jerusalem were not the ones protesting.

David:

That’s right.

Tim:

It was the Muslims, and really, Hamas and a lot of these terrorist organizations and terrorist individuals were the ones protesting at the Gaza Strip which is no where near Jerusalem.

David:

I point out, they protest all the time even whether America announces that we’re moving the embassy to Jerusalem or not.

Tim:

Right. They were already committing acts of terror on the Gaza Strip long before this. So, this is not the reason that these riots happened, it”€™s not the reason that people were shot, it’s not the reason that they attacked the Israeli military, or the borders, or whatever elements. It’s nonsense although it’s certainly what the news painted the picture of.

David:

Well, you had Trump that made this decision. It really is refreshing to see what happened last week in Jerusalem with the embassy opening there. Something our federal laws as required for 30 years is now happening. And one of the folks who attended there was Pastor John Hagee. John Hagee, good friend, he is one of the guys who is a real leader in helping American Christians to connect with Jews in Israel, help the two countries connect. He heads Christians United for Israel – more than four million members now in that organization.

And I saw him on national TV when I saw the coverage. So, we called Pastor Hagee to see if he would kind of give us insight and what was happening when he was there.

Rick:

Pastor John Hagee will be our special guest. And you talk about someone that definitely cares for Israel, Hagee Ministries has given more than– get this– 100 million dollars towards humanitarian causes in Israel. They definitely put their money where their values are. John Hagee will be with us when we come back. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Leadership Training Program

Rick:

Hey, friends! We’ve got a great program to share with you today. It”€™s the WallBuilders Leadership Training Program and it’s an opportunity for 18 to 25 year olds to come spend two weeks diving into the original documents we’re always talking about here on WallBuilders Live.

Tim, you’ve already been doing this a couple of summers and seen the results of young people coming to this program. We’re going to see more of them coming this year.

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, it”€™s something that”€™s been cool to see the transformation with young people coming in. The emphasis, for us, largely is a pursuit of truth. We have a culture that doesn’t know what truth is. We don’t know what biblical truth is, or constitutional truth, or the American heritage that we have. And so we really dive into original documents and say, “€œWell, what did they actually write? What did they actually do? Not just what did somebody say, what is actually true, and the truth is what’s transformational.

David:

Yeah, guys. This really is a remarkable opportunity. And for those who want to spend time with us and spend time in the original documents, this is a great program. So, if you’re from 18 to 25, or you know someone who’s 18 to 25, send them to sign up for one of our three sessions this summer at WallBuilders.com/leadershiptraining.

Rick:

Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. Many today assert that religion is something private, that has no place in the public square, and that it is incompatible with government.

The Founding Fathers believed exactly the opposite. They held that religion was absolutely necessary in order to maintain our free system of government. For example, John Adams declared, “€œWe have no government armed with power, capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.”€

And signer of the declaration, Benjamin Rush, similarly affirmed, “€œWithout religion there can be no virtue and without virtue there can be no liberty and liberty is the object and life of all Republican governments.”€ The Founding Fathers understood that limited government required public morality from the people. And that public morality was produced by the Christian religion. For more information about the Founding Fathers views on religion in public life go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us today. Our good friend, Pastor John Hagee, from San Antonio is with us. Always good to have you, sir. Thanks for your time again.

Pastor Hagee:

Rick, it’s a pleasure to be with you.

Rick:

We’re excited about what’s happening in Israel right now and you actually got to be there for the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem. You’ve been one of the most outspoken supporters of Israel for decades. And, frankly, woken up many in the Christian church to this. This had to be a very exciting moment for you.

Joined at the Hip

Pastor Hagee:

It was indeed. When I was in the city of Jerusalem there was just a sense of national Jubilee. There was a sense of hope, a sense of victory, you drive down the streets and there were signs praising President Trump saying Trump is making Israel great, Trump is a lover of Zion, Israel loves Donald Trump. For the nation, it was a dream come true because the most powerful nation in the world, the United States of America, had put its embassy in Jerusalem and given to the nations of the world a very clear message that America and Israel are indeed joined at the hip and United for Peace against all enemies.

David:

Pastor, we go back to Reagan with this law that was passed and so we’ve been waiting for this essentially for 30 years. And I know you’ve been on on board this all the way from start to finish. With all the anticipation you’ve had of all the presidents hoping somebody would do it, to be there at the time this happened, what struck you personally.

Pastor Hagee:

The thing that stood out to me was the prophetic promise that God made to Israel in Deuteronomy, the 28th chapter, it says, “€œAnd the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail.”€ And God is talking to Israel there about the nations of the world. The head is the decision maker. Israel is moving toward their spiritual destiny as the leader of the nation’s when Messiah will come. Israel is becoming now the prophetic focal point. And what we saw in our embassy moving there is going to cause other embassies to move there and the road to peace is now leading through the city of Jerusalem.

Another thing that was important to me was that most Americans didn’t stop to grasp this that Israel is now being treated fairly by America for the first time since 1948. It is the policy of our country that whenever a nation has a capital city that we put our embassy there. But we have not done that for Israel because presidents have not because they were told that if you do it will start Armageddon. The world will tilt on its axis, the beginning of the end will certainly occur.

Fairness Not Favor

Pastor Hagee:

Well, along came a man named Donald Trump who had enough courage to put that embassy there. And when we put our embassy there we were not treating Israel with favor we were just treating Israel fairly. Because we put our embassies in other nations immediately that were ruled by dictators. And here Israel for all of these years has been called our dearest friend in the Middle East, but we have been treating them unfairly by not moving our embassy there. Now our embassy there and Israel is on firm footing with Washington D.C. because of Donald Trump.

David:

I know you talked about how Israel loved what was going there. But when I watched that, that has to be the largest crowd I have ever seen for the opening of an embassy with which America was involved. That was a massive crowd – at least it looked that way from the national coverage. Was the crowd as big as it appeared and was it mostly Americans? Or was it Americans and Israelis? What was the crowd like?

Pastor Hagee:

Well, it was Americans and Israelis. That crowd would have been much larger than that. But the security restrictions were just excruciating. And believe me, the people of Israel were shouting and dancing in the streets while this was going on.

David:

Wow, that’s great.

Rick:

You were there behind the scenes so you kind of saw what was going on. What do you feel like we didn’t see on this side just from the news coverage? What was sort of not reported?

Pastor Hagee:

That was not recorded and projected to the American people in an honest way were the riots that were organized by the terrorists controlled by Iran.

The Head of the Snake

Pastor Hagee:

The American people need to recognize that Iran is the head of the snake in the Middle East. They have two proxy armies that are on the borders of Israel. And those two armies are Hezbollah and Hamas. Hezbollah is a massive terrorist organization as is Hamas. They are trained, they are equipped, and they are funded by Iran. And by the way, Iran was on the brink of bankruptcy when Barack Obama gave them 150 billion dollars. And it is doubtless that American money helped fund this terrorist demonstration at the fence.

But the mobs at the fence were innocent civilians who were paid 100 dollars a family to protest and hidden in the group of the civilians of women and children were terrorists, terrorists of Hamas who were carrying fully automatic military weapons. They were firing IEDs at the fence trying to destroy that fence and allow the terrorist to crash through the attack, so that they could penetrate Israel and attack Jewish citizens.

Hamas told innocent civilians that the fence was down and they could run to Jerusalem. Innocent children ran through that smoke believing they were going all the way into Israel. And when they got through the smoke, they saw the fence there and they were caught in the crossfire between Hamas terrorists and the Israeli army. The Israeli army was just trying to prevent a massive invasion of their country. It needs to be said that 81 percent of the casualties were terrorist.

How the Israeli army showed that kind of restraint and surgical firing is phenomenal. Dozens of Palestinians did die. But this is exactly what Hamas wanted to happen. The terrorists wanted to see dead civilians, dead women, dead children, because it sent a video message to the world of how heartless Israel was being.

When in fact, Israel was only doing what any democratic nation has the right to do. It has the right to secure borders, it has the right to exist. Israel is to be congratulated for the restraint that they demonstrated while all of this was going on. But the American media totally bought into the narrative of how heartless Israel was and that’s the “€œtraditional blame Israel first”€ mentality of America’s media community.

Will It Make Any Difference?

David:

Pastor, I know you mentioned Iran there. And while you guys were there there were 20 missiles fired, Iranian missiles fired, into Israel and the Iron Dome knocked them down, etc.. You mentioned that really the agreement that Barack Obama made with himself because it was never signed by Iranians or anybody else it was a unilateral agreement. But now that President Trump has said, “€œHey, we’re not going to do that anymore.”€ Is it really too late? All that money, has it all been transferred? What President Trump is doing in trying to reverse that with Iran is it going to make any difference?

Pastor Hagee:

Absolutely. What it is going to do is absolutely crush the economic engines that were funding this nuclear project that’s going on in Iran. From the time that Donald Trump has made the announcement until right now the Iranian economy is on the downslide. And the European Communities, the European nations, are going to have to decide if they join in with America in making this totally effective. It is in their best interest that they do. Because whenever you see the Iranian people dancing in the streets saying, “€œDeath to Israel”€ and “€œDeath to America”€, they mean that.

They have a theology that worships death and if they can get their hands on a nuclear weapon, and especially on a warhead ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile that has a nuclear warhead. They don’t need that for Israel, they need that for New York City, for San Francisco. And believe me, they will use it. And the pie-eyed mystiques in this country who are liberal bent to believe they won”€™t are just simply deluded. Iran would attack us full force if they have the ability.

And our president, Donald Trump, has really removed the existential threat from Israel and he has preserved America’s freedom. He is bringing peace to the whole world by pulling out from this bogus Iran nuclear.

Rick:

Pastor Hagee, did you see this coming with President Trump? The fact that he has become the best friend Israel’s had in a president, did you expect this from him?

Were You Surprised?

Pastor Hagee:

You know, when–

Rick:

I mean, I”€™m surprised. I’m just wondering if you were surprised.

Pastor Hagee:

Yeah. I was called dozens of times by our partner base across the country. * now has 4.1 million people and my phone was ringing off the wall during the Republican presidential parade and, “€œWho are we going to vote for?”€. I said, “€œSomeone is going to break out of the pack that”€™s pro- Israel.”€ I did not expect it to be Donald Trump. And when he started making positive things I thought, “€œCan this be true?”€ And when he stayed with it I sent the message to our people, “€œDonald Trump is the man I’m going to vote for and I encourage you to get everyone you can to do that.”€

Now history has proven that Donald Trump is a promise keeper. He made a promise, he kept a promise – he promised that he would declare Jerusalem to be the capital and in his time he did it. He said that he would move the embassy and he did it in warp speed compared to what other people thought he would. Stopping the Iran nuclear deal was a brilliant, gutsy, move that has just stunned the nations of the world. We have a president who is a promise keeper and that’s something the American people are not used to. And I”€™ll tell you, it is something world leaders are not accustomed to hearing.

David:

Pastor, let me ask you about other things that Donald Trump has done with Israel. Because those are very visible things, but I was recently in Poland and we still had the Barack Obama ambassador in Poland just doing all sorts of damage. We don’t hear a whole lot about Friedman here. Is Friedman a really good ambassador from the perspective of what we as Christians want to see happen with Israel? Is he one of the good news parts of what Trump has done with Israel?

Pastor Hagee:

I assure you that David Friedman is the creme de la creme. He is an absolutely superb representative of America in Israel. He’s Orthodox Jewish person. His father was an Orthodox rabbi. He speaks Hebrew. I was on Fox News with him a couple of nights and he is very very articulate. He is a master spokesman and defender of Israel and the Jewish people. We could not have a better ambassador than David Friedman.

Trump and the Christian Community

Rick:

Pastor you’ve had the chance to be around Trump quite a bit since the election and in many meetings. It’s definitely true that he has not been what Christians feared he would be. He’s actually been far far better than any of us thought, I think. Do you agree with that? I mean, has he surprised the Christian community? And what should we know in the Christian community about this man that’s our president right now?

Pastor Hagee:

What we should know is that this man truly loves America, that this man truly loves freedom, that this man truly wants and demands that China give us a fair shake in the trade deals. This man has made promises and he has kept those promises. He has protected our military, increased our military that was destroyed by Barack Obama. He is now talking about rebuilding the infrastructure of America. And he’s been doing all of these wonderful things with Congress digging its heels in the dirt defying him every day. Even some of the people in his own party.

It is nothing short of a miracle. The good things that he’s gotten accomplished with all of this resistance. Every Christian listening to this telecast owes it to the president of the United States to pray for him that God will bless him, that God will protect him, and that God will expose his enemies so that those enemies are driven out of the swamp. And he can delegate and administrate the good things in this country that he truly wants to do. Rick:

We are truly blessed. And as you said, the world is being blessed, the nations are being blessed as a result of the leadership that he”€™s providing. We’re so excited to get a firsthand account from you of the opening of the embassy and just look forward to the next time we get to visit with you, Pastor Hagee. Thanks so much for your time today.

Pastor Hagee:

All the best to you, Rick and blessings to you, David.

David:

Thank you, sir. Bless you, man.

Pastor Hagee:

Hoo-rah!

Rick:

That’s Pastor John Hagee. Stay with us, folks. We’ll be right back on WallBuilders Live.

Share a veteran’s story

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live.  Once in awhile, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served.  If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected]  Give us a brief summary of the story and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. Special thanks to John Hagee for joining us as well. David, Tim, that would have been incredible to have been there, but I’m so glad Pastor Hagee was there. He’s worked for years to help Israel and now he sees a president that’s doing more than maybe any president in our history.

A Unique Perspective

Tim:

Yeah, Rick. It’s so unique having Pastor Hagee be able to tell us, from his perspective. Because, as you mentioned, he’s been one of those pastors that has been fighting for Israel longer than any pastor. At least more more vocal, more visible, than any pastor I think I’ve ever seen or known. When you look at pastors that are televised, that have  national ministries, that are recognized, nobody has been more outspoken and supportive of Israel than Pastor Hagee. And so how incredible that he gets to be there on such an incredible occasion.

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

And obviously, even with him being– I think he’s part of the pastoral council, right, with Trump? And so–

David:

Yeah, he’s part of the advisory council.

Tim:

Right. So, even the fact that you have people there who are so pro Israel, which I don’t know that Trump needed their opinion to sway anything. It seems like this was something that was just backboned involved. I don”€™t think the pastoral council–

David:

Yeah, like he pointed out, this is a promise in the campaign before he had this advisory council going.

Tim:

Yeah.

David:

This is promise he made.

So Many Things We Didn”€™t Expect

Tim:

I don’t think the Pastoral Council swayed this. But nonetheless, it’s so cool to see this happening. And actually, we’ve talked on the show so many times, Good News Friday, about the positive things from the Trump administration. How many things he’s done that we didn’t expect, how many campaign promises he’s made, he’s followed through on. And we really weren’t even sure about that.

To me, this is one of the coolest ones. As a Christian, someone who is a supporter of Israel, who understands levels of prophecy, on some degree understands some of the things, what the Bible says about this. But this is just such a cool deal to see America moving the right direction and to finally have an embassy recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Rick:

Well, and the point that he brought up about he”€™s a promise keeper was– I hadn’t really thought through that. The fact that you can take those campaign promises to the bank at this point. So, look how many he’s already followed through. That’s the kind of guy you want running for office is somebody that”€™s going to make those promises and actually keep them. And he’s doing that, so we’re blessed. But it’s an exciting, exciting, time for the world right now to be able to see this happen.

Jerusalem Embassy: America Recognizes Jerusalem As The Capital

Rick:

Very thankful that Pastor Hagee could join us, that he was there and could come and tell us about the story as well. Tomorrow we”€™ve got State Representative Phil King that’s going to be with us. He was also there when all this was going on, so we’ll get his perspective as well.

We’re out of time for today, folks. You can learn more about us at WallBuildersLive.com and WallBuilders.com. And we’d love for you to come alongside us and be a part of this program by contributing to the program either one time or on a monthly basis. We”€™re a listener supported program and that allows us to add stations and spread this good news across the country and around the world. Thanks so much for listening today to WallBuilders Live.