Ted Cruz and his wife's abduction by the Islamic extremist group Hamas are the subject of a new episode of the Ted Cruz Show, hosted by John Rocha and Matt Knost. In this episode, the boys discuss the possibility of a return of the missing daughter of Ted Cruz's missing daughter. They also discuss Christian Zionism and its connection to the idea of the Second Coming.
00:00:02.000If one of your son, your daughter, if your wife right now is being held hostage by anybody, would you ever stop if you knew they were back here?
00:00:13.000No, you'd never stop until you knew they were back, right?
00:00:25.000Hopefully I'm not the one determining international policy if that's happening because I wouldn't be thinking straight, nor should I be thinking straight, right?
00:00:32.000I would be the most bloodthirsty animal that this earth has ever seen if I had to to save my family.
00:00:36.000And I think almost everybody has a set of testicles as in a cheerleader for the Minnesota Vikings would probably say the same.
00:00:43.000I wanted to clarify because they probably have testicles too.
00:00:45.000I don't think they probably committed to the bottom surgery.
00:00:53.000So that's most people are very uneducated on this issue.
00:00:56.000You can go back a lot of different ways and you can try to solve this thing.
00:00:58.000But one of the areas that I wanted to dive into, and trust me, I want to do that more because I think if people have baseline understanding of this, it helps you understand.
00:01:11.000Put yourself in the Arabs' position back in World War I being promised.
00:01:14.000If you have an uprising against the Ottoman Empire by the British, if you have an uprising, we will help you secure an Arab state, the first for them, right?
00:01:32.000No, they had an uprising against the Ottoman Empire to help the British out in the war so that the Ottomans couldn't focus on Europe as well.
00:01:40.000All of this makes much more sense with just a little bit of history.
00:01:43.000We'll maybe deep dive into that some other time.
00:01:45.000But she did talk about something that I'm very confused about that I think you're probably going to be a little confused about too, with Christian Zionism.
00:01:54.000As far as I understand it, they believe in the idea of the rapture.
00:01:57.000They believe that, you know, it's sort of this cruel bargain they have going with Israel.
00:02:28.000Let's say that none of that's going to happen.
00:02:30.000And the Christians that believe that they're erroneous in their belief.
00:02:33.000Why is that a cruel bargain with Israel?
00:02:36.000They're in this cruel bargain with Israel and they're held captive by this belief in what way?
00:02:41.000I don't understand the Christian Zionism thing that people have postulated that Christians believe that you have to help Israel and rebuild the temple to usher in the coming second coming of Christ.
00:02:58.000I grew up in churches and so did you that were very heavily influenced by dispensationalism, very heavily influenced with the kind of theology that would believe in a literal thousand year kingdom, that would believe in the potential for the rapture of the harpatzo.
00:03:12.000I believe it's in Thessalonians that talks about that.
00:03:14.000There's all kinds of hints throughout scripture, not just in the New Testament, about that kind of a thing.
00:03:22.000But I don't think any of us that have grown up in those churches have ever heard, wait, we have to build the temple so that Christ can return.
00:03:33.000And I think for her to have that belief that there's some kind of thing within Christianity that believes that is false.
00:03:39.000So, but let me get to the baseline Zionism.
00:03:41.000This goes back to the point of Ted Cruz, basically saying that if you bless Israel, you'll be blessed, right?
00:03:48.000I'm going to bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
00:03:50.000That promise was made before Israel was even a thing.
00:03:52.000It was made to a person about a people.
00:03:55.000The blessing is very clearly defined later on in scripture and who the church really is and who Israel really is, the true Israel is defined in Galatians 3.
00:04:21.000I'm going to bless the entire earth because of your lineage, and that's fine.
00:04:26.000And if you want to say that Christians are supposed to still support Israel In some capacity, I feel like that's also fine.
00:04:32.000I can also make a case for God not being done with Israel, you know, because of the entire book of Revelation past, I don't know, like chapter two and a half, roughly, right?
00:04:41.000Every single thing God has not done with Israel, he is until the fullness of the Gentiles come in, and then they will have an opportunity to recognize their offense and repent.
00:04:51.000That doesn't mean that they're saved right now.
00:04:52.000It also doesn't mean they're a special case right now that I have to support every single thing that the Israeli government does.
00:04:57.000And I will say this: I will grant that there has been a very pro-Israel form of messaging in the evangelical church.
00:05:04.000And some of that is, yeah, absolutely, can be attributed to undue influence from Israeli lobbyists.
00:05:10.000We knew a church where that was the case where they're like, we want to be in Christian film production, and they were pro-abortion.
00:05:15.000Why are they like, well, they got, so that does, that does happen where it has, unfortunately, gotten a lot of people in the evangelical Christian church to follow lockstep with some premises that aren't necessarily true that she's kind of outlining but misrepresenting there where Christians, many Christians feel as though a veil has been lifted.
00:05:30.000We're like, well, yeah, I guess I just thought I was supposed to support Israel blindly because this theology has not been taught appropriately.
00:06:14.000But what if the church had done a good job on teaching on this?
00:06:17.000What if the church had tied Galatians 3 and the synagogue of Satan stuff that people want to go to right now in the book of Revelation and say, see, they're synagogue of Satan?
00:06:25.000I'm like, well, they're not believers.
00:06:27.000They don't believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
00:06:37.000If the church had given you a good kind of starting point with this and understood that you're not going to make everybody happy, but certainly not the Jews.
00:06:46.000Well, no, it wouldn't have made them mad either.
00:07:42.000And I'm like, listen, can we just understand that there's a middle ground to a lot of, I'm not saying find a middle ground because every issue has a middle.
00:07:48.000No, I'm saying in this specific issue, people run to the extremes every single time.
00:07:54.000And I don't think there's anyone more extreme than a Hamas apologist who says that there are no more Christians in Israel or it's been cut down, whatever she said, whatever.
00:08:32.000I think that rejection of Christ, I think that's for as a Christian, and this is no surprise, that's a mortal sin, meaning the day of judgment, that's as bad as for me as a Christian.
00:08:41.000And I'm not saying all paths lead to, I don't believe that.
00:08:44.000That being said, if you're going to say synagogue of Satan, what does Satan do when we actually go back to Satan?
00:08:50.000We actually go back to who Satan is in this fallen angel.
00:09:09.000They're waiting for the first installment.
00:09:10.000Okay, let's contrast that with Islam, where the founder believed that he was fighting with a demon, by the way, until he said, no, no, no, it's an angel who said, by the way, everything that Jesus Christ claimed.
00:09:21.000So talk about subverting, not just denial.
00:10:08.000But don't you think God would, to me, that would be much more in line with the faith and the character of Satan, of Lucifer, as presented in the Bible and has been studied by people who do this professionally for centuries.
00:11:49.000For Gerald, what do you think about the idea that the most likely place an Antichrist could come from is Israel and Judaism to deceive a large number of Christians, evangelical dispensations?
00:12:02.000I don't think there's any, I don't really think that that is as plausible as somebody else coming from outside, because if you look at kind of the characteristics, he's going to be called an Assyrian.
00:12:13.000Like there are a lot of different descriptors of Antichrist and what he's able to do doesn't seem like the kind of things that somebody who's Jewish would be able to do, meaning unite the world.
00:12:22.000So I think it's just kind of a polarizing figure.
00:12:25.000If only it requires someone incredibly charismatic, which means handsome.
00:12:29.000Handsome, charismatic, unites the world, gets a seven-year peace treaty with Israel and the rest of the world to kind of calm down.
00:12:35.000I don't think Israeli is going to be the title of that.
00:12:38.000That's a charming silver-tongued devil, Leibowitz.
00:12:41.000I just don't think, I don't think that's the case.
00:12:42.000But I know there's argument about where people think Antichrist is going to come from, but yeah, I don't think so.
00:12:47.000Since we're doing that, I'm just going to tell you, he's going to come from Hartford, Connecticut next June.
00:13:03.000Chris Hodge 76 asks, how does scripture's description of the overcomers challenge the pre-tribulation rapture view?
00:13:11.000And what does this reveal about how we should interpret end time prophecy?
00:13:17.000So it doesn't necessarily mean that there can't be a pre-trib view, right?
00:13:22.000So just so people understand, pre-trib view means that when this all kind of kicks off, that there is a time period of the tribulation That's seven years, but it's really three and a half years that's bad.
00:13:32.000The first three and a half years is peace like the world has never known since humans have been on it other than when God was here with them in the garden, right?
00:13:40.000So people can say, well, it's before the beginning of the seven years or it's at the three and a half year period because really the last three and a half year period is designed specifically, and look at the language in Revelation for the Jews.
00:13:52.000This is 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel, the 144,000 to go out and spread the word.
00:13:57.000So there will be converts during that time.
00:14:00.000So you can say, yeah, Christians taken from the earth.
00:14:02.000The message of Christ is not taken from the earth because people have heard it, maybe rejected it, knew it, didn't fully get it, didn't really accept Jesus in their heart, knew him in the head, all those kinds of things.
00:14:11.000So there still will be people here that are believers right after that, like immediately.
00:14:19.000They will go out and start converting people.
00:14:21.000The overcomers could theoretically be talking about that group of people, people who convert to Christianity during that part of the tribulation.
00:14:32.000I'd have to look into it a little more to see specifically what you're referencing, but that seems to make a lot of sense if you want to give it some room.
00:15:20.000It used to be an event, and this is kind of the difference between sort of hardcore fans versus running a business.
00:15:24.000It used to be an event where you had a pay-per-view, you know, every like six weeks.
00:15:26.000I mean, early on, it'd be like once a quarter and then every six weeks, then maybe every month.
00:15:30.000And then it got to the point where you'd have like a pay-per-view, but you'd also have a free fight night or the undercards.
00:15:34.000And it was a lot of fun where you could, then it just, you know, it's become a volume model where they're trying to branch out into other markets.
00:15:40.000And so they're making more revenue, but they have significantly fewer stars.
00:15:44.000Now, I don't know how this is going to work because when they signed with William Morris or William Morris Endeavor or WMA, WME, they inked the deal with ESPN.
00:15:54.000And so that was streamed live on, you know, you get ESPN Disney is where it streams and also Hulu.
00:16:00.000It seems to me that that may be a bigger platform than Paramount Plus.
00:16:04.000But as I understand it, they're doing away with pay-per-view models altogether.
00:16:07.000So they'll probably have more viewership on the main card, like pay-per-view fights.
00:20:26.000I certainly don't think it should be classified in the same category as heroin or fentanyl.
00:20:29.000We've been talking about that for a long time.
00:20:30.000I do think that now we have lived with this a little bit where I've watched perspectives change where it's like, if you're just legal, it's just a plant, man.
00:20:37.000You don't really hear that a whole lot anymore.
00:20:42.000Yeah, you don't because a lot of people who had never experienced it before have experienced it and go like, oh, this is way more than just a plant.
00:20:48.000They also did a lot of, I don't know, you know, I don't want any botanists in the chat to jump down my throat, but another word where they didn't, they changed how they pollinate and how these different strains are.
00:21:39.000But now when people have been saying it cures everything, now people have kind of experienced it and go, okay, I guess it doesn't.
00:21:47.000And we do have a culture of wake and bake where you smell it everywhere.
00:21:49.000And I think that a lot of people don't like that for the same reason that many people didn't like cigarettes being smoked right next to in a restaurant.
00:21:55.000So I do think that it should be declassified from, is it schedule, is it schedule three or schedule one?
00:22:45.000I think there's an appropriate use for a lot of drugs out there if they're not abused.
00:22:48.000And I think for someone who's a high-functioning executive to take something at a moderate dose, if it helps them sleep and relax, I don't really have a problem with that if I'm not looking to get blitzed.
00:23:47.000I think I just didn't appreciate it, didn't respect the breading because the steak was so tender that as I was chewing the steak, I forgot and I and it must have lodged perfectly because, you know, I've choked like on popcorn somewhere.
00:23:59.000Yeah, like no air could come in or out.
00:24:02.000You know, I thought, like, because usually you can go, no air could go out and no air could come in.
00:25:28.000I am infant certified in CPRs, but I can't do that on myself on the weed thing.
00:25:33.000So yeah, I think that's the right approach.
00:25:35.000And I think separate from that, we need to address, really, it's more of a land issue with the Chinese and a banking issue with the Chinese, right?
00:25:44.000They won't allow weed in their country at all, but they'll take advantage of it here, even in states where weed is legal.
00:25:48.000It's a federal issue, but the point is that's a separate issue outside of descheduling, I guess, under that classification of weed and making sure that China should be involved.
00:29:53.000Yeah, when you're something like it's something that's, I forget what verse it is, but it's like, if your lady is bleeding, grab that sheep.
00:33:36.000I'm sure if we got into the facts that are spouted, if we did like a whole fact-checking of her claims, we would probably have disagreements.
00:33:43.000But as far as I don't know, yeah, I think what these noodles are saying is that our disagreements between what we think at the end our analysis.
00:33:51.000I mean, I'll just state what mine is: is just be honest about it and be at least attempt to be consistent in your application of the interviewing and research process.
00:34:01.000For me personally, I'm not an expert in the field, and I don't want to pretend to be.
00:34:07.000I'm not really too keen on journalism stuff, but neither she.
00:34:12.000Yeah, well, I agree with a lot of things you said.
00:34:14.000Well, you know, here's the little thing you do know because I'm kind of the only person who has to hear, generally speaking, who has to sit down, okay, and write bits and write sketches and do that.
00:34:23.000And then also go and go to the research department and go like, okay, all right, let's make sure this is correct.
00:34:28.000And I do think that you do know that people like me and Lane and George, that we would all be beside ourselves if we made a claim like, oh, the Christian population is decreasing in Israel and found out the exact opposite is true.
00:34:52.000Can you guys find what they're quoting?
00:34:54.000Can you find the study that they're saying showed this?
00:34:57.000Like, it's not just a take it at face value kind of thing because there's a lot of stuff out there that you could just go, oh, yeah, and run with it and make a lot of mistakes doing so.
00:35:05.000So that's why I'm like, Tucker, what were you reading that said that the Christian population was declining in Israel?
00:35:09.000I think he might have been talking, trying to make the case.
00:35:12.000I'm trying to be as generous as possible.
00:35:16.000Specifically, maybe in the West Bank, because of the control going on and like, I don't know, but it's just not a claim that can be made as far as Israel versus Palestine.
00:35:28.000So I think my biggest takeaway from this interview was, and I've watched, I tend to watch almost every Tucker interview.
00:35:34.000There's several people that I watch all their interviews.
00:35:36.000I don't always like them, but I'm trying to...
00:35:39.000Sometimes I like the style of interview and the conversational aspect of it.
00:35:42.000But I try to listen to a lot of other things so that I understand where people are coming from, even if I disagree with their position.
00:35:49.000And this is just a pattern that I'm seeing right now.
00:35:52.000This is not a one-off where he will press.
00:35:55.000He will exercise those journalistic integrity standards When it's an issue that he feels passionately about and it's on the right side of it, meaning going after Ted Cruz, going after Israel and making the case that he was making.
00:36:24.000I don't want, I mean, what good is it to have somebody come on and cheerlead for a cause with zero pushback at all, even for clarification, not necessarily even just pushback.
00:36:33.000Like it just, it doesn't serve really for me any purpose at all.
00:36:36.000It's like, yeah, I can see this person say whatever they want to say.
00:36:47.000I want to know: is what that person's saying true or is it not?
00:36:51.000And the journalists can help me get to that truth, or they can over and over and over again show they're not really interested in that in this case.
00:38:15.000And by the way, you have the same thing with Catholicism in certain countries, even the province of Quebec, for example, where they also were a part of the political enforcement, you could argue in Quebec.
00:38:31.000I don't know how that extends to if you've read the founding documents and you've read the auxiliary documents that support it as far as Christian values and who's allowed, in which case I think you have to look at, okay, at what point do we think that this worldview bars someone from serving in U.S. government?
00:38:51.000Well, that would be if they adhere to a worldview that is antithetical to our constitutional republic.
00:38:59.000As a matter of fact, you would have to look at it and go like, well, this almost kind of gives you, if they believe what they say, it means they're an adherent to the system and rules of law that we have here.
00:39:13.000So you could say, well, that might preclude you because you believe in establishing a caliphate and you believe in a second-class citizenship for people who are not Muslim and you believe in a poll tax and subjugating people to dimitude, right?
00:39:26.000So you can look at that just like you could look at any, if it was a religion, if fascism was a religion.
00:39:31.000You go, well, that's not something that can be reconciled with our constitutional republic.
00:39:35.000There's no world in which you can say that about Christianity.
00:39:38.000I don't know why this issue becomes really complicated to people.
00:39:40.000And I think it comes from lazy arguing back in like the 90s, where it was also a response to sort of the lazy position that was held, like, this is a Christian nation.
00:39:56.000Of course, it's a nation for all people, but this is a nation founded on Christian values.
00:40:01.000And so people felt like they could, you know, sort of have a backboard to have a foil and go, well, really, actually, this is not supposed to be a Christian nation.
00:40:07.000It's a secular nation because, and it stems from lazy arguing.
00:40:12.000It gets to be really pretty simple if you read the founding documents and then you read what Thomas Jefferson wrote and George Washington and even Benjamin Franklin, all these, and Adams, and you read, for example, his private letter to the Danbury Baptists.
00:40:23.000Same thing that applies to the Second Amendment.
00:40:24.000When they go, well, that was only when there were muskets.
00:40:27.000You can look at things like the Girondoni air rifle.
00:40:29.000You can look at The pepper box revolver.
00:40:30.000You can look at the letter of Mark and Raprizel regarding a private ship to have cannons, which is at least an AR-15.
00:40:38.000It's not like you need to spend that much time if you're reading the documents and you go, okay, this seems pretty straightforward, but maybe there's some context I'm missing.
00:41:20.000And then, of course, our founders and the people who created this country and believe this country could only be preserved based it on deeply held beliefs and the conviction that it was only designed for a moral and a virtuous people, or it would cease to be.
00:41:34.000And the funny thing is, that's why they talked about it so much.
00:41:38.000That's why they wanted to preserve it.
00:41:39.000Do you know who wants a moralist and a virtueless people because they're easiest to pray on?
00:41:48.000Okay, let's say you disagree with the morals and virtues or the believed that you subscribe to morals and virtues of Christianity.
00:42:09.000The people who want to pray on a moralist and virtueless society are the people who seek to destroy the very idea to deconstruct those morals and virtues to begin with.
00:43:09.000So even if you are not a Christian, just, and I see this a lot, and I know that most of you do, appreciate the fact that you have that hedge of protection and covering over your God-given inalienable rights because of Christianity.
00:43:51.000And the job of the government is to stop people from invading it.
00:43:54.000That's a very, very different viewpoint.
00:43:56.000When I say we're the oldest democracy, constitutional republic in the world, I mean we're the only one who has had that viewpoint of government and unalienable rights and maintained it and not changed it that still exists right now on earth.