Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Nehemiah 9:1-23 - God Loves You Immensely

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Nehemiah 9:1-23 - God Loves You Immensely · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hi there, faithful listeners, Welcome to the Bible
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  Speaker 1: Explain podcast on this lovely Monday morning, and thank you
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  Speaker 1: so much for being here on a Monday morning to
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  Speaker 1: share a delicious cup of coffee with me. As we
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  Speaker 1: start our week out right by reading through the Bible together,
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  Speaker 1: We're going to be a Niamiah nine today, only talking
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  Speaker 1: about the first half of it because it's actually a
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  Speaker 1: very long chapter, but it's a beautiful poem in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of Namayah, which I'm excited to talk about this
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  Speaker 1: poem because it ties in I think pretty well with
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  Speaker 1: everything we talked about in the Book of James recently
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  Speaker 1: last week. So right after this quick sponsored ad, we
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  Speaker 1: will get into Niamiyah chapter nine together. All right, faithful listeners,
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  Speaker 1: Let's grab our Bibles out of the version that you prefer,
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  Speaker 1: but as always, I'll be reading from the web version.
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  Speaker 1: Let's read Niamiah nine one through twenty three together as
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  Speaker 1: we do, so, let's give reverence to God's word. Now.
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  Speaker 1: In the twenty fourth day of this month, the children
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  Speaker 1: of Israel were assembled with fasting, with sackcloth and with
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  Speaker 1: dirt on them. The offspring of Israel separated themselves from
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  Speaker 1: all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the
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  Speaker 1: iniquities of their fathers. They stood up in their place
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  Speaker 1: and read in the book of the Law of Yahweh
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  Speaker 1: their God, a fourth part of the day and a
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  Speaker 1: fourth part. They confessed and worshiped Yahweh their God. Then
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  Speaker 1: Jeshua Banni, Cadmiel, Shabania, Booni, Sherebayah, Banni, and Shannani of
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  Speaker 1: the Levites stood up on stairs and cried with a
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  Speaker 1: loud voice to Yahweh their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua
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  Speaker 1: and Cadmiel, Banni, Heshpineah, Sherebayah, Hodiah, Shbiniah, and Petheah, said
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  Speaker 1: stand up and bless yahwe or God, from everlasting to everlasting.
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  Speaker 1: Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all.
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  Speaker 1: Blessing and praise You are Yahweh, even you alone. You
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  Speaker 1: have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army,
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  Speaker 1: the earth and all things that are on it, and
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  Speaker 1: all that is in them, and you preserve them. All
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  Speaker 1: the army of heaven worships you. You are Yahweh, the
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  Speaker 1: God who chose Abram, brought him out of er of
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  Speaker 1: the childees, gave him the name of Abraham, found his
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  Speaker 1: heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him
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  Speaker 1: to give him the land of Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorites,
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  Speaker 1: the Perizites, the Jebusite, and the Gergashite, to give it
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  Speaker 1: to his offspring. And have performed your works, for you
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  Speaker 1: are righteous. You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: and heard their cry by the Red Sea, and showed
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  Speaker 1: signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and
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  Speaker 1: against all the people of his land. For you knew
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  Speaker 1: that they had dealt proudly against them, and made a
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  Speaker 1: name for yourself as it is today. You divided the
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  Speaker 1: sea before them, so that they went through the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the sea on the dry land, and you cast
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  Speaker 1: their pursuers into the depths as a stone into the
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  Speaker 1: mighty waters. Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led
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  Speaker 1: them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night,
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  Speaker 1: to give them light in the way in which they
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  Speaker 1: should go. You also came down on Mount Sinai and
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  Speaker 1: spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right to
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  Speaker 1: ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. And you
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  Speaker 1: made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes,
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  Speaker 1: and a law by Moses your servant, and gave them
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  Speaker 1: bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water
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  Speaker 1: out of the rock for them for their thirst, and
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  Speaker 1: commanded them that they should go in to possess the
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  Speaker 1: land which you had sworn to give them. But they
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  Speaker 1: and our fathers behaved proudly, hearden their necks, and didn't
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  Speaker 1: listen to your commandments, and refused to obey. They weren't
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  Speaker 1: mindful of your wonders that you did among them. But
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  Speaker 1: they heardened their neck, and in rebellion appointed a captain
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  Speaker 1: to return to their bondage. But you are a god
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  Speaker 1: ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and
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  Speaker 1: abundant in loving kindness. And you didn't forsake them. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said,
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  Speaker 1: this is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: and had committed awful blasphemies. Yet you and your manifold
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  Speaker 1: mercies didn't forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of
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  Speaker 1: cloud didn't depart from them over them by day to
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  Speaker 1: lead them in the way. Neither did the pillar of
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  Speaker 1: fire by night to show them the light. And in
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  Speaker 1: the way in which they should go. You gave also
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  Speaker 1: your good spirit to instruct them, and didn't withhold your
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  Speaker 1: manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing.
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  Speaker 1: Their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according
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  Speaker 1: to their portions. So they possessed the land of Scion,
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  Speaker 1: even the land of King Heshbah, and of the land
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  Speaker 1: of og King of Bashan. You also multiplied their children
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  Speaker 1: as the stars of the sky and brought them into
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  Speaker 1: the land concerning which you had said to their fathers
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  Speaker 1: that they should go in to possess it. So this
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  Speaker 1: is a psalm right in smack dab in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the book of Nehemiah. Now, if you guys remember
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  Speaker 1: what we talked about last week, The people were going
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  Speaker 1: through all of these different festivals in the month of September,
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  Speaker 1: because for the Jewish people, the month of September is
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  Speaker 1: very big. I believe there's three main festivals. The first
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  Speaker 1: one is the Feast of trumpets. The second one is
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  Speaker 1: the Day of Atonement, which is like the holiest day
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  Speaker 1: in the Jewish calendar. And then there's also the Feast
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  Speaker 1: of Booths, which is a eight day long celebration essentially
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  Speaker 1: where people have feasts and joy before God and they
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  Speaker 1: basically camp out and make little shelters and everything just
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  Speaker 1: around the city. So those are some big festivals that
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  Speaker 1: take place in September. But now the people, it looks like,
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  Speaker 1: are gathering not because of any particular Jewish holiday, but
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  Speaker 1: because they're feeling convicted over everything that they had read
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  Speaker 1: in the laws. Because in the first day of the
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  Speaker 1: month of September, which is the Feast of Booths, the
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  Speaker 1: people had Ezra come out and read the law to them,
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  Speaker 1: and so they were really discouraged during that time because
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  Speaker 1: they're like, oh my gosh, we are not following any
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  Speaker 1: of these laws. And then in the last chapter it
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  Speaker 1: mentions how the people started celebrating the Feast of Booths
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  Speaker 1: and that was again a time where they had the
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  Speaker 1: law brought out and read to them. And I am
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  Speaker 1: sure the majority of the people this is the first
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  Speaker 1: time they've ever even heard some of these laws of God,
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  Speaker 1: and they realize that as a collective group, as Israelites,
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  Speaker 1: they are not actually following the law that they promised
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  Speaker 1: God they would follow. So they're feeling pretty convicted. So
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  Speaker 1: now in the twenty fourth day of the month, they
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  Speaker 1: decide to hold a holiday all on their own. It
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  Speaker 1: says in verse one, on the twenty fourth day of
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  Speaker 1: this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting,
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  Speaker 1: with sackcloth and with dirt on them. So this was
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  Speaker 1: the typical way to mourn back in these days. They'd
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  Speaker 1: wear itchy, uncomfortable clothing, they would put dirt on themselves
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  Speaker 1: to show that they were in mourning, and they would
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  Speaker 1: also fast from eating. So this is a good response
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  Speaker 1: that the people are having. They are finally recognizing their
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  Speaker 1: sins in front of God. So it says that the
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  Speaker 1: offspring of Israel separated themselves from all the foreigners and
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  Speaker 1: stood and confessed to their sins and the iniquities of
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  Speaker 1: their fathers. So they are coming together specifically to ask
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  Speaker 1: for forgiveness of God. And it mentions here that they
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  Speaker 1: separated themselves from all foreigners, which is kind of interesting
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  Speaker 1: and a lot of people speculate as to what that means.
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  Speaker 1: Some people think that this took place during Ezra's reform,
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  Speaker 1: where he forced all of those men in the Book
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  Speaker 1: of Ezra to divorce their foreign wives. This could also
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  Speaker 1: mean that they are separating themselves from the foreign idols
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  Speaker 1: or people that worship the foreign idols. Or it could
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  Speaker 1: be that because this is directly after the feast of Booths,
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  Speaker 1: which by the way, anybody, including the foreigners, could celebrate
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  Speaker 1: the feast of Booths, that they were just separating themselves
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  Speaker 1: from those particular foreigners. So no one's really sure what
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  Speaker 1: that means about how they separated themselves from the foreigners,
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  Speaker 1: But they did, and it says they stood and confessed
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  Speaker 1: their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And verse
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  Speaker 1: three says they stood up in their place, and they
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  Speaker 1: read the book of the Law of Yahweh their God
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  Speaker 1: for a fourth part of the day, and a fourth
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  Speaker 1: part they confessed and worshiped Yahweh their God. Then it
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  Speaker 1: mentions a handful of these Leevites, twelve to be exact,
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  Speaker 1: who are standing up praising Yahweh and leading the people
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  Speaker 1: into prayer and worship essentially and praise as well. So
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  Speaker 1: it says that the Levites all said, stand up and
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  Speaker 1: bless Yahweh, or God, from everlasting to everlasting. And now
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  Speaker 1: the psalm begins in verse five. We don't know who
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  Speaker 1: stated this psalm. We don't know if it was a
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  Speaker 1: song that was common back in these days, or if
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  Speaker 1: it was a reading that was done where the people
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  Speaker 1: would repeat it back, or it could have just been
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  Speaker 1: a poem that was read to the people. We don't
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  Speaker 1: know if the Levites all said it at the same time,
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  Speaker 1: or if one particular person said this psalm. Maybe Neamiah did,
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  Speaker 1: maybe Ezra did. It does not say. The only thing
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  Speaker 1: that is recorded here is the psalm itself. So here
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  Speaker 1: it starts, Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted
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  Speaker 1: above all. Blessing and praise you are Yahweh, even you alone.
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  Speaker 1: You have made heaven, the heaven of Heaven's with all
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  Speaker 1: their army, the earth and all the things that are
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  Speaker 1: on it, the seas and all that is in them,
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  Speaker 1: and you preserve them. All the army of Heaven worships you.
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  Speaker 1: So that, of course, is talking about God being the
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  Speaker 1: creator of the universe. He created everything, and just for
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  Speaker 1: that sole reason alone, the fact that he is our creator,
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  Speaker 1: he deserves our worship. And adoration. But he's also the
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  Speaker 1: one that created the entire heavens and the angels that
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  Speaker 1: are within the heavens, and the angels of heaven worship
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  Speaker 1: God as well. And if the angels are worshiping God,
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  Speaker 1: then we should certainly worship God. It says in verse seven,
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  Speaker 1: you are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram, who brought
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  Speaker 1: him out or of the Childees, and gave him the
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  Speaker 1: name of Abraham. The author of this psalm goes immediately
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  Speaker 1: into Abraham, the first patriarch of the Israelite nation. So
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  Speaker 1: God is amazing. God is the creator, and he created Israel,
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  Speaker 1: and he sets someone apart to be the patriarch, the
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  Speaker 1: founder essentially of the Israelite nation. And that person was
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  Speaker 1: named Abraham, who God brought out of ear of the
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  Speaker 1: Childees and gave him the name Abraham, who found his
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  Speaker 1: heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him
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  Speaker 1: to give him the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite,
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  Speaker 1: the Amorite, the Parizite, the Jebusite, the Gurgoshite, and to
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  Speaker 1: give it to his offspring. And the author said, and you,
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  Speaker 1: God have performed your words, for you are righteous. God
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  Speaker 1: does not do anything in half measures. When he tells
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  Speaker 1: Abram that his children, his descendants, are going to receive
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  Speaker 1: the promised land, God is going to do it. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: God even showed this to Abraham by changing his name
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  Speaker 1: from Abram to Abraham, because Abram means father and Abraham
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  Speaker 1: means father of many. So God even changed Abraham's name
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  Speaker 1: to help him understand how important this promise was and
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  Speaker 1: how God was going to keep it to all of
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  Speaker 1: Abraham's descendants. So God did it. He gave the land
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  Speaker 1: to the descendants, but unfortunately the descendants didn't necessarily want
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  Speaker 1: to take it, and that is what the psalmist goes
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  Speaker 1: into next. In fact, this entire psalm you're going to
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  Speaker 1: see is actually really focusing on the apostate nation of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: how they just constantly kept rebelling against God. And it
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  Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense why the Levites in this
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  Speaker 1: situation would quote this particular psalm to all of these people,
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  Speaker 1: because these people are asking for forgiveness for their previous sins.
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  Speaker 1: So it's important to teach all of these people that
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  Speaker 1: are gathered here the history of their ancestors and everything
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  Speaker 1: that happened. But yet, how God was so incredibly faithful
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  Speaker 1: throughout all of this. So the next part of the
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  Speaker 1: Psalm starts in verse nine, and it says, you saw
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  Speaker 1: the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and you heard
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  Speaker 1: their cry by the Red Sea, and you showed signs
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  Speaker 1: and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against
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  Speaker 1: all the people of his land, for you knew that
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  Speaker 1: they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for
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  Speaker 1: yourself as it is today. And that is actually very
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  Speaker 1: true if you read through the Exitus account, which I'm
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  Speaker 1: so excited that I'm actually reading that in my personal
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  Speaker 1: study right now, there's actually a verse that says, like
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  Speaker 1: right before the last plague that God sends to Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: it says that the Egyptians actually regarded Moses as a prophet,
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  Speaker 1: like as a very wise man, and also they feared
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh a lot of the Egyptians did. In fact, many
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  Speaker 1: Egyptians actually went with the Israelites after they were kicked
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  Speaker 1: out of the land when God sent all of those plagues.
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  Speaker 1: So God really did make a name for himself in Egypt.
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  Speaker 1: The Egyptians feared God after seeing what he could do.
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  Speaker 1: And this was a way, of course, for God to
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  Speaker 1: bring the Israelites out of Egypt because they were stuck
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  Speaker 1: there as slaves. They were being deeply mistreated, their children
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  Speaker 1: were getting killed by the Egyptians, drowned in the Nile River.
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  Speaker 1: Really terrible stuff was happening. So God brings them out.
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  Speaker 1: He shows the Egyptian where they're wrong. God actually judged
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  Speaker 1: all of the different Egyptian gods by sending particular plagues
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  Speaker 1: that were associated with the Egyptian god. So, for example,
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  Speaker 1: the plague where God sent the frogs to the Egyptians,
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  Speaker 1: they had a frog god that they probably were trying
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  Speaker 1: to pray to to get rid of all of these frogs,
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  Speaker 1: and of course that God was proven to be absolutely
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  Speaker 1: useless and just a hunk of stone because that God
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  Speaker 1: could do nothing for them to get rid of the frogs.
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  Speaker 1: And yet when Moses prayed to Yahweh, suddenly the frogs
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  Speaker 1: were all dead the very next day. So it's just
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  Speaker 1: things like that where God was really showing who he
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  Speaker 1: was to the Egyptian people. Truly amazing stuff. So it
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  Speaker 1: says that God divided the sea before the Israelites so
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  Speaker 1: that they went through the middle of the sea onto
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  Speaker 1: dry land. But yet the Egyptians or the pursuers who
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  Speaker 1: are trying to kill all the people. They were thrown
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  Speaker 1: into the depths as a star, into the mighty waters.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm sure you guys know the story with that one.
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  Speaker 1: But God divided the sea so that the Israelites could
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  Speaker 1: walk through on dry land. And right behind them were
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  Speaker 1: the Egyptian army, who wanted to kill all of them
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  Speaker 1: because of the plagues that had happened. And so they
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  Speaker 1: went through the Red Sea suspecting that they could also
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  Speaker 1: go through on dry land, and God sent the waters
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  Speaker 1: crashing over all of them. But this was not the
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  Speaker 1: only thing that God showed his people, not to mention
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  Speaker 1: all of those plagues he sent to Egypt and the
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  Speaker 1: splitting of the Red Sea, it says he also in
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  Speaker 1: verse twelve showed them the pillar of cloud, which led
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  Speaker 1: them by day and in a pillar of fire by night,
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  Speaker 1: to give them light in the way in which they
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  Speaker 1: should go. So God's presence was always around them. There
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  Speaker 1: was constantly a pillar of cloud nearby them. All of them,
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  Speaker 1: every single person in that camp, all two million people
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  Speaker 1: that traveled out of Egypt, could see that cloud by day,
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  Speaker 1: and also the pillar of fire by night, and specifically,
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  Speaker 1: God was doing this not just to show his presence,
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  Speaker 1: but to cool them off during the heat of the day,
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  Speaker 1: and also to give them light and a warmth by night,
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  Speaker 1: so they would know which way that they were supposed
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  Speaker 1: to go. Then in verse thirteen, it says, you also
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  Speaker 1: came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from
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  Speaker 1: heaven and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good
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  Speaker 1: statutes and commandments. And you made known to them your
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  Speaker 1: holy Sabbath and commanded them the commandments, statutes, and a
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  Speaker 1: law by Moses, your servant. So that, of course, is
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  Speaker 1: all talked about in Exodus nineteen sixteen through twenty, where
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  Speaker 1: God is speaking to the people like audibly through the cloud.
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  Speaker 1: God spoke those laws to the people. So God wasn't
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  Speaker 1: just showing his presence to them, He was also speaking
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  Speaker 1: to them audibly so they could hear him. He was
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  Speaker 1: doing everything to show them that he was God and
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  Speaker 1: that he was with them. It also says in this
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  Speaker 1: psalm in Nehemiah that God gave them bread from the
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  Speaker 1: sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the
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  Speaker 1: rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that
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  Speaker 1: they should go in to possess the land which you
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  Speaker 1: had sworn to give to them. So God is showing
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  Speaker 1: them all these miraculous things, everything from the time that
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  Speaker 1: they were in Egypt to the time that they're in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness, sustaining every fiber of their being through bread
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  Speaker 1: coming down from Heaven, through water from the rock, through
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  Speaker 1: the amazing things that God is stating to them in
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  Speaker 1: the clouds. And yet here's what it says in verse sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: But they and our fathers behaved proudly. They hardened their
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  Speaker 1: neck and didn't listen to your commandments and refused to obey.
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  Speaker 1: They weren't mindful of your wonders that you did among them.
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  Speaker 1: But you harden their neck, and in their rebellion, appointed
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  Speaker 1: a captain to return to their bondage. And that is
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  Speaker 1: talked about in numbers chapter fourteen one through four. It says,
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  Speaker 1: all the congregation lifts up their voice, and they cried,
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  Speaker 1: and the people wept. That night, all the children of
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  Speaker 1: Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole
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  Speaker 1: congregation said to them, we wish that we had died
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  Speaker 1: in the land of Egypt, or that we had died
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  Speaker 1: in this wilderness. Why does Yahweh bring us into this
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  Speaker 1: land to fall by the sword. Our wives and our
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  Speaker 1: little ones will be captured and killed. Wouldn't it be
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  Speaker 1: better for us to return to Egypt? And they said
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  Speaker 1: to one another, let's choose a leader, and let's return
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  Speaker 1: into Egypt. And if you jump down to verse ten,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: it says that after Moses and Aaron and Joshua try
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: to calm the people down, the congregation threatened to stone
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: them with stones. So that was the response of the
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: people to God being with them, to God commanding them,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: like for the first time, really to go and do
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: something that was kind of hard for them. The command
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: was go into the promised land. I'm going to give
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: it to you. And the people, after they heard that
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: they were giants living in the land, were like, no,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: we can't do it. It's too hard for us. We're
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: gonna die. In fact, we wish we could die here
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: in this wilderness, or we wish we could die in
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: each In fact, let's just go back to Egypt. Let's
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: appoint a captain to lead us back into Egypt. That
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: was how the people responded to all of God's amazing
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: miracles that they were constantly seeing, and the presence of
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: God that was always around them, and the bread that
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: was on the ground every single morning for them. That's
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: how they responded to God's command. But if you go
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: back to verse seventeen of Neamiah nine, it says, but God,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: you are ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: and abundant in loving kindness. And you didn't forsake them. Yes,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: when they had made themselves a molded calf and said,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: this is your God who brought you up out of
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Egypt and had committed awful blasphemies, Yet in your manifold
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: mercies didn't forsake them in the wilderness. Your pillar of
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: cloud didn't depart from them by day to lead them
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: in the way. Neither did your pillar of fire by
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: night to show them the light and the way in
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: which they should go. So, in spite of this absolute
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: apostasy that his people were committing, God did not abandon
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: his people. Because he loves his people. He promised them something.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: He promised Abraham, I'm going to give this land to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: your descendants. God was going to fulfill his promise, even
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: though these people were absolutely unthankful to God and just
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: acting really Braddy in general, just refused to do any
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: of the commands that God commanded them to do. Yet
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: in spite of all that, God didn't give up on
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: those people. He continued to give them his presence day
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: after day in the form of that cloud and also
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the form of the fire at night. It says, you
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: also gave your good spirit to instruct them in verse twenty,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and didn't withhold germana from their mouth and gave them
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: water for their thirst. So God didn't just stop feeding them.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: He didn't just stop giving them water to drink in
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: the wilderness. He kept supplying all of their needs. Can
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: you imagine if somebody treated you like that, You know,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: if you were doing everything for them, like bending over
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: backwards to make sure that they knew you were a
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: friend to them, make sure that you knew that you
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: loved them, and they just were constantly rejecting you and
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: using you and complaining about you and mistreating you, like
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: over and over and over again, how would you feel
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: After a while, You'd probably be like, Okay, I'm never
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: helping you ever again. By you absolutely would. And yet
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: God did not do that to these people. He sustained them.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: It says, actually for forty years, he kept on sustaining
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: them in verse twenty one. Yes, for forty years you
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: sustained them in the wilderness. That's a really long time
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: to sustain people who are constantly complaining against you. Right,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: and yet they lacked nothing, is what it says right here.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: So God took care of everything from their feet, from
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: their sandals to their clothes. Nothing was wearing out nothing.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: God even sustained the clothes on their back. Because they
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: didn't have a lot in the wilderness, they probably didn't
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: have many ways to make new clothes for themselves. God
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: sustained even the clothes that they had on their backs
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: and the sandals that were on their feet. It says. Moreover,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: to their portions. So they possessed the land of Scion,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: even the land of king of Heshbon and the land
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: of og king of Bashan. So those two kings are
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: mentioned also, I think in the Book of Numbers they
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: are mentioned where the Israelites defeated these two kings before
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: they even entered into the Promised Land. And so God
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: gave them the land of those two kings, so that
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: they could, you know, at least have a place that
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: they called home somewhat before they entered into the Promised Land.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Like God was giving them everything that they could possibly
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: need in this wilderness. And not to mention, they're thriving
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness as well. It says you multiplied their
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: children as the stars of the sky and brought them
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: into the land concerning what you said to their fathers
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: that they should go in to possess it. God was
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: faithful to the very end with his people. He was
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: faithful though they were not faithful to him, And that's
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: a verse in scripture. Though we are unfaithful, God always
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: remains faithful. He loves us, He cares about us, and
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: even when we do things to go against God, God
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: continues to give us second chances. He loves us very much.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: And if he can love the Israelites in the wilderness
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: who were constantly in rebellion towards him, does he not
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: love you when you backslide or when you fall away
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: from God? Does he not love you? Of course he does.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: He loves you very very much. And stories like this
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: that we read in Neamiah nine, just I think, really
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: solidify the amount of God's love that he has for
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: each one of us. All righty, faithful listeners, Before I
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: end today's episode, please listen to one last sponsored ad.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: You know, I think today's episode came at a really
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: good time because right now we're going through on the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: New Testament side of stuff. The Book of Hebrews and James,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: and those are fantastic books, but they talk a lot
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: about how faith without works are dead. In fact, we've
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: been covering that topic a lot on the New Testament
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: side of stuff, and I think it's really hard for
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: us a lot of times to wrap our mind around
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: how works don't save us, and yet when we become Christians,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: works are required of us. And not only does that
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: maybe confuse some people, but it also might have certain
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Christians questioning their faith, questioning their salvation. How can we
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: possibly be saved if we're not doing you know, such
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: and such. We have to be giving this amount of money.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: If we're not, then we might not be saved. If
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: we don't have a good prayer life, maybe we're not saved.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: And these questions might come up in your mind. But
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: interestingly enough, it is not the works that save us.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Only God alone can save us. Once we are saved,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: we are required to do good works after we become
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: a Christian, and that keeps our faith alive in Jesus.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: But you know, passages like this, what we read in
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Neamiah and I really show God's love for his people.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: You know, a lot of times everybody thinks that Yahweh
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: and the Old Testament he's the mean God that strikes
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: everybody down. But like look at this story. He's constantly
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: showing up for these rebellious people time and time again
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: because of his immense love for them. So think about
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: yourself if you are struggling with your own salvation. Nothing
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: you do for God can make him love you any
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: more than he already does. He has already accepted you.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: When you believed on the name of Jesus. You have
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: been accepted. Now. The works are proof of your faith.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: It is proof that your faith is alive and genuine
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: and true. But the works don't save you because your
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: works cannot make God think anything different of you than
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: he already does. He loves you so incredibly deeply, So
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: all you have to do is believe on the name
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: of Jesus and you will be saved. And so I
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: really like that we talked about Neamiah and nine today,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: right after discussing on Thursday how faith without works is dead. So, guys,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I hope you tune in tomorrow for another episode from James.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Hopefully I'll see you guys tomorrow six am or whenever
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: you choose to wake up and listen. Make sure to
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: check out the links for all the other things that
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I do with P forty Ministries and the Bible Explained Podcast,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: and don't forget to sign up for the email list
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: as well to keep updated with everything that I'm doing
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: here on the podcast. Faithful listeners to have a fantastic
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: and wonderful rest of your day, happy listening, and God bless.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the Bible Explain Podcast. In fact, if you go to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: lifeaudio dot com, you'll find dozens of other faith centered
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: and more.