Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 695. Bible Study: Micah 6 (Being "Legalistic," Consequences, Dishonest Financial Gain)

Transcript

695. Bible Study: Micah 6 (Being "Legalistic," Consequences, Dishonest Financial Gain) · Faith by annm2705

0:00
Chapter 6 of Micah. We have two chapters remaining
0:04
in this book, and then we'll be moving on to Isaiah, I believe
0:08
is the next prophet. So we may cover both of these
0:12
chapters. We'll see how far we get.
0:14
So first of all, dear God, please be with us as we read
0:18
through this chapter or multiple chapters and guide us with
0:24
wisdom and application to our own lives.
0:27
Let the Holy Spirit give us understanding from what we read
0:36
and the application to our lives.
0:39
Let us know why you had this written down, why you encourage
0:43
these prophets to write these things down so that we may learn
0:47
from it. We ask for this in Jesus name,
0:50
Amen. So this chapter 6 is called the
0:54
Lord's case against Israel. Listen to what the Lord says.
1:00
Stand up, plead my case before the mountains.
1:03
Let the hills hear what you have to say here, you mountains, the
1:08
Lord's accusation. Listen, you everlasting
1:13
foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against
1:18
his people. He is lodging a charge against
1:22
Israel. So I want to pause here because
1:25
when I read this, you know, like God has a reason when there is
1:31
destruction that comes, there is a reason for it.
1:34
God is not, he's not evil, He's loving, He's compassionate, He's
1:38
merciful, He's forgiving, He's all those things, but there are
1:44
consequences. God does hate sin.
1:47
He hates what separates us from him and when people have free
1:54
will and choose against God, there are consequences with that
2:01
that needs to be eliminated that will not be in God's Kingdom.
2:05
It's very clear in the Bible that if, if evil and wickedness
2:10
is the choice, that's, that's banned from God's Kingdom, that
2:15
will be coming down to earth someday in over 1000 years from
2:20
now. So there's a while ahead for
2:22
God's Kingdom to come down from the heavenly realms.
2:26
But there's a, this is a preparation.
2:29
So God is kind of sorting out through people and letting
2:33
people decide where are you going to be?
2:36
Are you going to be in God's Kingdom or are you, are you
2:38
rejecting God? And there's a point and time
2:43
when judgement comes from God, when the separation occurs
2:47
between those who choose evil and those who want to humble,
2:51
decide to humble themselves and seek God for everything, trust
2:57
God for everything. That's the point where actually
3:01
we are at every moment in our life.
3:04
And sometimes and by default, unfortunately, we because we
3:10
haven't made the choice to follow God, to accept God, to to
3:16
obey him and to, you know, believe his laws are, are just,
3:22
are righteous and are holy. I mean, we don't until we know
3:28
about God, we, we can't make that decision.
3:33
And by default, because of the sin of ancestors, we are
3:41
separated from God. So that's why hearing the Word
3:45
of God is so important, because that's when our eyes get opened.
3:49
And then when our eyes are opened about the truth about God
3:53
we have, we are faced with a choice.
3:55
Do we want to believe it or reject it?
3:59
And our decision will affect us eternally where we are.
4:05
And so some people like when I was in my learning part, when I
4:12
was seeking God, I hadn't read the Bible yet and I was seeking
4:16
those who appeared to me, as you know, the Christians who knew
4:22
and who had already been there. And, you know, so I'd, I relied
4:27
on, on things that they said and, and the way that they
4:32
understood faith and everything. And there were times that I
4:38
heard from Christians, you know, don't be legalistic.
4:43
And, and I kind of, I, that impacted me.
4:46
I was like, OK, gosh, you know, like, don't you know, because it
4:49
was a reminder that Jesus died for our sins.
4:52
So don't be legalistic about breaking, you know, commandments
4:55
and things like that. And, and so I that affected me
5:01
and I thought about, yeah, I don't want to be legalistic
5:04
because I do know, I believe that Jesus died for our sins.
5:08
But there was something in me that just, you know, I was like,
5:10
the commandments still apply today.
5:13
So I, it's a warning to people, to all people, anybody who
5:19
listens to this, that you know, it do not, do not really take
5:23
information from other people because other people are
5:27
including me, you know, other people make mistakes.
5:31
Go to the word of God, read it every single day and reflect on
5:38
it and things that are not clear to God about it, that he will
5:41
give revelation and understanding about what we
5:44
read. Because it's important to know
5:47
directly from God, not from other people, because other
5:51
people can, you know, even if they aren't intending to direct
5:55
us in the wrong way. And it could be that they were
6:00
giving an appropriate response, but they didn't fully elaborate
6:04
on it. So the person receiving the
6:07
information, here's part of what they intended.
6:09
Because if somebody's been a Christian a while, they have a
6:13
greater understanding and they might give a short answer, but
6:17
that leaves questions for somebody who's seeking because
6:21
they don't have all the background to understand it.
6:24
So what I'm getting at is you'll hear some people say, well,
6:28
don't be legalistic. However, in this chapter right
6:32
now, and somebody might say, oh, that's the Old Testament.
6:35
Well, God said that, you know, there's no law.
6:37
Nothing is taken away, nothing is removed.
6:42
I guess the only thing is maybe the Sabbath, because Jesus is
6:45
the Sabbath. He is the rest for us.
6:48
He is the symbolic or the Sabbath is symbolic of the
6:53
fulfillment that Jesus did. So that's the one, the one
6:59
thing, but everything else remains intact and everything
7:03
else is a guideline for our lives.
7:06
God says be holy because I am holy.
7:09
Therefore, that means that we are to obey the commands God has
7:13
given us, that, you know, obey my commands, but we don't obey
7:19
those commands to take it into God's Kingdom.
7:23
We obey those plans. And by doing so, we're showing
7:27
God that we love him, that we respect him, and that, you know,
7:31
it's, it's gratitude. It's like the King.
7:34
God is telling us these are my rules.
7:39
And so when we obey those rules, we're saying we respect you God,
7:43
and we are obedient. You know, sometimes we mess up
7:46
and God is forgiving. So when we ask for forgiveness,
7:50
he forgives. And when we're truly rude, then
7:55
when we decide to change our ways, we don't want to do it
7:58
again. Because a lot of people, I think
7:59
forgiveness is, you know, there's that other thought of,
8:02
you know, well, I'll send, just ask for forgiveness.
8:06
That's not sincere. And God isn't fooled by any of
8:12
that. And so don't think that you're
8:14
forgiven if you really don't intend to change that part of
8:19
your life. So anyway, this legalistic
8:23
thing, God is legal. He created laws, He created
8:29
order. God is a God of law and order.
8:32
He set up so many. He set up all these things, like
8:35
all that stuff in Leviticus. It's the hardest book that I
8:38
ever read, and I never thought I would go through it again.
8:41
But the second time wasn't as bad as the first time.
8:43
But all those laws that were set up, they came from God.
8:48
God commanded those things. So God is legalistic.
8:53
God is a God of order. We are not living in a creation
8:59
of chaos. Chaos is caused by sin.
9:04
God is holy. God is orderly.
9:07
There is and there are laws that apply to everything and we don't
9:14
have the full capacity, an understanding of all of God's
9:19
laws because I believe there are some spiritual laws that are not
9:23
indicated in the Bible but do affect us from a spiritual
9:30
influence in our life. Like I believe that if we have
9:35
the Holy Spirit, we are protected by the greatest spirit
9:39
that who exist, the Spirit of God, and no other spirit can
9:47
affect that. So that is the ultimate
9:49
protection. There are other spirits that
9:53
exist, but they cannot, they cannot penetrate.
9:57
There's a shield from the power of the Holy Spirit that is
10:01
present. And, and if the Holy Spirit is
10:06
present with a person, there is nothing to fear.
10:10
If the Holy Spirit is not present with the person, they
10:14
are kind of like an open target and they are can be influenced
10:21
by a variety of spirits. And that's why we all need the
10:27
Holy Spirit here on this earth. And plus the Holy Spirit is how
10:32
we make that transition. That's the way Jesus made that
10:36
transition by the Holy Spirit. That's how he was resurrected.
10:40
So if you do not have the Holy Spirit, we can't get into the
10:44
Kingdom of God, even though Jesus died on the cross and made
10:47
it possible. We need the Holy Spirit.
10:50
Jesus himself said it. You must be again born of the
10:55
Spirit. And so, and no one would, no one
10:59
can enter the Kingdom of God without the Spirit.
11:02
So Jesus himself said that. So this, the Holy Spirit is so
11:07
important for people to understand as well.
11:10
There's laws now, the laws of God, they still exist.
11:15
They haven't gone away. We're still to obey them.
11:21
There are certain like the sacrificial system has been
11:27
fulfilled by God. So the law didn't go away, it's
11:31
just that Jesus fulfilled it. So there are certain laws that
11:35
Jesus fulfilled and that gets a lot more complicated when you
11:43
get into it. So I'm not going to go down the
11:44
path that too far. I've already gone a little bit
11:47
further than I intended to. But the point that I'm making
11:50
here is from Micah chapter 6, verse 2.
11:54
The Lord has a case against his people.
11:56
He is lodging a charge against Israel.
11:59
God shows no favoritism. His laws are His laws and anyone
12:03
who breaks them has consequences.
12:06
And He's showing that here. Now Israel, He did make an oath
12:11
to them that they would be his people and that they would be
12:16
calm, as numerous as the stars, as numerous as they sand on the
12:22
on the seashore. So God has made those promises
12:26
and he is a God of keeping his word.
12:29
If he says something, it's going to happen.
12:31
So despite Israel's imperfections, God is still
12:37
standing by his oath and God will make them holy at one point
12:45
when they when their eyes are opened and when all of us said
12:50
this applies to all of us. When our eyes are opened and we
12:54
see evil for what it is and we see sin for what it is and how
13:00
it separates us from God and it prevents us from getting into
13:04
God's Kingdom. Then, you know, when we reject
13:08
that, we say we don't want that in our life anymore, but God
13:11
help us. The Holy Spirit then in dwells
13:14
within a person who is willingly giving up sin, you know, death
13:19
to sin. And then the Holy Spirit is
13:24
welcomed into a person's life to provide the strength to overcome
13:30
sin. That's something that a lot of
13:32
people don't talk about, is the power to overcome sin.
13:36
That comes from God, God alone and through the Holy Spirit.
13:41
So if you have a weakness, that's when you call out to God
13:45
because God will strengthen you through the Holy Spirit.
13:48
We have to put all of our trust in God and rely on God for
13:53
everything, and God is faithful. He wants that.
13:58
He wants to give that to us. He's a good gift giver.
14:01
He wants to give that to us, but we have to call on him.
14:03
He gives us free will. He's not going to force himself
14:06
on us. We have to make that known to
14:08
God. So God is legal.
14:12
He does have law and order and everyone's accountable.
14:14
Think about Judgement Day. That's when the books are going
14:17
to be opened and everything that happened, everything that has
14:20
been done is going to be, you know, judgement is going to be
14:25
given. Now the people who I think there
14:29
are probably lesser positions in God's Kingdom based on what
14:34
we've done in our life here and greater positions, it doesn't
14:39
really get into that. But the people who have
14:42
ultimately rejected God will be punished for all the things that
14:48
they did wrong because they do not have the protection of
14:54
honestly, the blood of Jesus. There is, it says in Hebrews, it
14:58
says that the, the blood is where forgiveness comes from.
15:06
So it is the the blood of Jesus that allows us to be forgiven.
15:12
There's a law. God made the laws.
15:14
I didn't make the laws. You know, it's hard to
15:16
understand this whole sacrifice thing.
15:19
I struggled with that. Like, why would God do that?
15:22
But he allowed a substitute and that's what animals were used
15:28
for in the Old Testament. And he never liked that.
15:32
He didn't want animals to be used for that.
15:35
But that was the only way under the law that people could remain
15:40
living is by these these animal sacrifices that were temporary.
15:47
Temporary. I don't atonement, maybe I don't
15:51
know if that's the right word to use, but temporary, they work
15:55
temporarily and but they were never good enough.
15:59
And that's why the Son of God was required to sacrifice
16:04
himself for all of us, because he was the perfect sacrifice
16:08
that could cover, you know, billions of people.
16:13
So anyway, let's go back to Scripture, my people.
16:16
This is so. This is what the Lord says.
16:19
My people, what have I done to you?
16:21
How have I burdened you? Answer me.
16:24
I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land
16:28
of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also
16:32
Aaron and Miriam. My people remember what Balak,
16:37
king of Moab plotted and what Balaam, son of Bior answered.
16:42
OK, I'm going to stop there because if you don't know that
16:45
story, let's let's read about it.
16:47
Let's get into that. So I'm going to go to a nice
16:52
resource if I can find it here, because I had it and now I can't
16:57
find it, of course. OK, so who was OK?
17:03
First of all, Balak, he was the king of Moab, and he saw the
17:08
Israelites coming out of Egypt, and he saw that there were a
17:11
whole bunch of them. And so he decided that he didn't
17:18
want them to take over his Kingdom.
17:20
It's always about power. It's always about, like, being
17:23
threatened that somebody is going to take over an area.
17:27
So he's the king of Moab, and he plotted.
17:31
He's like, OK, I got to come up with a plan.
17:33
So he reaches out to Balaam and he asked Balaam to put a curse
17:40
on them so that they, you know, so that his Kingdom is basically
17:44
not taken over. So who is Balaam?
17:47
Why did he go to Balaam? So I want to read about that.
17:50
So here's what I said through the resource of
17:53
gotquestions.org. You can just search any question
17:56
you have and there is a lot of answers in here from the Bible
18:02
and references a scripture. So it's a great resource.
18:05
gotquestions.org if you have questions.
18:08
So who was Balaam in the Bible? Balaam was a wicked prophet in
18:13
the Bible and is noteworthy because although he was a wicked
18:16
prophet, he was not a false prophet.
18:19
That is, Balaam did hear from God, and God did give him some
18:26
true prophecies to speak. However, Balaam's heart was not
18:32
right with God, and eventually he showed his true colors by
18:37
betraying Israel and leading them astray.
18:41
In Numbers chapter 22 through 24, we find the story about
18:45
Balaam and the king of Moab, a man called Balak.
18:49
King Balak wanted to weaken the children of Israel, who on their
18:55
way to Canaan, had moved in on his territory.
18:59
Balak sent to Balaam, who lived in Mesopotamia along the
19:04
Euphrates River, and asked him to curse Israel in exchange for
19:10
a reward. Our divination, he gets fees for
19:14
that. Like he, well, that's he was
19:19
given money to do this. So or whatever their maybe it
19:25
wasn't, it wasn't money at that time, but he was given something
19:28
in exchange for doing this curse.
19:31
Balaam was apparently willing to do this, but he said he needed
19:35
God's permission. Balaam, of course, had no power
19:40
in himself to curse Israel, but if God were willing to curse
19:44
Israel, Balaam would be rewarded through Balaac.
19:49
God told Balaam, You must not curse on these people because
19:54
they are blessed. King Balak then sent other
19:58
officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the
20:01
first, promising a handsome reward.
20:04
This time God said, go with them, but do only what I tell
20:10
you. The next morning, Balaam saddled
20:13
his donkey. And he left her Moab.
20:16
God sent an Angel to oppose Balaam.
20:19
On the way, the donkey Balaam was riding could see the Angel,
20:23
but Balaam could not. And when the donkey three times
20:26
moved to avoid the Angel, Balaam was angry and he beat the
20:30
animal. Then the Lord opened the
20:33
donkey's mouth, and it rebuked the prophet for the beatings.
20:39
OK, I want to just pause for a minute because in the secular
20:43
world there are things where the Bible information in the Bible
20:50
comes out through movies sometimes.
20:52
So when I, when I read this, I thought about Shrek and donkey
20:57
talking and I feel like that was kind of from the Bible, taken
21:04
from the Bible originally and this whole story.
21:07
But it's, it's also, you know, when it's done in the secular
21:10
world, it's made to look kind of like foolish or silly or
21:13
whatever. But literally, this is what God
21:15
did. Like God goes through some
21:17
extreme measures at points and times.
21:20
Like could you imagine if you were riding a donkey and the
21:23
donkey spoke to you? I mean, this is what happened in
21:28
the Bible. This is what it says.
21:30
So then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth and it rebuked
21:34
the prophet for the beatings. Then the Lord opened Balaam's
21:39
eyes. So if you want to find this
21:41
story, it's in Numbers 22 if you want to read it.
21:45
And he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the road with his
21:48
sworn drawn. Now, there are people today who
21:51
have claimed to see these like angels and they're like very
21:55
tall, like warrior looking, you know, 1320 feet tall.
22:02
I mean like huge and very intimidating.
22:05
And there are multiple times that these kinds of angels.
22:10
Like I don't know if there's different kinds of angels
22:12
because sometimes angels can look just like people.
22:14
It says like, be hospital to people because in doing so, you
22:20
may have been, you may have shown that hospitality to an
22:23
Angel. So oftentimes angels can look
22:26
just like regular people and we don't even know it.
22:28
But then there are times where angels show up in their majestic
22:34
look and 'cause people to like in the Bible, they usually fell
22:38
down on their face and they were like almost worshipping that
22:43
because it was so, they knew it was supernatural and it was
22:47
something so much greater than people are.
22:51
So this is, I believe, one of those types of things where the
22:54
Angel of the Lord was standing in the road with his sword draw,
22:57
sword drawn. The Angel told Balaam that he
23:01
certainly would have killed Balaam had not the donkey spared
23:06
his life. Ironically, a dumb beast had
23:10
more wisdom than God's prophet. The Angel then repeated to
23:14
Balaam the instruction that he was only to speak what God told
23:19
him to speak concerning the Hebrews in Moab or concerning, I
23:25
think it should be the Israelites in Moab.
23:27
King Bala took the prophet Balaam up to a high place called
23:33
Bammoth Baal say there's bail again and told him to curse the
23:38
Israelites. Balaam first offered 14
23:42
sacrifices on 7 altars and met with the Lord.
23:45
He then declared the message God gave him a blessing on Israel.
23:50
How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?
23:54
How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?
23:58
King Balak was upset that Balaam had pronounced a blessing on
24:04
Israel rather than a curse, but he had him try again, this time
24:08
from the top of Pisgah. Balaam sacrificed another 14
24:12
animals and met with the Lord. Then he faced Israel.
24:15
Balaam again spoke a blessing. I have received a command to
24:19
bless. He is blessed and I cannot
24:21
change it. King Balak told Balaam that if
24:25
he was going to keep blessing Israel, it was better for him to
24:28
just shut up. But the king decided to try one
24:31
more time, taking Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the
24:36
wasteland again, Balaam offered 14 animals on 7 newly built
24:41
altars. Then the Spirit of God came on
24:45
him, and he spoke his message. This is in Numbers chapter 24,
24:50
verses 2 through 3. The third message was not what
24:55
the Moabite king wanted to hear. How beautiful are your tents,
24:59
Jacob, Your dwelling places? Israel.
25:03
Balaam's three prophecies of blessing on Israel infuriated
25:07
the king of Moab, who told the prophet to go back home with no
25:12
reward. Now leave it once and go home.
25:15
I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has
25:17
kept you from being rewarded. Before he left, Balaam reminded
25:22
the king that he has said from the very beginning he could only
25:25
say what God told him to say. Then he gave the king four more
25:30
prophecies gratis. In the 4th prophecy, Balaam
25:36
foretold of the Messiah, a star will come out of Jacob, a
25:44
scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of
25:49
Moab, the skulls of all the people of Chef.
25:53
This is in verse 17. Balaam's 7 prophecies were seven
25:58
blessings on God's people. It was God's enemies who were
26:02
cursed. So God can use bad, you know, he
26:10
can use bad intentions for the good.
26:13
He can turn good to bad based on evil.
26:18
So it comes upon their head. So however, later on, Balaam
26:22
figured a way to get his reward from Balak.
26:25
You know, there's always that, you know, he wants to get paid
26:29
somehow. He wants payment for this.
26:31
So Balaam advised the Moabites on how to entice the people of
26:36
Israel with attitudes and idolatry.
26:42
He could not curse Israel directly, so he came up with a
26:45
plan for Israel to bring a curse upon themselves.
26:49
Balak followed Balaam's advice and Israel fell into sin,
26:55
worshipping Baal of Pure and committing fornication with
27:01
Midianite women. For this God plagued them and
27:07
24,000 men died. You can find out about that in
27:11
Numbers chapter 25 and Deuteronomy chapter 23.
27:16
Balaam's name and story became infamous and he has referred to
27:19
several times in the New Testament.
27:22
Peter compares false teachers to Balaam, who loved the wages of
27:27
wickedness, so he would do wickedness so he could get paid.
27:32
Jude echoes the sentiment associated Balaam with the
27:36
selling of 1's soul for financial gain.
27:40
So Balaam knew he wasn't going to get paid for doing the right
27:45
thing, so he figured out how he could still get paid and he was
27:49
willing to do the wrong thing. That's showing how his heart was
27:52
not turned to God. He was in it for money.
27:57
Finally, Jesus speaks of Balaam when He warns the church in
28:01
Pergamum of their sin. That's in Revelation.
28:04
There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,
28:09
who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they
28:14
ate food, sacrifice to idols, and committed sexual immorality.
28:19
Revelation chapter or Yeah, chapter 2, verse 14.
28:25
Satan's tactics haven't changed much.
28:28
Changed all that much. If he cannot curse God's people
28:33
directly, he will try the back door and idolatry and sexual
28:40
immorality are his go to temptations.
28:44
Isn't that interesting? So that's, you know, still alive
28:50
and well today, unfortunately. But that's how Satan gets people
28:56
of God through idolatry, worshipping other things, you
29:00
know, seeking the power, seeking the money, putting, making
29:05
anybody more important than God and then sexual immorality.
29:10
I mean, our world is like how many people think about how many
29:14
people do you know that have not had sex before marriage and how
29:21
many people think it's OK to continue to do that outside of
29:25
them being married. I mean, that's something that I
29:28
would say 99%, you know, maybe even more than that would
29:33
probably say that. And that's just means that
29:38
Satan's temptations are alive and well today.
29:41
And that's not a good thing because that brings on
29:46
consequences of those actions. And the Bible clearly tells us
29:50
this. And if we turn away from it, if
29:54
we stop doing it, God will. I mean, we're not going to be
30:00
punished for that, but at some point there's going to be
30:04
consequences, unfortunately. And Satan entices people because
30:08
Satan knows that people, you know, that lures people in
30:12
there's, you know, if like most people, I would say most people
30:15
would be lured in by that. So it's a bad strategy.
30:21
I mean, it's a good strategy with a bad thing, with an evil
30:24
thing, because people are so manipulated by it and fall so
30:28
easily with that. So anyway, OK, let's continue
30:33
on. So that's who Balak and Balaam
30:36
were. It says remember your journey
30:38
from shitham to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of
30:42
the Lord. With what shall I come before
30:45
the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
30:48
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings?
30:51
With calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with
30:55
thousands of Rams with 10,000 rivers of olive oil?
31:00
Well, we just heard like God doesn't like the sacrificing
31:02
part, so shall Ioffer my first born for my transgressions.
31:08
Now that's something that the people that worship Baal did.
31:11
They would sacrifice their children.
31:14
And again, we have people won't want to admit this, but abortion
31:18
is the same thing today. Human beings are being
31:22
sacrificed, are being killed for the the person because it's
31:27
either inconvenient for the mother of that child or I mean,
31:33
it's like for a lot of different reasons, a lot of them are just
31:38
be mainly because of inconvenience.
31:41
But you know, I'm not ready for this or that's not the right
31:44
partner. Well, if there wasn't sex
31:46
happening before that, it wouldn't there wouldn't be
31:48
result. It wouldn't have resulted in a
31:51
pregnancy. But doesn't matter if the
31:53
partners right or wrong or whatever God chose to create
31:57
that human being and that human being deserves to have a life
32:03
and and people, you know, the world will tell people, oh,
32:07
that's just a clump of cells. OK, well if it's just a clump of
32:10
cells, leave it alone then. But the point, you know, so that
32:14
I mean the argument is so insane.
32:17
It's so like, not logical because in order to stop it from
32:22
becoming a human being, you have to remove it or destroy it or do
32:26
something. So it's not just a clump of
32:30
cells, because if it was just a clump of cells, it wouldn't turn
32:34
into anything. But it is a human being.
32:38
That moment that it takes, the moment that the egg is
32:42
fertilized is a human being. The moment that the sperm
32:46
reaches the egg and it is fertilized, that is a human
32:51
being. So again, abortion is just like
32:56
sacrifices to Molech are sacrifices to Baal, and the
33:00
world doesn't want to hear that, but that's the truth from the
33:03
Bible. And so today we have these same
33:07
sins that Israel had back then, and it's still happening today.
33:11
Now this, you know, even if this somebody has, which we probably
33:18
all have at some point done something sinful against God,
33:23
God won't remember our sins anymore after we ask for
33:26
forgiveness and turn away from them and never ever do it again.
33:29
So God can forgive anything that we've done.
33:32
So the point of what I'm saying is not to shame anybody.
33:35
It's to point out what is sin. That's what the Bible does.
33:39
It is hard when you hear it and if if you've done any of it, but
33:44
God Forgives and God can, you know, we can become a new
33:48
creation when we receive the Holy Spirit.
33:51
So we don't have to like beat ourselves up from the past sins
33:54
because God doesn't. So it's not the point is be
34:01
aware of what it is and stop doing it because it is only
34:06
going to lead you into death and destruction ultimately and a
34:10
separation from God's Kingdom. But turn to God, ask for
34:15
forgiveness, ask for the Holy Spirit to help become holy like
34:20
God wants us to be. It says, you know, be holy
34:22
because I'm holy. That's what God says to people.
34:25
OK, so again these you know, He's shall Ioffer my first born
34:30
for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
34:33
soul. He has shown you, O mortal, what
34:37
is good and what does the Lord require of you?
34:42
So God has shown us what is good and what the Lord requires of
34:49
us. Here's what it says to act
34:53
justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God or
35:03
prudently, carefully with your God.
35:05
Like obedience. That's something that God wants.
35:07
He wants us to obey. He wants us to be just.
35:12
He wants us to have mercy on other people, and He wants us to
35:15
have humility. God hates pride.
35:18
It says that elsewhere in the Bible.
35:20
So if we are prideful, God hates that.
35:23
So be aware of that. That's not a good thing.
35:27
OK, Going back to Scripture, listen, the Lord is calling to
35:31
the city and to fear your name is wisdom.
35:36
That's another thing that again, people don't really like to talk
35:41
about, but fear your name, fearing the Lord.
35:45
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
35:47
That's what it says elsewhere in the Bible.
35:49
And this says, listen, the Lord is calling to the city and to
35:53
fear your name is wisdom. That's wisdom.
35:57
When we fear the it's, you know, like that actually changed me
36:03
because I realized, you know, who God is and that judgement
36:08
day will be for real someday and beat the time before be, I guess
36:17
the time before we actually die. If we die, if we're not alive
36:21
when Jesus returns, but if we die, whatever condition we're in
36:25
when we die is going to be our eternal placement.
36:30
There's no do overs after death. So it's really critical to get
36:35
this right now. OK, heed the rod and the one who
36:40
who appointed it. So listen to God, You know,
36:43
there, there's a, there's a discipline that is in, in within
36:49
the Bible and there listen to it.
36:53
It's there for our, our, I often refer to the 10 commandments as
36:58
guardrails. It's kind of like being on the
37:01
edge of a Cliff because we're sinful.
37:03
We can easily fall off that Cliff.
37:05
And you know, this is symbolic. Obviously we're driving on this
37:08
Cliff. There's a guardrail to protect
37:10
us. That's the 10 commandments.
37:12
If we don't those we're we're safe along that hillside.
37:17
If we break the 10 commandments, we have an opening and we can
37:20
fall right off and over the Cliff to our death.
37:24
That's what commandments do. They protect us from sin,
37:28
protect us from the separation of God.
37:30
They are a good thing. The 10 commandments are a good
37:33
thing. OK, am I still to forget your
37:37
ill gotten treasures, your wicked house and the short EFA
37:41
which is accursed? Shall I acquit someone with
37:44
dishonest scales with a bag of false weights?
37:48
So there's a lot of dishonesty in some building of wealth and
37:55
and God's using our, you know, through Micah, he's using shall
37:58
I acquit? He's using legal language.
38:01
So we should, you know, anytime somebody says don't be
38:04
legalistic, God is legalistic. So that's saying don't listen to
38:09
God, basically. So the next time somebody tells
38:11
me that that's going to be my response, OK, Shall I?
38:16
Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales with a bag of
38:19
false weights? You rich people are violent,
38:21
your inhabitants are liars, and their tongues speak deceitfully.
38:26
Therefore I have begun to destroy you to ruin.
38:33
And then he tells us why I have to ruin you.
38:37
Because of your sins. Because of our choices, we have
38:42
a choice. To sin or not to sin?
38:46
And when we choose to sin, we are choosing the potential for
38:51
destruction, the potential for consequences of that.
38:56
It doesn't come without a consequence.
38:58
There are consequences to everything.
39:01
There are rewards for good behavior, and there are
39:04
consequences for bad behavior. Think about, you know, like, I
39:09
don't know, I don't want to get into all that stuff, but just
39:11
think about it. You'll come up with ideas, you
39:14
will eat but not be satisfied. Your stomach will still be
39:17
empty. You will store up but save
39:20
nothing because what you save I will give to the sword.
39:24
So God is going to destroy or others will take the stuff that
39:30
people are accumulating by sinful ways.
39:33
When that happens, who knows? It's either.
39:37
It may happen during this life. And if, if it hasn't happened,
39:41
if somebody, you know, because there's a lot of people will,
39:43
will point out, oh, this person's so evil or they are so
39:48
dishonest and they're very wealthy.
39:50
They live great. You know, they have these, you
39:53
know, wonderful possessions and God's doing nothing.
39:57
You know, they're not getting punished for this.
39:59
Well, you know, what we have to remember is what it says in the
40:02
Bible that God is patient. He is hoping that all will come
40:07
to repentance. He is giving that person time to
40:12
realize what they're doing and repent.
40:16
Not all people will get to that point.
40:18
Not all people will repent. But God gives a long opportunity
40:25
and, and to those that God calls he, he also disciplines his
40:31
children and he tests us. He allows testing to be done.
40:35
He allows evil to tempt us to see probably for our own benefit
40:39
to see where our heart really is.
40:41
Like if we fall into temptation, our hearts not close to God.
40:45
If we stand strong, that means we have the Holy Spirit in our
40:48
life. So when we fall and fall short
40:52
of what God considers righteousness, it's that's
40:56
there's a lacking there. We need to seek God more because
41:00
the Holy Spirit is that power, is that courage, is that
41:04
strength. And if we are not having that,
41:08
that means we're not submitting ourselves to God.
41:10
That means we are trying to do something on our own or we're
41:13
rejecting God, or we're just saying, I don't, I don't want
41:15
that. I want what I want.
41:17
And it's showing us every time that we get tested and we fail,
41:23
it's going, it's showing us that we have work to do.
41:26
We have work to get closer to God.
41:28
That kind of work relationship work.
41:31
Okay, so you will plant but not harvest.
41:34
You will press olives but not use the oil.
41:36
You will crush grapes but not drink the wine.
41:40
So it's all this work and it's not going to come to anything.
41:42
You know, we don't take it with us.
41:44
It's like that one verse, naked eye come into the earth and
41:47
naked eye go out. So all of this accumulation for
41:51
what? You're going to turn it over to
41:52
somebody else? That's what ecclesiastic
41:56
Ecclesiastes ultimately says, that it's all meaningless.
42:01
The only thing that's meaningful is our relationship with God.
42:05
You have observed the statues of Omri and all the and all the
42:11
practices of Ahab's house. Well, that's another thing that
42:15
I know this is getting long, but this is another thing like who
42:18
was King Omri or what were the statues of Omri?
42:21
So I'll read like a condensed version of that.
42:24
So the phrase statues of Omri refers to the idolatrous
42:28
practices and corrupt laws established by King Omri of
42:32
Israel. So he's the he's the king.
42:36
He was the king of the 10 tribes of Israel, the northern the
42:40
northern Kingdom of Israel, which were condemned by the
42:43
prophet Micah. These statues, statutes are laws
42:49
along with the works of Ahab's house.
42:52
Now Ahab was Amri, Amri's son, and there's a whole thing him
42:58
and Jezebel. OK, OK, so all the workings of
43:02
Ahab House symbolized A departure from God's covenant
43:06
and LED to Israeli spiritual and moral decline.
43:11
Omri and Ahab. Omri was the 6th king of the
43:15
Northern Kingdom of Israel, known for building the city of
43:20
Samaria, which is modern day West Bank, and establishing it
43:23
as the capital. His son Ahab succeeded him and
43:28
married Jezebel. There's a lot about her, a
43:31
Phoenician, and she was very evil.
43:35
Who introduced the worship of Bail.
43:38
Here comes Bail again, just like Balaam.
43:40
Remember, he was, you know, having people worship this idol.
43:45
Bail. It's still Bail is still like if
43:49
you search it and you look for what it looks like, like the
43:53
statue of bail, you'll see it in some music today in concerts.
44:00
I think it's you know, even with symbolically at the Olympics,
44:04
you'll see it represented. So it's, it's that's spirit is
44:09
still operating today. There's an, you know, spirit in
44:13
the spiritual world. I mean, until the final
44:17
judgement day, spirits are eternal.
44:22
So they you know the evil spirits are eternal until the
44:26
final judgement when God throws them into the lake of burning
44:30
sulfur. So both Amri and Ahab are
44:34
praying the Bible as rulers who LED Israel into idolatry,
44:38
turning away from the worship of the God of Israel.
44:40
They introduced Begin practices and disregarded God's
44:44
commandments. Remember the guardrails so they
44:47
know away with those. We're going to do these Pagan
44:49
practices that worshipped other things.
44:52
The prophet Micah and Micah 616 condemns the people of Judah for
44:56
following the statues of Omri and the works of Ahab's house,
45:00
indicating they were adopting the idolatrous and corrupt ways
45:04
of the Northern Kingdom according to biblical sources.
45:07
Michael warns that this adherence to Omri's statues and
45:11
Ahab's practices will lead to desolation, contempt, and
45:16
reproach for the people of Israel.
45:18
In essence, the statues of Omri represent the culmination of
45:22
Israel's turning away from God, leading to both spiritual and
45:27
social con consequences. So you have followed their
45:33
traditions. Therefore, I will give you over
45:36
to Rune and your people to derision.
45:39
You will bear the scorn of the nations.
45:42
So again, this is if you want to find out more about King Omri in
45:48
the Bible, you can find that on gotquestions.org.
45:52
My this podcast is getting long, so I think I'm going to stop
45:56
here and not read that, but you can find that.
45:58
If you want more information, you can read about it.
46:00
And that concludes Chapter 6.