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757. Bible Study: Zephaniah 1 (Warning and Preparation for God's coming Judgement) · Faith by annm2705

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The next book we're covering from the Bible is Zephaniah
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because that is the order of the, I guess the time frame, the
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timeline that's on. We just finished Nahum and
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Zephaniah was the next prophet that gave prophecy.
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So I will read the introduction from the study Bible.
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Why read this book? To reinforce your confidence
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that God will make everything right.
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When justice is distorted, when the line between right and wrong
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is blurred, when leaders become corrupt, it's easy to become
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discouraged. And when religious leaders fail,
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discouragement can turn to cynicism.
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Zephaniah will reassure you that you can still trust God, that
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even in dark times your faith can still burn brightly.
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So who wrote this book? Zephaniah, whose name means the
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Lord hides or the Lord protects. When was it written?
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During the reign of King Josiah of Judah, who reigned 7:40 to
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six O 9 BC, but before the Assyrian king Asher Banapal's
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death in in 627 BC, What was happening at the time?
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Many of Judah's leaders were corrupt and idolatry was
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widespread. The Assyrian Empire, the
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superpower that ruled over Judah for more than a century, was
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disintegrating. Shortly after Josiah's death and
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Zephaniah's ministry, the Babylonians conquered Judah,
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destroying the Temple, and took many into exile.
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To whom was it written and why? Zephaniah wrote to the people of
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Judah, warning them of impending judgment for their sins.
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He hoped to stir them to repentance before it was too
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late. But he also assured them that
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God's judgment would pave the way for a new society in which
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justice would prevail and all humankind would worship the
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Lord. What to look for in Zephaniah?
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The balance between judgement and salvation, between God's
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anger and his compassion. Like most prophets, Zephaniah
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wrote in a poetic form, marked by vivid figures of speech and
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emotionally charged language. So before we get into chapter 1,
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it's only three chapters long. Let's say a prayer.
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Dear God, please guide us in wisdom and understanding as we
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read through the words of this prophet.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. The word of the Lord that came
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to Zephaniah, son of Kushi, the son of Gaddelia, the son of
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Eremiah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah, son
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of Amon, king of Judah. So the study Bible says, why
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give a prophet's genealogy? This genealogy of five
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generations is significant since it was more typical to list only
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a prophet's father. Zephaniah is traced back to
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Hezekiah, perhaps the famous king who died about 50 years
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earlier. This could mean that Zephaniah
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was a member of the extended royal family.
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Some note however, Hezekiah was a common name and that that
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verse stops short of identifying this Hezekiah as the king,
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seemingly a major oversight if he was indeed the king.
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So basically we don't know, but it could be.
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So here it goes, verse 2. I will sweep away everything
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from the face of the earth. I will sweep away both man and
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beast. I will sweep away the birds in
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the sky and the fish in the sea and the idols that cause the
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wicked to stumble when I destroy all mankind on the face of the
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earth, declares the Lord. So a couple different things
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that came to mind as I read this was this was the same message as
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Isaiah. He said the earth was going to
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be devastated and the earth would be destroyed.
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The entire earth would be destroyed.
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And that's, you know, now there's two prophets that are
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saying exactly that. It's not saying there's just
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destruction coming to a certain area.
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They're saying everything is going to be destroyed.
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So this again, the same message as Isaiah.
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Isaiah gave this message between 700 to 681 BC and Zephaniah gave
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it between 6:40 and 6:27. So there's about a 40 year gap
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between the two of them and they're both getting the same
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message. Now.
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It said the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah.
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So he's getting this word on his own.
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He's not just repeating this. And then when it says I will
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destroy all mankind from the face of the earth, we have to
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remember that the Noah's Ark event already happened.
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So this is not referring to that.
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This is a separate event, and the study Bible says, is this
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describing the end of the world? Yes, but but not only that.
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Zephaniah was describing Judah's coming judgment against the
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backdrop of a final worldwide judgment.
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Old Testament prophecies sometimes had two meanings, 1
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involving the immediate future and the other foreshadowing
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events of the end times. So it continues in verse four.
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I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all
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who live in Jerusalem. So here's where Judah and
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Jerusalem are are. Hearing this, I will destroy
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every remnant of Baal worship in this place.
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The very names of the idolatrous priest, those who bow down on
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the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and
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swear by the Lord, all who swear by Molech, those who turn back
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from following the Lord and and neither seek the Lord nor
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inquire of him. So we see that this is coming
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against Judah and Jerusalem, and but it's also the whole world
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too, and it and God is going to destroy idolatry.
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So he's talking about Baal worship and we actually still
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have that today. It's it's very much still
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continuing today. And I also read too that Baal
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can just mean God. So it could actually refer to
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several different things. Not the real God, but like false
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gods. And then I thought it was
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interesting those who bow down on the roofs to worship the
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starry host. You know, I'll read what the
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study Bible says. But what came to my mind as I
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read that is that like in the Book of Revelation, the stars
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are symbolic of angels. So are people worshipping
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angels? I know there's a lot of people
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today who do, you know, like they're, they're really in the
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spirituality stuff that has to do with angels and the this is
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talking about judgment coming to them.
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Those who bow down on roofs to worship the starry host.
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Those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by
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Moloch. Like Moloch was this other like
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false God who they they basically sacrificed their
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children to him. And again, this is when we talk
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about these gods. This just gets so deep and a lot
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of people don't want to talk about it.
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I don't know if it stresses people out or if it panics them
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or or what. But if you dig deep into history
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and there are others who say this, this isn't just me saying
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this. Like people who have studied
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this for a long time, you look and they have doctorates.
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I don't have a doctorate, but I'm seeing the same thing.
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So in times long ago, people worshipped entities.
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I do not think the people that worship these entities were, I
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don't know how you call it, were really simple, uneducated,
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stupid, ignorant people. I don't think they were.
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I think they were probably equally just like we are today,
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and yet they were worshipping some entity and there are these
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strange things that they had carvings of that we find as
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artifacts. I don't think these people just
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made this stuff up out of their mind.
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I think they may have actually seen these things.
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Why would they do stuff like that?
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And if they hadn't seen that, why would they worship things
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like that? They would just be like crazy
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people. Like they would probably be
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imprisoned or put away somewhere because they were strange
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people. If you know, in modern society,
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they wouldn't be accepted. They'd be known as a weirdo
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unless somebody else unless there were these massive amounts
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of people who saw something. Now I'm not saying that I mean
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here's the part of Scripture where the Bible would support a
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theory like this is that it says that Satan can appear as an
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Angel of light. Satan wanted to be worshipped.
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He wasn't satisfied with the gifts God gave him when he when
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God created him and he wanted to be worshipped.
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And so if he appears as something good and convinces
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people to worship him, he's getting what he wants.
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Now again, this is a theory and it's not proven, but boy, it
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seems like the dots really connect when you look at this
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and consider this. The other thing about Satan is
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he wants to, he's seeking to kill and destroy people.
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So doesn't child sacrifice align with that?
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The other thing is Satan was called by Jesus as the father of
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all lies. He is the one who brings about
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lies and deceit. So think about this.
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A long time ago they worshipped Molech by sacrificing their
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children. They literally burned their
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children on some like large statue thing.
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There's like drawings from ancient times that they did
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this. Now, what person in their right
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mind would do that? They must have had some strong
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convincing. Now who would convince them to
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do that? Who would convince them to kill
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like that and think it was something good?
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That's massive deception. Where does you know the father
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of all lies? Do you make the connection?
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This is Satan behind this, convincing these people to do
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this horrendous thing. And we are not removed from that
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because today the child sacrifice, of course, now we're
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too good to have done something like that, yet we have people
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who support abortion. Abortion is nothing different
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than child sacrifice. It's giving up a human being so
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that your life would be better in some way.
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And that is not a person's decision.
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God can decide to do that. But we as people, that's not
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our, we have not been given that authority by God.
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We have free will, but we are going against what we are going
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against God's will and it won't end very well.
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So my point is if this name Molech is just like a, a name
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that they gave to him, but if it's really Satan or one of his
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other fallen angels who are with him, you know, a name given like
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that, like, again, deceit, like there's all these different
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names, but is it all the same entity?
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It's certainly all wrapped up in evil.
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So there is like, even if it is different entities, it still can
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be summarized as evil. So if this evil and and Satan is
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not like a human being that would only live to 120 years or
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so, Satan is in a different lifespan then I mean, he's he's
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a eternal in the sense that I don't know he was create.
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Well, not he's not well, he was created by God, but he's been
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present in the past and he's present in the future, but in
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the present, I guess. But then in the future he is
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going to be locked up and will be sent some, you know, into the
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burning lake of sulfur is like actually what's going to happen
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to him. So that's that's the future
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outcome of him. But right now he is still
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present. So if you were to deceive
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people, you could go by different names so that your
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identity is not confirmed. But yet you can still wreak
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havoc on mankind because he does.
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The Bible says he seeks to kill and destroy.
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And if you do it with under deception so your identity is
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not known, it makes it a lot easier.
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And if you also make people think that you don't exist, that
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that's just some far out imagination thing, It's it's not
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real. How can somebody battle against
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that if you don't even think it's real?
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Now the battle I'm talking about is the battle that's talked
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about in the Bible. In Ephesians chapter 6.
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It says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, meaning human
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beings. We wrestle, wrestle against the,
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it's the evil powers in the spiritual, in the heavenly
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realms. I mean, they're actually in the
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heavenly realms. There's evil that's there that's
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influencing mankind. If we say that is not true, we
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are saying something in the Bible is not true.
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There is evil. It is coming against people.
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Think about this in a physical sense.
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If you are going into a physical battle and you see your opponent
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right in front of you and so you're getting ready so that you
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can maybe block a punch or something that's coming at you.
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Like you're going to see their move.
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So you'll be able to block it and protect yourself.
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But if you're getting ready for that battle, a physical battle,
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and somebody says, OK, I'm going to put blinder on you, you can't
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see what your opponent's going to do, you're going to be
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blinded. We're going to put something to
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cover up your eyes so you cannot see.
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So you're covered up. You can't see, but your opponent
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can see and your opponent is hitting you and you don't know
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where those blows are coming from.
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And you're trying to like, you know, you feel a blow coming
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from One Direction, so you reach out to try to push it back from
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there. But then it comes from a
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different direction and you're just aimlessly trying to fight
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back and you just can't even hit your target because you're
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blind. That's the same thing in a
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spiritual sense. If you are blind to the
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spiritual reality that there is spiritual warfare coming against
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people seeking to kill and destroy them.
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If you deny that you are spiritually blind, you cannot go
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go against a battle of evil in that way.
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If you deny that exists, you can't battle it.
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Now in a spiritual battle. It's much different than a
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physical battle. And again, Ephesians chapter 6
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tells us about all the tools we have to battle in a spiritual
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sense. Ephesians chapter 6, we have to
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know about salvation. We have to be in the Word of
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God. The Word of God is something
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that we can speak against these things.
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To know the Word of God, to know the truth found in the Bible so
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that we can speak against that. That's how Jesus battled Satan.
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It wasn't even a physical battle.
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After he got baptized, he was in the wilderness for 40 days and
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Satan tempted him. And every time Satan tempted
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him, he responded with Scripture because Jesus is the truth.
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He is the Word of God. But that shows us that we need
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to know the Word of God so that we can battle.
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The other part is to pray. There are, if you get into the
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the demon side of things, it says that sometimes if there is
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a demon is inhabiting a person, because they do apparently from
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the Bible, they find host people and maybe even things, I don't
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know, but host, you know, there are people they can do that.
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It said that's what happened to Judas.
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Satan entered him. So demons, I mean, that's a like
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that's a fallen Angel. So an Angel could actually
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inhabit somebody. I just thought about that right
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now because I never considered that.
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But so evil things can enter a person and the the one thing
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that here's another thing that protects you when you have the
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Holy Spirit, evil things cannot inhabit you because the Holy
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Spirit, the Spirit of God, is more powerful than anything
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evil. So you have this protection.
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It's so important to have the Holy Spirit and we receive the
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Holy Spirit from Jesus, who it says in the Gospel that he asked
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the Father and sends an advocate who will remain with us.
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So when we repent, when we agree to be obedient to God, God will
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get, I mean, it's through Jesus we will receive the Holy Spirit
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and be able to have protection against that sort of evil thing.
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And so if you don't know this, you are fighting.
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I mean, you're not fighting, you're just being beat up by the
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enemy. And the same thing that comes
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with depression open those kinds of feelings, those feelings of
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negative feelings and everything.
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Those are, I believe. Evil spiritual forces working on
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our minds because what is the outcome if the evil keeps push
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in that that that thought in someone's head.
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Often times people will take their lives because of these
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these feelings, these strong feelings that they have.
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That's the enemy doing battle. If you don't know there's an
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enemy doing battle, you're going to think there's something wrong
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with you, but there isn't. There's nothing wrong with you.
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It is something evil that is doing that and you can fight
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that with the Holy Spirit. It says that.
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So getting back on the topic, because there is one verse where
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they were these, it was when the disciples were the apostles were
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empowered by the Holy Spirit and they were casting out demons and
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someone had tried to cast out a particular demon and you know
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it, they were doing it successfully.
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But then someone tried it and it didn't happen.
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And they went to Jesus and they said, why did this not happen?
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I'm I need to like reread that because I think they, they did
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ask. I thought they asked Jesus.
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So then he was present before I need to figure out the timeline
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of that. But anyway, I believe Jesus said
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this. He said these kind only come out
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by and fasting. So the Bible tells us these
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things and if we don't study it, we don't know it.
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We don't know how to fight spiritual battles.
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Nobody talks about this stuff because it's that's probably
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another strategy of the evil 1 to get everybody to say, oh,
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that's a little bit out there. Let's not talk about that and
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and then leave people helpless. They can't fight anything
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because they don't know anything.
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So it's so important for us to talk about this instead of
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dealing with the root cause of many things we tend to as a as a
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society, we tend to medicate people or put them in prison or
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call them crazy or call it mental illness or call it all
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these other things. And it's very possible that it
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could be something spiritual, but that is usually not part of
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the diagnosis today that is usually not attempted.
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It's usually something else because people don't have faith,
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because they only want to rely on something that they can say
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that, that they have proven results, scientific, statistical
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things. Well, they don't ever solve the
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issue. What they do is subdue the they
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just subdue or numb out the person so they don't ever get
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the person restored. They just keep them more
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controlled is what the medication does.
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So it's really not even helping someone, it's just subduing them
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temporarily. But if our medicine, if our
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medical world could actually look into the spiritual thing,
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if, if it would need a believer, someone who has the Holy Spirit
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and to work through some of these things, we might have less
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of these incidents. The other thing is that
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Scripture clearly tells us to be alert and of sober mind because
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the devil prowls looking for his next victim.
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So when our mind is not sober, there must be some connection
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that allows evil to access us. And think about this, when
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people under the influence of a drug or something else,
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something that alters their mind, they often say, I wouldn't
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have done that if I hadn't been, you know, whatever it was
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affected by that drug. And so those things, they're
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kind of like clues, and they're clues to the truth of what's
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going on. When people numb out themselves
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or get to where their minds are not sober, they do become an
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easy target for the enemy. That's what Scripture tells us.
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So I think we need to take Scripture for what it is and not
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be not shy away from these things because when we shy away
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from these things, we are vulnerable.
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If we shy away from these things, we need to know God's
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Word, we need to pray about it, and we need to act in faith.
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So I'm going to go back to this, but I do see that there are
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things from the past that are spiritual, things from the past
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that are affecting us today in the present.
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So I want to read what the study Bible says about what did
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Jerusalem worship. Baal was the Canaanite storm God
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who was believed to enable crops to grow and women to have
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children. Molech was likely Milkham, the
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Ammonites chief God. See what I mean about the names?
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Changed just slightly, but they're the same entity.
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The starry host includes the sun, moon, and stars, all of
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which were objects of worship in Zephaniah's day.
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So then if we go back to who is Molech?
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He was one of the many Pagan gods mentioned in the Old
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Testament. Baal, meaning Lord or master,
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was a more generic word. Any God could be called Baal.
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Some think Molech similarly could mean the king.
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Molech, the chief God of the Ammonites, was known in Moab as
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Kimosh. The worship of both Molech and
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Kimosh often involved child sacrifice.
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So see how these things just continue on?
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They perpetuate because people don't realize that they're real,
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they're blind, they don't. We're not studying the word.
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Not everyone is. And so therefore, we don't get
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it. The other thing that's really
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interesting is that this judgement in verse 6, it says
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the judgement's coming to those who turn back from following the
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Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of Him.
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To me that sounds like backsliders, people who knew the
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Lord, but they no longer seek Him or inquire of Him.
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They don't listen to Him, they don't seek His information.
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That's who punishment and judgement is coming upon.
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So continuing in verse 7, be silent before the sovereign
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Lord, for the day of the Lord is near.
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The Lord has prepared a sacrifice.
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He has consecrated those He has invited.
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So consecrated means to make holy, right?
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So He's making holy. How does that happen?
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Through the Holy Spirit. When we receive the Holy Spirit,
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the Holy Spirit begins to work. It requires submission.
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It requires our free will to say, God, guide me, I want to
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listen to you. I want to do what you want me to
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do. That's what it requires.
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And then the Holy Spirit begins to work and the Holy Spirit
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begins to change us to be more holy.
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This is that consecration. So he has consecrated those he
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has invited. On the day of the Lord's
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sacrifice. I will punish the officials and
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the King's sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.
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Again, foreign clothes is probably very symbolic, meaning
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more like worldly, not godly, not you know, in foreign clothes
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though, you know, like that's you know, it talks about being
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clothed and nakedness and often in the Bible and those I think
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are symbolic, not literal, although they could be literal
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too. But often they are symbolic and
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it's to, you know, be covered by the clothing of God or to be
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covered by the clothing of something foreign.
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And so all those clad in foreign close, on that day, I will
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punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the
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temple of their gods with violence and deceit.
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So doesn't that sound like God's enemy?
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Like it's filling the temple of their gods with violence and
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deceit? Like God tells us that the
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vengeance is mine. So God wants to fight those
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physical battles for us. He doesn't necessarily want us
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to. Although in the Old Testament, I
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know that he did say to the Israelites several times to wipe
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out certain people and those people, I mean, that could get
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into a whole nother theory, but there was God is always just so
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there was something that we don't know about that we can
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speculate about, but I won't about why God said certain
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people needed to be removed. He was always separated good
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from evil. So let's go to what another
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question in the study Bible. What is the day of the Lord?
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This is a phrase referring to the times when God decisively
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defeats his enemies in a battle. The phrase had its origin in the
29:41
ancient Near East, during a time when kings would sometimes boast
29:45
that they had won a war in a single day.
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The Old Testament applies this phrase to several different
29:52
historical events, including God's judgments on Israel,
29:56
Judah, Babylon, Egypt, and Edom. Several passages also associate
30:03
the Lord's Day with his final, culminating judgment on the
30:07
earth. Who were those clad in foreign
30:12
clothes? OK, the study Bible answers
30:13
this, so let's see what it says. Probably the wealthy Princess
30:18
who had become enamored with foreign customs, not just with
30:22
closing but also with idol worship.
30:26
Their behavior was a telltale sign that they had lost the
30:29
sense of being God's distinct people among the surrounding
30:34
nations. So another way of stating
30:37
they're worshipping a foreign God, not God.
30:41
What was wrong with refusing to step on a threshold?
30:44
This first likely refers to a practice associated with the
30:48
Philistine God Dagon. When Dagon's head and hands were
30:53
found on the threshold after the idol fell and broke before the
30:58
Ark of the Lard, the priest of Dagon would no longer step on
31:03
the temple threshold. The practice could also stem
31:07
from a superstitious belief that demons lived at the entrance of
31:12
a house. In either case, the practice
31:15
illustrates how some of God's people had become thoroughly
31:18
indoctrinated with Pagan thinking.
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So that now we're on verse 10 in Zephaniah.
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On that day, declares the Lord, a cry will go up from the fish
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gate, wailing from the new quarter with a loud crash from
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the hills. Wail.
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You who live in in the market district, all your merchants
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will be wiped out. All trade with silver will be
31:45
destroyed. At that time I will search
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Jerusalem with lamps, and punish those who are complacent, who
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are like wine left in its dregs, who think the Lord will do
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nothing either good or bad. So when I it said at that time I
32:06
will search Jerusalem with lamps, it just made me think
32:09
about the parable the 10 virgins that you know, is this time the
32:14
same time where you need to keep oil in your lamps, you need to
32:19
keep the Holy Spirit. You know, there are five who
32:21
were foolish who were not prepared and then five who were
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prepared. This isn't necessarily referring
32:29
to that. It's just the fact that talked
32:30
about I will search Jerusalem with lamps.
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So it it just made me think about that other parable.
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Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished.
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Though they build houses, they will not live in them.
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Though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.
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The great day of the Lord is near, near and coming quickly.
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The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter.
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The mighty warrior shouts his battle cry.
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That day will be a day of wrath. Now that's something good to
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know from Scripture. That day will be a day of wrath.
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The day of the Lord will be a day of wrath.
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It says that God does not appoint us to wrath.
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So when that comes, those people who have made themselves ready
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will not be subject to God's wrath.
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We will be subject to tribulation.
33:27
We have troubles throughout our life, some greater than others.
33:30
So I believe we are subject to tribulation and have been, I
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mean, think about all of Jesus's disciples.
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They all were basically killed for their belief in Jesus.
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Most of them. I think John was the only one
33:45
who wasn't. But so tribulation, but that's
33:49
not the wrath of God. Those are bad things that
33:52
happened that God allows to happen, but he does something
33:56
good with them. Like, for example, all of the
33:59
apostles, you would think, OK, they were the closest ones to
34:01
Jesus. Why would God let them actually
34:04
be killed like that? You know, like wouldn't he give
34:07
them protection? But perhaps God allowed that
34:12
because that way it would show how strongly they believed in
34:18
Jesus. They were essentially doing
34:20
exactly what Jesus did. It says there's no greater love
34:24
than to lay one's life down for another.
34:27
Well, Jesus did that first, but then his disciples did it in
34:33
response. Jesus did it for them.
34:36
Now the now there's the world saying this guy is not this guy.
34:41
Jesus is not the Messiah. And they're saying, yes, he is.
34:45
We saw miracles, we saw him resurrected.
34:48
We saw all this and and then the world is saying, well, you're
34:52
going to die because you're saying this.
34:55
And they accepted that they now who would die for a lie?
35:00
Who would give up their life for a lie?
35:03
Not very many people and not very many people would feel
35:08
confident in doing that only because they know that Jesus is
35:14
real. He is with the Father.
35:17
He told his disciples, I am going away to prepare a place
35:21
for you, and I will come back to receive you.
35:26
So they knew that even if they died, they would be with Him.
35:31
Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with
35:34
Christ, to be present with the Lord.
35:37
So when people believe, when they truly believe, there is No
35:43
Fear of death because death is falling asleep.
35:46
The only fear is the fear of the Lord because God has the
35:53
authority and the power to to place us where we choose.
36:00
So if we choose against God, we will be eternally separated from
36:07
God. He doesn't force us to be in His
36:09
Kingdom, He offers it to us and it's up to us whether we accept
36:14
it or not. He made the way possible through
36:17
His Son Jesus for us to be there.
36:19
Jesus was the atoning sacrifice on the cross that gave us the
36:24
possibility of being in God's Kingdom.
36:27
But it's still our decision. We still have free will.
36:33
And when we become submissive to God and we say, OK, God, I've
36:40
been doing my life my way, I'm ready to stop that.
36:45
I'm ready to let you guide me and be the person that you
36:51
designed me to be. When we are at that place in
36:54
life, we are surrendered to God, and then Jesus can send the Holy
37:00
Spirit to us because he knows that we will.
37:03
We're focused on doing God's will, not doing whatever we want
37:08
to do. So anyway, long sidetrack,
37:11
conversation on that, but not conversation, but editorial on
37:15
that. I guess so.
37:17
But the day of the Lord will be like a day of wrath.
37:20
And so those who are believers, those who have prepared, those
37:23
who have a good relationship with God are not subject to
37:26
wrath. So that's a good thing.
37:28
A day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day
37:33
of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.
37:40
So when I finally surrendered, this is a personal story.
37:45
When I finally surrendered and I I decided I wasn't going to be a
37:49
hypocrite with my life. I've always called myself a
37:51
Christian and I always believed in God, but I didn't obey God.
37:55
So when I decided I was going to be obedient to God and not a
37:59
hypocrite anymore, I got baptized.
38:02
And the night of my baptism, I started having dreams.
38:08
And that was in 2021 and now this is 2025.
38:12
And to date I've had close around 80 dreams.
38:16
And they were not like these kinds of dreams where it's meant
38:22
for the whole world to hear. I would sometimes dream about
38:25
certain people, but they would, they would be encouraging
38:31
dreams, they would be warning dreams.
38:34
They would be, there were like prophetic scenes that I would
38:39
see, not the exact dream playing out, but a scene from a dream
38:44
that would happen in my real life.
38:46
And it took me a while to recognize that this was
38:48
happening. I just thought they were strange
38:50
dreams at first, but then when I would start seeing things from
38:53
my dreams, I was thinking this is something more than just a
38:58
dream. So anyway, I had, I've had three
39:02
dreams about about a rapture and I was not highly focused on it
39:11
when I had those dreams, they were, they actually occurred in
39:14
22. So it was several months after I
39:17
got baptized that I started having them.
39:19
But I had a total of 3 and I've never had any more.
39:22
And that seems interesting to me that there were three dreams,
39:25
because if you look at the way the Bible is, there's a lot of
39:29
times that God will do things in three times.
39:31
And hey, I believe that that event is true.
39:37
There is a gathering, it's written in Scripture.
39:39
It will happen at some point. And anyway, in my dreams, all
39:46
three dreams, just before it happened, everything went
39:51
completely black, went completely dark.
39:54
So when I'm reading this right now where it says a day of
39:56
darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, that's
40:00
what happened in my dream. A day of trumpet and battle cry
40:06
against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.
40:11
I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope
40:16
about like those who are blind because they have sinned against
40:21
the Lord. So this actually reminded me of
40:28
part of the dream that I had, the very first rapture dream
40:33
that I had, that I recognized as the rapture because of the
40:37
things that happened in it. And I know that definitely was,
40:41
there's no question because actually I started rising up in
40:45
the end of that dream. But it in that dream when
40:49
everything went black, it was like groping around because I, I
40:53
couldn't see anything in my dream and I had my hand out and
40:56
I was like trying not to bump into anything.
40:58
And then the light came after that and all three of my dreams
41:03
had that exact same experience. So it's something that I think
41:10
about like if that happens. And then I was actually
41:13
explaining it to other people in my second dream when it went
41:16
black and people panicked, I said don't worry because this
41:20
happens right before the rapture.
41:23
Like I knew that in my dream and I was explaining it to others.
41:26
So, but someday, I mean, I kind of feel like I'm probably going
41:31
to experience that in my lifetime.
41:34
And because of these dreams and IA, lot of people are having
41:37
dreams right now and there's a lot of focus actually on next
41:40
week. I've prayed about that date for
41:43
next week and I have not gotten, I have not received any
41:46
confirmation about that date. There's a lot of people that are
41:50
talking about September 23rd and 24th, Rosh Hashanah.
41:54
But at the same time, I'm not saying I know everything because
41:57
I don't. And and so, you know, we should
42:01
always be prepared, but there's I also wonder if that date is
42:07
going to be the the precursor to the great falling away, like
42:13
people who are setting their hope on a specific date if it
42:16
doesn't happen, because I don't think I've ever heard anybody
42:19
say I did not get confirmation about this date.
42:23
Everything that I've seen, every video that I've seen has said I
42:28
got confirmation about it now. I prayed to God and I asked God
42:33
and I did not get confirmation for it.
42:36
So I don't know. And these other people seem to
42:39
be godly people. They seem to be.
42:41
So it's going to be, we'll see what happens with that.
42:46
We don't have a whole lot of time between if it's really
42:49
coming up next week. In fact, we'll see.
42:54
And so that'll be interesting when we're in these Bible
42:57
studies, maybe we can talk about that, or maybe we will be
43:01
somewhere secure and safe with God.
43:05
And I don't know, let's well, but the point is, if you want to
43:13
be assured of being with God in eternity, we need to give up our
43:20
sin. We need to repent and turn to
43:23
God. We need to ask for His
43:25
forgiveness and submit to God. That means obey His commands.
43:31
Ask God, ask Jesus for the Holy Spirit to help, and God wants to
43:37
help us. We just need to seek Him.
43:39
But people aren't seeking Him and people aren't submitting to
43:43
Him. But it's really important.
43:46
And don't be like the five foolish virgins who didn't have
43:49
the Holy Spirit, who did not have the anointing oil of the
43:52
Holy Spirit and they were not prepared.
43:55
And when Jesus returned, he said, depart from me, you evil
43:59
doers. I don't know you.
44:02
So they they were 10 virgins. That means they were somewhat
44:07
prepared, but not fully prepared.
44:10
So don't be like them. Do this right now.
44:15
Pray to God, get close to God, ask God to reveal to you what
44:21
you need to do in your life to make sure.
44:23
Because we can't save other people, we can only save
44:25
ourselves. We're only responsible for
44:28
ourselves. And we can't blame God for the
44:32
outcome because the outcome is based upon our decisions.
44:35
God doesn't send anyone to hell. We choose it by rejecting Him.
44:41
He's got an open invitation. But people have other priorities
44:44
other than God, and so therefore they choose their own priorities
44:50
and they reject God. So don't reject God anymore.
44:56
If you want to be in his Kingdom, do it now.
44:59
Now is a great time because we only have like, if this is
45:02
really going to happen, I mean, we only have like another week.
45:06
And I mean, I wouldn't want to be that risky with my eternity
45:12
to not get right with God at this point when there's so many
45:16
other people. What if God let these people
45:18
know this and their purpose was to warn other people?
45:23
We can't deny that. Now people in the past have said
45:26
certain dates and they have come and passed and nothing ever
45:30
happened. And that's, you know, who knows
45:34
where or why God allows that to happen or who knows?
45:39
I, I don't know. We just, we'll see if these
45:42
people who are all saying this, if it comes to be they were true
45:46
prophets of God and God let them know if it does not happen, then
45:52
they were not, not that they were.
45:54
These people are not saying anything that's contrary to the
45:57
Bible. They're telling people to
45:59
repent. They're telling people to
46:00
prepare. So they aren't saying anything
46:04
false, except maybe they got something wrong, or maybe their
46:09
confirmations weren't really confirmations, but it was more
46:12
their desires that it happened this quickly, that they just,
46:17
you know, were led by their own desires rather than true
46:21
submission to God. I don't know.
46:24
But in a very short period of time, we're going to find out if
46:29
this is real, if these people really got confirmations from
46:32
God or if they were just, you know, led to that because of
46:37
their own desires. Because everybody who is a
46:39
believer does want that day when everything is restored, when
46:44
Jesus returns and when things we get rid of all the evil in the
46:48
world. But God is very patient and he
46:53
wants everyone to come to repentance.
46:56
And so that's we have a window here.
46:59
I don't know how long the window's going to be.
47:03
In fact, I don't even know. I should say this right now
47:06
because I'm going to be just like those other people.
47:09
But I had one of my dreams and I again, I don't really know.
47:15
But IA year from now, I, I think something could happen, but I'm
47:23
also not sure because of how the, the date was given at 2026.
47:27
There is no question. And there is also the number 12.
47:30
And I think the number 12 is a day rather than a year if it's
47:34
in Hebraic form. But that was in my dream.
47:37
And then there was a blank space and it just, you know, the way
47:40
that the that was given to me in a dream where it was like it
47:44
left something unknown. It made me think, you know, how
47:49
the day of the Lord is unknown and and so it was almost
47:53
symbolic of that, but it was very, very, very clearly 2026
47:58
and it was definitely had a 12 in it.
48:02
Now, whether that was a month or a day, I'm leaning towards it
48:06
being a day and I do have speculation on that as well.
48:09
But so I'm no different than the other people who are saying it's
48:12
going to this this whole events going to occur next week.
48:16
However I am, I am saying that I don't know for sure.
48:23
I'm just saying that I had this date in a dream and in this
48:27
dream a bunch of people were gathered together and, and it
48:31
was an engagement celebration. And so it reminds me of the
48:36
bride and the bridegroom. And then there was this date on
48:39
a counter. And so it has symbolic meaning
48:44
of biblical principles and, and ironically, it happened seven
48:50
days after I got baptized, which is kind of like a Galilean
48:54
wedding too. So it's, it's all very
48:59
interesting is all I can say. And again, we will only know in
49:04
hindsight and it could only, you know, it could perhaps just be
49:08
something specific to me and not be something to others.
49:14
So I don't know. But again, mine was clearly not
49:19
2025. It was 2026.
49:21
But there are a lot of people talking about next week, 2025,
49:27
the 23rd and 24th, which I think are Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish
49:31
holiday, the Feast of Trumpets. So I think it would be wise to
49:38
make sure that we are all prepared, that we are all
49:42
prepared in the sense that we are submitted to God and we've
49:46
repented and turned to God. I think it's very important that
49:49
we do that no matter what, because we don't even know what
49:52
day it could be for us. It could be some other random
49:56
day with nothing to do with this gathering of believers.
50:02
We could have a sudden death which people don't like to talk
50:06
about, but it's only falling asleep because if we die, we are
50:09
with the Lord. So it's nothing for each of us
50:12
to be panicked about unless we are not right with God.
50:17
So getting right with God is the most important thing right now.
50:21
So we're almost finished. I'm going to finish up this
50:24
chapter. Their blood will be poured out
50:26
like dust. This is the people who have
50:28
sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out
50:31
like dust, and their entrails like dung, dung.
50:34
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them.
50:38
On the day of the Lord's wrath, in the fire of his jealousy, the
50:43
whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of
50:50
all who live on the earth. So when it happens, it's going
50:56
to be sudden. That's what this prophecy tells
50:59
us. So maybe unexpected.
51:03
That's something else in prophecy that it does tells us,
51:05
tell us that this day is going to come about like a thief in
51:09
the night. So let's read a couple three of
51:14
them questions and answers. And actually there's a little
51:17
bit more. Well, I'll read the remaining
51:21
questions and answers and we'll wrap up this chapter.
51:24
So what were the fish gate and the new quarter?
51:27
The fish gate was in the north of the of the city and was named
51:32
for the fish brought by the merchants from Tyre and the Sea
51:35
of Galilee. Jerusalem was most vulnerable to
51:39
attacks from the north. The new Quarter was a section of
51:43
the city that had apparently developed between the 1st and
51:46
2nd walls in the northwest part of Jerusalem as the number of
51:51
merchants increased, creating a newer market area that was
51:55
probably near the Fish Gate. What's so bad about wine left on
52:00
its dregs? When fermenting, wine is not
52:03
separated from its sediment or the dregs at the right time, it
52:08
gets thick, loses its taste, becomes bitter, and is of little
52:14
use. Like such congealed wine,
52:17
Jerusalem's complacent and spiritually insensitive leaders
52:22
were no longer effective or useful.
52:25
What is in store for Jerusalem? The great day of the Lord is a
52:29
day of judgement under the hand of God, the mighty warrior.
52:35
How can God be so jealous that he wants to destroy the whole
52:39
earth? Zephaniah gives a dreadful
52:41
depiction of the Day of the Lord.
52:43
Scripture commonly associates the Day of the Lord with God's
52:47
final judgement, the total defeat of his enemies.
52:51
However, the Day of the Lord also involves the protection and
52:56
restoration of God's people, as Zephaniah later indicates.
53:03
Will God really destroy all who live on earth?
53:06
This is poetic language used to communicate the vast extent of
53:11
God's righteous judgment. God had promised Noah and his
53:15
sons that he would never again destroy all living creatures
53:19
with a flood. Even when God is angry, we cling
53:24
to that promise. And God keeps his word.
53:27
Though he has good reason to give up on us, he doesn't.
53:31
He keeps pursuing us so that so that we might become those he
53:37
intends us to be. The only way that can happen is
53:40
by a full surrender, by a, by obedience to God, giving up our,
53:46
our sinful ways and turning to God and agreeing with God that
53:51
we will be, we want to be obedient.
53:54
Maybe we need help with that and God will help us.
53:57
But he's it says that God never gives us any temptation that has
54:03
not been given to mankind before.
54:07
And when we and he doesn't tempt us either, but he allows
54:12
temptation to come into our life and he always gives us a way
54:17
out. That's what we need to remember
54:20
from Scripture. There's always a way out.
54:22
It's not we are not like forcibly made to decide to do
54:27
our sin. No, God gives us, we have the
54:31
free will. We have a way out.
54:33
And so it's we can avoid it. It's just that we don't choose
54:38
to avoid it. And that's what we need to stop
54:40
doing if we want to submit to God.
54:45
And so anyway, and also about does God really destroy all who
54:50
live on the earth? There's, I think it's in
54:52
Zechariah. There's a chapter in there
54:56
because I had that question myself.
54:58
And it talks about the survivors.
55:01
So there are some that survive, actually, probably not many, but
55:06
it does talk about the survivors.
55:08
There are a few survivors, or maybe it's just God's people who
55:12
are the survivors and we're here, but we're protected.
55:16
I don't know. I mean, we'll only know this in
55:18
hindsight. There's a lot of things in
55:20
Scripture that we can't know. We can only speculate.
55:23
But when it happens, then we'll be able to see.
55:26
And then when it's over, will it really matter?