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The Complete Story of the Bible – From the Creation of the World to the Apocalypse · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the complete story of the Bible, from the
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  Speaker 1: very first moment when God spoke light into existence, all
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  Speaker 1: the way to the final vision of a new heaven
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  Speaker 1: and new Earth. This is the greatest story ever told,
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  Speaker 1: spanning thousands of years and showing us how God has
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  Speaker 1: been working throughout history to bring humanity back to himself.
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  Speaker 1: You'll meet heroes and villains, witness incredible miracles, and discover
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  Speaker 1: how every promise God made comes true. From Adam in
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  Speaker 1: a perfect garden to Jesus on a cross, from Noah's
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  Speaker 1: ark to John's revelation, every chapter builds toward the ultimate
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  Speaker 1: plan of salvation that changes everything. In the beginning, there
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  Speaker 1: was nothing except God, no stars, no planets, no light,
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  Speaker 1: just complete emptiness and darkness everywhere. Then something amazing happened
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  Speaker 1: that would change everything forever. Genesis one one to three
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  Speaker 1: tells us exactly how it started. In the beginning, God
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  Speaker 1: created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was
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  Speaker 1: formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep,
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  Speaker 1: and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
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  Speaker 1: And God said, let there be light. And there was
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  Speaker 1: light for six days. God spoke and things appeared. First
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  Speaker 1: came light, then sky, then dry land and seas. Plants
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  Speaker 1: sprouted from the ground. The sun and moon took their
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  Speaker 1: places in the sky, and every kind of animal filled
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  Speaker 1: the earth, water and air. Each day God looked at
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  Speaker 1: what he had made and said it was good. But
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  Speaker 1: the sixth day was different. Genesis one twenty six to
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven shows us God's most important decision. Then God said,
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  Speaker 1: let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
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  Speaker 1: so that they may rule over the fish in the sea,
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  Speaker 1: and the birds in the sky, over the live stock,
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  Speaker 1: and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures
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  Speaker 1: that move along the ground. So God created mankind in
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  Speaker 1: his own image, in the image of God. He created
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  Speaker 1: them male and female. He created them unlike everything else
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  Speaker 1: that God simply spoke into existence, making the first man
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  Speaker 1: was special. Genesis two seven describes it this way. Then
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  Speaker 1: the Lord God formed a man from the dust of
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  Speaker 1: the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
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  Speaker 1: and the man became a living being. This man was Adam,
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  Speaker 1: and he was different from every other creature because he
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  Speaker 1: had God's own breath in him. God didn't just create
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  Speaker 1: Adam and leave him anywhere he prepared a perfect place
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  Speaker 1: called Eden. Genesis two eight to nine paints the picture. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord God had planted a garden in the east
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  Speaker 1: in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out
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  Speaker 1: of the ground, trees that were pleasant to sight and
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  Speaker 1: good for food. In the middle of the garden were
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  Speaker 1: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of good and evil. Adam had everything he could want,
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  Speaker 1: but God knew something was missing. Genesis two eighteen records
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  Speaker 1: God's observation. The Lord God said, it is not good
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  Speaker 1: for the man to be alone. I will make a
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  Speaker 1: helper suitable for him. So God brought every animal to
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  Speaker 1: Adam to name, but none was the right companion for him.
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  Speaker 1: God's solution was beautiful. Genesis two to twenty one to
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  Speaker 1: twenty two tells us So the Lord God caused the
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  Speaker 1: man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he
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  Speaker 1: was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs, and
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  Speaker 1: then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord
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  Speaker 1: God made a woman from the rib he had taken
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  Speaker 1: out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
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  Speaker 1: Adam was thrilled with this new person who was like him,
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  Speaker 1: and he called her Eve. Life in Eden was perfect,
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  Speaker 1: but there was one rule. Genesis two sixteen to seventeen
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  Speaker 1: records God's only command, and the Lord God commanded the man,
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  Speaker 1: you are free to eat from every tree in the garden,
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  Speaker 1: but you must not eat from the tree of the
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  Speaker 1: knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it,
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  Speaker 1: you will certainly die. Everything changed when the serpent appeared.
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  Speaker 1: He was sneaky and convinced Eve to question God's word.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis three one shows how it started. Now, the serpent
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  Speaker 1: was more crafty than any of the wild animals the
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  Speaker 1: Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did
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  Speaker 1: God really say you must not eat from any tree
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  Speaker 1: in the garden. The serpent twisted God's words and made
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  Speaker 1: Eve doubt what she knew was true. Genesis three four
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  Speaker 1: to five records his lie. You will not certainly die,
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  Speaker 1: the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that
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  Speaker 1: when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened,
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  Speaker 1: and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
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  Speaker 1: The fruit looked good, and the promise of wisdom was tempting.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis three to six tells us what happened next. When
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  Speaker 1: the woman and saw that the fruit of the tree
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  Speaker 1: was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and
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  Speaker 1: also desirable for gaining wisdom. She took some and ate it.
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  Speaker 1: She also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
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  Speaker 1: and he ate it. Everything changed in that moment. Their
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  Speaker 1: innocence was gone, and they felt shame for the first time.
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  Speaker 1: When God came walking in the garden, they hid from him,
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  Speaker 1: but God knew what had happened and called out to them.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis three nine to eleven shows the confrontation. But the
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  Speaker 1: Lord God called to the man, where are you? He answered,
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  Speaker 1: I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid
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  Speaker 1: because I was naked, so I hid. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten
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  Speaker 1: from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from.
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  Speaker 1: Adam tried to blame both Eve and God, while Eve
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  Speaker 1: blamed the serpent, but there was no escaping what they
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  Speaker 1: had done. God gave them punishments. The serpent would crawl,
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  Speaker 1: Eve would have pain in childbirth, Adam would struggle to
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  Speaker 1: grow food, and death would come to all of them.
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  Speaker 1: Yet even in judgment, God showed mercy by making clothes
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  Speaker 1: for them and promising that someday someone would defeat the
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  Speaker 1: serpent who had caused all this trouble. Outside Eden, Adam
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  Speaker 1: and Eve started their new life and had children. Their
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  Speaker 1: first son was Cain, and Genesis four one records Eve's
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  Speaker 1: words at his birth, with the help of the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: I have brought forth a man. Then came Abel, and
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  Speaker 1: the two brothers grew up, choosing different jobs. Genesis four
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  Speaker 1: two tells us that Abel kept flocks and Cain worked
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  Speaker 1: the soil. When it came time to worship God, both
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  Speaker 1: brothers brought offerings. Genesis four three de s afore describes
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  Speaker 1: what happened in the course of time. Cain brought some
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  Speaker 1: of the fruits of the soil as an offering to
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, and Abel also brought an offering fat portions
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  Speaker 1: from some of the first born of his flock. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but
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  Speaker 1: on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
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  Speaker 1: God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cain's, and this made
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  Speaker 1: Cain furious. God warned him in Genesis four six to seven.
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  Speaker 1: Then the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry?
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  Speaker 1: Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right,
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  Speaker 1: will you not be accepted. But if you do not
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  Speaker 1: do what is right, sin is crouching at your door.
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  Speaker 1: It desires to have you, but you must rule over it.
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  Speaker 1: But Cain didn't listen to God's warning. His jealousy grew
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  Speaker 1: until it became something terrible. Genesis four eight records the
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  Speaker 1: first murder in human history. Now, Cain said to his
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  Speaker 1: brother Abel, let's go out to the field. While they
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  Speaker 1: were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and
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  Speaker 1: killed him. When God asked where Abel was, Cain lied
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  Speaker 1: and asked if he was his brother's keeper. But God
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  Speaker 1: already knew what had happened. Genesis four ten eleven shows
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  Speaker 1: God's response, The Lord said, what have you done? Listen,
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  Speaker 1: Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
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  Speaker 1: Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground,
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  Speaker 1: which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from
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  Speaker 1: your hand. Cain became a wanderer, but God still protected
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  Speaker 1: him from being killed by others. The family line continued
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  Speaker 1: through another son, Seth, whom Eve said God gave her
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  Speaker 1: to replace Abel. Genesis five lists the generations from Adam
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  Speaker 1: to Noah, showing how people lived much longer in those days,
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  Speaker 1: some for over nine hundred years. As generations passed, people
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  Speaker 1: multiplied on the earth, but they also became more and
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  Speaker 1: more evil. Genesis six five describes how bad things got.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human
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  Speaker 1: race had become on the earth, and that every inclination
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  Speaker 1: of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil
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  Speaker 1: all the time. This broke God's heart, and he decided
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  Speaker 1: to start over with the earth. But there was one
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  Speaker 1: man who was different. Genesis six eight to nine tells
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  Speaker 1: us about him. But Noah found favor in the eyes
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord. This is the account of Noah and
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  Speaker 1: his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the
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  Speaker 1: people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
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  Speaker 1: God decided to save Noah and his family from the
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  Speaker 1: judgment that was coming. Genesis six thirteen to fourteen records
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  Speaker 1: God's instructions. So God said to Noah, I am going
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  Speaker 1: to put an end to all people, for the earth
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  Speaker 1: is filled with violence because of them. I'm surely going
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  Speaker 1: to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself
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  Speaker 1: an ark of cypress wood, make rooms in it, and
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  Speaker 1: coat it with pitch inside and out. The ark was huge,
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  Speaker 1: four hundred fifty feet long, seventy five feet wide, and
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  Speaker 1: forty five feet high. God told Noah to bring two
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  Speaker 1: of every kind of animal, plus seven pairs of clean
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  Speaker 1: animals and birds. Genesis seven to one shows God's final instruction.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord then said to Noah, go into the ark,
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  Speaker 1: you and your whole family, because I have found you
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  Speaker 1: righteous in this generation. Noah obeyed God completely, even though
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  Speaker 1: it probably seemed crazy to build such a huge boat
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  Speaker 1: when there wasn't enough water around to float it. But
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  Speaker 1: Genesis seven eleven to twelve describes what happened next in
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  Speaker 1: the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the Yee
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  Speaker 1: seventeenth day of the second month. On that day, all
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  Speaker 1: the springs of the Great Deep burst forth, and the
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  Speaker 1: flood gates of the heavens were opened, and rain fell
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  Speaker 1: on the earth. Forty days and forty nights, water covered everything,
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  Speaker 1: even the highest mountains. Genesis seven twenty one twenty tree
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  Speaker 1: tells us the result, every living thing that moved on
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  Speaker 1: land perished, birds, live, stark, wild animals, all the creatures
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  Speaker 1: that swarm over the earth, and all mankind, everything on
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  Speaker 1: dry land that had the breath of life in its
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  Speaker 1: nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the
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  Speaker 1: earth was wiped out. People and animals and the creatures
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  Speaker 1: that move along the ground, and the birds were wiped
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  Speaker 1: from the earth. Only Noah was left and those with
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  Speaker 1: him in the ark. For over a year, Noah and
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  Speaker 1: his family lived in the ark while the waters slowly
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  Speaker 1: went down. Finally, the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat.
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  Speaker 1: Noah sent out birds to test if the land was dry,
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  Speaker 1: and when a dove returned with an olive leaf, he
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  Speaker 1: knew the water was going down. Genesis eight twenty shows
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  Speaker 1: what Noah did first when he got out. Then Noah
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  Speaker 1: built an altar to the Lord, and taking some of
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  Speaker 1: all the clean animals and clean birdords, he sacrificed burnt
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  Speaker 1: offerings on it. God was pleased with Noah's worship and
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  Speaker 1: made a promise that would last forever. Genesis nine eleven
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  Speaker 1: to thirteen records this covenant. I establish my covenant with you.
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  Speaker 1: Never again will all life be destroyed by a flood.
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  Speaker 1: Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.
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  Speaker 1: And God said, this is the sign of the covenant
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  Speaker 1: I am making between me and you and every living
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  Speaker 1: creature with you a covenant for all generations to come.
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  Speaker 1: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it
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  Speaker 1: will be the sign of the covenant between me and
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  Speaker 1: the earth. After the flood, Noah's sons had many children,
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  Speaker 1: and people began to fill the earth again, but instead
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  Speaker 1: of spreading out like God wanted, they stayed together in
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  Speaker 1: one place. Genesis eleven point one tells us now the
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  Speaker 1: whole world had one language and a common speech. These
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  Speaker 1: people had a proud idea. Genesis eleven three four describes
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  Speaker 1: their plan. They said to each other, come, let's make
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  Speaker 1: bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of
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  Speaker 1: stone and tar for mortar. Then they said, come, let
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  Speaker 1: us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches
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  Speaker 1: to the heavens, so that we may make a name
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  Speaker 1: for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered over the face
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  Speaker 1: of the whole earth. They wanted to build a tower
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  Speaker 1: so tall it would reach heaven, thinking this would make
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  Speaker 1: them famous and keep them from being scattered. But God
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  Speaker 1: came down to see what they were doing, and he
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  Speaker 1: wasn't pleased with their pride. Genesis eleven six seven shows
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  Speaker 1: God's response. The Lord said, if as one people speaking
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  Speaker 1: the same language they have begun to do this, then
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  Speaker 1: nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come,
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  Speaker 1: let us go down and confuse their language so they
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  Speaker 1: will not understand each other. God mixed up their language
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  Speaker 1: so they couldn't understand each other any more. Genesis eleven
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  Speaker 1: eight to nine tells us what happened. So the Lord
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  Speaker 1: scattered them from there over all the earth, and they
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  Speaker 1: stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel,
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  Speaker 1: because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.
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  Speaker 1: From there, the Lord scattered them over the face of
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  Speaker 1: the whole earth. This is how different languages and nations began,
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  Speaker 1: and it set the stage for God's next great plan.
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  Speaker 1: In the city of Er lived a man named Abram,
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  Speaker 1: who worshiped the One True God while everyone around him
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  Speaker 1: worshiped idols. One day, God spoke to him with an
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  Speaker 1: amazing offer. Genesis twelve one took to three records God's call.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord had said to Abram, go from your country,
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  Speaker 1: your people, and your father's household to the land I
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  Speaker 1: will show you. I will make you in to a
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  Speaker 1: great nation, and I will bless you. I will make
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  Speaker 1: your name great and you will be a blessing. I
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  Speaker 1: will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you,
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  Speaker 1: I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be
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  Speaker 1: blessed through you. This was an incredible promise. God was
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  Speaker 1: going to make Abram into a great nation, bless him,
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  Speaker 1: and through him, bless the whole world. Genesis twelve four
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  Speaker 1: shows Abram's response. So Abram went as the Lord told him,
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  Speaker 1: and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy five years
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  Speaker 1: old when he set out from Haron. Abram took his
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  Speaker 1: wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, and all their possessions and servants,
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  Speaker 1: and started walking toward a land he had never seen.
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  Speaker 1: When they reached Canaan, God appeared to Abram again. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: twelve seven records this moment. The Lord appeared to Abram
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  Speaker 1: and said, to your offspring, I will give this land.
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  Speaker 1: So he built an altar there to the Lord who
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  Speaker 1: had appeared to him. But there was a problem with
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  Speaker 1: God's promise to make Abram a great nation. Abram and
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  Speaker 1: Sarai had no children, and they were getting old. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: fifteen two three shows Abram's concern, But Abram said, Sovereign Lord,
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  Speaker 1: what can you give me since I remain childless, and
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  Speaker 1: the one who will inherit my estate is Elieaser of Damascus.
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  Speaker 1: And Abram said, you have given me no children, so
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  Speaker 1: a servant in my household will be my heir. God
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  Speaker 1: took Abram outside and showed him the stars. Genesis fifteen
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  Speaker 1: five two six records God's response. He took him outside
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  Speaker 1: and said, look up at the sky and count the stars.
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  Speaker 1: If indeed you can count them, then he said to him,
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  Speaker 1: so shall your offspring be. Abram believed the Lord, and
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  Speaker 1: he credited it to him as righteousness. Years passed and
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  Speaker 1: still no child came. Sarai suggests did that Abram have
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  Speaker 1: a child with her servant, Hagar, which was a common
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  Speaker 1: practice in those days. Genesis sixteen fifteen tells us so
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  Speaker 1: Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name
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  Speaker 1: Ishmael to the son she had borne, But this wasn't
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  Speaker 1: the child God had promised. When Abram was ninety nine
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  Speaker 1: years old, God appeared to him again and changed his name.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis seventeen five explains, no longer will you be called Abram.
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  Speaker 1: Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you
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  Speaker 1: a father of many nations. God also changed Sarah's name
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  Speaker 1: to Sarah and promised that she would have a son,
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  Speaker 1: even though she was ninety years old. Genesis eighteen ten
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  Speaker 1: fourteen shows how this promise was confirmed. Then one of
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  Speaker 1: them said, I will surely return to you about this
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  Speaker 1: time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will have a son. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which
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  Speaker 1: was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old,
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  Speaker 1: and Sarah was past the age of child bearing. So
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  Speaker 1: Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, after I am
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  Speaker 1: worn out and my lord is old, will I now
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  Speaker 1: have this pleasure? Then the Lord said to Abraham. Why
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  Speaker 1: did Sarah laugh and say, will I really have a
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  Speaker 1: child now that I am old? Is anything too hard
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  Speaker 1: for the Lord? I will return to you at the
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  Speaker 1: appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son
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  Speaker 1: sure enough. Genesis twenty one one three records the miracle.
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  Speaker 1: Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said,
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  Speaker 1: and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in
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  Speaker 1: his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
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  Speaker 1: Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
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  Speaker 1: Isaac grew up as the child of promise. But God
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  Speaker 1: had one more test for Abraham. Genesis twenty two one
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  Speaker 1: two describes it. Some time later God tested Abraham. He
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  Speaker 1: said to him, Abraham, here I am, he replied. Then
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  Speaker 1: God said, take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac,
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  Speaker 1: and go to the region of Mariah. Sacrifice him there
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  Speaker 1: as a burnt offering on a mountain. I will show you.
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  Speaker 1: This was the hardest thing God could ask. But Abraham
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  Speaker 1: trusted God completely. He took Isaac to the mountain, built
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  Speaker 1: an altar, and was about to sacrifice his son when
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  Speaker 1: God stopped him. Genesis twenty two eleven to twelve shows
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  Speaker 1: what happened. But the Angel of the Lord called out
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  Speaker 1: to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, here I am, he replied.
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  Speaker 1: Do not lay a hand on the boy. He said,
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  Speaker 1: do not do anything to him. Now I know that
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  Speaker 1: you fear God, because you have not withheld from me
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  Speaker 1: your son, your only son. God provided a ram for
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  Speaker 1: the sacrifice instead, and blessed Abraham even more because of
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  Speaker 1: his faith. When Isaac grew up, Abraham found him a
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  Speaker 1: wife named Rebeccah. Genesis twenty five twenty one tells us
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  Speaker 1: about their family. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf
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  Speaker 1: of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: his prayer and his wife, Rebecca, became pregnant. But this
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: pregnancy was unusual. Genesis twenty five twenty two to twenty
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: three describes it. The babies jostled each other within her,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: and she said, why is this happening to me? So
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: to her, two nations are in your womb, and two
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: peoples from within you will be separated. One people will
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: be stronger than the other, and the older will serve
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: the younger. When the twins were born, the first was
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: red and hairy, so they named him Esau. The second
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: came out holding Esau's heel, so they called him Jacob,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: which means he grasps the heel. Genesis twenty five twenty
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: seven twenty eight shows how different they were. The boys
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. One day,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: Esau came home very hungry from hunting, and Jacob was
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: cooking stew. Genesis twenty five twenty nine thirty four records
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: what happened Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: came in from the open country. Famished. He said to Jacob, quick,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: let me have some of that red stew. I'm famished.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Jacob replied, first, sell me your birthright. Look I am
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: about to die. Esau said, what good is the birthright
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: to me? But Jacob said, swear to me first, so
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: He ate and drank, and then got up and left,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: so Esau despised his birthright. Later, when Isaac was old
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: and nearly blind, he wanted to bless Esou before he died,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: but Rebeccah helped Jacob trick his father into giving him
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: the blessing instead. When Esau found out, he was furious
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and planned to kill Jacob after Isaac died, so Jacob
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: had to run away from home. On his journey, God
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: appeared to Jacob in a dream. Genesis twenty eighth thirteen
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: twenty fifteen shows God's promise. There above it stood the Lord,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: and he said, I am the Lord, the God of
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. I will
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: give you and your descendants the land on which you
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the earth, and you will spread out to the west
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: and to the east, to the north and to the south.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: your offspring. I am with you and will watch over
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: you wherever you go, and I will bring you back
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: to this land. I will not leave you until I
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: have done what I have promised you. Jacob worked for
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: his uncle Laban for twenty years, married Leah and Rachel,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: and had twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: of Israel. Eventually, God changed Jacob's name to Israel after
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: he wrestled with an angel all night. Jacob loved Joseph
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: more than his other sons because he was born when
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Jacob was old. Genesis thirty seven three tells us now
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: because he had been born to him in his old age,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: and he made an ornate robe for him. This made
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Joseph's brothers jealous, especially when Joseph told them about dreams
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: where they bowed down to him. One day, Jacob sent
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Joseph to check on his brothers, who were taking care
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of the sheep far from home. Genesis thirty seventh eighteen
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: to twenty shows what the brothers planned. But they saw
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: him in the distance, and before he reached them, they
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: plotted to kill him. Here comes that dreamer, They said
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: to each other, Come now, let's kill him and throw
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: him into one of these cisterns and say that a
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: his dreams. Reuben tried to save Joseph by suggesting they
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: just throw him in a pit, planning to rescue him later.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: But while Reuben was away, the other brothers sold Joseph
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: to traders going to Egypt. Genesis thirty seven twenty eight records.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: So when the Midia Nite merchants came by, his brothers
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites. Who took
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: him to Egypt. In Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: an important official. Genesis thirty nine two to four shows
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: how God blessed Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph so
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: that he prospered, and he lived in the house of
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: was with him, and that the Lord gave him success
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: But Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, and when he refused,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: she falsely accused him. Joseph was thrown in prison, but
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: even there God was with him. Genesis thirty nine twenty
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: one tells us but while Joseph was there in the prison,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the Lord was with him. He showed him kindness and
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: In prison, Joseph interpreted dreams for Pharaoh's baker and cupbearer.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Two years later, Pharaoh had troubling dreams that no one
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: could understand. The cup bearer remembered Joseph, and Pharaoh called
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: for him. Genesis forty one twenty five tasks to twenty
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: seven shows Joseph's interpretation. Then, Joseph said to Pharaoh, the
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: heads of grain are seven years. It is one and
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind. They
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: are seven years of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: he made Joseph second in command over all Egypt. Genesis
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: forty one forty forty one records Pharaoh's words, you shall
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: be in charge of my palace, and all my people
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the throne. Will I be greater than you, So Pharaoh
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: said to Joseph, I hereby put you in charge of
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: the whole land of Egypt. During the seven years of plenty,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Joseph stored up grain. When the famine came, people from
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: many countries came to Egypt to buy food, including Joseph's brothers.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: They didn't recognize him, but he knew them. Immediately after
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: testing them to see if they had changed, Joseph revealed
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: who he was. Genesis forty five forty five shows this
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: emotional moment. Then, Joseph said to his brothers, come close
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: to me. When they had done so, he said, I
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: am your brother, Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: And now do not be distressed, and do not be
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Joseph forgave his brothers and invited the whole family to
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: come live in Egypt. Genesis forty six twenty seven tells
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: us the number with the two sons who had been
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: born to Joseph in Egypt. The members of Jacob's family
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: which went to Egypt. Egypt were seventy in all. Jacob,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: now called Israel, moved his entire family to Egypt, where
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: they would live for the next four hundred years. This
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: ended the Book of Genesis, with God's chosen people in
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: a foreign land, but still under his protection and care.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Four hundred years had passed since Joseph brought his family
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: to Egypt. The Israelites had grown from seventy people to
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: a nation of millions, but things had changed dramatically. Exodus
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: one eight to ten explains what happened. Then a new king,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. Look,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: he said to his people, the Israelites have become far
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: too numerous for us. Come. We must deal shrewdly with them,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: or they will become even more numerous, and if war
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: leave the country. The Egyptians made the Israelites slave and
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: forced them to build cities and work in brutal conditions.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: When that didn't stop their growth, Pharaoh ordered something terrible.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Exodus one twenty two records his command. Then Pharaoh gave
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: this order to all his people. Every Hebrew boy that
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: is born, you must throw into the Nile, but let
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: every girl live. One Hebrew woman hid her baby boy
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: for three months, then made a basket and put him
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: in the river, where Pharaoh's daughter would find him. Exodus
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: two five to six tells us what happened. Then Pharaoh's
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: attendants were walking along the river bank, she saw the
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: was crying, and she felt sorry for him. This is
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: one of the Hebrew babies, she said. The princess adopted
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: the baby and named him Moses. He grew up in
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh's palace, but never forgot he was Hebrew. When he
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: was forty years old, he saw an Egyptian beating a
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Hebrew slave and killed the Egyptian. When Pharaoh found out,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Moses had to run away to the desert, where he
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: became a shepherd for forty years. One day, while watching sheep,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Moses saw something amazing. Exodus three two four describes it. There,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: of fire from within a bush Moses, who saw that
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: So Moses thought, I will go over and see this
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: strange sight. Why the bush does not burn up. When
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: the Lord saw that he had gone over to look,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: God called to him from within the bush Moses Moses,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: and Moses said, here I am God told Moses he
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: had heard the cries of his people in Egypt and
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: was going to rescue them. Exodus three ten shows God's plan.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: So now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. Moses was
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: afraid and made excuses, but God promised to be with
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: him and even let his brother Aaron help him speak.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and demanded that he
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: let God's people go. Exodus five one two records this
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: first meeting. Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: let my people go so that they may hold a
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: festival to me in the wilderness. Pharaoh said, who is
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: I do not know the Lord, and I will not
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: let Israel go. Instead of letting them go, Pharaoh made
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: their work even harder. So God sent ten terrible plagues
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: on Egypt to show his power. The Nile River turned
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: to blood, Frogs covered the land, nats formed everywhere, flies
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: filled the houses, Livestock died, painful boils broke out on people,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Hail destroyed crops, locusts ate what was left, and darkness
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: covered the land for three days. Each time a plague came,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh would promise to let the Israelites go, but when
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: it stopped, he would change his mind. Finally, God announced
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: the worst plague of all. Exodus eleven four to five
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: describes it. So Moses said, this is what the Lord
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: says about midnight. I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: of the female slave who is at her hand mill,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: and all the first born of the cattle as well.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: But God provided a way for the Israelites to be protected.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Exodus twelve twelve thirteen explains on that same night, I
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: will pass through Egypt and strike down the first born
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: The blood will be a sign for you on the
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: houses where you are, and when I see the blood,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: When I strike Egypt. Each family had to kill a
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: perfect lamb and put its blood on their door frames.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: They cooked the lamb and ate it with unleavened bread.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: Ready to leave quickly. That night, the Angel of Death
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: passed through Egypt, but when he saw the blood, he
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: passed over those houses. Exodus twelve twenty nine thirty tells
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: what happened at midnight. The Lord struck down all the
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: first born in Egypt, from the first born of Pharaoh
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: who sat on the throne, to the first born of
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and the first
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: born of all the live stock as well. Pharaoh and
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: the night, and there was loud way in Egypt, for
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: there was not a house without someone dead. Pharaoh finally
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: let them go, and the Israelites left Egypt that very
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: night after a four hundred and thirty years of living there.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: About two million Israelites left Egypt with their flocks and herds,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: but God didn't lead them the shortest way to the
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: promised land. Exodus thirteenth seventeen to eighteen explains why when
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter,
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: for God said if they faced war, they might change
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: God guided them with a special sign. Exodus thirteen twenty
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: one twenty two describes it. By day the Lord went
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: them on their way, and by night in a pillar
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: of fire to give them light, so that they could
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: by day nor the pillar of fire by night left
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: its place in front of the people. But soon they
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: faced a terrible problem. Pharaoh changed his mind about letting
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: them go and chased after them with his entire army.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Exodus fourteen nine to ten tells us the Egyptians, all
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops, pursued the Israelites
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: and overtook them as they camped by the sea near
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: pi Hahiroth, opposite Balzephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: were terrified and cried out to the Lord. The people
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: were trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: They panicked and blamed Moses for bringing them out to
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: die in the desert, but Moses trusted God completely. Exodus
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: fourteen thirteen to fourteen recalled his response. Moses answered, the people,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: you see today you will never see again. The Lord
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: will fight for you. You need only to be still.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: Then God did something incredible. Exodus fourteen twenty one twenty
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: two describes the miracle. Then Moses stretched out his hand
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: the sea back with a strong east wind and turned
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: wall of water on their right and on their left.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: The Egyptians followed them into the sea. But when all
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: the Israelites were safely across, God told Moses to stretch
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: out his hand again. Exodus fourteen twenty seven to twenty
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: eight shows what happened. Moses stretched out his hand over
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: the sea, and at daybreak, the sce went back to
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: and covered the chariots and horsemen. The entire army of
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea, not
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: one of them survived. The Israelites were amazed at God's
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: power and sang songs of praise, but their joy didn't
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: last long. Three days later, they couldn't find water, and
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: when they did find some, it was too bitter to drink.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: They complained to Moses, and God showed him how to
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: make the water sweet. This became a pattern in the desert.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: When they ran out of food, they complained, so God
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: sent quail in the evening and manner every morning except
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: the Sabbath. Exodus sixteen fourteen to fifteen describes this miracle food.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: saw it, they said to each other, what is it?
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: They did not know what it was. Moses said to them,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: it is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: When they needed water again, God told Moses to strike
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: a rock with his staff and water poured out. When
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: enemies attacked them, Moses held up his hands and they
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: won the battle. Every need was met, but the people
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: kept complaining and wanting to go back to Egypt. Three
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites came to Mount Sinai.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: This was where God had first spoken to Moses from
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: the burning bush, and now he was going to give
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: them his laws. Exodus nineteen the three to six records
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: God's message. Then Moses went up to God, and the
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Lord called to him from the mountain and said, this
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: and what you are to tell the people of Israel.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: to myself. Now, if you obey me fully and keep
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: my treasured possession, although the whole earth is mine. You
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: will be for me a kingdom of priests and a
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: holy nation. The people agreed to obey God, so he
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: told them to prepare for something amazing. For three days,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: they washed their clothes and got ready. On the third day,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: something incredible happened. Exodus nineteen sixteen to eighteen describes it.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: On the morning of the third day, there was thunder
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain and
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: Then Moses led the people out of the camp to
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: meet with God, and they stood at the foot of
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: mountain trembled. Violent. God called Moses up the mountain and
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: gave him the Ten Commandments. Exodus twenty one seventeen lists
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: these basic rules for living. Worship only God. Don't make idols,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: don't misuse God's name, keep the Sabbath day holy, honor
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: your parents, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: lie about others, and don't want what belongs to someone else.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: But God gave them much more than just ten rules.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: He gave detailed laws about how to treat servants, what
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: to do if someone gets hurt, how to handle property disputes,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: and many other practical matters for daily life. The people
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: were so afraid of God's power that they asked Moses
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: to be the one to speak with God and then
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: tell them what he said. God also gave Moses detailed
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: plans for building a special tent called the Tabernacle, where
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: he would live among his people. Exodus twenty five eight
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: to nine shows God's purpose. Then have them make a
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: I will show you. The tabernacle was beautiful and complex.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: It had an outer courtyard with a bronze altar for
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: sacrifices and a basin for washing. Inside the tent were
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: two rooms, the Holy Place with a golden lamp stand,
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: a table for special bread and an altar for burning incense,
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: and the most Holy Place with the ark of the Covenant,
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: where God's presence would dwell. God chose moses brother Aaron,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: and his sons to be priests who would offer sacrifices
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: and take care of the tabernacle. He gave detailed instructions
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: about their special clothes, how they should be ordained, and
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: what sacrifices they should offer for different situations. While Moses
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: was on the mountain receiving God's laws, something terrible happened
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: in the camp below. Moses had been gone for forty days,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: and the people got impatient. Exodus thirty two one shows
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: what they did. When the people saw that Moses was
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: around Aaron and said, come make us gods who will
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: go before us. As for this fellow, Moses, who brought
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: happened to him. Aaron should have refused, but instead he
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: gave in to their demands. Exodus thirty two two to
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: four records his terrible decision. Aaron answered them, take off
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: the gold ear rings that your wives, your sons, and
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me. So
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: all the people took off their earrings and brought them
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, these are
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: The people began wor worshiping this golden calf and having
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: wild parties, completely forgetting about the god who had just
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: rescued them from Egypt. Up on the mountain, God told
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: Moses what was happening, and was so angry he wanted
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: to destroy the whole nation and start over with just Moses.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: But Moses pleaded for the people, reminding God of his
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Exodus thirty two fourteen
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: tells us then the Lord relented and did not bring
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: on his people the disaster he had threatened. However, Moses
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: was about to see for himself how bad things had gotten.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: Exodus thirty two Nineteeneen twenty describes what happened when Moses
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: came down the mountain. When Moses approached the camp and
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned, and
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: to pieces at the foot of the mountain, and he
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: took the calf the people had made and burned it
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: in the fire. Then he ground it to powder, scattered
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: Moses was furious with Aaron for leading the people into sin.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: He called for everyone who was still loyal to God
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: to come to him, and the tribe of Levi responded.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Moses ordered them to go through the camp and execute
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the worst offenders. About three thousand people died that day
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: because of their rebellion. Moses went back up the mountain
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: to ask God to forgive the people. God agreed to
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: continue leading them, but said his angel would go with
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: them instead of his personal presence. This made Moses very sad,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: and he pleaded with God not to abandon them. Exodus
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: thirty three, fifteen sixteen shows moses request. Then Moses said
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: to him, if your presence does not go with us,
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: do not send us up from here. How will anyone
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: know that you are pleased with me and with your
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: people unless you go with us. What else will distinguish
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: me and your people from all the other people on
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: the face of the earth. God was moved by moses
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: intercession and agreed to go with them personally. He also
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: made new stone tablets to replace the ones Moses had broken,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: and Moses spent another forty days on the mountain. When
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: he came down, this time, his face was shining so
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: brightly from being in God's presence that he had to
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: wear a veil. From Mount Sinai, the Israelites traveled toward
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: the Promised Land. When they reached its border, Moses sent
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: twelve spies to explore the land and bring back a report.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Numbers thirteen twenty seven twenty eight shoes what they found.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: They gave Moses this account. We went into the land
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: to which you sent us, and it does flow with
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: milk and honey. Here is its fruit. But the people
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Ten of the spies were afraid and said it would
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: be impossible to conquer the land. Only Joshua and Caleb
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: trusted that God would help them win. Numbers fourteen sixty
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: nine records their encouraging words. Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb,
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: son of Jeffannah, who were among those who had explored
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: Israelite assembly, the land we passed through and explored is
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: will lead us into that land, a land flowing with
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: do not rebel against the Lord, and do not be
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: afraid of the people of the land, because we will
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: with us. Do not be afraid of them. But the
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: people believe the fearful report instead of trusting God. They
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: even talked about choosing a new leader and going back
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: to Egypt. This made God very angry. Numbers fourteen twenty
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: two twenty three shows his judgment. Not one of them
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: who saw my glory and the signs I performed in
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: Egypt and in the wilderness, but who disobeyed me and
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: tested me ten times, Not one of them will ever
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: No one who has treated ME with contempt will ever
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: see it. God sentenced the entire adult generation to wander
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: in the desert for forty years until they all died.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: Only Joshua and Caleb would be allowed to enter the
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: promised land because they had faith in God. Numbers fourteen
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: thirty four explains the punishment for forty years. One year
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: for each of the forty days you explored the land,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: you will suffer for your sins, and know what it
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: is like to have me against you. During those forty years,
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: the people continued to complain and rebel once they grumbled
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: about the manner God provided every day, so God sent
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: poisonous snakes among them. When people were dying from snake bites,
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: they confessed their sin. Numbers twenty one eight nine tells
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: us God's solution. The Lord said to Moses, make a
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: snake and put it up on a pole. Anyone who
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: is bitten can look at it and live. So Moses
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: at the bronze snake, they lived. Another time, some men
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: named Cora, Dathan, and Aberam rebelled against moses leadership and
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: claimed they should be able to offer sacrifices too. God
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: opened up the earth and swallowed them alive, then sent
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: fire to consume two hundred and fifty men who had
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: joined their rebellion. Even Moses made a mistake that cost
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: him dearly. When the people complained about not having water.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: God told Moses to speak to a rock and it
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: would give water. But Moses was angry with the people
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: and struck the rock twice with his staff instead of
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: just speaking to it. Numbers twenty ten twelve records this incident.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: the rock, and Moses said to them, listen, you rebels,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: must we bring you water out of this rock. Then
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: because you did not trust in me enough to honor
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: will not bring this community into the land I give them.
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: Because of this disobedience, Moses would not be allowed to
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: enter the Promised Land either. While the Israelites were at
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: Mount Sinai, God gave them detailed laws about how to
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: worship him and live as his holy people. The book
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: of Leviticu contains many of these laws, especially about the
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: sacrificial system. Leviticus one one to two shows how these
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: laws were given. The Lord called to Moses and spoke
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: to him from the tent of meeting. He said, speak
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: to the Israelites, and say to them, when any one
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: God established five main types of sacrifices. The burnt offering
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: was completely burned up to show total dedication to God.
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: The grain offering was made from flour, oil, and incense
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: to thank God for his provision. The fellowship offering was
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: partially eaten by the person making the sacrifice to celebrate
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: peace with God. The sin offering was for unintentional sins,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: and the guilt offering was for specific wrongs that needed
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: to be made right. These sacrifice were important because they
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: showed that sin is serious and requires payment. Leviticus seventeen
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: eleven explains why blood was necessary for the life of
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: a creature. Is in the blood, and I have given
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: It is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: God also established special holy days for the people to
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: remember what he had done for them. The Sabbath was
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: every seventh day for rest. Passover remembered their escape from Egypt.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: The Day of Atonement was when the high priest made
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: sacrifice for the sins of the whole nation. The feast
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: of Tabernacles reminded them of living intents in the desert.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: Leviticus also contains many laws about daily life. Some foods
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: were clean and could be eaten, while others were unclean
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: and forbidden. There were laws about skin diseases, mold in houses,
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: and many other practical matters. Leviticus nineteen eighteen contains one
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: of the most important commands, do not seek revenge or
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: bear a grudge against any one among your people, but
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. The
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: goal of all these laws was to make Israel different
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: from the nations around them. Leviticus twenty twenty six states
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: God's purpose. You are to be holy to me, because
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: I the Lord, am holy, and I have set you
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: apart from the nations to be my own. The Book
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: of Numbers gets its name from two censuses. God commanded
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: Moses to take of the Israelites. The first census was
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: taken soon after they left Mount Sinai. Numbers one point
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: two to three records God's instructions take a census of
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: every man by name one by one. You and Aaron
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: are to count, according to their divisions, all the men
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: in his Israel who are twenty years old or more
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: and able to serve in the army. This census counted
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: six hundred three five hunhundred and fifty fighting men, which
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: meant the total population was probably over two million people.
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: Each tribe was given a specific place to camp around
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: the tabernacle and a specific order for marching when they moved.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: The tribe of Levi was special because God chose them
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: to take care of the tabernacle instead of fighting in
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: the army. Numbers three eleven to thirteen explains why the
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: Lord also said to Moses, I have taken the Levites
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: from among the Israelites in place of the first male
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine for
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: all the first born a mine. When I struck down
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: all the first born in Egypt, I set apart for
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: myself every first born in Israel, whether human or animal,
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: they are to be mine. I am the Lord. The
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: Levites were divided in to three groups. The descendants of
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: Kohath carried the most holy items like the ark of
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: the Covenant. The descendants of Gershon carried the curtains and coverings.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: The descendants of Mirari carried the frames and posts. Numbers
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: also tells about the organization of the army and how
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: they were to march. When God told them to move,
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: the cloud over the tabernacle was their signal. When it moved,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: they followed. When it stopped, they set up camp. The
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: second census was taken thirty eight years later, just before
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: entering the Promised Land. Numbers twenty six fifty one gives
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: the total. The total number of the men of Israel
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: was six o one one seven point thirty, almost the
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: same number, but it was an entirely new generation, since
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: all the adults from the first census had died in
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: the desert, except Joshua and Caleb. This census also included
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: the division of the land. Each tribe would receive territory
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: ba on its size, and the land would be divided
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: by casting lots to see which tribe got which area.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: As the forty years in the desert were ending, Moses
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: knew he would not enter the Promised Land with the people.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: The Book of Deuteronomy contains his final speeches to prepare
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: the new generation for life in their new home. Deuteronomy
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: one one to three sets the scene. These are the
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: of the Jordan, that is in the Araba, opposite soof
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: between Paran and tofol Laban, Hazaroth and Dizab. It takes
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: the Mount Seir road. In the fortieth year, on the
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him Concerning them,
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: Moses reminded them of everything that had happened since they
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: left Egypt, God God's faithfulness, their rebellions, and the lessons
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: they should have learned. He repeated many of the laws
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: God had given them and explained how to apply them
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: in their new land. The part of moses message was
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: about loving God completely. Deuteronomy six four to six contains
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: the most important command here, O Israel, the Lord our God.
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: The Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: all your heart and with all your soul, and with
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: all your strength. These commandments that I give you today
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: are to be on your hearts. Moses warned them about
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: the temptations they would face in the Promised Land. The
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: people living there worshiped false gods, and it would be
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: easy to copy their ways. Deuteronomy eight eleven fourteen shows
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: his concern. Be careful that you do not forget the
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: Lord your God failing to observe his commands. His laws
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: and his decrees that I am giving you this day
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: that the wise, when you eat and are satisfied, when
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: you build fine houses and settle down, and when your
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold increase,
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: become proud, and you will forget the Lord, your God,
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: of slavery. Moses also gave them promises of blessing if
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: they obeyed God, and warnings of punishment if they turned
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: away from him. He told them that if they ever
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: became unfaithful and were scattered among the nations, God would
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: still take them back if they returned to him with
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: all their hearts. Before he died, Moses appointed Joshua as
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: the new leader and blessed each of the twelve tribes.
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: Deuteronomy thirty four five to seven records the end of
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: Moses's life, and Moses, the servant of the Lord, died
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: him in Moab, in the valley opposite beth Piore, but
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: to this day no one knows where his grave is.
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died.
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: Yet his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone.
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: The Israelites mourned for Moses thirty days. He had been
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: their leader for forty years and had spoken with God
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: face to face like no one else ever had. Now
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: they were ready to enter the land God had promised
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob hundreds of years before. After
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: Moses died, God chose Joshua to lead the Israelites into
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: the promised land. Joshua had been moses assistant for forty
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: years and was one of only two spies who had
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: trusted God to give them victory. Now it was time
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: for him to step into leadership. Joshua one one three
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: records God's commission after the death of Moses, the servant
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. The Lord said to Joshua, son of Nune.
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: Moses is aid, Moses, my servant is dead. Now, then
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: you and all these people get ready to cross the
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: Jordan River into the land I am about to give
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: to them to the Israelites. I will give you every
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: God promised to be with Joshua just as he had
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: been with Moses. But Joshua needed to be strong and courageous.
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: The task ahead was enormous, conquering a land filled with
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: fortified cities and powerful armies. But God assured him that
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: no one would be able to stand against him as
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: long as he obeyed God's laws. Joshua immediately began preparing
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: the people for the crossing. He sent officers throughout the
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: camp with instructions. Joshua one ten eleven shows his orders.
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: So Joshua ordered the officers of the people go through
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: the camp and tell the people get your provisions ready.
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: to go in and take possession of the land the
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: Lord your God is giving you for your own. Before
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: crossing the river, Joshua secretly sent two spies to explore Jericho,
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: the first city they would need to conquer. The spies
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: stayed with a woman named Rahab, who lived in the
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: city wall. When the king of Jericho heard about the spies,
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: he sent soldiers to capture them, but Rahab hid them
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: on her roof under stalks of flax. Rahab had heard
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: about all the miracles God had done for Israel, and
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: she believed their God was the true God. Joshua two
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: nine eleven records her words to the spies. I know
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: that the Lord has given you this land, and that
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: a great fear of you has fallen on us, so
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: that all who live in this country are melting in
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: dried up the water of the Red Sea for you
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: when you came out of Egypt, and what you did
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and every
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: one's courage failed because of you. For the Lord, your God,
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: The Spies promised to spare Rahab and her family when
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: they conquered the city, as long as she hung a
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: scarlet cord from her window and kept their visit secret.
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: She helped them escape by lowering them down the outside
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: of the city wall with a rope. When the Spies returned,
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: they gave Joshua an encouraging report. Joshua two twenty four
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: shows their confidence. They said to Joshua, the Lord has
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: surely given the whole land into our hands. All the
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: people are melting in fear because of us. Three days later,
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: it was time to cross the Jordan River. But there
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: was a problem. It was harvest time and the river
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: was at flood stage, much wider and deeper than normal.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: How could two million people with their animals and possessions
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: get across. God had a plan that would remind them
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: of crossing the Red Sea forty years earlier. Joshua three
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: fifteen two sixteen describes the miracle. Now, the Jordan is
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: their feet touched the water's edge, the water from up
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: stream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: great distance away at a town called Adam in the
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: vicinity of Zarathan, while the water flowing down to the
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: Sea of the Araba, that is, the Dead Sea, was
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stood in
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: the middle of the dry river bed while all the
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: people crossed over. To help them remember this miracle, Joshua
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: commanded one man from each tribe to take a stone
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: from the river bed. Joshua four six to seven explains
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: the purpose. In the future, when your children ask you
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: what do these stones mean, tell them that the flow
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: the Covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan,
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: When everyone had crossed safely, the priests came up out
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: of the river bed, and immediately the water rushed back
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: to flood stage. The Israelites were now in the Promised Land,
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: and Joshua set up the twelve stones at their first
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: camp in Gilgal as a permanent reminder of God's power.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: The first major city the Israelites faced was Jericho, and
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: it was completely shut up because of their arrival. Joshua
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: six one tells us now the walls of Jericho were
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: and no one came in. The city. See semed impossible
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: to conquer with its massive walls and strong defenses. But
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: God had a very unusual battle plan. Joshua six two
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: four records God's instructions. Then the Lord said to Joshua, see,
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: king and its fighting men. March around the city once
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: with all the armed men. Do this for six days,
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: have seven priests carried trumpets of Ram's horns in front
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. This
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: must have seemed like a strange way to fight a battle,
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: but Joshua obeyed exactly. For six days, the Israelites marched
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: silently around Jericho once each day while the priests blew trumpets.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: The people inside the city must have wondered what was happening.
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: On the seventh day, everything changed. Joshua six fifteen to
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: sixteen describes what happened on the seventh day. They got
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: in the same manner, except that on that day they
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: circled the city seven times. The seventh time around when
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army shout,
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: for the Lord has given you the city. Joshua six
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: twenty tells us the result. When the trumpets sounded, the
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: army shouted and at the sound of the trumpet. When
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed, so
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: everyone charged straight in and they took the city. The
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: massive walls of Jericho fell down flat, and the Israelites
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: captured the city exactly as God had promised. They destroyed
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: everything in the city except for Rahab and her family,
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: who were spared because she had helped the spies. All
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: the silver, a gold, and articles of bronze and i
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: were taken for God's treasury, but everything else was burned. However,
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: one man disobeyed God's command about the devoted things ign
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: secretly took some items for himself and hid them in
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: his tent. This sin brought disaster on the whole nation
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: when they attacked the next city. Ai was a much
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: smaller city than Jericho, so Joshua sent only about three
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: thousand men to attack it. But something shocking happened. The
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: men of I defeated the Israelites and chased them away.
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: Joshua seven to five records the devastating result, who killed
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: about thirty six of them. They chased the Israelites from
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: the city gate as far as the stone quarries and
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: of the people melted in fear and became like water.
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: Joshua was confused and heartbroken. He fell on his face
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: before Garden, asked why this had happened. God told him
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: that some one had taken devoted things, and the whole
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: camp was under judgment until the guilty person was found
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: and punished. Through a process of casting lots, God revealed
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: that Achan was the guilty one. Joshua seven twenty twenty
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: one records Ahan's confession. Akan replied, it is true. I
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: is what I have done. When I saw in the
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath. Achan and
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: his entire family were stoned to death for this sin,
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: and then the Israelites were able to conquer I. This
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: showed them how serious it was to obey God completely.
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: From there Joshua led the conquest of the entire land.
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: They fought many battles against coalitions of kings who tried
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: to stop them. Sometimes God gave them victory through miracles,
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: like the day he made the sun stand still so
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: they would have enough daylight to complete their victory. Joshua
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: ten twelve to thirteen describes this amazing event. On the
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: said to the Lord, in the presence of Israel, sun
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: stand still over Gibeon, and ew moon over the valley
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: of Ajalon. So the sun stood still and the moon
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: stopped till the nation avenged itself on its enemies. As
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: it is written in the Book of Jeshah, the sun
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: down about a full day. Other times they won through
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: careful strategy and hard fighting. Some cities they destroyed completely,
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: while others they conquered and occupied. The conquest took about
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: seven years, and by the end they controlled most of
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: the land God had promised to give them. After the
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: major conquest was complete, it was time to divide the
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: land among the twelve tribes. This was a huge task
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: since different areas had different advantages. Some had better farmland,
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: others had important trade routes, and some had strategic military positions.
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: God had already given specific instructions about how this should
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: be done. Numbers twenty six fifty two to fifty six
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: had explained the method. The land would be divided by
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: casting lots, but the size of each territory would depend
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: on the size of each tribe. Larger tribes would get
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: more land, while smaller tribes would get less. Joshua fourteen
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: one two tells us who was in charge of this process.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Elias of the
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: priest Joshua, son of None, and the heads of the
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. Their inheritances were
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes,
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: as the Lord had commanded through Moses. Two and a
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: half tribes had already received their inheritance on the east
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: side of the Jordan River before the conquest began. The
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: Manassa had asked for this land because it was good
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: for raising cattle, and Moses had agreed as long as
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: their fighting men helped conquer the west side first. The
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: tribe of Levi didn't receive a territory like the other
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: tribes because they were set apart to serve God. Instead,
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: they were given forty eight cities scattered throughout all the
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: other tribal territories, along with pasture lands around each city
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: for their animals. Joshua twenty one to forty one summarizes
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: their inheritance. The towns of the Levites in the territory
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: held by the Israelites were forty eight in all, together
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: with their pasture lands. Caleb, who had been one of
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: the faithful spies forty years earlier, made a special request,
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: even though he was now eighty five years old. He
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: asked for the hill country around Hebron, where the fearsome
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: giants lived. Joshua fourteen twelve records his bold words, Now,
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: give me this hill country that the Lord promised me
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: that day. You yourself heard then that the Annakites were there,
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: and their cities were large and fortified. But the Lord
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: helping me, I will drive them out, just as he said.
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 1: Joshua gladly gave Caleb this challenging territory and the old
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: warrior successfully conquered it. His faith and courage were an
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: example to everyone. The process of dividing the land took
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: several years and involved surveying the remaining unconquered areas. Joshua
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: eighteen four describes how this was done. Appoint three men
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: from each tribe. I will send them out to make
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: a survey of the land and to write a description
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: of it according to the inheritance of each. Then they
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: will return to me. Each tribe received detailed boundaries describing
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: exactly where their territory began and ended. Some tribes, like
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: Judah and Ephraim, received large areas with many cities. Others,
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: like Simeon and Dan, received smaller territories. The tribe of
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: Dan had trouble conquering their assigned territory because the people
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: there were strong and had iron chariots. Eventually, most of
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: the Danites moved north and conquered a city called Laish,
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: which they renamed Dan. Joshua also designated six cities of refuge,
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: where someone who accidentally killed another person could flee for safety.
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: Three cities were on each side of the Jordan River,
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: spaced so that no one would have to travel more
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: than a day's journey to reach protection. When the division
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: was complete, the two and a half tribes who lived
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: east of the Jordan were finally allowed to return to
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: their families. They had faithfully helped conquer the west side
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: of the Jordan, as they had promised Joshua twenty two
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: four Pinn Five shows Joshua's blessing as they departed. Now
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: that the Lord your God has given them rest as
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: he promised. Returned to your homes in the land that Moses,
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: the Lord, gave you. To love the Lord your God,
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands,
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: to hold fast to him, and to serve him with
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: all your heart and with all your soul. After Joshua died,
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: something happened to the Israelites. The generation that had seen
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: God's mighty works in conquering the land began to die off,
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: and their children didn't know the Lord or what he
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: had done for Israel. Judges two ten twelve describes this
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: spiritual disaster. After that whole generation had been gathered to
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: their ancestors. Another generation grew up who knew neither the
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: served the bales. They forsook the Lord, the god of
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: They aroused the Lord's anger. This began a sad cycle
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: that would repeat over and over for about three hundred years.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: The Israelites would turn away from God and worship the
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: idols of their neighbors. God would become angry and allow
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: enemy nations to oppress them. When life became unbearable, the
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: people would cry out to God for help. God would
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: raise up a leader called a judge to deliver them.
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: The judge would lead them to victory and rule over them.
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: But when the judge died, the people would return to
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: their idols and the cycle would start all over again.
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: Judges two, sixteen nineteen explains this pattern. Then the Lord
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: raised up judges who saved them out of the hands
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges.
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: But prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: been obedient to the Lord's commands. Whenever the Lord raised
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: up a judge for them, he was with the judge
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: and saved them out of the hands of their enemies
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: as long as the judge lived, for the Lord relented
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them.
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: But when the judge died, the people returned to ways
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: up their evil practices and stubborn ways. The first oppression
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: came from Kushan Rishathaim, king of Aram, who ruled over
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: Israel for eight years. When the people cried out, God
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: raised up Othniel, Caleb's nephew, who defeated the enemy and
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: brought peace for forty years. After Othniel died, the Israelites
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 1: sinned again, and God allowed Eglon, king of Moab, to
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: conquer them. For eighteen years. The Israelites had to pay
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: heavy taxes to this fat king. Then God raised up
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: a left handed man named Ehud, who made a double
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: edged sword and hid it under his clothes. When he
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: went to deliver tribute money to King Eglon, he asked
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 1: for a private meeting and assassinated the king. Then he
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: escaped and led Israel to victory over the Moabites. The
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: cycle continued with oppression by the Philistines and deliverance by Shamgar,
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: who killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. Each time,
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: the people would be faithful for a while, then returned
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: to idolatry when their deliverer died. This period showed how
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: quickly people can forget God's goodness and how sin leads
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: to suffering. But it also showed God's patience and mercy.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: No matter how many times the people failed, he was
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: always ready to forgive them when they truly repented and
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: cried out for help. One of the most famous periods
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: of oppression came when Jabin, king of Gainan, cruelly oppressed
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: Israel for twenty years with his nine hundred iron chariots.
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: The judge God raised up this time was unusual, a
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: woman named Deborah, who was also a prophetess. Judges four
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: four five introduces her. Now Deborah a prophet, the wife
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: of Lapidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: court under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: up to her to have their disputes decided. Deborah called
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: for a man named Barak and told him God's plan
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: to defeat Jabin's army, but Barak was afraid to go
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: without her. Judges four eight hundred nine shows their conversation.
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: Barak said to her, if you go with me, I
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: will go, But if you don't go with me, I
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 1: won't go. Certainly I will go with you, said Deborah,
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: But because of the course you are taking, the honor
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: will not be yours. For the Lord will deliver Cicerrah
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: into the hands of a woman. Deborah and Barak led
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: ten thousand men against Cicerrah, the commander of Jabin's army.
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: God threw the enemy into confusion, and all their iron
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: chariots became useless. Caesera himself fled on foot and took
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: refuge in the tent of a woman named Jael. While
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: he was sleeping, Jael drove a tent peg through his head,
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: fulfilling Deborah's prophecy that a woman would get the honor
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: of defeating him. After this victory, Deborah and Barak sang
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: a beautiful song of praise, celebrating what God had done.
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: The land had peace for forty years. The next major
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: oppression came from the Midianites, who would sweep into Israel
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: at harvest time like a swarm of locusts, destroying crops
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: and stealing live stock. For seven years, they made life
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 1: miserable for the Israelites, who had to hide in caves
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: and mountains. God chose an unlikely hero to deliver them,
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: a young man named Gideon, who was secretly threshing wheat
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: in a wine press to hide it from the Midianites.
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: Judges six twelve records the angel's greeting. When the Angel
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the the
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Gideon was surprised to
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: be called a mighty warrior since he was the youngest
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: in his family and his clan was the weakest in
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: his tribe, but God promised to be with him and
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: make him victorious. First, though, Gideon had to tear down
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: his father's altar to bow and cut down the ascherapol
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: beside it. This took courage because the whole town worshiped
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: these idols. When Gideon called for volunteers to fight the Midianites,
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: thirty two thousand men responded, but God said this was
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: too many. If they won with such a large army,
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: they might think their own strength had saved them, instead
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: of giving God the credit. God told Gideon to send
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: home any one who was afraid, and twenty two thousand
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: men left, But God said ten thousand was still too many.
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: Judges seven four seven describes the final test. But the
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: Lord said to Gideon, there are still too many men.
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: Take them down to the water, and I will thin
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: them out for you there. If I say this, one
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: shall go with you, he shall go. But if I
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: say this one shall not go with you, he shall
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: not go. So Gideon took the men down to the water.
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: There the Lord told him, separate those who lap the
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: water with their tongues as a dog laps, from those
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: who kneel down to drink. Three hundred of them drank
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: Gideon with the three hundred men that lapped, I will
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: save you and give them Midian Knites into your hands.
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: Let all the others go home. With only three hundred men,
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: Gideon attacked the vast midian Nite army at night. Each
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: man carried a trumpet and a torch hidden inside a
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: clay jar. At Gideon's signal, they all blew their trumpets,
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: broke their jars, and shouted a sword for the aud
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: and for Gideon. The Midianites panicked in the darkness and
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: began fighting each other. Those who survived fled, and Israel
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: chased them and won a complete victory. Other judges included
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: Tola and Jair, who brought periods of peace, and Jephtha,
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: who defeated the Ammonites but made a tragic vow that
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: cost him his daughter's life. There was also Ibzan, Elon,
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: and Abdon, each of whom judged Israel for a time.
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: The period of the judges showed both God's power to
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: deliver his people and their tendency to forget him when
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: times were good. Each judge brought temporary relief, but the
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: underlying problem of spiritual unfaithfulness remained. The longest oppression During
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: the time of the Judges came from the Philistines, who
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: dominated Israel for forty years. The judge God raised up
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: to begin their deliverance was unlike any other, a man
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: of incredible physical strength named Samson. Before Samson was born,
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 1: an angel appeared to his parents and gave them special instructions.
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: Judges thirteen three to five records the angel's message. The
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: Angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, you
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: are barren and childless, but you are going to become
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: pregnant and give birth to a son. Now see to
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: become pregnant and give birth to a son. No razor
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 1: may be used on his head. Because the boy is
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: to be a Nazirite dedicated to God from the womb.
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: hands of the Philistines. Samson was to be a Nazirite,
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: which meant he could never cut his hair, drink alcohol,
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: or touch anything dead. As long as he kept these vows,
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: God would give him supernatural strength. Samson grew up and
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: became the strongest man who ever lived. When a young
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: lion attacked ACKed him, he tore it apart with his
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: bare hands. When the Philistines tied him up with ropes,
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: he snapped them like thread. When they trapped him in
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: a city, he picked up the city gates and carried
• 1:24:11
  Speaker 1: them to the top of a hill. His most famous
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: victory came when the Philistines gathered to celebrate in their
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: temple to their god Dagen. They brought Samson out to
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: entertain them, not knowing he was planning their destruction. Judges
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: sixteen twenty eight thirty describes his final act. Then Samson
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: prayed to the Lord, Sovereign, Lord, remember me, Please, God
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: strengthen me just once more, and let me, with one blow,
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes. Then
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 1: temple stood, bracing himself against them, his right hand on
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: the one and his left hand on the other. Samson said,
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: let me die with the Philistines. Then he pushed with
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: all his might, and down came the temple on the
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: many more when he died than while he lived. But
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: Samson's story was also tragic because he wasted his gifts
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: through poor choices. He fell in love with a Philistine
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: woman named Delilah, who kept trying to discover the secret
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: of his strength. After she nagged him repeatedly, he finally
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: told her that his strength came from his uncut hair.
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: Judges sixteen, nineteen twenty tells what happened next. After putting
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: so began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: Then she called Samson, the Philistines are upon you. Though
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: he awoke from his sleep and thought, I'll go out
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: as before and shake myself free, but he did not
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: know that the Lord had left him. The Philistines captured Samson,
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: gouged out his eyes and made him grind grain like
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: an animal. But while he was in prison, his hair
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: began to grow again, and God gave him one final
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: opportunity to serve his purpose. Samson judged Israel for twenty years,
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: but he was more of a one man army than
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: a national leader. His victories weakened the Philistines but didn't
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: completely free Israel from their oppression that would have to
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: wait for later leaders like Samuel and David. During the
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: time of the Judges, there was a beautiful story that
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: showed how God could work even in dark times. A
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: man named Elimelech took his wife, Naomi and their two
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: sons from Bethlehem to the country of Moab because of
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 1: a famine in Israel. This seemed like a good idea,
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: but it went against God's plan for his people to
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: stay in the Promised Land. In Moab, Ilimelech died and
• 1:26:56
  Speaker 1: his sons married Moabite women named Ruth and Orpah. After
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: about ten years, both sons died too, leaving Naomi alone
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: with her two daughters in law. Ruth one three five
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: summarizes these tragedies. Now Ilimelech, Naomi's husband died and she
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women,
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 1: one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: lived there about ten years, both Marlin and Killian also died,
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: When Naomi heard that the famine in Israel was over,
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: she decided to return home. She told her daughters in
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: law to stay in Moab, where they could remarry and
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: start new lives. Aupa tearfully said good bye, but Ruth
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: refused to leave Naomi. Ruth one sixteen to seventeen contains
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: Ruth's beautiful declaration of loyalty. But Ruth replied, don't urge
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: me to leave you or to turn back from you.
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: Where you go, I will go, and where you stay,
• 1:27:59
  Speaker 1: I will stay. Your people will be my people, and
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: your god my god. Where you die, I will die,
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: with me, be it ever so severely, if even death
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: separates you and me. Ruth was willing to leave everything
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: familiar and follow Naomi to a foreign country where she
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: would be an outsider. More importantly, she was choosing to
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: worship the God of Israel instead of the gods of Moab.
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: When they arrived in Bethlehem, they were very poor and
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: had no way to support themselves, but it was harvest
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: time and God's law allowed poor people to gather grain
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 1: that was left behind by the harvesters. Ruth two too
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: shows Ruth's initiative, and Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: let me go to the fields and pick up the
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: left over grain behind any one in whose eyes I
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: find favor, Naomi said to her, go ahead, my daughter.
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: By God's providence, Ruth ended up gleaning in a field
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: owned by a man named Boaz, who was a relative
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: of Naomi's deceased husband. When Boaz saw Ruth, he asked
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: about her and learned how loyal she had been to Naomi.
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: Ruth two eleven to twelve shows his response. Boas replied,
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: I've been told all about what you have done for
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 1: your mother in law since the death of your husband.
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 1: How you left your father and mother and your homeland
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: and came to live with the people you did not
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: know before. May the Lord repay you for what you
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: to take refuge. Boaz was kind to Ruth and made
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: sure she was protected and well fed. When Naomi learned
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 1: about this, she realized that Boaz was a guardian redeemer,
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: a close relative who had the right to marry Ruth
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: and continue her deceased husband's family line. Following Naomi's instructions,
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 1: Ruth approached Boaz and asked him to marry her. There
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: was one problem. There was a closer relative who had
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: the first right to redeem her. But when this man
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: learned he would have to marry Ruth and give up
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: part of his inheritance, he declined Ruth. Four nine to
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: ten records Boaz's public declaration when he married Ruth. Then
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, to
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: day you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Marlon. I have
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: also acquired Ruth, the Moabite, Marlon's widow as my wife,
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: in order to maintain the name of the dead with
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: his property, so that his name will not disappear from
• 1:30:44
  Speaker 1: among his family or from his home town. To day
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: you are witnesses. Ruth and Boaz had a son named Obed,
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: who became the father of Jesse, who became the father
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: of David, the future king of Israel. This meant that Ruth,
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: a Moabite woman, became the great grandmother of Israel's greatest king.
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: God had taken a pagan woman who showed loyalty and
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: faith and made her part of the royal line that
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: would eventually lead to the Messiah. The story of Ruth
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: shows how God can bring good out of difficult circumstances
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: and how he values character more than nationality or social status.
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: The last and greatest of the judges was Samuel, who
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 1: was different from all the others. He was not just
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: a military deliverer, but also a priest and prophet who
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: led Israel back to spiritual faithfulness. His story began before
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: he was born, when his mother, Hannah, desperately wanted a child.
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: Hannah was married to a man named el Kanna, who
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: loved her deeply, but she couldn't have children, while his
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 1: other wife, Panina, had many sons and daughters. This caused
• 1:31:57
  Speaker 1: Hannah great sorrow, especially when Paninna mocked her about being childless.
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 1: Every year, when the family went to worship at Shiloh,
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: Hannah would weep and pray for a son. First. Samuel
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 1: one ten eleven describes her desperate prayer. In her deep
• 1:32:15
  Speaker 1: anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly, and she
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: look on your servant's misery and remember me, and not
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: forget your servant, but give her a son, then I
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: will give him to the Lord for all the days
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: of his life, and no razor will ever be used
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: on his head. Hannah was praying so intensely that Eli,
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 1: the priest, thought she was drunk, but when he learned
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: about her heartfelt request, he blessed her and told her
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: to go in peace. God answered her prayer, and she
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: gave birth to a son named Samuel, which means heard
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: by God. True to her promise, Hannah brought Samuel to
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: the tabernacle when he was still very young and dedicated
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: him to serve God there. Samuel one twenty seven twenty
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 1: eight shows her faithfulness. I prayed for this child, and
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 1: the Lord has granted me what I asked of him,
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: So now I give him to the Lord for his
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: whole life. He will be given over to the Lord.
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: Samuel grew up serving in the tabernacle under Eli's supervision,
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: but Eli's own sons were wicked priests who stole from
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: the sacrifices and committed immoral acts. God was angry with
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: them and planned to judge their family. One night, when
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: Samuel was still a boy, God called to him while
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: he was sleeping. At first, Samuel thought it was Eli calling,
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: but after this happened, three times. Eli realized God was
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: speaking to the boy. First of Samuel three nine to
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: ten shows what happened next. So Eli told Samuel, go
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 1: and lie down, and if he calls you say speak, Lord,
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 1: for your servant is listening. So Samuel went and laid
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 1: down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling,
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: as at the other times Samuel Samuel. Then Samuel said, speak,
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: for your servant is listening. God told Samuel that he
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: was going to judge Eli's family because of his son's wickedness.
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: This was difficult news for a young boy to deliver,
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: but Samuel faithfully reported everything God had told him. As
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 1: Samuel grew up, God was with him and established him
• 1:34:30
  Speaker 1: as a prophet. First Samuel three nineteen to twenty tells
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: us about his reputation. The Lord was with Samuel as
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: he grew up, and he let none of Samuel's words
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: fall to the ground, and all Israel from Dan to
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: the Lord. During Samuel's leadership, the Philistines captured the Ark
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 1: of the Covenant in battle and took it to their cities,
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: but everywhere they took the ark. God sent plagues and
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: disasters until they were forced to send it back to
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 1: Israel with offerings to appease the God of Israel. Samuel
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: called the people to repentance and led them in a
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: great victory over the Philistines at Mizpah. For many years
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: he traveled in a circuit, judging Israel and leading them
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: in worship. Under his leadership, the people turned back to
• 1:35:24
  Speaker 1: God and experience peace. But as Samuel grew old, the
• 1:35:29
  Speaker 1: people made a request that broke his heart. First. Samuel
• 1:35:33
  Speaker 1: eight four to five records what happened. So all the
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: They said to him, you are old, and your sons
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: do not follow your ways. Now appoint a king to
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: lead us, such as all the other nations have. Samuel
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: was disappointed because he knew this request showed the people
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: were rejecting God as their king. God told Samuel to
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: warn them about what having a human king would cost them.
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: He would draft their sons for his army, take their
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 1: daughters to serve in his palace, tax their crops and flocks,
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: and make them his servants. Samuel eight nineteen to twenty
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 1: shows that the people didn't care about these warnings. But
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 1: the people refused to listen to Samuel. No, they said,
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: we want a king over us. Then we will be
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 1: like all the other nations, with the king to lead
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: us and to go out before us and fight our battles.
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: God told Samuel to give them what they wanted, even
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: though it wasn't his best plan for them. The age
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 1: of the judges was ending and the age of kings
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: was about to begin. Samuel had been faithful as the
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: last judge, leading Israel back to God and preparing them
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 1: for the next chapter in their history, but the people's
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: demand for a king showed they still didn't fully trust
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 1: God to be their leader and pratt When the people
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: demanded a king, God told Samuel to find a man
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: named Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: was an impressive looking man, tall, handsome, and from a
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: wealthy family. First Samuel nine two describes him Kish had
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: a son named Saul as handsome, a young man as
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 1: head taller than any one else. Saul wasn't looking to
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: become king when God chose him. He was simply searching
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: for his father's lost donkeys when he met Samuel. The
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 1: prophet secretly anointed Saul with oil and told him God
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: had chosen him to rule Israel first. Samuel ten one
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 1: records this moment. Then Samuel took a flask of olive
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying,
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance.
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: To confirm that this was really God's choice, Samuel told
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 1: Saul he would meet specific people and have certain experiences
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: on his way home. Everything happened exactly as Samuel predicted,
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: including Saul prophesying with a group of prophets, which completely
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: changed his heart. When Samuel gathered all Israel to present
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 1: their new king, Saul was so nervous he hid among
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: the baggage, But when they found him and brought him forward,
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: the people were impressed with his appearance and shouted, long
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: Live the King. Saul's first test as king came when
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: the Ammonites threatened to attack the city of Jabesh Gilead.
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 1: The enemy king offered a cruel peace treaty. He would
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: spare the city only if he could gouge out the
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: right eye of every person living there. When Saul heard
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: about this threat, the spirit of God came upon him powerfully.
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 1: Samuel eleven six to seven describes Saul's response. When Saul
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: heard their words, the spirit of God came powerfully upon him,
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 1: and he burned with anger. He took a pair of oxen,
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 1: cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers
• 1:39:08
  Speaker 1: throughout Israel, proclaiming, this is what will be done to
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people,
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 1: and they came out together Ivuon. Saul assembled a huge
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 1: army and completely defeated the Ammonites, rescuing Jabesh Gilead. This
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: victory established his reputation as a military leader and convinced
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: any doubters that God had truly chosen him to be king.
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: For a while, Saul ruled well and won many battles
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: against Israel's enemies, but gradually pride began to effect his judgment.
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: The first major problem came when the Philistines gathered for
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: war and Samuel was late arriving to offer the pre
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: battle sacrifice. Saul got impatient and decided to offer the
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: sacrifice himself, even though only priests were supposed to do this.
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 1: Samuel thirteen to thirteen to fourteen shows Samuel's response when
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: he arrived. You have done a foolish thing, Samuel said,
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: you have not kept the command the Lord your God
• 1:40:19
  Speaker 1: gave you. If you had, he would have established your
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: will not endure. The Lord has sought out a man
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 1: people because you have not kept the Lord's command. This
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 1: was just the beginning of Saul's problems. Later, God commanded
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: him to completely destroy the Amalekites and everything they owned
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: as punishment for how they had attacked Israel in the desert,
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: but Saul disobeyed by keeping the best animals alive and
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: sparing king a gag. When Samuel confronted him about this disobedience,
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 1: Saul made excuses and claimed he had saved the animals
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 1: to sacrifice to God first. Samuel fifteen twenty two to
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 1: twenty three contain Samuel's famous response. But Samuel replied, does
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: as in obeying the Lord. To obey is better than sacrifice,
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 1: and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance,
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the
• 1:41:29
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: From that day forward, God's spirit left Saul, and an
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 1: evil spirit began to torment him. Saul became jealous, paranoid,
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 1: and violent. He spent the rest of his reign trying
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: to kill David, the young man God had chosen to
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: replace him. Saul's tragic end came when he was defeated
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: by the Philistines in battle and fell on his own
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: sword rather than be captured alive. While Saul was still king,
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint his replacement from
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 1: among the sons of Jesse. When Samuel saw Jesse's oldest son,
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: he thought, this impressive young man must be God's choice.
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 1: But for Samuel, sixteen seven records God's correction. But the
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: not look at the things people look at. People look
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, but God
• 1:42:38
  Speaker 1: didn't choose any of them. Finally, Samuel asked if there
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: were any other sons. First to Samuel sixteen eleven shows
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: what happened next. So he asked, Jesse, are these all
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: the sons you have? There is still the youngest. Jesse answered,
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: he is tending the sheep. Samuel said, send for him.
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: We will not sit down until he arrives. When David
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 1: arrived from the fields, God immediately told Samuel this was
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: his choice. First Samuel sixteen twelve thirteen describes the anointing.
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: So he sent for him and had him brought in.
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 1: He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: and handsome features. Then the Lord said, rise and anoint him.
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 1: This is the one. So Samuel took the horn of
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers,
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 1: And from that day on the spirit of the Lord
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 1: came powerfully upon David. David was just a teenager, but
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 1: he had already shown remarkable faith while protecting his father's sheep.
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: He had killed both a lion and a bear with
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 1: his bare hands when they threatened the flock. This courage
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: prepared him for his most famous moment. When the Philistines
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: challenged Israel to send a champion to fight their giant warrior, Goliath.
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: All of Israel's soldiers were terrified. Goliath was over nine
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: feet tall and covered in armor, and he had been
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 1: taunting God's people for forty days. David happened to be
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: visiting his older brothers in the army when he heard
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 1: Goliath's challenge. Samuel seventeen twenty six shows David's reaction. David
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: asked the men standing near him, what will be done
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: for the man who kills this philistine and removes this
• 1:44:29
  Speaker 1: disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised philistine? That he
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: should defy the armies of the Living God. When King
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: Saul heard about David's willingness to fight, he tried to
• 1:44:41
  Speaker 1: give him armor, but it was too big and heavy. Instead,
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: David chose five smooth stones from a stream and approached
• 1:44:49
  Speaker 1: Goliath with just his sling and his faith in God.
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: Samuel seventeen forty five forty seven records David's bold declaration.
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: David said to the phylists, you come against me with sword,
• 1:45:02
  Speaker 1: and spear and javelin. But I come against you in
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 1: armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day, the
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 1: Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: you down and cut off your head. This very day,
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 1: I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 1: will know that there is a God in Israel. All
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: those gathered here will know that it is not by
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: is the Lord's, and he will give all of you
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 1: into our hands. David's first stone struck Goliath in the
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 1: forehead and killed him instantly. The Philistines fled in terror,
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: and Israel won a great victory. This made David famous
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: throughout the nation and began his career as a warrior
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: and leader. Saul brought David into his court and eventually
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: gave him his daughter Mikhail as a wife. But as
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: David's popularity grew, Saul became insanely jealous and tried repeatedly
• 1:46:08
  Speaker 1: to kill him. David was forced to live as a
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: fugitive in the wilderness gathering a band of loyal followers
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: who would later become his mighty men. During this difficult time,
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: David had two opportunities to kill Saul, but refused to
• 1:46:26
  Speaker 1: harm the Lord's anointed. This showed the nobility of his
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: character and his respect for God's authority, even when Saul
• 1:46:35
  Speaker 1: was trying to murder him. After Saul died in battle,
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 1: David was finally crowned king, first over Judah and then
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 1: over all Israel. Second Samuel five point four to five
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: summarizes his reign. David was thirty years old when he
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron, he
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty three years.
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: David's deat first major accomplishment was capturing Jerusalem from the
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 1: Jebusites and making it his capital city. This was strategically
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: brilliant because Jerusalem was on the border between the northern
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 1: and southern tribes, making it acceptable to everyone. David then
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem with great celebration.
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: He danced before the Lord with all his might, showing
• 1:47:29
  Speaker 1: his heart for worship, despite criticism from his wife Michal.
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: This established Jerusalem as not just the political center, but
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 1: also the spiritual center of Israel. Under David's leadership, Israel
• 1:47:43
  Speaker 1: became a powerful empire. He defeated the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites,
• 1:47:49
  Speaker 1: and Aramians, expanding Israel's territory to its greatest extent ever.
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: Second Samuel eight fourteen summarizes his success, but garrisons throughout
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: edom and all the Edomites became subject to David. The
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 1: Lord gave David victory wherever he went. David also organized
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 1: the government efficiently, appointing capable men to lead the army,
• 1:48:14
  Speaker 1: administer justice, and manage the kingdom's affairs. He was known
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 1: for his justice and fairness to all people. But David
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: wasn't perfect. His greatest failure came when he committed adultery
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband Uriah to be
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: killed in battle. When the prophet Nathan confronted him about
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: this sin, David repented deeply and wrote Psalm fifty one,
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 1: one of the most beautiful prayers of confession ever written.
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 1: Samuel twelve thirteen shows David's response to Nathan's rebuke. Then
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: Nathan replied, the Lord has taken away your sin. You
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 1: are not going to die. God forgave David David, but
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 1: the consequences of his sin affected his family for the
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 1: rest of his life. His son Absalom later rebelled against
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: him and tried to take over the kingdom, breaking David's heart,
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: even though Absalom was eventually defeated and killed. Despite his failures,
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 1: David was known as a man after God's own heart
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: because he loved God deeply and always returned to him
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: in repentance when he sinned. He wrote many of the psalms,
• 1:49:29
  Speaker 1: expressing his intimate relationship with God through both struggles and victories.
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 1: When David grew old, he chose his son Solomon to
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: succeed him as king, even though Solomon was not the
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: oldest son. David gave Solomon detailed plans for building the
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: temple that God had not allowed David to construct because
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: he was a man of war. Kings three five nine
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 1: shows how Solomon's reign began at Gibeon. The Lord appeared
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God
• 1:50:02
  Speaker 1: said ask for whatever you want me to give you.
• 1:50:05
  Speaker 1: Solomon answered, you have shown great kindness to your servant,
• 1:50:09
  Speaker 1: my father David, because he was faithful to you and
• 1:50:12
  Speaker 1: righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 1: kindness to him, and have given him a son to
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 1: sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord, my God,
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 1: you have made your servant king in place of my
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: father David. But I am only a little child and
• 1:50:30
  Speaker 1: do not know how to carry out my duties. Your
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 1: servant is here among the people. You have chosen, a
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: great people, too numerous to count or number. So give
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 1: your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 1: to distinguish between right and wrong, For who is able
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 1: to govern this great people of yours. God was pleased
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 1: that Solomon asked for wisdom rather than wealth or long life.
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: Poor a King's three twelve thirteen records God's generous response,
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: I will do what you have asked. I will give
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: never have been any one like you, nor will there
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 1: ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 1: not asked for, both wealth and honor, so that in
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 1: your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. Solomon's
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 1: wisdom became famous throughout the world. He could speak about plants, animals,
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: and many other subjects. He wrote three thousand proverbs and
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 1: over a thousand songs. Kings and queens came from distant
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 1: countries just to hear his wisdom and see his kingdom.
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 1: The most famous test of Solomon's wisdom came when two
• 1:51:39
  Speaker 1: women claimed to be the mother of the same baby.
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: First Kings three twenty four twenty seven describes his clever solution.
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: Then the king said, bring me a sword, so they
• 1:51:52
  Speaker 1: brought a sword for the king. He then gave an
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: order cut the living child in two, and give half
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 1: to one and half to the other. The woman whose
• 1:52:01
  Speaker 1: son was alive, was deeply moved out of love for
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: her son, and said to the king, please, my Lord,
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: give her the living baby. Don't kill him. But the
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 1: other said, neither I nor you shall have him. Cut
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 1: him in two. Then the king gave his ruling, give
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: the living baby to the first woman, do not kill him,
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: she is his mother. Solomon's greatest achievement was building the
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: Temple in Jerusalem. This magnificent building took seven years to
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 1: construct and was covered with gold inside and out first.
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 1: King six thirty seven thirty eight tells us about its completion.
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: The foundation of the Temple of the Lord was laid
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 1: in the fourth year in the month of Ziv. In
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: the eleventh year, in the month of Bull the eighth month,
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: the temple was finished in all its details, according to
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 1: its specifications. He had spent seven years building it. When
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: the temple was completed, Solomon dedicated it with a great celebration.
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 1: The priest brought the ark of the Covenant into the
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: most holy place, and God's glory filled the temple so
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 1: powerfully that the priests couldn't continue their service. Kings eight
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: ten eleven describes this amazing moment when the priests withdrew
• 1:53:17
  Speaker 1: from the Holy place, the cloud filled the Temple of
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: the Lord, and the priests could not perform their service
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 1: because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 1: filled his temple, Solomon offered a beautiful prayer of dedication,
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: asking God to hear the prayers of people who would
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: come to this temple seeking forgiveness, help, or guidance. He
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 1: acknowledged that no building could contain God, but asked him
• 1:53:43
  Speaker 1: to make this a special place where his people could
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: meet with him. During Solomon's reign, Israel experienced unprecedented peace
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 1: and prosperity. First Kings four twenty twenty one describes the
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 1: Golden Age. The people of Judah and Israel were as
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 1: numerous as the sand on the sea shore. They ate,
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 1: they drank, and they were happy. And Solomon ruled over
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
• 1:54:13
  Speaker 1: These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's subjects all his life.
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 1: Solomon established extensive trade relationships and built a powerful navy.
• 1:54:24
  Speaker 1: His merchants brought gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks from
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: distant lands. The Queen of Sheba traveled from Africa to
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: see his kingdom and was amazed by everything she witnessed.
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: Kings ten six to seven records her response. She said
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: to the King, the report I heard in my own
• 1:54:44
  Speaker 1: country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But
• 1:54:48
  Speaker 1: I did not believe these things until I came and
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 1: saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: told me. In wisdom and wealth, you have far exceeded
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 1: the report I heard. Unfortunately, Solomon's later years were marked
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: by spiritual decline. He married many foreign wives to seal
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: political alliances, and these women brought their gods with them.
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: He burst Kings eleven three to four shows how this
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 1: affected him. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 1: and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
• 1:55:26
  Speaker 1: As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after
• 1:55:29
  Speaker 1: other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 1: the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: father had been. Solomon even built temples for foreign gods
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 1: to please his wives. This made God angry, and he
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 1: announced that the kingdom would be divided after Solomon's death.
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: Only one tribe would remain loyal to Solomon's family, while
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: the other ten tribes would rebel and form their own kingdom.
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: Solomon's reign lasted forty years and represent vented the peak
• 1:56:00
  Speaker 1: of Israel's power and glory, but his compromise with pagan
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: religions set the stage for the troubles that would follow.
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king, but the
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 1: people had grown tired of the heavy taxes and forced
• 1:56:17
  Speaker 1: labor that Solomon had imposed to fund his building projects.
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: Led by a man named Jeroboam. Representatives from the northern
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 1: tribes came to Rihoboam with a request. Kings twelve three
• 1:56:30
  Speaker 1: to four shows what they asked. So they sent for Jeroboam,
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to
• 1:56:37
  Speaker 1: Rihoboam and said to him, your father put a heavy
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: yoke on us, But now lighten the harsh labor and
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: serve you. Rihoboam asked for three days to consider their request.
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: He first consulted the older advisers who had served his
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 1: father first. Kings twelve seven records their wise council. They replied,
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: if to day you will be a servant to these
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 1: people and serve them and give them a favorable answer,
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 1: they will always be your servants. But re Heboam rejected
• 1:57:11
  Speaker 1: this advice and instead listened to the young men he
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: had grown up with. Their counsel was foolish and arrogant,
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: as the King's twelve ten to eleven shows what they suggested.
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: The young men who had grown up with him replied,
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: these people have said to you, your father put a
• 1:57:28
  Speaker 1: heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter. Now
• 1:57:32
  Speaker 1: tell them my little finger is thicker than my father's waist.
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 1: My father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips,
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: I will scourge you with scorpions. When Riaboam gave this
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: harsh answer to the people, they immediately rebelled. Verse Kings
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: twelve sixteen records their response. When all Israel saw that
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king,
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: what share do we have in day, David? What part
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: in Jesse's son? To your tents, Israel, look after your
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 1: own house, David. So the Israelites went home. The kingdom
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 1: split exactly as God had predicted. Ten tribes in the
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: north chose Jeroboam as their king and called their nation Israel.
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to
• 1:58:22
  Speaker 1: Rehaboam in the south, forming the Kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: faced an immediate problem. Jerusalem, with its beautiful temple, was
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 1: now in the southern kingdom. If his people continued going
• 1:58:35
  Speaker 1: there for the religious festivals, they might decide to reunite
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: with Judah. So Jeroboam made a terrible decision that would
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 1: curse the Northern kingdom forever. Kings twelve twenty eight thirty
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 1: describes his solution. After seeking advice, the king made two
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: golden calves. He said to the people, it is too
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 1: your God's Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.
• 1:59:05
  Speaker 1: One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: And this thing became a sin. The people came to
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: worship the one at Bethel and went as far as
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: Dan to worship the other. Jeroboam also appointed priests who
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: weren't from the tribe of Levi and changed the dates
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: of the religious festivals. This created a completely separate religious
• 1:59:28
  Speaker 1: system that mixed worship of the True God with pagan practices.
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: God sent a prophet from Judah to confront Jeroboam while
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: he was offering incense at the altar in Bethel. Worse
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: Kings thirteen and two records the prophet's message. By the
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord, he cried out against the altar, Altar, Altar,
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 1: this is what the Lord says. A son named Josiah
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 1: will be born to the house of David. On you.
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: He will sacrifice the priests of the high places who
• 1:59:58
  Speaker 1: make offerings here and human, the bones will be burned
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 1: on you. When Jeroboam tried to arrest the prophet, his
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: hand withered and the altar split apart, proving that the
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: message was from God. Although Jeroboam's hand was healed when
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: the prophet prayed for him, he refused to turn from
• 2:00:16
  Speaker 1: his evil ways. From this point on, the two kingdoms
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 1: had separate histories. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had nineteen
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 1: kings from nine different dynasties over about two hundred years.
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 1: Every single one of these kings was evil and continued
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: the idolatrous worship that Jeroboam had established. The southern Kingdom
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: of Judah had twenty kings, all from David's dynasty over
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 1: about three hundred and fifty years. Some of these kings
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: were good and tried to bring the people back to God,
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 1: while others were evil and led the people into idolatry.
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 1: The division of the kingdom fulfilled God's judgment on Solomon's unfaithfulness,
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: but it also weakened both nations and made them vulnerable
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: to attacks from powerful empires like Assyria and Babylon. During
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 1: the Dark period, when evil kings ruled both Israel and Judah.
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: God raised up powerful prophets to call the people back
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: to faithful worship. The most famous of these was Elijah,
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: who confronted King Ahab of Israel and his wicked wife Jezebel.
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: Ahab was one of the worst kings Israel ever had.
• 2:01:27
  Speaker 1: First Kings sixteen thirty thirty three describes his reign. Ahab,
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 1: son of Omri, did more evil in the eyes of
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: the Lord than any of those before him. He not
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam,
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbal,
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: worship him. He set up an altar for Bal in
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 1: the Temple of Bal that he built in Samaria. Ahab
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 1: also made an asherapoll and did more to a rouse
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel then
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 1: did all the kings of Israel before him. Jezebel was
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: a pagan princess who brought hundreds of priests of Baal
• 2:02:10
  Speaker 1: with her when she married Ahab. She tried to completely
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 1: eliminate the worship of the True God from Israel and
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: killed many of God's prophets. Elijah suddenly appeared before King
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: Ahab with a shocking announcement. First King seventeen to one
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 1: records his words. Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbee in
• 2:02:32
  Speaker 1: Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel,
• 2:02:37
  Speaker 1: lives whom I serve, there will be neither due nor
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 1: reign in the next few years, except and my word.
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: For three and a half years, no reign fell in Israel.
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 1: The draught was so severe that even King Ahab had
• 2:02:51
  Speaker 1: to search personally for grass to keep his horses alive.
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 1: During this time, God supernaturally provided for Elijah, first by
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: having ravens bring him food beside a brook, then by
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: staying with a widow whose flower and oil never ran out.
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: When the drought reached its worst point, God told Elijah
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 1: to confront Ahab again and challenge the prophets of Bail
• 2:03:14
  Speaker 1: to a contest on Mount Carmel Urster Kings eighteen twenty
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 1: one shows Elijah's challenge to the people. Elijah went before
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: the people and said, how long will you waver between
• 2:03:25
  Speaker 1: two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, But
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: if Bail is God. Follow him, but the people said nothing.
• 2:03:33
  Speaker 1: The contest was simple. Each side would prepare a sacrifice,
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: but put no fire under it. The God who answered,
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: by sending fire to consume the sacrifice, would prove he
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 1: was the true God. The four hundred and fifty prophets
• 2:03:49
  Speaker 1: of Baal went first, dancing around their altar and crying
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: out from morning until evening, even cutting themselves with swords
• 2:03:57
  Speaker 1: and spears, but nothing happened. Kings eighteen thirty six thirty
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 1: eight describes what happened when Elijah prayed at the time
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 1: of sacrifice. The prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, Lord,
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 1: known to day that you are God in Israel, and
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 1: that I am your servant and have done all these
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 1: things at your command. Answer me, Lord, Answer me, so
• 2:04:24
  Speaker 1: these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 1: that you are turning their hearts back again. Then the
• 2:04:32
  Speaker 1: fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice,
• 2:04:35
  Speaker 1: the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 1: up the water in the trench. The people immediately fell
• 2:04:42
  Speaker 1: on their faces and cried out, the Lord he is God,
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: The Lord he is God. Elijah ordered them to seize
• 2:04:50
  Speaker 1: the prophets of Bail, and all four fifty were executed.
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 1: Then Elijah prayed for rain and the drought finally ended.
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 1: But Queen je Isabel was furious about the death of
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: her prophets and threatened to kill Elijah. Within twenty four hours,
• 2:05:06
  Speaker 1: the great prophet, who had just defeated four hundred and
• 2:05:09
  Speaker 1: fifty men, became afraid and ran for his life into
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: the desert. In his depression, Elijah asked God to let
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: him die, but God gently restored him, first by providing
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: food and rest, then by speaking to him in a
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: gentle whisper rather than in wind, earthquake, or fire. God
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 1: assured Elijah that he wasn't alone. There were still seven
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 1: thousand people in Israel who had not bowed down to Bail.
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: God also told Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor.
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 1: Elisha became Elijah's assistant and eventually inherited a double portion
• 2:05:46
  Speaker 1: of his spirit when Elijah was taken up to heaven
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: in a whirlwind without dying. Elisha's ministry lasted about fifty
• 2:05:54
  Speaker 1: years and was marked by many miracles. He purified poisoned water,
• 2:05:59
  Speaker 1: multiplied oil for a widow to pay her debts, raised
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 1: a woman's son from the dead, fed a hundred men
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: with twenty loaves of bread, and healed name and the
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 1: Syrian of leprosy. Elisha also played important political roles, anointing
• 2:06:15
  Speaker 1: kings and advising them in times of war. When the
• 2:06:18
  Speaker 1: king of Aram sent an army to capture him, Elisha's
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: servant was terrified to see them surrounded by horses and chariots.
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: Singu's Kings six sixteen to seventeen shows how Elisha encouraged him.
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid, the prophet answered, those who are with
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: us are more than those who are with them. And
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: Elisha prayed open his Eye's Lord, so that he may see.
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 1: and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of
• 2:06:50
  Speaker 1: fire all around Elisha. Through prophets like Elijah and Elisha,
• 2:06:55
  Speaker 1: God showed his power and called his people back to
• 2:06:58
  Speaker 1: faithful worship in the darkest times of Israel's history. Despite
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 1: the warnings of the prophets, both kingdoms continued in their
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 1: rebellion against God. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was the
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 1: first to face judgment when the Assyrian Empire conquered them
• 2:07:15
  Speaker 1: in seven hundred twenty two b SI. For years, Assyria
• 2:07:19
  Speaker 1: had been demanding tribute from Israel. When King Hoshea tried
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 1: to rebel by seeking help from Egypt, the Assyrian king
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 1: Shalmanesa invaded and besieged Samaria, Israel's capital city. Second King
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 1: seventeen five six describes the end. The king of Assyria
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria, and laid siege
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea,
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 1: the King of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 1: to Assyria. He settled them in Halla, in Gozan, on
• 2:07:54
  Speaker 1: the Habar River, and in the towns of the Medes.
• 2:07:57
  Speaker 1: The Assyrians had a policy of breaking out up conquered
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: nations by moving people to different locations. They took most
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 1: of the Israelites away to distant parts of their empire
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 1: and brought foreigners to settle in Israel's land. This ended
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 1: the Northern Kingdom forever. Kings seventeen seven eight explains why
• 2:08:18
  Speaker 1: this happened. All this took place because the Israelites had
• 2:08:21
  Speaker 1: sinned against the Lord, their god, who had brought them
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 1: up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh,
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 1: King of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them,
• 2:08:35
  Speaker 1: as well as the practices that the kings of Israel
• 2:08:38
  Speaker 1: had introduced. The Kingdom of Judah survived for about one
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five more years, but they didn't learn
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: from Israel's fate. Some kings, like Hezekiah and Josiah, brought
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 1: temporary reforms, but most continued in idolatry. King Hezikiah faced
• 2:08:55
  Speaker 1: his own crisis when the Assyrian king Sanakarib invaded Judah
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 1: and threatened Jeridusalem. The Assyrian commander mocked God and claimed
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: no God could save any nation from Assyria's power. But
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 1: when Hezekiah prayed, God sent an angel who killed one
• 2:09:10
  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty five thousand Assyrian soldiers in one night,
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 1: and Senakarib had to retreat in humiliation. Later, when Hezikiah
• 2:09:19
  Speaker 1: became deathly ill, he prayed for healing and God added
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 1: fifteen years to his life. But during these extra years,
• 2:09:28
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah foolishly showed envoys from Babylon all his treasures. The
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 1: prophet Isiah warned him that some day Babylon would carry
• 2:09:36
  Speaker 1: away everything he had shown them. King Josiah brought the
• 2:09:40
  Speaker 1: most thorough religious reform in Judah's history. He tore down
• 2:09:44
  Speaker 1: all the pagan altars and temples, burned the implements used
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: in idle worship, and celebrated the Passover for the first
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: time in generations. But even this wasn't enough to turn
• 2:09:56
  Speaker 1: away God's judgment. Josiah was killed in battle against Pharaoh
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 1: Neko of Egypt, and his successors quickly returned to evil ways. Meanwhile,
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: Babylon had become the dominant world power after defeating Assyria.
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 1: In six o five b C, nebucad Nezar of Babylon
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 1: came to Jerusalem and took some of the temple treasures
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 1: and some young nobles back to Babylon as hostages. Among
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 1: these young men were Daniel and his three friends. King
• 2:10:28
  Speaker 1: Jehoiakim of Judah rebelled against Babylon, so nebuicud Neza returned
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: and besieged Jerusalem again. In five ninety seven BC. He
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 1: took King Jehoiakin and ten thousand more people into exile,
• 2:10:41
  Speaker 1: including the prophet Ezekiel. The final siege came in five
• 2:10:46
  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty eight b C. When nebicud Neza returned
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 1: to destroy Jerusalem completely because King Zedekiah had also rebelled.
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: Kings twenty five point eight to ten describes the destruction
• 2:10:59
  Speaker 1: on the seventh day of the fifth month in the
• 2:11:02
  Speaker 1: nineteenth year of Nebucaneza, King of Babylon. Nebuzaradan, commander of
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 1: the Imperial Guard, an official of the King of Babylon,
• 2:11:11
  Speaker 1: came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the Temple of
• 2:11:14
  Speaker 1: the Lord, the Royal Palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem.
• 2:11:18
  Speaker 1: Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 1: under the commander of the Imperial Guard, broke down the
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 1: walls around Jerusalem. The beautiful temple that Solomon had built
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 1: was destroyed, and most of the remaining people were taken
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 1: to Babylon. Only the poorest were left to tend the land.
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 1: This marked the end of the Kingdom of Judah and
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the Babylonian Exile. The Babylonian Exile was
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 1: one of the darkest periods in Israel's history. The people
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 1: who had been taken from their homeland struggled with despair
• 2:11:54
  Speaker 1: and wondered if God had abandoned them forever. Psalm one
• 2:11:58
  Speaker 1: thirty seven one to four expresses their sorrow. By the
• 2:12:01
  Speaker 1: rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: There on the poplars we hung our harps. For there
• 2:12:09
  Speaker 1: our captors asked us for songs. Our tormentors demanded songs
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 1: of joy. They said, sing as one of the songs
• 2:12:16
  Speaker 1: of Zion. How can we sing the songs of the
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 1: Lord while in a foreign land. But God had not
• 2:12:22
  Speaker 1: forgotten his people. He sent prophets to encourage them and
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 1: explain that the exile was not the end of his
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: plan for them. The prophet Jeremiah had warned about the
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 1: coming exile, but he also gave hope. Jeremiah twenty nine
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: ten to x eleven contains God's promise. This is what
• 2:12:41
  Speaker 1: the Lord says, when seventy years are completed for Babylon,
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 1: I will come to you and fulfill my good promise
• 2:12:49
  Speaker 1: to bring you back to this place. For I know
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 1: the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans
• 2:12:55
  Speaker 1: to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to
• 2:12:57
  Speaker 1: give you hope and a future Daniel was one of
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: the young nobles taken to Babylon in the first Deportation.
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 1: Even though he was forced to live in a pagan land,
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: he remained faithful to God and rose to high positions
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 1: in the Babylonian government. When King nebucad Neza had a
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 1: disturbing dream that none of his wise men could interpret,
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: Daniel was able to explain it through God's revelation. Daniel
• 2:13:27
  Speaker 1: two forty four shows part of his interpretation. In the
• 2:13:31
  Speaker 1: time of those kings, the God of Heaven will set
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 1: up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will
• 2:13:38
  Speaker 1: it be left to another people. It will crush all
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 1: those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it
• 2:13:45
  Speaker 1: will itself endure forever. Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: also remained faithful, even when threatened with death. When they
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: refused to bow down to a golden statue that nebucud
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 1: Nezza had erected, they were thrown into a blazing furnace,
• 2:14:03
  Speaker 1: but God protected them so completely that they didn't even
• 2:14:07
  Speaker 1: smell like smoke when they came out. Daniel three twenty
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: four to twenty five describes what the king saw Then
• 2:14:17
  Speaker 1: King Nebucudnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: his advisers, weren't there three men that retied up and
• 2:14:26
  Speaker 1: threw into the fire. They replied, certainly, your majesty, he said, look,
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 1: the gods. Later, Daniel himself faced a death sentence when
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 1: jealous officials convinced King Darius to make a law forbidding
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 1: prayer to any one except the king. Daniel continued his
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 1: practice of praying three times a day. Facing Jerusalem, so
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: he was thrown into a den of lions, But God
• 2:14:58
  Speaker 1: shut the lion's mouths and Daniel was unharmed. Daniel six
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 1: nineteen to twenty two tells what happened the next morning.
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 1: At the first light of dawn, the king got up
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: and hurried to the lion's den. When he came near
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, Daniel,
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 1: servant of the Living God, has your God, whom you
• 2:15:20
  Speaker 1: serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 1: Daniel answered, may the king live forever. My God sent
• 2:15:28
  Speaker 1: his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 1: They have not hurt me because I was found innocent
• 2:15:34
  Speaker 1: in his sight, nor have I ever done any wrong
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 1: before you, your majesty. These stories encouraged the exiled Jews
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 1: that God was still with them even in Babylon and
• 2:15:45
  Speaker 1: could protect them from any danger. The prophet Ezekiel was
• 2:15:49
  Speaker 1: among those taken in the second deportation. His ministry focused
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 1: on explaining why the exile had happened and giving hope
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 1: for restoration. He had dramatic visions of God's glory leaving
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: the temple before its destruction, but also visions of a
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: future temple where God's glory would return. Ezekiel's most famous
• 2:16:12
  Speaker 1: vision was of a valley filled with dry bones. God
• 2:16:16
  Speaker 1: asked him if these bones could live, and when Ezekiel
• 2:16:19
  Speaker 1: said only God knew, the Lord commanded him to prophesy
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: to them. Ezekiel thirty seven seven to ten describes what happened.
• 2:16:29
  Speaker 1: So I prophesied as I was commanded, And as I
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 1: was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and
• 2:16:37
  Speaker 1: the bones came together, bone to bone. I'd looked, and
• 2:16:42
  Speaker 1: tendons and flesh appeared on them, and skin covered them,
• 2:16:45
  Speaker 1: but there was no breath in them. Then he said
• 2:16:48
  Speaker 1: to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of Man,
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: and say to it, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 1: Come breath from the four winds and breathe into these
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: slain that they may live into I prophesied as he
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 1: commanded me, and breath entered them. They came to life
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 1: and stood up on their feet a vast army. God
• 2:17:13
  Speaker 1: explained that these bones represented the house of Israel, who
• 2:17:16
  Speaker 1: felt their hope was gone and they were cut off.
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 1: But God promised to open their graves and bring them
• 2:17:23
  Speaker 1: back to their land, giving them new life as a nation.
• 2:17:28
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty six, twenty four to twenty six contains another
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 1: encouraging prophecy, for I will take you out of the nations.
• 2:17:36
  Speaker 1: I will gather you from all the countries and bring
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 1: you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean
• 2:17:42
  Speaker 1: water on you, and you will be clean. I will
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: I will give you a new heart and put a
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 1: new spirit in you. I will remove from you your
• 2:17:55
  Speaker 1: heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
• 2:17:58
  Speaker 1: The prophet Jeremiah, who remained in Jerusalem until its fall,
• 2:18:02
  Speaker 1: also wrote letters to the exiles, encouraging them to settle
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 1: down and live normal lives in Babylon while they waited
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 1: for God's promised restoration. He told them to build houses,
• 2:18:15
  Speaker 1: plant gardens, marry and have children, and pray for the
• 2:18:18
  Speaker 1: welfare of the city where they lived. Jeremiah also gave
• 2:18:22
  Speaker 1: them the amazing promise of a new covenant that would
• 2:18:26
  Speaker 1: be different from the one their ancestors had broken. Jeremiah
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 1: thirty one thirty three to thirty four describes this future covenant.
• 2:18:35
  Speaker 1: This is the covenant I will make with the people
• 2:18:38
  Speaker 1: of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will
• 2:18:42
  Speaker 1: put my law in their minds and write it on
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 1: their hearts. I will be their God, and they will
• 2:18:48
  Speaker 1: be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 1: or say to one another, know the Lord, because they
• 2:18:54
  Speaker 1: will all know ME, from the least of them to
• 2:18:57
  Speaker 1: the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their
• 2:19:01
  Speaker 1: wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Even in
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 1: their darkest hour, God was preparing to fulfill his promises
• 2:19:09
  Speaker 1: and bring his people home again. The exile taught them
• 2:19:13
  Speaker 1: important lessons about the consequences of disobedience, but it also
• 2:19:17
  Speaker 1: demonstrated God's faithfulness to his covenant promises. After exactly seventy years,
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: just as Jeremiah had prophesied, God began to fulfill his
• 2:19:30
  Speaker 1: promise to bring the exiles home. The Persian Empire had
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: conquered Babylon, and their new king, Cyrus, had a different
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 1: policy toward conquered peoples than the Babylonians and Assyrians had.
• 2:19:43
  Speaker 1: In five thirty eight b c. Cyrus issued a remarkable
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 1: decree that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland
• 2:19:50
  Speaker 1: and rebuild their temple. Ezra one two two four records
• 2:19:54
  Speaker 1: his proclamation. This is what Cyrus, King of Persia, says.
• 2:19:59
  Speaker 1: The Lord, the God of Heaven, has given me all
• 2:20:02
  Speaker 1: the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me
• 2:20:04
  Speaker 1: to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
• 2:20:07
  Speaker 1: Any of his people among you may go up to
• 2:20:10
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord,
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.
• 2:20:17
  Speaker 1: And may their God be with them. And in any
• 2:20:20
  Speaker 1: locality where survivors may now be living. The people are
• 2:20:24
  Speaker 1: to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock,
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 1: and with free will offerings for the Temple of God
• 2:20:32
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem. This decree was amazing because it not only
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 1: allowed the Jews to return, but also commanded other people
• 2:20:41
  Speaker 1: to support them financially. Isaiah had prophesied about Cyrus by
• 2:20:45
  Speaker 1: name over one hundred and fifty years before he was born,
• 2:20:49
  Speaker 1: calling him God's anointed one who would rebuild Jerusalem and
• 2:20:53
  Speaker 1: set the exiles free. About fifty thousand Jews chose to
• 2:20:57
  Speaker 1: make the difficult journey back to their ruined homeland under
• 2:21:01
  Speaker 1: the leadership of Zerubabel, a descendant of King David, and Joshua,
• 2:21:05
  Speaker 1: the High Priest. When they arrived, they found Jerusalem in ruins,
• 2:21:10
  Speaker 1: the temple destroyed, and the land occupied by foreigners who
• 2:21:14
  Speaker 1: opposed their return. Despite the challenges, they began rebuilding the temple. First,
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 1: they set up the altar and resumed the daily sacrifices.
• 2:21:26
  Speaker 1: Then they started laying the foundation for the new temple.
• 2:21:29
  Speaker 1: Ezra three ten to thirteen describes the emotional moment when
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 1: the foundation was completed. When the builders laid the foundation
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 1: of the Temple of the Lord, the priests in their
• 2:21:39
  Speaker 1: vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Esaf,
• 2:21:44
  Speaker 1: with symbols, took their places to praise the Lord, as
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 1: prescribed by David, King of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving,
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: they sang to the Lord, he is good, his love
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: toward Israel endures forever. And all the people gave a
• 2:22:01
  Speaker 1: great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 1: of the House of the Lord was laid. But many
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 1: of the older priests and levites and family heads who
• 2:22:11
  Speaker 1: had seen the former temple wept aloud when they saw
• 2:22:14
  Speaker 1: the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others
• 2:22:17
  Speaker 1: shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of
• 2:22:20
  Speaker 1: the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping because
• 2:22:24
  Speaker 1: the people made so much noise. The older people wept
• 2:22:29
  Speaker 1: because they remembered Solomon's magnificent temple and knew this new
• 2:22:33
  Speaker 1: one would be much smaller and less glorious. But the
• 2:22:37
  Speaker 1: younger generation rejoiced because they were finally seeing God's promise
• 2:22:42
  Speaker 1: of restoration beginning to come true. Unfortunately, the work was
• 2:22:48
  Speaker 1: soon stopped by local opposition. The Samaritans, who were descendants
• 2:22:53
  Speaker 1: of foreigners brought in after the Northern Kingdom fell offered
• 2:22:57
  Speaker 1: to help build the temple. When the Jews refus use
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: their help because they were not pure worshipers of God,
• 2:23:03
  Speaker 1: the Samaritans became enemies and worked to stop the construction.
• 2:23:09
  Speaker 1: For about fifteen years, the temple remained unfinished while the
• 2:23:13
  Speaker 1: people became discouraged and focused on building their own houses
• 2:23:17
  Speaker 1: instead of God's house. They faced crop failures, economic hardship,
• 2:23:21
  Speaker 1: and spiritual apathy. God sent two prophets, Hagai and Zechariah,
• 2:23:27
  Speaker 1: to challenge the people to finish the temple. Hagai one
• 2:23:30
  Speaker 1: three to six contains God's rebuke. Then the word of
• 2:23:35
  Speaker 1: the Lord came through the prophet Hagai. Is it a
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled
• 2:23:41
  Speaker 1: houses while this house remains a ruin. Now this is
• 2:23:45
  Speaker 1: what the Lord Almighty says. Give careful thought to your ways.
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 1: You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: never have enough. You drink but never have your fill.
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn
• 2:23:59
  Speaker 1: wages is only to put them in a purse with
• 2:24:02
  Speaker 1: holes in it. Encouraged by the prophets and stirred by
• 2:24:06
  Speaker 1: God's spirit, the people resumed work on the temple. Zechariah
• 2:24:10
  Speaker 1: gave them hope with his visions of God's future plans
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 1: and his famous promise in Zechariah for six not by
• 2:24:18
  Speaker 1: might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the
• 2:24:21
  Speaker 1: Lord Almighty. The new temple was completed in five sixteen
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 1: b C, exactly seventy years after Solomon's temple had been destroyed.
• 2:24:31
  Speaker 1: Though smaller and less magnificent than the first temple, it
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 1: represented God's faithfulness to his promises and gave the people
• 2:24:38
  Speaker 1: a place to worship again. About sixty years later, a
• 2:24:43
  Speaker 1: priest and scribe named Ezra led another group of about
• 2:24:47
  Speaker 1: one thousand, five hundred men with their families back to Jerusalem.
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 1: Ezra was a scholar who had devoted his life to
• 2:24:55
  Speaker 1: studying and teaching God's law. Ezra sevent ten describes his
• 2:25:00
  Speaker 1: hear for Ezra had devoted himself to the study and
• 2:25:04
  Speaker 1: observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching
• 2:25:07
  Speaker 1: its decrees and laws in Israel. When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem,
• 2:25:13
  Speaker 1: he was horrified to discover that many of the Jews,
• 2:25:16
  Speaker 1: including priests and leaders, had married foreign wives and were
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 1: adopting pagan practices. Again, this was exactly the kind of
• 2:25:24
  Speaker 1: compromise that had led to the exile in the first place.
• 2:25:28
  Speaker 1: Ezra nine to three to four shows his reaction. When
• 2:25:32
  Speaker 1: I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled
• 2:25:36
  Speaker 1: hair from my head and beard, and sat down appalled.
• 2:25:40
  Speaker 1: Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God
• 2:25:44
  Speaker 1: of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of
• 2:25:48
  Speaker 1: the exiles, And there I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.
• 2:25:54
  Speaker 1: Ezra led the people in a time of confession and repentance.
• 2:25:58
  Speaker 1: He didn't just condemn them, but identified with their sin
• 2:26:02
  Speaker 1: and prayed earnestly for God's mercy. His example moved a
• 2:26:07
  Speaker 1: people to genuine sorrow for their compromise, and they agreed
• 2:26:11
  Speaker 1: to divorce their foreign wives and renew their commitment to
• 2:26:14
  Speaker 1: God's law. Thirteen years later, Nehemiah, who served as cup
• 2:26:20
  Speaker 1: bearer to the Persian king art Exerxes, received disturbing news
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 1: from Jerusalem. His brother Hanani and some other men told
• 2:26:28
  Speaker 1: him that the walls of Jerusalem were still broken down
• 2:26:31
  Speaker 1: and its gates had been burned with fire. This made
• 2:26:35
  Speaker 1: the city defenseless and brought shame on God's name. Ne'emiah
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 1: one four describes his response. When I heard these things,
• 2:26:46
  Speaker 1: I sat down and wept. For some days. I mourned
• 2:26:49
  Speaker 1: and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. He
• 2:26:52
  Speaker 1: confessed the sins of his people and asked God to
• 2:26:55
  Speaker 1: give him favor with the king so he could help
• 2:26:58
  Speaker 1: his people. When King art Exerxes noticed that Naamiyah was sad,
• 2:27:03
  Speaker 1: he asked what was wrong. Naemiah two three five shows
• 2:27:08
  Speaker 1: his bold request. I said to the king, may the
• 2:27:12
  Speaker 1: king live forever. Why should my face not look sad
• 2:27:15
  Speaker 1: when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in
• 2:27:18
  Speaker 1: ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? And
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: the king said to me, what is it you want?
• 2:27:25
  Speaker 1: Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: answered the king, if it pleases the King, and if
• 2:27:30
  Speaker 1: your servant has found favor in his sight, let him
• 2:27:33
  Speaker 1: send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors
• 2:27:35
  Speaker 1: are buried, so that I can rebuild it. The king
• 2:27:38
  Speaker 1: not only granted his request, but provided letters of safe
• 2:27:42
  Speaker 1: passage and materials for the construction. This was clearly God's
• 2:27:47
  Speaker 1: hand working through a pagan king to help his people.
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 1: When Neemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he secretly surveyed the damage
• 2:27:54
  Speaker 1: at night to assess what needed to be done. Then
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: he challenged the people to rebuild the walls. Neaemiah two
• 2:28:02
  Speaker 1: Pias ventizin eighteen shows his appeal. Then I said to them,
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 1: you see the trouble we are in Jerusalem lies in ruins,
• 2:28:10
  Speaker 1: and its gates have been burned with fire. Come let
• 2:28:14
  Speaker 1: us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no
• 2:28:17
  Speaker 1: longer be in disgrace. I also told them about the
• 2:28:21
  Speaker 1: gracious hand of my God on me and what the
• 2:28:24
  Speaker 1: King had said to me. They replied, let us start rebuilding.
• 2:28:31
  Speaker 1: So they began this good work. The work proceeded rapidly,
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 1: despite constant opposition from enemies like Sambalat, Tobaiah and Gesham,
• 2:28:41
  Speaker 1: who mocked, threatened, and plotted against the builders. Naemiah organized
• 2:28:46
  Speaker 1: the work so that each family was responsible for the
• 2:28:49
  Speaker 1: section of wall near their own house, and he arranged
• 2:28:53
  Speaker 1: for half the men to build while the other half
• 2:28:55
  Speaker 1: stood guard with weapons. Naemiah four seventeen to Satan describes
• 2:29:01
  Speaker 1: their determination from that day on, half of my men
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields,
• 2:29:09
  Speaker 1: bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the
• 2:29:13
  Speaker 1: people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 1: carried materials did their work with one hand and held
• 2:29:20
  Speaker 1: a weapon in the other, and each of the builders
• 2:29:22
  Speaker 1: wore his sword at his side as he worked. In
• 2:29:26
  Speaker 1: just fifty two days, the wall was completed, an amazing
• 2:29:30
  Speaker 1: achievement that stunned their enemies. Nehemiah six fifteen tut of
• 2:29:35
  Speaker 1: sixteen describes the impact. So the wall was completed on
• 2:29:39
  Speaker 1: the twenty fifth of Elul in fifty two days. When
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations
• 2:29:46
  Speaker 1: were afraid and lost their self confidence because they realized
• 2:29:51
  Speaker 1: that this work had been done with the help of
• 2:29:54
  Speaker 1: our God. When the wall was finished, Ezra read the
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 1: law to all the people in a great ceremony that
• 2:30:03
  Speaker 1: lasted for hours. Neemiyah eight five six describes the people's response.
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 1: Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him
• 2:30:11
  Speaker 1: because he was standing above them, and as he opened it,
• 2:30:14
  Speaker 1: the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the
• 2:30:19
  Speaker 1: Great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, Amen, Amen.
• 2:30:26
  Speaker 1: Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 1: faces to the ground. Many people wept when they heard
• 2:30:32
  Speaker 1: God's words. Because they realized how far they had strayed
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 1: from his commands. But Nehemiah told them not to grieve,
• 2:30:40
  Speaker 1: because this was a day for joy and celebration. The
• 2:30:43
  Speaker 1: people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles for the first time
• 2:30:47
  Speaker 1: since the days of Joshua, and they renewed their covenant
• 2:30:50
  Speaker 1: with God, promising to obey his laws and support his
• 2:30:54
  Speaker 1: temple after four hundred years of silence since the last
• 2:30:58
  Speaker 1: Old Testament, in profit God was about to do something amazing.
• 2:31:02
  Speaker 1: The Roman Empire now ruled the world, including the land
• 2:31:06
  Speaker 1: of Israel, which they called Palestine. The Jewish people were
• 2:31:10
  Speaker 1: waiting for the Messiah that the prophets had promised, a
• 2:31:13
  Speaker 1: king who would deliver them from their enemies and restore
• 2:31:17
  Speaker 1: Israel's glory. In the small town of Nazareth lived a
• 2:31:22
  Speaker 1: young woman named Mary who was engaged to a carpenter
• 2:31:26
  Speaker 1: named Joseph. One day, an angel appeared to her with
• 2:31:31
  Speaker 1: the most incredible message anyone had ever received. Luke one
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 1: thirty thirty three records the angel's words. But the angel
• 2:31:42
  Speaker 1: said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, you have
• 2:31:46
  Speaker 1: found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth
• 2:31:50
  Speaker 1: to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
• 2:31:53
  Speaker 1: He will be great and will be called the son
• 2:31:55
  Speaker 1: of the Most High. The Lord God will give him
• 2:31:58
  Speaker 1: the throne of his father David, and he will reign
• 2:32:02
  Speaker 1: over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. Mary
• 2:32:07
  Speaker 1: was confused because she was a virgin, but the angel
• 2:32:10
  Speaker 1: explained that this would be a miracle performed by the
• 2:32:13
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. Though she didn't understand everything, Mary trusted God completely.
• 2:32:20
  Speaker 1: Luke one thirty eight shows her response, I am the
• 2:32:23
  Speaker 1: Lord's servant, Mary answered, May your word to me be
• 2:32:27
  Speaker 1: fulfilled according to your word. When Joseph discovered that Mary
• 2:32:31
  Speaker 1: was pregnant, he planned to divorce her quietly to avoid
• 2:32:35
  Speaker 1: public shame, but an angel appeared to him in a
• 2:32:38
  Speaker 1: dream and explained what was happening. Matthew one twenty twenty
• 2:32:43
  Speaker 1: one records the angel's message. But after he had considered this,
• 2:32:48
  Speaker 1: an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
• 2:32:50
  Speaker 1: dream and said, Joseph's son of David, do not be
• 2:32:55
  Speaker 1: afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what
• 2:32:58
  Speaker 1: is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She
• 2:33:03
  Speaker 1: will give birth to a son, and you are to
• 2:33:05
  Speaker 1: give him the name Jesus, because he will save his
• 2:33:08
  Speaker 1: people from their sins. Just before Jesus was born, Caesar
• 2:33:14
  Speaker 1: Augustus ordered a census that required every one to register
• 2:33:19
  Speaker 1: in their ancestral home town. Since Joseph was descended from
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 1: King David, he had to travel to Bethlehem with Mary,
• 2:33:26
  Speaker 1: even though she was about to give birth. When they
• 2:33:29
  Speaker 1: arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them in
• 2:33:32
  Speaker 1: the inn, so Jesus was born in a stable and
• 2:33:35
  Speaker 1: laid in a manger. Luke two seven describes this humble beginning,
• 2:33:40
  Speaker 1: and she gave birth to her first born, a son.
• 2:33:43
  Speaker 1: She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a
• 2:33:46
  Speaker 1: manger because there was no guest room available for them.
• 2:33:50
  Speaker 1: That same night, angels appeared to shepherds in the near
• 2:33:53
  Speaker 1: by fields with amazing news. Luke two tentum to eleven
• 2:33:57
  Speaker 1: shows their announcement. But the angels said to them, do
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 1: not be afraid. I bring you good news that will
• 2:34:03
  Speaker 1: cause great joy for all the people to day in
• 2:34:06
  Speaker 1: the town of David. A savior has been born to you.
• 2:34:09
  Speaker 1: He is the Messiah, the Lord. The shepherds hurried to
• 2:34:13
  Speaker 1: Bethlehem and found everything exactly as the angels had said.
• 2:34:17
  Speaker 1: They spread the news about what they had seen and heard,
• 2:34:20
  Speaker 1: and everyone who heard it was amazed. When Jesus was
• 2:34:24
  Speaker 1: about two years old, wise men from the east arrived
• 2:34:27
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem asking where they could find the new born
• 2:34:30
  Speaker 1: king of the Jews. They had seen his star and
• 2:34:34
  Speaker 1: come to worship him. King Herod was troubled by this
• 2:34:38
  Speaker 1: news and secretly met with the wise men, asking them
• 2:34:42
  Speaker 1: to find the child and report back to him, But
• 2:34:45
  Speaker 1: God warned the wise men in a dream not to
• 2:34:48
  Speaker 1: return to Herod. When Herod realized he had been tricked,
• 2:34:53
  Speaker 1: he became furious and ordered all the baby boys in
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 1: Bethlehem to be killed, but an angel warned Joseph to
• 2:35:00
  Speaker 1: take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. They stayed
• 2:35:04
  Speaker 1: there until Herod died, then returned to Nazareth, where Jesus
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 1: grew up. Luke two fifty two summarizes jesus childhood and
• 2:35:12
  Speaker 1: Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with
• 2:35:16
  Speaker 1: God and man. When Jesus was twelve years old, his
• 2:35:20
  Speaker 1: family went to Jerusalem for Passover. On the way home,
• 2:35:24
  Speaker 1: they discovered Jesus was missing. After searching for three days,
• 2:35:28
  Speaker 1: they found him in the temple courts sitting with the teachers,
• 2:35:32
  Speaker 1: listening and asking questions. Everyone was amazed at his understanding
• 2:35:36
  Speaker 1: and answers. When Jesus was thirty years old, he began
• 2:35:40
  Speaker 1: his public ministry. First, he went to the Jordan River,
• 2:35:44
  Speaker 1: where his cousin John was baptizing people and calling them
• 2:35:48
  Speaker 1: to repent of their sins. John had been preparing the
• 2:35:52
  Speaker 1: way for Jesus, telling people that someone much greater was
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: coming after him. When Jesus asked to be baptized, was
• 2:36:00
  Speaker 1: reluctant because he knew Jesus had no sin to repent of,
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 1: but Jesus insisted it was necessary to fulfill all righteousness.
• 2:36:10
  Speaker 1: Matthew three, sixteen seventeen describes what happened. As soon as
• 2:36:14
  Speaker 1: Jesus was baptized. He went up out of the water.
• 2:36:18
  Speaker 1: At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the
• 2:36:21
  Speaker 1: Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him,
• 2:36:26
  Speaker 1: and a voice from heaven said, this is my son,
• 2:36:30
  Speaker 1: whom I love. With him, I am well pleased. After
• 2:36:34
  Speaker 1: his baptism, Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness,
• 2:36:37
  Speaker 1: where he fasted for forty days and was tempted by Satan.
• 2:36:42
  Speaker 1: The devil tried to get Jesus to use his divine
• 2:36:44
  Speaker 1: power for selfish purposes, to test God's protection, and to
• 2:36:49
  Speaker 1: worship Satan in exchange for worldly power. But Jesus resisted
• 2:36:53
  Speaker 1: every temptation by quoting scripture showing us how to overcome
• 2:36:58
  Speaker 1: Satan's attacks. When Jesus returned from the wilderness, he began
• 2:37:03
  Speaker 1: preaching that the Kingdom of Heaven was near and calling
• 2:37:06
  Speaker 1: people to follow him as disciples. He chose twelve men
• 2:37:09
  Speaker 1: to be his closest followers and to learn from him
• 2:37:13
  Speaker 1: so they could continue his work after he was gone.
• 2:37:17
  Speaker 1: Jesus ministry was marked by incredible miracles that proved he
• 2:37:22
  Speaker 1: was truly the son of God. He healed every kind
• 2:37:26
  Speaker 1: of sickness and disease, cast out demons, controlled nature, and
• 2:37:30
  Speaker 1: even raised the dead. These miracles weren't just displays of power.
• 2:37:35
  Speaker 1: They showed God's love and compassion for suffering people and
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 1: confirmed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. One of his
• 2:37:43
  Speaker 1: first miracles was turning water into wine at a wedding
• 2:37:47
  Speaker 1: in Cana. When the hosts ran out of wine, jesus
• 2:37:52
  Speaker 1: mother told him about the problem. John two seven to
• 2:37:55
  Speaker 1: nine describes what happened Jesus said to the servants, fill
• 2:38:00
  Speaker 1: the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim.
• 2:38:04
  Speaker 1: Then he told them, now draw some out and take
• 2:38:06
  Speaker 1: it to the master of the banquet. They did so,
• 2:38:10
  Speaker 1: and the master of the banquet tasted the water that
• 2:38:12
  Speaker 1: had been turned into wine. He did not realize where
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 1: it had come from, though the servants who had drawn
• 2:38:19
  Speaker 1: the water new Jesus healed people with just a word
• 2:38:23
  Speaker 1: or a touch. He made the blind sea, the deaf here,
• 2:38:26
  Speaker 1: and the lame walk. He cleansed lepers, healed the paralyzed,
• 2:38:30
  Speaker 1: and restored withered hands. No disease was too difficult for
• 2:38:34
  Speaker 1: him to cure, and he never refused to help anyone
• 2:38:37
  Speaker 1: who came to him in faith. One day, a Roman
• 2:38:40
  Speaker 1: centurion came to Jesus asking him to heal his servant,
• 2:38:44
  Speaker 1: who was paralyzed and suffering terribly. When Jesus offered to
• 2:38:48
  Speaker 1: come to his house, the centurion showed remarkable faith. Matthew
• 2:38:53
  Speaker 1: eight eight to ten records his response. The centurion replied, Lord,
• 2:38:59
  Speaker 1: I do not disare to have you come under my roof,
• 2:39:02
  Speaker 1: but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
• 2:39:06
  Speaker 1: For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers
• 2:39:11
  Speaker 1: under me. I tell this one go and he goes,
• 2:39:14
  Speaker 1: and that one come, and he comes. I say to
• 2:39:17
  Speaker 1: my servant, do this, and he does it. When Jesus
• 2:39:21
  Speaker 1: heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, truly,
• 2:39:25
  Speaker 1: I tell you I have not found any one in
• 2:39:27
  Speaker 1: Israel with such great faith. Jesus spoke the word, and
• 2:39:31
  Speaker 1: at that very moment the servant was completely healed. Jesus
• 2:39:36
  Speaker 1: also showed his power over nature when he and his
• 2:39:39
  Speaker 1: disciples were caught in a fierce storm on the Sea
• 2:39:42
  Speaker 1: of Galilee. The disciples panicked as waves crashed over their boat,
• 2:39:47
  Speaker 1: but Jesus was sleeping peacefully. Mark four thirty nine forty
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 1: one tells what happened. When they woke him. He got up,
• 2:39:55
  Speaker 1: rebuked the wind and said to the waves quiet, be still.
• 2:39:59
  Speaker 1: Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
• 2:40:02
  Speaker 1: He said to his disciples, why are you so afraid?
• 2:40:06
  Speaker 1: Do you still have no faith? And they were terrified
• 2:40:09
  Speaker 1: and asked each other, who is this? Even the wind
• 2:40:12
  Speaker 1: and the waves obey him. On another occasion, Jesus fed
• 2:40:16
  Speaker 1: over five thousand people with just five loaves of bread
• 2:40:19
  Speaker 1: and two fish. A young boy had brought this small lunch,
• 2:40:22
  Speaker 1: but when he gave it to Jesus, it was multiplied
• 2:40:26
  Speaker 1: to feed the entire crowd. After everyone had eaten their fill,
• 2:40:30
  Speaker 1: the disciples collected twelve baskets full of leftover pieces. Jesus
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 1: even raised people from the dead. When the daughter of Jyrus,
• 2:40:38
  Speaker 1: a synagogue leader, died, Jesus went to their house and
• 2:40:42
  Speaker 1: brought her back to life. When the son of a
• 2:40:45
  Speaker 1: widow in nine died, Jesus stopped the funeral procession and
• 2:40:50
  Speaker 1: raised the young man. Most dramatically, when his friend Lazarus
• 2:40:55
  Speaker 1: died and had been in the tomb for four days,
• 2:40:58
  Speaker 1: Jesus called him back to life. John eleven forty three
• 2:41:02
  Speaker 1: to forty four describes this incredible miracle. When he had
• 2:41:05
  Speaker 1: said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus come out.
• 2:41:11
  Speaker 1: The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped
• 2:41:14
  Speaker 1: with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.
• 2:41:17
  Speaker 1: Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and
• 2:41:20
  Speaker 1: let him go. But Jesus didn't just perform miracles. He
• 2:41:24
  Speaker 1: was also the greatest teacher who ever lived. He often
• 2:41:28
  Speaker 1: taught using parables, which were simple stories that illustrated spiritual truths.
• 2:41:33
  Speaker 1: These stories were easy to remember, but contained deep meanings
• 2:41:37
  Speaker 1: that people could think about for years. One of his
• 2:41:40
  Speaker 1: most famous parables was about a farmer who went out
• 2:41:43
  Speaker 1: to plant seeds. Matthew thirteen three to eight tells the story.
• 2:41:48
  Speaker 1: Then he told them many things in parables, saying a
• 2:41:52
  Speaker 1: farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was
• 2:41:55
  Speaker 1: scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 1: birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky
• 2:42:01
  Speaker 1: places where it did not have much soil. It sprang
• 2:42:05
  Speaker 1: up quickly because the soil was shallow, but when the
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 1: sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered
• 2:42:12
  Speaker 1: because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns,
• 2:42:15
  Speaker 1: which grew up and choked the plants. Still, other seed
• 2:42:19
  Speaker 1: fell on good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred,
• 2:42:23
  Speaker 1: sixty or thirty times what was sown. Jesus explained that
• 2:42:28
  Speaker 1: the seed represented God's word, and the different types of
• 2:42:31
  Speaker 1: soil represented different kinds of hearts. Some people hear God's word,
• 2:42:36
  Speaker 1: but Satan immediately takes it away. Others receive it with
• 2:42:40
  Speaker 1: joy but fall away when troubles come. Still, others let
• 2:42:44
  Speaker 1: the worries of life and the love of money choke
• 2:42:46
  Speaker 1: out God's word, but those with good hearts here understand
• 2:42:52
  Speaker 1: and obey God's word, producing much fruit. Jesus taught about
• 2:42:56
  Speaker 1: God's love for lost people through parables like the lost sheep,
• 2:43:00
  Speaker 1: the Lost Coin, and the prodigal Son. He showed how
• 2:43:03
  Speaker 1: God rejoices when even one sinner repents and comes home
• 2:43:08
  Speaker 1: to him. In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus
• 2:43:11
  Speaker 1: taught that loving your neighbor means helping any one in need,
• 2:43:14
  Speaker 1: regardless of their race or background. When a lawyer asked
• 2:43:19
  Speaker 1: who his neighbor was, Jesus told about a man who
• 2:43:22
  Speaker 1: was beaten by robbers and left for dead. A priest
• 2:43:25
  Speaker 1: and a Levite passed by without helping, but a Samaritan,
• 2:43:29
  Speaker 1: some one the Jews normally hated, stopp'd to care for
• 2:43:32
  Speaker 1: the wounded man. Jesus most important teaching was about the
• 2:43:37
  Speaker 1: way to eternal life. John three sixteen contains his most
• 2:43:41
  Speaker 1: famous words. For God so loved the world that he
• 2:43:45
  Speaker 1: gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in
• 2:43:48
  Speaker 1: him shall not perish, but have eternal life. He taught
• 2:43:53
  Speaker 1: that he was the only way to God. John fourteen
• 2:43:56
  Speaker 1: six records his bold claim, Jesus answer, I am the
• 2:44:01
  Speaker 1: Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes
• 2:44:03
  Speaker 1: to the Father except through me. Jesus also taught his
• 2:44:07
  Speaker 1: followers to love their enemies, forgive those who hurt them,
• 2:44:11
  Speaker 1: and put God's kingdom first in their lives. He showed
• 2:44:15
  Speaker 1: them how to pray and told them not to worry
• 2:44:18
  Speaker 1: about material things because God would take care of them.
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 1: He promised that those who followed him would have eternal
• 2:44:25
  Speaker 1: life and would never be separated from God's love. As
• 2:44:29
  Speaker 1: jesus ministry continued, he became increasingly popular with the common people,
• 2:44:35
  Speaker 1: but increasingly hated by the religious leaders. They were jealous
• 2:44:39
  Speaker 1: of his influence and angry that he exposed their hypocrisy
• 2:44:43
  Speaker 1: and challenged their authority. The chief priests and pharisees began
• 2:44:47
  Speaker 1: plotting how they could arrest and kill him. Jesus knew
• 2:44:51
  Speaker 1: that his death was approaching and began to prepare his
• 2:44:54
  Speaker 1: disciples for what was coming. Mark eight thirty one shows
• 2:44:57
  Speaker 1: one of his predictions. He then began began to teach
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 1: them that the son of Man must suffer many things
• 2:45:04
  Speaker 1: and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and
• 2:45:08
  Speaker 1: the teachers of the law and that he must be killed,
• 2:45:12
  Speaker 1: and after three days rise again. The disciples didn't understand
• 2:45:17
  Speaker 1: what he meant and couldn't believe that their wonderful teacher
• 2:45:20
  Speaker 1: would be killed. Peter even rebuked Jesus for saying such things,
• 2:45:25
  Speaker 1: but Jesus told him he was thinking like a man
• 2:45:28
  Speaker 1: instead of like God. During his final week in Jerusalem,
• 2:45:34
  Speaker 1: Jesus rode into the city on a donkey while crowds
• 2:45:38
  Speaker 1: shouted Hosanna and waved palm branches. This fulfilled the prophecy
• 2:45:42
  Speaker 1: in Zechariah about the humble King coming to Jerusalem, but
• 2:45:46
  Speaker 1: Jesus knew that many of these same people would soon
• 2:45:49
  Speaker 1: be calling for his death. Jesus spent his last days
• 2:45:53
  Speaker 1: teaching in the temple courts and confronting the religious leaders.
• 2:45:57
  Speaker 1: He told parables that clearly show he knew they were
• 2:46:01
  Speaker 1: plotting to kill him. The chief priests and Pharisees were furious,
• 2:46:05
  Speaker 1: but afraid to arrest him publicly because of his popularity
• 2:46:08
  Speaker 1: with the people. Their opportunity came when Judas Is Carriot,
• 2:46:13
  Speaker 1: one of jesus twelve disciples, agreed to betray him for
• 2:46:17
  Speaker 1: thirty pieces of silver. On Thursday evening, Jesus gathered with
• 2:46:21
  Speaker 1: his disciples for the Passover meal, which would be his
• 2:46:25
  Speaker 1: last supper with them. During the meal, Jesus did something shocking.
• 2:46:31
  Speaker 1: He washed his disciples feet like a servant, teaching them
• 2:46:34
  Speaker 1: about humility and service. Then he told them that one
• 2:46:38
  Speaker 1: of them would betray him. John thirteen twenty one describes
• 2:46:42
  Speaker 1: the moment after he had said this, Jesus was troubled
• 2:46:46
  Speaker 1: in spirit and testified very truly. I tell you, one
• 2:46:50
  Speaker 1: of you is going to betray me. Jesus also used
• 2:46:54
  Speaker 1: the bread and wine of the Passover meal to teach
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 1: them about his coming death. Two nineteen to twenty records
• 2:47:01
  Speaker 1: his words. And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke
• 2:47:05
  Speaker 1: it and gave it to them, saying, this is my
• 2:47:08
  Speaker 1: body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
• 2:47:12
  Speaker 1: In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying,
• 2:47:15
  Speaker 1: this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which
• 2:47:19
  Speaker 1: is poured out for you. After the meal, they went
• 2:47:22
  Speaker 1: to a garden called Gethsemone, where Jesus prayed intensely about
• 2:47:26
  Speaker 1: his approaching death. He was so distressed that his sweat
• 2:47:30
  Speaker 1: became like drops of blood. Three times he asked God
• 2:47:34
  Speaker 1: if there was any other way, but each time he
• 2:47:36
  Speaker 1: submitted to his father's will. Luke twenty two forty two
• 2:47:41
  Speaker 1: shows his prayer, Father, if you are willing take this
• 2:47:47
  Speaker 1: cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done.
• 2:47:53
  Speaker 1: While Jesus was praying, Judas arrived with a crowd of
• 2:47:56
  Speaker 1: soldiers and temple guards. He identified Jesus with a kiss,
• 2:48:01
  Speaker 1: and they arrested him. All the disciples fled in fear,
• 2:48:05
  Speaker 1: just as Jesus had predicted. Jesus was taken first to Annas,
• 2:48:11
  Speaker 1: then to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the Sanhedrin tried
• 2:48:14
  Speaker 1: to find evidence against him. Finally, they accused him of
• 2:48:18
  Speaker 1: blasphemy for claiming to be the son of God. Since
• 2:48:21
  Speaker 1: they didn't have the authority to execute anyone, they took
• 2:48:25
  Speaker 1: him to Pontius Pilot, the Roman governor. Pilot could find
• 2:48:29
  Speaker 1: no crime worthy of death, so he sent Jesus to
• 2:48:32
  Speaker 1: Herod Antipas, who was visiting Jerusalem. Herod questioned Jesus but
• 2:48:37
  Speaker 1: got no answers, so he sent him back to Pilot.
• 2:48:40
  Speaker 1: Pilot tried several ways to release Jesus. He offered to
• 2:48:44
  Speaker 1: release either Jesus or Barabas, a known criminal, thinking the
• 2:48:49
  Speaker 1: people would surely choose Jesus, but the chief priests stirred
• 2:48:54
  Speaker 1: up the crowd to demand Barabas. Matthew twenty seven, twenty
• 2:48:58
  Speaker 1: two twenty three shows what happened. What shall I do
• 2:49:01
  Speaker 1: then with Jesus, who is called the Messiah? Pilot asked.
• 2:49:05
  Speaker 1: They all answered, crucify him. Why what crime has he committed?
• 2:49:11
  Speaker 1: Asked Pilot, but they shouted, all the louder, crucify him. Finally,
• 2:49:17
  Speaker 1: Pilot gave in to their demands. He had Jesus flogged
• 2:49:20
  Speaker 1: and then handed him over to be crucified. The Roman
• 2:49:24
  Speaker 1: soldiers mocked Jesus, putting a crown of thorns on his
• 2:49:27
  Speaker 1: head and a purple robe on his back. Then they
• 2:49:31
  Speaker 1: forced him to carry his cross to a place called Golgatha,
• 2:49:34
  Speaker 1: which means the place of the skull. There they crucified
• 2:49:38
  Speaker 1: Jesus between two criminals. Even while dying in agony, Jesus
• 2:49:43
  Speaker 1: prayed for his enemies. Luke twenty three thirty four records
• 2:49:48
  Speaker 1: his words, Father, forgive them, for they do not know
• 2:49:51
  Speaker 1: what they are doing brom noon. Until three in the afternoon,
• 2:49:56
  Speaker 1: darkness covered the land. At three o'clock, Jesus cried out
• 2:49:59
  Speaker 1: in in a loud voice and died. Matthew twenty seven
• 2:50:04
  Speaker 1: fifty fifty one describes the moment, and when Jesus had
• 2:50:08
  Speaker 1: cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up
• 2:50:11
  Speaker 1: his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple
• 2:50:14
  Speaker 1: was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook,
• 2:50:17
  Speaker 1: the rocks split. A Roman centurion who witnessed jesus death, declared,
• 2:50:22
  Speaker 1: surely this man was the son of God. Joseph of Arimathea,
• 2:50:27
  Speaker 1: a secret follower of Jesus, asked Pilot for permission to
• 2:50:31
  Speaker 1: bury the body. He rapped Jesus in linen cloths with
• 2:50:35
  Speaker 1: spices and placed him in a new tomb cut out
• 2:50:38
  Speaker 1: of rock. A large stone was rolled across the entrance,
• 2:50:41
  Speaker 1: and Roman guards were posted to make sure no one
• 2:50:44
  Speaker 1: stole the body. But death could not hold the son
• 2:50:48
  Speaker 1: of God. Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalen and other women
• 2:50:52
  Speaker 1: went to the tomb to anoint Jesus's body with spices.
• 2:50:56
  Speaker 1: They found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.
• 2:51:00
  Speaker 1: An angel told them the amazing news. Matthew twenty eight
• 2:51:04
  Speaker 1: five to six records his words. The angel said to
• 2:51:08
  Speaker 1: the women, do not be afraid, for I know that
• 2:51:11
  Speaker 1: you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is
• 2:51:14
  Speaker 1: not here. He has risen, just as he said, Come
• 2:51:17
  Speaker 1: and see the place where he lay. Jesus appeared first
• 2:51:21
  Speaker 1: to Mary Magdalene, then to the other women, then to
• 2:51:24
  Speaker 1: his disciples. Over the next forty days, he appeared to
• 2:51:28
  Speaker 1: more than five hundred people, eating with them and teaching them,
• 2:51:32
  Speaker 1: proving beyond doubt that he had truly risen from the dead.
• 2:51:36
  Speaker 1: This resurrection was the greatest miracle of all time and
• 2:51:39
  Speaker 1: the foundation of the Christian faith. Before ascending to heaven,
• 2:51:43
  Speaker 1: Jesus gave his disciples a final commission. Acts one eight
• 2:51:48
  Speaker 1: records his words, but you will receive power when the
• 2:51:52
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit who comes on you, and you will be
• 2:51:55
  Speaker 1: my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,
• 2:51:59
  Speaker 1: and to the end of the earth. He told them
• 2:52:02
  Speaker 1: to wait in Jerusalem until they received this power from
• 2:52:05
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. Then he was taken up into heaven
• 2:52:08
  Speaker 1: while they watched, and two angels promised that he would
• 2:52:11
  Speaker 1: return in the same way. The disciples returned to Jerusalem
• 2:52:16
  Speaker 1: and spent ten days praying and waiting in an upper
• 2:52:20
  Speaker 1: room with about one hundred twenty other believers, including Jesus's
• 2:52:25
  Speaker 1: mother Mary and his brothers. They chose Matthias to replace
• 2:52:29
  Speaker 1: Judas as the twelfth Apostle and prepared their hearts for
• 2:52:33
  Speaker 1: whatever God had planned. On the day of Pentecost, a
• 2:52:36
  Speaker 1: Jewish festival celebrating the harvest, something extraordinary happened. Acts two
• 2:52:42
  Speaker 1: point two four describes the scene. Suddenly, a sound like
• 2:52:46
  Speaker 1: the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and
• 2:52:49
  Speaker 1: filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw
• 2:52:53
  Speaker 1: what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and
• 2:52:56
  Speaker 1: came to rest on each of them. All of them
• 2:52:58
  Speaker 1: were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
• 2:53:01
  Speaker 1: in other tongues as the spirit enabled them. Jerusalem was
• 2:53:05
  Speaker 1: crowded with Jewish pilgrims from many different countries who had
• 2:53:09
  Speaker 1: come for the festival. When they heard the disciples speaking,
• 2:53:12
  Speaker 1: they were amazed because each person heard the message in
• 2:53:15
  Speaker 1: his own language, even though the speakers were all Galileans.
• 2:53:20
  Speaker 1: Some people mocked the disciples, saying they were drunk, but
• 2:53:24
  Speaker 1: Peter stood up and boldly preached the first Christian sermon.
• 2:53:28
  Speaker 1: He explained that what they were witnessing was the fulfillment
• 2:53:32
  Speaker 1: of the prophet Joel's prophecy about God pouring out his spirit.
• 2:53:37
  Speaker 1: Peter told them that Jesus, whom they had crucified, was
• 2:53:41
  Speaker 1: both Lord and Messiah. He quoted from the Psalms to
• 2:53:45
  Speaker 1: prove that Jesus was the promised descendant of David, who
• 2:53:49
  Speaker 1: would sit on his throne forever. Acts two thirty six
• 2:53:52
  Speaker 1: to thirty seven shows the impact of his words. Therefore,
• 2:53:56
  Speaker 1: let all Israel be assured of this God. God has
• 2:54:00
  Speaker 1: made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.
• 2:54:05
  Speaker 1: When the people heard this, they were cut to the
• 2:54:08
  Speaker 1: heart and said to Peter and the other apostles brothers,
• 2:54:11
  Speaker 1: what shall we do. Peter told them to repent and
• 2:54:15
  Speaker 1: be baptized in Jesus name for the forgiveness of their sins,
• 2:54:20
  Speaker 1: and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:54:23
  Speaker 1: About three thousand people believed and were baptized that day,
• 2:54:28
  Speaker 1: and the Church was born. These new believers devoted themselves
• 2:54:32
  Speaker 1: to the apostles, teaching fellowship, breaking bread together and prayer.
• 2:54:37
  Speaker 1: They shared their possessions with anyone in need, and met
• 2:54:40
  Speaker 1: together daily in the temple courts and in their homes.
• 2:54:44
  Speaker 1: Acts two forty six to forty seven describes their joy.
• 2:54:48
  Speaker 1: Every day. They continued to meet together in the temple courts.
• 2:54:52
  Speaker 1: They broke bread in their homes and ate together with
• 2:54:54
  Speaker 1: glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor
• 2:54:59
  Speaker 1: of all the people. And the Lord added to their
• 2:55:02
  Speaker 1: number daily those who were being saved. The Apostles performed
• 2:55:06
  Speaker 1: many miraculous signs and wonders that confirmed their message. When
• 2:55:11
  Speaker 1: Peter and John healed a man who had been lame
• 2:55:14
  Speaker 1: from birth, crowds gathered in amazement. Peter used this opportunity
• 2:55:19
  Speaker 1: to preach about Jesus again, and about five thousand men believed.
• 2:55:23
  Speaker 1: This rapid growth alarmed the religious authorities, who arrested Peter
• 2:55:28
  Speaker 1: and John and commanded them to stop preaching about Jesus,
• 2:55:32
  Speaker 1: but the Apostles boldly refused. Acts fort nineteen to twenty
• 2:55:36
  Speaker 1: records their response. But Peter and John replied, which is
• 2:55:40
  Speaker 1: right in God's eyes to listen to you or to him.
• 2:55:44
  Speaker 1: You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help
• 2:55:48
  Speaker 1: speaking about what we have seen and heard. The church
• 2:55:52
  Speaker 1: continued to grow despite increasing persecution. When Stephen, one of
• 2:55:57
  Speaker 1: the first deacons, was stone to death for preaching about Jesus.
• 2:56:02
  Speaker 1: A great persecution broke out in Jerusalem, but instead of
• 2:56:06
  Speaker 1: stopping the church, this persecution actually helped spread the gospel
• 2:56:11
  Speaker 1: as believers fled to other cities and shared their faith
• 2:56:14
  Speaker 1: wherever they went. Acts eight four shows the result. Those
• 2:56:20
  Speaker 1: who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
• 2:56:24
  Speaker 1: Philip went to Samaria and preached to the Samaritans, who
• 2:56:28
  Speaker 1: had been hated by the Jews. Many believed and were baptized,
• 2:56:32
  Speaker 1: showing that the Gospel was for all people, not just Jews.
• 2:56:36
  Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit also led Philip to share the Gospel
• 2:56:40
  Speaker 1: with an Ethiopian official who was reading from the prophet Isaiah.
• 2:56:44
  Speaker 1: When Philip explained that Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus, the
• 2:56:49
  Speaker 1: Ethiopian believed and was baptized. The most dramatic conversion in
• 2:56:54
  Speaker 1: the early Church happened to a man named Saul, who
• 2:56:57
  Speaker 1: was one of the church's most violent person secutors. He
• 2:57:01
  Speaker 1: had been present at stephen Stoning and was traveling to
• 2:57:05
  Speaker 1: Damascus to arrest more Christians when something life changing happened.
• 2:57:11
  Speaker 1: Acts nine three to six describes his encounter with Jesus
• 2:57:15
  Speaker 1: as he neared Damascus on his journey, Suddenly, a light
• 2:57:19
  Speaker 1: from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground
• 2:57:22
  Speaker 1: and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why
• 2:57:25
  Speaker 1: do you persecute me? Who are you? Lord? Saul asked,
• 2:57:29
  Speaker 1: I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. He replied, Now
• 2:57:33
  Speaker 1: get up and go into the city, and you will
• 2:57:35
  Speaker 1: be told what you must do. Saul was blinded by
• 2:57:39
  Speaker 1: the encounter and had to be led into Damascus. For
• 2:57:42
  Speaker 1: three days, he couldn't see and didn't eat or drink anything.
• 2:57:47
  Speaker 1: Then God sent a disciple named Anonius to pray for him.
• 2:57:51
  Speaker 1: When Anonius laid his hands on Saul, scales fell from
• 2:57:55
  Speaker 1: his eyes and he could see again. Immediately, Saul began
• 2:58:00
  Speaker 1: preaching that Jesus was the son of God. The Jews
• 2:58:04
  Speaker 1: who heard him were amazed because they knew he had
• 2:58:07
  Speaker 1: come to arrest Christians, not join them. But God had
• 2:58:11
  Speaker 1: chosen Saul for a special purpose to take the Gospel
• 2:58:14
  Speaker 1: to the Gentiles. Saul, who became known by his Roman
• 2:58:18
  Speaker 1: name Paul, would become the greatest missionary in church history.
• 2:58:22
  Speaker 1: He made three major missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire,
• 2:58:26
  Speaker 1: planting churches and writing letters that would become part of
• 2:58:30
  Speaker 1: the New Testament. Paul's first missionary journey took him to
• 2:58:35
  Speaker 1: Cyprus and several cities in Asia Minor with his companion Barnabas.
• 2:58:41
  Speaker 1: In each city, he would first preach in the Jewish synagogue,
• 2:58:45
  Speaker 1: but when most Jews rejected the message, he would turn
• 2:58:48
  Speaker 1: to the Gentiles. In Antioch of Pisidia, Paul boldly declared
• 2:58:53
  Speaker 1: his strategy. Acts thirteen forty six to forty seven records
• 2:58:58
  Speaker 1: his words. Then, Paul and Barnabus answered them boldly, we
• 2:59:02
  Speaker 1: had to speak the word of God to you first,
• 2:59:05
  Speaker 1: since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy
• 2:59:08
  Speaker 1: of eternal life. We now turn to the gentiles, for
• 2:59:12
  Speaker 1: this is what the Lord has commanded us. I have
• 2:59:15
  Speaker 1: made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may
• 2:59:18
  Speaker 1: bring salvation to the ends of the earth. This raised
• 2:59:23
  Speaker 1: an important question, did Gentiles have to become Jews first
• 2:59:27
  Speaker 1: before they could become Christians. Some Jewish believers insisted that
• 2:59:32
  Speaker 1: gentile converts must be circumcised and followed Jewish law. A
• 2:59:36
  Speaker 1: council was held in Jerusalem to decide this issue. Peter
• 2:59:40
  Speaker 1: argued that God had clearly accepted the Gentiles by giving
• 2:59:45
  Speaker 1: them the Holy Spirit, just as he had given it
• 2:59:47
  Speaker 1: to the Jews. Acts fifteen ten eleven shows his conclusion, Now, then,
• 2:59:54
  Speaker 1: why do you try to test God by putting on
• 2:59:57
  Speaker 1: the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor
• 3:00:01
  Speaker 1: our ancestors have been able to bear. No, we believe
• 3:00:04
  Speaker 1: it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that
• 3:00:07
  Speaker 1: we are saved, just as they are. The council decided
• 3:00:11
  Speaker 1: that Gentiles didn't need to become Jews first, but should
• 3:00:15
  Speaker 1: avoid certain practices that would offend Jewish believers. This decision
• 3:00:20
  Speaker 1: opened the door for the Gospel to spread throughout the
• 3:00:23
  Speaker 1: entire world. Paul's second missionary journey took him into Europe
• 3:00:28
  Speaker 1: for the first time. In Philippi, he and Silas were
• 3:00:31
  Speaker 1: beaten and thrown into prison for casting a demon out
• 3:00:34
  Speaker 1: of a slave girl. But at midnight they were praying
• 3:00:38
  Speaker 1: and singing hymns when a violent earthquake shook the prison
• 3:00:42
  Speaker 1: and opened all the doors. The jailer was about to
• 3:00:45
  Speaker 1: kill himself, thinking all the prisoners had escaped, but Paul
• 3:00:49
  Speaker 1: called out that they were all still there. Act sixteen
• 3:00:52
  Speaker 1: thirteen thirty one shows what happened next. He then brought
• 3:00:55
  Speaker 1: them out and asked, sirs, what must I do to
• 3:00:58
  Speaker 1: be saved, they replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus and
• 3:01:02
  Speaker 1: you will be saved. You and your household. The jailer
• 3:01:07
  Speaker 1: and his entire family were baptized that very night. Paul
• 3:01:11
  Speaker 1: also preached in Athens, the intellectual center of the Greek world.
• 3:01:16
  Speaker 1: When he spoke about Jesus and the resurrection, some mocked him,
• 3:01:20
  Speaker 1: but others wanted to hear more. A few people believed,
• 3:01:24
  Speaker 1: including a member of the Areopagus named Dionysius. Paul's third
• 3:01:29
  Speaker 1: missionary journey focused on strengthening the churches he had already
• 3:01:33
  Speaker 1: planted and establishing new ones. He spent three years in Ephesus,
• 3:01:38
  Speaker 1: where God performed extraordinary miracles through him, and many people
• 3:01:42
  Speaker 1: burned their magic books and turned to Christ. Throughout his journeys,
• 3:01:47
  Speaker 1: Paul faced incredible hardships. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and
• 3:01:53
  Speaker 1: imprisoned multiple times, but nothing could stop him from preaching
• 3:01:57
  Speaker 1: the gospel. Second in Corinthians eleven twenty three two twenty
• 3:02:00
  Speaker 1: five lists some of his sufferings. I have worked much harder,
• 3:02:05
  Speaker 1: been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and
• 3:02:09
  Speaker 1: been exposed to death again and again five times. I
• 3:02:13
  Speaker 1: received from the Jews the forty lashes minus n Three
• 3:02:17
  Speaker 1: times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted
• 3:02:20
  Speaker 1: with stones. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a
• 3:02:23
  Speaker 1: night and a day in the open sea. Despite all
• 3:02:27
  Speaker 1: these hardships, Paul planted churches throughout the Roman Empire and
• 3:02:31
  Speaker 1: wrote thirteen letters that became part of the New Testament.
• 3:02:36
  Speaker 1: These letters explained Christian doctrine and gave practical guidance for
• 3:02:40
  Speaker 1: living the Christian life. As the church grew and spread,
• 3:02:44
  Speaker 1: the apostles wrote letters to encourage believers, correct false teaching,
• 3:02:49
  Speaker 1: and explain what it meant to follow Jesus. These letters,
• 3:02:54
  Speaker 1: along with the Four Gospels and other writings, would eventually
• 3:02:57
  Speaker 1: be recognized as the New Testament. Paul wrote the most letters,
• 3:03:03
  Speaker 1: addressing both churches and individuals. His Letter to the Romans
• 3:03:07
  Speaker 1: is considered his theological masterpiece, explaining how sinful people can
• 3:03:13
  Speaker 1: be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
• 3:03:18
  Speaker 1: Romans three twenty three to twenty four summarizes the human
• 3:03:23
  Speaker 1: problem and God's solution, For all have sinned and fall
• 3:03:28
  Speaker 1: short of the glory of God, and all are justified
• 3:03:32
  Speaker 1: freely by His grace through the redemption that came by
• 3:03:35
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. Paul explained that salvation comes by faith alone,
• 3:03:40
  Speaker 1: not by keeping the law or doing good works. Romans
• 3:03:44
  Speaker 1: ten nine shows how simple it is. If you declare
• 3:03:47
  Speaker 1: with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your
• 3:03:50
  Speaker 1: heart that God raised him from the dead, you will
• 3:03:53
  Speaker 1: be saved. His letters to the Corinthians dealt with practical
• 3:03:57
  Speaker 1: problems in the church, including divs, visions, immorality, and confusion
• 3:04:02
  Speaker 1: about spiritual gifts. Paul taught that love is more important
• 3:04:06
  Speaker 1: than any spiritual gift. First Corinthians thirteen four point seven
• 3:04:12
  Speaker 1: contains his famous description of love. Love is patient, Love
• 3:04:16
  Speaker 1: is kind. It does not envy, It does not boast.
• 3:04:20
  Speaker 1: It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It
• 3:04:23
  Speaker 1: is not self seeking. It is not easily angered. It
• 3:04:27
  Speaker 1: keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,
• 3:04:31
  Speaker 1: but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
• 3:04:36
  Speaker 1: always hopes, always perseveres. Paul's letter to the Galatians defended
• 3:04:41
  Speaker 1: the doctrine of salvation by grace alone against false teachers
• 3:04:45
  Speaker 1: who wanted to add requirements from Jewish law. Galatians two
• 3:04:49
  Speaker 1: twenty expresses Paul's heart. I have been crucified with Christ,
• 3:04:54
  Speaker 1: and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me
• 3:04:58
  Speaker 1: the life I now live in the bl I live
• 3:05:01
  Speaker 1: by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
• 3:05:04
  Speaker 1: and gave himself for me. In Ephesians, Paul explained that
• 3:05:10
  Speaker 1: the Church is the body of Christ, with each believer
• 3:05:13
  Speaker 1: playing an important role. He also described the spiritual armour
• 3:05:17
  Speaker 1: that Christians need to fight against evil. Philippians is known
• 3:05:22
  Speaker 1: as the Joy Letter because Paul wrote it while in
• 3:05:25
  Speaker 1: prison but still expressed great happiness in serving Christ. Philippians
• 3:05:30
  Speaker 1: four p. Thirteen contains one of his most quoted verses,
• 3:05:34
  Speaker 1: I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.
• 3:05:39
  Speaker 1: The Letter to the Colossians emphasized the supremacy of Christ
• 3:05:43
  Speaker 1: over all creation and false philosophies. Paul wanted them to
• 3:05:48
  Speaker 1: understand that they were complete in Christ and didn't need
• 3:05:52
  Speaker 1: anything else. Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus gave instructions
• 3:05:57
  Speaker 1: for church leadership and organization. These pastoral epistles provided guidance
• 3:06:02
  Speaker 1: for pastors and explained the qualifications for elders and deacons.
• 3:06:07
  Speaker 1: Other apostles also wrote important letters. James emphasized that genuine
• 3:06:13
  Speaker 1: faith produces good works, while Paul had emphasized that good
• 3:06:18
  Speaker 1: works don't produce salvation. These teachings compliment, rather than contradict
• 3:06:23
  Speaker 1: each other. James two seventeen shows his point in the
• 3:06:27
  Speaker 1: same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied
• 3:06:31
  Speaker 1: by action, is dead. Peter wrote two letters encouraging believers
• 3:06:36
  Speaker 1: who were facing persecution. He reminded them that suffering for
• 3:06:40
  Speaker 1: Christ was an honor and that their hope was in Heaven,
• 3:06:44
  Speaker 1: not in this world. Peter two nine describes the identity
• 3:06:48
  Speaker 1: of all believers, But you are a chosen people, a
• 3:06:52
  Speaker 1: royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession. That you
• 3:06:57
  Speaker 1: may declare the praises of Him who called you out
• 3:07:00
  Speaker 1: of darkness into his wonderful light. John wrote three letters
• 3:07:04
  Speaker 1: emphasizing love and warning against false teachers who denied that
• 3:07:09
  Speaker 1: Jesus had come in the flesh. First John four eight
• 3:07:13
  Speaker 1: contains his famous statement, whoever does not love does not
• 3:07:17
  Speaker 1: know God, because God is Love. The Letter to the
• 3:07:21
  Speaker 1: Hebrews explained how Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies
• 3:07:25
  Speaker 1: and was superior to the Angels, Moses, and the Jewish priesthood.
• 3:07:31
  Speaker 1: It encouraged Jewish believers not to abandon their faith in
• 3:07:35
  Speaker 1: Christ and return to Judaism. Jude warned against false teachers
• 3:07:41
  Speaker 1: who were corrupting the Church from within, while Sewod Peter
• 3:07:44
  Speaker 1: predicted that such teachers would come in the last days.
• 3:07:49
  Speaker 1: These letters established the fundamental doctrines of Christianity that are
• 3:07:53
  Speaker 1: still believed to day. Salvation by grace through faith, the
• 3:07:58
  Speaker 1: deity of Christ, the Trinity, the coulm inspiration of Scripture,
• 3:08:04
  Speaker 1: the resurrection of the dead, and the second Coming of Jesus.
• 3:08:08
  Speaker 1: As the Church grew it faced increasing opposition from both
• 3:08:12
  Speaker 1: Jewish and Roman authorities. The early believers were willing to
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 1: suffer and even die for their faith in Jesus Christ
• 3:08:20
  Speaker 1: and their courage became one of the strongest testimonies to
• 3:08:24
  Speaker 1: the truth of the Gospel. Stephen was the first Christian
• 3:08:28
  Speaker 1: martyr stoned to death by an angry mob for preaching
• 3:08:32
  Speaker 1: that Jesus was the Messiah. As he was dying, he
• 3:08:36
  Speaker 1: prayed for his killers, just as Jesus had done. Acts
• 3:08:40
  Speaker 1: seven fifty nine sixty records his final words. While they
• 3:08:44
  Speaker 1: were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus received my spirit
• 3:08:50
  Speaker 1: then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord,
• 3:08:53
  Speaker 1: do not hold this sin against them. When he had
• 3:08:56
  Speaker 1: said this, he fell asleep. James, the brother of j
• 3:09:00
  Speaker 1: and one of jesus twelve apostles, was killed by King
• 3:09:03
  Speaker 1: Herod Agrippa to please the Jews. When Herod saw that
• 3:09:08
  Speaker 1: this pleased them, he also arrested Peter, intending to execute
• 3:09:12
  Speaker 1: him after Passover, But the church prayed earnestly for Peter,
• 3:09:17
  Speaker 1: and God sent an angel to rescue him from prison.
• 3:09:21
  Speaker 1: Acts twelve seven describes the miraculous escape. Suddenly, an angel
• 3:09:25
  Speaker 1: of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell.
• 3:09:28
  Speaker 1: He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. Quick,
• 3:09:31
  Speaker 1: get up, he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
• 3:09:35
  Speaker 1: Peter was so amazed that he thought he was seeing
• 3:09:38
  Speaker 1: a vision. Only when he reached the house where believers
• 3:09:41
  Speaker 1: were praying for him did he realized God had truly
• 3:09:44
  Speaker 1: rescued him. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, it
• 3:09:48
  Speaker 1: began to attract the attention of the emperor's Emperor Nero
• 3:09:52
  Speaker 1: blamed Christians for the Great fire that destroyed much of
• 3:09:55
  Speaker 1: Rome in sixty four A d and began a terrible persecution.
• 3:10:00
  Speaker 1: Christians were thrown to wild animals, burned as human torches,
• 3:10:05
  Speaker 1: and crucified for entertainment. According to early Church historians, both
• 3:10:11
  Speaker 1: Peter and Paul were martyred during Nero's persecution. Peter was
• 3:10:15
  Speaker 1: crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die in
• 3:10:20
  Speaker 1: the same manner as his lord. Paul, being a Roman citizen,
• 3:10:24
  Speaker 1: was beheaded rather than crucified. Other apostles also died for
• 3:10:30
  Speaker 1: their faith throughout the empire. Andrew was crucified in Greece
• 3:10:35
  Speaker 1: on an ex shaped cross, Philip was martyred in Turkey.
• 3:10:39
  Speaker 1: Thomas was killed in India, where he had gone to
• 3:10:41
  Speaker 1: preach the gospel. Bartholomew was flayed alive in Armenia. Only
• 3:10:47
  Speaker 1: John lived to old age, dying peacefully in Ephesus around
• 3:10:51
  Speaker 1: one hundred a d. After being exiled to the island
• 3:10:54
  Speaker 1: of Patmos. The persecutions continued under later emperors. Demitia One
• 3:11:00
  Speaker 1: persecuted Christians in the nineties AD, forcing John into exile
• 3:11:04
  Speaker 1: on Patmos. Trajan Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius also persecuted the
• 3:11:10
  Speaker 1: Church at various times over the next two centuries. Despite
• 3:11:14
  Speaker 1: the suffering, the church continued to grow. The blood of
• 3:11:17
  Speaker 1: the martyrs became the seed of the Church, as their
• 3:11:21
  Speaker 1: courage and faith impressed even their enemies. Many people were
• 3:11:25
  Speaker 1: converted when they saw how Christians faced death with peace
• 3:11:28
  Speaker 1: and joy, praying for their persecutors and singing hymns even
• 3:11:33
  Speaker 1: while being tortured. Justin Martyr, one of the early church fathers,
• 3:11:38
  Speaker 1: wrote about why persecution actually helped the church grow, for
• 3:11:42
  Speaker 1: the more we are persecuted, the more do others, in
• 3:11:46
  Speaker 1: ever increasing numbers, become believers and worshipers of God through
• 3:11:51
  Speaker 1: the name of Jesus. The persecutions also purified the church,
• 3:11:56
  Speaker 1: weeding out those who were not truly committed to Christ.
• 3:12:00
  Speaker 1: Only genuine believers were willing to risk their lives for
• 3:12:04
  Speaker 1: their faith. This created a strong, dedicated community of believers
• 3:12:10
  Speaker 1: who supported each other through the darkest times. Christians developed
• 3:12:15
  Speaker 1: creative ways to worship and encourage each other during persecution.
• 3:12:20
  Speaker 1: They met in secret, often in underground cemeteries called catacombs,
• 3:12:24
  Speaker 1: where they buried their dead and held worship services. They
• 3:12:28
  Speaker 1: used symbols like the fish to identify themselves to other
• 3:12:32
  Speaker 1: believers without alerting the authorities. The persecution finally ended when
• 3:12:38
  Speaker 1: Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in three thirteen a d.
• 3:12:43
  Speaker 1: And issued the Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom throughout
• 3:12:47
  Speaker 1: the empire. But by then the Church had already proven
• 3:12:51
  Speaker 1: that it could survive and thrive under the worst possible conditions.
• 3:12:57
  Speaker 1: The last book of the Bible was written by the
• 3:13:00
  Speaker 1: apostle John while he was exiled on the island of
• 3:13:03
  Speaker 1: Patmos during Emperor Domitian's persecution around ninety five a d.
• 3:13:09
  Speaker 1: This book, called Revelation or the Apocalypse, contains visions of
• 3:13:13
  Speaker 1: the risen Jesus Christ, messages to seven churches, and prophecies
• 3:13:18
  Speaker 1: about the end times and God's final victory over evil.
• 3:13:23
  Speaker 1: Revelation one nine to ten describes how John received these visions.
• 3:13:28
  Speaker 1: I John, your brother and companion in the suffering and
• 3:13:32
  Speaker 1: kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus was
• 3:13:36
  Speaker 1: on the island of Patmos because of the word of
• 3:13:39
  Speaker 1: God and the testimony of Jesus on the Lord's Day.
• 3:13:43
  Speaker 1: I was in the spirit, and I heard behind me
• 3:13:46
  Speaker 1: a loud voice like a trumpet. John first saw Jesus
• 3:13:50
  Speaker 1: in his glorified state, no longer the humble carpenter from Nazareth,
• 3:13:54
  Speaker 1: but the risen lord, clothed in divine majesty. His hair
• 3:13:58
  Speaker 1: was white as snow, his eyes blazed like fire, his
• 3:14:02
  Speaker 1: feet were like bronze refined in a furnace, and his
• 3:14:05
  Speaker 1: voice was like the sound of rushing waters. When John
• 3:14:09
  Speaker 1: saw him, he fell at his feet as though dead.
• 3:14:13
  Speaker 1: But Jesus gently touched him and said, do not be afraid.
• 3:14:18
  Speaker 1: I am the first and the last. I am the
• 3:14:21
  Speaker 1: living one. I was dead, and now look I am alive,
• 3:14:26
  Speaker 1: forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death
• 3:14:29
  Speaker 1: and hades. Jesus dictated seven letters to seven churches in
• 3:14:33
  Speaker 1: Asia Minor, praising them for their strengths, but also warning
• 3:14:38
  Speaker 1: them about their weaknesses. These churches represented the types of
• 3:14:42
  Speaker 1: spiritual conditions that would exist throughout church history. Two. The
• 3:14:50
  Speaker 1: church in Ephesus, Jesus said they had lost their first
• 3:14:54
  Speaker 1: love to Smyrna. He promised a crown of life for
• 3:14:57
  Speaker 1: those who remained faithful, even unto de death. He told
• 3:15:01
  Speaker 1: the church in Pergamum to repent of tolerating false teaching,
• 3:15:05
  Speaker 1: and warned Thiaterra about allowing a false prophetess to lead
• 3:15:09
  Speaker 1: people astray. The church in Sardis was told to wake
• 3:15:14
  Speaker 1: up because they were spiritually dead. While Philadelphia was commended
• 3:15:18
  Speaker 1: for keeping God's word despite having little strength, the church
• 3:15:23
  Speaker 1: in Laodicea was criticized for being lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
• 3:15:28
  Speaker 1: and was warned that Jesus would spit them out of
• 3:15:31
  Speaker 1: his mouth if they didn't repent. After the letters to
• 3:15:35
  Speaker 1: the churches, John was taken up to heaven in vision
• 3:15:39
  Speaker 1: and saw God's throne room. He witnessed twenty four elders
• 3:15:43
  Speaker 1: and four living creatures continuously worshiping God, and heard them singing, Holy, Holy, Holy,
• 3:15:49
  Speaker 1: is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and
• 3:15:53
  Speaker 1: is to come. John saw a scroll sealed with seven
• 3:15:57
  Speaker 1: seals that no one was worthy to open until the
• 3:16:00
  Speaker 1: lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, appearing as
• 3:16:05
  Speaker 1: a lamb that had been slain, took the scroll and
• 3:16:08
  Speaker 1: began opening the seals. As each seal was opened, judgments
• 3:16:13
  Speaker 1: were poured out on the earth. The first four seals
• 3:16:16
  Speaker 1: released the famous four horsemen of the apocalypse, conquest, war, famine,
• 3:16:21
  Speaker 1: and death. The fifth seal revealed the souls of martyrs
• 3:16:25
  Speaker 1: crying out for justice. The sixth seal brought cosmic upheaval
• 3:16:29
  Speaker 1: with earthquakes, darkened sun, and blood red moon. After the
• 3:16:34
  Speaker 1: seventh seal was opened, seven angels with seven trumpets brought
• 3:16:38
  Speaker 1: even more severe judgments. A third of the earth was
• 3:16:41
  Speaker 1: burned up, a third of the sea became blood, a
• 3:16:44
  Speaker 1: third of the rivers became bitter, and a third of
• 3:16:47
  Speaker 1: the heavenly bodies were darkened. John saw a great dragon
• 3:16:52
  Speaker 1: identified as Satan, who tried to destroy a woman and
• 3:16:55
  Speaker 1: her child, representing God's people and the Messiah. Also saw
• 3:17:00
  Speaker 1: two beasts rising up to persecute believers and deceive the world.
• 3:17:05
  Speaker 1: One beast represented political power, while the other represented false
• 3:17:10
  Speaker 1: religion working together with government to oppose God. The number
• 3:17:15
  Speaker 1: sixty six was given as the mark of the beast,
• 3:17:18
  Speaker 1: and those who refused to receive this mark would not
• 3:17:22
  Speaker 1: be able to buy or sell. But John also saw
• 3:17:25
  Speaker 1: one hundred and forty four thousand faithful believers who had
• 3:17:29
  Speaker 1: God's seal on their foreheads and would be protected during
• 3:17:33
  Speaker 1: the tribulation. Seven angels poured out seven bowls of God's wrath,
• 3:17:38
  Speaker 1: bringing the final judgments before Christ's return. These included painful sores,
• 3:17:44
  Speaker 1: seas and rivers turning to blood, scorching heat from the
• 3:17:47
  Speaker 1: sun darkness over the Beast's kingdom, the drying up of
• 3:17:51
  Speaker 1: the Euphrates River, and a great earthquake that destroyed cities.
• 3:17:56
  Speaker 1: John witnessed the fall of Babylon the Great, representing the
• 3:18:01
  Speaker 1: world's system opposed to God. Revelation eighteen two announces her
• 3:18:05
  Speaker 1: judgment with a mighty voice. He shouted, fallen. Fallen is
• 3:18:10
  Speaker 1: Babylon the Great. She has become a dwelling for demons,
• 3:18:14
  Speaker 1: and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for
• 3:18:18
  Speaker 1: every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
• 3:18:25
  Speaker 1: But then came the most glorious vision of all, the
• 3:18:28
  Speaker 1: return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord
• 3:18:33
  Speaker 1: of Lords. Revelation nineteen eleven to sixteen describes his appearance.
• 3:18:39
  Speaker 1: I saw Heaven standing open, and there before me was
• 3:18:42
  Speaker 1: a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True
• 3:18:47
  Speaker 1: with justice. He judges and wages war. His eyes are
• 3:18:51
  Speaker 1: like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.
• 3:18:55
  Speaker 1: He has a name written on him that no one
• 3:18:57
  Speaker 1: knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe
• 3:19:01
  Speaker 1: dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
• 3:19:05
  Speaker 1: The armies of Heaven were following him, riding on white
• 3:19:08
  Speaker 1: horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming
• 3:19:12
  Speaker 1: out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which
• 3:19:15
  Speaker 1: to strike down the nations. He will rule them with
• 3:19:18
  Speaker 1: an iron scepter. He treads the wine press of the
• 3:19:22
  Speaker 1: fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe
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  Speaker 1: and on his thigh he has this name written, King
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  Speaker 1: of Kings and Lord of Lords. Christ defeated all his enemies,
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  Speaker 1: and Satan was bound for a thousand years while Christ
• 3:19:36
  Speaker 1: reigned on Earth with his saints. After the thousand years,
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  Speaker 1: Satan was released for a final rebellion, but was quickly
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  Speaker 1: defeated and thrown into the Lake of Fire forever. John
• 3:19:48
  Speaker 1: then saw the final Judgment, where all the dead were
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  Speaker 1: raised and judged according to their deeds. Death and ades
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  Speaker 1: were thrown into the Lake of fire, and anyone whose
• 3:20:00
  Speaker 1: the name was not written in the Book of Life
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  Speaker 1: was also cast into eternal punishment. But for those who
• 3:20:07
  Speaker 1: belonged to Christ, the most wonderful vision awaited. Revelation twenty
• 3:20:12
  Speaker 1: one one four describes the new creation. Then I saw
• 3:20:16
  Speaker 1: a new heaven and a new Earth. For the first
• 3:20:19
  Speaker 1: heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there
• 3:20:22
  Speaker 1: was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City,
• 3:20:26
  Speaker 1: the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
• 3:20:30
  Speaker 1: prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And
• 3:20:34
  Speaker 1: I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look,
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  Speaker 1: God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He
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  Speaker 1: will dwell with them. They will be his people, and
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  Speaker 1: God himself will be with them and be their God.
• 3:20:46
  Speaker 1: He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will
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  Speaker 1: be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain,
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  Speaker 1: for the old order of things has passed away. The
• 3:20:56
  Speaker 1: New Jerusalem was described as a perfect cube, one duws
• 3:21:00
  Speaker 1: four hundred miles in each direction, with walls of jasper
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  Speaker 1: and streets of pure gold. It had no temple because
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  Speaker 1: God and the Lamb were its temple, and no sun
• 3:21:11
  Speaker 1: or moon because the glory of God gave it light.
• 3:21:15
  Speaker 1: The river of the water of Life flowed through the city,
• 3:21:19
  Speaker 1: and the tree of Life bore twelve kinds of fruit
• 3:21:23
  Speaker 1: with leaves for the healing of the nations. Best of all,
• 3:21:27
  Speaker 1: there would be no more curse, no more sin, no
• 3:21:29
  Speaker 1: more suffering. God's servants would serve him perfectly, see his face,
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  Speaker 1: and reign with him. Forever and ever. The book ends
• 3:21:38
  Speaker 1: with Jesus promising to return soon and an invitation for
• 3:21:43
  Speaker 1: all people to come to him. Revelation twenty two seventeen
• 3:21:46
  Speaker 1: contains this final call. The Spirit and the bride say come,
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  Speaker 1: and let the one who hears say come. Let the
• 3:21:54
  Speaker 1: one who is thirsty come, and let the one who
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  Speaker 1: wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
• 3:22:00
  Speaker 1: John concluded with a prayer that expressed the longing of
• 3:22:04
  Speaker 1: every believer. Amen, Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the
• 3:22:08
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. This completed the
• 3:22:13
  Speaker 1: Bible's magnificent story, from creation to the New Creation, from
• 3:22:18
  Speaker 1: paradise lost in a garden to paradise regained in a city,
• 3:22:23
  Speaker 1: from the first Adam's failure to the last Adam's victory.
• 3:22:28
  Speaker 1: Through Jesus Christ, God's eternal plan to redeem humanity and
• 3:22:34
  Speaker 1: restore all things was accomplished, and his kingdom would have
• 3:22:37
  Speaker 1: no end. Every promise made throughout the Old Testament was fulfilled,
• 3:22:42
  Speaker 1: every prophecy came true, and every believer could look forward
• 3:22:46
  Speaker 1: to an eternity of perfect joy in the presence of
• 3:22:50
  Speaker 1: their Savior. If you enjoyed this complete Bible Overview check
• 3:22:55
  Speaker 1: out are other videos where we dive deeper into specific books, characters,
• 3:23:00
  Speaker 1: and stories from scripture. We're here to help you grow
• 3:23:04
  Speaker 1: in your understanding of God's word and your relationship with Him.
• 3:23:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you for taking this amazing journey with us through
• 3:23:11
  Speaker 1: the Bible. Remember this story isn't over. You're part of it,
• 3:23:16
  Speaker 1: and the best chapters are yet to come until next time.
• 3:23:19
  Speaker 1: May God bless you and keep you in his perfect love.
• 3:23:23
  Speaker 1: Don't forget, subscribe, share, and keep exploring the wonderful treasures
• 3:23:27
  Speaker 1: hidden in God's Word.