Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 759. Bible Study: Zephaniah 3 (Jerusalem Unrepentant, Fear of the Lord, Respect, Milennium Reign of Christ)

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759. Bible Study: Zephaniah 3 (Jerusalem Unrepentant, Fear of the Lord, Respect, Milennium Reign of Christ) · Faith by annm2705

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  Chapter 3 of Zephaniah. First let's pray.
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  Dear God, please open our minds to understand and comprehend
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  this chapter. We are about to read in Jesus
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  name. It says woe to the city of
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  oppressors, rebellious and defiled.
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  She obeys no one. She accepts no correction.
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  She does not trust in the Lord. She does not draw near to her
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  God. Her officials within her are
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  roaring lions. Her rulers are evening wolves
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  who leave nothing for the morning.
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  Her prophets are unprincipled. They are treacherous people.
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  Her priests profane the sanctuary and due violence to
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  the law. The Lord within her is
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  righteous. He does no wrong morning.
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  By morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he
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  does not fail. Yet the unrighteous show no
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  shame. So it's kind of interesting
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  where it says the unrighteous show no shame.
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  So there are people who are doing unrighteous things, but
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  they don't show any. They have no shame for it.
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  They don't regret it, they're just doing it.
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  They don't see anything wrong with it.
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  There's no shame there. And that brings about something
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  like none of us like shame, none of us like to feel guilty.
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  But over time, I've thought about guilt, and that guilt is
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  perhaps the Holy Spirit letting us know something is not right
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  with God. So in a sense, the way I look at
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  it, if we feel guilty about something, that just means that
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  we have some connection to God that's still intact.
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  And it's the Holy Spirit trying to get us to turn in, repent for
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  that, to change our ways about that, to stop doing the things
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  that God says, don't do this or God says to live this way.
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  And we're not living the way that God says.
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  And he always wants us to come back into relationship with him
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  and to change those ways. And as Christians, we have the
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  power of the Holy Spirit that helps us overcome these things
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  that are a struggle for us. So this, this first part of it,
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  it's saying woe to the city of the oppressors.
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  The study Bible says what is the city of oppressors?
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  Verses 2 and five indicate that Jerusalem is in view.
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  Verse 2 identifies her God as the Lord, the special name for
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  Israel's God. Verse 5 speaks of the Lord
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  dwelling within her, a reference to God's presence in the
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  Jerusalem Temple. So how were the religious
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  leaders unprincipled, untrustworthy, and violent?
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  The these prophets, who claimed to be God's spokesperson refused
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  to expose the social injustice of Judah's civil leaders.
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  Instead, they proudly claimed that their false assurances of a
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  bright future for Judah were messages from God.
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  The priest who were supposed to teach the people of God's law
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  did not follow the proper standards for ceremonial purity
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  and neglected Sabbath observations.
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  We kind of find that today in some churches where they just
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  like to talk about all the good things or you have the
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  prosperity gospel churches where they only talk about things that
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  people want to hear. And anything that's
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  controversial or anything that might not be easy to listen to
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  is stripped from the message. And those are the kinds of
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  things that's similar to what they were talking about back
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  then is that they're promising this bright future.
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  And of course, if you only, if you are a person that comes to a
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  church like that and you only go to the church, you don't really
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  read the Old Testament. You don't really read the New
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  Testament or the Book of Revelation or anything, then you
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  have no idea that God is both love and justice and he's
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  righteous. Like you may hear those things,
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  but you don't realize that there is a punishment set aside for
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  the people who are in rebellion to God.
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  And a lot of churches don't like to talk about the tougher things
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  because who knows why, but they're you can make a lot of
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  speculations as to why they don't want to upset the people
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  who are coming to their church. But in reality, this is what I
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  discovered today and I forgot how I got there.
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  It was actually in preparation for this chapter, but I don't
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  actually recall how I got to this point because I got to
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  Leviticus 19 verse 17. And this is kind of interesting.
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  It's on this topic of, you know, not bringing up the tough things
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  in a church. So it says, so this is back in
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  the the laws that were given to the Israelites.
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  It says do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart.
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  Rebuke your neighbor, frankly, so you will not share in their
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  guilt. Isn't that interesting?
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  It's like, don't hate somebody, but rebuke them so you don't
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  share in their guilt. So I went ahead and just did a
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  Google search and said what's the explanation of Leviticus
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  1917? Not to say you need to check
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  sources on this, but it usually gives a really good summation
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  and then you can go to the sources for it.
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  And anyway, it's it's a very concise explanation, much better
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  than I would do if I just talked through it.
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  So I'll read what it says and you can search this too and and
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  find it for yourself. Like what does Leviticus 1917
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  mean? It means you should not harbor
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  hatred for a fellow Israelite in your heart, but instead rebuke
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  them directly for their sins so you are not held responsible for
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  it. The command requires you to
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  confront wrongdoing, least you become a partner in their sin or
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  bear the guilt. This is presented as an act of
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  love, as ignoring sin is seen as an act of hating.
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  You know, today we don't. What we see on social media,
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  which is terrible, is that we see people saying that anything
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  that supports biblical views is hate.
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  But if you just do a Google search on this, it says this is
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  presented as an act of love, as ignoring sin is seen as an act
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  of hating. Well, why if you ignored sin,
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  would you actually be hating somebody?
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  Well, I'll read more and it'll explain.
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  Here's a breakdown of the key components of Leviticus 1917.
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  Do not hate your brother in your heart.
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  This prohibits harboring ill will or holding grudges against
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  people. You shall surely rebuke your
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  neighbor. This requires directly
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  confronting your neighbor when they commit a wrong.
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  This rebuke should be done privately with gentleness and
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  love rather than out of hatred. You will not incur guilt because
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  of Him. The reason for the rebuke is so
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  that you are not held accountable for their sin.
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  By not speaking up, you could be seen as condoning their actions,
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  which could lead to a shared punishment or guilt.
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  That's really interesting because if you don't speak up
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  and let somebody know, then what What if God says to you?
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  If you don't speak up, you, you know, something is going to
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  prevent someone from being in God's Kingdom.
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  And you're like, well, I don't want to cause any problems.
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  I'm just going to keep quiet and keep peace.
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  You know, that's what I want to do.
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  I'm just going to love people and, and I'm not going to bring
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  up anything negative. So then your friend who you
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  don't say anything to, continues on that same path and you just
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  keep quiet, don't say anything at all.
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  And then something happens and say that person loses their life
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  and they were in that, that I guess the unrepentant sin, they
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  just keep kept on continuing on in sin, You know, do you think
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  maybe God's going to say to you, why didn't you warn them?
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  Don't you care about them? Don't you care about their
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  outcome? Were you all just about yourself
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  and not making it uncomfortable for yourself?
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  So you didn't address their situation because it does say in
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  Scripture, and I actually don't have that called up yet, but I'm
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  going to have to look at it because this is one thing that
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  is in Scripture that it was really, it's, it's very clear
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  and it's something that people won't want to hear, but I think
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  you'd want to hear it in advance.
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  You don't want to hear it on Judgment Day.
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  In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26, it says if we deliberately keep
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  on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the
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  truth. So this is talking about we know
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  it's when you know you are sinning.
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  If you keep on doing it, you know you're sinning.
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  It says no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful
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  expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume
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  the enemies of God. I mean, that's pretty severe
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  there. So do you want your friend to
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  get this judgement and raging fire and be considered an enemy
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  of God or do you want them to restore their relationship with
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  God and be in God's Kingdom and be, you know, celebrating, you
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  know, at the end when Jesus returns and when those who are
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  in God's Kingdom, you know, in eternity, there's I think people
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  become so short sighted and don't look at the big picture.
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  And that's why Scripture is so important to read and to
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  understand, because when our eyes are open to these things,
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  then it we realize that anything that we say, not at from a an
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  accusational point of it, but just like saying, Hey, do you
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  know what the Bible says about this?
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  Do you know what you're going to cause in your future if you
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  don't address this right now? I mean, that's the kind of, I
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  mean, I completely agree with that summary that if you don't
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  say something to somebody, do you really love them?
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  Do you really care about their future?
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  Or are you just making it easy because nobody likes to confront
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  another person. No one likes to say anything and
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  nobody likes to hear it. Nobody likes to receive it.
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  It makes it uncomfortable for everybody.
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  Nobody wants to deal with it. So most of the time we don't
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  deal with it. But is that really what God
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  wants us to do? Does he want us to just like,
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  sit by and say, OK, well, I guess, you know, if, if they,
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  you know, are eternally separated from God, you know,
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  that's their deal. I mean that's very selfish if
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  you know something. Now again, if a person, the
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  person has the choice. So I don't think we're you're
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  called to continually remind a person.
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  I mean, once somebody knows, let it be, then it's, you know, it's
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  on their hand, but at least you said something.
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  So then you're not going to be guilty for not trying to direct
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  them in the right place. And then that's just going to be
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  their responsibilities between them and God.
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  And then there's, you know, you have, there's nothing more to
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  say about it anymore after it's been made known.
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  And anyway, it was just something that I don't think I,
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  I know they're actually churches that are like that, that just
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  don't bring up anything uncomfortable because they just
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  don't want the environment to be like that.
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  But I think that's doing a disservice.
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  And if you're a church, I think a church is called to shepherd
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  people and to prepare people for the Kingdom of God.
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  Like that's where I want to go to a church is where that
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  they're going to prepare me. And maybe it's going to be
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  uncomfortable what I hear sometimes and cause a reflection
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  on my life that I need to that I realize I need to change
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  something in my life, but at least I'm changing it now before
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  all of a sudden Jesus is here. And then I didn't deal with it.
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  And do you, I mean it. It does say in Scripture that
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  he, you know, there are people who think they are doing the
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  right thing. And then Jesus says, depart from
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  me. I never knew you.
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  Or he closes the door and he doesn't allow them in.
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  So I don't want to be figuring that out at that point.
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  I'd rather deal with it now, work through it with God.
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  Have those, you know, prayerful moments with God and getting in
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  Scripture than to have judgement.
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  And then again like this talks about in here, it's it talks
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  about God's compassion and his mercy.
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  And sometimes he withholds things from people when they
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  turn and repent. So the sooner we turn back to
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  God and repent, the the better off we'll be.
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  I mean, we may still have consequences of what we chose,
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  but it could have been worse maybe.
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  And God may just out of his kindness and mercy decide, well,
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  I'm not going to do everything I was going to do because this
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  person changed their heart towards me.
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  So then it talks as it's talking about Jerusalem.
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  I have destroyed nations, their strongholds are demolished.
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  I have left the streets deserted with no one passing through.
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  Their cities are laid waste. They are deserted and empty of
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  Jerusalem. I thought, surely you will fear
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  me and accept correction. That's another thing that's
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  really interesting is the fear of God.
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  I had a lot of not a lot, but I had some people when I was new
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  in the faith and I was just asking questions and I, you
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  know, just had AI just was struggling with keeping God's
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  commandments and also understanding grace.
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  And and so it was, it was a little bit confusing to me
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  because when I read the Bible, I came away from reading the Bible
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  understanding that we still need to keep the commandments.
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  Like just because of grace doesn't mean we can ignore the
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  commandments. But there's a lot of people who
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  say, well, grace covers that all.
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  But what I believe that the Bible, and not only just me, but
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  there are other pastors too that believe this is that it's like
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  we mess up. There are times where we mess
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  up, and that's where grace is like, we don't have to be
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  fearful if we mess up and say, like now we're going to hell or
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  now we're eternally separated. God still gives us that
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  opportunity to ask for forgiveness.
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  And that grace covers it where we don't die because of our sin.
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  But there's a difference between, you know, in
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  sacrificing, if you look back on the sacrifices, I have another
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  part of my study Bible that actually gives you a listing of
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  all the different sacrifices that they had in the Old
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  Testament and what what they were for.
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  And these were not, none of these things were for willful
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  sin. It was all for like accidental
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  type stuff. And and so willful sin doesn't
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  appear to be covered by a sacrifice.
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  And that's very much what we just read in Hebrews chapter 10,
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  verse 26. Was that willful sin?
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  You, you just your expectation should just be judgement and the
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  fire and you're considered an enemy of God.
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  And I don't hear that in churches because there's a lot
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  of people that are comfortable in their sin and they're just
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  like they they're like I'm, I'm covered by God's grace.
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  But who taught you that the Bible didn't, but a church did?
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  And that concerns me. So this is kind of the the fear
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  of God is another one of those things where, you know, people
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  say, well, it just means this awesome God.
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  Well, it does mean that in certain verses, but in some
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  verses it literally means being afraid of the punishment that
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  would come from your willful sin against God.
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  Like you, it's you are respecting God like if you just
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  knowing the power of God and knowing that God is just and and
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  looking at everything more so in a realistic way.
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  Like it says in the Bible that the wages of sin is death.
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  And so that's what we get paid for our sins.
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  But God is merciful and that's why he's not requiring eternal
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  death for us because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross.
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  So that's where the grace is and grace is also the power, the
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  power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin.
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  And that's another thing that doesn't get taught a lot.
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  You know, people just get comfortable.
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  There's I just see so much in the churches that they just make
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  people comfortable and they don't like make people reflect
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  on their lives. Not that I think you need both,
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  you know, when you go. But if you only get all the good
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  stuff, there's no reason to ever question your own life.
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  There's no reason to reflect on your own life and you just think
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  you're great. And what if you need some things
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  that you have to work out with God and and then the time comes
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  when it's judgement time. I just think again, it's just
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  not preparing people. And, and then once you are
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  prepared, and I think it's a daily thing where you just
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  reflect on your life and, and sometimes there are days where
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  you maybe you're doing things more in the image of the way
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  Jesus would want you to do reflecting Jesus.
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  And then there's other days where you realize I didn't do a
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  great job of that. I really messed up with this and
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  this and this. And that's when, you know, it's
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  every day, talk to God and just say, you know, help me with
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  this, help me change so I can be a RIP better reflection of you.
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  And, and it's that's where like I don't have that fear of God
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  only because I know I'm not hiding from him.
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  I'm not hiding anything. I'm acknowledging when I mess up
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  and when I realize I do, I don't want it.
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  And so I know where my heart is with God.
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  And so I don't go around fearing God because I know that God
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  knows me. I know that God knows how I feel
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  about things and I know he knows that I don't want to do anything
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  against him. So because of that, I have a
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  comfort with God. I am not an enemy of God.
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  And and you know, God shows all sorts of love in my life.
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  But so I think sometimes people say like when you focus on the
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  the other aspect of talking about sin is they're like, well,
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  what about love? Yeah, that's absolute.
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  But everybody gets talked to about love.
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  And to the to the point of destruction, like there are
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  churches that are encouraging people and they say in the name
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  of love basically, but they're encouraging people to be OK with
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  their sinful behavior when the Bible clearly says you will not
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  be in God's Kingdom. To me that is not love.
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  And so I am not going to ever say that to anyone.
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  I'm going to tell them the truth.
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  But anyway, I got too much on to that.
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  But I mean, this is what it's talking about with Jerusalem.
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  It's talking about Jerusalem was unrepentant.
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  And it says surely you will fear me and accept correction.
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  Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed.
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  Not all my punishments come upon her.
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  See this is like what God does if we if we turn to him, he
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  said, then her place of refuge would not be destroyed.
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  Not all my punishments come upon her.
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  So that's a good thing. See how merciful God is.
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  There's love right there. It's like it.
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  You know, God is often he's called our father and a loving
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  father does not want to discipline or punish his child.
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  He wants to give good things to his child.
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  And maybe not all people experienced that in their life,
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  but the Father that God is, is he's love and he doesn't, he
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  doesn't delight in the punishment.
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  The only punishment that he does is to try to wake us up, to try
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  to get us to turn back to him. Because in love he doesn't force
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  us to love. He gives us free will so we can
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  choose whether we love him or not.
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  So it, I guess it gets a little bit complicated in that way, but
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  God is love and merciful. But they were still eager to act
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  corruptly. And all they did therefore wait
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  for me, declares the Lord for the for the day I will stand up
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  to testify. I don't think I'd want God
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  testifying against me for sure. OK, let's go through a couple of
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  questions and answers here. Let's see, does God balance the
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  scales of justice daily? God often allows injustice to
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  sweep through and even temporarily dominate a society.
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  But the point of the this verse is not that God provides
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  immediate justice for everyone, but that He regularly promotes
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  justice in the world. Sooner or later He will reward
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  righteousness and pay back all evil doers in full.
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  And then it says in. Is this describing the end of
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  the world? Yes, but not only that.
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  Zephaniah was describing Judah's coming judgement against the
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  backdrop of a final worldwide judgement.
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  Old Testament prophecies sometimes had two meanings, 1
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  involving the immediate future and the other foreshadowing
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  events of the end times. So then Zephaniah goes on.
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  In the words of the Lord, I have decided to assemble the nations
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  to gather the kingdoms, and to pour out my wrath on them.
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  All my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed
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  by the fire of my jealous anger. God's angry when we put anything
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  else as more important than him. Essentially that's idolatry.
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  It could be anything in our life that we choose over God.
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  So then he continues. Then I will purify the lips of
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  the people, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and
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  serve him shoulder to shoulder from beyond the rivers of Cush.
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  My work worshippers, my scattered people will bring me
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  offerings. On that day.
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  You, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you
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  have done to me, because I will remove from you your arrogant
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  boasters. Never again will you be haughty
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  on my holy hill. So we know this is the future
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  because it says never again. This is going to be after Jesus
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  returns because there's going to be a a huge change, a huge
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  restoration when he returns. There's obviously going to be
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  wrath, but that's the separation of good and evil.
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  And then there's going to be this wonderful restoration that
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  occurs, but I will leave within you the meek and humble, the
• 25:10
  remnant of Israel. God appreciates it when we see
• 25:15
  the truth, when we humble ourselves in front of Him and
• 25:20
  recognize our rebellious ways to Him and how we are not living
• 25:26
  according to His commands. When we humble ourselves and we
• 25:31
  don't say I have no sin, I'm good, I'm clean, I'm good, I'm
• 25:34
  righteous and all that. He doesn't like that he he knows
• 25:41
  everything that we do and he knows we're not perfect and he
• 25:45
  knows that we mess up. And because he is a loving
• 25:49
  father, we can go to him with anything that we've done because
• 25:52
  he already knows anyway. So when we humble ourselves and
• 25:56
  go to him, it says in scripture that you know, there's, there's
• 25:59
  a blessing here. He says, because I will remove
• 26:02
  from you the boasters, but never again.
• 26:05
  These are all the good things, but I will leave within you the
• 26:09
  meek and the humble, the remnant of Israel.
• 26:11
  So there's a blessing there for being meek and humble.
• 26:15
  The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord.
• 26:19
  They will do no wrong. They will tell no lies.
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  A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths.
• 26:28
  They will eat and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
• 26:33
  Obviously that is not today in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is
• 26:37
  always recently and as far in the past, the Israelites have
• 26:42
  always been under some sort of threat.
• 26:45
  I mean, the most peaceful time was probably what, during the
• 26:47
  reigns of Solomon. But then after that there's,
• 26:51
  it's not been peaceful for them. Sing, daughter Zion, shout
• 26:56
  aloud. Israel, be glad and rejoice with
• 26:58
  all your heart. Daughter Jerusalem, the Lord has
• 27:01
  taken away your punishment. He has turned back your enemy.
• 27:06
  The Lord the King of Israel is with you.
• 27:10
  That's why I think this is future too, because Jesus
• 27:13
  reigning with them from Jerusalem.
• 27:14
  That's the plan. So this is again a prophet and
• 27:19
  you know, in the BC era and he's talking about Jesus, the Lord
• 27:26
  the King of Israel is with you. Never again will you fear any
• 27:31
  harm. You know, this is not now Then
• 27:34
  it says on that day they will say to Jerusalem, do not fear
• 27:39
  Zion. Do not let your hands hang limp
• 27:42
  because that's what happens. You know, at the in the end
• 27:44
  times, it talks often about people's hands going limp.
• 27:47
  Like there's this, there's this fear of what's coming on that
• 27:51
  the Bible warns us about. Like when God's wrath comes,
• 27:55
  people will be fearful but a reminder that if our
• 28:00
  relationship is good with God, we are not subject to his wrath
• 28:04
  like there is either either were removed before that or we are
• 28:08
  protected in some way but we do not experience the wrath of God.
• 28:14
  Those are for the people. It's very clear in the Bible
• 28:17
  that is for the people who are enemies of God.
• 28:20
  But we have to make sure we don't have unrepentant sin, sin
• 28:23
  we know we're doing and not turning to God and not stopping
• 28:27
  it because it says if we have that unrepentant sin, we get the
• 28:32
  fiery judgment and the wrath of God and we're considered an
• 28:35
  enemy. And when was the last time your
• 28:38
  church told you that? So the Lord your God is, this is
• 28:44
  talking about people who I guess who are reconciled with God.
• 28:50
  The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves.
• 28:54
  He will take great delight in you, in his love.
• 28:59
  He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with
• 29:04
  singing. I thought this was kind of
• 29:06
  interesting and this is another thing that just happened to come
• 29:10
  to mind when I read this. But in the study Bible, I'll
• 29:14
  read what it says. Does God sing?
• 29:17
  It would seem so, although this also may be a way of describing
• 29:23
  God's feelings in terms we we can understand, bringing God's
• 29:29
  feelings down to the human level.
• 29:31
  Still, God expresses emotions, including joy and a variety.
• 29:36
  Let's see, including joy and a variety.
• 29:41
  Sorry, I lost my place in a variety of ways.
• 29:44
  The Hebrew Hebrew word translated singing may even
• 29:47
  refer to a shout of delight or happy laughter.
• 29:51
  This shows the great joy the Lord will feel when Jerusalem,
• 29:54
  His chosen city, is repopulated with His people and the pain of
• 29:59
  past judgment has passed once and for all.
• 30:03
  So like I said about the singing part, it says He will take great
• 30:08
  delight in you. Now this is talking to Jerusalem
• 30:13
  in His love. He will no longer rebuke you,
• 30:16
  but will rejoice over you with singing.
• 30:21
  Like I said, when I read this, I thought about something in the
• 30:23
  Book of Revelation. It's talking about the Lamb and
• 30:26
  the 144,000. Now the Lamb is Jesus, and the
• 30:30
  144,000 represent 12,000 of each tribe.
• 30:38
  So here's what it says. This is verse 3.
• 30:42
  And then I'll read from verse one.
• 30:44
  And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four
• 30:50
  living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song
• 30:55
  except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
• 31:02
  So this is just where you know, God is redeeming people.
• 31:05
  And that's talking about a song. This is about Israel.
• 31:09
  I just think these are connected somehow.
• 31:11
  So to go back to verse one, it said, then I looked and there
• 31:17
  before me was the Lamb Jesus standing on Mount Zion.
• 31:21
  That's the Jerusalem. And with them 144,000 who had
• 31:27
  his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
• 31:32
  Now, since they're talking about a lamb, this is probably not
• 31:36
  literal, but it's probably like, you know your thoughts, maybe
• 31:40
  with you know, you've turned to God like you have the name of
• 31:45
  Jesus and the Father in your mind on your foreheads.
• 31:48
  That's your focus. I don't know they it's, I think
• 31:51
  it's probably some sort of symbolic writing there.
• 31:56
  And it says I heard a sound from heaven, like the roar of rushing
• 32:00
  waters. That's often how God's voice is
• 32:02
  described. And like a loud pill of Thunder,
• 32:07
  the sound I heard was like that of harpist playing their harps.
• 32:14
  So you've got rushing water Thunder harps.
• 32:17
  I mean, something really majestic and supernatural,
• 32:21
  something very much God's presence there.
• 32:24
  And it says, and they sang a new song before the throne.
• 32:28
  That's the throne of God. And before the four living
• 32:30
  creatures. Those are that are near the
• 32:34
  throne of God that are described earlier in the Book of
• 32:36
  Revelation. And the elders people, guess who
• 32:41
  the elders are? No one could learn the song
• 32:45
  except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from earth.
• 32:50
  So this seems like something very special just for the people
• 32:53
  of Israel. And it says these are those who
• 32:57
  did not defile themselves with women, for they remained
• 33:00
  virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he
• 33:03
  goes. They were purchased from among
• 33:05
  mankind and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb.
• 33:11
  No lie was found in their mouths.
• 33:13
  They are blameless. That just that's exactly what it
• 33:16
  said before in verse 13. They will do no wrong.
• 33:20
  They will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be
• 33:24
  found in their mouths. So it these things sound to me
• 33:28
  like they are connected. And so then we're almost
• 33:33
  finished here. It says I will remove from you
• 33:35
  all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which
• 33:40
  is a burden and reproach for you at that time.
• 33:45
  I will deal with all who oppressed you.
• 33:49
  I will rescue the lame. I will gather the Exiles.
• 33:53
  Now, is this what we call today the hostages?
• 33:57
  I don't know. We'll find out, right?
• 34:01
  I will give them praise and honor in every land where they
• 34:05
  have suffered shame. At that time, I will gather you.
• 34:10
  So the gathering I think about like the resurrection or even
• 34:14
  the rapture, whatever you want to call it.
• 34:16
  But that's the gathering. So it says it's talking about
• 34:21
  gathering. At that time, I will gather you.
• 34:24
  At that time I will bring you home.
• 34:28
  In the New Testament it talks about Jesus saying that he was
• 34:33
  going to go and prepare a place, so he said he would return.
• 34:40
  And so this is very much reminds me of that, that at that time I
• 34:45
  will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise
• 34:49
  among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your
• 34:55
  fortunes before your very eyes, says the Lord.
• 34:59
  And that's the end of Zephaniah Charter 3.
• 35:02
  So it there's a one more or a few more questions and answers
• 35:06
  that I'll get to. So how were their festivals?
• 35:09
  A burden and a reproach. Some think this means that
• 35:12
  during the exile, while the temple lay in ruins, God's
• 35:15
  people would mourn for the feast that they were missing.
• 35:18
  Others believe this indicates the closer fellowship with with
• 35:22
  God's with closer fellowship with God people would experience
• 35:26
  once the traditional feasts were replaced by the reality of the
• 35:32
  coming Kingdom in Jesus Christ. Some also see this as a picture
• 35:36
  of the millennial age after the second coming of Christ.
• 35:40
  So the only thing that is a little bit like all those who
• 35:44
  mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, it does say
• 35:49
  during the millennial reign of Christ that the Festival of
• 35:53
  Tabernacles will still be happening.
• 35:56
  So that's there's one feast that's going to be continued to
• 36:00
  celebrate throughout that time. So there's a few more questions
• 36:04
  and answers. How would they tell no lies?
• 36:07
  The remnant of Israel would be purified in their actions and in
• 36:10
  their words that came from their lips.
• 36:12
  The cleanness of the tongue or lack of deception in the tongue
• 36:16
  is interestingly juxtaposed to the praise of the Lord and Zion.
• 36:21
  The purpose of clean lips is for the exaltation and praise of the
• 36:24
  Lord who is daughter Zion. This is a reference to
• 36:29
  Jerusalem. Cities were commonly personified
• 36:32
  as women and were said to be daughters of the country to
• 36:35
  which they belonged. Why does God punish some and not
• 36:39
  others? God deals with us in His wisdom
• 36:43
  and mercy, thus His judgements are not the same as ours.
• 36:47
  We tend to be severe with others while forgiving ourselves.
• 36:52
  God judges everyone according to His absolute standard, and
• 36:57
  everyone falls short. While the prophets words about
• 37:01
  God's judgement are harsh, they are followed by tender words of
• 37:05
  mercy to those who trust God. This book?
• 37:10
  Is this book a warning or an encouragement?
• 37:14
  Both. As in the case with most Old
• 37:17
  Testament prophetic books, a prophet's typical audience
• 37:21
  consists of a wide variety of people, including both hardened
• 37:25
  sinners and faithful followers of the Lord.
• 37:29
  The prophets aimed their accusations and warnings at the
• 37:33
  civil and spiritual leaders who were violating God's standards
• 37:37
  and jeopardizing the well-being and future of the nation.
• 37:41
  Though God intended these hard hitting messages to shock
• 37:45
  sinners and drive them to repentance, the prophets words
• 37:50
  often fell on deaf ears. The positive messages promised
• 37:55
  that God would someday reverse the effects of judgment and
• 37:58
  restore His people. Zephaniah intended to encourage
• 38:02
  the followers of the Lord by assuring them that God would
• 38:05
  preserve a remnant and ultimately fulfill His promises
• 38:09
  to their ancestors. Assured of eventual vindication,
• 38:13
  the faithful could persevere through hard times and look past
• 38:17
  the coming judgment with anticipation.
• 38:20
  So there's There's always good news when you understand the
• 38:25
  Bible and understand the way God is and what his future plans
• 38:28
  are, it doesn't end in devastation.
• 38:32
  It's, you know, devastation happens before the restoration.
• 38:36
  So we do. That will happen, but that's not
• 38:40
  the end of the story. And so we probably should focus
• 38:44
  more on, I don't know what we need to focus more on, more on
• 38:47
  whatever is I guess, needed in our life.
• 38:51
  Because some of us need to be reminded of getting right with
• 38:55
  God, and then others are right with God and they just need to
• 38:59
  be reminded of persevering in that righteousness through the
• 39:04
  Holy Spirit. Because there is a coming day
• 39:08
  when everything's going to be restored.
• 39:13
  There will be, it will be a wonderful time that God promises
• 39:19
  to all of His children. I mean, there's so many good
• 39:22
  things about it. So anyway, I'm going to wrap up
• 39:25
  the end of the chapter and we will be on to another book
• 39:28
  coming up next time.