Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 784. Bible Study: Jeremiah 26 (God's goal with us: Turn to Him, Mercy and Blessings are often the Outcome)

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784. Bible Study: Jeremiah 26 (God's goal with us: Turn to Him, Mercy and Blessings are often the Outcome) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 23 from the book of Jeremiah as we always start with
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now a reminder from second Timothy chapter 3 verse
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beginning with verse 16. We This is why we read
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scripture. All Scripture is God breathed
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and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
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training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be
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thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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So we'll start here. Dear Lord, please let the Holy
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Spirit open our eyes and ears to hear what you have to say
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through your prophet Jeremiah to us today.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So Jeremiah is threatened with
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death early in the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of
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Judah, The word came to came from the Lord.
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This is what the Lord says. Stand in the courtyard of the
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Lord's house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah
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who come to worship in the House of the Lord.
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Tell them everything I command you.
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Do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and
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each will turn from their evil ways.
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Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I
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was planning because of the evil they have done.
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So this statement from God to Jeremiah is it gives us a lot of
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insight about God. First of all, He's warning he
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did this like all of Jeremiah is like a warning to people, but
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that people don't listen and he's and he tells us the intent
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or he tells Jeremiah the intent of why he's having Jeremiah say
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these things. He said perhaps they will
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listen. So God is so patient with
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people. He keeps coming after them over
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and over again, and he wants them to listen to his servant
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Jeremiah, and he is hopeful that each will turn from their evil
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ways. So we always have to remember
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that God is just and that God calls us to be holy as He is
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holy. He is our Father, He is our
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Creator. He wants us to be holy like Him,
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so he wants us to depart from the evil ways.
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So this applies to us today. It's not just to the people of
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Israel, but this truth found in the book of Jeremiah regarding
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the people of Israel does apply to us today that he wants us to
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turn from our evil ways. And then here's what he says.
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If if people turn from their evil ways, then I will relent
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and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because
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of the evil they have done. So of course God is sovereign
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over things. But here we see that God was
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planning to send disaster, but he says why?
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Because of the evil they have done.
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So this is where we have to remind ourselves that God is
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just. So if justice were to prevail,
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we would all suffer, we would all punish, be punished in that
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way because of the sin in our lives.
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So if God just put forth justice, every one of us would
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have bad things happen to us just because God is righteous
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and we are not righteous. However, the Holy Spirit changes
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us and makes us into more righteous people.
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But this is just so insightful to read this and to think about
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it in our own lives that maybe there's some disaster that's
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going to come about if we remain in our evil ways.
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Evil would be the things that are talked about in the Bible
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that God does not. He tells us not to do.
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So if we're doing sinful things knowingly, then it does say like
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if we keep on sinning, there is no sacrifice that remains us in
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Hebrews 1026, but only the fear of judgement and wrath of God
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because on the enemies. So we're considered an enemy if
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we deliberately, if we deliberately disobey.
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That reminds me of a quote from The Lion King.
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But if we, if we deliberately disobey, God will at some point
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he's going to bring about justice.
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God can have mercy on whom he wants to have mercy.
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So he can withhold his judgement for a period of time, but
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eventually it's going to happen. Now, I don't know none of us,
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none of us are God. None of us know how long God
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gives each of us to repent, to turn from our evil ways.
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But He is patient with some. And the other thing is God knows
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our heart desires or what our heart desires, and especially if
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we get too involved in something evil, God, I mean God can
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foresee these things. He knows where we are on our
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path. He but He allows us to have the
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free will that we have because without free will we are unable
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to love. We can't choose love.
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So if we were a robot and we were programmed to love God
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back, that wouldn't be real love.
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Real love is when you have a choice not to love, but you
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choose to love instead. So this is what God wants to see
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from us. Like if He leaves us to
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ourselves, will we respond to him or will we remain obstinate
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to Him? And will we just, you know, push
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him away or will we love? That's what our time here on
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earth is showing God. Do we love him or do we not love
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him? And again, we have to keep in
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mind that God represents righteousness and justice.
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So when bad things come upon us, it's it's really justified.
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Like if God allows that to happen, it's justified.
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So anyway, let's the goal is repentance.
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The goal, though, through troubles that God allows to
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happen. Those troubles are for God uses
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those evil things. The evil comes from people are
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entities that rebel against God that don't want God.
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So God can use those people's are are beings desires for his
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ultimately for his purpose. He can bring about tragedy on a
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person. And sometimes when we hit rock
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bottom is when we turn to God. So those are the things, those
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are the ways that I've seen that God will use evil for,
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ultimately for good. If someone gets saved after
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going through really hard times, that turns into good because
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they will inherit the Kingdom of God, what God has prepared.
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So there will ultimately be good that comes from it.
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So going back to what Jeremiah, what God was saying to Jeremiah
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say to them, this is what the Lord says.
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If you do not listen to Me and follow My law which I have set
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before you, and if you do not listen to the words of My
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servants, the prophets whom I have sent to you again and
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again, though you have not listened, then I will make the
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house like Shiloh and this city a curse among the nations of the
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earth. So God's laying it out.
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He's like, you know, you have to obey.
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If you don't obey, if you don't turn to me, you don't listen to
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the prophets that I'm sending to you.
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There's destruction coming. So the study Bible says what was
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Shiloh like? Shiloh was completely destroyed
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by the Philistines about 1050 BC.
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The terrible irony was that Shiloh was the 1st place the Ark
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of the Covenant had rested in the Promised Land.
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It had been the center of worship in the days of Eli, the
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High Priest. The prophet Samuel had received
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his call from God at Shiloh. Now the gutted and empty city
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was a vivid reminder that past spiritual glories were no
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insurance against God's wrath. That's something we should all
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remember. And I can't even apply this to
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the United States. The United States was 1 nation
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under God and you know the things that within the United
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States are doing that are against God, against what God
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commands will bring wrath on the United States.
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It's very clear God doesn't change.
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He is the same yesterday, history and in the future.
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And we can all learn from what Jeremiah is going through.
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We can all learn that we need to change from our evil ways, from
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our sinful ways that are rebellious to God.
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We need to be on God's good side.
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We need to repent. We need to change our ways and
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obey God and trust in Him. And then perhaps maybe some of
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the things that were going to be coming on us, coming against us
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as a result of judgment, maybe those things will not happen.
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Maybe God will have mercy when we truly repent.
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So I think this is really applicable to us today.
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Going back to Scripture, the priests and the prophets and all
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the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the House of the
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Lord. But as soon as Jeremiah finished
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telling all the people everything the Lord had
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commanded to him to say, the priests, the prophets, and all
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the people seized him and said, you must die.
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Why do you prophecy in the Lord's name that this house will
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be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted,
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and all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the House of
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the Lord? We're going to see a lot of
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God's Providence as we finish out this chapter and continue
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reading. So when the officials of Judah
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heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to
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the House of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of
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the new gate of the Lord's house.
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Then the priest and the prophets said to the officials and all
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the people, this man should be sentenced to death because he
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has prophesied against the city. You have heard it with your own
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ears. So when I read this, I was
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thinking, OK, they don't like bad news, and so they resist it.
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And that's the same today. Like we don't want any news
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about God's judgement, so we resist it.
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And then I thought about like, well, what law were they
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applying to say that he needed to die?
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Like, what did he do that would get all these people to say this
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Jeremiah the prophet needs to die?
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Well, our study Bible says something about that.
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Why were the people so upset? The people may have suspected
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that Jeremiah was a false prophet.
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Who else would predict that the Temple would be destroyed?
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That he did so in the name of the Lord made him guilty of
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blasphemy. In their minds, that's the same
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thing that they accused Jesus of was blasphemy.
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Other false prophets and Judah's religious leaders had assured
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the people of God's continued blessing and protection.
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So again, think about this like if somebody saying they're a
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prophet and they're saying peace and safety, peace and security,
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they're probably a false prophet because Jesus said that war will
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continue after war and rumors of war.
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There's going to be all these things that happen until he
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returns. Until Jesus returns, we're not
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going to have peace and safety and security.
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And you do hear that that is the desire of many nations currently
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because of what's happening in the Middle East.
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So pay attention because and see what happens.
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Watch what happens because it's not necessarily assured and
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where, how do people know that it's going to be peace and
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safety? Because the Bible doesn't say
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that. The Bible prophecy doesn't say
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there's going to be peace and safety.
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It does say there's going to be a false peace.
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It's going to surprise the people who believed it was peace
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and there would come sudden destruction.
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So if we are seeing this and all of a sudden, if we see this on a
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global level of people feeling this peace and security, we
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really better be right with God because it says sudden
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destruction. And if we're not right with God,
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whatever, when, when Jesus returns, wherever we are in our
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places with God, you know, if we haven't repented because it says
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when he returns that people, they could, they could repent,
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but they chose not to, probably because of all the the bad
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things that were happening. Because bad things can make
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people turn away from God and foolishly to do so because it
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would be better for them if they actually repented.
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And maybe the bad things would not be as bad.
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Maybe God would remove them from happening.
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There's a lot of things that God could do in his mercy.
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But people like want to hear good things.
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They don't want to hear bad things.
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So the people were accustomed to hearing words they wanted to
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hear and could not tolerate Jeremiah's message of calamity
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and judgment. So today, let us not be like the
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people of Israel, of Judah back then, who couldn't tolerate this
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judgmental God. He's a righteous God like we can
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all. It's really interesting because
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if it's against us, we don't want it to happen.
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But if somebody wronged us, then we want judgment against that
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person. So we, we apply different, I
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guess, ways of looking at things.
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It depends. Like if it's against us, we
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don't want it. If it's against someone who's
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wronged us, Oh, yeah, you know, there should be judgment.
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But we need to remember that, you know, we need to forgive
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people who have done wrong to us.
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And God is, I mean, God, that's what God calls us to do, is to
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let that go. Let God, let God bring about
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judgment, vengeance. The vengeance is God's, it's not
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ours. So we just need to turn it over
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to God. And God is just, He is
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righteous. He will, He might delay in
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bringing about judgment if somebody has been wronged, but
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his delay is with the hopes that just like us, if we've repented,
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they too might repent. So we have to appreciate that
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God allows us to repent, that he gives us forgiveness, that he
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has mercy on us, and even though we were against God, that He
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still forgives us and will let us be in His Kingdom when we
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repent and trust in Him, when we trust in Jesus.
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So it's, it's, it's so important to understand these things.
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And when you and when we read these things from the BC era, we
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see that God hasn't changed. He's still the same.
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So then Jeremiah said to all the officials and the people, the
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Lord sent me to prophecy against this house and the city and all
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the things you have done. Now reform your ways and your
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actions and obey the Lord your God.
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So he's saying repent, repent and obey.
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And then he's giving them hope. Next he says, then the Lord will
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relent and not bring the disaster he pronounced against
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you. So there's hope.
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If you do this, you could lessen the disaster that's coming.
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As for me, I am in your hands. Do with me whatever you think is
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good and right. Be assured, however, that if you
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put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on
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yourselves and on the city and on those who live in it.
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For in truth, the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these
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words in your hearing. So that kind of probably did
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make people pause for a minute and reflect, like, do they want
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more judgement on them? Is he innocent?
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So the study Bible said, how did Jeremiah talk the officials and
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all the people out of killing him?
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Jeremiah's words had a ring of truth.
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While the people and officials recognized this, the priest and
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the false prophets, who had apparently become calloused to
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the true word of the Lord, did not.
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Jeremiah demonstrated A sincerity that his religious
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rivals did not have and was willing to die for his
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commitment to the truth. God honored Jeremiah for saying
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what he had to be said, regardless of the cost.
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And God intervened to change the minds of the officials and the
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people in the crowd. So Jeremiah's obedience to God
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was blessed. So God did rescue him.
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Now this will start to tell us in the remaining paragraphs.
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It will tell us like how this happened, how this came about.
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Then the officials and all the people said to the priest and
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the prophets, this man should not be sentenced to death.
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He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.
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Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the
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entire assembly of the people. Now this is again showing the
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importance. For people to speak up because
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it says some of the elders of the land step forward.
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Not everybody did. But look at when we speak up for
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something, it may make a difference when we have
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something factual to back up our statements and which these
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elders did. So listen to what they suggest
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to the people who are saying he should.
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Jeremiah should die. This is what they say.
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Micah of Morcheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of
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Judah. He told all the people of Judah,
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this is what the Lord Almighty says.
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Zion will be plowed like a field.
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Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the Temple hill a mound
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overgrown with thickets. So if we go to Micah chapter 3,
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verse 12, this is what it says. Therefore, because of you, Zion
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will be plowed like a field. Jerusalem will become a heap of
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rubble, the temple hill, a mound overgrown with thickets,
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thickets. So that's where that, you know,
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the elders were knowledgeable about what it says.
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And Micah was a prophet who served like 735 to 700 BC.
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So this is like almost 100 years before Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah was, his timing was 626 to 585 BC.
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And then Hezekiah's period where he spared Micah, he was
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somewhere around, you know, after 710 or just before 710 BC
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and just a little bit later than 690 BC.
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So that was when his reign was. So Micah was speaking during
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Hezekiah's reign, but it was hundreds of years before
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Jeremiah. And Jeremiah is saying the same
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thing. Pause for a minute and think
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about that. Like God was warning them for
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like 100 years almost that this was coming and how patient God
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was 100 years like a person's generation.
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He kept warning like throughout a whole generation.
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I think it said Jeremiah had come been prophesying to the
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people for 23 years. So look at how patient was like
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the people are hearing the same thing over and over and they're
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like, oh, you know, it's never going to happen because he keeps
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saying it. But some people apparently
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believe and listen and turn to God and then they're spared.
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And that's the same thing today with the things that are
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happening in the world. There's lots of people that I'm
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seeing in social media who are saying the same thing, like
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Jeremiah. They're saying we need to
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repent. We need to turn back to God.
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We need to get serious with our faith.
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We need to quit being lukewarm people, lukewarm Christians, or
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you know, baby Christians. We need to mature our faith.
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We need to be obedient to God. We need to trust in Him.
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We need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.
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All those things are true to us today.
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And you know our people listening to it.
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Some are, some aren't, but you know it.
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And we don't know how much more time God's going to give us, but
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it feels very much like the same kind of setting as these days
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right before destruction. It really feels like that.
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And there's a lot of people that are feeling like that.
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And a lot of people, you know, on the other side don't want to
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hear it because nobody wants to hear bad news.
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Nobody wants to hear about destruction.
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Nobody wants to hear about judgement.
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And we shouldn't, you know, live in this like, like, shouldn't, I
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guess it's not enjoyable to live in a very negative state like
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that. However, if you repent, change
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your ways, get close to God, live in the joy that God brings
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to your life, God will start bringing blessings into your
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life. Even if other things are, you
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know, weird in the world. There will be these like joyful
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moments and these good moments in life that we can appreciate.
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And that's really all God is after is a change of heart
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inside of us, turning us towards Him and leaning on Him.
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Or you know, relying on him is the better way to say it.
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Probably relying on Him like we would a good father.
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He is a good father, He is our Creator, He is our dad, and He
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wants to give good gifts. He gives better gifts than any
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human being. And we need to know that God, if
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we don't believe that right now, that that is who he is, that is
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who he is. And the more that we are in the
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Word of God, the more we will see that God is like that.
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God is loving, God is love, and he gives good gifts.
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So again, these elders point out, hey, remember Micah during
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Hezekiah and he was prophesying this stuff.
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Now here's what it said. Did Hezekiah, king of Judah or
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anyone else in in Judah put him to death?
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Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek his favor?
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And did not the Lord relent so that he did not bring disaster?
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He pronounced against them? We are about to bring terrible
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disaster on ourselves. So somebody had some wisdom from
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God and spoke up and said, hey everybody, remember Micah,
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remember Hezekiah? Hezekiah didn't kill him.
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And then now Uriah, son of Shemaiah from Kiriath, Jerome,
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was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord.
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He prophesied the same things. So now this is the third one.
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And God kind of does these things in threes if you pay
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attention to it sometimes, like if it's something important, God
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will do it in threes. So he prophesied the same things
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against the city in this land as Jeremiah did.
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So you've got Micah, Jeremiah, and Uriah all saying the same
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things. When King Jehoiah, Jehoiah Kim,
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and all his officers and officials heard his words, the
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king was determined to put him to death.
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But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt.
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Now that was a mistake because Uriah, if he was prophesying in
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the name of the Lord about these things and telling where did he
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go, he fled in fear. God tells us His spirit is not a
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spirit of fear. So he became fearful.
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He started trusting in man rather than trusting in God, and
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he fled in fear to Egypt. It doesn't say he consulted God
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and said God because God, you know, should I go somewhere
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else? Because we can also see how God
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LED. We're going to talk about Jesus
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jumping forward about Joseph and Mary and Jesus and the Angel of
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the Lord came to Joseph, I believe it was in a dream and
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told him, you know, to go, you know, to avoid the place where
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Herod was killing all the babies.
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So God kept their family safe during that time and, and he
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communicated, I mean, this is the Son of God.
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So he's protecting him. Of course, his, his will, God's
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will is sovereign, sovereign and will prevail.
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But think about this like God can give direction.
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I want you to go here to for protection or he can say, no,
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you need to stay right where you are and I will protect you.
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You don't see all the spiritual angels who are around you that
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are protecting you. So God can protect you in place.
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He can also tell you you need to go somewhere.
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So that's why it's really important for us to know the
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word of God, to recognize the word of God, and to pause before
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we do something to consult God and say, God, what do you want
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me to do here? Because God may have a different
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message for everybody. So it's so important that we
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have that communication, that personal communication with God.
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God can affirm the things that we think are from God through
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other people. And sometimes God will affirm it
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three times and then you kind of know when 3 different people who
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are God honoring people say the same thing that you just
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believed that was what you got from God.
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That to me is confirmation. When you hear it from different
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sources, but you hear the same thing.
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God works through people. That's another reason why we
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need community of people, community of believers, those
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who are close to to Christ so that we can discern, unlike
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these prophets that they're talking about in the Bible.
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They couldn't discern. They were so far from God that
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and they were probably doing idolatry and worshipping bail
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and stuff like that. They could be getting words from
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bail words from the evil one that were saying, hey, this is
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Jerusalem. You are in safety, you are in
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God's place, you know, and it all sounds good and everybody
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wants to believe that, but the ones who are hearing this are
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far from God. That's another reason why we
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have to look at the fruit of a of the spirit found within
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people who are, you know, maybe saying stuff to us or it's
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really important to know the the true way somebody is because
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somebody can say all the words and have scripture memorized.
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That's what Satan did. He quoted Scripture to Jesus,
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you know, so they could be Satan and quote Scripture, but do they
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live it out? That's where spiritual
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discernment is. If they live it out, the fruit
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of the Spirit will be evident, the resulting character of the
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person will be seen, and it'll be clear what spirit is leading
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them. Galatians chapter 5 is where you
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find the fruit of the spirit and the characteristics to look to
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see if someone is being led by God's Spirit or if they're being
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led by some worldly spiritual being.
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So King Jehoiakim, however, sent El Nathan, son of Abcor to Egypt
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along with some other men. They brought Uriah out of Egypt
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and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with the
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sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common
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people. So Uriah fled in fear of man.
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He didn't rely on God and guess what happened to him?
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The evil king. This was the king of Judah,
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Jehoiakim. But he did evil in God's eyes.
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So he went and tracked him down, haunted him down and then killed
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him. So it said, how could Oh,
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there's one more sentence and then this chapter concludes.
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Furthermore, Ahiya Kim, son of Shafan, supported Jeremiah, and
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so he was not handed over to the people to be put to get put to
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death. The Study Bible will address
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that. So let's read the last two
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questions and answers from the Study Bible and it will conclude
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this chapter. So how could a prophet's
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execution be justified? Uriah was likely executed on
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grounds of treason. Like Jeremiah, he predicted
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coming destruction. Then, when he feared for his
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life and fled to Egypt, he gave the king an excuse to denounce
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him as a traitor. Because he was labeled A
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traitor, Uriah was denied a funeral and a burial befitting
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of a prophet of the Lord. Jeremiah would have undoubtedly
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met a similar fate had it not been for God's protection.
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Why did Ahaya Kim have such political clout?
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Ahaya Kim Kim had been an official in King Josiah.
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Now King Josiah was a good king in his court during the last
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reform. Maybe he was influenced by
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Josiah. Haya Kim apparently played the
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role of an elder statesman, maintaining his influence even
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after Josiah's reign. So maybe he was one of the
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people that spoke up and was one of the elders and a person
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speaking up in the support of protection of another.
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We have to think about that if we are ever put into that
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position, that we should speak up for what is right, because
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maybe God put us in that place so that we could be the voice
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that would protect the person that God wants to protect.
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So we need to be sensitive to that nudging, that feeling like
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maybe I should say something and respond to that.
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If we are protecting someone, we need to do that.
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So his son Gadalia became governor of Judah after the fall
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of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Because of Hayakim's political
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connections and prominence, he was able to protect Jeremiah
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from those who wanted to end the prophet's life.
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So this is showing another way how God is sovereign.
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God used a Hayakim or Kim to protect Jeremiah.
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And I mean, it's all these things like how God is working.
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We don't really even understand it fully, but in hindsight, we
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can see these things like a Haya Kim or a Haya Kim.
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I don't know how to say his name.
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He was in King Josiah's court. King Josiah was a righteous 1.
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So maybe he learned from it. Maybe he contributed to it as
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well, but somehow he was connected with good.
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So maybe it was just a Haya Kim was good on his own, but he was
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also in the presence of Josiah, who was a good king.
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And and then so God, you know, has all these paths crossing in
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the past history for this day where Jeremiah is going to be
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executed because of what God told him he needed to say.
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But Jeremiah, unlike Uriah, did not run to Egypt for protection.
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He just said, do what? Do whatever it is to me that you
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think is right and true and just.
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But if you kill me, So he knew that was an option.
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He could have been killed. If you kill me, know that you're
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going to have innocent blood on your hands and you will get
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basically judgement or wrath from God for that.
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So that made them think, do they want to bring that on them?
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So there's one more thing in the Study Bible, it's in the top 100
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most asked questions. Does God change his plans based
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on what we do? Because of our finite capacity
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for understanding, we struggle to reconcile how God can remain
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sovereign over all things while giving human beings the freedom
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to obey him or defy him. See, I don't have a problem.
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I don't have difficulty in understanding that because if
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God gives us his choice and we choose poorly, His will will
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still occur. Like his plans, his goals,
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everything is still going to happen according to His plan.
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We don't disrupt that plan, but God can use another person.
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He can be like, this is kind of OK.
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So think about Saul, the first king of Israel.
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He only partially listened to God.
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He still had his own mind. He would not surrender all of
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his decisions. He would not be obedient to God
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fully. So God was like, no, you're not
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going to stay in this place. And so then God decided David is
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going to be the next king. And it was, it was a rough go.
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I mean, it took some time, but God took Saul out of it.
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And it said that God's spirit left Saul and he sent an evil
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spirit to torment him. He allowed that to happen.
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So that's something else that I think about too, is the
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disobedience had a consequence. And sometimes God turns us over
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to the things that we pursue. So was Saul listening to the
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enemy? And then God was like, OK,
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you're, you're grieving the Holy Spirit and my Spirit's not going
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to contend with us. I just it's a thought, something
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to look into and to ponder on and and read more scripture to
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get clarity on that. So here's what it says in light
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of this conflict, consider the following statements the Bible
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makes about God. Number one, we know that God in
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all things works for the good of those.
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Now pay attention. He doesn't work for the good for
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everyone. There's certain qualifications.
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Those who love him. Now Jesus said if we love him,
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we will obey him. So obedience is tied into this.
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If we love him, we will obey Him, and it says who have been
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called according to his purpose. So when we are living our life
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according to God's will, he will make He works for the good of
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those who love him who have been called according to His purpose.
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I think we like to all say God works for the works, all things
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for good. That's where I hear people say
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that a lot, and it's probably why we need to memorize
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Scripture and because it gives a clarification of that.
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It's for those who love him, who have been called according to
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His purpose. So it's somebody who loves him,
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who's obedient to Him, and doing what He says to do.
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The apostle Paul did not say that God causes all things.
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The fact that we have free will means we are able to make our
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own choices. But whatever we choose, God
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works in all things to bring about His purpose.
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So God sometimes uses evil people, evil intentions to bring
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judgement or to get people to the point of repentance.
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So He uses our free will to accomplish His ultimate purpose.
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So that's how God is sovereign and free will can happen at the
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same time. Many are the plans in a person's
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heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
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Whether or not we choose to be obedient to God doesn't matter
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because whatever God wants to happen is going to happen.
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We can either be with God. Or against God.
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We could either be for God or against God and it's going to go
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go much better for us if we are on the same team as God.
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This proverb reminds us that that our plans cannot thwart
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God's purpose. So even though we have free
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choice, we can't disrupt what God actively purposes to do.
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The Bible never attempts to solve the mysterious tension
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between God's sovereignty and human responsibility.
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The Bible assumes both are at work in the events of history.
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Yet this this much is clear. God never changes as to mislead
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or lie. He is never caught by surprise.
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He knows the decisions each person will make, yet in a
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manner we do not fully understand, His knowledge does
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not infringe on a individual's freedom before God.
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So think about this as a parent, if you have children, you can
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kind of know how your child will respond to something.
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You're probably we're not like at the same capacity of God
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where we can know someone's inner thoughts and their hearts
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desires. But as a parent who's close to
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their kids, you can, you can, you can kind of guess how your
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child will react to something and you can usually be right
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about it. Like this is, I know this is
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what they're going to do. If this happens occasionally,
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you'll be wrong because we're not like God.
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We're not omniscient. I can't say that word.
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So we, we don't know all things and so we're not, we don't have
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the benefit that God has and all that.
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But as a parent, you could just let it play out, like let it let
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it play out and not force that child to do a certain thing.
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And you can know that, OK, if I tell them no, they're going to
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throw a tantrum. But I'm not just going to say
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yes so that I don't get a tantrum.
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I'm going to say no and just let that happen and maybe there's a
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consequence. Then they don't get the thing
42:36
that they wanted the next time because they threw a tantrum.
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So that's how God works with us. I think if we put it in the
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perspective, although it's not a full understanding of how a
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parent can deal with children, it makes a lot of sense if
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you've had children. So that's how God is with us.
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And we, we, we, we can be children of God when we repent
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and, and turn to him and he's a good father and he's full of
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love. He just wants us to obey for our
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good. We have to remember that it's
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for our good. It's, I think about the 10
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commandments, like guardrails, like if we obey those 10
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commandments, there were a lot of there will be things that
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won't happen to us, bad things that won't happen to us as a
43:23
result. Because there are consequences
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of each one of those commandments that if justice is
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brought about or when justice is brought about, there will be
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consequences if we break any of those commandments.
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But if we obey those commandments, we don't have to
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suffer the consequences of disobey obedience.
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I hope that makes sense. Anyway, that's enough for today.
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And that was chapter 26 from the book of Jeremiah.
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Hope you come back for chapter 27.