Latest / 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast / Mount Gerizim or Mount Ebal | Blessing vs. Curse Unpacked (Aug 23)

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Mount Gerizim or Mount Ebal | Blessing vs. Curse Unpacked (Aug 23) · 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast

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When Hashem your God brings you into the land that you are about to
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enter and possess, you shall pronounce the blessing
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at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount
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Ebal. In the book of Deuteronomy, we see a big
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contrast over and over between blessings
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from God for obedience and curses from
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God for disobedience.
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Where do you stand today? Do you stand at Mount Gerizim,
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the Mount of Blessing, because you're walking in obedience
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to the Lord by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit,
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and you— because you love Him, you obey Him? Or are you
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standing at Mount Ebal,
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and the cursing of God is coming upon you because
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of the disobedience? Listen in as we unpack this and
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do a deep dive. Welcome to the Daily
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Audio Torah. Today is August 23rd. Now let's continue
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our journey reading through the entire Bible in one year.
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This week we are reading from the Israel Bible for the Old Testament and from
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the King James for the New Testament.
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Deuteronomy 11:26-12:10.
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See, this day I set before you blessing and curse.
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Blessing if you obey the commandments of Hashem your God that I
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enjoin upon you this day, and curse if you do not
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obey the commandments of Hashem your God, but turn away
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from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods
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whom you have not experienced. When Hashem your God
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brings you into the land that you are about to enter and possess,
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you shall pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and
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the curse at Mount Ebal. Both are
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on the other side of the Jordan beyond the west road that is in the
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land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal
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by the terebinths of Moreh, where you are about to
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cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that Hashem your God is assigning
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to you. When you have occupied it and are settled in it,
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take care to observe all the laws and rules that I
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have set before you this day. These are
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the laws and rules that you must carefully observe in the land that Hashem,
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God of your fathers, is giving you to possess. As long as
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you live on earth, you must destroy all the sites at
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which the nations you are to dispossess worshiped their gods,
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whether on lofty mountains and on hills or under any luxuriant
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tree. Tear down their altars,
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smash their pillars, put their sacred posts to the
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fire, and cut down the images of their gods,
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obliterating their name from that site. Do not
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worship Hashem your God in like manner, but look only to
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the site that Hashem your God will choose amidst all your tribes
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as His habitation, to establish His Name there.
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There you are to go, and there you
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are to bring your burnt offerings and other sacrifices,
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your tithes and contributions, your votive and freewill
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offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.
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Together with your households you shall feast there before Hashem your God,
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happy in all the undertakings in which Hashem your God has blessed
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you. You shall not act at all as we are now acting
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here, every man as he pleases, because you have
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not yet come to the allotted haven that Hashem your God
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is giving you. When you cross the Jordan and settle in the land that
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Hashem your God is allotting to you, and He grants you safety
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from all your enemies around you, and you live in security,
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then you must bring everything that I command you to the site where
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Hashem your God will choose to establish His name.
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Job 8:1-11,
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20. Bildad the Shuhite said in reply, How long will
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you speak such things? Your utterances are a mighty wind.
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Will Hashem pervert the right Will the
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Almighty pervert justice? If your sons sinned
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against Him, He dispatched them for their transgression. But if
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you seek Hashem and supplicate the Almighty, if you are blameless
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and upright, He will protect you and grant well-being to your righteous
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home. Though your beginning be small, in the end you will grow very
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great. Ask the generation past, study what their
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fathers have searched out. For we are of yesterday and know nothing;
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our days on earth are a shadow. Surely they will
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teach you and tell you, speaking out of their understanding.
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Can papyrus thrive without marsh? Can rushes
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grow without water? While still tender, not yet
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plucked, they would wither before any other grass. Such is the
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fate of all who forget Hashem; the hope of the impious man comes
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to naught. Whose confidence is a thread of gossamer,
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whose trust is a spider's web. He leans on his
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house; it will not stand. He seizes hold
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of it, but it will not hold. He stays fresh even in
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the sun; his shoots spring up in his garden.
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His roots are twined around a heap; they take hold
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of a house of stones. When he is uprooted from his place, it denies
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him, saying, I never saw you. Such is his
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happy lot, and from the earth others will grow.
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Surely Hashem does not despise the blameless; He
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gives no support to evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth
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with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
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Your enemies will be clothed in disgrace; the tent
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of the wicked will vanish. Job said in reply,
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Indeed, I know that it is so. Man cannot
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win a suit against Hashem. If he insisted on a trial
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with Him, He would not answer one charge in a thousand.
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Wise of heart and mighty in power, whoever challenged Him and
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came out whole? Him who moves mountains without
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their knowing it, who overturns them in His anger, who shakes
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the earth from its place till its pillars quake, who commands
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the sun not to shine, who seals up the stars, Who by
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himself spread out the heavens and tread on the
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back of the sea? Who made the Bear and Orion and
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Pleiades and the chambers of the south wind?
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Who performs great deeds which cannot
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be fathomed and wondrous things without number?
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He passes me by, I do not see him. He goes
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by me, but I do not perceive him. He snatches away, who can
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stop him? Who can say to Him, What are You doing?
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Hashem does not restrain His anger; under Him Rahab's helpers
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sink down. How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against
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Him? Though I were in the right, I could not speak out, but I
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would plead for mercy with my Judge. If I summoned
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Him and He responded, I do not believe He would lend me His
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ear. For He crushes me for a hair, He wounds
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me So much for no cause.
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He does not let me catch my breath,
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but sates me with bitterness. If a trial of strength,
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he is the strong one. If a trial in court,
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who will summon him for me? Though I were innocent, my mouth
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would condemn me. Though I were blameless, he would prove me crooked.
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I am blameless, I am distraught. I am sick
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of life. It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys the blameless
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and the guilty. When suddenly a scourge brings death,
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He mocks as the innocent fail. The earth is handed
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over to the wicked one; He covers the eyes of its judges. If it
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is not He, then who? My days fly swifter than
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a runner; they flee without seeing happiness.
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They pass like reed boats, like an eagle swooping onto its prey.
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If I say, I will forget my complaint, abandon my sorrow,
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and be diverted, I remain in dread of all my suffering.
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I know that You will not acquit me; it will be I who am in
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the wrong. Why then should I waste effort? If I washed
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with soap, cleansed my hands with lye, You would dip me
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in muck till my clothes would abhor me. He is not
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a man like me that I can answer him; that we can go to law
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together. No arbiter is between us to
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lay his hand on us both. If he would only take his rod
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away from me and not let his terror frighten me,
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then I would speak out without fear of him, for I know myself not
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to be so. I am disgusted
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with life. I will give rein to my complaint, speak of the bitterness
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of my soul. I say to Hashem, Do not condemn me.
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Let me know what You charge me with. Does it benefit You to defraud,
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to despise the toil of Your hands while smiling on the counsel
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of the wicked? Do You have the eyes of flesh?
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Is Your vision that of mere men? Are Your days the days
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of a mortal? Are Your years the years of a man, that You would seek
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my iniquity and search out my sin? You know that I am not guilty.
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And that there is none to deliver from your hand.
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Your hands shaped and fashioned me, then destroyed every part
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of me. Consider that you fashioned me like clay; will
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you then turn me back into dust? You poured me out like milk,
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congealed me like cheese.
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You clothed me with skin and flesh and wove me of bones
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and sinews. You bestowed on me life and care; Your providence
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watched over my spirit. Yet these things You hide
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in Your heart. I know that You had this in mind: to
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watch me when I sinned, and not clear me of my iniquity.
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Should I be guilty, the worse for me, and even when innocent
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I cannot lift my head. So sated am I with shame and drenched
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in my misery. It is something to be proud of, to hunt me like a
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lion, to show Yourself wondrous through me, time and
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again. You keep sending fresh witnesses against
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me, letting your vexation with me grow. I serve my term,
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and I am my own replacement. Why did you let me come out
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of the womb? Better had I expired before any eye saw
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me. Had I been as though I never was, had I been carried
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from the womb to the grave. My days are few,
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so desist. Leave me alone. Let me be
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diverted awhile before I depart, never to return,
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for the land of deepest gloom, a land whose light is
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darkness, all gloom and disarray,
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whose light is like darkness. Then Zophar
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the Naamathite said in reply, Is a multitude of words unanswerable?
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Must a loquacious person be right? Your prattle may silence
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men, you may mock without being rebuked, and say, My doctrine is pure and
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I have been innocent in Your sight. But would that Hashem might speak
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and talk to you Himself! He would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
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for there are many sides to sagacity,
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and know that Hashem has overlooked for you some of your iniquity.
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Would you discover the mystery of Hashem? Would you discover
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the limit of the Almighty? Higher than heaven, what can you
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do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? Its measure
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is no longer than the earth and broader than the sea.
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Should he pass by or confine or call an assembly,
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who can stop him? For he knows deceitful men.
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When he sees iniquity, does he not discern it? A hollow
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man will get understanding when a wild donkey is born a
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man. But if you direct your mind and spread forth your hands toward him,
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if there is iniquity with you, remove it, and do not
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let injustice reside in your tent. Then,
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free of blemish, you will hold your head high, and when in straits,
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be unafraid. You will then put your misery out of
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mind, consider it as water that has flowed
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past. Your life will
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be brighter than noon, you will shine like
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the morning. You will be secure, for there is hope, and entrenched
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you will rest secure. You will lie down undisturbed.
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The great will court your favor. But the eyes of the wicked pine
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away. Escape is cut off from them.
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They have only their last breath to look forward to.
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1 Corinthians 15:1-28.
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Now let me, Paul, remind you, dear brothers and sisters,
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of the good news I preached to you before. You welcomed it then and still
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do now, for your faith is built on this wonderful message.
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And it is this good news that saves you if you firmly
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believe it— unless, of course, you believed something that was
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never true in the first place. I passed on to you
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what was most important and what had also been passed on to me:
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that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures
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said; He was buried, and He was raised from
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the dead on the 3rd day, as the Scriptures said. He was seen by
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Peter and then by the 12 apostles. After that, he was
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seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time,
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most of whom are still alive, though some have died
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by now. Then he was seen by James
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and later by all the apostles. Last of all, I saw
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him too, long after the others, as though I had been born
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at the wrong time. For I am the least of all the apostles,
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And I am not worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted
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the church of God. But whatever I am now, it is all because God
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poured out his special favor on me, and not without
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results. For I have worked harder than all the other apostles,
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yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his
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grace. So it makes no difference whether
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I preach or they preach. The important thing is
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that you believed what we preached to you. But tell me
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this: since we preach that Christ rose
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from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no
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resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of
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the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.
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And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless,
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and your trust in God is useless,
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and we apostles would all be lying about God. For we
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have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't
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be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there
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is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
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And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless
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and you are still under condemnation for your sins.
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In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished.
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And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, We are the most
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miserable people in the world. But the fact is
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that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first
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of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
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So you see, just as death came into the world through a man,
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Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through
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another man, Christ. Everyone dies because all of us
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are related to Adam, the first man. But all who
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are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life. Life.
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But there is an order to this resurrection.
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Christ was raised first. Then when Christ comes back,
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all his people will be raised.
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After that, that the end will come when
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he will turn the kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all
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enemies of every kind. For Christ must reign
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until he humbles all his enemies beneath
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his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is
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death. For the Scriptures say, God has given him authority
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over all things. Of course, when it says authority
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over all things, it does not include God himself, who gave
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Christ his authority. Then, when he has
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conquered all things, the Son will present himself to God,
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so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things,
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will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.
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Psalm 38:1-22.
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O Lord, don't rebuke me in your anger.
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Don't discipline me in your rage. Your arrows have
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struck deep and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger,
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my whole body is sick. My health is broken because
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of my sins. My guilt overwhelms me.
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It is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester
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and stink because of my foolish sins. I am
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bent over and wracked with pain. My days are
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filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me
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and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed.
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My groans come from an anguished heart.
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You know what I long for, Lord. You hear my
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every sigh. My heart beats wildly, my strength fails,
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and I am going blind. My loved ones and friends stay
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away, fearing my disease. Even my own family stands at
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a distance. Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps for me.
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They make plans to ruin me. They think up treacherous deeds
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all day long. But I am deaf to all their threats.
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I am silent before them as one who cannot speak. I choose
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to hear nothing, and I make no reply.
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For I am waiting for You, O Lord. You must answer for me,
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O Lord my God. I prayed, Don't let my enemies
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gloat over me or rejoice at my downfall.
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I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain.
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But I confess my sins. I am deeply sorry
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for what I have done. My enemies are many. They hate me though
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I have done nothing against them. They repay me
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evil for good. And oppose me because I stand for
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the right. Do not abandon me, Lord; do
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not stand at a distance, O God. Come quickly to help me,
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O Lord my Savior.
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Proverbs 21:28-29. A false
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witness will be cut off, but an attentive witness will be allowed to speak.
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The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright proceed
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with care.
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I want to speak to you today from our reading from Deuteronomy chapter
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11, and I want to do a deep dive on verse 29
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where it is written: When Hashem your God brings you into the
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land that you are about to enter and possess, you shall pronounce the blessing
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at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.
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Both are on the other side of the Jordan beyond the west road
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that is in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal
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by the Terebinths of Moreh. So there's
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a theme going on here: blessings for obedience
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and curses for disobedience. And Moses
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is making this comparison and this contrast over and over
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again. And it's literally engraved in
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the very landscape and geography of where they're
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going to go. So down in
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the valley between these 2 mountains is a town
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called ancient Shechem. And Shechem is where Joseph's
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bones are buried. They're in a tomb. And remember,
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when he died, he was in Egypt, but his last wishes that he told to
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his sons were, don't leave my bones in Egypt. When you leave Egypt,
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take my bones and put them in the land, and they are in Shechem.
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Now these mountains, these 2 mountains, Mount Ebal and
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Mount Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, Mount Gerizim, and the Mount
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of Cursing, Mount Ebal, they're not huge mountains. They're just like very large
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hills, and in the valley between them is the town of Shechem.
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And so what he had them do was 6 tribes
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went up to the top of Mount Gerizim, and they spoke the the
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blessings that God would do for their obedience,
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and then the other 6 tribal leaders went to the top of Mount Ebal
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and they spoke the curses that God would do for
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their rebellion and disobedience. So in Deuteronomy
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chapter 29, these blessings
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and curses are unpacked in great detail.
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I'll share a little bit of that with you in Deuteronomy chapter
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29 Starting in verse 1, these are the words of the covenant which
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the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the
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land of Moab before they've crossed the River Jordan and gone into the land.
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They're renewing their covenant in Moab besides the covenant
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which he made with them in Horeb. Moses calls
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all the people together and he says to them, you have
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seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to
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Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land. The great trials
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which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great wonders.
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Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and
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eyes to see and ears to hear to this very day.
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In other words, they are spiritually blind,
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spiritually deaf, and their heart is not—
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it's like a heart of stone. And it goes on to say in
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verse 5, and I have led you 40 years in the wilderness. Your clothes have
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not worn out. Your sandals have not worn out.
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You have not eaten bread. You have drunk wine or
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similar drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.
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So he goes on to say in verse 9, therefore keep the words
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of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper
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in all that you do. And it goes on
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to say, all of you stand today before the Lord your God, your leaders,
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and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel,
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your little ones and your wives, also the stranger
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who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the
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one who draws your water. And goes on to say in
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verse 14, I make this covenant and this oath not with you alone,
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but with him who stands here with us today before the Lord our God,
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as well as him who is not here with
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us today. That includes you and me. We are
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included in this covenant. We were not there
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on that day when these words were spoken by Moses to
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the children of Israel, but that verse that I just shared
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is saying that those who were not there are included
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in this covenant. And it goes on to talk about
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all the different blessings that they would receive Um,
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and then also the curses, the curses that
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would happen to them. And then in chapter 30, again, the comparison
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and the contrast. Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy says, now it shall come to pass
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when all these things come upon you, the blessing and
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the curse which I've set before you, and you call them to
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mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives
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you, In other words, you've been scattered.
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And you return to the Lord your God and obey his voice
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according to all that I command you today, you and your
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children, with all your heart and all your soul,
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the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity and
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have compassion on you and gather you again from
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all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.
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That's a promise He makes back in Deuteronomy chapter 30,
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and that's exactly what God has done. Up until
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May of 1948, the Jewish people were scattered to all the
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nations of the earth, and for hundreds and hundreds of years,
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actually a couple of thousand years, they were no longer a nation.
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And yet somehow their culture,
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their language, was preserved. They kept
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the Torah, they followed the Torah, they read the Torah reading cycle,
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and somehow their identity as a people and their culture
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was preserved. And in May of 1948, the miracle happened,
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and the nation of Israel was reborn. And something
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like 8 million Jews now live in Israel.
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He has regathered them, ingathered them.
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So how does this apply to us today? There's a blessing
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for obedience, and there's curses and consequences for disobedience
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and for rebellion. And so we
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obey because we love Him.
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We don't do it out of duty or obligation. We're certainly not able
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to be obedient to the commands and the decrees and
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the laws of God's covenant in our own
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self and our own flesh and our own efforts, we will fall and
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we will fail every time. But when we are filled with the Holy
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Spirit, when we have been born again, and we— because we love Him,
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we obey Him, that is Jesus— then
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there are blessings for our obedience to Him,
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and there are curses that people come under when there's
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disobedience. So the question is
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for us today is, where are we standing?
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Are we standing at Mount Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing,
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or are we standing at Mount Ebal,
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the Mount of Cursing? Where do you stand today?
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May you be under God's blessing and His
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favor because you love Him, And you obey
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him. Have a great day, and we'll see you tomorrow.
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Shalom.
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यही है आरोना
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है पनाविलका
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विकुन्य का
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ये सा आरोना
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है पनाविलका
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The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers chapter 6,
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24 to 26.
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Adonai bless you and keep you.
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Adonai make his face to shine upon you and be
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gracious to you. Adonai lift up his countenance
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upon you and give you peace.