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768. Bible Study: Jeremiah 7 (Warning to Hypocrites, Obey or Judgement) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 7 of Jeremiah, Dear God, please be with us as we read
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through this chapter and give us wisdom and insight into the
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words that you gave Jeremiah that we can apply them to our
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lives and can learn something from this.
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Please open our eyes and ears to hear we ask this in Jesus name,
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Amen. So we'll start out.
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This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
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Stand at the gate of the Lord's house and there proclaim this
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message. Hear the word of the Lord.
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All you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship
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the Lord, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel
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says. Reform your ways and your
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actions, and I will let you live in this place.
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So again, let's pause here for a minute because Jeremiah is
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saying what most of the other prophets all say.
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There is a talk about changing your ways.
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If we realize that we come into this world selfish and it
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requires us to change and in order to become like what God
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intended for us, he intended us to be holy.
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It says in Scripture be holy because I am holy, says the
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Lord. So God originally intended for
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us to be holy. We came into the world.
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We were not holy because of our ancestors.
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That's what it tells us through Scripture.
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It's what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden when sin
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entered the world. As soon as sin entered the
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world, that's when everything got became corrupted, including
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people. So it takes the recognition that
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we are, and I've said this before because at first I used
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to think, Oh my gosh, babies are so cute.
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How could they be sinful? I just can't even think of a
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baby being sinful. But then you get into the age
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where the child expresses itself and expresses him or herself
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and, and everything is about me, me, me, me, mine.
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It's all selfish. And after reading scripture,
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that's really evident that this the Bible is true that we do
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start out. I mean, basically, if any kind
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of selfishness in ourselves, where we care about ourselves
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more than someone else, that is really sinful.
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That is just a corruption where we put ourselves before other
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people and we all have a tendency towards that.
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We all want to do what we want to do and we don't probably want
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to admit that we are very selfish, but we are.
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In fact we are. We came out, we came out that
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way and we probably and we'll never, we won't change until
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Jesus returns and we receive our immortal perfected bodies that
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God originally intended for us. But until then, we're going to
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be battling this selfishness that we have.
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And so the way that we overcome this battle is through the Holy
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Spirit whom Jesus promised to those who agree or want to obey
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him and want to become holy like God has has asked of us.
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I'm not asked of us. That's what he he designed us to
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be. And some people will choose to
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make that change and other people won't want to make that
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change. God will help us.
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It's still will be hard for us, though.
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It doesn't say that. It'll just be easy.
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I wish it was. I wish we could just say, God,
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we want you to just run our lives and then not have to worry
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about it. And but he doesn't.
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He didn't make us that way. He gave us free will.
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So every day we have choices to make, and we can either choose
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to do what God would want us to do to be obedient to Him, or we
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can choose to rebel against him with every decision.
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That's really what it comes down to.
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So Jeremiah is telling these people of Judah, reform your
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ways and your actions and I will let you live in this place.
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God always has promises. He's like he promises blessings
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for obedience. He truly does.
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Throughout Scripture. Then Jeremiah continues to say,
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do not trust in deceptive words and say this is the temple of
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the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
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If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with
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each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the
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fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this
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place, that's something that we probably should pay attention
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to. Innocent blood.
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There is bloodshed. Sometimes God actually even
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calls for bloodshed to eliminate evil.
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And God will, during the wrath also get rid of evil.
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So there will be bloodshed. And so God is not necessarily
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opposed to that. He doesn't like it, but He has,
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you know, in order to he, he always has throughout the
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Scripture wanted and eradicated evil to some degree, not
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completely, but in the end when Jesus returns, that's when he
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will eradicate the evil. Actually, I guess when the final
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judgment day comes, which is after the 1000 years reign of
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Christ, because people will still have that free will during
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that Millennium period, but after that they will, they will
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be eternally separated where there will not be any evil
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present. So anyway, going back to
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Scripture, it's you know, so about if you do not shed
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innocent blood in this place. And it's also important for us
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to realize what was actually happening at that time.
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People were sacrificing their children at that time.
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So that is definitely innocent blood like the, you know, we're
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all sinners. So even if a child that you
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know, if you say well child's a Sinner, it still doesn't justify
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innocent blood. That's child sacrifice, which
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today it's this equal to abortion.
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Again, that's a selfish decision made by somebody.
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If God determines that person as evil and decides that they will
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not live, he can make them not come to birth.
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So God is ultimately in in charge of all this.
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We as people should not be doing what God can do.
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As you know, when it comes to abortions, it's basically child
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sacrifice. It is sacrificing a child so
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that a person you know can not be burdened by the child.
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Essentially. That's really what it seems like
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it comes down to. If you know God can handle it,
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God can take care of this. So innocent blood, that's
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children. And you know, there's probably
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other people who have done nothing wrong but then get
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killed by that. That's also innocent blood.
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And if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I
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will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your
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ancestors forever and ever. So they also had a problem with
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following other gods, which is really interesting because I, I
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don't see it in some ways, but then I do see it in other ways,
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like today modern world. I mean, there's this worship of
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nature, which is also kind of a, you know, having another God.
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Then there's these other gods that any any other thing that's
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called God that is not the true God, the the God of Abraham,
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Isaac, Isaac and Jacob. Anyone who follows any other God
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other than that, that's not the true God.
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So there are people that do worship other gods today.
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So he says. But look, you are trusting in
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deceptive words that are worthless.
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So I don't know who's sharing these deceptive words.
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But somehow maybe it's, you know, the leadership.
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I don't, I don't know. It doesn't really say what these
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deceptive words are. Maybe it was just encouraging
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them to worship these other entity entities, to do child
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sacrifices and other things. So Jeremiah contends, will you
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steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn
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incense to Baal or Baal and follow other gods you have not
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known, and then come and stand before me in this house which
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bears my name, and say we are safe, safe to do all these
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detestable things. Has the house which bears my
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name become a den of robbers to you?
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But I've been watching, declares the Lord.
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So there's a lot in that one. Grouping verses 9 through 11.
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So he's essentially saying, are you a hypocrite?
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You're going out, you're doing all these things, but then
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you're coming into my home, the temple, and saying we are safe
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here. And and that's something else,
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like I think even this can apply to a lot of Christians today who
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are hypocrites who don't obey God, but they'll go to church.
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And God is watching all of this. God sees this.
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We are no different than the people in Judah.
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And if, and God said it says he shows no favoritism.
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So if he does this, and in fact, he talks about Shiloh too and
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what happened there. So he, he does the same thing he
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is, he hasn't changed. So I think that's really
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important for us to realize that like if he's warning the Jews
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about this, you can say, oh, this is just for the Jews.
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Well, this is also for us because God doesn't have
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favoritism. If they were doing it and they
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got punished and they were his chosen elect, but he did this to
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them, don't you think He will do this to us other, you know, the
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Gentiles who are grafted in to the vine as Jesus described it,
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the people who were not originally Jews, but by faith we
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have become a part of the nation.
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We are the ones who are grafted in.
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So if God was doing this to the original people He chose, don't
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you think He would also do that to those of us who come into the
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Kingdom as someone who's grafted in?
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We shouldn't think that we don't have to be concerned about this.
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And again, I think this is there's a lot of Christians who
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abuse grace that has been given to us by through Jesus on the
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cross. Grace.
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The better way to understand it is grace is power from God to
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overcome sin and in and that's what Jesus did on the cross.
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That was his grace that he had given to us, and it is a gift.
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Any power from God is a gift to us.
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It does not mean that we can continue to sin and think that
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we're safe, just like just this was a Jesus.
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But it reminded me of something Jesus said.
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Just like Jeremiah was hearing from the Lord saying we are
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safe, safe to do all these detestable things.
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That's what God, you know, he's looking at.
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If God says he doesn't like something and he doesn't want
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something to be done and we continue to do it, aren't we the
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same as the people of Judah that Jeremiah is talking to?
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I think we need to wake up and realize that the way we live
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does matter to God and and God is watching and this is this is
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a warning to all of us that we need to put this in perspective
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because there will be consequences of our actions.
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God throughout the Bible gives blessings and also says what the
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curses will be what the the the yeah, basically curses that the
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bad things that will happen to a person who chooses not to obey
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God. There is very clear, but he
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doesn't want hypocrites. I mean Jesus was very much
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against hypocrites too. And this was actually the
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scripture that Jesus quoted in he it was documented by several
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different gospels. Actually three different Gospels
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were so Jeremiah 7 says has this house which bears my name become
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a den of robbers to you? But I've been watching declares
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the Lord. So in Matthew chapter 21, this
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is Jesus saying it is written, he said to them, my house will
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be called a House of prayer, but you are making it a den of
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robbers. And then in Mark Chapter 11,
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verse 17 says the same thing. And as he taught them, he said,
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is it not written, My house will be called a House of prayer for
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all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.
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And then Luke 19, verse 46 documents this.
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It is written, he said to them, My house will be a House of
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prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
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So think about this. Jeremiah had this declaration
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from the Lord in like 580 something BC and then Jesus is
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reflecting on this somewhere around 30, you know, I don't
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know, 27/28/20, 9:30 somewhere around there.
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And he had three years of so I'm not sure exactly what it what
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years it was because there's a question of when Jesus died on
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the cross. It was 30313233.
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There's, there's a lot of possibilities there because the
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calendar got messed up. But essentially, you know,
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within the three years of his ministry, he said this.
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So let's say it's somewhere around 30 AD Jesus is talking
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about this. So he's reflecting on something
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that Jeremiah wrote, you know, about 600 years before, and
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Jesus is quoting this to people. And so he's affirming basically
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what Jeremiah was saying. And just like he said to others,
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he said I did not come to change or abolish the law, I came to
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fulfill it. So if this was true back in the
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time of Jeremiah, it is still true today, based on Jesus
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saying it was still true at his time.
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So go now in the place of Shiloh where I first made a dwelling,
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This is we're going back to Jeremiah now.
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Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling
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for my name, and see what I did to it because of wickedness of
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my people. Israel, while you were doing all
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these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again,
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but you did not listen. I called you, but you did not
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answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh,
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I will now do to the house that bears my name, the temple you
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trust in the place I gave you and your ancestors.
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I will thrust you from my presence just as I did your
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fellow Israelites. The people of Ephraim.
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So the people of Ephraim were the northern tribe of Israel.
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And Jeremiah's talking to the people of Judah, who are the
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southern 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin.
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And the northern tribe had already been, I believe it was
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the Syrians who came in. And then Jeremiah was
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pronouncing judgement that was going to come from Babylon to
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them. So he was saying, you know, look
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at your, your, your northern tribes.
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This is what happened to them. Did I spare them?
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And they had this. They were the first, I think, to
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start worshipping other gods and putting up altars and things.
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And so that's what actually I think it's Ephraim, I think is
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not listed as one of the tribes of in the 144,000 and neither is
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the tribe of Dan. So and it's interesting because
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the Bible tells us that they were the ones who were
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worshipping false gods. So just an interesting
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reflection on that as you read the Bible to protect that
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because you'll see it OK going back to Scripture.
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So do not pray for these people nor offer any plea or petition
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for them. Do not pray with me, for I will
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not listen to you. Do you not see what they are
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doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
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The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the
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women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the queen of
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heaven. They pour out drink offerings to
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other gods. To arouse my anger.
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But I? But am I the one they are
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provoking, Declares the Lord? Are they not rather harming
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themselves to their own shame? So this is really interesting
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and insightful as well. The Queen of Heaven, it's listed
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a few times in Scripture in a capitalized sense, like as a
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name or a title. And so I wondered, you know,
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like, who is this and who are they worshipping?
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And what is this all about? But you know, they're doing
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these things and you know, they're probably going to the
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temple to worship and and then he says, but am I the one they
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are provoking, declares the Lord?
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Are they not rather harming themselves to their own shame?
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So why, you know, maybe out of their ignorance when they're
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worshipping these other gods, they don't realize the spiritual
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aspects of things. There's a lot of things in the
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Bible that we don't really fully understand.
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God doesn't give us all the spiritual laws.
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In fact, Jesus even says I'm, I think it was to Nicodemus, he
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said, but I'm trying to tell you about earthly things.
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How can I tell you about spiritual things?
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You don't even understand the earthly things I'm trying to
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tell you about. So there's information that God
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doesn't give us because we don't even understand the stuff he
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does give us. So he can't give us things that
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well, He does give us things that we don't always understand,
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but he tries to reveal things through scripture, which is
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important for us to read scripture because the more we
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read it, the more God reveals to us.
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But these there are things, there are truths that are found
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in Scripture that we don't get the first time, the first time
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we read through the Bible, we don't understand these.
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But as time goes on, we start picking up more and more and
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understanding more. And I believe that's the Holy
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Spirit at work in us when we are meditating on the word.
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In fact, I was today actually, it came up about how God in
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Deuteronomy, I think it's chapter 17, where it said that
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kings were supposed to reflect on God's law daily so that they
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would so all would go well with them.
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And, and that's something that, you know, we also, if it works
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for the kings, would it not work for us as well?
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If we are reading God's word and we are learning from it and we
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are putting it into action, would there not be blessings on
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us also? Or if we are disregarding it and
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being disobedient to God, then will we not also get the same
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curses that are found in the Bible?
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There were blessings and curses that were given in Deuteronomy
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chapter 28, But you'll also see in his in the history of the
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Bible, the the books of the kings and Chronicles and so
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forth, and Samuel and all those that those who followed God and
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were obedient to him, things went well.
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And then those who were not obedient to God, he got rid of
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them. And God appoints kings and he
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takes them away. In fact, the very first king of
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Israel was Saul, and he was not obedient to God.
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So God got rid of him and replaced him with David.
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It was over a period of a number of years, but essentially that's
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how David got on the throne because Saul wouldn't fully
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obey. He did part of it, but not all
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of it. And he determined what he was
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and wasn't going to do. But that's not what God is
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looking for. God is looking for somebody not
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to say, OK, I'll pick this, I'll obey this, but I'm not going to
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obey that. God wants us to be 100% obedient
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to him. That's what he desires for us.
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And then all things will go well for us.
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We don't, you know, we have sin, which means missing the mark.
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We don't do everything that God wants us to do.
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But over time, we become through the Holy Spirit, through, you
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know, submitting our will to God's will, we start to change
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and become more holy. It does say that in Scripture,
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the Holy Spirit helps us to do that.
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So over time, we start getting more like the image of Christ,
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but never get to perfection until Jesus returns when
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something supernatural will happen to us at that point.
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So anyway, getting back to Jeremiah and these people who
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were worshipping the Queen of Heaven.
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In this study Bible it actually addresses this.
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So who was the Queen of heaven? This is a reference to the Pagan
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goddess of sexual love and fertility.
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I think we still have a little bit of that worship going on in
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our world today. Check out any pop music videos
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and you'll see that there is still this worship of sexual
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love and you know probably fertility or but it's very much
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alive and well today. Unfortunately.
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Many ancient near eastern cultures had similar goddesses
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but with different names. I always find that interesting.
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If they are different entities or they actually are the same
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entity but they appear to people and people name them
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differently, I don't know it doesn't really matter.
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But whatever it is, they, these entities, I believe they are
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spiritual and they are against God and they are aligned with
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Satan because Satan seeks to kill and destroy.
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And that's what ultimately these entities do with people either
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to their children, they kill and destroy them or they they
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seductively lure them into the sensual sexual aspect of things,
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which ultimately leads to death. Like God, God created all that.
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It's to be used for good. It's to be within a marriage.
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And God intended it for it to be that way.
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But the enemy corrupts it and makes it like available to
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everyone in a non committed way and puts it out publicly.
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I mean, it just it's getting more and more and more prevalent
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throughout everywhere in media. And I believe there's a
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spiritual entity behind all of this.
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After reading the Bible, I never thought this before I read the
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Bible, but after I read the Bible and studied it since 2019.
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So it hasn't been that long. This is how my I've come to
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believe after reading all these things.
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So the Babylonians called her Ishtar, the Greeks, Aphrodite,
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part of the practice of worshipping this goddess
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included cult institution. It's really interesting.
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And I, I wonder too, like is Mystery Babylon ultimately
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behind this? I mean, they have some, I think
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Ishtar might have been some androgynous being or something
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like that too. It's, and then we get into all
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this trans stuff and this confusion about people, about
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whether they're male or female and they decide rather than
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biologically, I mean, all of this stuff is spiritual ritual.
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And those who don't think it is are just ignorant because they
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haven't read the Bible. Just like the Bible warns us, if
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you don't read it, you don't know what's in it.
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It reveals a lot of stuff about what's going on today.
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And that's why I do find it very interesting.
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And so it, it teaches us, it rebukes us, it corrects us, and
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it also gives us hope and promise of the future of what
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will come when we actually agree with God and want to be in his
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Kingdom. There is a, a wonderful promise
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and future ahead of that. But The thing is, we're so stuck
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in our ways, just like these people of Judah, that we, you
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know, we, we're, if we don't wake up, we're not going to be
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in God's Kingdom. So let's go back to what
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Jeremiah says. Therefore, this is what the
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sovereign Lord says. My anger and my wrath will be
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poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the
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field and on the crops of your land, and it will burn and not
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be quenched. This is what the Lord Almighty,
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the God of Israel says. Go ahead, add your burnt
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offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat
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yourselves. For when I brought your
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ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give
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them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I
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gave them this command. Obey me and I will be your God
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and you will be my people. See, I think a lot of people
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forget about this part. They go through the burnt
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offerings of sacrifices. I mean, there's many times in
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Scripture where God says your sacrifice are detestable to me.
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He doesn't want them. Those were the things that he he
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basically gave substitution so that people didn't die.
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There's some spiritual aspect about that.
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Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins.
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So the sacrifice had to be there so the people themselves didn't
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die or the whole population would be wiped out.
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But he's, he's saying, you know, I'm done with you.
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You don't even understand the sacrifices.
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Those are there as basically restitution, well, partial
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restitution for what you've done.
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But obey me and then you don't even need the sacrifices.
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So it's obedience that he's after.
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He's not after the sacrifices. And he says, and I will be your
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God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I
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command you and and so this is like to all I command you.
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So if we are in communication with God through prayer and if
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God tells us he wants us to do something, you know, that
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doesn't contradict Scripture. So and God would, you know,
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that's something that we have to be very careful about discerning
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if God is speaking to us or if if God is communicating with us,
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if it's our own thoughts or if it's the enemy and we can use
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Scripture to understand it. And sometimes we probably don't
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always know. Sometimes we can probably easily
28:29
see if it's the enemy. And then but then the question
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is, is it our own desire or is it God talking to us?
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So that's that's where it gets a little bit more complicated to
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try to understand, but usually it's just be still.
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And then to maybe have God show you in different ways when he
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tells you he wants you to do something is, you know, wait for
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other affirmations of that perhaps.
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But he says walk in obedience to all.
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I command you that it may go well with you.
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So again, here's the blessing. When you're obedient to God, he
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wants to bless you. He wants to bless us, but they
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did not listen or pay attention. Instead, they followed the
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stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.
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So that's showing us how sinful everyone is that Nope, we're not
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going to listen to God. We're just going to do what we
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want to do. That's exactly the way the world
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is today. They went backward and not
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forward. That's kind of another way of
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saying backsliding, right? From the time your ancestors
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left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again, I sent you
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my servants, the prophets, but they did not listen to me or pay
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attention. They were stiff necked and did
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more evil than their ancestors. So each generation seems to get,
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you know, more evil and the things if you look at the moral
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decay of our world, we've always had evil in it, but you look at
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what's acceptable socially and and it really there is a moral
30:14
decay that we are seeing. When you think about what God
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wants in the Bible, what God says is right from the Bible.
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When you tell them this, that, well OK, when you tell them all
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this, they will not listen to you.
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When you call to them, they will not answer.
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Therefore say to them, this is the nation that has not obeyed
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the Lord, It's God or responded to correction.
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God is so patient. He gives us like sometimes when
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bad things happen, it's to get our attention, to get us to
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where we make corrections in our life.
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Got to let bad things come along.
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And He wants us to correct something in our life.
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We need to seek Him to find out like God, why is this bad thing
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happening to me? What do you want from me?
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What is happening? What is this?
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And God will answer you. Truth has perished.
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It has vanished from their lips. Cut off your hair and throw it
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away. Take up a lament to on the
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barren heights for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this
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generation that is under his wrath.
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So that generation that Jeremiah was talking to were under God's
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wrath and he was going to show them because that they were
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under his wrath because that's how why he allowed the
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Babylonians to conquer. You know, there's other times
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where God protects his people and doesn't allow things to
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happen, but because they would, they just refused to obey God.
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Then he, you know, this is what he let happen.
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So let's see where else we go, OK?
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The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the
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Lord. They have set up their
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detestable idols in the house that bears my name and have
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defiled it. They have built the high places
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of Taupeth in the valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and
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daughters in the fire. Something I did not command nor
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did it enter my mind. So how did these people, I
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always wonder, how did these people get the thought that they
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could burn their children and that would be pleasing to God,
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to a God? What is this like this is maybe
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were these deceptive words? Were they because of their
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rebellion to God? Was the enemy making them think
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that he was God and so he was convincing them to kill their
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sons and daughters. That's what I think was probably
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happening to these people because they refuse.
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They rebelled against God, so God was giving them over to
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deception. So beware, the days are coming,
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says the Lord, when the people will no longer call it Topeth,
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or the valley of Ben Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter, for
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they will bury the dead in Topeth until there is no more
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room. Then the carcasses of this
33:23
people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and
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there will be no one to frighten them away.
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I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and
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to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah
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and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become
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desolate. Now this, I don't know if this
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actually happened that they were there was just no more room in
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Topath and they were just like the Valley of Slaughter, or if
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this is referring to future prophecy that is yet to be
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fulfilled. And so we see that this happens
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in Revelation chapter 19, and I don't know if I should read the
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whole thing. I think I'm just going to read
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about the heavenly warrior defeating the beast in
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Revelation 19 starting at Chapter 11.
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Actually I'll just read to you where this where this says in
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verses 17 and 18 it says. And I saw an Angel standing in
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the sun who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in
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mid air, come gathered together for the great supper of God, so
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that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty
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of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free
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and slave, great and small. Then I saw the beast in the
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kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage
34:54
war against the rider on the horse in his army.
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That was Jesus in his army. That is, I mean this is future
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prophecy. But the beast was captured and
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with it the false prophet would perform the signs on its behalf.
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With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark
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of the beast and worshipped his image.
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The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of
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burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the
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sword coming out of the mouth, the rider on the horse, and all
35:25
the birds gorge themselves on their flesh.
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So this Revelation 19 is very much like what God God was
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saying to Jeremiah was going to happen to the people.
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And again, I don't know if it happened before and it was a
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foreshadowing of a future event, but this is also something that
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is going to come later because the false prophet, there's going
35:50
to be some religious figure that speaks lies and he forces people
35:55
to get the mark of the beast. And that's in the future that
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hasn't come around yet. The beast is an entity of multi
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powers and kings. I think there's seven of them
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that are in alliance and they they have it in their hearts to
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rule over the entire earth and they force people to take the
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mark of the beast. I mean, these are things that,
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you know, everybody who studies prophecy has their eyes wide
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open right now because of this, all of this digital stuff that's
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happening in the world right now and AI And there are certainly
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we can see that this this ability to have a mark that in
36:46
your hand or your forehead that you can only buy or sell if you
36:50
have the mark. That wasn't possible many, many
36:54
years ago or thousands of years ago, but it's possible today.
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And in fact, people in Sweden I know are actually getting
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something in their hand that unlocks stores that they can use
37:05
to pay all of that, that that's literally, it's been several
37:09
years now that that's been out in Sweden.
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They're doing that. So if they've started it there,
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eventually it's going to be going across the whole world.
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So again, this is showing us that Bible prophecy is being
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fulfilled. So here we are reading about
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something from 580 BC, you know, thousands of years ago that is
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now starting to come to life today in 2025.
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Now, how long is this going to take to roll out?
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We don't know. But everybody who's a Christian
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who studies Bible prophecy or reads the book of the prophets
37:48
is certainly keeping their eyes open because it's all like
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seeming to come into our modern day life, the stuff that was
37:59
talked about in the Bible. So stay in the Word of God
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because there there are blessings and curses that are
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revealed. And so you don't want the
38:09
curses. So if you read the Bible, maybe
38:12
you can avoid some. So I'll read the questions and
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answers for this chapter, and then we'll wrap it up.
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So why did Jeremiah preach at the Temple gate?
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Worshippers had to pass through this gate to enter the Temple
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courts. Jeremiah may have internal
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informally resumed an ancient practice in which a servant at
38:32
the gate greeted pilgrims with a reminder to examine their moral
38:36
lives as they entered the temple courts.
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Why was it deceptive to say the temple of the Lord?
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People believed that because the temple was so important to God,
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and because God was especially present in the temple, He would
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never allow it or the city it was in to be destroyed.
38:54
They deceived themselves by believing that a religious
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shrine was more important to God than their obedience and
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faithfulness to Him whose innocent blood was shed.
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In the temple courts, the death penalty was used when specific
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laws were broken but unscrupulous teachers were
39:13
executing innocent people. These injustices stained Judah
39:18
like the lifeblood of the innocent people stained their
39:21
clothing. This may also be an allusion to
39:25
the sacrifice of children, an insidious practice of some false
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religions of that area that was practiced by some of Judah's
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leaders like Manasseh. Jeremiah was also warned,
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warning the people against such injustices and evils.
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How had the temple become a den of robbers?
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God's people were involved in all kinds of blatant sin and
39:51
rebellion. Jeremiah had just referenced the
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breaking of five of the 10 commandments.
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However, the people continued to retreat to the temple and
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perform the rituals as if nothing was wrong.
40:05
Just as thieves hid in caves and thought they were safe, the
40:09
people of Judah falsely thought they were safe in the temple.
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What happened to Shiloh? As the people well knew, Shiloh
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was a place where God had made himself known, especially
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especially in raising up the prophet Samuel.
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Shiloh was located 30 miles north of Jerusalem in Israel's
40:30
Hill Country. It was completely destroyed by
40:33
the Philistines in approximately 1050 BC.
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Why did God tell Jeremiah not to pray?
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God told Jeremiah not to pray for the people because they had
40:46
already been judged. They had refused to repent while
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they still had the opportunity. Now it was too late.
40:54
God emphasized His resolve by saying, in effect, I don't want
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to hear any more about it. My mind is made-up.
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Why did nature suffer God's judgement?
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Because all creation lives in an ecosystem.
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When one part suffers, all parts suffer.
41:12
By God's design, our environment is protected most when we live
41:17
righteous lives. But sinful behavior can wreak
41:21
havoc not only in our lives, but in the environment as well.
41:25
Why did Jeremiah keep preaching when no one was listening?
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Jeremiah had to preach to be obedient to God's call.
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In fact, he found it impossible to keep God's word to himself.
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Apparently God wanted Jeremiah to speak to unheeding people so
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that they would be unable to say that they had not been warned.
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When judgment finally came, Jeremiah early sermons were
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opportunities for the people to change their ways.
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His later sermons announced the judgment to come.
41:58
What did cutting off hair signify?
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Similar to how people today might show grief by dressing in
42:03
black, the people of Ancient Near East expressed deep sorrow
42:08
in other ways. One of those ways was to shave
42:11
the head. Since a man's hair and beard
42:14
signified his maturity and dignity, to shave it was was to
42:19
suggest humility and great loss. What was built at the high
42:25
places of Topoth in the valley of Ben Hinnom Altars, used for
42:29
sacrifices, sometimes for child sacrifices to the Pagan God
42:34
Molech. Topoth may have come from the
42:37
Hebrew word for fireplace. Topath was near Jerusalem in the
42:43
valley of Ben Hinnom, and was known as the place where people
42:47
sacrificed their children by fire to Molech.
42:51
Later, the valley became the city's garbage dump, where the
42:55
corpses of criminals were discarded and the city trash was
42:58
burned. Its perpetual fires caused it to
43:02
become a symbol of future judgement.
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And that's the end of Chapter 7.