Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 773. Bible Study: Jeremiah 12 (Why do "faithless" live at ease?)

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773. Bible Study: Jeremiah 12 (Why do "faithless" live at ease?) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 12 from the book of Jeremiah.
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Dear God, please give us wisdom and insight and understanding as
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we read through the words that you gave to Jeremiah.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is titled Jeremiah's
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complaint. You are always righteous, Lord,
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when I bring a case before You. Yet I would speak with you about
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your justice. But why does the way of the
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wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at
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ease? You have planted them and they
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have taken root. They grow and bear fruit.
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You are always on their lips, but far from their hearts.
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You know me, Lord. You see me and test my thoughts
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about You. Then he says, drag them off like
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sheep to be butchered, set them apart for the day of slaughter.
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How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every
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field be withered? Because those who live in it are
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wicked. The animals and the birds have
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perished. Moreover, the people are saying
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he will not see what happens to us.
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And the first thing about it was the one I read.
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This was that very last statement in quotations.
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He will not see what happens to us.
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That was really confusing to me. So I went to the Blue letter
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bible.com or.org and looked up the original Hebrew words and I
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came away with a different understanding of what this
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sentence and a different way of saying this based on what I
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found in the meanings of Strong's Concordance and so
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forth. So right after it says, you
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know, because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and
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birds have perished. The way I understand it much
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better is if it were the last sentence were stated because
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they perceived not the vision of the latter time or the end That
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that's what I think would make more sense in the translation
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instead of. Moreover, the people are saying
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he will not see what happens to us.
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I mean that just doesn't make any sense at all.
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Like he referring to God will not see what happens to us.
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I don't know. Or were they talking about
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Jeremiah will not see? I don't know, but that sentence
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just didn't make sense to me. So look it up yourself and see
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what you think about it. But all these words were
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different in the Hebrew. And then to look up with the
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meaning, it just seems to make more sense because they perceive
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not the vision of the latter time or the end.
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They just had no perspective. They're not looking in at an
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eternal perspective. They're just living for the day
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and they have no care. And this is like, there's
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several different times where, you know, this is what
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Jeremiah's complaining about. He's like, why are these people
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doing well? And you test me.
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You know my heart. You do all these things to me.
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But why are they like, you know, you know, not having any of
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these repercussions and and it says, you know, you are always
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on their lips, but it's one of those, but far from their
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hearts. Like they are religious people.
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They are people who want the world to think that they are,
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you know, a whatever faithful one.
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But in their hearts, they're not.
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They don't have that relationship with God.
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They they're just, you know, doing the religious acts to make
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it look like that's where they are or they may think they are
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and it's just very superficial to them.
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And because he calls them faithless, why do they live at
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ease? So, and we will see that today
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that many people who are, you know, maybe you would say that
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they don't live the way God wants people to live, but then
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they're prosperous and they have good things happening in their
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life. And people who are following the
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Lord might look at that and say, well, why is that happening?
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And so a few different verses came to mind in reflecting on
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that. And it the, there's a couple
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different places where actually in Luke 1625.
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And I'll just read this part through 1631 and actually I'll
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read a little bit more than that.
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This is about the rich man and Lazarus.
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So it starts at Luke 16, verse 19.
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So there was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen
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and lived in luxury every day. So this is kind of the same
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context. You know, he's a rich man, he's
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dressed in the finest of things. He has all this luxury.
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At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with
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sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.
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Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
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The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him
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to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was
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buried in Hades. So that's the the realm of the
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dead in Hades where he was in torment.
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He looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.
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So here's the rich man. This is what the people who live
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ungodly lives but have all of the luxurious things in life
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they. This is an example of what will
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happen to them if they do not turn to God before they die or
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before Jesus returns. And so anyway, so going back to
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the Scripture. So he called to him, Father
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Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of
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his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in
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the Spire. But Abraham replied, son,
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remember that in your lifetime you received your good things
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while Lazarus received bad things.
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But now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
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So that I think is something that we all need to remember
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that especially when we hear things in the world like you
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only live once and you got to live it up and celebrate the
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moment. And you know, don't worry about
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tomorrow, just, you know, live for today.
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All those kinds of things that we hear.
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It's very short sighted and we don't want to end up like the
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rich man in this parable or this story.
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And and this is, you know, there are some like spiritual truths
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that I believe are in here because the next verse is
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something that I think people also need to understand.
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So Abraham says this also. He says, and besides all this
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between US and you, a great chasm has been set in place.
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And I looked up that word and it says a gulf has been set in
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place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor
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can anyone crossover from there to us.
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So I think this is interesting on a bunch of different levels
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because this is like a spiritual revelation that we get from
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this. This story here is that #1
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there's if anybody's ever heard of purgatory, there is no
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purgatory. So if people are planning on
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being in purgatory and then figuring out a way to do better,
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First of all, that's not like according to the Bible, how
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people get into the Kingdom of God.
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Jesus clearly says that you have must be born again, born of the
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spirit. And then if somebody is born of
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the Spirit, that's something else that I want to bring up
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too, because a lot of people just don't, I don't, maybe they
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don't know this, but if you look up continue to sin, basically,
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and there's a couple of different verses that talk about
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this that I don't hear many churches talking about.
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So this is in first John chapter 3 verse 9 and then first John
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chapter 5 verse 18. So chapter 3.
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First, no one who is born of God is being born again, will
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continue to sin because God's seed remains in them.
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They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of
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God. So the Holy Spirit changes us,
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and the things that we did, the sinful things that we did will
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start to go away. When we receive, we'll start to
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feel conviction about it. We obviously still have free
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will, but when we are surrendered to God and we're
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saying your will, not mine, that means that we're choosing to do
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what God would want us to do rather than what we would
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initially choose. And so we don't continue to keep
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on sinning. And then in chapter 5 he says we
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know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin.
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The one who was born of God keeps them safe and the evil 1
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cannot harm them. So the God keeps people safe and
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the evil 1 cannot harm them. So these are things that I think
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people need to be aware of because they're things that are
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taught in by different religions that are not true and they can
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be harmful to people if you believe them because you may
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falsely think that you've been born, born again.
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You just think like you say a prayer and then you don't have
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to worry about anything and all your sin is covered by grace.
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That's what I hear some people say, but that's not the truth.
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There's a change in a person when they are born again and
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they become a new creation. So if someone hasn't become a
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new creation, then I would really question if that person
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is truly born again. And Jesus said and and I think
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it was John chapter 3, that in order to enter the Kingdom of
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God, you must be born again. So he did the what the most
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important thing that was needed. He died on the cross for us.
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So it's not that, it's not by our righteousness that's brought
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on by the Holy Spirit that gets us into the Kingdom of God.
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That is not what that's saying. Jesus did what needed to be done
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and only he could do to get us into the Kingdom of God.
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Because it says without the shedding of blood, there is no
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forgiveness of sin. So that's why Jesus, the perfect
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one, gave his life for all mankind, for all humans, so that
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people could. It's not saying that everybody
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is in the Kingdom of God because it relies on our choice, our
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decision. Do we surrender our will to God
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or do we keep on going in our own way?
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And these parts of Scripture like this, like it's really,
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really important because if anybody dies suddenly, you want
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to make sure of your destination.
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Where are you going to be? Are you going to be in with God
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or are you going to be separated from God?
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And and as this person says, he's in Hades, which is the
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realm of the dead, where he was in torment.
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So it wasn't just like a resting place.
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People are eternal beings. God created people to be
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eternal. The question is, where will we
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be after we die? And that's something that Jesus
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already took care of the solution for it, but now it's on
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us. What choice are we going to
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make? Now that we know that Jesus has
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done that for us, then what do we choose to do with it?
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Do we choose to surrender to God's will and become righteous
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through the Holy Spirit? Do we let God work in our lives
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and change us? Then there's a couple other
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things that that talk about the priorities that we have in life.
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And there's a few times where Jesus said something that was a
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little bit shocking to me the first time I read it.
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But then when you kind of understand it.
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So in in Matthew chapter 8 verse 22, Jesus said, but Jesus told
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him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.
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So in this situation, it was when Jesus was gathering his
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first getting his disciples and a disciple came up to him and
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said, Lord first, let me go and bury my father.
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But Jesus said told him, follow me and let the dead bury their
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own dead. Now that's, you know, like I
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said, the first time you read something like that, you're just
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kind of shocked. Like that seems heartless.
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But you have to understand what is being talked about here.
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This is about spiritual the this is about prioritizing the big
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picture of where we are going to be in eternity because we can't
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get short sighted and just look at the events and everything
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that's happening here on earth. We have to have that long range
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perspective of where are we going to be?
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What are we doing here in this time that will you know, are we
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building towards God's Kingdom or are we involved in worldly
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things that don't prioritize God, But that's where we have to
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prioritize God. And then in Luke Chapter 9 verse
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60, it's again the same subject matter.
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Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go
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and proclaim the Kingdom of God. So our duties like every single
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person here. There are certain people that we
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can reach that others may not reach, and anybody who is in
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your inner circle of people, people that you know that may
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not hear it from somebody else. That's an opportunity to let
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people know about the Kingdom of God and let them know that there
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it's a decision like Jesus has already done.
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The hard part of it all, the impossible part of it all, but
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we just need to fully surrender if we want to be in God's
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Kingdom and that's we need to be born again.
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So in the Book of Revelation, this is another thing that is is
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interesting too. So it's Revelation chapter 22
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verse 11 and it says let the one who who does wrong continue to
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do wrong, let the vile person continue to be vile.
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Let the one who does right continue to do right and let the
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holy person continue to be holy. So again, this is another thing
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that another line that just really needs some explanation in
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some ways. So actually this is just
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searching on Google, it had a pretty good explanation of it.
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It says this quote is from the Bible, specifically Revelation
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2211, and is spoken by an Angel or Jesus.
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It is not a command to continue sinning, but a statement that
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the time of judgment is near and people's choices will be fixed.
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The verse emphasizes that those who have chosen to do wrong will
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continue on that path, while those who have chosen
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righteousness will persist in holiness.
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The verse follows the instruction not to seal the
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words of the prophecy in the scroll because the time is near,
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meaning it signifies A finality. The time for repentance is
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ending, and the separation between the wicked and the holy
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will be made permanent. It's a final warning that the
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choices made will have eternal consequences and no last minute
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changes will be possible. Think about Lazarus in Hades
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when he and the the wealthy man who wanted Lazarus to help him
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out, but the wealthy man he couldn't change where he was.
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And I think there's the following verses in Revelation
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2212 through 15 further explain that a reward will be given to
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each person according to their deeds.
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So that's also important because God does reward people for the
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good things that people do and it often seems like are the
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suffering that they had. If you go into the book of Job,
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it talks about all the terrible things that happened to Job, but
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then later in his life, God doubly blessed him.
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And God does do those things when when someone is turned to
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him, when someone loves him, he often we, you know, it's not
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guaranteed, but he often does that like God loves to give good
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gifts. And it does say many times where
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Jesus says, look, I the time is near.
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My reward is with me. There are rewards and for what
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we do here on earth that Jesus will reward us for what we do
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and he will have that with him when he returns.
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So this is something that don't delay in doing this because it
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could come back and bite you if if something sudden happens and
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you're not ready for it. And the Bible talks about that.
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It says, you know, it talks about Jesus's return as a thief
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in the night. But then there's also the
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unexpected thing, like just think about when somebody gets
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hurt or somebody gets sick or somebody dies suddenly.
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Those things are not planned out.
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They just happen and they shock everybody.
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That stuff can happen. So you don't want to delay your
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response to God. God has an invitation to every
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one of us, and it's up to us to respond to that invitation and
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let God know that we want to be born again, that we want His
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Holy Spirit to change our life. And it's it.
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There's no special words for it. It's just a sincere.
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A sincere conversation to God that just says God, let your
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Holy Spirit work in my life. Let let me change the way you
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want me to be, the way you designed me to be, the way that
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you want me to be in this world. Like I'm willing do these, you
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know, help me with this and anything like that.
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There's no special words. It's it's the intent, the true,
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sincere intent of a person. So if you haven't done that yet,
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I encourage you to speak that to God and then watch what happens
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in your life. So here's where God answers.
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Now we're on verse 5. If you have raced with men on
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foot and they have worn you out, how can you compare with
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compete? How can you compete with horses
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if you stumble in in safe country?
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How will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
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So God is responding to Jeremiah and he's basically it to me.
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This is my own interpretation of it.
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It seems like God is conditioning Jeremiah.
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Like, you know, Jeremiah's complaining, like all these
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people who don't live righteously and they're fake
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believers or fake followers, You know, they, they just do the
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religious acts, but they're far from God in heart.
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And, and he's, yeah, he's like pretty upset, right?
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But, and God is seeing that he's upset and he's like, or if you,
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if you're racing with men on foot and they've worn you out,
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how can you compete with horses like the next level?
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You know, where are you going to be that next level?
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You need to like get into condition.
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And that's the way I look at what God's reply was saying to
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him. And then, and then God says your
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relatives, members of your own family, even they have betrayed
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you. They have raised a loud cry
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against you. Do not trust them, though they
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speak well of you. Now, isn't that disheartening?
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God's revealing something to Jeremiah that his family is even
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against him. You can see like Jeremiah's
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despair, like, I mean, he writes about this too, where he just
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feels like, why was I even born when this is what my life has
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been like? But at this time, God was using
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Jeremiah to communicate this to hopefully save some people who
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were in Jerusalem, in the in Judah, in the tribe of Judah.
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And and it sounds like there were very few that were true to
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God, which is always the case. It's always a a remnant, a small
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number of people. And it's just like that part of
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the Bible that says narrow is the road that leads to is it
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salvation, but wide is the path that leads to destruction,
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something like that. That path is really easy to
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find, the wide path to destruction, there's a lot of
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people on it, but the narrow path, a lot of people don't find
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it. They don't surrender to God and
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you know, ask the Holy Spirit. So I will forsake my house,
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abandoned my inheritance. I will give the one I love into
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the hands of her enemies. You know, at a certain point, I
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mean, this could be these are consequences.
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But at the same time, it's also like these people are choosing
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the enemy over God. They're choosing idolatry.
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They're choosing a false God against the real one true God,
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and they're worshipping it, this other thing rather than the true
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God. And at some point God does turn
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people over. When when people keep rebelling
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and keep turning from God despite all of these times that
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God tries to reach someone, at some point, God has shown in the
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biblical history that he turns them over to what they desire.
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So people get what they what they want.
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I don't know if they really want it when they see what they
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finally get. But he there's all these
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warnings that people don't listen to prophets and people
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just continue to do whatever they want to do and they think
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that nothing is going to happen to us.
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That's the same thing these people in Judah were saying so.
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Sorry, I obviously have a cold. Continuing on.
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Sorry about that. My inheritance has become to me
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like a lion in the forest. She roars at me, therefore I
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hate her. Has has not my inheritance
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become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of
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prey surround and attack? Go and gather all the wild
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beasts, bring them to devour. Many shepherds will ruin my
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vineyard and trample down my field.
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They will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
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It will be made a wasteland parched and desolate.
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Before me. The whole land will be laid
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waste because there is no one who cares.
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Over the barren heights in the desert, destroyers will swarm,
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for the sword of the Lord will devour from one end of the land
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to the other. No one will be safe.
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They will sow wheat but reap thorns.
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They will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
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They will bear the shame of their harvest because the Lord's
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fierce anger. This is what the Lord says.
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As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave
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my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands, and I
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will uproot the people of Judah from among them.
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But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion.
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I will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and
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their own country. And if they learn well the ways
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of my people and swear by my name, saying as surely as the
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Lord lives, even as they once taught my people to swear by
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Baal, then they will be established among my people.
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But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot
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and destroy it, declares the Lord.
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So this is more or less a message to repent or perish.
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It'll be destruction if we don't heed the words, if we don't
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listen to what God says. We can only expect judgement.
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And, and if it's really bad, then you know, it's at, if it's
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at the time of judgement, we're going to be either eternally
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separated from God or in the Kingdom of God.
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And that's going to be based on our decisions.
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So this is really serious to think about, not just to think
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about, to take action on. And I really want to encourage
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everyone to take the action today.