Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 785. Bible Study: Jeremiah 27 (Spiritual Discernment is needed to know True Prophet from False Prophet!)

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785. Bible Study: Jeremiah 27 (Spiritual Discernment is needed to know True Prophet from False Prophet!) · Faith by annm2705

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  Chapter 27 from the book of Jeremiah.
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  This is an interesting one because there are things that
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  we're going to have questions to and we're not going to know if
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  we are on the right path. Well, it's going to make us
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  question things that we think we know.
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  So anyway, let's go to Second Timothy 316 to remind ourselves
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  why we read Scripture. All Scripture is God breathes
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  and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and
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  training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be
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  thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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  Another reason to read is according to Romans chapter 10,
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  verse 17. Consequently, faith comes from
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  hearing the message, and the message is heard through the
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  word about Christ. In the Old Testament, we
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  occasionally talk about Christ because there are prophecies
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  about Christ, but not every single part of the Old Testament
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  has information about Christ. However, let's get started on
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  chapter 27. Early in the reign of Zedekiah,
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  son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from
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  the Lord. This is what the Lord said to
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  me. Make a yoke out of straps and
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  crossbars and put it on your neck.
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  Then send a word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and
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  Sidon. Those are 5 kings that he's
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  saying. This was interesting to me
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  because he's not speaking to the kings the the people of Judah.
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  He is telling Jeremiah to go to five different kings.
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  And it's always interesting when there's like the five different
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  kings because I think there were like 5 kings in the Philistines
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  when they had the Ark of the Covenant and tumors.
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  And there's all sorts of things like that.
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  Like there's a pattern with God often and it's a subtle thing
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  that comes up. And I think there may be, it's
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  just something to watch. I don't really know what it is,
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  but I think there may be something with these 5 S Edom,
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  Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon. Now these were in the I always
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  like to figure out like where are these today?
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  Edom, Moab and Ammon are all like part of Jordan today.
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  And then Tyre, Sidon is Lebanon area.
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  So these are very interesting just to think, you know,
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  they're, they're in Judah and he's telling them God is telling
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  Jeremiah to go to these kings, send, send word, not go there,
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  but send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Amon, Tyre and Sidon
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  through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, king
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  of Judah, give them a message for their masters.
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  And this is another interesting concept that I've looked into
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  recently as a result of being challenged about slavery in a
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  Bible study. But it's very, it's an
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  interesting study, which I haven't completed yet, but we,
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  there's a lot of places in the Bible where God talks about
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  slaves and servants are actually the same word in Hebrew, ebed,
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  EBED. And then he talks about masters
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  throughout the Bible. There's several references to
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  masters. So I'm in the process of doing a
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  separate study on that and it's opening my eyes to a lot of
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  different things, but I'm kind of getting sidetracked here.
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  So but it's I find it interesting now that give this
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  message to for their masters and say this is what the Lord
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  Almighty, the God of Israel says.
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  Tell this to your masters. Now this is where God is just
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  saying who he is and telling them, you need to know this.
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  So here's God speaking with my great power and outstretched
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  arm. I made the earth and its people
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  and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I
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  please. This is the, you know, the only
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  God can give it, because only God owns what's here.
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  Everyone else has a temporary possession of something until
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  God says no more. So here he continues.
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  Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my
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  servant. Isn't that interesting?
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  He calls Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his servant.
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  There's a lot more about the king of Babylon in the book of
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  Daniel and we will read about that, which is really
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  interesting. I mean, it's that's a good
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  portion of the book of Daniel and what has happened during
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  that time. So it's very interesting because
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  we know that Daniel was one of the Exiles that came out of
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  Judah and went into Babylon. So you'll see how God works
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  through all these things. It's neat to see how these books
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  tie together. I will make him.
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  I will make even the wild animals subject to him.
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  Now, Nebuchadnezzar actually went through a change himself
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  because he was a very boastful, prideful king and God humbled
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  him. And he has a very interesting
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  story. He did get humbled, but his son
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  did not. And like I said, I'm not going
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  to go into that because we'll cover it when we get to the book
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  of Daniel, but it's a very interesting story.
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  But God refers to him as his servant, Nebuchadnezzar, king of
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  Babylon. And of course, Babylon didn't
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  believe in the same God as the true God.
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  But God can use, he can work with anyone and he is sovereign
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  over all. Even if they're worshipping
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  other gods, they're just mistaken.
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  They are in error. And God is still sovereign over
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  everything. And he can use people like
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  Pharaoh he did and like this Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
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  There's a lot in the Bible about Babylon.
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  And it's not a good thing. It's it's kind of like the enemy
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  of God. There's like, it does the
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  opposite of what God says. But here God is actually using
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  that and he's turning people over.
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  Can you imagine how hard it would be if you were in Israel
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  and you were always succeeding under God?
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  And then all of a sudden there's a prophet who somewhat, I guess
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  to be true. I don't know at this point if
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  Jeremiah proved himself yet, but he's basically saying to, I
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  mean, right now we're talking about other countries, but he's
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  also said to Judah that they're going to go into captivity.
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  And, and there's more here because this is like, usually
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  God is the one who's who conquers everything, but now God
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  is giving a prophet the word to say, no, you're going to be
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  subject to, you know, basically his, his enemy, but he's turning
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  them over. That's what God does.
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  And that's kind of a scary thing When we stay rebellious to God,
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  there's a certain point where God may up to him, we don't know
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  when or if, but he may turn us over to that.
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  And that's a scary place to be because in, in all truth, it's
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  not a good place for us. And but if we remain rebellious,
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  he will give us what we choose. And and then we realize that
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  that's not a good thing. So it's very important to be
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  able to discern a word from God and a word from a false prophet.
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  Their spiritual discernment is so important and to be able to
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  communicate with God and to know when God answers a prayer,
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  usually, you know, when it happens.
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  I mean it's kind of like in hindsight, but just I think the
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  closer we get to God the better we will be in discerning his,
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  His voice, His thoughts, His direction, His guidance.
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  So anyway, this what the scripture says is all nations
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  will serve him and his son and his grandson.
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  So there's like 3 generations of kings in power that gods is
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  telling them that all nations are going to serve this guy
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  until the time for his land comes.
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  Then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.
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  So in the future others will conquer him.
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  But for the moment he is going to conquer all.
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  That's very much like what will happen in our future.
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  There is this, you know, lawless man who will come on board and
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  people will think he's the Messiah and he will conquer for
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  a period of time. And even God's elect Israel,
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  those who proclaim the word of Jesus will be subject to him,
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  will be hurt by him. Will.
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  You know, it's basically it's almost a repetition of what is
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  happening here. And then what happens is it's
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  when Jesus returns. So there's again a repetition.
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  This is almost like a foreshadowing of our someday
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  future. Whether it's our generation or
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  the next generation remains to be seen.
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  But this is something in the future also.
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  I mean, it's, it's, it's kind of like a foreshadowing of
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  something in the future. So If however, any nation or
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  Kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
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  or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with
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  the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord until I
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  destroy it by his hand. Now the the thing I guess I need
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  to say about the future is God does not want us to follow the
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  future lawless man. He, I mean, in fact it says
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  basically if we take a mark that they're going to force and roll
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  out that we will not be able to enter the Kingdom of God.
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  Like we cannot get forgiveness for that.
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  So there is a a great difference in what God says about the
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  future is that we should not surrender to this future lawless
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  one who is against God, who will have power for a certain period
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  of time. So very much unlike this.
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  So it's very different than this so but it's interesting here he
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  says I will punish that nation with a sword, famine and plague.
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  And those things are like the first 3 seals that are broken.
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  So again there's similarities too, declares the Lord.
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  Until I destroy it by his hand. Do not listen to your prophets,
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  your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your medians, or your
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  sorcerers who tell you you will not serve the king of Babylon.
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  They prophecy lies to you that will only serve to remove you
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  from your lands. I will banish you and you will
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  perish. But if any nation will bow its
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  neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will
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  let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live
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  there, declares the Lord. I gave the same message to
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  Zedekiah, king of Judah. I said, Bow your neck under the
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  yoke of the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and
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  you will live. Why will you and your people die
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  by the sword, famine and plague with which the Lord has
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  threatened? And any nation that will not
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  serve the king of Babylon? Do not listen to the words of
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  the prophets who say to you, You will not serve the king of
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  Babylon, for they are prophesying lies to you.
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  I have not sent them, declares the Lord.
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  They are prophesying lies in my name.
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  Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and
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  the prophets who prophecy to you.
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  So again, this really makes it important that we have a close
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  relationship with God, because how do you know who to trust if
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  you have two people that are, you know, apparently prophets
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  that are telling you the opposite thing?
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  How do you know the difference? Well, one thing is by spiritual
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  discernment, and I always go back to Galatians chapter 5.
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  What is the fruit of the Spirit that's influencing these people?
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  And again, it also talks about in the next chapter, we'll talk
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  about this too. It's about those who claim peace
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  because Jesus said that there will not be peace until he
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  returns, and there's going to be someone who claims to be him
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  that returns first before he does.
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  So that's a great deception as I understand it.
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  So we're going back to the Scripture here.
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  Then I said to the priest and all these people, this is what
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  the Lord says. Do not listen to the prophets
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  who say very soon the articles from the Lord's house will be
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  brought back from Babylon. They are prophesying lies to
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  you. Do not listen to them.
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  Serve the king of Babylon and you will live.
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  Why should the city become a ruin?
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  If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them
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  plead with the Lord Almighty, that the articles remaining in
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  the House of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and
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  in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon.
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  For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars,
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  the bronze sea, the movable stands, and the other articles
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  that are left in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of
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  Babylon, did not take away when he carried Jehoah Chin, son of
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  Jehoah Kim, king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,
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  along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.
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  Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel,
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  says about the things that are left in the House of the Lord
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  and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem.
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  Pay attention to this because this is something that I think
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  might appear to us. They will be taken to Babylon,
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  and there they will remain until the day I come for them,
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  declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and
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  restore them to this place. This is interesting because I
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  don't know if this is literal or if God uses someone to bring the
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  articles back. I think somebody set, I mean,
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  there is some discussion that about, well, discussion about
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  the Ark of the Covenant being like hidden somewhere maybe by
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  Jeremiah. You know, the Ark of the
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  Covenant has been lost and has not returned.
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  And recently I saw there it has, this is really weird too.
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  There is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant that's kind of
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  disappeared from sight recently. But I did see it on social media
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  and it was kind of making the rounds very interesting.
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  And it was an exact replica. Somebody had sponsored it.
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  It was made of the gold. It was made exactly according to
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  what the Bible says. And it it was kind of being, you
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  know, showcased in the US and was apparently going to be
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  heading over to Israel and was going to be potentially used in
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  they were talking about, you know, using it like they used to
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  use it where they carry it with them in war or something like
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  that. Which again, it's so hard to
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  know if things that you see online or even true or not,
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  especially with the the quality of AI.
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  But you know, there was a whole article that was written about
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  it. And that doesn't mean it's true
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  either, but it was, it was written about, you know, that
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  this, you know, unnamed investor or donor, you know, paid for all
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  of this and it was recreated. So again, is this part of the
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  great deception? You know, will people say this
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  is the real Ark of the Covenant and then it comes out someday,
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  you know, cuz there's a lot of talk about the temple being
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  rebuilt. I just think it's something we
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  need to keep our eyes open about and we need to know that there
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  is at least there was something circulated online that some fake
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  arc, the Ark of the Covenant was replicated and it's not the real
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  one, but you know, the real one. God's presence had departed from
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  it. But in the past when God's
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  presence was there, anyone who is not a Levite are not
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  authorized by God to carry. If they touched the Ark of the
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  Covenant, they would die. So it was, it had like these, it
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  itself did not have any powers. It was the presence of God and
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  God is holy. And that's why again, when God
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  gave the 10 commandments to Moses on the mountain, there was
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  a preparation that had to occur. And God kind of warned the
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  people don't come near this mountain because it is holy and
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  anything, anything that touches it would die because sin can't
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  be in the presence of God. So the way I saw it, my
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  understanding of it was that, you know, God's holiness, we
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  can't be as a sinful person. We can't be in the presence of
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  God. And that's another reason why we
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  need Jesus, why we need the Holy Spirit, because Jesus made it
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  possible by his death on the cross that we could be in the
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  Kingdom of God. He was the one sacrifice that
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  was needed, the pure sacrifice that was needed for all
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  generations, past, present and future.
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  And he died and was resurrected. And it was the power of the Holy
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  Spirit that resurrected him. The same power of the Holy
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  Spirit that resurrected Jesus is the same power of the Holy
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  Spirit that will resurrect us and will change us.
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  And it says in Scripture that we receive the Holy Spirit through
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  Jesus. I think that's why Jesus said
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  I'm the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the
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  Father except through me. So when we believe and we
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  confess our sins and we repent, that we mean it means we change
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  our mind about living a sinful life and ask God to help us
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  become holy like he is holy. The power of the Holy Spirit
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  will come upon those people. It's promised through Jesus from
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  the Father and and that's what Jesus said to his disciples.
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  He said, you know, I will send the Advocate and he will be with
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  you. So when we believe, truly
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  believe, and truly want God to guide our lives, that is when we
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  receive the Holy Spirit through Jesus.
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  So anyway, it that's all important information, but this,
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  this last sentence in chapter 27 about these articles being taken
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  to Babylon and that he says that they will be taken to Babylon
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  and there they will remain until the day I come for them,
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  declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and
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  restore them to this place. So is that when Jesus returns
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  that that happens? I don't know.
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  And is there a great deception because of the Scripture that
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  somebody, the false Jesus, the fake Jesus, the lawless 1 is
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  going to say, look, I have the ark of the covenant.
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  You know, I don't know that's that's could be how it plays out
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  and I don't want to that's not biblical.
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  It doesn't really say that. However, I, you know, I am
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  curious about this statement, whether God uses somebody to get
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  the articles or God himself. Jesus actually does this and
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  brings it back. This is just a question and
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  maybe as we read Scripture and find out what happens, maybe
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  it'll make more sense. But for right now, this is a
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  question in my mind. I have to look that up.
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  So let's see how long we are on this podcast here because I
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  might go into the next chapter. We're at 21 minutes.
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  Maybe I'll just read the questions and answers for this
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  chapter to make it not too long. So did Jeremiah know exactly
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  when the prophesied events would happen?
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  Jeremiah did not know the specific timing of the events,
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  but he knew with God-given certainty that the political
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  coalition of nations that were allied against Babylon was
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  doomed and that Jerusalem would soon fall.
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  The yoke on Jeremiah neck demonstrated the inevitability
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  of God's judgment. Why call a Pagan king God's
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  servant? Good question.
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  The time had come to punish Judah and the surrounding
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  nations for their wickedness. God chose Nebuchadnezzar and the
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  Babylonians as His servants to execute this punishment.
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  They were neither more righteous nor more deserving than other
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  nations, but they were used by God to affect His purposes.
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  God's choices may sometimes be surprising and perplexing, but
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  we can be sure they are always right.
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  Isn't that interesting? So that's just showing the
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  sovereignty of God and God can do anything.
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  It's just like the he is the the Potter and we are the clay.
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  And he can use some for common purposes and some for special
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  purposes. And even a Pagan king he can use
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  for a special purpose that is according to His will.
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  Just very interesting. So how did Nebuchadnezzar tame
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  wild animals? This overstatement was intended
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  to illustrate the absolute dominion Nebuchadnezzar would
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  have over the nations. Why would God help
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  Nebuchadnezzar with plagues and famine?
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  This was Jeremiah's warning to the coalition of nations that
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  planned to oppose Babylon. In reality, they were opposing
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  God. As a result, could expect His
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  wrath. Some had have observed that
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  plagues and famine often accompany war and that rebellion
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  often leads to disease and starvation.
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  Others say famine and plague were God's added punishment
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  against all those nations that resisted his judgement that came
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  through Nebuchadnezzar. The issue was submission to
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  God's will. The nations that chose to resist
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  it had nothing but sorrow to look forward to.
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  That's interesting too, because we should.
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  We should always seek God's will and everything.
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  We may want something different, but we really need to surrender
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  it and let it go, and let God's will be known and God's will
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  proceed because it will. And it's better for us to
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  surrender to God's will than to force something we want.
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  When we had Babylon, When had Babylon confiscated temple
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  articles? Nebuchadnezzar had attacked
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  Jerusalem in 597 BC, taking several articles from the Temple
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  back to Babylon. A strange mix of theology and
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  politics in the ancient Near East caused people to believe
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  that a nation was defeated when its gods were defeated by
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  looting the temple and taking away its furnishings.
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  The Babylonians confirmed that their victory was complete.
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  Why would God allow the temple to be robbed?
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  Probably for the following reasons #1 Judah had abandoned
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  God, so as punishment he determined to abandon them #2
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  Some temple articles had been taken to Babylon earlier in six
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  O 5 and 597 BC, but the few that remained at the temple allowed
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  the people to carry their empty rituals with a false sense of
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  security. Removing the remaining temple
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  articles put an end to the people's superficial worship #3
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  The false prophets had predicted that temple articles taken
• 25:54
  earlier would soon be returned. Got exposed the false prophets
• 25:59
  as frauds by saying that not only was the prediction false,
• 26:04
  but the few items that remained would also be taken.
• 26:08
  And this was fulfilled in 586 BC.
• 26:12
  So that concludes chapter 27. I hope you come back for chapter
• 26:16
  28 because there's more interesting information there.