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909. Bible Study: Job 21 (Why do wicked seem to Prosper?) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 21 from the book of Job First, let's pray dear Lord,
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please let your Holy Spirit give us insight, wisdom and
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understanding of what we read, how and how it applies to us.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So chapter 21 now Job is
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speaking back to his friends and there was there's something
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that's written in the study Bible that was kind of good to
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add before we even get started because these arguments going
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back and forth, I've mentioned that a few times.
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Anyway, this is what the study Bible says.
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Why does the Bible include these arguments between friends?
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In Hebrew culture, disputing the meaning of scripture or of
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life's events was not only acceptable but expected to Job's
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friends. Truth could only could be to
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Job's friends. Truth could be found only in
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challenging each other's explanations.
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People who heard the story and these arguments would think
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about them as explanations of not only Job's suffering, but
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their own as well. And that's really good.
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I mean that at a scripture, even though it's about other people,
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there are things that we can learn from it, which we're
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certainly learning about in the book of Job.
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We're learning that a righteous person can be punished.
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And it's a it's testing is what it is.
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It's not meant from God to punish them and it's not a
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discipline, but it is a testing completely unrelated.
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And this was foreign to their understanding of what they knew
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about God. And so this is like the first
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time that this gets explained here in the Bible.
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But this applies to all of us because we can be righteous and
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then have things happen and we can trust God that there is a
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purpose. We can also trust God that he
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will make it all right someday. He is a God of justice.
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So even if we feel like we suffer injustice today, God will
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make us whole and more than likely we'll find out just like
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Job and like God has done many times before by example in the
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Bible, he doubly blesses somebody.
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So God is just don't think that, you know, oh gosh, he made me go
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through all of this and he is just like completely not a just
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God because of what happened to me.
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First of all, maybe, you know, we don't always know God's
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purpose and there could be so many factors that we don't know.
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And I don't know if you know, when we are in the presence of
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God, if we will have recollection of these things or
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if we will even care about what the reason was behind them.
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But one thing we can know from what's in the Bible is that God
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is just so he does restore. And if somebody has something
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bad happened to them and they're a righteous person, there's many
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instances where he doubly blesses somebody like they
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received so much more than what they originally had.
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And that's not even like that's not even just, that is just
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God's love, That's God's graciousness.
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It's it's God's mercy, it's God's compassion, and it's God's
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reward. He does that.
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So it may not be in this life, but we can see by example that
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God doesn't change. That's what Scripture tells us.
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God does not change. So if he reacts to Job this way
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and he doubly blesses Job later in his life, then that is
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showing God's character that is God is that is what God does.
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But we have to also be careful to think like, are we really
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righteous? And it's a time to examine
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ourselves. We have to be honest with
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ourselves as well. And just like Job, he was being
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honest. He didn't do anything.
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He wasn't aware of anything that he had done against God and he
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was wondering why. And that was certainly not
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wrong. It's not wrong to question God,
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like, why did this happen? God may or may not answer that
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in this lifetime, but we that's the one thing that's good about
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Scripture is that it gives us information about God, about who
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he is. And we can know his character
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from what is written in the Bible, from the beginning of the
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Bible in the book of Genesis all the way through the Book of
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Revelation. People who only read one part of
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the Bible don't get the big picture.
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And you can't read the New Testament and fully understand
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it without having understanding of the Old Testament.
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And likewise, you understand what the Old Testament is truly
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talking about unless you read all of the New Testament.
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So we can't just take part of it.
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You have to take all of it, and then your understanding is
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better. But even then, people, I've
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heard people who have studied the Bible for 40 years say that
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they're constantly learning something new.
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So the learning never stops. There's so much information in
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here. We can't know all of this.
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And God reveals things slowly, probably what we're capable of,
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of absorbing, the more we're in the Word.
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So that's another reason why I want to stay in the Word is to
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learn more about God and to have understandings.
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There's always these revelations, not always, but
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many times as I'm reading, sometimes just thoughts or
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revelations will come into my mind about scripture that I've
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read before that I didn't see things like this before or
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another scripture that says the same thing.
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So all those things happen when we read and that's the way I
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believe that God communicates with us.
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So let's start with just reading through chapter 21, which will
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probably be about 3 minutes long.
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Here we go then Job replied. Listen carefully to my words.
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Let the speak consolation. Let this be the consolation you
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give me. Bear with me while I speak and
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after I've spoken. Mock on.
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Is my complaint directed to a human being?
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Why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled.
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Collapse your hand over your mouth.
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When I think about this, I am terrified.
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Trembling seizes my body. Why do the wicked live on,
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growing old and increasing in power?
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They see their children established around them, their
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offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe and free
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from fear. The rod of God is not on them.
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Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows calve and do not
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miscarry. They send forth their children
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as flocks. Their little ones dance about.
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They sing to the music of timbrel and lair.
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They make merry to the sound of the pipe.
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They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the
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grave in peace. Yet they say to God, leave us
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alone. We have no desire to know your
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ways. Who is the Almighty that we
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should serve Him? What would we gain by praying to
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Him? But their prosperity is not in
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their own hands. So I stand aloof from the plans
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of the wicked. Yet how often is the lamp of the
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wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come
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upon them, The fate God allots in His anger?
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How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaffs
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swept away by a Gale? It is said God stores up the
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punishment of the wicked for their children.
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Let him repay the wicked so that they themselves will experience
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it. Let their own eyes see their
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destruction. Let them drink the cup of wrath
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of the Almighty. For what do they care about the
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families they leave behind when they're allotted?
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Months come to an end. Can anyone teach knowledge to
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God, since He judges even the highest?
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One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,
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well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow.
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Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed
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anything good. Side by side they they lie in
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the dust, and worms cover them both.
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I know full well what you were thinking, the schemes by which
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you would wrong me. You say, where now is the House
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of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?
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Have you never questioned those who travel?
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Have you paid no regards to their accounts?
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That the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, That they
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are delivered from the day of wrath?
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Who denounces their conduct to their face?
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Who repays them for what they have done?
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They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their
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tombs. The soil in the valley is sweet
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to them and everyone follows after them and a countless
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throng goes before them. Now how can you console me with
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your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers
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but falsehood. And that's how it ends.
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So Job is really not happy with his friends because the first
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thing he says to him is mock on. So he's he's just getting
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mockery from all of his friends and he's not getting support and
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he's questioning. He's like, why do the wicked
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seem to prosper? They reject God when they say
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leave us alone. We have no desire to know your
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ways. Who is the Almighty that we
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should serve him. Why would what would we gain by
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praying to him like they already have everything.
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There's some parables that Jesus told that I wasn't prepared to
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talk about, but he, you know, about, about wealth and it's
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and, and about how when people are prosperous and they are not
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close to God. I believe that is who Jesus is
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referring to. Where when he says it's, it's
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easier something like for a camel to go through the eye of a
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needle than the rich to inherit the Kingdom of God, something to
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that effect. And it's because people who are
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prosperous who have never known God don't see a need for God.
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It's often people who get humbled that then finally see
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the need for God. And it's not saying that all
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people who are prosperous don't know God because sometimes God
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blesses them and God actually allows all of it.
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God is sovereign over everything.
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So if even if the wicked are blessed, God allows it to happen
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and we don't know why. I mean, maybe God is hopeful
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that they might ponder it. Similar to Solomon.
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He was given all these riches and at the end of his life, he
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wrote, I believe that's when it was he wrote Ecclesiastes where
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he was kind of saying all the things that he did in life and
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all the things that he tried in life.
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And then his his ending statement.
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I should, I didn't look this up. This is just coming to mind as
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I'm talking to his ending statement was more or less
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something. All of it is meaningless and
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that I'm going to go find it actually in the Bible. 3 The
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conclusion of the matter. This is Ecclesiastes chapter 12
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verse 9 through 14. So this is Solomon talking he's
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saying about everything he's done in his life.
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He and God blessed him with riches.
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God gave it all to him and he had so much and so this is what
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his conclusion on the matter is. He says not only was the teacher
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wise, but he also imparted knowledge with to the people.
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He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
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So Salomon wrote the book of proverbs.
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The teacher searched to find just the right words and what he
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wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like
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goads. They're collected saying like
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firmly embedded nails given by 1 shepherd.
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Be warned, my son of anything in addition to them of making many
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books. There is no end and much study.
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Where is the body now? This is really His ultimate
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statement here. Now all has been heard.
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Here is the conclusion of the matter.
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Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the
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duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed
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into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good
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or evil. So Solomon after everything, I
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mean, he he was considered says in the Bible that he was the
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wealthiest man. And I think it says he was the
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wealthiest man. Whoever will be either.
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Like we don't really understand the wealth that he had.
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But I believe the Bible in there.
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And I don't know where that is, but I remember seeing that that
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he was the wealthiest person on the earth or that ever would be.
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You can double check that. So if I'm wrong, sorry about
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that. But anyway, he was extremely
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wealthy and and he learned some lessons in life.
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And he also hit one of his first prayers to God was for wisdom
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and God gave him wisdom. So despite having wisdom from
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God, he still did foolish things.
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But then in the end, it looks like if this was the last book
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before he died or late in life, and it sounds like it because
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he's summarizing what he had experienced in life.
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He, you know, he basically humbled himself and he said, you
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know, here's here's what we need to do, fear God and keep his
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commandments. For this is the duty of all
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mankind. For God will bring every deed
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into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good
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or evil. So it in my study Bible, it says
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why it was written. It says Ecclesiastes offers a
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philosophy of life. It shows how a life not centered
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on God is purposeless and meaningless.
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Ecclesiastes was just part of the wisdom literature of the Old
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Testament, was used by the Hebrews as a book of
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instruction. It showed them how to find
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spiritual significance in a life that would otherwise be
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meaningless. So the wisest man tells us that
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we what we should do anyway, Let's see, we're, I don't know
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how I got onto that, but that just kind of flowed.
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So let's see, what else. So people, I'll just read what
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the Study Bible has to say about a few things, and then I'll go
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to some verses that came to mind as I was reading through here.
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So why are wicked people often successful?
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They may be smart and pragmatic in devious ways.
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They may know how to take advantage of people and make
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shrewd decisions. Many people don't view life in
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moral terms, but see life for what they can get out of it.
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This kind of accomplishment is often viewed as success in
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contemporary society, but it does not negate the eternal
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consequences God has promised. So we kind of talked about a
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little bit of that, like wealth is not bad at all and God often
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gives that to people, but it's how do you get it?
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Did you get the wealth in a just manner or did you take advantage
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of people to do it? Those are some things that we
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have to think about personally. And that's the because there
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will ultimately be eternal consequences for that.
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And there's more scripture that I will read later that I think
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will soften that blow a little bit.
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So who controls the prosperity of the wicked?
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God does this verse points to God.
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It's ultimate control over the destiny of the wicked and then
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the study Bible. This is the last question and
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answer. The study Bible is how is death
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the great equalizer? Everyone will eventually die,
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both the wicked and the righteous.
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Although our physical fate may be the same, there's no parody
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after death in the spiritual realm.
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As Job said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I
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will depart. Chapter one, verse 20, faith in
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Jesus is the determining factor between eternal death and
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eternal life. That's found in Matthew 25,
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verse 46. So that's the good news that it
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it's not necessarily, well, there's no way that we can enter
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on our own into the Kingdom of God.
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We needed to be purified, basically atoned for all the sin
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that we are born into had to be atoned for by Jesus's death on
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the cross and his resurrection thereafter showed us that life
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does remain afterwards. And he was seen by over 500
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people and multiple times and they were documented.
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And then not only that, but people who actually saw him,
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many of them were killed because they wouldn't denounce him.
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They wouldn't say no, that wasn't true, and their own lives
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were taken. Now what kind of I think about
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that for a minute. Who would die for a lie?
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I mean, I don't think there are many people who would die for a
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lie. It just doesn't make sense at
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all. So yet there were many people
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who died because they wouldn't say that Jesus wasn't real.
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They wouldn't. They said that Jesus was the
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Messiah. They said that he resurrected
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from the dead. They saw him, they touched him.
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Thomas put his hands, you know, you know, touched him and and he
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ate. Jesus ate after he had died and
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resurrected. He ate with people.
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So he he was showing us what we have to look forward to.
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We're not going to be these little like pictures that, you
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know, get thrown out there of little angels.
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We don't be calm. Angels, angels and humans are
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totally separate and different beings.
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We are completely different. However, we will have new bodies
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after Jesus or when Jesus returns.
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Paul says that when he returns, like in the blink of an eye, we
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will be changed and when. Here's another interesting
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thing. It says that those are who are
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still alive and remain at the time that Jesus returns.
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They won't even experience death.
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They will just be instantly changed.
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So there are going to be some people who don't experience the
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physical death but somehow are transformed at that very moment.
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We don't know how that works. That's all supernatural stuff
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that there's no reason why we need to know how that happens.
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But it's through God ultimately. But that's what the Bible tells
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us will happen. So anyway, but then about I
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think this does hinder a lot of people when they think about
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wicked people prospering. And one thing that I think about
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is that none of us are perfect, and in human terms we can say
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that some people did worse things than other people, but
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all things that are against God separate us from God.
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And the Bible gives us information on what things are
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wrong and what things are right. And so when we do things that
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are wrong according to the Bible, then we are separating
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ourselves from God, whether or not we know it.
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And so every single person has sinned.
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There is no one without sin except for Jesus Christ.
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So if we have all sinned, we have all separated us.
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So therefore we need Jesus so that He can atone for the
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giving. His life.
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It was a life for a life. That's what God allowed,
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substitutional sacrifices when sin entered the world.
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And that's how He spared humanity from being wiped off
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the face of the earth because He was abiding by the laws He
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created. And so anyway, but what we have
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to think about is these evil people who prosper.
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And then there could be righteous people who suffer.
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And that doesn't seem to be just.
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And God is supposed to be just. So people say, why?
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How can that happen? But we have to think about how
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quote good we are. Jesus said no one is good but
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God. So first of all, we have to
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humble ourselves and realize we are not good because we rebel
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against God. So therefore we are not good.
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We've separated. We have separated.
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God hasn't separated from us. We separated ourselves from God
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by sinning. So here's about here's something
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about the character of God that we need to know and why God may
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never are rarely or, you know, allow these evil people to keep
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on going. It's because God is very slow to
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anger and God knows each individual.
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And ultimately God is hoping that we will use our free will
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to repent and turn to him. But some people are hard headed
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and will not, they're not all people will be saved.
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All people have the opportunity to be saved, but not all will
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because not all people want to repent.
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Some of them want to stay in their sin and they're actually
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being really short sighted because they're not thinking
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about eternity. They're not understanding or
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believing maybe that we have an eternal soul that will be put
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into a body, a different body than we have right now and we
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will live on forever whether we are living in hell or whatever
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it's called the burning lake of sulfur, a place where that's the
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only thing. It's not really called hell.
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It I guess in some translations it is, but I think it was called
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Hades that we would. We're either going to be there
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completely separated from God. And what it says is that there
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is eternal torment. So if you do not choose God,
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that's where you will go. So I just can't imagine how
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anyone would not choose God. But yet there are some.
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And then some might just hold their ears and say, I don't want
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to hear it, just get away from me.
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I don't want to hear it. Which people do that?
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So their ignorance. There's something in Scripture
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that says my people are destroyed for a lack from a lack
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of knowledge. If you don't want to read the
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Bible, if you don't want to get in the word and find out what it
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says, you're doing yourself damage and to other people.
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I mean, everybody needs to know what this says because this is
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this is our humanity's manual. I think that was Rick Warren who
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referred to the Bible as our our manual.
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Like when you have a car, you have an auto manual that tells
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you when, what needs to happen and how you care for it.
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Well, that's the same thing as what the Bible is for us.
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This is our manual of what is ultimately the outcome of
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everything that's going on in our lives and what needs to
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happen. So it's so important anyway, God
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does let some wicked things happen, but I think and what the
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Bible says is that God is really slow to anger.
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So I'm going to read you some verses about God being slow to
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anger. So in Exodus 34 verse 6 and he
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passed in front of Moses proclaiming the Lord, the Lord,
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the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in
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love and faithfulness. Numbers 1418 says the Lord is
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slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
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Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.
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He punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third
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and 4th generation. This is where people talk about
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like generational sin. If sin is not dealt with, it
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will be punished. I mean, sin like transfers, You
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can see how it happens. It's by example.
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You know, when people say, oh, the apple doesn't fall far, far
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from the tree, That little phrase and just how people tend
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to be like their parents. They tend to be like what
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they've learned. And I think there's also a
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spiritual aspect of it as well. And so that's where people, you
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know, you've got to wake up to that and get rid of it in your
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life, stop it in your generation because you don't want your
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children to experience those things.
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If you see something that happens, like, you know, grandpa
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did it, dad did it, you know, child did it, our grandmother
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did it, mom did it, and then daughter did it.
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You know, you'll see these things that transfer down in
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generations. The same like repeat, history
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repeats. If you don't deal with it, these
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learned things, it it needs to stop.
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Otherwise it'll just keep going on.
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But God is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving
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sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty
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unpunished. He punishes the children for the
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sin of the parents to the third and 4th generation.
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The punishment is God disciplines his children and
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that discipline is meant to make life hard so that maybe they
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seek. A lot of times people turn to
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the Lord when things get really tough are when their eyes are
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open and all of a sudden they're like, Oh my gosh, well this is
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my life. How did I get here?
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So numbers are Nehemiah 917. They refused to listen and
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failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.
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They became stiff necked and in their rebellion appointed a
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leader in order to return to their slavery.
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But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow
27:12
to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert
27:17
them. So this is just showing about
27:20
how faithful God is, even though we human beings don't deserve
27:25
it, that God is so forgiving, gracious, compassionate, slow to
27:30
anger, and abounding in love. Psalm 86 verse 15 it says, but
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you Lord are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger,
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abounding in love and faithfulness.
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Psalm one O 3 verse 8 the Lord is compassionate and gracious,
27:50
slow to anger, abounding in love.
27:54
Psalm 145 verse 8 the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow
27:59
to anger and rich in love. Joel 2 verse 13 Rend your heart
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and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for
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he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger,
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and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
28:20
That's another important thing. If you turn to God, he may
28:24
relent from sending calamity. Sometimes God uses calamity.
28:30
Sometimes God uses evil people to to disrupt our lives so that
28:36
we turn to Him because often it takes us hitting rock bottom
28:41
before a change happens. John or Jonah chapter 4 verse
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two. He prayed to the Lord.
28:50
Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?
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That is why I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.
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I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to
29:03
anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending
29:06
calamity. So Jonah was saying, he's like,
29:09
yeah, that's why I tried to run away from you and go to Tarshish
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and not go to Nineveh, which is in modern day Iraq, because he
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knew God was slow to anger and that he would be compassionate
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and gracious and loves and relents and sending calamity.
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And Jonah didn't like Nineveh and he didn't like those people.
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And he didn't want to go there and tell him that because he
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knew if he did God, they would turn to God.
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And and they and they did, you know, some people did.
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So that's The thing is that we need to remember who God is.
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And if we've been rebellious to him or been at war with him, not
29:45
even thinking we're at war, but just by sin in our life, then we
29:48
need to get rid of it, turn to God and start living for God,
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live in a good relationship with God.
29:56
Let's see Nahum chapter one, verse 3.
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The Lord is slow to anger, but great in power.
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The Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
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His way is in the whirlwind and the storm and the clouds are the
30:15
dust of his feet. So we will not escape the
30:19
eventual judgement of God. It's just a matter of how long
30:23
do we want to wait? How much wrath do we want to
30:26
store up for ourselves or do we want to reconcile with God and
30:31
the God? And God warns us and he's warned
30:35
people. So it's just whether or not
30:38
people listen. In Second Kings chapter 17, I'll
30:44
read a couple verses from there. The Lord warned Israel and Judah
30:48
through all His prophets and seers.
30:51
Those who could see the future through through God's input,
30:55
turn from your evil ways. Observe My commands and decrees
31:01
in accordance with the entire law that I commanded your
31:04
ancestors to obey, and that I delivered to you through My
31:09
servants, the prophets. Did you ever notice that the
31:12
prophets constantly say, repent, turn away from your sins, and
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turn to the God, and turn to God and be obedient?
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It seems like a very repetitious message that the prophets said
31:27
and they were hated for it too. Some of them were killed for it.
31:30
But this is when God was speaking through prophets and
31:33
telling people to repent. And I'm seeing a lot of people
31:37
having like, well, not seeing I if I started having dreams after
31:44
I fully surrendered and got baptized and didn't want to live
31:48
like a hypocrite anymore. And so when they started
31:51
happening, they'd be dreams of things like a scene from my
31:55
dream would then happen in my real in real life.
31:58
And so that kind of shook me a little bit more where I was
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like, what's going on? And I never had dreams like that
32:04
before in my past. And so then I started, you know,
32:08
searching are other people dreaming and you know, about
32:11
dreams. And then I came across a couple
32:13
of accounts where people are having dreams.
32:15
And I do listen to those to see if anything that they dream
32:18
about are similar to what I've dreamt about.
32:21
And there are some, there are some different things, of
32:24
course, too, but a lot of these people who have dreams that seem
32:29
like they are filled with the Holy Spirit, what I've noticed
32:33
them saying and what I've felt so strongly, you can look at all
32:37
of my writings on my website, is this need for repentance.
32:42
And so I wonder, is God truly speaking out to people right now
32:47
through dreams and visions? I mean, Joel says, you know, in
32:50
the in the end times or the later days or the last days
32:54
that, you know, old men will dream dreams and young men will
32:57
seem visions and it'll be women also.
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There's that. That's what he's doing.
33:04
So is God warning us once again that we are getting close to the
33:08
return of Jesus? I have felt that.
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And other people who are having these dreams are also feeling
33:14
that. And either there's some mass
33:16
psychosis that's going on with the population, or it could be
33:20
true and I just don't know when. But I just feel like the others
33:27
too, that repentance is so important right now.
33:32
Anyway, let's go back to Second King 17.
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It says until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he
33:40
had warned through all his servants, the prophets.
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So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into
33:48
exile in Assyria, and they are still there.
33:51
So God warns through people before something happens.
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Then in Nehemiah 9, verse 26 and verse 30, I'll read those two
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verses. But they were disobedient and
34:05
rebelled against you. They turned their backs on Your
34:09
law. They killed Your prophets who
34:12
had warned them in order to turn them back to You.
34:16
They committed awful blasphemies for many years.
34:20
You were patient with them by your Spirit.
34:24
You warned them through your prophets.
34:28
Yet they paid no attention. So you gave them into the hands
34:32
of neighboring peoples. Now Jesus addresses this too and
34:37
he told when he sent his apostles out to speak to people
34:43
and share the Gospel message with people.
34:45
He said in Matthew chapter 10 verse 14, if anyone does not
34:50
welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town
34:56
and shake the dust off your feet.
34:59
In Mark chapter 6 verse 11, it says the same thing.
35:04
And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you,
35:08
leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a
35:12
testimony against them. Luke also talks about it in
35:19
Chapter 9, verse 5. If people do not welcome you,
35:22
leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a
35:24
testimony against them. In Luke chapter 10, verse 11,
35:29
even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning
35:33
to you. Yet be sure of this.
35:37
The Kingdom of God has come near, that's through Jesus.
35:42
You know, the Kingdom of God came near to us through when
35:46
Jesus was walking the earth in in the book of Acts, which is
35:49
also written by Luke in chapter 13 verse 51, it says so they
35:54
shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to
35:58
Iconium. So God does warn through people,
36:03
but he doesn't say beat anybody over the head with it.
36:06
You just can put it out there. And if people don't listen,
36:10
they've been warned and God before, you know, the final
36:14
destruction of the earth. It says that angels.
36:17
Now angels could mean literal angels or maybe it's messengers.
36:21
I don't know, but they go out through all the earth and all
36:27
the it's in the Book of Revelation and they share the
36:30
gospel with every nation, tribe, tongue, everybody, everybody
36:35
hears the the gospel. So a lot of people say, well,
36:37
what about so and so they're, you know, in this remote island,
36:40
they never heard anything. God will take care of it.
36:43
He is just so it's a matter of what is our response to it?
36:48
God's we can, you know, we can count on God.
36:52
It's us we have to look at. We don't make excuses about what
36:56
if, what about ourselves? Did we accept it from God?
36:59
Did we turn to God? Did we decide we're not going to
37:02
be a hypocrite? Did we decide we're going to,
37:04
we're going to ask? Well, we don't necessarily.
37:08
It doesn't say that we have to ask for it, but it does say that
37:12
after we've become repentant and we believe in Jesus, that Jesus
37:16
will send his Holy Spirit. When he sees that in our he sees
37:21
that sincerity in us, that we really want to be reconciled
37:24
with us, he will receive it. But it also says in Scripture
37:28
that you have not received because you have not asked.
37:31
And so I always tell people to, you know, if you are sincere
37:35
about wanting to draw close to God and wanting to be a child of
37:38
God, and you don't know if you have the Holy Spirit, ask God
37:42
for the Holy Spirit. Ask Jesus for the Holy Spirit
37:46
because it says that he receives, he asked the Father of
37:48
the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to
37:51
anyone that he wants. God has basically given the
37:55
Father, has basically given the Son control over giving out of
38:00
the Holy Spirit. And that's another way why it
38:03
proves that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no
38:06
one comes to the Father except through him.
38:10
Because Jesus says in John chapter 3 that we need to have
38:14
the Holy Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
38:16
If you read that chapter you will see we have to be born
38:18
again and the only way we become born again, we become a new
38:22
creation, a new person that starts to take on the
38:27
characteristics of our Creator slowly.
38:31
It doesn't happen overnight, but some people it happens faster
38:35
than others, but other people it takes a while.
38:37
But the Holy Spirit is gentle, He works with us slowly and he
38:41
brings to mind things that we need to change in our life.
38:44
And God says be holy because I am holy.
38:48
So that's what we are called to do.
38:50
If we want to be a child of God, we need to reflect God.
38:53
We need to reflect the image of God.
38:56
And we need to recognize that we're kind of messed up and we
39:00
need help in doing that. We can't do that on our own.
39:02
The only way that we can possibly do that is by the Holy
39:06
Spirit is through the Holy Spirit and allowing because of
39:10
our free will, we have to say we want, we have to accept the Holy
39:15
Spirit. We have to desire the Holy
39:18
Spirit with good intentions not to profit off of it financially
39:23
or otherwise. But we we have to have that
39:26
sincere, humble heart in wanting to be a child of God and to
39:31
receive the Holy Spirit. And so this ironically, it leads
39:37
me to the next thing about becoming a like a child.
39:40
So in Mark and in Luke, they both talked about this.
39:44
So Mark chapter 10 verse 15 says, truly I tell you, anyone
39:50
who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a like a little
39:54
child will never enter it. And Luke 18 verse 17 says the
40:00
same exact thing. Truly, I tell you.
40:03
Anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little
40:06
child will never enter it. So we have to be humble.
40:10
We have to know that we don't know everything and we have to
40:14
be taught everything from God. That's what a child is.
40:17
A child relies on their parent for everything.
40:20
You know, if they're an infant, they rely on the parent for
40:23
feeding, for changing, for comfort, for burping.
40:29
Every single thing that we do as an infant we rely on a parent or
40:35
a caregiver for. That's the same way that we need
40:38
to rely on God for everything and we need to be humble and we
40:42
need to not think I've done all this by my own power and might
40:46
because that's pride and God hates pride.
40:48
That's one of the seven things God hates.
40:51
So it's not as a result of our works.
40:54
Maybe, maybe some things do happen, but they happen because
40:59
God has blessed us in a certain way and has enabled us in a
41:03
certain way and has also maybe crossed paths so that things
41:06
happen about timing. You know, certain things happen
41:09
and God's behind all that. God is Provident.
41:11
He is sovereign over everything, and I believe that God
41:17
orchestrates these things but yet still allows us to have free
41:21
will. Like He works with our free
41:23
will, but it's always accomplishing.
41:27
The end result of what He really wants is to have us enter His
41:31
Kingdom. That's ultimately what God wants
41:34
and He will use things along the way and use other people's free
41:38
will and their decisions in our lives that do affect us.
41:43
But ultimately what he wants to do is draw us into his Kingdom
41:48
and we have to come there willingly.
41:49
He's not going to force us to be there.
41:51
So that's where that's really the the story.
41:55
And I also searched another there's seven times where God
42:02
talks about people being obstinate, where they're just
42:05
like pushing back on God and they just want to stay away from
42:08
him. And there's like there's
42:10
warnings about that. So some people are just not
42:13
willing to listen. And, and so I, there are 7
42:16
verses and with these I will end this chapter.
42:20
But Deuteronomy 2 verse 30, it says, but Sihan, king of Heshbon
42:24
refused to let us pass through, for the Lord your God had made
42:29
his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give
42:33
him into your hands as he has now done.
42:36
So we still see here that God is sovereign, that He can affect
42:41
things, and he said it made his spirit stubborn.
42:48
The spirit isn't the whole person.
42:50
We have a body, we have a soul and we have a spirit.
42:54
Our soul is what lives forever. Our body is like a vessel that
42:58
the soul resides in. And then the spirit is something
43:03
that influences our life. And it says like when we are
43:06
born of the spirit, that means the Holy Spirit.
43:10
So this Saihan king of Heshbon, he was not a godly person and so
43:18
he was probably operating under another spirit.
43:20
And it said God made his spirit stubborn.
43:23
So God was controlling the spirit that was influencing this
43:27
King's life. And so He did it with a purpose
43:31
to give him into your hands, as He has now done.
43:35
So God is ultimately in control, but He also uses free will.
43:39
And so we have free will to listen to the influences of a
43:44
spirit. It can be an evil spirit or the
43:47
Holy Spirit, but the Spirit does influence us as well as our own
43:54
internal desires. Isaiah 30 chapter 30 verse one.
44:00
Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord to those who
44:04
carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but
44:08
not by my spirit, heaping sin upon sin.
44:13
The people that distance themselves from God are.
44:15
This is just saying they are being influenced.
44:18
Carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but
44:22
not by my Spirit. Another Spirit is operating in
44:28
them. Isaiah 65, verse 2.
44:31
All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people who
44:35
walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.
44:41
These are people who just don't want to accept God.
44:44
Ezekiel chapter 2, verse 4. The people to whom I am sending
44:48
you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them this is what the
44:53
sovereign Lord says. So there are some people that
44:55
are just obstinate. They're hard headed, stiff
44:58
necked is another way. They just won't turn from their
45:01
ways. Ezekiel 3 verse 7 But the people
45:05
of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are
45:09
not willing to listen to me. For all the Israelites are
45:13
hardened and obstinate. So it does say in the Bible that
45:21
the the hardening has happened so that the Gentiles can come
45:27
in. So the hardening of the
45:29
Israelites is actually a blessing for the non Israelites.
45:33
Because of the Israelites hardening, God opened up the
45:39
Kingdom of heaven to all others outside of the people of Israel,
45:45
the original people that God chose.
45:47
And and so he's letting them remain in that state and
45:55
allowing Gentiles. That's what the Bible calls the
45:59
non Israelite people to be grafted in so that we can also
46:04
be in the Kingdom of heaven, Kingdom of God, not of heaven,
46:08
the Kingdom of God. But for right now they're still
46:13
abstinent and there's event there will be coming, a time
46:16
when they will recognize when their eyes will be open and they
46:19
recognize Jesus as the Messiah. But that time is not yet.
46:23
It says that it's waiting until the fullness of the Gentiles.
46:26
So God is patient and merciful and he's waiting for all the non
46:31
Israelites, whoever that's going to be, to basically surrender to
46:35
God, to turn to God, repent and receive the Holy Spirit so that
46:39
they're ready for the Kingdom of God.
46:42
In Acts 19, verse 9, it says. But some of them became
46:45
obstinate. They refused to believe and
46:48
publicly aligned the way. The way was what was referred to
46:53
as Jesus's teachings, the gospel message that the disciples were
47:00
spreading. So Paul left them.
47:03
He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the
47:06
lecture hall of Tyrannus. So some of them became
47:10
obstinate. So this is like they refused to
47:13
believe and publicly maligned the way.
47:16
So they publicly went against God, you know, the way that was
47:20
being shown to them. And that's people, you know, God
47:24
let's that happen. He doesn't force people to be in
47:26
his Kingdom. Romans 10/21 But concerning
47:30
Israel, he says all day long I've held out my hands to a
47:34
disobedient and obstinate people.
47:37
And he's referring to Isaiah 65, two that we had read just a
47:45
little while ago. So there is there's a lot to be
47:53
said actually in Isaiah 65. That's a really important let's
47:56
see how long this this is already 47 minutes.
47:59
So I think I'm going to stop this podcast now because I
48:02
didn't intend to read, but read Isaiah 65.
48:05
That's kind of about the IT matches up with the Book of
48:09
Revelation. So very interesting.
48:11
But anyway, I will end this podcast here.
48:14
And if you found it beneficial, please share with other people.
48:18
If you're not subscribed, please do so if you want to stay in the
48:21
word daily or almost daily is what I try to do.
48:25
So thank you.