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Cain and Abel - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. In the sweat of thy face shalt
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  Speaker 1: thou eat bread, until ye return into the ground. For
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  Speaker 1: out of it wast thou taken. For dust thou art,
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  Speaker 1: and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3.19 Dear Father,
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  Speaker 1: because of Adam's disobedience, I was born into this sinful inheritance.
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  Speaker 1: Until you sent your Son Jesus, who made a way
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  Speaker 1: through his obedience unto death, that broke the curse. I
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  Speaker 1: am now adopted into your eternal family by accepting his
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  Speaker 1: atonement for my sins. You fashioned Adam's physical body out
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  Speaker 1: of the dust of the earth and breathed your life
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  Speaker 1: into him, and he became a living being with an
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  Speaker 1: eternal soul. When he sinned, he broke that eternal connection
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  Speaker 1: and returned to the dust of the earth in which
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  Speaker 1: you took him from. I am doomed to provide for
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  Speaker 1: my family and myself through the work of my hands.
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  Speaker 1: The stress of my labor wears out this human body,
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  Speaker 1: but my eternal soul has been restored through forgiveness of
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  Speaker 1: my sins and faith in the work of Christ on
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  Speaker 1: the cross. My human condition will perish, and my body
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  Speaker 1: will return to the earth, but my soul shall rise
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  Speaker 1: to be with you forever. in heaven. Thank you, Heavenly Father,
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  Speaker 1: for restoring my soul and redeeming me from Adam's sin.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing I sacrifice for you will ever repay the life
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  Speaker 1: you sacrificed for me. Nothing is impossible for you, and
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  Speaker 1: you outsmarted the one who thought he defeated you when
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  Speaker 1: he crucified you on the cross. Glory to the risen Lord.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, Amen. Cain and Abel Before this story,
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  Speaker 1: we learned about the fall of mankind.
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  Speaker 2: Adam and Eve lived with God, shameless and without sin.
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  Speaker 2: But because of their pride and desire to be their
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  Speaker 2: own gods, they were deceived and turned away from him.
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  Speaker 2: Now they live in exile, still with God, but no
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  Speaker 2: longer in an intimate relationship with him. Now we will
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  Speaker 2: learn about how Adam and Eve start their family outside
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  Speaker 2: of paradise. They have their own children, but the sinful
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  Speaker 2: nature of Adam and Eve has now been given to
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  Speaker 2: their children, And what comes next is a tragedy that
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  Speaker 2: has been repeated for all of human history, inspired by
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  Speaker 2: the book of Genesis.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. Today we pick up with
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  Speaker 3: Adam and Eve outside the garden. This is life after
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  Speaker 3: the curse. If yesterday's story was about doubt and pride,
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  Speaker 3: today's theme is insincere worship of God, anger. bitterness, and
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  Speaker 3: the passing down of sin nature to all future generations
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  Speaker 3: after Adam. Adam and Eve start a family. They have
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  Speaker 3: two sons, Cain and Abel, names that have become infamous
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  Speaker 3: for the devastating effects of sibling rivalry. Cain and his
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  Speaker 3: brother Abel grew up knowing God. They were taught the
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  Speaker 3: importance of sacrifices. Abel chose the best to offer to
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  Speaker 3: God while Cain brought offerings from a sense of obligation
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  Speaker 3: rather than gratitude and praise. So God accepts one and
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  Speaker 3: rejects the other. Cain was angry, bitter, and sin took
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  Speaker 3: hold of his heart. The tragedy that ensued once again
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  Speaker 3: created an irreparable rift in the family. The first human
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  Speaker 3: blood that was shed on God's once perfect earth came
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  Speaker 3: from the hands of one brother upon another. Sin was
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  Speaker 3: now spreading through generations, and the cost was high. Murder, banishment,
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  Speaker 3: another curse, and yet in the midst of it all,
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  Speaker 3: God's grace and mercy once again shining through. Let's listen
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  Speaker 3: now to the telling of this story from Genesis 4,
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  Speaker 3: the story of Cain and Abel.
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  Speaker 2: Adam and Eve had been banished from Eden, and their
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  Speaker 2: sin had made life hard, but the steadfast love of
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  Speaker 2: God had not left them. Adam and Eve knew each
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  Speaker 2: other intimately and became pregnant. First came Cain. Afterward came Abel.
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  Speaker 2: Cain labored in the fields, growing food for the family.
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  Speaker 2: Abel tended to the livestock as a shepherd. Cain and
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  Speaker 2: Abel are the first of us to grow up in
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  Speaker 2: a world riddled with imperfection, sin, and distance from God.
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  Speaker 2: Both children grew up in the new world, and it
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  Speaker 2: was time for Cain and Abel to bring sacrifices to God.
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  Speaker 2: Cain brought some of the fruits of his labor, grains, vegetables,
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  Speaker 2: and other vegetation. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock,
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  Speaker 2: a lamb. Abel brought the best of what he had.
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  Speaker 2: Not only this, but Abel had to raise this little
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  Speaker 2: sheep and kill it before God. This means that it
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  Speaker 2: was not just a sacrifice of materials, but a sacrifice
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  Speaker 2: of the heart. Because of this, God accepted Abel's offerings.
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  Speaker 2: God also rejected Cain's offering, knowing that it did not
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  Speaker 2: come from any real love at all. Jealousy gripped Cain's heart.
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  Speaker 2: Contempt towards God boiled up inside him. This is mankind's
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  Speaker 2: first rumblings of true hatred. Cain's face gave away his
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  Speaker 2: true feelings. God noticed this and asked, Why are you
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  Speaker 2: so angry? Knowing full well what the issue was, If
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  Speaker 2: you do well, will you not be accepted? God asked.
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  Speaker 2: If you don't do well, you give more room for
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  Speaker 2: hatred and sin to rule in your heart.
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  Speaker 4: Do not let hate.
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  Speaker 1: Rule over you.
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  Speaker 4: You can overcome it. But Cain didn't listen. His anger
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  Speaker 4: had already won him over. There would be no stopping
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  Speaker 4: the sin he was about to commit. Cain lured his
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  Speaker 4: brother into the fields. Then, at that moment, all the hatred...
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  Speaker 4: Jealousy and contempt of Cain unleashed onto his brother. Blow
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  Speaker 4: after blow, Cain unleashed his wrath and spited God by
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  Speaker 4: murdering his brother. His hands stained red, dripping with the
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  Speaker 4: blood of his brother. God, already knowing what Cain had done,
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  Speaker 4: asked him, Cain, where is your brother? Cain replied, I
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  Speaker 4: do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?
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  Speaker 2: God is the creator of life, and Cain had taken
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  Speaker 2: an innocent one. This enraged God. He cursed Cain, saying,
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  Speaker 2: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood
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  Speaker 2: is crying to me from the ground, and now you
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  Speaker 2: are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth
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  Speaker 2: to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you
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  Speaker 2: work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you
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  Speaker 2: its strength. You shall be a fugitive.
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  Speaker 4: And a wanderer on the earth.
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  Speaker 2: This punishment was fitting. Because Cain had taken a life,
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  Speaker 2: God wanted his life to be burdensome. It was more
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  Speaker 2: than Cain could bear. Fortunately for him, God's mercy is
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  Speaker 2: still present in punishment. God said, If anyone kills you,
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  Speaker 2: vengeance shall be taken on them sevenfold. And he put
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  Speaker 2: a mark on Cain to keep anyone from doing to
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  Speaker 2: him what he did to his brother. Cain had shed
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  Speaker 2: innocent blood, and this was a pattern mankind would continue
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  Speaker 2: in for a thousand generations after. Yet God continues to
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  Speaker 2: show mercy, waiting to bless them and save them from
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  Speaker 2: their evil.
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  Speaker 3: When jealousy and anger take root, they fester and grow.
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  Speaker 3: That's what we see happening in today's story. Abel, who
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  Speaker 3: really only plays a brief role, is lifted up as
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  Speaker 3: the example of God honoring sacrifices and offerings. He gave
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  Speaker 3: God the first and the best, and God accepted that sacrifice. Cain,
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  Speaker 3: whose heart was not in the right place, full of
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  Speaker 3: faith to begin with, brought God vegetables and grains, but
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  Speaker 3: not his first fruits, not his best, and not in faith.
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  Speaker 3: His motives were wrong, and he became angry when his
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  Speaker 3: offering was rejected. Sin started to creep in through resentment
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  Speaker 3: and anger. So God warned him of the danger of
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  Speaker 3: letting sin in. He speaks to Cain in Genesis 4,
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  Speaker 3: verses 7 and 8, saying, If you do well, will
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  Speaker 3: your face not be cheerful? And if you do not
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  Speaker 3: do well, sin is lurking at the door, and its
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  Speaker 3: desire is for you, but you must master it. I
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  Speaker 3: appreciate this passage providing a warning that's applicable to you
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  Speaker 3: and me today. Sin is now loose in the world.
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  Speaker 3: It lurks at our door. It desires us. In other words,
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  Speaker 3: it wants to get in our heads and in our hearts,
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  Speaker 3: into our lives. When sin is allowed to rule over us,
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  Speaker 3: the outcome is never good. and ultimately tragic. That's what
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  Speaker 3: happened to Cain. Sin took hold of him and he
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  Speaker 3: directed his jealousy and anger at the one whose offering
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  Speaker 3: was accepted to his own brother, whom he killed in
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  Speaker 3: cold blood. Once again, we're reminded that sin always comes
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  Speaker 3: with a price. As he did with Adam and Eve,
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  Speaker 3: God questions Cain and his guilt is revealed. Cain is
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  Speaker 3: cursed to wander in the earth. Sin, separation is always, always,
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  Speaker 3: always the same. When we sin, there is always separation
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  Speaker 3: that happens. From God, which is the worst of all separations,
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  Speaker 3: and then from others. But again, God in his mercy
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  Speaker 3: does not abandon Cain or leave him without protection. God
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  Speaker 3: marks him. not as a sign of the curse, but
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  Speaker 3: as a sign of God's hand of protection. God, thank
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  Speaker 3: you for this story that shows us how sin can
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  Speaker 3: take hold and rule our thoughts, leading us to commit
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  Speaker 3: unthinkable acts. Help us through your spirit to master the
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  Speaker 3: sin that lurks at our doors. And thank you, Lord,
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  Speaker 3: that even when we sin, even through the consequences of
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  Speaker 3: our sin, your mercy and grace remain. In Christ's name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: sure to visit jackgraham.org. God bless.
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