Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 893. Bible Study: Malachi 2 (Priests, Tribe of Levi, 1st Resurrection Future Priests, Divorce/Marriage))

Transcript

893. Bible Study: Malachi 2 (Priests, Tribe of Levi, 1st Resurrection Future Priests, Divorce/Marriage)) · Faith by annm2705

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  Malachi chapter 2. First, let's pray.
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  Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through these words from
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  Malachi and let them sink into our hearts and our minds and our
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  thoughts and that we learned something from this as we read.
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  We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is called additional
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  warning to the priest in the study Bible.
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  And now you priest, this warning is for you.
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  If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,
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  says the Lord Almighty, I will send a curse on you, and I will
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  curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them
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  because you have not resolved to honor me.
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  Because of you, I will rebuke your descendants, I will smear
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  on your faces the dung from your festivals, festival sacrifices,
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  and you will be carried off with it.
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  And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my
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  covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord Almighty.
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  My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and
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  I gave them to him. This called for reverence, and
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  he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
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  True instruction was in His mouth, and nothing false was
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  found on His lips. He walked with me in peace and
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  uprightness and turned many from sin.
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  For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because
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  he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty, and people seek
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  instruction from his mouth. But you have turned away from
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  the way, and by your teaching have caused many to stumble.
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  You have violated the covenant with Levi, says the Lord
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  Almighty. So I have caused you to be
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  despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have
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  not followed my ways, but have shown partiality in matters of
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  the law. Do we not all have one Father?
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  Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant
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  of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
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  Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been
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  committed in Israel and in Jerusalem.
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  Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by
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  marrying women who worship a foreign God.
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  As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord
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  remove him from the tents of Jacob, even though he brings an
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  offering to the Lord Almighty. Another thing you do, you flood
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  the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no
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  longer looks with favour on your offerings or accepts them with
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  pleasure from your hands. You ask why?
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  It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife
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  of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her,
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  though she is your partner. The wife of your marriage
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  covenant has not the one God made you.
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  You belong to him in body and spirit.
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  And what does the one God seek? And what does the one God seek?
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  Godly offspring, so be on your guard and do not be unfaithful
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  to the wife of your youth. The man who hates and divorces
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  his wife says the Lord, the God of Israel does violence to the
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  one he should protect, says the Lord Almighty.
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  So be on your guard and do not be unfaithful.
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  You have wearied the Lord with your words.
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  How? How have we wearied him, you
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  ask? By saying all who do evil are
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  good in the eyes of the Lord and he is pleased with them.
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  Or where is the God of justice? So that ends and there's quite a
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  bit to talk about here. So I guess we'll we'll start
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  with the study Bibles questions and answers.
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  And it talked about how does God curse?
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  Sometimes God brings catastrophe.
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  Other times he lets disobedient experience disobedient people
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  experience the consequences of their ungodly choices.
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  We reap what we sow, and that's found in Galatians chapter 6,
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  verses 7 through 8. Why should descendants be
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  rebuked for the wrong done by their ancestors?
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  This rebuke was addressed to the priest who were failing to
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  fulfill their duties. The generation to come, having
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  only seen a corrupt model, would likely continue in corrupt
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  worship. Therefore, they also would be
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  guilty and in need of rebuke. Spiritual leadership carries
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  great responsibility. If leaders carry out their
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  responsibilities faithfully, the people of God grow in their
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  relationship to God. If leaders serve half heartedly
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  or unfaithfully, the people of God suffer.
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  Why would God smear faces with dung?
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  Dung refers to the contents of the intestines of the animals to
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  be sacrificed. It was supposed to be removed
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  from the sacred place and burned according to Exodus 29 verse 14.
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  The point is that if the priest showed disrespect for God, they
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  themselves would come to be treated with disrespect.
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  What was this covenant with Levi?
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  Aaron was from the tribe of Levi, was the first official
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  priest called by God. God made a covenant, a binding
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  agreement with the descendants of Levi in Numbers chapter 3,
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  verses 11 through 13. They were set apart to care for
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  the Tabernacle and the temple and to lead the worship of God.
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  How do we profane the covenant? By being unfaithful to one
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  another, the promises that we make to one another to some
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  degree reflect the covenant that a gracious God has made with us.
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  In keeping our promises, we praise God and show that
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  redeemed human beings can mirror the love and faithfulness of
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  God. How had Judah desecrated the
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  sanctuary? The men of Judah were divorcing
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  their wives in order to marry Pagan women.
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  The men not only were unfaithful to their marriage vows, but also
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  treated their faithfulness to God lightly and worshipped the
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  gods of their Pagan wives, thus provoking the Lord to anger.
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  How had Judah been unfaithful to the wife of its youth?
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  Malachi was referring to divorce, which breaks the vows
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  of faithfulness. Although divorce involves a
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  married couple and in one sense is a private matter, it affects
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  the larger community and is therefore also a public matter.
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  Is divorce wrong? While the rabbis permitted
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  divorce in various circumstances, Jesus taught that
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  divorce is the breaking of a covenant, prominent promise
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  between a man and a woman. It leaves many broken lives in
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  its wake. From Old Testament times until
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  today, believers has struggled with the issue of divorce.
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  In response to the words of Jesus, the church today condemns
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  divorce, but it also recognizes that there is forgiveness and
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  the possibility of restoration. So that's the end of the study.
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  Bibles, questions and answers for this chapter.
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  So let's see, going back to the the start of it, the things that
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  I underlined, it was in the beginning when God was talking
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  to the priest, He was addressing this to the priest and he was
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  telling them that they needed to honor his name.
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  And it says if they didn't, he would let a curse come upon
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  them. And that's probably in
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  Deuteronomy. It it always, there were quite a
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  number of requirements of the Israelites that were given and
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  there were blessings and consequences, blessings for
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  obedience and consequences for disobedience.
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  So this probably aligns with with some of that.
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  And he said that, yes, I have already cursed them because you
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  have not resolved to honor me. So they had no respect for God.
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  It's kind of like living in somebody's house that you don't
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  own. Like the house is the world
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  because God ultimately created the world and owns the world.
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  So we live there. But we, if you know, like these
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  priests here that he's talking to, they don't respect him.
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  They're just not respecting, they're not gracious for what
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  He's given, and they are not thinking of Him.
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  And not only are they not thinking of Him, but then later
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  on they are actually worshipping God's enemy because there's only
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  one God. And if somebody is worshipping
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  something else than the one true God, that means they're
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  worshipping something that was created.
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  They're not even worshipping a God.
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  There's only one God. So they aren't even worshipping
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  a God. They're worshipping something
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  supernatural they think is a God, but it is not.
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  And it's an enemy of God and it's secretly, manipulatively
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  trying to destroy people. And so it's you can see how
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  aggravating, not aggravating is probably not the right word.
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  Disheartening is probably the better word it is to God when he
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  sees his own creation, the one he chose, the people that he
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  chose that are not only not grateful to him and not
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  worshipping him in the way that they were taught, but they're
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  doing different things and then they're worshipping other gods.
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  It's like the ultimate betrayal by people that God is is feeling
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  and God it he does have feelings.
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  There's a lot of emotion in in what we read in the Bible and
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  he's but he, he's also the king. He's the creator and he holds
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  people accountable. He is righteous, He is just, He
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  is merciful and forgiving, and He does all of those things, but
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  he also holds people accountable.
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  That's that justice part that a lot of people don't like to
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  remind themselves of. But God is just.
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  And when it says you reap what you sow, that's something we
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  should really think about more often than not.
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  Because if we want to do, we really want to reap what we sow?
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  If we're doing things in accordance with God's will and
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  in the image of God and in the character of God, then we'll be,
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  I mean, that'll be wonderful to reap what you sow.
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  But if you are in rebellion to God and that same thing will be
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  done to you, that's you reaping and sowing.
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  I mean, that's just something that probably needs, we all need
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  to be reminded of, like do we want this done to us?
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  I mean, that's the other thing about, you know, that that rule,
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  the golden rule, do unto others that you would have them do unto
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  you because ultimately that's what is going to happen because
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  God is just. We may not see it right away,
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  but it won't go without justice. However, there is one really
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  good thing, that God is so merciful that we may have
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  consequences from our sin or our rebellion, but if we confess our
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  sins and turn away from them, repent, then he forgives us and
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  it says he remembers our sins. No, more like he is so much
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  nicer than any person. Because if you would do that to
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  a person, if you would do what you do to God, what we do to
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  God, and then go to that person and go, you know, to a person,
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  the person's probably not going to be as forgiving as God is and
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  probably would hold things against us.
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  But God, it says he remembers our sins.
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  No, more like he gives us a clean slate.
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  We can start all over with him. I mean, that's something that
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  you're not usually going to get from very many people, if any at
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  all. And we just need to remember
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  that about God. Remember that about His
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  character and the love that He has, and remember that first of
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  all, no person created us. I mean, yes, we had a mother and
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  a father, but God is the one who gave life.
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  He is the one who breathed life into us.
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  If He didn't breathe life into us, we would not have life.
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  He's the one that enabled our parents to bring us about.
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  So God knew who we were. You know, he, he allowed that
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  creation to happen. He wanted that person because if
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  he didn't want that person, he would have immediately made it
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  not happen to begin with. Like it just wouldn't happen.
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  So it's very clear that if a person exists, even if a a
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  pregnancy exists, it's because God wants that to happen.
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  So let's see, he God has a covenant with Levi.
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  And I did go back. I mean, this referenced the
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  study Bible reference Numbers 3, but I found in Numbers 17, I
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  should go back to Numbers 3 because I don't know what
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  numbers three had because when I first searched this, I mean,
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  maybe that was just the the tribe of Levi being established.
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  But what I was looking for was how God said that it was kind of
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  like an if that, then this. So let's see, it's a covenant
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  with Levi and the the covenant was life and peace, but then it
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  said this called for reverence. So that was kind of like an
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  exchange that God was giving life and peace and Levi was to
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  Revere him. And he said that did happen.
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  So what happened was OK. Numbers 3, verse six.
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  Well 5. Numbers 3, verse 5.
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  The Lord said to Moses, bring the tribe of Levi, and present
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  them to Aaron the priest, to assist him.
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  They are to perform the duties for him and for the whole
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  community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the
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  Tabernacle. They are to take care of all the
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  furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the
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  obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the
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  Tabernacle. Give the Levites to Aaron and
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  his sons. They are the Israelites who are
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  to be given wholly to him. Appoint Aaron and his sons to
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  serve as priest. Anyone else who approaches the
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  sanctuary is to be put to death. The Lord also said to Moses, I
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  have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of
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  the first male offspring of every Israelite woman.
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  The Levites are mine, for all the first born are mine.
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  When I struck down the first born in Egypt, I set apart for
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  myself every first born in Israel, whether human or animal,
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  they are to be mine. I am the Lord.
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  So right there you can see is where the tribe of Levi was
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  chosen. And then what I came to was in
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  Numbers chapter 17, verse 5, where the budding of Aaron's
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  staff. So I'm just going to read the
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  number 17 verse one. The Lord said to Moses, speak to
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  the Israelites and get 12 Staffs from them, one from the leader
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  of each of their ancestral tribes.
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  Write the name of each man on his staff.
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  On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be
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  one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe.
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  Place them in the tent of the meeting in front of the Ark of
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  the Covenant Law, where I meet with you.
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  The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will
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  rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the
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  Israelites. So Moses spoke to the
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  Israelites, and their leaders gave him 12 Staffs, one for the
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  leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's
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  staff was among them. Moses placed the Staffs before
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  the Lord and the tent of the covenant law.
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  The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron's staff,
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  which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted, but
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  had budded, blossomed, and produced almonds.
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  So then Moses brought out all the Staffs.
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  So obviously this is an affirmation that God had chosen
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  the the tribe of Levi. And then in Numbers 18, see
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  1825, I'll read this. The Lord said to Moses, Speak to
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  the Levites and say to them, When you receive from the
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  Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must
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  present a 10th of that tithe as the Lord's offering.
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  Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the
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  threshing floor or juice from the wine press.
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  In this way you will also present an offering to the Lord
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  from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites.
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  From these tithes you must give the Lord's portion to Aaron the
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  priest. You must present as the Lord's
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  portion, the best and holiest part of everything given to you.
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  Say to the Levites, when you present the best part, it will
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  be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor
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  or the wine press. You and your households may eat
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  the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at
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  the tent of the meeting. By presenting the best part of
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  it, you will not be guilty in this manner.
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  Then you will not defile the holy offerings of the
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  Israelites, and you will not die.
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  So him telling them you will not die, because there were only
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  certain people who could go on, who could carry the Ark of the
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  Covenant, who could go near the Ark of the Covenant?
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  And if they, if anyone else but a, a Levite did, they could die,
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  they would die. So in a sense it says my
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  covenant, this is going back to Malachi and the Lord saying my
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  covenant was with him, referring to Levi, a covenant of life and
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  peace. And I gave them to him.
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  This called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of
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  my name. So there was a certain amount of
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  respect they had to have for the holiness of God.
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  And the way they had to treat God in a holy manner and that
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  was happening. And that was happening
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  apparently until this point when Malachi was talking to the
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  priest, they were no longer doing that.
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  They were really got away from the original reverence that they
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  had towards God. And God was reminding them,
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  don't we all have one father? And didn't one God create us?
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  And then why are you? Why do you profane the covenant
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  of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
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  And not only were they unfaithful to one another, but
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  they were unfaithful to God, and they were marrying women who
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  worshipped a foreign God. We know that Solomon did this
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  too, and he even built temples worshipping his other wives or
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  concubines, which was probably something that God was extremely
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  upset with as the king of Israel and the son of David.
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  So those were probably some hard things for God to see happening
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  through Solomon, but that's why it wasn't anything racial.
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  It was all about foreign gods, unknown gods, things that
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  weren't gods that presented themselves as gods, and people
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  treating them better than they were treating God.
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  And so God was not happy with that.
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  And he's reminding people of their covenant.
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  And very much like the covenant that he had with his chosen
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  people was like a marriage. And so the people could relate
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  to that being married and what it felt like to be in a marriage
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  where the covenant was broken. And so he was, he was reminding
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  that of the people and that they were, as the study Bible told
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  us, they were leaving their Israelite wives and they were
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  marrying Pagan women. And a lot of times the Pagan
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  women had these. The way they worshipped that was
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  documented in the Bible was they had these like temple
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  prostitutes. So of course the enemy is
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  leading with seduction and getting these people.
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  That's, that seems like the, the best way to make people fall
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  from the enemy of God is to lead with sex, because that seems to
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  work for men historically. I mean, that's what happened
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  with Balak. He couldn't do a curse from them
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  on the Israelites when they were coming in and they and Balaam, I
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  mean Balak the king, he was the Pagan king.
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  He wanted Balak who was kind of like he a prophet to some
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  degree. He could speak to God and he
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  could speak to evil things too. And he did both, but he could
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  only say. So the king wanted him to curse
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  the Israelites. But then when he tried 7
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  different times at 7 different altars, the only thing that came
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  out was blessings for the Israelites.
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  And so then some time went and and the Balaam didn't get his
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  reward that was promised because he didn't curse the Israelites
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  like the king wanted him to, because the king was trying to
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  protect his land. He didn't want the Israelites to
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  take him or become more powerful.
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  And again, it was like a worldly view of looking at that, of
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  worldly desires. So anyway, Balaam goes away and
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  he then thinks, oh, I know how you do it.
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  You do it with, you know, the temple prostitutes and and this
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  sort of thing. That's how you get them to fall.
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  And he was right. That's what happened.
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  And so this is a long standing and it still is today.
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  I mean, really the stuff today that equates to this is like
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  porn. That's how people get lured into
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  and it eventually destroys a a person.
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  But it comes in that that thing that God made that was good,
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  that desire for, you know, a, a man to a woman, that desire that
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  God made, that he created us that way is then distorted by
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  the enemy into something that will destroy a person.
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  And that's why people need to wake up about this stuff, that
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  there is so much more spiritual part of this that it's not just
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  doing something that God doesn't want you to do.
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  God puts commands and laws in to guard us so that we don't end up
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  eternally separated from him. And we look at it as
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  restrictions, when in reality it's a guardrail to protect us
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  and to allow us to live in God's Kingdom in the future.
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  And but the enemy has so blinded people that people don't see it.
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  You don't see it until you read the Bible and start studying it.
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  And then you start seeing it. And then you start seeing all
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  the ways that the enemy comes after people.
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  And then you do see why we're called sheep, because sheep are
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  not very smart. They will, they will wander away
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  by themselves. They will get, you know,
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  attacked by wolves. They're just like these sweet,
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  innocent little things that have no like very limited brains.
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  And that's what we that's what Jesus describes us as.
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  And that's what we are. It's just like we are like that
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  to God, you know, like they're lambs are cute.
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  But when you hear about shepherding and you hear about
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  like how easily they can have some calamity happen and how the
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  shepherd has to be so careful watching over his sheep, then
• 26:18
  you realize God calls us that like that's what we are.
• 26:22
  Because we're not, we don't know all the spiritual things and God
• 26:25
  doesn't. We don't apparently we don't
• 26:28
  have the capacity to know all of that.
• 26:30
  So God gives us only what we need for the moment and to
• 26:35
  protect us. But we get manipulated by God's
• 26:41
  enemy and God's enemy convinces just like he did for Adam and
• 26:44
  Eve. That starts putting questions in
• 26:47
  your head like what's God hope withholding from you?
• 26:50
  He doesn't want you to have everything like he's trying to
• 26:53
  keep things from you. But that's not the truth.
• 26:56
  God is trying to protect us and get us safely into his Kingdom,
• 27:03
  and the enemy is trying to do exactly what Balaam was trying
• 27:07
  to do on behalf of the Pagan king.
• 27:11
  He was trying to destroy the people, basically to make them
• 27:14
  ineffective, to make them not get the inheritance, not get the
• 27:19
  land. This is the same old repetitious
• 27:22
  story over and over in the Bible, and it's amazing.
• 27:26
  I guess we are the sheep that we don't learn from this because
• 27:29
  this is still happening today. And and it also points out when
• 27:33
  you see like how important it really is for two Holy Spirit
• 27:39
  filled people to be married, equally yoked people, because
• 27:47
  you don't. I mean, it's just it's so
• 27:49
  important because God. Well, let's, oh gosh, there's so
• 27:54
  much, But Jesus said that we cannot enter the Kingdom of God
• 28:00
  unless we are born again, born of the Spirit.
• 28:03
  Now the Spirit comes after repentance because John the
• 28:07
  Baptist, the one who baptized, his baptism was a baptism of
• 28:12
  repentance. And that's what we all have to
• 28:15
  go through first. We have to recognize our sin.
• 28:18
  We have to be sorry for it, or if we choose to be sorry for it,
• 28:22
  we then we have to ask for forgiveness.
• 28:24
  And not only just ask for forgiveness, that means we don't
• 28:27
  want to go back to it and we want God to help us to stay away
• 28:31
  from it. And that's where the Holy Spirit
• 28:34
  enters when we do, when we really desire God's help to stay
• 28:39
  away from things. It's not easy.
• 28:42
  God will send the Holy Spirit to help us, but he he doesn't take
• 28:45
  away our free will. I wish he did in some ways
• 28:48
  because it would make it a lot easier if we had no choice.
• 28:50
  But we always have choice and God gives it because that's the
• 28:54
  reason he wants to see like, do you really love me?
• 28:57
  Are you going to obey my commands?
• 29:00
  Jesus said if you love me, obey my commands.
• 29:03
  So we are, we are given the choice.
• 29:06
  But going back to marriage, it makes all the sense in the world
• 29:11
  that if you're going to be joined with someone, one in
• 29:16
  become one in spirit with someone, doesn't it make sense
• 29:20
  that you would want to, you would want that person to be
• 29:25
  filled with the Holy Spirit, to be united with God, to be, to
• 29:29
  accept Jesus as Lord, to accept God in a way that would guide
• 29:38
  that person's life. And I, I think we just, we go by
• 29:43
  so many, we make so many decisions based on things that
• 29:48
  ultimately don't matter when it comes to eternity.
• 29:53
  And the most important decision, our evaluation of another person
• 29:58
  is who are they with God? Who is God to them and what is
• 30:04
  that relationship like? Because that's the relationship
• 30:07
  that has to be in place first. And then once that relationship
• 30:12
  is on track, is right, then that person is able to live life in
• 30:22
  the image of God. So that person is able to
• 30:25
  reflect the love of God. God is able to work through that
• 30:29
  person and that relationship is going to be a whole lot better
• 30:33
  when both people are submitted to Christ and have God as Lord
• 30:43
  over their lives that are not in rebellion to God.
• 30:45
  If if a person is in rebellion to God, how much easier is it
• 30:50
  going to be for a person to be in rebellion to you or me?
• 30:53
  I mean, that's it's just almost like really common sense if you
• 30:57
  think about it. So then first of all, people
• 31:00
  should be married equally yoked, as the Bible says.
• 31:04
  And then it should be a lifelong commitment.
• 31:08
  And if you're not equally like yoked, that's when selfishness
• 31:14
  is a part of it. And that's why not in all cases,
• 31:17
  but why divorce happens so frequently, it's because of
• 31:21
  selfish things and because a person probably in many cases
• 31:26
  does not even have the Holy Spirit and so it's just a
• 31:29
  fleshly desire and it's all self-centered stuff.
• 31:33
  And then people get divorced and that's what happens.
• 31:37
  But that's not the way God wanted it to be.
• 31:40
  And he also wanted godly offspring.
• 31:43
  Well, how do you make godly offspring if you don't have a
• 31:47
  godly partner? So it just all reinforces
• 31:52
  everything that that God has said.
• 31:54
  And and then he says he's, he's really tired of the priest
• 31:58
  because they are saying all who do evil are good in the eyes of
• 32:03
  the Lord and he is pleased with them.
• 32:06
  So I think, you know, this whole message of love can go a little
• 32:10
  bit too far where people just don't think about their response
• 32:17
  to God. And, and I think that can cause
• 32:22
  people to stumble as this scripture says, 'cause, you
• 32:27
  know, they're fallen people. I mean, they're not submitted to
• 32:33
  Christ and they're not obedient to God.
• 32:37
  They don't have the Holy Spirit. And so they're, they're just
• 32:43
  focused on worldly things. And it just shows like how how
• 32:48
  God is saying, you know, this is it, you have wearied the Lord
• 32:54
  with your words because you're telling people, all these people
• 32:57
  who are doing evil, they're good in the eyes of the Lord and he's
• 33:01
  pleased with them. So you can take this love of God
• 33:05
  a little bit too far and tell people things that aren't true,
• 33:08
  that God's not pleased with people and not reflect the words
• 33:15
  of what is actually in the Bible.
• 33:18
  So when I was looking up life and peace, that's where I found
• 33:24
  in Numbers 17 and 18 about the Levites in this covenant with
• 33:29
  God, because he called the covenant was with Levi a
• 33:33
  covenant of life and peace. So I looked up life and peace,
• 33:38
  and it's interesting because in Romans 8, chapter 6, it says the
• 33:43
  mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by
• 33:50
  the Spirit is life and peace. Isn't that interesting?
• 33:56
  So when we have the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit is governing,
• 34:01
  is guiding us, we have life and peace.
• 34:05
  But if our flesh, our worldly desires, our selfishness is
• 34:09
  governing us, that leads to death, spiritual death, eternal
• 34:15
  separation from God. So that's why Jesus said we need
• 34:18
  the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit's the only way.
• 34:22
  Otherwise, if we don't have the Holy Spirit, we're just
• 34:24
  operating in the worldly way, in our natural instinct.
• 34:27
  I mean, we're just, we are that, and that's what we will do.
• 34:32
  So when we have the Holy Spirit, though, the Holy Spirit starts
• 34:35
  changing us and brings life and peace in so many different ways.
• 34:41
  You can think about that. I also, let's see what else was
• 34:47
  it. There was something, I guess in
• 34:48
  Proverbs that said this as well. And Proverbs 3 is just such a
• 34:54
  good reminder about so many different things.
• 34:58
  I don't remember which verse it was.
• 35:01
  And there are, let's see about 35 verses.
• 35:04
  So I guess I, I'm just going to read this because the, it's
• 35:09
  about wisdom bestows well-being, you know, and who doesn't want
• 35:14
  to be well in a lot of different ways, spiritually, physically
• 35:17
  and so forth. And this was, I believe this was
• 35:21
  Solomon giving advice to his son.
• 35:24
  And Solomon had asked God for wisdom and he received it.
• 35:28
  He was known as the wisest man, yet he did stupid things like
• 35:33
  building altars for his wives, which when the wisest person
• 35:39
  does it, none of us can be too proud of ourselves or have pride
• 35:46
  because if we think we're really wise, look at the wisest person
• 35:51
  did stupid things. So wisdom is, I've heard this
• 35:56
  before and it was, and I thought this was really good, that
• 36:00
  wisdom is the application of knowledge.
• 36:04
  And Solomon certainly had knowledge and a he was, he asked
• 36:09
  God for wisdom and he had wisdom too, but yet he did things that
• 36:14
  don't make sense. So even the wisest guy didn't do
• 36:18
  the right things all the time. So, but here's what he told he
• 36:23
  says to his son. Proverbs 3 My son, do not forget
• 36:27
  my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they
• 36:32
  will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and
• 36:37
  prosperity. I guess that's right where I was
• 36:39
  looking for that same promise that God gave to the Levis, a
• 36:44
  covenant of life and peace. This is exactly what Solomon is
• 36:47
  saying to his son, for they will prolong your life many years and
• 36:52
  bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and faithfulness.
• 36:59
  That was another topic that was mentioned in Malachi too.
• 37:02
  Let love and faithfulness never leave you.
• 37:06
  Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your
• 37:09
  heart. You know, a lot of times parents
• 37:11
  can give much more wisdom when they themselves had made
• 37:18
  mistakes. So that could also be what
• 37:21
  Solomon is doing. Like he realized in
• 37:23
  Ecclesiastes, it really does say that.
• 37:26
  And Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, but in the end it was he was
• 37:31
  basically saying it the really important thing is to love God
• 37:34
  and serve God. And so he did apparently come to
• 37:38
  that realization. I don't know at what time he was
• 37:41
  actually giving this advice to his son, but this is one of the
• 37:45
  wisest people telling his son some really important things.
• 37:49
  And a lot of times kids don't want to listen to their parents.
• 37:53
  But sometimes when the parents have done stupid things and they
• 37:57
  give advice, it may be good to learn from their mistakes so
• 38:03
  that you don't repeat them. Verse 4.
• 38:07
  Then you will win. Let's see.
• 38:09
  Let love and faithfulness never leave you.
• 38:10
  Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your
• 38:13
  heart. Then you will win favor and a
• 38:16
  good name in the sight of God and man.
• 38:20
  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
• 38:24
  understanding. Again, we should not rely on
• 38:28
  ourselves, rely on the Lord, rely on the Holy Spirit in all
• 38:32
  your ways. Submit to Him and he will make
• 38:37
  your paths straight. Let God guide, listen to him,
• 38:40
  obey him. Do not be wise in your own eyes.
• 38:44
  Fear the Lord and shun evil. You know that's the smart,
• 38:50
  that's an wisdom. Shun evil.
• 38:53
  Because once you get a you open the door to a little evil, it
• 38:57
  starts taking on more and more territory in your life.
• 39:03
  Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil.
• 39:06
  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your
• 39:10
  bones. I'm actually doing a book study,
• 39:15
  I guess non biblical, but it's about healing.
• 39:20
  And again, here is another emphasis where it's saying, you
• 39:26
  know, fear the Lord and shun evil.
• 39:29
  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your
• 39:33
  bones. So if we fear God and shun evil,
• 39:38
  this will bring health to your body and nourishment to your
• 39:43
  bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth,
• 39:47
  with your first, with the first fruits of all your crops.
• 39:50
  Then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats
• 39:53
  will bring him over with new wine.
• 39:56
  My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline.
• 40:00
  And do not resent his rebuke because the Lord disciplines
• 40:06
  those he loves as a father, the Son he delights in.
• 40:11
  So when we have hard times, sometimes it's because of our
• 40:15
  sin. It's just like a parent
• 40:16
  disciplining a child so that they learn good things and they
• 40:20
  stay away from bad things with a good father.
• 40:24
  And that's that's what God is a good father.
• 40:29
  Verse 13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain
• 40:33
  understanding for she referring to wisdom is more profitable
• 40:38
  than silver and yields better returns than gold.
• 40:42
  She is more precious than rubies.
• 40:44
  Nothing you desire can compare with her long life is in her
• 40:49
  right hand in her left hand are riches and honor.
• 40:54
  So if you apply knowledge, the knowledge from the Bible, that's
• 40:59
  wisdom. Long life is in your right hand
• 41:02
  and your left hand are riches and honor.
• 41:05
  Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace.
• 41:10
  Obviously when I read about wisdom before, it made me think
• 41:14
  I know it. It has a personification of her.
• 41:18
  But that's, I guess when you look at the original Hebrew, it
• 41:26
  wasn't really, I don't know that it was, they had pronouns like
• 41:31
  she and I think that was just assigned to it.
• 41:34
  But wisdom really sounds like Jesus to me.
• 41:38
  So anyway, that's just a side comment.
• 41:40
  But she is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.
• 41:45
  Those who hold her fast will be blessed by wisdom.
• 41:50
  The Lord laid the earth's foundations by understanding.
• 41:54
  He set the heavens in place by His knowledge.
• 41:58
  The watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.
• 42:03
  My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight
• 42:08
  preserve sound judgment and discretion.
• 42:11
  They will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.
• 42:17
  Then you will go on your way in safety.
• 42:21
  So again here preserve sound judgement and discretion and
• 42:26
  keep wisdom always insight. Then you will go on your way in
• 42:31
  safety and your foot will not stumble when you lie down.
• 42:35
  You will not be afraid. So that it's, you know, the fear
• 42:39
  of the Lord that's the awe of God.
• 42:42
  But those who fear, there's a different kind of a fear that it
• 42:48
  says that those who fear have not yet been made perfect in
• 42:52
  God's love. So when you lie down, you will
• 42:56
  not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep
• 42:59
  will be sweet. So maybe if you have wisdom and
• 43:04
  understanding and sound judgement and discretion, your
• 43:07
  sleep will be sweet. Have No Fear of sudden disaster
• 43:12
  or of the rune that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be
• 43:17
  at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.
• 43:20
  Do not withhold good from those who to whom it's due.
• 43:24
  When it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor,
• 43:28
  Come back tomorrow and I'll give it to you when you already have
• 43:31
  it with you. Do not plot harm against your
• 43:34
  neighbor who lives trustfully near you.
• 43:38
  Do not accuse anyone for no reason when they have done you
• 43:41
  no harm. Do not envy the violent or
• 43:45
  choose any of their ways, for the Lord detest the perverse,
• 43:50
  but he takes the upright into his confidence.
• 43:55
  The Lord's curse is on the House of the wicked, but He blesses
• 43:59
  the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers, but
• 44:04
  shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
• 44:08
  The wise inherit honor, but fools only get shame.
• 44:14
  So those are just real good words of wisdom.
• 44:19
  And anyway that that pretty much concludes about these.
• 44:28
  There's one other thing that I wanted to talk about priest
• 44:32
  because the Levi tribe were were the priest and there is
• 44:38
  something that in the Book of Revelation that there is.
• 44:45
  I think it's pretty interesting to read.
• 44:48
  So Revelation 59 and 10, chapter 5, verses 9 through 10, and they
• 44:56
  sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to
• 44:59
  open its seals because you were slain.
• 45:01
  This is about Jesus the Lamb. Symbolically He was slain on the
• 45:05
  cross, and with your blood His death on the cross you purchased
• 45:10
  for God persons from every tribe and language and people and
• 45:17
  nation. You have made them to be a
• 45:21
  Kingdom and priest to serve our God, and they will reign on the
• 45:28
  earth. So the kingdom's also like
• 45:30
  royalty. So you have made them to be
• 45:33
  royalty and priest to serve our God and they will reign on the
• 45:38
  earth. So that's the future call about
• 45:41
  priesthood and what that would be.
• 45:44
  Then there was something else that I was, oh, I think that was
• 45:49
  that was it in Revelation that I thought was important.
• 45:57
  I don't, I wanted to see. I thought there was a couple
• 45:59
  verses about priest, but I can't.
• 46:02
  Let me see in Revelation there were, yeah, a few of them.
• 46:08
  So Revelation 20 verse 6 also says blessed and holy are those
• 46:15
  who share in the first resurrection.
• 46:18
  The second death has no power over them, but they will be
• 46:23
  priest of God and of Christ and will reign with him 1000 years.
• 46:29
  So there are two resurrections and it says blessed and holy are
• 46:37
  those who share in the first resurrection.
• 46:41
  The second death has no power over them, but they will be
• 46:45
  priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for 1000
• 46:52
  years. I thought that was pretty
• 46:53
  interesting since we were talking about the Levites and
• 46:55
  about priests and about the future.
• 46:58
  So very interesting things that we find when we read the book of
• 47:05
  Malachi that was written. Let's see, how long ago was
• 47:08
  this? About 430 BC, So a long time
• 47:13
  ago. Anyway, if you found this
• 47:17
  beneficial, please share this with others.
• 47:19
  If you're not subscribed and like to stay in the word of God,
• 47:22
  please subscribe and hope you come back for we'll probably do
• 47:26
  the last two chapters together because chapter 4 is really
• 47:29
  short, so we'll do chapters 3 and 4 next time.
• 47:32
  Thank you.