Latest / 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast / When a Spear Becomes a Covenant | Pinchas and the Paradox of Peace (July 19)

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When a Spear Becomes a Covenant | Pinchas and the Paradox of Peace (July 19) · 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast

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  Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,
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  has turned back my wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with my
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  zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in my zeal.
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  Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and his descendants
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  after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made
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  atonement for the children of Israel.
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  And so a covenant of peace is given to Pinchas and to his descendants, an everlasting covenant.
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  And yet there's a paradox here.
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  How did this covenant of peace come about?
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  Pinchas saw a Midianite woman and an Israelite, and they were committing sexual immorality
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  right in front of all of the congregation of Israel, right by the tabernacle of meeting.
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  And so he went in and he speared them.
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  He pierced them with a spear.
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  So through a violent action, a covenant of peace comes forth.
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  This seems to be a conundrum, a puzzle.
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  It doesn't make sense.
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  How is it that a forceful, violent action brings about a covenant of peace?
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  Listen in as we do a deep dive on this in Numbers 25.
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  Can you achieve peace through strength?
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  Let's find out.
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  Welcome to the One Year Audio Bible Podcast.
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  Today is July 19th.
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  Now let's continue our journey reading through the entire Bible in one year.
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  This week we are reading from the Israel Bible for the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament
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  and from the King James for the New Testament or Apostolic Writings.
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  Numbers 25, 10 to 18.
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  Hashem spoke to Moses saying,
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  Hinchas, son of Eliezer, son of Aaron the Kohen, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites
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  by displaying among them his passion for me, so that I did not wipe out Bnei Israel in
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  my passion.
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  Say therefore, I grant him my pact of friendship.
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  It shall be for him and his descendants after him a pact of priesthood for all time, because
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  he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation for the Israelites.
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  The name of the Israelite who was killed, the one who was killed with the Midianite
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  woman was Zimri, son of Salu, chieftain of a Simeonite ancestral house.
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  The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cosby, daughter of Zur.
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  She was the tribal head of an ancestral house in Midian.
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  Hashem spoke to Moses saying,
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  Assail the Midianites and defeat them, for they assailed you by the trickery they practiced
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  against you, because of the affair of Peor and because of the affair of their kinswoman
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  Cosby, daughter of the Midianite chieftain, who was killed at the time of the plague on
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  account of Peor.
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  1 Chronicles 28 1-29 30
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  David assembled all the officers of Israel, the tribal officers, the divisional officers
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  who served the king, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, and the stewards
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  of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, with the eunuchs and the warriors,
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  all the men of substance, to Jerusalem.
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  King David rose to his feet and said, Hear me, my brothers, my people.
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  I wanted to build a resting place for the Arom Brit Hashem, for the footstool of our
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  God.
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  And I laid aside material for building.
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  But Hashem said to me, You will not build a house for my name, because you are a man
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  of battles and of shed blood.
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  God of Israel chose me of all my father's house to be king over Israel forever, where
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  he chose Yehudah to be ruler, and of the family of Yehudah my father's house, and of my father's
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  sons he preferred to make me king over all Israel.
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  And of all my sons, for many are the sons Hashem has given me, he chose my son Solomon
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  to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Hashem over Israel.
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  He said to me, It will be your son Solomon who will build my house and my courts, for
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  I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him.
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  I will establish his kingdom forever, if he keeps firmly to the observance of my commandments
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  and rules as he does now.
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  And now, in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of Hashem, and in the hearing of our God,
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  I say, observe and apply yourselves to all the commandments of Hashem your God, in order
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  that you may possess this good land and bequeath it to your children after you forever.
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  And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with single mind and
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  fervent heart, where Hashem searches all minds and discerns the design of every thought.
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  If you seek him, he will be available to you, but if you forsake him, he will abandon
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  you forever.
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  See then, Hashem chose you to build a house as the sanctuary.
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  Be strong and do it.
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  David gave his son Solomon the plan of the porch and its houses, its storerooms, and
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  its upper chambers and inner chambers, and of the place of the Aron cover.
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  And the plan of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of Hashem, and
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  all its surrounding chambers, and of the treasuries of the house of Hashem, and of the treasuries
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  of the holy things.
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  The divisions of Kohanim and Levi'im for all the work of the service of the house of
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  Hashem, and all the vessels of the service of the house of Hashem, and gold, the weight
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  of gold for vessels of every sort of use, silver for all the vessels of silver by weight,
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  for all the vessels of every kind of service, the weight of the gold menorahs and their
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  gold lamps, and the weight of the silver menorahs, each menorah and its silver lamps, according
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  to the use of every menorah, and the weight of gold for the tables of the rows of bread
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  for each table, and of silver for the silver tables, and of the pure gold for the forks
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  and the basins and the jars, and the weight of the gold bowls, every bowl, and the weight
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  of the silver bowls, each and every bowl, the weight of refined gold for the incense
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  altar, and for the gold for the figure of the chariot, the cherubs, those with outspread
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  wings screening the ark.
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  All this that Hashem made me understand by His hand on me, I give you in writing, the
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  plan of all the works.
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  David said to his son Solomon, Be strong and of good courage and do it.
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  Do not be afraid or dismayed, for Hashem my God is with you.
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  He will not fail you or forsake you till all the work on the house of Hashem is done.
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  Here are the divisions of the Kohanim and Leviim, for all kinds of service of the house
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  of Hashem.
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  And with you in all the work are willing men, skilled in all sorts of tasks.
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  Also the officers and all the people are at your command.
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  King David said to the entire assembly, Hashem has chosen my son Solomon alone, an untried
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  lad, although the work to be done is vast, for the temple is not for a man but for Hashem.
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  I have spared no effort to lay up for the house of my God gold for golden objects, silver
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  for silver, copper for copper, iron for iron, wood for wooden, onyx stone and inlay stone,
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  stone of antimony and variegated colors, every kind of precious stone and much marble.
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  Besides, out of my solicitude for the house of my God, I gave over my private hoard of
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  gold and silver to the house of my God, in addition to all that I laid aside for the
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  holy house, three thousand gold kikarim of ophir gold and seven thousand kikarim of refined
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  silver for covering the walls of the houses.
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  Gold for golden objects, silver for silver for all the work, into the hands of craftsmen.
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  Now who is going to make a freewill offering and devote himself today to Hashem?
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  The officers of the clans and the officers of the tribes of Israel and the captains of
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  thousands and hundreds and the supervisors of the king's work made freewill offerings,
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  giving for the work of the house of Hashem, five thousand kikarim of gold, ten thousand
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  kikarim of silver, 18,000 kikarim of copper, 100,000 kikarim of iron.
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  Whoever had stones in his possession gave them to the treasury of the house of Hashem
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  in the charge of Yechiel the Gershonite.
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  The people rejoiced over the freewill offerings they made, for with the whole heart they made
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  freewill offerings to Hashem.
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  King David also rejoiced very much.
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  David blessed Hashem in front of all the assemblage.
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  David said, Blessed are you, Hashem, God of Israel, our Father, from eternity to eternity.
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  Yours, Hashem, are greatness, might, splendor, triumph, and majesty.
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  Yes, all that is in heaven and on earth to you, Hashem, belong kingship and preeminence
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  above all.
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  Riches and honor are yours to dispense.
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  You have dominion over all.
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  With you are strength and might.
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  It is in your power to make anyone great and strong.
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  Now, Hashem, we praise you and extol your glorious name.
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  Who am I and who are my people that we should have the means to make such a freewill offering?
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  But all is from you, and it is your gift that we have given to you, for we are sojourners
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  with you, mere transients like our fathers.
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  Our days on earth are like a shadow with nothing in prospect.
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  Hashem, our God, all this great mass that we have laid aside to build you a house for
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  your holy name is from you, and it is all yours.
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  I know, Hashem, that you search the heart and desire uprightness.
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  I with upright heart freely offered all these things.
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  Now your people who are present here, I saw them joyously making freewill offerings.
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  O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, remember this to the eternal credit of the
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  thoughts of your people's hearts, and make their hearts constant toward you.
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  As to my son Solomon, give him a whole heart to observe your commandments, your admonitions
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  and your laws, and to fulfill them all, and to build this temple for which I have made
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  provision.
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  David said to the whole assembly, Now bless Hashem your God.
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  All the assembly blessed God of their fathers and bowed their heads low to Hashem and the
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  king.
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  They offered sacrifices to Hashem and made burnt offerings to Hashem on the morrow of
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  that day, one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, one thousand lambs with their libations.
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  They made sacrifices in great number for all Israel, and they ate and drank in the presence
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  of Hashem on that day with great joy.
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  They again proclaimed Solomon son of David king, and they anointed him as ruler before
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  Hashem and Zadok as Kohen Gadol.
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  Solomon successfully took over the throne of Hashem as king instead of his father David,
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  and all went well with him.
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  All Israel accepted him.
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  All the officials and the warriors and the sons of king David as well gave their hand
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  in support of king Solomon.
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  Hashem made Solomon exceedingly great in the eyes of all Israel and endowed him with a
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  regal majesty that no king of Israel before him ever had.
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  Thus David son of Yishai reigned over all Israel.
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  The length of his reign over Israel was forty years.
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  He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
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  He died at a ripe old age, having enjoyed long life, riches, and honor, and his son
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  Solomon reigned in his stead.
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  The acts of king David early and late are recorded in the history of Samuel the seer,
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  the history of Natan the navi, and the history of Gad the seer, together with all the mighty
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  deeds of his kingship and all the events that befell him and Israel and all the kingdoms
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  of the earth.
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  Romans 5, 6-21
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  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
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  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet for a good man some would even dare
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  to die.
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  But God commends his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
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  us, much more than being now justified by his blood.
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  We shall be saved from wrath through him.
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  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more
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  being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
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  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now
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  received the atonement.
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  Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
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  upon all men, would that all have sinned.
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  For until the law sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed when there was no law.
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  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned, after
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  the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
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  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.
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  For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the
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  gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many.
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  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to condemnation.
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  But the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
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  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one, much more they which received abundance
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  of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
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  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
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  by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
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  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
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  many be made righteous.
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  Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.
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  But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
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  That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
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  eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
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  Psalm 15 1-5
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  Lord who shall abide in your tabernacle?
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  Who shall dwell in your holy hill?
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  He that walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart.
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  He that backbites not with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a
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  reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person is condemned, but he honors
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  them that fear the Lord.
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  He that swears to his own hurt and changes not.
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  He that puts not out his money to usury, nor takes reward against the innocent.
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  He that does these things shall never be moved.
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  Proverbs 19 18-19
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  Chasten your son while there is hope, and let not your soul spare for his crying.
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  A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment, for if you deliver him, yet must you do it
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  again.
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  I want to speak to you today from our reading from Numbers chapter 25 and then we're going
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  to jump into the last two chapters of Chronicles 28 and 29.
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  And I want to zoom in on this scene where Pinchas the son of Eleazar the Kohen the son
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  of Aaron left the assembly and he took a spear in his hand he followed the Israelite into
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  the hamburg and stabbed both of them the Israelite and the woman through the belly
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  and the plague against the Israelites was checked and those who died of the plague numbered
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  24,000 so that was from yesterday now today as we continued on in this chapter God speaks
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  to Moses and tells him Pinchas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the Kohen has turned
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  back my wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for me so that I did
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  not wipe out B'nai Israel in my anger say therefore I grant him my pact of friendship
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  the Israel Bible commentary to this verse reads as follows the zealot Pinchas sees sexual
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  immoral behavior among the camp of Israel this couple that are basically having sexual
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  relations right in front of the tent of meeting and he immediately responds with an iron fist
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  and a sharp spear ironically Pinchas is rewarded for his violent action with Hashem's pact
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  of friendship known in Hebrew as a Brit Shalom which literally means covenant of peace with
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  this striking detail the Torah illustrates a vital lesson genuine peace is not merely
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  the absence of conflict Pinchas did not negotiate with the perpetrators an attempt to achieve
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  a compromise solution by standing up for his principles Pinchas demonstrated that only
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  when based on eternal principles of truth and justice and true peace be achieved a person
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  who internalizes this idea and acts accordingly is a true friend of God coming back to this
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  story of Pinchas and how he pierced Cosby and the Israelite through with the spear one
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  of the things that I see in that story is that sometimes you have to have peace demonstrated
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  through strength that if there is just a blatant disregard for common law for basic morality
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  or observing just the basic 10 commandments if there's just blatant disregard Pinchas had great
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  passion and he put a stop to the sexual immorality that was going on blatantly right in front of the
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  tent of meeting and then the plague that was going through the camp and that many people were dying
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  from immediately stopped that sometimes you can achieve the goal of peace not through compromise
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  or negotiation but through strength through power and especially in the Middle East in the Arab and
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  in the Jewish world Arabs respect strength but when they see negotiators and compromisers coming in
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  politicians coming in to negotiate to compromise they see that as weakness they have great respect
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  for strength and for power and this is an important principle to remember
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  peace through strength have a blessed day and we'll see you tomorrow shalom
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  now I want to jump into first chronicles the closing chapters and we see that David has it
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  in his heart to build a temple he himself cannot build it because he has blood on his hands and
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  so he appoints his son Solomon to build this temple and he gives Solomon all the resources
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  Solomon all the resources the materials the supplies the gold the silver and the blueprints
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  the plans to build this temple so let's look at chapter 28 verse 6 he said to me it will be your
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  son Solomon who will build my house and my courts for I have chosen him to be a son to me and I will
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  be a father to him the Israel Bible commentary to this verse reads as follows King David's son
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  Solomon is chosen by God as the heir to his father's throne and the eternal monarchy of the
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  people of Israel in addition to the name Solomon he is also known as Yedidja which means beloved
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  of God radic suggests that Hashem wants his name to be Solomon from the Hebrew word shalom meaning
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  peace because during his reign God would bless him and the people of Israel with peace but Solomon
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  is also Yedidja the beloved of God as reflected in this verse indeed both of his names accurately
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  describe his accomplishments during King Solomon's reign the nation of Israel achieved the greatest
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  heights peace with other nations as well as closeness to Hashem through service in the Beit Hamikdash the temple
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  continuing on let's take a look in chapter 29 and in verse 22 they ate and drank in the presence of
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  Hashem on that day with great joy they again proclaimed Solomon the son of David as king
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  and they anointed him as ruler before Hashem and Zadok as Kohen Gadol or the high priest
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  the Israel Bible commentary to this verse reads as follows the name Zadok comes from the Hebrew word
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  which means righteous or just Zadok was a righteous priest who served in the times of King David and
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  King Solomon after King Solomon built the Beit Hamikdash that is the temple Zadok was the first
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  to serve as its high priest Zadok and his descendants displayed loyalty and commitment to
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  Hashem and the house of Zadok is thus considered dear to God