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836: Bible Study: Ezekiel 14 (Why God allows Bad things to Happen) · Faith by annm2705

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Ezekiel chapter 14 Dear God, please open our eyes as we read
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through this and let your Holy Spirit give us wisdom and
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insight as we read through this and apply it to our lives.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So chapter 14, the title in my
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study Bible is Idolaters Condemned.
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And this is an interesting thing that even though this is
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applying to the people of Jerusalem or Israel, this is
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also something that applies to us because this is part of the
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10 commandments. You shall have no other gods
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before me is one of the 10 commandments that God gave all
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of us. So in that way, in that sense,
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it's applicable to us as well. And I know when I used to think
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about idolatry that I didn't have any idols in my life.
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I was like, I don't worship anything else, you know?
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Like, I know God, I know who God is and Jesus and the Holy
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Spirit, but I don't worship anything else.
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But when you really look at, you know, what is idolatry and you
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look at how it can easily creep in and maybe you're not even
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aware of it. At least that's how I felt like
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it was probably happening with me.
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If God is not your priority, then something else is.
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So you have to think about how you spend your time and what are
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the non negotiables, What things in your life you just would say,
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well, I'm definitely going to do this and these other things, if
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I get if I have enough time, I'll do them.
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But here is my priority. This is what I have to do.
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Well, what is that? Or this is where I want to be or
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this is what I want to do or who I want to be with or any of
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that. I mean, just ask those questions
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and think about who is that that comes to mind or what is it that
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comes to mind? And if it's not God, then that's
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a potential idol for us. And, and so I think that, you
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know, if we look at the way Scripture was written, the way I
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did originally was thinking like these little worship statues or
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something like that, I was like, I don't have any of that, You
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know, I, I'm not an idolatry. But then if I asked myself those
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questions years ago, God wasn't my priority and and I had to go
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through a humbling experience in order for in order to wake up.
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Is the way I look at it that I was just not seeing things.
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I wasn't paying attention and I didn't know a lot.
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But I realized that after reading the Bible how it applies
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to me. Anyway, let's get started.
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So some of the elders of Israel came to me.
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This is Ezekiel talking and sat down in front of me.
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Then the word of the Lord came to me, Son of man.
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These men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked
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stumbling blocks before their faces.
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So this is really interesting because the elders are coming to
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Ezekiel. They know he's getting word from
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God. And immediately when Ezekiel is
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face to face with these elders, God speaks to him.
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I mean that Ezekiel has such a great relationship with God.
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And I don't know, like, I, I know there are other people who
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claim to have that as well. And they may, I don't have that.
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Like maybe sometimes a thought can come into my mind.
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And I think that's could be from God based on the result of it or
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what it is, like a thought that comes into my mind.
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But here it's just seems like it's so clear to him.
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And I don't know how a person gets to that point or what a
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person does, or if it's just God's chosen appointed. 1 And
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that's why he gets messages like this, because he has a purpose.
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And his purpose is to communicate to the people of
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Israel what God is saying. But just kind of interesting,
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like to just think about that. Think if you were just like
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meeting up with someone and all of a sudden God gives you this
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word. I mean, I've heard people say
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this about, you know, when God has an interaction with someone
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and someone who like a stranger will come up and God will tell
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this person something personal about that other person that
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there's no way they could know. And because of that, the person
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has led to belief, to salvation through that.
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So God does these mysterious things with people who are
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willing and submitted to him. And apparently Ezekiel was, I
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mean, God put him, made him do very strange things to get the
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attention of the people of Israel.
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But that just shows the links at what God will do to reach a
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person. OK, so here.
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So God's talking to him and saying, should I, you know, the
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next part is these people are coming to Ezekiel.
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They have these idols. So God is not their priority.
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And they're coming to Ezekiel for insight or advice or
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something. And God says, should I let them
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inquire of me at all? And here's another interesting
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thing. Just that line was these people
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are not going directly to God, they're going to Ezekiel to hear
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about God, which is interesting. Therefore, speak to them and
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tell them this is what the sovereign Lord says.
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When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put
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a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a
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prophet, I, the Lord, will answer them myself in keeping
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with their great idolatry. I thought that was kind of
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interesting too. So God is going to be the one
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who responds to them and He gives a reason why in the next
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verse five. I will do this to recapture the
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hearts of the people of Israel who have all deserted me for
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their idols. So again, we can see why God's
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going to do what He does, and the purpose is to bring the
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people back to Him. They've deserted him, but he
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wants to turn their hearts back-to-back to himself.
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Therefore, say to the people of Israel, this is what the
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sovereign Lord says, repent, turn from your idols and
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renounce all your detestable practices.
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So this is something that people don't like to hear.
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Repent, change. You've got to change.
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You can't stay this way, and that's what Ezekiel is saying to
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refresh your mind. Get back to God.
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Get out of what you're doing right now because this is not
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going to lead anywhere that is going to.
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It's not going to be good for you when any of the Israelites
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or other foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from
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me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked
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stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet
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to inquire of me. I, the Lord, will answer them
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myself. So he's saying it again that
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he's going to do that. And it's He said that when they
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separate themselves from me. Well, that's what sin is.
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When we stay in sin, we are separating ourself from God and
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setting up idols in their hearts that so that doesn't mean that
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there's actually a statue that they're worshipping, but they
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have something else that's there that's in their heart that's
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greater than God. Like God is not the priority
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anymore and they put a wicked so it's something evil.
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When you look at the surrounding Pagan religions, they were
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worshipping other gods like Baal and Molech and stuff like and
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things like that, entities like that, and they were sacrificing
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their children to these entities as well.
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So he says, I, the Lord, will answer them.
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I will set my face against them and make them an example and a
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byword. I will remove from, I will
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remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the
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Lord. So he responds to these people
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by turning away from them and separating them.
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So when someone, when someone is being humbled by God, he is
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going to separate, put somebody into isolation.
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I can relate to that in my life. And if the prophet is enticed to
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utter a prophecy, I the Lord have noticed that, wait, I the I
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the Lord have enticed that prophet and I will stretch my
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hand against him and destroy him from among my people, Israel.
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So this is something else that when I read that, I was thinking
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that if a prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord
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have enticed that prophet. I, you know, here's a couple
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things. First of all, God controls
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everything. So I think in today's world, we,
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we make excuses for a lot of different things and we will say
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that God isn't, you know, well, some things are just natural
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consequences or you just natural things that happen and God isn't
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behind that. The more I read the Bible, I
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think God is behind everything and just like he, he will allow
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evil and, and I think, you know, if that shocks people, you have
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to think about it from a greater perspective that this time here
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on earth is short and even. You know, if we are right with
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God, if we are, if we die, that means we are present with
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Christ. So that's not a bad thing.
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That's a really good thing. It's much better than where we
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are here. And, and so when we try to hang
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on to what we have here on the earth instead of really thinking
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about this and thinking that life with God is so much better
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than what we have here on earth, Here on earth is broken.
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There's evil here and there will be a Kingdom that God will bring
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to the earth that will no longer have evil in it.
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It's still thousands of years away, or 1000, at least 1000
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plus years away, but it'll eventually come.
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And apparently there's actually evil up in heaven until they get
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kicked out. I think about the time that
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Jesus returns. But until then they have, there
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are basically angels. They can go back and forth from
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earth to heaven and they have access.
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They have access to God. And we know from the book of Job
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that there was a conversation between Satan and God.
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And then there's other times where God is having he's like in
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a, in a council. I forgot what book it was, but
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God was saying, you know, I need this person to do this specific
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thing. So we look at the sovereignty of
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God, like God is in control of everything, but he also gave us
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all free will, including the angels.
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And everyone is able to choose what they want to do.
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But because of God's sovereignty, he can use their
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natural desires to accomplish his will and his purpose.
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So ultimately, God either allows something to happen and he can
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stop something. But we just we just really need
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to contemplate, think about heaven, think about God's
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Kingdom and and not be so narrow minded as to thinking that this
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earth is all we have and the earth is the greatest thing.
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Whatever we accomplish on earth is the greatest thing.
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It's not it's not going to be the greatest thing no matter
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what we do on earth. I mean, there's there's
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something so much greater ahead and not to be short sighted
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about the earth, but because it's AAI guess an unseen for
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most people, the future Kingdom. There's, you know, not an
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awareness or a visual of it. John actually alludes a little
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bit to what some of it is like. It is just like the way he's
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describing it. I don't know if we could take
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those things literal or those are the the only way that he
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could describe the beauty that he saw.
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And that's in I think Revelation chapters 21 and 22 where he
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describes God's Kingdom that will come down to earth.
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And it's, you know, if you think the most beautiful man made
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structure there is, God's going to top that because God's the
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creator, he can create anything more beautiful than anyone here
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on earth could ever create. So getting back to scripture,
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let's see we'll read OK about this is about enticing.
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Now I also know that God does not tempt people.
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It's the evil one who does, but he can use the evil 1 to do
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this. So at this one, I kind of lost
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my train of thought when I was talking earlier about the
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counsel of God when he was, he was had these other, I guess
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angels in front of him and he was asking angels and spirits
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and he was asking who will go out and entice this person to do
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this thing? And one spirit stepped forward
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and said, I will be the deceiving spirit.
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So God didn't do it. He let some deceiving spirit go
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ahead and do it. And basically God said, OK, you
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can go ahead and do that. And so this, you know, does God
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want to be deceptive or anything like that?
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Not necessarily, but he does want to accomplish a purpose.
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And if somebody is far from him, he could let a deceiving spirit
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influence a person. I, I see some of that today
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where somebody who is not close to God is responding to
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something that does not seem like it's from God, but it is
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like a spiritual experience that they're talking about.
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And I don't want to say any names about it, but it's, it's
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very clear to me that this is what's happening and it's
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causing this person to like almost be like crazy.
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And a lot of people are noticing this, unfortunately, because it
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is a person that I did respect at one point.
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And anyway, then it says in verse 9, and if the prophet is
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enticed to utter a prophecy, I, the Lord have enticed that
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prophet, I will stretch out my hand against him and and destroy
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him from among my people. So he's going to let the prophet
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do what the prophet wants to do, but he's also going to destroy
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him. So they will bear their guilt.
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The prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him.
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Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor
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will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins.
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They will be my people and I will be their God, declares the
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sovereign Lord. So even when Israel is doing all
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these horrible things, they've chosen somebody.
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Think about this like think about, just try to think what it
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would be like. We can't even do this, like
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think about what it would be like to be in God's position,
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but we can think about it in human a human sense about in our
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own lives. Just think about if you are
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really, if somebody is really close to you and then they
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completely go against you and it's hurt you.
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I don't even know, You know, there's so many different
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circumstances that could happen between two people, but that's
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like what God is talking about is that somebody that God cares
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so much for is completely rejected him, even though he
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keeps giving. He gave him good things.
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He gave him everything like he gave everything he could
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possibly give, like and promises and rewards and all these
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things, but even them knowing that they chose to go elsewhere.
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I mean, it doesn't really make sense, but that's what happens
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in the world and that's what we do with God too.
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Verse 12 the the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, if
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a country sins against against me by being unfaithful and I
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stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and
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send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals.
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Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they
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could only save themselves by their righteousness declares the
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Lord. There's a lot in here.
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So this is something that a lot of people that the more I read
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the Bible, I think I, I do believe that God is, he can
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control things. He, you know, he may rescue a
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small number of people from a disaster, but when disasters
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strike, I think it's God allows it to happen.
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Because if we say that God doesn't allow it to happen, that
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would mean that God is not in control and he is in control,
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But there's a a reason for it. And I know when I first started
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coming to faith, I was, and a lot of people have the questions
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like, if God is good, then why does he let this bad stuff
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happen? Well, there's quite a number of
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reasons for that, at least what I found in the Bible.
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And I can think of three of them.
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And I don't think I've actually found more than three reasons
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why one of them is a consequence of sin.
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So either people's bad choices, you know, I guess evil choices
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and it's a consequence of that. And then another one would be,
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and I guess that's where a lot of it comes from.
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Is is consequence of sin, a consequence of evil, of evil
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being present That that just that that does happen.
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Why does God not stop it? We don't know, but we can trust
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that there is a good reason why. And the other reason why God
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allows things to happen is to test.
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The book of Job is a perfect example of that.
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Job was righteous and yet God allowed him to be tested, but he
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didn't lose his soul. The most important thing we have
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is our soul and where our soul will spend eternity.
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So even though the physical things of the earth and actually
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his family, Job's family, if Job's family was righteous like
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him, that means that when they were killed by evil, that means
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they would be in God's Kingdom. So Job will have that restored.
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So that will come someday back to him.
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In fact, now since it was in the past a long time ago, Job is
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probably with his family in God's Kingdom right now.
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So it is restored and he is away from the pain and suffering of
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this earth. But this whole book talked about
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how Job was righteous, but things were taken away from him.
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But God also said to Satan, you cannot have his soul.
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But he took everything from even inflicted Job, Job's health.
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But there was a purpose behind it.
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It was to test Job, because Job had always been righteous, it
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sounded like. And Satan even said, well, yeah,
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of course he likes you God, because you've always, you put
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this hedge of protection around him.
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So nothing bad has happened to him.
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He's always had good things. So of course he's going to be,
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you know, favor, he's going to respond favorably to you.
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But what if he doesn't have all those good things?
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Then how is he going to react to you?
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And so God allowed that to happen.
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But he said, you know, no matter what, you cannot have his soul.
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And, and Job couldn't understand why.
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And all of Job's friends were accusing him, saying, Job, you
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must have done something wrong. You've got to confess.
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Basically, you got to repent and turn to God, and then this stuff
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will stop. But his friends were wrong.
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They didn't understand. They didn't know that it wasn't
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anything that Job had done, but God allowed it to test him.
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The third reason why I've seen in Scripture why God would allow
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bad things to happen was for God's glory when he restores.
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And when I think about this, I think about the blind man, the
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man who was blind from birth and his eyesight was restored and it
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was, Jesus restored it and his disciples, you know, I guess it
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was his disciples or people asked, you know, was this
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because of his family sinning? Was this a consequence of sin
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basically? Because so people got that
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point, they understood that there was, there is a
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consequence of, of sin that can affect us in the natural sense,
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But they were, they were confused.
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They're like, well, you know, did his family sin?
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Is that why he's blind? And Jesus said, no, it's because
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the so the glory of God would be revealed if you start paying
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attention to the miracles that occurred.
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Pretty much they were all to reveal God to people.
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It wasn't necessarily to give the people what they were asking
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for. That was kind of like a side
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benefit. But if you really look at the
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true intention that is expressed in Scripture, it's to give glory
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to God. So that's always interesting
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when you think about that. That's why when we pray for
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miracles to happen, we don't know if it's going to bring more
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glory to God or not. And God may allow something we
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don't want to happen because ultimately it will lead more
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people to him or bring people closer to him.
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So there's a lot of things that God can do with something that
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is is not good. An untimely death of a person
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that is respected in a community or a young child.
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Those those things just don't seem like they're right.
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But we have to remember two things.
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Number one, they'll be with God. So their life is shortened and
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they're out of the pain of this world and the evil of this world
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in the love loving presence of God, which is where anyone who
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believes would prefer to be, even people who've had near
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death experiences, they would rather be with God than back
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here on earth. And then the other thing is just
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to show the glory of God, sometimes with an untimely
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death, people will start rethinking their own lives and
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will think about, they will turn to God and they will start
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wondering like what if I had an untimely death, would I be with
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God or would I be separated from God?
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So God can use that as well. I think the more the longer we
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look at it and the more we read scripture, we can understand
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some of those things. And and sometimes God, like for
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example, Paul, I think he talks about a thorn in his flesh that
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he was praying that God would take it away.
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But it sounds like it was something that kept him from
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being prideful because God hates pride.
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And if Paul didn't have whatever this thorn in his flesh was, he
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would become very prideful. So God humbled him by having
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that. And you know, maybe God's is
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humbling someone by something and it's kind of for their
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protection because if they didn't have it, they would all
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of a sudden be puffed up with pride and then maybe lose their
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salvation because of it. Not lose their, but not have
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salvation. Maybe they, you know, wouldn't
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have the need for God. There's a whole lot of things.
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So we don't ultimately we don't know all the reasons why, but
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I'm just bringing to, I'm just talking about the ones that I've
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seen in Scripture because I was searching that myself, wondering
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those same questions. And, and I feel comfortable
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knowing those things, even though that means we don't
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really know every circumstance why God does what he does, but
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we can trust him and know that he is a good God.
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And ultimately he is going to restore it.
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So even if it's not restored here on earth in his Kingdom, it
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will be restored and God rewards accordingly.
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Like if somebody really suffered here on earth, don't you
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believe, I mean, Scripture says it like God is probably going to
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elevate that person in his Kingdom.
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It's like the last shall be first and the first shall be
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last. So God's Kingdom is, is
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different than the way we we have things, the way we
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understand things here on earth. Anyway, let's go back to
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Scripture. So, so OK, the whole thing
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about, OK, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful
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and I stretch out my hand against it and cut off its food
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supply and send famines upon it and kill its people and their
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animals. Like I think we should pay
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attention to famines where they occur.
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I think we need to pay attention to natural occurrences.
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I think we need to pay attention.
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If something happens to us, we should be asking God, why?
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What is this? Would you reveal to me why this
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is happening? What's the reason?
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What am I supposed to learn from this?
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What am I supposed to do as a result of this?
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To seek God? Because that's ultimately what
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he wants is for us to seek him. And so I don't believe it when
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people say, oh, it's just natural occurrences.
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Well, if you want to call it natural occurrences, yes, but
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God's in charge of all of it. So God allowed it to happen.
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Even evil things, God can allow for a good purpose for those who
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love him. And I think it said love and
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obey him. I don't, I don't know, I can't
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remember that verse completely. But anyway, and then it says
28:29
even if these three men, Daniel and Noah, Daniel and Job were in
28:34
it, they could they could save only themselves by their
28:39
righteousness. Now I can see somebody using
28:42
this out of context and say, well, save themselves by their
28:46
righteousness. I thought we weren't, you know,
28:48
we didn't save ourselves by our righteousness, which we don't.
28:53
It's not that is not the point here.
28:56
Jesus is how we are saved, His death on the cross, his death
29:00
and resurrection. However, the righteousness we
29:04
can see in all these people, if we think about their stories,
29:07
was Noah. There were eight people in all
29:11
that were saved on Noah's ship. So righteousness is character,
29:17
actions and obedience. If we use that to describe what
29:21
righteousness represents, character actions and obedience,
29:26
God told Noah to build an ark. People were probably making fun
29:31
of them. Like, what are you going to do?
29:32
I think at that point it hadn't rained and there was only like,
29:35
I think the ground was watered from springs below.
29:39
I'm not sure if I have that right, but somewhere I heard
29:43
that and I did look it up. But anyway, he was there was
29:51
never a storm that was that great.
29:53
We can say that for sure. And Noah is building this
29:56
massive ark. And don't you think that people
30:01
would have been really questioning and thinking he was
30:03
probably some crazy man, But he heard from God and he was
30:08
obedient. And I'm sure he put up with a
30:11
lot of mockery. And I'm sure at some point he
30:14
probably was thinking, boy, I hope you're, I really heard from
30:17
you, God, because I'm pretty much going out on a limb doing
30:20
all of this right now, building what you say to build.
30:24
Maybe he doubted him. Maybe he didn't.
30:26
Maybe he heard God so clearly and believed it, believed so
30:32
clearly that he didn't even doubt.
30:33
You know, it doesn't really say that Noah doubted or that he
30:37
didn't. He just says he was obedient.
30:40
The same thing for Daniel. Daniel was apparently a teen
30:43
when he was taken into exile in Babylon.
30:48
But just think about this. You were in a a country you've
30:52
never been to before. They worship different things.
30:55
There's none of your traditions or customs.
30:58
They've probably killed, slaughter a lot of people that
31:00
you saw, but some were taken and some were slaughtered.
31:05
So think about the fear, being a teenager and seeing some foreign
31:12
army come in and destroy everything you knew there where
31:16
you grew up. And it's all being destroyed and
31:19
people are being killed and then you're captured and you're LED
31:22
away to another land. And in his boldness, when King
31:28
Nebuchadnezzar set up the statue and told everybody they had to
31:32
worship it, the statue, Daniel didn't.
31:35
He went out on his balcony. So he was out in public and he
31:39
was praying like he did every single time before.
31:43
It did not change his obedience to God and and there were so
31:49
many different ways that God that God blessed him and there's
31:53
so many different ways that he was obedient to God.
31:57
So character actions and obedience.
31:59
Yes, Daniel. I mean, so many times God saved
32:03
him from things like when he was thrown into the den of diet, the
32:07
lions and an Angel came and shut their mouths so they didn't harm
32:12
him overnight. And when he was with Shadrach,
32:17
Meshach and Abednego, which were their Babylonian names, and King
32:21
Nebuchadnezzar put them in a furnace.
32:25
And then they had, they were obedient to God, the three of
32:30
them. And Nebuchadnezzar actually saw
32:32
someone walking around that said he'd look like the son of a God
32:36
of the gods, which was probably Jesus or could be.
32:39
And they all came out without being burned.
32:42
Yet people who threw them into the furnace, the soldiers that
32:45
threw them into the furnace, they themselves died doing it.
32:49
Several people died. So you can see how God spares
32:54
someone who is righteous and someone who who is obedient.
32:59
And then Job, we did talk about, you know him already.
33:02
So those three, it's really clear to me, you know, how
33:06
devoted they were to God and how they were, how obedient they
33:11
were to God, and therefore God saved them.
33:17
Then verse 15 or if I send wild beasts throughout, oh, I did
33:21
want to read something else. So this famine, if a country
33:26
sins against me by being unfaithful, God sends famine.
33:32
We need, we need to look at where famine comes from.
33:35
And it's something that I think in the United States we need to
33:38
pay attention to because in the future, during the the seals in
33:44
the Book of Revelation says there is a famine, there's
33:47
scarcity. And this is something that may
33:51
apply to us in the future. And if we are not faithful to
33:57
God, this is what it's this is what God did against Israel.
34:02
And if he treats all of us the same, should we not expect this?
34:06
Think about this. Remember the like the I think
34:10
this might have been the first one that at least that's coming
34:12
to my mind. Egypt, there was a great famine.
34:17
Why do you think God sent the famine?
34:20
Did he do it for the same reason that he's saying here.
34:23
If a country sins against me by being unfaithful, Egypt had all
34:27
these other gods that they worshipped, so it makes sense
34:32
that a famine went there. And if you look at Deuteronomy
34:37
chapter 28, it tells Israel these are blessings and curses,
34:43
and one of them is famine. The curses that would come upon
34:46
if they were disobedient to God, if they no longer followed his
34:49
commands or they had other gods, especially other gods, idolatry.
34:54
So and that's really what God is talking about being unfaithful,
34:56
having another, having something else as a priority.
35:00
So I think that's something that we need to people in the US need
35:05
to pray for our country and pray for other countries too, that
35:11
people turn to God. Because if we turn to God just
35:16
like the way God did before, he might relent, He might not bring
35:20
about things. There's certainly a lot of
35:22
things in the United States that are against God.
35:25
And more so. In fact, I actually saw
35:28
something that was really disturbing to me that there was
35:31
a Baptist Church that was hosting a drag show and saying
35:37
that they were an affirming church.
35:39
So that's shocker. You would not expect that out of
35:43
a Baptist Church. In fact, I heard about it and I
35:45
thought that can't be true. And I looked it up on their
35:48
event calendar and saw that it actually was.
35:52
And it's, it's not that people should be unkind to people who
36:01
are, I'll just say lost who don't know God, but they should
36:07
have a the church should have compassion for these people,
36:12
which they don't. If they are affirming people to
36:17
continue to live in their sin and applauding it and
36:22
celebrating it, that's not the same as leading someone to
36:27
Christ who can repair that brokenness within a person
36:32
because that is not God's intention.
36:34
And if we look at Scripture, we can see where Scripture says
36:38
that those who do those kinds of things will not be in the
36:41
Kingdom of God, along with a lot of other things.
36:43
So that's not one that's people shouldn't single out that one
36:47
thing. I think if we read those verses,
36:50
there's like 4 verses actually, it's in my testimony and you can
36:57
find that from my website where there's a link to it on the
37:02
navigation page. But anyway, it, it just, you
37:10
can't, I don't know, you can't be, you can't lie to people and
37:18
tell them. I guess the verses, that's why I
37:21
talked about my testimony was there were 4 verses that were
37:23
very impactful to me. And when I read the Bible and
37:28
what it made me think of is if I continue in the path I'm living
37:31
right now, I will not be in God's Kingdom.
37:34
I needed to repent. And there's some like in the
37:40
Book of Revelation, I know chapters 21 and 22 have it and
37:44
Paul has it. I think it's in Galatians
37:46
chapter 5. Like Living according to the
37:48
Flesh. And then I in one of the
37:51
Corinthians books, and I can't remember which book it was, but
37:53
there were four different verses that say the same thing about
37:57
maybe you should. They can't enter the Kingdom of
38:01
God like like I told you before, as I've told, I tell you now, as
38:05
I told you before, that those who live like this will not
38:07
inherit the Kingdom of God. And that's a big rude awakening.
38:11
So I don't think it's loving to affirm someone in their sin
38:16
because essentially you are sending them to hell and God can
38:22
restore them to the person that he intended them to be.
38:27
And that goes that holds true. It's not we're not singling out
38:30
a specific person because I think most of us can probably
38:34
find something in those list of things that says those will not
38:38
be in God's Kingdom. And The thing is that Paul says
38:43
is that's what some of you were, you know, until God changed our
38:48
life through the Holy Spirit. When we receive, when we believe
38:51
in Jesus, Jesus is the the one who sends the Holy Spirit to us,
38:57
and the Holy Spirit will begin to restore our lives to the way
39:03
that God created us to be. So it's not that we stay in this
39:08
condition. God wants us to come as we are,
39:11
but we don't stay that way. If we are willing, then God will
39:16
change us through the power of his Holy Spirit.
39:22
So righteousness does matter. OK, verse 15.
39:27
Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it
39:31
childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass
39:34
through it because of the beast, as surely as I live, declares
39:38
the sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they
39:41
could not save their own sons or daughters.
39:45
They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
39:49
Now that's concerning too, because a parent is unable to
39:54
save their son or daughter. So it's very clear here.
39:59
I think he repeats it a couple times and we can pray.
40:04
For sons and daughters, but we can't save sons and daughters.
40:09
It it's up to every single person because it's a personal
40:13
relationship with God and it's God's Kingdom.
40:16
And if we're going to live in God's Kingdom, we need to be
40:20
willing to obey the rules, the laws of the Kingdom.
40:26
So verse 17. Or if I bring a sword against
40:29
that country and say, let the sword pass through the land, and
40:33
I kill its people and their animals, as surely as I live,
40:36
declares the sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in
40:40
it, they could not save their own sons or daughters.
40:45
They alone would be saved. Or if I send a plague into that
40:50
land and pour out my wrath on it with through bloodshed, killing
40:54
its people and their animals as surely as I live, declares the
40:57
sovereign Lord. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job
41:00
were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter.
41:05
He so he said that three times. A lot of times when God says
41:08
something important, it's emphasized 3 times.
41:12
They could. They would save only themselves
41:15
by their righteousness. God knows everything we do, so
41:21
it does matter. How we live does matter, for
41:25
this is what the Sovereign Lord says.
41:27
How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my 4
41:32
dreadful judgments, sword, famine and wild beast and plague
41:41
to kill its men and their animals?
41:43
Yet there will be some survivors, some are sons and
41:50
daughters who will be brought out of it.
41:52
They will come to you and when you see their conduct and their
41:57
actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have
42:03
brought on Jerusalem. Every disaster I have brought on
42:07
it, you will be consoled when you see their conduct and their
42:12
actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it
42:17
without cause, declares the sovereign Lord.
42:21
Now that last part, the study Bible had a different
42:24
perspective than I did on it. So I'm going to read what the
42:28
study Bible said, and I think there are a couple different
42:30
ways to look at this. So a study Bible says, what
42:34
consolation could a few survivors give?
42:38
And it says God would allow a few of Jerusalem's godless
42:42
people to survive the coming judgment and go into exile.
42:46
When the Jews already in Babylonian exile saw first hand
42:50
the wickedness of this later group of exiles, they would be
42:54
convinced that God's judgment of the city was well deserved and
42:59
necessary. This would reassure the Exiles
43:02
because they would realize that Jerusalem's tragic fall was the
43:07
outworking of God's justice, not an indiscriminate divine action
43:13
of a sign of weakness on his part.
43:16
Now when I read it, I had a different perspective.
43:19
I was thinking the survivors. There would be some survivors
43:22
and then you would be consoled because you would see their
43:26
conduct and their actions. So I'm thinking maybe these
43:28
people, in the midst of their disaster that they were
43:31
experiencing, they would repent and they would be grateful that
43:38
they survived, that they were spared from this.
43:42
And because it says like a couple times when you see their
43:46
conduct and their actions, you will be consoled.
43:49
But it does say for you will know that I have done nothing in
43:54
it without cause. So I would say that usually
43:59
God's caught our God's reason for doing something is to bring
44:03
people back to him. So would this be a humbling or a
44:08
repentance that is being seen from these people?
44:12
Like there was a purpose in it. It was destruction.
44:14
But look at what these people who came out of it, it they
44:17
changed, you know, that's another way of looking at it.
44:20
So I don't know which is right, but I think it's, it's
44:24
interesting how Bibles, you know, how the how Scripture can
44:28
be interpreted different ways From this.
44:33
I could see how it would be interpreted the way the study
44:37
Bible says, but I can also see it being interpreted another way
44:41
that you know, his whole purpose because that's what if you look
44:46
earlier into the chapter, he says, like when he's talking
44:50
through the prophets, he said, I will do this to recapture the
44:52
hearts of the people of Israel. All are who have all deserted me
44:57
for their idols. So God's not just, you know, he.
45:04
I don't know. We'll see because again, in the
45:07
very end, there are going to be 144,000 that will be spared
45:13
12,000 from specific tribes. In the Book of Revelation.
45:17
It talks about that. And these are good ones that
45:22
are, you know, have not defiled themselves.
45:26
So they are, I don't know, there's a lot more detail about
45:31
who they are and what they've done.
45:33
And but they were they're, they're good ones that God
45:37
spares in the very end. And then the other thing that I
45:42
noticed when the Bible talks about these different sword,
45:50
famine, wild beast and plague, when I read that this was
45:55
obviously coming on Jerusalem back in the time in the BC era
45:59
when Ezekiel was prophesying. I guess it was in 586 is when
46:05
this the second round happened apparently.
46:08
But in the Book of Revelation we see this happening at the 4th
46:12
seal and it says Revelation 6 verse 8.
46:19
I looked in there before me was a pale horse.
46:21
It's rider was named Death in Hades was following close behind
46:25
him. They were given power over a
46:28
fourth of the earth to kill by listen to the things four
46:34
things, sword, famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of the
46:38
earth. That's exactly what Ezekiel told
46:43
Jerusalem would happen in verse 21 from chapter 14.
46:49
He says for this is what the sovereign Lord says.
46:52
How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my 4
46:57
deadly judgments, sword, famine, wild beast and plague to kill
47:05
its men and their animals? Yet there will be some
47:08
survivors. So is Ezekiel, Is this another
47:11
doubly fulfilled prophecy where it was fulfilled in Jerusalem
47:18
already? But then there's also a future
47:21
since when it will also be, you know, it'll happen again.
47:26
I wondered, you know, did at the time of the Babylonian capture
47:32
or attack, whatever you want to call it was their famine and the
47:37
study by all or I searched that and then Second Kings chapter 25
47:44
verse 3 affirmed that there was a famine in this in Second Kings
47:50
chapter 25 verse three, it says by the 9th day of the fourth
47:55
month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was
48:02
no food for the people to eat. Then after it continues, then
48:08
the city wall was broken through and the whole army fled at night
48:12
through the gate between the two walls near the King's garden,
48:16
through the Babylonian or though the Babylonians were surrounding
48:19
the city. Now, this was when Zedekiah
48:22
tried to make his breakthrough from the siege.
48:26
So this was the historical account of what happened during
48:29
that time. So that is the the supporting
48:32
evidence that this prophecy was fulfilled that Ezekiel gave
48:37
because people certainly died from the sword.
48:40
They died from famine. And you know, we don't really
48:44
hear about the wild beast and plague.
48:47
I don't, I don't know. I mean, that's another question.
48:50
Like again, this could be a partially fulfilled.
48:53
I didn't search that before I did this podcast.
48:55
I don't know if wild beast, if there was any record of wild
48:58
beast destroying people or a plague destroying people.
49:02
It certainly recorded that in Egypt when that happened, the
49:06
first Exodus when they came out of Egypt.
49:09
But did it happen to Jerusalem? That's a big question.
49:12
So maybe this could be really essentially talking about the
49:16
very end of the age when this will happen.
49:19
And so reading about the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation, I
49:26
forgot what chapter. OK, that's in Chapter 7.
49:32
The 144 sealed and these people were protected from the wrath of
49:41
God. So let's see, that's about
49:47
that's that's definitely the end of chapter 14.
49:50
And I have a few more questions and answers in the study Bible
49:53
to read and then I'll wrap it up.
49:55
So it says. Why did these idolat, idolatrous
50:02
elders consult Ezekiel? Apparently the elders of Israel
50:05
had a significant enough communal concern to come to the
50:09
prophet for a word from the Lord.
50:11
It could have been that these particular elders bet.
50:14
It could have been that for these particular elders, bad
50:18
news was better than no news at all.
50:22
What were these idols in their hearts?
50:24
Idols in the heart are commitments and affections that
50:28
people allow to stand between them and God.
50:31
So that can apply to us today. Whatever our commitments or
50:36
affections are, that's that come in between US and God.
50:42
Do we have any commitments or affections that stand between US
50:46
and God? Good question to ask.
50:49
What were these detestable practices?
50:51
This was one of Ezekiel's favorite ways of referring to
50:54
Israel's idolatry and Pagan religious practices.
50:58
These practices included child sacrifice as well as the worship
51:01
of animal images, the Babylonian God Tammuz, and the sun God.
51:06
How did people remove someone from his people?
51:09
Some say this was excommunication, being removed
51:11
from the worship of God. Others say it was ostracism,
51:14
being banned from the community. Still others say that it was the
51:17
death penalty and that the person was executed either by
51:21
the community or by God himself. Why would God entice a false
51:26
prophet to prophecy? Sometimes God hastens the
51:29
destruction of rebellious people through influences that caused
51:34
them to fall deeper into depravity.
51:37
Such is the case here, where the Lord warned that He would judge
51:41
a prophet for Co operating with an idolater.
51:45
The passage does not say that God would overpower the prophet
51:49
and force him to sin against His will.
51:53
Rather, it assumes that the prophet was aware of the
51:56
enquirer's idolatry but minimized it, perhaps for
52:00
financial gain. Why were Noah, Daniel, and Job
52:04
singled out as a special as special examples?
52:07
Many biblical figures could have been listed as examples of
52:12
godliness. It is not clear why the Lord
52:14
specifically mentioned these men.
52:17
But righteousness, the character quality emphasized here and in
52:22
verse 20, was a prominent virtue of all three.
52:26
Noah is an especially appropriate choice because his
52:30
righteousness spared his immediate family from
52:32
destruction. The point here is that not even
52:37
these, not even these exemplary figures could have effectively
52:42
interceded for Ezekiel's sinful generation. 1 I want to make
52:46
that kind of expounds upon what this study Bible said about Noah
52:51
being because of his righteousness, spared his
52:55
immediate family his obedience to build the ark.
52:58
Yes, but it says in Hebrews that there were 8 righteous that God
53:04
determined. And I don't think God changes
53:07
what he says because it even says here if if those three men
53:11
were here, they couldn't even spare their own sons and
53:13
daughters. So I think we have to give some
53:14
credit to Noah's sons and daughters as to being righteous
53:19
or God considered them righteous otherwise he wouldn't have
53:21
spared them. The same kind of holds true for
53:25
Sodom and Gomorrah. When the angels went there, they
53:28
gave warning they were going to actually save all of Lot's
53:33
family, his wife, his two daughters and their future
53:37
husbands. There were going to be 123456
53:41
people that were saved, but only three ended up being saved.
53:45
Half the people and that's another interesting thing to
53:49
just ponder on because that's also what it says about the 10
53:54
virgins, the parable that Jesus talked about, there's ten of
53:57
them, but only five were prepared.
54:00
And when the other five came back, what they felt they were
54:04
prepared, the door was shut and they couldn't enter.
54:07
So the same, you know, you think about like what happened to Lot.
54:12
God was merciful. He remembered Abraham and he was
54:16
going to spare Lot's family, but the Angel gave his wife and all
54:21
of them said, don't look back. She looked back.
54:24
So she died. And the the men that his
54:29
daughters were supposed to be married to, they just didn't
54:33
believe him. They didn't think he was really,
54:36
you know, they, I guess they just like thought he was just
54:39
being crazy or something. They didn't believe this was
54:41
actually going to happen and because of their disbelief, they
54:45
didn't make it. So those are things that we can,
54:50
those are examples of the way God has worked in the past that
54:55
could be applicable to us. And so then it says, why would
55:03
why would even Noah, Daniel, Joe and Job been unable to save
55:08
their children from the coming judgment?
55:11
The prophet was not making a blanket statement here about the
55:13
father's sins and righteousness being passed on to the next
55:17
generation. He was using heightened imagery
55:21
to reveal definitiveness of the coming judgment.
55:24
Nothing they or their righteous parents might do, might do,
55:30
could repel the coming judgement.
55:32
Why? Because Israel's sin was so
55:34
widespread and devastating, when does it become impossible to
55:39
escape judgement? God is patient with rebellious
55:43
people and gives them ample opportunity to turn from their
55:46
wicked ways. That opportunity, however, does
55:50
not last forever. That's something that we all
55:53
need to think about, like if if we are still living and if we
55:58
are still living and we are not living in accordance with the
56:01
way God says we should live. God is being merciful.
56:05
He hasn't taken our life because God is the one who decides when
56:10
our life is going to end. And we shouldn't take it for
56:14
granted that we're going to have many, many, many more days
56:18
because God could say, OK, your time's up.
56:21
That was another thing that I read about in the Bible.
56:23
That also created a sense of urgency in me realizing that
56:29
looking back, reflecting on my life and thinking about probably
56:33
the opportunities that I could have made different choices, but
56:36
I didn't. And thinking about like, God
56:39
might just get tired of putting up with me.
56:42
He might just get tired of sparing life and and then just
56:47
say, OK, I've given you enough opportunities and you've not
56:51
done what is right. So now you're going to you know,
56:56
that's that's the end. And that was something that I
56:59
didn't want to have happen to me.
57:01
And I think, I don't know. I think I'm it's the wiser thing
57:07
to do, cautious thing maybe. But anyway, it says after
57:12
sufficient time God decrees judgment against incorrigible
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sinners because of their refusal to repent.
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So it's not just me saying it, but it was something that I I
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read about as well. So anyway, that's the end of
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chapter 14, and this is probably not a an episode that people
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will want to subscribe to because it's not full of really
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good things to say. However, God is good and it's
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just important that we see God for who he is and it we always
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need to look at our lives and see like, what do we need to do?
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I mean, the good thing about having the Bible convict us is
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that we have the opportunity to change and we can repent and
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turn to God. No matter what we've done, we
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can be restored by God. So there is hope in that and
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there is a future Kingdom that will, where God will have his
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rewards for all the people for what they've done.
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So it's something to look forward to and strive for and to
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be excited about. But anyway, hope you come back
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for chapter 15 next time. And if you're not subscribed
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and, and are daring enough to do so, please subscribe.
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And if you think this is good, then share it with somebody
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else. And I hope you stay in the Word
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and your faith increases and that we all get closer to God
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through this.