Another Axe Head Interpretation

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

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This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good

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morning everyone.

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It is Monday, October the twenty first, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently nine fifty seven am Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, ladies and gentlemen,

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I know it's fast approaching October the thirty first, and

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for some people that's Reformation Day. For other people that's Halloween.

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But this is the time of year that a lot

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of times people start talking about well, frightening things, things

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that go bump in the night. And right now I

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am being frightened. Right now, I am being scared. Right now,

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I am being haunted by a floating axehead.

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It will not go away.

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Wherever I turn, there's the floating axe head. And then

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I turn this way, there's the floating axe head. And

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I go to sleep and I see the floating axe head,

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and I hear the floating axe head keep whispering to me.

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I am never going away. I Am never leaving you.

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Okay, all right, Maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration.

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Maybe that's a little bit of hyperbole, but I feel

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like I cannot escape the floating axe head no matter.

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What I do. But here we are. This all started.

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It was a simple idea, let's do one of our

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sermon reviews. Oh, here's a sermon on Second Kings, chapter six,

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verses one through seven. All right, this should be somewhat interesting.

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I have a feeling I know which direction they're going

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to go. Right, So we started listening to the sermon,

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and as usual, they took Second Kings chapter six, verses

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one through seven, and all of a sudden, this represents this,

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and this represents this, presents this, and this represents this,

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and this represents this, and I'm like, oh, for crying

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out loud, does this ever stop? Does this ever end?

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And so it started bringing up all kinds of issues

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related to hermineutics, right.

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Hermeneutical principles.

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So we started we started looking at this and this,

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and we started looking at allegorical versus literal. We started

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looking at different hermaeutical principles. In fact, yesterday at Victory

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Baptist Church, I spent two plus hours going through hermonutical

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principles and you could hear in those two plus hours

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a lot of my frustration, my irritation just with I mean, look,

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I hate to see it. I know Christians get mad

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when I say this. Look, here's the reality of hermonutics

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within Christianity. People open the Bible, read the Bible and

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just make up whatever they want. That's just the reality

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of it. And you can say no, they don't know,

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yes they do. And if you look at the innumerable

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a number of interpretations offered over two thousand years of

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church history, everyone thinks their interpretation is right. Everyone thinks

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their interpretation is binding on everyone else. And now you

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say my interpretation is right, your interpretation is wrong. And

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it's just it's just it's basically everyone does what is

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right in their own eyes. It's complete chaos. It's confusion, confusion,

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and it's well, it's it's at times discouraging and depressing.

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And if you go back and look at all the

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messages we did last week about I mean, I mean,

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it got crazy, right, I mean, who reads Proverbs chapter

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thirty and the next thing you know, you're having a

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discussion that there's coming a time where they will eat

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poor people, and they will chop off their head, drink

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their blood, and eat their flesh. You're like, how in

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the world did you get there from Proverbs thirty? I know,

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I still don't know how we got there. That's how

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crazy it got just showing you. And the goal wasn't

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even at that point to try to show you how

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crazy Bible interpretation can be. We just kind of stumbled

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into it. So that's what we've been doing. I'm not

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going to go back and you everything. I mean, there's

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so many hours of teaching on.

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All of it.

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You should go back and just start listening to everything

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we've been doing over the last week, and you can

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listen to my messages from yesterday two plus hours going

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through hermeneutical principles. So this morning, I come up here

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to the studio, I sit down.

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I'm like, okay, so what's on the agenda today?

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Right, well, let me open up this sermons two point

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oh app let me go to newest sermons. And I'm like,

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you've got to be kidding me, because once again, what

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did I find?

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Second King's Chapter six? Eh? Yeah, I'm never leaving you alone.

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So I hit play for the first I don't know

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seven minutes, six minutes.

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They just read.

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They just read the entire chapter of Second King's chapter six.

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They just read it what thirty three verses if I

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remember correctly, and they just read it right, It's just

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just the pastor standing there reading the entire chapter. Then

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he kind of starts working through Second Kings Chapter six

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pretty straightforward. It seem like it's not gonna be too sensational.

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It's gonna be pretty straightforward. I'm thinking, Okay, well, maybe

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this is gonna hold to somewhat of a kind of

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a literal approach to some level, gonna handle this following

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some basic hermeneutical principles. And the next thing, you know, he's

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citing Matthew Henry and let the spiritualizing, the allegorizing of

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the text began. So I fast forwarded this to basically

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really close to where he's going to read the Matthew

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Henry quote, and then I'm going to we're gonna challenge

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how and look, and here's the thing. He didn't justify

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the interpretation. He just quoted Matthew Henry as being authoritative,

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as being dogmatic, and then just moved on. He didn't say, well,

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wait a minute, how did Matthew Henry come to this conclusion?

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What was the what let's let's justify it.

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Like like to me, I would have said, okay, ladies

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and gentlemen, let's take a famous commentary on Second Kings

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chapter six. Oh look, we have the Matthew Henry commentary here.

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All right everyone, here's what Matthew Henry said. So his

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hypothesis is that we can read Second King's chapter six

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about the floating axehead, and we can draw this principle.

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We can interpret it this way, we can apply it

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this way.

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All right.

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Now that's his hypotheses. Let's test it as a congregation.

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Let's test it now. I know people don't typically do

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church that way, but that's how I would do it.

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And I would be like, okay, let's test this, okay.

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Claim number one, claim number two, and then well, I

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don't even know how you would test some of these,

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because again it's just basically reading a story and just

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making up whatever you want.

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But okay, so we're gonna what we're gonna do is

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just listen to this.

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I don't want this to turn into I mean, typically

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these messages go an hour, hour and a half. I'm

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just going to basically let you hear their basic hypotheses

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that they put forth and then I'm gonna challenge it

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a little bit, and just because at some point, maybe

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if I keep talking about Second Kings, Chapter six and

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the floating accid, the floating act said will go away,

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all right, Maybe someone will just go ahead and get

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the floating act head out of the water and just

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go away and I never have to deal with this

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ever again. But the reality is, it's not about the

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floating ac set. See, that's what I think people are misunderstanding.

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It's not about the floating act sad. It's about the

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two thousand year history of how Christians have handled the

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Word of God. We can't even agree on the hermeneutical principle.

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We don't even agree on which hermoneutical system hermeneutical method

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should be utilized, and the average per and well, I

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don't want to go back through the problem. I spent

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almost an hour yesterday going through the history of the problem.

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But I just want to maybe if we address this enough.

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We can move on to something else.

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But it was there, so here we are, are you ready.

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It's not my fault, blame, my blame. The sermon's two point.

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Oh app all right, Remember this whole year is about

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just listening to random sermon on the sermon's two point

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oh app and so I mean, how could I pass

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up one that said Second King's Chapter six. Literally the

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title of it is Second Kings Chapter six are Second

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King six Old Testament.

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Spirit Scripture reading.

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So I thought, oh, well, maybe it's just a reading

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of Second But then I was like, it was thirty

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something minutes.

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I'm like, well, obviously it's going to do more than

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just reading it. So what is this? Well, here we go,

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here's what I heard. This jumps right into the middle.

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I think he's just now he's getting ready to mention

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verses four and five where they come down to the

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Jordan and the axe head falls, and then it'll go

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into verse.

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Six and seven.

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So I backed it up a little bit so that

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there's some context. I was just going to fast forward

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it right to where he reads. Matthew Henry may have

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been more effective.

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That way, but then someone would have.

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Said, you're taking it out of context. So here at

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least have some level of context.

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Verse three, verses four and five, they go to Jordan,

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they begin to cut, and a borrowed axe head slips

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off and fall into the Jordan river. Notice the extraordinary

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means employed verse six, He cut down a stick and

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cast it in.

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Thither you have a felled tree.

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Elisha takes an axe, cuts off one of the sticks,

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throws it in, and by God's power, that stick draws

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up the iron to the surface. The iron did swim,

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confirming the Elisha's words, his preaching, his doctrine. These miracles

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confirm these words.

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Now that's pretty text based right there, right hey, this

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miracle confirms the words of Elisha, confirms him being a prophet.

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Okay, all right, okay, you could.

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Say one of the main reasons for these miracles is

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to confirm him being a prophet, him being from God,

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God blessing his God, God blessing his ministry, you know,

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confirming that his words are from God, et cetera, et cetera,

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et cetera. Okay, that's all right, that's pretty good. All right,

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we could do something with that, right now, What do

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we take from that? What do we learn from that? Well,

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then it would raise a very important theological question.

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If the words of the prophets.

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Were confirmed by miracles and second Kings Chapter six, then

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how is that to be applied to us in twenty

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twenty four that the words of a pastor is confirmed

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by miracles. Well, many charismatics would carry on that idea,

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So how do we approach that? He said, Well, this

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was done at this time because they did not have

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the an errant, infallible Word of God completed. Right, So,

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and there were a lot of people walking around claiming

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to be prophets, so you had to have some way

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to confirm who was who was the true and who

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was the false? Okay, you can make some kind of

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argument like that. All right, there's a lot of directions

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you could go there, right, But.

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At least it's dealing.

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It's staying within realm of textual possibility. Right, at least

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that makes some form of sense that connects it to

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the history, that connects it to what's going on at

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that time.

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That it's still logically consistent. So all right.

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So I was like, okay, well this could be an

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example of handling it in a good way.

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Right.

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So I was kind of like, all right, that's interesting.

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It does raise lots of questions. Hmmm, okay, do I

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do anything with that? Well he didn't stop there.

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Matthew Henry comments.

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He says, God's grace can thus raise the stony heart,

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which has sunk into the mud of this world, and

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raise up affections naturally earthly to bring them above.

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Pray, God, give my.

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Heart no more stoniness as iron that sinks in water,

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but raise it up to you from the mud and

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the muck, even as he did here.

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Ray is us, o Lord, that we may not mind

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earthly things.

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As Paul says in Philippians three nineteen, that means to

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set your mind as if the horizon of where you

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can see is this world. That's all I can see

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are the things of this life. No, raise your eyes.

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Up to heaven. The son of the Prophet then takes.

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The There you have it.

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So wait a minute.

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So all of a sudden the axe head sinks, and

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that's us sinking into the muck and the mire of

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the world. And then then the stick being placed in

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is God miraculous rising us up again. You're supposedly giving

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us a new heart, removing us stony heart. Okay, that's

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from Ezekiel thirty six. If you look at Ezekiel thirty six,

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that has nothing.

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To do with us. That's with Israel.

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It literally says Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel.

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I'll give you a new heart. Then you'll go into

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the land that I promised your father's. There's no way

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to get so I don't even know where everyone runs

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to that constantly has nothing to do with us.

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But that's okay.

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So but all of a sudden, then it's raise us up,

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raise our affections. So we'll put our eyes on the

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things of God. But then he says, but raise your

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own eyes, put your own Well, so is it God

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doing it?

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Is that I'm doing it?

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And what has any of this got to do with

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an axe head sinking into water? Who gives Matthew Henry

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the authority to go to this text and say, wait, wait, wait,

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what we should take from this is, see, we are

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like the axe head. We fall into the water and

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we sink down. And then this is a being you know,

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we're we're we have sunked into the we have been

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swallowed up by this world, and so now we have

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to be raised up right.

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Well, wait a minute.

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First of all, the axe head is borrowed, so wait,

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so we are borrowed or it's our affections borrowed. Okay, wait,

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so now this gets all kinds of how does this work,

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but as and then we're we're supposedly raised up. But

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where do you get this? How do how does water

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represent this? How does the axe head represent this? Where

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do we show up in the tag? Where do our

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affection show up? Where does any of this show up

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in the text? Now, people love the Matthew Henry commentary.

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Oh that's so good, it's so devotional.

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It does my heart good.

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Well, something can sound spiritual, something may even you may

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even be very convicting and challenging and maybe even somewhat

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spiritually beneficial to.

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You, at least to some human level.

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The only problem is your benefit does not negate abusing

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the text or misapplying the text. I know you can

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view it from well, I liked it. It made me

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feel good, it benefited me, So that's all that matters.

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Now, what matters is our handling of the text.

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I love the fact that you were convicted by it,

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you're encouraged by it.

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You've great.

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It was a wonderful sermon. That's great, wonderful. If that's

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all you care about, great, someone has to say.

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But the text matters or does it not?

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Now?

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I think interpreting the miracle of the floating accent in

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Second Kings Chapter six as a picture of God raising

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us up spiritually or transforming us poses several philological and

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hermeneutical challenges. While the desire to find spiritual lessons in

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the text is understandable, such an interpretation can be very problematic.

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Let's look at a couple of possible issues. How about

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textual integrity and the author's intent. I mean, what, matt

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is it all about getting a spiritual lessons or is

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it about staying having some integrity of the text and

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trying to figure.

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Out what the author intended? You see?

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The primary issue with doing this to the text is

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once again you're allegorizing the text and it moves away

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from the historical and literary context of the narrative. The

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story is a part of the Elisha cycle, in which

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God works through his prophet to perform miracles, demonstrating his

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care for the people and the authority of Elisha as

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a prophet. Now, I do agree it shows his care

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for the people and it demonstrates Elisha's authority as a prophet.

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He did mention that that is awesome, But then immediately

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he goes into the Matthew Henry quote and he doesn't

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prove the Matthew Henry quote, doesn't justify the Matthew Henry.

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Quote, just states it that way. Oh okay, so what

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what did you go?

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Oh?

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I went to church and they were reading Second Kings

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chapter six, and I saw that. How the when the

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axe head fell into the water, that's us falling into

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the into the world and being overwhelmed by the world,

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and our affections get get messed up. But praise be

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to God. They put the stick in the water, and

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this is him raising me up, raising my affections so

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I can seek now the things in heaven and not

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the things on this earth.

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Oh wow, that sounded really good. That's some good preaching.

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Yeah, but what's the How about integrity to the text?

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How about the author's intent?

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There is no indication in the text itself that the

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floating act set is meant to represent spiritual transformation or

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any abstract philological concept. To impose such an interpretation risk

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distorting the author's intended meaning. The immediate purpose of the

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miracle appears to meet a practical need, the recovery of

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a valuable borrowed tool.

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Now listen, I got no problem.

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I will be the first to admit there's Sometimes you're

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reading a text you're like, hmm, this seems odd. This

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seems kind of this seems kind of weird, It seems

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out of place. There's something unique about it. I wonder

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if it's possible that this could be picturing this or

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this could be picturing. This seems kind of odd, right,

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maybe there's a clue here. So in some ways I

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could see Second King six, all of a sudden you

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go out all of these miracles, and then all of

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a sudden you got raising a flow an axehead that

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had sunk to the bottom of the of the Jordan, Like, hmm,

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is there.

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Is that possible?

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So I can see why, right, I can see why.

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But then this is how I would approach it. I'd

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be like, ladies and gentlemen. The following three things in

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this text gives me at least suspicion that there's more

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going on here. So let's try to put this with

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this and and see if it works textually, see if

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it works.

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In the in the story.

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Like the main key in Second King six is whatever

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you say this represents this or this represents this.

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You gotta go with the idea.

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Though it was borrowed So if you say it represents this,

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then how does that fit that it's borrowed. The whole

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key of this miracle is it's a borrowed axead. That's

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why losing it was such a big deal, because it

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was a very valuable tool at that particular time, and

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it's a historical and cultural context. It was borrowed. If

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you lose something that's borrowed, that's not good. And not

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only that it's very valuable. How are you going to

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pay the person back? So it seems insignificant and light

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of the other miracles, But then maybe that's the whole point.

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It demonstrates God's care for that which may seem insignificant.

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Maybe that is the key of the story. Maybe now

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I know we're we have desire to turn it into

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everything else, But maybe the key is I don't think

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there's any indication in this text that it represents anything,

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all right, The immediate purpose of the miracle appears to

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meet a practical need, the recovery of a valued borrowed tool.

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So when we look at the text, it's not about ooh,

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we can make this devotional, Ooh, we can make this practical.

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Who we can give some spiritual lessons because people in

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the church will get bored. No, it's about textual integrity

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and the author's intent, not your intent as a pastor

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to preach a sermon, but the author's intent.

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It's and if we believe all scripture is given.

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By inspiration of God, what was God's intended reason for

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placing this story in the text. Now some people say, well,

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but all scripture is given by God, and it is

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profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction.

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I think scripture in general is do we take that

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to every.

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Single word that's still profitable in some level because it's

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demonstrating God's power to do that which is not natural. Right,

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You've got an axe head which does not float, so

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he's overcoming basically the physical laws, but he's doing so

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in care. And what may seem to be insignificant, there

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could be some practical lessons there that still remain true

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to the text. So textual integrity and the author's intent.

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Number two, the historical grammatical approach. The historical grammatical method

401
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of interpreting scripture encourages us to look at the plain

402
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meaning of the text, rooted in its historical context. When

403
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we take this approach, we see the passage recounts a

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physical miracle with no explicit indication that it should be

405
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read as a metaphor for spiritual transformation. The historical grammatical

406
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approach just says you interpret scripture and its plain meaning.

407
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The plain meaning is there is a miracle here about

408
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a lost axehead which was borrowed. The end, there's no

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indication of it meaning this or this or this or this.

410
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It recounts a physical miracle with no explicit indication that

411
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it should be read as a metaphor for spiritual transformation.

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The miracle emphasizes God's concern for the everyday needs of

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his people, demonstrating that God's intervention is not limited to

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grand or spiritual events, but extends to even mundane and

415
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material problems. Maybe that's the lesson, at least in this

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particular context. So I think when we have to consider

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the textual integrity and the author's intent, and if we're

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going to hold anything close to a historical grammatical approach,

419
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do we go with the plain meaning of the text.

420
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We don't come in and add all of this. Why

421
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do we add all of this?

422
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Because it's the sermon, it's the sermon.

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The whole structure, the whole concept of sermons has turned

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into this almost taking the text and making it almost

425
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an hour of entertainment, in this sense that you say,

426
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whatever is necessary to have a good sermon, it's got

427
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to have it's got to be interesting, you've got to

428
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have a hook. No, it's about studying the text. It's

429
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not about preaching sermons. Number three, we have the danger

430
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of over spiritualizing. Interpreting the aset is representing our spiritual

431
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condition can lead to speculative, speculative everyone hear that speculative

432
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and subjective readings. By spiritualizing every detail of the story,

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the oxhead is representing the human soul, the water is

434
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symbolizing sin, or death or the world, we risk imposing

435
00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:14.000
meanings that the text itself does not su port. This

436
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can lead to different conflicting interpretations that may stray from

437
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sound exit Jesus and confuse the original message of the text.

438
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And that's what I told everyone to go grab the

439
00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:24.480
sermon's two point oh app and just start listening to

440
00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.680
sermons on second Kings, chapter six, and let me know

441
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what you find.

442
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Well, I know I didn't hear from I don't think it.

443
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Maybe a few people, because I know what you were finding. Well,

444
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this one says it represents this, and this one says

445
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it represents this, and this one says it represents this,

446
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and this one says it represents this. Because there's no

447
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end to what it can represent other than your own imagination.

448
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I mean, I could go see the axehead.

449
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It was chopping down wood. The axehead represents Satan, and

450
00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:03.119
Satan was working for God. But he he ultimately fell

451
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and he and he was submerged. But one day God

452
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is going to raise him up and save him.

453
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He said, well, that's ridiculous. The Bible doesn't teach it. Well,

454
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the Bible doesn't teach a lot of things you claim.

455
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This text says.

456
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But the point is, once you start down that speculative path,

457
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you can just go crazy with it.

458
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Now.

459
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I know you can make an argument against that one,

460
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but the point is you can just start making anything

461
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represent anything.

462
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There's God to.

463
00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:33.000
That's where you have to stop this over spiritualizing, because

464
00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:37.400
it becomes subjective, it becomes speculative, and it becomes ridiculous.

465
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Now as long as you can make it sound good, though,

466
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the people in the pub will just say amen and say, Pastor,

467
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.839
that was so good. Yeah, and I've never seen that

468
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.759
in the text because it's not there. That's that's why

469
00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:56.440
you haven't seen it, all right, Okay, So that there's

470
00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:59.680
the danger of over spiritualizing inconsistent application. If one reads

471
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the flow voting act, seat is representing God's act of

472
00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:06.559
spiritually raising up believers are transforming them. Consistency would demand

473
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that every Old Testament miracle be interpreted in the same

474
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allegorical way. This approach could quickly lead to a method

475
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of interpreting scripture where historical events are seen primarily as

476
00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:19.480
symbolic rather than real events with real meaning in their

477
00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:22.480
historical context. Now what some people say, No, it's a

478
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:26.359
real event. It's a historical event. We are not denying that.

479
00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:29.359
I know you're not denying that. But the sermon goes,

480
00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:32.160
this was real, it was a real event. But it

481
00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:34.359
represents this, and it represents this, and it represents this,

482
00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:36.720
and it represents this, and the entire sermon is all

483
00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:39.440
about what it represents or how we're going to apply it,

484
00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:44.000
and that real historical authors intent just gets an intent

485
00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:50.039
gets lost. Not all miracles in the Bible convey a

486
00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:53.960
spiritual allegory. For example, Jesus feeding the five thousand is

487
00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:56.599
a literal, historical miracle of provision, and while it has

488
00:25:56.599 --> 00:26:01.079
stillological significance, it's not primarily intended as an allegory for something.

489
00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:05.160
Now we will do that, right, we will say, well, see,

490
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:06.759
oh Jesus fed the group.

491
00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:09.160
But you know, he took a little and he turned

492
00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.359
it into a lot, and if we'll give him our little,

493
00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.440
he'll turn it into a lot. Is that the purpose

494
00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:17.400
of the story? Can we even draw that lesson from it?

495
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:31.160
And that particular case he did.

496
00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.799
Not only that?

497
00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.519
So so we if we just consider all of this

498
00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:37.400
when we when we start doing this type of thing,

499
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.039
we almost destroy textual integrity and we almost ignore the

500
00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.240
author's intent. We definitely are avoiding and ignoring and moving

501
00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.440
away from a historical grammatical approach. There is a great

502
00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:51.839
and we're basically entering into the danger of over spiritualizing

503
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:56.359
our our our application becomes really inconsistent at this point.

504
00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:00.720
And if we do it this way, is it possible

505
00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:04.920
we're distorting the Suppose that theology of transformation, the miracle

506
00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:07.519
of the floating acts head is about a temporary practical

507
00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:10.599
need being met, where the concept of spiritual transformation is

508
00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:13.079
about deep ongoing work of God in the believer's life.

509
00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.920
To conflate the two could minimize the way of transformation

510
00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:19.640
the scripture describes Elsewhere, the process of transformation is much

511
00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:25.079
more clearly taught in other passages. All right, there is

512
00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:28.279
no need to impose philological concept on a passage like

513
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.519
Second Kings, where the focus is on a physical, immediate miracle.

514
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:36.839
The most faithful approach to interpreting Second Kings is to

515
00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:38.559
see it as a part of a broader narrative of

516
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:42.480
God's providence and power through Elisha's ministry. The miracle highlights

517
00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:45.000
God's concern for the material needs of his people and

518
00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:48.519
confirms the authority of his profit. While it's possible to

519
00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:51.960
draw general lessons about God's care, intervention, and provision, the

520
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.519
text itself does not lend support to deep allegories about

521
00:27:55.559 --> 00:27:58.759
spiritual transformation. It should be understood within the context of

522
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:04.400
the historical narrative rather than a symbolic betrayal of spiritual realities.

523
00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:06.000
Now, if I.

524
00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:11.200
Say that that destroys so much preaching, that destroys devotional

525
00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:12.359
type commentaries.

526
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:17.000
See because if I just if I kind of go there,

527
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:17.799
people go, well.

528
00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:20.480
That's that's all it means, I mean, come on, we

529
00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:22.920
got to do more with that. I mean, hey, the

530
00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:24.759
story of David and Goliath, we got to do more.

531
00:28:24.839 --> 00:28:28.440
Goliath has got to represent fear or temptation or their

532
00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:32.720
struggles in life. And and then David, he gathered these stones.

533
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:35.160
They have to represent this, and they have to represent this,

534
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:38.680
and they have to represent this. And and then Joshua

535
00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:41.400
marching around the walls, the walls of Jericho have to

536
00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.799
represent this. And and then marching around has to represent this.

537
00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:47.480
And then and then well, and then this, and then

538
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:49.799
and then and and just goes on and on and on,

539
00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:51.720
and it just never stops. Now, it makes for good

540
00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:58.519
sermons if your focus is on well, something interesting, something

541
00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:05.200
supposedly practical, destroys the text.

542
00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:08.440
Now are you saying, there's never a time?

543
00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:11.440
I'm saying, look, if the text tells me, hmm, there's

544
00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:13.279
something going on here, what do I do with this?

545
00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:14.160
What do I do with this?

546
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:16.640
But we got to be careful because the thing is,

547
00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:20.119
even if we think there may be something there, what's

548
00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.440
our basis for it? Our what's how do we draw

549
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:26.720
that conclusion other than our own imagination? And in many

550
00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:30.359
cases pastors come to those conclusions, not because they saw

551
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:32.960
it because they read it in a book, they saw

552
00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:35.519
it in a commentary, they heard it in another sermon.

553
00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:37.960
So then you just perpetuate.

554
00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:40.559
This new idea or this this way of handling the text,

555
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.720
and you're just basically following a basically or following tradition.

556
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:51.599
We condemn Roman Catholicism for that, right, Well, there's tradition.

557
00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:54.599
Well we say we were against tradition, but many pastors

558
00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:57.000
are just simply repeating how the text has been handled

559
00:29:57.240 --> 00:30:00.440
year after year after year after year after year after

560
00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:02.759
year after year, and nobody's like, wait a minute, wait

561
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.319
a minute, why does everyone approach the text this way?

562
00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:06.920
Why?

563
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:09.519
Well, because that's the way people have always done it.

564
00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:15.839
But we don't follow tradition, right, there has to be

565
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:17.400
In other words, what I'm trying to say is there's

566
00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:19.559
got to be something that stops and go wait, that's

567
00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:24.240
now it's perfectly okay to say, look, guys, look, guys,

568
00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:27.279
I don't know what necessarily to do with this text.

569
00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:28.839
Like let's just say you don't really know what to

570
00:30:28.839 --> 00:30:30.839
do with this text. If we just look at it

571
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.680
from a purely historical perspective, maybe we could get this lesson,

572
00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:37.160
maybe we could get this lesson. But I did find

573
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:39.279
some interesting things about this, right.

574
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.920
If you look at this, well, if you look at this,

575
00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:43.799
and if you compare it to this, and you compare,

576
00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:44.920
and then maybe you can build.

577
00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:48.039
But you should make it very clear that you're speculating.

578
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:50.559
You should make it very clear that this is hypothetical.

579
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.799
You can make it very clear that you just are

580
00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:59.240
finding interesting correlations or interesting connections because of the name

581
00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:02.079
of the play, so because of this or or or

582
00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:05.640
this scripture uses very similar language or like like you

583
00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:08.880
can start, like if you can start finding those correlations

584
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:11.160
and those connections. But this is just people just goes

585
00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:13.599
to second Kings and they're just like the axid represents

586
00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:16.799
this or it pictures this, or hey, Matthew Henry said,

587
00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.880
it's about you know, ours being spiritually transformed, and we

588
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:21.960
fall into the water and that's the world, and we

589
00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:23.200
submerged into the world.

590
00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:24.319
But Jesus will.

591
00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:26.000
Raise this up and we can set our affections on

592
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:28.680
things above. Okay, well wait, do I set my affections

593
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:29.960
or does he raise my affections?

594
00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:33.839
Okay? Whatever, wait, and what's borrowed here? Okay, but just ignore.

595
00:31:33.559 --> 00:31:36.119
All of that yeah, But what we do is we

596
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:38.400
just go to a commentary like that and then basically

597
00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:39.400
turn that into the sermon.

598
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:48.519
Now it preaches better. It's just but what about the text?

599
00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:51.920
What about the text?

600
00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:55.039
So I can't get away from Second King six. It's

601
00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:03.400
haunting me, it's following me. It will not leave me alone. Now,

602
00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:06.839
now let me make it very clear. This is the

603
00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:08.720
reality of Christianity.

604
00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:08.960
Though.

605
00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:12.759
Here's the reality of Christianity. No matter what I say,

606
00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.440
You're gonna come up with your own interpretation. You're going

607
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:17.039
to go with the one that you think is right,

608
00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:19.400
and you're gonna think yours is right and mine is wrong.

609
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.599
Because everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

610
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:27.920
That's the reality of Christianity. I can offer, I can

611
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:33.000
I can offer the most sound interpretation that I think

612
00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:37.400
is humanly possible, and anyone can choose to go wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong,

613
00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:38.039
and then.

614
00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:39.640
You pick the interpretation you think is right.

615
00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:41.640
You can go to a church, you can disagree with

616
00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:43.640
your pastor you can just leave your church and go

617
00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:46.920
to another church. Because everyone just opens the Bible and

618
00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:51.039
interprets it anyway that they want, and then they say

619
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:53.680
their interpretation is right, and then they judge all preaching

620
00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:54.279
based on.

621
00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:56.680
Their interpretation of Scripture. So people will.

622
00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:59.599
Listen to this and judge me based on their interpretation

623
00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:02.000
is script sure and tell me whether I'm right or wrong.

624
00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:07.599
Some may agree with me and then listen to other

625
00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:11.000
people and disagree with them. But everyone just has their

626
00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:14.319
own interpretation. There is no there is no end to

627
00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:17.839
the amount of interpretations. There's no end, there's no stop,

628
00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:18.799
there's no beginning.

629
00:33:18.920 --> 00:33:20.440
It's just chaos.

630
00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:27.079
And I think the more sermons you listen to, the

631
00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:29.400
more you start realizing this, the more you're like, wait

632
00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:32.759
a minute, this sermon says this, and this sermon says this,

633
00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:35.519
or if you start looking at commentaries, this commentary says this,

634
00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:38.200
this commentary says this, this commentary, this study.

635
00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:40.519
Bible says this, this study Bible says that. Why can't

636
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:41.480
know now?

637
00:33:41.480 --> 00:33:43.799
Why is there very little agreement? You know why there's

638
00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:46.799
no little, very so very little agreement. It's because we

639
00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:49.359
don't even agree on what are the hermonutical rules that

640
00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:51.920
should be applied in any given time. And even if

641
00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:53.799
you have two people who say they agree on a

642
00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:58.160
specific hermeneutical method, they will violate that method whenever they want,

643
00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.599
because there's no one controlling anything.

644
00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:03.359
It's a free for all.

645
00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:07.839
Now you can be in a church and then that

646
00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:10.239
church can say, well, we don't accept that interpretation, that

647
00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:13.039
interpretation or that interpretation, and the church.

648
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:14.719
Can do that. The people in the pugue can just

649
00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:17.159
immediately say, well, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong,

650
00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:18.920
you're wrong. I'm going to go to another church.

651
00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:25.960
And that's why you have one church after another church

652
00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:28.400
after another church, and another church, and another church, and

653
00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:30.800
another group, and another group, and another group, and another

654
00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:37.079
group and another group and another group. Every Sunday, I'm

655
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:41.000
holding up my Bible. The Bible is opened up, and

656
00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:44.400
all the churches preach it, and most of their all

657
00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:48.079
of their interpretations, and many cases are contradicting one another.

658
00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.400
And here we go, we have Second King six and

659
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:56.480
now all of a sudden, it represents us falling into

660
00:34:56.599 --> 00:35:00.360
the basically the world, being submerged into the world world

661
00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:04.320
overwhelmed by it. But the stick is God raising us up,

662
00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:08.280
so our affections can now be put on things above.

663
00:35:09.079 --> 00:35:10.440
No, no, no.

664
00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:13.199
I just but I guarantee you just go look up

665
00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:17.039
some other sermons on Second King sixth today, See how many.

666
00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:17.519
Agree with that?

667
00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:19.760
All right.

668
00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:21.679
I just had to address it because it was there.

669
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:27.159
It's been addressed. Maybe today we'll move on to something.

670
00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:29.960
Much more.

671
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:34.039
Hopefully we can move away from a lot of this, hopefully, hopefully, hopefully.

672
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:36.800
All Right, we still got lots and lots of issues

673
00:35:36.840 --> 00:35:39.400
to deal with and with harmonutics, so we may do

674
00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:44.760
some more you know, hermoneutical concepts here at some point.

675
00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:45.159
We'll see.

676
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:46.400
I don't I don't even know if I'm gonna do

677
00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:48.239
anymore today, but I wanted to at least get this

678
00:35:48.280 --> 00:35:49.920
out of the way because it's one of the very

679
00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:51.840
first things I saw when I opened the sermon's two

680
00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:56.280
point oh app So there you have it. Enjoy, Thanks

681
00:35:56.280 --> 00:35:56.800
for listening.

682
00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:01.880
God bless