Leaning Towards Egypt

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Looking at our world from a theological
perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast

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making Theology Central. Good morning everyone. It is Wednesday, July tenth,

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twenty twenty four. It is currently
tenh eight am Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the
Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene,

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Texas. So this morning, have
you been leaning towards a certain decision?

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Have you been leaning towards doing a
certain thing? And are you sure

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you are leaning and the right direction? Are you leaning towards doing something well

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this coming weekend? Are you leaning
towards making a decision? Are you sure

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you are leaning in the right direction? Well, I think it's an important

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question. I don't know if I
have any good answers for you. But

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the reason we're asking this question is
all because of the May twenty second,

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twenty twenty four issue of the Sword
of the Lord newspaper. May the twenty

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second, twenty twenty four Sword of
the Lord newspaper. Yes, an actual

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newspaper. I know that's kind of
antiquated, but an actual newspaper. And

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there is a column called the Preacher's
Column and the Sword of the Lord newspaper

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and on page ten. Well,
they have an article entitled are Christians Heartless?

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Okay, so that goes all the
way around. That was written by

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Billy's Sunday famous preacher, Billy Sunday. Okay. Then right underneath that you

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see these two words leaning wrong,
leaning wrong. Now. I did kind

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of a kind of a little devotional
kind of message on this. I believe

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I did it Sunday. It was
more like, Okay, it's Sunday afternoon,

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it's about to be Sunday evening.
Here you go, everyone, you

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know, go work on this.
It was kind of more just presenting something

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for people to have something to work
on the Sunday evening, especially because you

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know, we don't have in person
services at Victory Baptist Church. So it

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was more like just handing people something
like, hey, here's something you can

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work on this evening. All right. So I went through everything the article

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kind of presented, and then I
kind of moved on. But I kept

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thinking about the article and this idea
of leaning wrong, leaning wrong, because

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in the article they give what they
present seven examples I guess of people leaning

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wrong. The first one is about
Abraham leaned towards Egypt, Lot leaned toward

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sodom. David leaned toward unholy desire, Jehosaphat leaned toward worldly association, King

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Saw leaned towards his own inclination,
has A Kaya leaned toward pride, and

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Peter leaned towards self sufficiency. So
the idea is, like, all these

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people leaned towards the wrong thing.
They leaned in the wrong way. Okay,

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Well that you can see why this
would be in the preacher's column.

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You could see why that would be
there because any preacher who subscribes to the

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sort of newspaper would be like,
well, there's a sermon series there.

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We go, right, I can
turn that into a sermon series in three

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point two seconds, think you very
much, sort of the Lord, and

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then they just take the paper,
go to their study, start doing a

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little bit of work, creates some
outlines, and you've got an entire series

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of leaning wrong. But I kept
thinking about it because I had some kind

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of struggles with the concept, and
we'll talk about that. So the key

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verse that they utilize for this is
in Proverbs chapter three. If you do

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not remember Proverbs chapter three, Proverbs
chapter three, verse five, we read

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these very very very very famous words
Proverbs chapter three, verse five. Probably

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most of you have this scripture memorized, or you probably have tried to memorize

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it at some point in your Christian
life. It's one of the most well

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known verses in the Bible. Here
we go, trust in the Lord with

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all your heart, and lean not
on your own understanding and all your ways.

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Acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
your paths. Well we start and

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Proverbs three five, trust in the
Lord with all your heart. Now I

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will call into question if that is
that even possible? Can you ever truly

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trust in God with all of your
heart? Because we have to at least

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acknowledge that inside of us. I
know we repeat this on this podcast so

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many times, but inside all of
us is a sinful nature. And that

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sinful nature is never going to trust
in God. It's always going to go

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opposite to God. It's gonna trust
in everything other than God. It's gonna

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question God, doubt God, not
believe in God. Now, want to

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submit to God. That's our sinful
nature. It's inside all of us.

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So can we ever truly trust in
God with all of our heart? It's

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the same concept, love the Lord, that God with all your heart,

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mind, body, and soul.
You can never accomplish that those that's law.

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Law reveals your inability to do so. So we have to put our

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faith in Christ. And guess what
in Christ? Well, Christ did love

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God, the Father with all of
his heart, mind, body, and

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soul. Right right, one God, three distinct persons, perfect relationship between

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the Father and the Son. Okay, so, and he did trust in

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God with all of his heart.
So in Christ, his obedience to these

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commands are imputed to me. But
practically, yeah, I want to trust

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God more. I just don't know
if I can ever get there to trusting

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and with all of my heart.
Next part, and lean not on your

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own understanding. Do not lean on
your own understanding. Now, on one

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hand, I understand this right because
our understanding is somewhat corrupted by sin.

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Again, we have a sinful nature. That sinful nature impacts every part of

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us. Our desires, our feelings, our thinking, our emotions, and

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every part of us is impacted by
our depravity. That's just a fact,

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right, That's how that's a basic
Christian understanding of humanity, which makes it

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very different than say how psychology would
look at it. We look at it

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very different. Work we're all corrupted. So I can understand why I should

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lean not to my own understanding because
my understanding is corrupt. But do I

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ever really accomplish that. Look,
I want to say, Hey, no

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matter what I do, I lean
to the Bible and I let the Bible

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makes the decisions for me. I
wish I could say that, But how

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many times have we read the Bible? We know the Bible, but we

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don't lean towards the Bible. We
lean to our own understanding. We come

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up with our own justifications, we
come up with our own explanations, we

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come up with our own excuses,
and we come up with our own reason.

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In many cases, it goes against
We talked about this last night in

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a broadcast. God's ways are not
our ways. His thoughts are not our

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thoughts. We're always in conflict with
God's ways in God's thoughts. But we

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should try not to lean towards our
own understanding. Now here's the issue though,

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when it comes to not leaning towards
my own understanding and not leaning towards

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something wrong or incorrect, or lean
towards something that's that leads to disobedience to

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God. Here's the problem inside of
me, because of my sinful nature's there's

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nothing leaning. It's completely fallen.
Over my sinful nature is completely fallen.

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It's fallen and it cannot get up. It's completely it's messed up. So

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it's not that I'm leaning towards anything. I'm already broken inside. So but

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what I have to do then as
a Christian is acknowledge, Okay, inside

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I'm all messed up, right now, I need to lean not towards the

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understanding that arises from within me,
have to lean towards something that's outside of

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me, which is the Word of
God, and which is why we don't

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believe in you know, God speaking
to me internally or some in small voice.

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Now, the whole reason we have
the Bibles that I can lean to

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something outside of me. That's the
beauty of it, right, the Bible

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is outside of me. Now,
what happens is we bring ourselves to the

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Bible. That's the problem. If
we could keep ourselves out of it,

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and we do a lot, but
we bring ourselves to it, and then

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we apply our understanding to the scripture, which then we're in trouble, right

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because our understanding. Sometimes then we'll
manipulate scripture and do things with it.

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It's a complicated issue, but we
are to not lean to our own understanding.

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Now, these seven examples that I
gave you that the sort of the

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Lord paper give, are these examples
of people leaning towards their own understanding?

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And and what do we learn from
it? Now? The article goes on

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to say, they give this statement, if we have any leaning towards anything,

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we are sure to fall to the
thing towards which we lean. Now

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that sounds superspiritual. Let me read
that to you again. If we have

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any leaning towards anything, we are
sure to fall to the thing towards which

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we lean. So now it's saying, there's these things outside of us,

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and if we lean towards them,
we are sure to fall. We are

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going to fall towards which everything we
are leaning towards. But here's the problem.

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We are already fallen. See it's
not oh, I'm leaning towards that,

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so therefore I'm going to fall.
I'm already fallen. That's why I'm

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leaning towards it. The reason I'm
leaning towards questionable things, wrong things is

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the reason I'm leaning towards the wrong
things is because of what's already inside of

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me. It's not the thing i'm
leaning towards that causes me to fall it's

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my fallenness that causes me to lean
towards the wrong thing. So to me,

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this is once again placing the problem
outside of me. The problem isn't

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Oh, there's that thing, there's
that person, there's that issue, and

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I'm leaning towards it. No,
no, No. The reason I'm leaning

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towards it is because I'm already fallen
on the inside. My external leaning is

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simply proof of my inward fallenness.
Now, some people say, well,

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you're making an excuse. I'm not
making an excuse. What I'm trying to

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do is acknowledge where the real problem
is. Now. Should I lean towards

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the wrong thing? Absolutely not.
Should I stop it? Absolutely But even

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if I stop it, which can
be great from a human perspective, you

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know, no problems, no drama, whatever, you know. It avoids

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all kinds of pain and messy situations. Just from a theological perspective, I

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don't walk away now thinking I'm somehow
great. I've avoided that, but inwardly

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I still am a mess and I'm
broken. So it says, if we

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have any leaning towards anything, We're
sure to fall. I will argue,

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we're already fallen. That's why we
lean towards other things. We are sure

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to fall to the thing towards which
we lean, I will say, we're

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sure to fall because we're fallen.
My fallenness guarantees one thing. Your fallenness

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guarantees one thing. Are you ready
that you will sin? End of story?

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You will sin continually, perpetually.
If you take your life, your

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desires, your feelings, your emotions, your thoughts, and you place it

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before God, which is perfect and
holy, you are in a perpetual state

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of sin. If we're going to
be honest with God's standards. So then

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the article goes on to say,
well, after it just gives that little

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statement, if we have any leaning
towards anything, we are sure to fall

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to the thing towards which we lead. Now, again, I don't know

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how many pastors out there, but
there's going to be pastors who have this

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sort of the Lord paper. They're
going to take that, they're going to

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use that as their opening statement,
and then they're just going to teach these

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seven things that demonstrate people leaning towards
the wrong thing, and no they're not

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going to actually try to process this. That's why I hate the concept of

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churches teaching theology and not doing theology. See, once you transition from teaching

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to doing, then you will have
everyone go, hey, guys, see

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the possible problem with it. See
if we look at it from this perspective,

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then we're kind of placing the issue
externally. If we look at it

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from this situation, we're acknowledging it
being internal. But if it's internal,

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then how do we understand the leaning? Well, the leaning is a result

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of the internal fall on this.
See, then we have to start processing

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it and working on it. So
what I want to do, and I

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guess this is probably going to turn
into a series, right, Probably wasn't

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my original intent. But we're going
to go through all seven of these examples.

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So I'm going to give you the
I'm going to give you all seven

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again. I'm going to give you
the scripture references so you will write them

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down, and I'm going to give
you some assignments to do. Are you

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ready? So first I'm going to
kind of give you I'm just going to

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remind you, give you some assignments. Then what we're going to do is

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we're going to start working on it
by looking at the first one today.

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All right, So here are the
seven again. Number one, Abraham leaned

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toward Egypt. Genesis twelve ten through
Twentyis twelve ten through twenty. Number two,

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Lot leaning towards sodom Genesis thirteen verse
ten, Genesis nineteen seventeen. Lot

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leaned towards sodom and comp Well,
I won't read everything they have here,

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So Abraham leaned towards Egypt Genesis twelve
ten through twenty. Lot leaned towards sodom

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Genesis thirteen ten. In Genesis nineteen
seventeen, David leaned towards unholy desire.

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Second Samuel eleven two through four.
Jehosah Fat leaned towards worldly association. One

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Kings twenty two, twenty nine through
thirty two. King Sauw leaned towards his

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own inclination. First Samuel fifteen ten
through twenty three. Hezekiah leaned towards pride,

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Isaiah thirty nine. Peter leaned towards
self sufficiency. Luke twenty two,

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thirty three, Luke twenty two,
fifty six, and fifty seven. Those

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are the scriptures. Now here's what
you need to do. First, just

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go through and read each one of
these sections five times. Just go read

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each one five times. Just read
it. Some of those sections are very

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short, the one with Hezekiah,
that's all of Isaiah thirty nine, so

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that one may take you a little
while, but you were in no hurry.

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Just start reading these and then using
the sermons two point zero app I

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want you to start looking up random
sermons on each one of these passages.

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So Genesis twelve ten through twenty find
a random sermon Genesis thirteen ten or Genesis

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nineteen seventeen about a lot leaning towards
sodom. Just find any sermons on those

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passages of scripture, random ones jehosaphat
one, Kings twenty two to twenty nine

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three, just one sermon for each
one. Just choose a random one,

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and then just take some notes and
write a you know, a very short

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summary of what the sermon was about. So read each one of these sections

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of scriptures five times, and then
look up random sermons for each one of

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these examples. And you cannot count
any of my teaching or my broadcast.

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That is a no, no,
right, I don't count, right?

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Got it? Now? Are you
ready, let's do this so lean.

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I want to just make sure we
stress this the whole The key verse here

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is lean not on your own understanding. What I'm going to do is,

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I'm not going to go to these
examples and say, oh, they were

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leaning in the wrong way, this
way or that way. I'm going to

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look first and foremost how they were
leaning, not towards their own understanding.

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Is what I'm going to do,
and then we'll just see what we can

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find. The first one is Abraham
leaned towards Egypt. So let's go to

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Genesis chapter twelve, Genesis chapter twelve. Let's see what happens. Genesis chapter

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twelve, Genesis twelve. We have
verse ten, Genesis twelve ten. All

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right, here we go Genesis twelve
ten. Everybody ready, here we go

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Genesis twelve ten. It's gonna work
through this in real time. You know

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how I like to do this so
well, I don't know where we're gonna

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what we're gonna discover, but we're
gonna discover it together in real time.

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Right, So, everybody's got their
bibles out this Wednesday morning. Let's do

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a little work. Here we go, Let's dig in Genesis twelve ten.

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Now, there was a famine in
the land and Abram his name hasn't been

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changed to Abraham yet, and Abram
went down to Egypt a famine in the

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land. So the land that Abram
was in a famine hits and he decides

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to go down to Egypt. Now, the article on the Sort of Lord

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newspaper, they say this, Abram
leaned towards Egypt in unbelief and soon found

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himself crippled by it. So what
they are saying is that what Abraham does

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in Genesis twelve ten he leans towards
Egypt, which is really a symbol of

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leaning an unbelief. He faced a
circumstance, and when he encountered the circumstance,

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he leaned towards Egypt, and that
leaning demonstrated unbelief. His entire leaning

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towards Egypt was one of unbelief.
This raises a very important question. So

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I'm going to pose the question this
way. Are you ready? Was it

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wrong for Abram to go to Egypt? Was it wrong? Was it an

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indication of un bel or is that
simply how preachers have preached it all of

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these years. Typically I will hear
something like this, Egypt is a is

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a symbol of the world. Egypt
is a symbol, and it symbolizes the

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unbelieving world. When Abraham did,
he faced difficulties and instead of turning to

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God, he turned to the unbelieving
world for support and for help. And

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so then the sermon will turn into
how do you lean towards the unbelieving world

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when you face difficult circumstances? And
what can you do to demonstrate a life

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of belief and trusting in God and
not caving too difficult circumstances? And everybody

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will say, amen, oh,
that was so convicting. Think you,

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pastor, that was awesome. I
tell you, when you start looking up

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sermons on the sermon's two point oh, app you're probably gonna find a lot

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of sermons that go that exact direction, because I don't know how many sermons

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I've heard on this. My argument
is again again that how people approach it,

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we have to be willing to question
and challenge things. I want to

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ask the question to you, is
it wasn't wrong what Abraham did here?

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Just imagine. Okay, now I
know we're not in church, so say

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the good thing is doing a podcast. People don't have the church mentality because

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you're sitting at home, you're in
your car, You're not you're not so

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prone to give me the church answer. Come on, right, Try to

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imagine you live, Wait, thousands
and thousands of years ago, a famine

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strikes. That's pretty bad. In
fact, that can mean death. That

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can mean you could wipe out your
entire lives, all your livestock, that

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would be all your wealth. You
could lose food, people could starve,

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people could die. A famine is
a relatively serious thing at that time.

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It's even very serious in different parts
of the world today. Famine can kill

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a lot of people. So that's
not like it's like, oh well,

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it's not like it's just a bad
day. I woke up, my tire

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was flat, it was raining,
and I didn't want it to rain,

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and then McDonald's got my order wrong. It's not like, you know,

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it's like a serious, life threatening
situation. So you live thousands of years

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ago, you face this life threatening
situation. What do you do now?

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I think that we all, come
on, we gotta be honest here.

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We're all gonna lean a little bit
to our own understanding. Are we not

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remember proverbs? Now? We are
not to lean not to our own understanding.

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But I think it would be inevitable
that we would. Now, now

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the question is is it wrong for
Abraham to lean to his own understanding?

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Here? Is it inherently wrong?
Now, let's go back. So that's

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Genesis that starts in verse ten,
Right, that's Genesis twelve ten. Let

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me read it to you again.
Genesis twelve ten. Now there was a

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famine in the land. Clearly that
that now is the idea that something dramatically

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has changed, and Abram went down
to Egypt. It sounds like, now,

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I know the text does not offer
any great detail, but it feels

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like a famine hits boom. Abraham
is like down to Egypt, where I'm

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I'm not sitting around to wait,
We got to go find food. In

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fact, look what it says,
Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there,

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for the famine was severe in the
land. So it's like, it's

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so bad, He's got to find
a place where there's food, and well,

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Egypt is the place where there is
obvious food. Now again, though,

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is this wrong? Well, if
we go back to the nine verses

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preceding it, let see if we
get any clues. Now, the Lord

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had said to Abram, get out
of your country, from your family,

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from your father's house, to the
land that I will show you. I

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will make you a great nation.
I will bless you. I will make

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your name great, and you shall
be a blessing. I will bless those

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who bless you, curse him who
curses you, and in you, all

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the families of the earth shall be
blessed. Now, the first thing that

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jumps out at me from just a
practical smoke is God seems to be speaking

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directly to Abram. Now. If
God is speaking directly to you, and

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now I find myself in a very
difficult circumstance, I may be going,

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Okay, God, since you've been
speaking to me, maybe this would be

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a good time for you to speak
to me now because there's a severe famine

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in the land. But we have
no record of God saying anything. Which

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is one of those mind altering,
mind blowing situations. To me from a

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scriptural standpoint, right like this is
what this is? What would bother me?

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If God was speaking to you and
then all of a sudden you face

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a famine and God's just like silence, I'd be like, Hey, what's

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up? Now? Maybe Abram was
just under the pression that God speaks when

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he wants to speak. And if
God doesn't speak, then the decision is

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mine. If God wants me to
go, if God wants me to do

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a certain thing, he will tell
me. And if God doesn't speak up,

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well then I get to make my
own decision. Let's at least remember

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this. Abram wasn't walking around carrying
an old or new Testament. Okay,

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Abram wasn't walking around. Let me
pull up my Bible and figure out what

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I'm supposed to do here. Hey
the oh look, any revelation of God

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at this point would be everything that
happens before Genesis chapter twelve. All right,

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there's no Bible, right, Sometimes
we put Abram like Abram, just

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read your Bible. Abram doesn't have
a bible. Everyone does. Everyone understand

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that God has spoken directly to him. If God doesn't speak directly to you,

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well, is he gonna go look
up the Bible and do a Bible

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study? He can't do that.
What does he see? Famine? What

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does famine mean? Very bad situation? What do you do when there's a

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famine? You go find food?
So is he doing something wrong? Is

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he really leaning towards unbelief. Now
you could argue, he is leaning towards

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his own understanding. But let me
ask you, where else can he lean

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If God is not speaking to him, where else can he lean? Now

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some will argue, well, God
just said he's gonna do all these things

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for you. But does God say
he's gonna feed you in the middle of

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a famine. He doesn't say that
verse four. So Abram departed as the

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Lord had spoken to him, and
Lot went with him. Now you could

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argue, he's already not following exactly
what God said, but he's following some

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of it. God tells them to
go, he goes. Abram was seventy

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five years old when he departed from
Haran. Then Abram took Sarah his wife,

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and Lot, his brother's son,
and all their possessions that they had

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gathered, and the people whom they
had acquired in Haran, and they departed

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to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of

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Canaan. Abram passed through the land
of the place of Shechem as far as

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Tabethbeth Terminith, a tree of Mora
and Uh, and the Canaanites were in

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the land all right, So now
please note here this is interesting. You

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notice he takes Now we could argue, does he's bringing Lot, his brother's

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son, all of their possessions that
they had gathered, and the people whom

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they had acquired in Iran, and
they departed to go into the land of

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Canaan. So they came to the
land of Canaan. Abram passed through the

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land of the place of Shechem as
far as Ta be Benth tree of Mora,

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and the Canaanites were in the land. Now, what I think is

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fascinating. That means Abram has a
lot of people with them. We don't

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know exactly how many people, but
please note and the people whom they had

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acquired in Iran. So he's got
Sarah, he's got Lot, and he's

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got all these people. Now just
keep that in mind. If Abraham is

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kind of the leader and he's got
all these people with him, if he's

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got all these people with him and
then a famine strikes, well then hey,

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even if he says, even if
he's like, well, God said

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he's gonna do this for me.
God has not given any indigation. He's

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going to take care of all these
other people. So then lot. Then

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Abraham, in his mind would lean
towards his own understanding, like, I

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got to find food so these people
don't die. So is it wrong?

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Is it wrong for him to lean
to his own understanding? When you when

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you add that that situation there,
I wasn't even thinking about that. When

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you add that situation there, you're
kind of like, well, wait a

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minute, He's got multiple people with
him. God's not made any promise to

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those people. Now you could argue, is he supposed to have any of

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these people? Now, we could
make an argument there, But then look

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at verse seven. Then the Lord
appeared to Abram and said, to your

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descendants, I will give this land
and there will and there he built an

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altar to the Lord. And he
appeared to him. And he moved from

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there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched a tent with Bethel

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on the west and Ai on the
east. There he built an altar to

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the Lord and called on the name
of the Lord. So Abram journeyed,

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going on still towards the south.
God appears a second time. Now God

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doesn't say, hey, why do
you have these people with you? God

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doesn't say anything like that, doesn't
rebuke him. And then the next verse,

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now there was a famine in the
land, and Abram went down to

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Egypt to dwell there, for the
famine was severe. Guess what we don't

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have. God doesn't step in and
say anything. God doesn't say, He

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doesn't speak to him. So what
is Abram to do? Now? We

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can go to lay not to your
own understanding. Now you some may argue,

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well, we don't have no record
of Abram seeking God. Maybe maybe

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that's the case, But in these
other cases, do we have any record

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of Abram seeking God? It sounds
like God sought out Abram and God did

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initiated the conversation. Why wouldn't God
initiate the conversation here? So I did

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a little work here just thinking about
this and trying to look up different sources

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and see how different people approach this. And in my notes I have this

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and the biblical account of Abram's journey
to Egypt in Genesis twelve. There is

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no specific prohibition or instruction given by
God that would have made Abram's decision inherently

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wrong. All right, now,
again, so let's take all the information

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that we have in front of us, all the information that we have in

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front of us. Right, let's
just take all this information. Abram is

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obeying God. He's getting up and
leaving. He's moving, He's moving as

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God has told him to get up
and leave. Now he's brought people with

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him. We could argue whether right
or wrong. God has spoken to him

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directly two times. The second time
he doesn't rebuke Abram for having these people

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with him. He doesn't say it's
wrong. God doesn't say anything about it.

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Right, They're moving on. So
Abram's got a lot of we don't

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know how much people. We'll say
he has multiple people with him. God

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has made no promise about necessarily these
people he has with them that he's picked

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up in Iran. We have nothing. So he has no assurance that God's

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going to take care of him.
And really we don't even have any specific

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assurance given to Abraham at this point
or Abram at this point that God's going

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to necessarily feed him or take care
of him. But God speaks twice of

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famine hits. Abram's got to go. I've got I'm responsible for these people.

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The feminist severe, Let's go to
Egypt now. The article says,

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hey, Abram lean towards Egypt.
And unbelief. And I know that's how

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it's always preached, but is it
really unbelieve? And if he's leaning towards

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Egypt and unbelief, and this is
a bad idea, ladies and gentlemen,

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that any reasonable Bible student should raise
their hand and go. And then why

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didn't God just step in right here? God could have stepped in. Go

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Abram, Abram, stop, stop, turn around, Do not go to

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Egypt. Don't go to Egypt.
I have not instructed you to go there.

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Do not go there. Now some
may argue the directions God gave him,

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Abraham is possibly violating those, because
if you look at it, get

399
00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:53.079
out of your country, from your
family, from your father's house, to

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the land that I will show you. I will make a great nation.

401
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I will bless you all that.
So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken

402
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:06.799
to him, and Lot went with
him. And Abram was seventy five years

403
00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:09.400
old when he departed from Haran.
Then Abram took Sarah, his wife,

404
00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:14.759
Lot, his brother's son, and
all their possessions that they had gathered,

405
00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:17.279
and the people whom they had acquired
in Iran, and they departed to go

406
00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:22.079
to the land of Canaan. So
they came to the land of Canaan.

407
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:29.440
Abram passed through the land to the
place of Shechem Terbin tree of Amora,

408
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:31.960
and the Canaan knights were in the
land. So he goes to the land

409
00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:37.279
of Canaan. Now, if that's
where he's supposed to be, If that's

410
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:39.240
the land, Guy's like, go
to this land, this is the land

411
00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:45.519
I'm giving you. Then could we
argue, and I'm just I'm raising every

412
00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:49.839
question possible. Then would it be
wrong for Abraham then to leave that land

413
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:52.400
because God told him to go to
that land. He didn't tell him to

414
00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:59.000
leave that land. But at the
same time he gets there, now there's

415
00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:01.559
a famine. Does God step in
and go wait, wait, wait,

416
00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:06.799
hey, hey, hey, stay
right here, stay right here. He

417
00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:10.680
doesn't, So I know we want
to imply that it was wrong. What

418
00:33:10.839 --> 00:33:14.240
I guess, what I want you
to see is there's a lot of ways

419
00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:16.200
to look at this situation. I
know preachers like to make it black and

420
00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:22.000
white. What I kind of love
about this is there is really kind of

421
00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:25.039
a little bit of ambiguity here.
It's a little bit more gray than it

422
00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:29.119
is black and white. Yes,
God told you to go to the land.

423
00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:32.680
God spoke to you twice, but
a famine showed up. God doesn't

424
00:33:32.680 --> 00:33:37.319
speak to you. You gotta figure
something out. Now is it wrong for

425
00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:40.839
him to lean to his own understanding? Some could argue, well, God

426
00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:43.799
told him to go to the land
of Cannon, he should have just stayed

427
00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:46.640
right there even if people started dying. But then when he had been a

428
00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:52.000
good person to let these other people
star because he's gotten no guarantee that God's

429
00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:59.880
going to step in and feed him. So is it wrong? There is

430
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.720
no clear prohibition against him going to
Egypt. See, that's the thing.

431
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:07.759
God didn't say, go there and
stay no matter what, just go into

432
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:10.800
the land that I'm gonna show you. There seems to be no prohibition.

433
00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:15.519
And as one source says, to
see, let me read it clearly,

434
00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:22.880
there is no prohibition or instruction given
by God that would have made Abram's decision

435
00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:27.039
inherently wrong. So can we say
it's wrong? Can we say Abram leaned

436
00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:31.920
towards Egypt and this was wrong?
Now, I think if we had twenty

437
00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:37.000
people in a church, there would
probably be all kinds of disagreements on this.

438
00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:39.679
Oh, there would be so many
disagreements. I guarantee you people would

439
00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:43.599
like it was sonful, it was
wrong. But I think a lot of

440
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:51.559
that is because you've been told that
in preaching. Can you just say it's

441
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:58.119
wrong? And of course we condemic
is Proverbs three even in effect for Abraham

442
00:34:58.440 --> 00:35:01.800
or Abram? I mean three has
not even been written at the time Abraham

443
00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:06.639
is making this decision. We can
say, lean not to your own understanding,

444
00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:08.840
Abram, you're leaning towards your un
to understand. There's no there's no

445
00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:14.760
prohibition given about leaning towards your own
understanding. Yet that comes in Proverbs way

446
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:19.920
after Abram is dead. But we
can take that concept and go, Okay,

447
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:24.400
what if we were in the similar
situation, what would we be what?

448
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:30.480
What would be right? What would
be wrong? According to the biblical

449
00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:34.760
narrative, God had promised to bless
Abram and make him into a great nation.

450
00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:42.159
Some interpretations and some interpreters argue that
by seeking refuge in Egypt out of

451
00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:46.000
fear of the famine, rather than
trusting God's promises, Abram may have been

452
00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:52.199
demonstrating a lack of faith in God's
ability to provide for him and his family.

453
00:35:53.719 --> 00:35:57.760
Some say, see, he's not
trusting God. He should trust God

454
00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:01.920
who is the provider. But has
Abram seen anything about God providing at this

455
00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:07.960
point? Like, why would he
base that off of? What would he

456
00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:17.000
base that off of? I mean, did he learn that in Sunday School?

457
00:36:17.239 --> 00:36:21.119
Did he learn that? Where would
he have learned that God? Hey,

458
00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:23.400
God will provide, It's guaranteed.
Did God promise that He's going to

459
00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:29.079
provide? Like, it's just like, hey, Abram showed a lack of

460
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:32.840
belief. He was in unbelief,
he feared, he doubted God. But

461
00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:37.840
I just don't know like God has
spoken to him. Got Nowhere in God's

462
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.800
speaking did he say, Hey,
I've got your back. I'll take care

463
00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:45.480
of everything. You just go to
Canaan. Trust me, everything will be

464
00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:52.440
fine. God doesn't really give him
much much information. So, based off

465
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.559
what we have in the actual recorded
text, is it wrong for Abram to

466
00:36:55.599 --> 00:36:59.719
go, you know what, there's
a famine here. I gotta do something.

467
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:04.079
I gotta do something. I got
I have to come up with a

468
00:37:04.079 --> 00:37:12.880
solution here. Additionally, Abram's decision
now, okay, well we know what's

469
00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:15.719
going to happen here. Right,
Well, we'll read that paragraph in a

470
00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:20.519
minute. Let's see what happens here. All right, So so we have

471
00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:24.000
God appearing twice. Now the famine
is in the land. Abram went down

472
00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:30.239
to Egypt to do twell there,
for the famine was severe in the land,

473
00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:32.400
and it came to pass when he
was close to entering Egypt that he

474
00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:36.679
said to Sarah, his wife,
Indeed, I know that you are a

475
00:37:36.719 --> 00:37:42.320
woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it
will happen when the Egyptians see you,

476
00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:46.760
that they will say this is his
wife, and they will kill me,

477
00:37:47.559 --> 00:37:52.880
but they will let you live.
Please say you are my sister, that

478
00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:57.800
I may be well with me for
your sake, that I may live because

479
00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:04.079
of you. Now Abraham makes a
decision. We got to go to Egypt

480
00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:08.079
to get food. Now is that
leaning to his own understanding? Well?

481
00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:12.280
Yes, again, is there a
prohibition against leaning to your own understanding at

482
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:14.920
the time, or Abram, we
want to impose that on the text.

483
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:19.400
I don't know if there really is. There's been no prohibition or instruction given

484
00:38:19.400 --> 00:38:21.840
to Abraham that would make it wrong
to go to Egypt. But when he

485
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:24.199
gets ready to go to Egypt,
he realizes, oh, now, okay,

486
00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:30.960
we got a problem here. There's
danger here. Now again, at

487
00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:37.480
this point, is this demonstrating a
lack of trusting God. Is he kind

488
00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:42.280
of leaning towards unbelief now again?
Does he really understand what God has promised

489
00:38:42.360 --> 00:38:45.760
or not promised? Does he really
grasp that? Does he really think what

490
00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:50.039
God has stated is obviously nobody can
kill me. I don't know if he

491
00:38:50.079 --> 00:38:52.960
would have interpret it that way.
We may interpret it that way. I

492
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:58.280
don't know if Abram would have now
immediately though he is. I think we

493
00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:02.400
can argue, I know, maybe
maybe again if we look at it in

494
00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:07.119
its historical context. You know,
I hate to say it. In this

495
00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:12.639
time, the women are not necessarily
treated as you know, great possession.

496
00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:16.119
They they're they're they're treated as possessions, not something necessarily of like, you

497
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:25.239
know, a person to be concerned
with their emotions or feelings, because you

498
00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:28.880
kind of look at it like this
is kind of messed up. Hey,

499
00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:31.000
hey, Sarah, look here's the
deal. Like, you're my sister.

500
00:39:31.079 --> 00:39:34.639
If they take you, they take
you. If they wouldn't have relations with

501
00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:37.760
you, that that's that's not my
problem. Your job is make sure I

502
00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:44.519
don't die. It's it's it's hard
to read it and and and not kind

503
00:39:44.519 --> 00:39:49.159
of just kind of cringe and kind
of goes this seems like it's kind of

504
00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:52.280
hard not to look at this,
going, Abram, you coward, stand

505
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:55.159
up for your wife? What is
your what is your problem? I think

506
00:39:55.199 --> 00:40:00.800
there's a part of us. I
think that's okay to struggle with. But

507
00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:05.079
at the same time, there's a
famine in the land, so it's like,

508
00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:08.920
you know, we got to come
up with something. And Abram may

509
00:40:08.920 --> 00:40:12.360
be like, hey, if I
die, you're all you are all going

510
00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:15.199
to die. Because I'm the one
leading this. I have to So I

511
00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:20.719
don't know, like you could go
through all kinds of justifications here now,

512
00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:24.119
please don'te though he comes up with
this plan once again, God has literally

513
00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:30.079
intervened and spoken to Abraham twice.
But the famine happens and Abram starts making

514
00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:43.760
this decision and there is no intervention
from God zero zilch, verse fourteen.

515
00:40:45.679 --> 00:40:51.199
So it was when Abram came into
Egypt that the Egyptian saw the woman that

516
00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:55.280
she was very beautiful. All right, of course there's you know, just

517
00:40:55.280 --> 00:41:00.320
as Abraham predicted. All right.
The Princess of Pharaoh also saw her and

518
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:05.239
commanded commended her to Pharaoh, and
the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

519
00:41:05.639 --> 00:41:08.719
He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, ox and mel

520
00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:17.159
mel donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. So

521
00:41:17.559 --> 00:41:22.159
Abram's like, bring in the money, show me the money. All right,

522
00:41:22.320 --> 00:41:24.960
there was a famine in the land. But now I'm getting paid.

523
00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:29.119
I'm getting rich here. Okay.
Now, well, I mean they took

524
00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:31.280
my wife, and I don't know
what's going to be happening to her,

525
00:41:31.480 --> 00:41:34.639
but I'm gonna be okay. Hey, guys, make sure we got a

526
00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:37.599
good inventory of all the cattle.
All right, Hey, everything's good.

527
00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:39.159
I mean, I mean my wife. Who knows what they're doing with my

528
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:43.320
wife? But that's okay. We're
getting paid. I mean, it's hard

529
00:41:43.400 --> 00:41:45.360
not to kind of read it that
way. Now, this is the part

530
00:41:45.400 --> 00:41:49.880
that blows my mind. This is
the part that is so perplexing to me.

531
00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:58.079
But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his
house with great plagues because of Sarah,

532
00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:00.000
Abram's wife. You know, when
I read that, I'm like,

533
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:04.880
whoa wall, Wait a minute,
Now, God shows up. God,

534
00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:09.440
now intervenes. Hey, God,
you could have intervened when Abram was deciding

535
00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:16.440
to go to Egypt. You could
have intervened and stopped the famine. You

536
00:42:16.559 --> 00:42:21.559
could have intervened before. Abram was
like, sorry, Sarah, I they're

537
00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:25.199
gonna come and take you. Good
luck. I'm gonna get paid. Yeah,

538
00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:29.679
you could have intervened at any poet. You don't intervene at you intervened

539
00:42:29.719 --> 00:42:35.360
twice prior to this. Then what's
Sarah sick? Then you intervene? Why

540
00:42:35.480 --> 00:42:39.880
the intervention? Then it seems so
like what is going on? So he

541
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:45.119
plagues Pharaoh Pharaoh then starts getting pine. Now Pharaoh didn't do it. Shouldn't

542
00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:50.800
you be blamed? Shouldn't Abram be
the one being played, not Pharaoh?

543
00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:55.519
And Pharaoh called Abram and said,
what is this you've done to me?

544
00:42:55.960 --> 00:43:00.519
Why did you not tell me that
she was your wife? Why did you

545
00:43:00.599 --> 00:43:04.280
say she is my sister? I
might have taken her as my wife.

546
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:07.719
Now, therefore, here is your
wife. Take her go your way.

547
00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:13.960
So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his

548
00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:20.320
wife and all they that he had. And then look, then Abram went

549
00:43:20.400 --> 00:43:22.519
up from Egypt, he and his
wife and all that he had, and

550
00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:28.199
a lot with him to the south. Abram was very rich, and livestock,

551
00:43:28.599 --> 00:43:38.559
silver and gold. Abram got paid, Abram got paid. So did

552
00:43:38.599 --> 00:43:45.159
Abram really lean to his own understanding? Did Abram really lean towards Egypt?

553
00:43:45.519 --> 00:43:52.360
And unbelief? As some of the
sources say here, Abram's decision to present

554
00:43:52.440 --> 00:43:54.800
Sarah, his wife, as a
sister to Pharaoh in order to protect himself

555
00:43:54.880 --> 00:44:00.800
could be seen as a deceptive act
motivated by self preservation. This action led

556
00:44:00.840 --> 00:44:05.039
to a series of events and ultimately
resulted in Pharaoh being plagued and eventually sending

557
00:44:05.079 --> 00:44:09.199
Abram and his family away from Egypt. Was this now, you could say,

558
00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:14.519
okay? Abram's decision to go to
Egypt? Was that leaning towards his

559
00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:20.320
own understanding? His decision to hey, Sarah, you're my sister, now,

560
00:44:20.360 --> 00:44:22.280
okay? If they take you,
they take you? Is that not

561
00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:28.679
leaning to his understanding? Is all
of his actions demonstrating leaning to your own

562
00:44:28.760 --> 00:44:37.800
understanding? But is there any actual
prohibition in anything he has done? Can

563
00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:42.920
we say that it's actually wrong?
Is it somewhat understandable from a purely pragmatic

564
00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:45.760
standpoint? And what again? And
my real issue with the text, I

565
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:50.480
know everyone wants to focus on what
was Abraham right or was Abraham wrong?

566
00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:54.480
I'm more perplex was where in the
world was God? If God is literally

567
00:44:54.519 --> 00:45:00.719
intervening and speaking directly in two places
before this, God to step in at

568
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:15.840
any point and avoided the whole situation, So why doesn't he? Now does

569
00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:20.079
he not step in? Because this
is all a part of his plan?

570
00:45:20.280 --> 00:45:22.400
Now, if it's all a part
of his plan, please understand that that

571
00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:29.000
gets very questionable from a philosophical standpoint, because if God knows Abraham's going to

572
00:45:29.079 --> 00:45:31.920
do this deceptive thing, now,
is Abraham committing any sin? Is anything

573
00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:36.159
he's doing a sin? Well,
because again we don't have any of God's

574
00:45:36.239 --> 00:45:38.639
laws prior to this, So can
we judge these actions? Is the way

575
00:45:38.639 --> 00:45:45.199
we would judge actions? Well,
that's deception and that's basically lying. Lying

576
00:45:45.320 --> 00:45:47.639
is wrong? Well, is there
a mandate against lying? At this point?

577
00:45:47.880 --> 00:45:52.000
Can we judge Abraham according to the
laws that are given? After?

578
00:45:52.960 --> 00:45:59.239
Are we? How are we to
really judge this? Now? If we

579
00:45:59.280 --> 00:46:01.519
say that what he does is wrong, that it's a sign of unbelief,

580
00:46:01.559 --> 00:46:07.239
a lack of faith, and it's
using deception and using pragmatism versus faith,

581
00:46:07.400 --> 00:46:10.440
if we're going to judge him and
condemn it, well, God kind of

582
00:46:10.440 --> 00:46:19.280
set him up perfectly for it.
So then God, then God kind of

583
00:46:19.320 --> 00:46:22.840
wanted this to happen, right,
we never, We don't like to struggle

584
00:46:22.920 --> 00:46:31.039
with that question. Well, there
is no explicit commandment or prohibition from God

585
00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:37.159
regarding Abraham's journey to Egypt. Some
interpretations and some interpreters suggest that his actions

586
00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:39.400
during this time could be viewed through
the lens of faith and trust in God's

587
00:46:39.400 --> 00:46:44.280
promises. This event may serve as
a lesson about the importance of relying on

588
00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:52.840
God's guidance and provision even in challenging
circumstances. Interpreting Abraham's decision to go to

589
00:46:52.880 --> 00:46:58.960
Egypt in Genesis twelve ten can be
viewed from various perspectives, so throughout Church

590
00:46:59.039 --> 00:47:02.079
history, these are some of the
perspectives people have had in Abraham's decision or

591
00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:07.440
Abram's decision to go to Egypt and
his actions while he was there. Some

592
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:14.719
see this as simply a pragmatic decision. Some interpretations suggest that Abram's journey to

593
00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:17.960
Egypt was a pragmatic decision driven by
the need to find food and provision during

594
00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:22.599
the time of famine. Egypt was
known for its fertility and abundant resources,

595
00:47:22.679 --> 00:47:27.320
so Abram may have chosen to go
there to ensure the survival of his family

596
00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:34.280
and livestock. Now here's the question
is pragmatism Is a pragmatic decision always wrong?

597
00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:42.960
Hey, lean not to your own
understanding? Anytime you lean to your

598
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:46.400
own understanding, or anytime you make
a pragmatic decision, are you leaning to

599
00:47:46.480 --> 00:47:58.480
your own understanding? Now? Now
I know the regulative normative principle is typically

600
00:47:58.559 --> 00:48:02.599
used inside a church. Right.
Regulative means you can only do in the

601
00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:08.280
church what is specifically instructed or you
have a clear example of. If you

602
00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:14.199
don't have a clear instruction or a
clear example, you cannot do that in

603
00:48:14.239 --> 00:48:16.920
your church. I don't care what
it is. If there's not a clear

604
00:48:17.119 --> 00:48:21.440
instruction or a clear example, you
don't do it in your church. I

605
00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:23.320
don't care. I'm sorry. That's
going to ruin a lot of your activities.

606
00:48:23.400 --> 00:48:27.320
That's going to ruin a lot of
your little get togethers. But the

607
00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:30.840
Bible does not command, it,
does not instruct it, and doesn't even

608
00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:34.199
give an example of it. In
fact, Paul tells people stuff, don't

609
00:48:34.239 --> 00:48:37.360
you have homes to eat in,
go home and eat. You come to

610
00:48:37.440 --> 00:48:42.039
church to partake of the Lord's supper, not pot luck, not in Agape

611
00:48:42.199 --> 00:48:46.599
feast, go home to eat.
So the Bible would basically limit what churches

612
00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:51.320
most, what most, What churches
do, all of their activities and their

613
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:54.880
fun and their food and all the
so much of it has no command in

614
00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:59.880
scripture. So most churches, even
if they claim they follow their regulative principle,

615
00:49:00.079 --> 00:49:04.880
they violate it like crazy. Now, the normative principle means the church

616
00:49:04.960 --> 00:49:10.480
can do anything where unless there is
a clear prohibition against it. If there's

617
00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:14.920
not a clear prohibition against it,
they can do it. They don't need

618
00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:17.960
an instruction or a command to do
it or an example. All they need

619
00:49:19.239 --> 00:49:22.679
is they can do anything unless you
can find a clear prohibition against it.

620
00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:25.320
Well, that sometimes turns into a
free for all. Well, when it

621
00:49:25.360 --> 00:49:32.480
comes to your life, when it
comes to making a decision, can you

622
00:49:32.800 --> 00:49:38.840
only do what is specifically instructed and
commanded and where you have an example,

623
00:49:39.119 --> 00:49:43.679
or can you do anything unless there's
a clear prohibition against it. Well,

624
00:49:43.719 --> 00:49:50.400
when it comes to pragmatic decisions,
you're making a pragmatic decision in your life,

625
00:49:50.599 --> 00:49:52.880
you're probably the way you're going to
operate is I can make any decision

626
00:49:52.920 --> 00:49:57.239
as long as there's not a clear
command against it. I don't necessarily need

627
00:49:57.280 --> 00:50:02.800
a specific instruction or a specific example. Well, in Abram's case, is

628
00:50:02.840 --> 00:50:07.159
this Let's say it's a pragmatic decision. We're gonna starve, there's food.

629
00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:10.679
Oh wait, Sarah, they could
kill me. That would mess this up?

630
00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:16.679
Do this all pragmatism? But is
it sinful pragmatism? Is he violating

631
00:50:16.719 --> 00:50:23.159
a command? I don't think he
is. So can we say that Abraham

632
00:50:23.280 --> 00:50:29.119
leaned towards Egypt and unbelief and then
found himself crippled by it? Did he

633
00:50:29.159 --> 00:50:31.639
find himself crippled by it? I
don't think. I don't think the articles

634
00:50:31.679 --> 00:50:37.159
come He didn't find himself crippled by
it. He got rich. Okay,

635
00:50:37.079 --> 00:50:40.960
he profited from it. He didn't
get crippled by it. He got He

636
00:50:42.639 --> 00:50:45.119
was in an uncomfortable situation, But
he's not the one who was plagued.

637
00:50:45.440 --> 00:50:50.159
Pharaoh was plagued. Pharaoh was a
little ticked off, but he gets sent

638
00:50:50.199 --> 00:50:59.360
away better off than he arrived,
and they survived the famine. So is

639
00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:02.599
it simply a pragmatic decision? And
can we say that it's wrong? Another

640
00:51:02.639 --> 00:51:07.360
way some people look at this is
that everything Abraham does and he does here

641
00:51:07.599 --> 00:51:13.360
is a complete lack of trust in
God. Another interpretation considers Abram's decision to

642
00:51:13.400 --> 00:51:16.039
go to Egypt as a lack of
trust in God's provision and protection. Instead

643
00:51:16.039 --> 00:51:21.000
of relying on God to sustain him
during the famine, Abram took matters into

644
00:51:21.039 --> 00:51:24.559
his own hands and sought security in
Egypt, potentially demonstrating a lack of faith.

645
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:32.360
Do you interpret this as Abraham leaned
towards unbelief because of the circumstances which

646
00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:37.280
he faced. Oh, that preaches
so good, that preaches I can make

647
00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:40.760
that, I could preach that.
Hey, when you face circumstances that are

648
00:51:40.760 --> 00:51:45.880
difficult, when you face circumstances that
you see and you experience, which calls

649
00:51:45.960 --> 00:51:53.840
into question God calls into question everything, you forget the circumstances and you trust

650
00:51:53.840 --> 00:51:58.079
in that God whom you cannot see. You trust in that God who may

651
00:51:58.079 --> 00:52:01.119
not be intervening. You trust in
God who may not be speaking that.

652
00:52:01.280 --> 00:52:04.639
See, that preach is so good. But I don't know if that's what

653
00:52:04.719 --> 00:52:12.639
this text is telling us. Is
this just an example of Abram making a

654
00:52:12.800 --> 00:52:17.519
pragmatic decision or is this an abraham
an example of Abraham not trusting in God?

655
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:22.000
Well, why would he trust in
and again, I'm going to go

656
00:52:22.079 --> 00:52:27.400
back to it. I know nobody
likes to say this. Where was God?

657
00:52:27.880 --> 00:52:31.519
It's amazing he could, he could, He could show up and intervene

658
00:52:31.880 --> 00:52:37.239
and speak the beginning of Genesis twelve. A little bit later in Genesis twelve,

659
00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:42.280
but once the famine hits, God
goes silent. He does not intervene,

660
00:52:42.360 --> 00:52:46.159
He does not do anything until he
decides to plague Pharaoh. Well,

661
00:52:46.199 --> 00:52:50.719
if you're gonna plague Pharaoh, why
didn't you just take care of the situation

662
00:52:50.880 --> 00:53:00.320
before that? Faith tested. Some
interpretations view Abrahm's to Egypt as a test

663
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:05.760
of faith orchestrated by God. This
event served to test Abram's trust in God's

664
00:53:05.800 --> 00:53:09.360
promises and to demonstrate his reliance on
God even in challenging circumstances. It could

665
00:53:09.400 --> 00:53:13.639
be interpreted as a pivotal moment in
Abram's journey of faith. So some people

666
00:53:13.679 --> 00:53:16.639
say God did orchestrate all of this, and it did serve as a purpose

667
00:53:16.800 --> 00:53:22.159
to basically try to show Abraham,
I will ultimately take care of you,

668
00:53:22.400 --> 00:53:24.880
because I've entered into a covenant with
you, and i will take care of

669
00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:29.960
you. So he allowed him.
God went silent, so that Abraham would

670
00:53:29.960 --> 00:53:34.480
get in that specific situation. So
God then could demonstrate that he will keep

671
00:53:34.480 --> 00:53:50.639
his promise to Abram based off the
Covenant, foreshadowing themes from a symbolic perspective.

672
00:53:50.679 --> 00:53:53.239
This is how maybe many who would
approach Genesis well from a symbolic perspective,

673
00:53:53.880 --> 00:53:59.280
they see Abram strip to Egypt may
foreshadow future events or themes in the

674
00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:04.320
Biblical narrati. It could serve as
a prelude to later instances where individuals face

675
00:54:04.360 --> 00:54:08.280
trials of faith or struggle with trusting
God's guidance and provision. So they may

676
00:54:08.320 --> 00:54:12.159
say, if we just look at
it from a more symbolic this just is

677
00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:16.400
foreshadows how throughout the Bible people are
going to have difficult circumstances and they're going

678
00:54:16.480 --> 00:54:20.960
to make decisions. In many cases, their decisions will not be one of

679
00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:24.840
trusting God, but may be one
of pragmatic consideration or dare I say,

680
00:54:25.239 --> 00:54:30.679
leaning towards their own understanding. But
I don't know if I see this as

681
00:54:30.679 --> 00:54:35.519
a symbolic I think this is a
historical account, and I think that we

682
00:54:35.599 --> 00:54:38.480
have done some things to this historical
account that may not be necessarily fair to

683
00:54:38.519 --> 00:54:47.320
the text. Some another interpretation suggests
that Abram's journey to Egypt was a strategic

684
00:54:47.480 --> 00:54:54.119
move to establish alliance or secure favor
with the Egyptians. This perspective views Abram's

685
00:54:54.719 --> 00:55:00.800
actions as part of a larger plan
to safeguard his family and resources navigating a

686
00:55:00.840 --> 00:55:05.679
foreign land. So some say what
Abraham was doing was, Hey, Egypt

687
00:55:05.719 --> 00:55:07.960
just got all this part, let's
try to go get a good relationship with

688
00:55:08.039 --> 00:55:10.639
him. But that didn't really work
out so well, right, because when

689
00:55:10.719 --> 00:55:15.760
is Pharaoh's like, get out.
I don't think you really made a strategic

690
00:55:15.800 --> 00:55:20.320
alliance. I don't understand that interpretation. We're going to reject that one,

691
00:55:21.840 --> 00:55:25.800
not another interpretation. Abram's journey to
Egypt can also be seen as a lesson

692
00:55:25.880 --> 00:55:31.679
in the consequences of human decisions.
The events that unfold during this time in

693
00:55:31.760 --> 00:55:38.519
Egypt include the deception regarding SARAHI illustrates
the repercussions of straying from God's intended path

694
00:55:38.679 --> 00:55:43.840
and the importance of seeking his guidance. Now again, see I struggle with

695
00:55:43.880 --> 00:55:47.960
that. See Abraham was wrong because
he did not seek God's guidance. That

696
00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:53.760
to me is ridiculous. God is
the one who's initiated all conversations up to

697
00:55:53.840 --> 00:55:58.920
this point. If God doesn't step
in, what is Abram supposed to do?

698
00:56:02.960 --> 00:56:05.960
God could have stepped in, said
Abram, what are you doing?

699
00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:07.800
What are you doing? What are
you doing? Turn around, go back,

700
00:56:08.079 --> 00:56:13.239
Abram, Come on, now,
don't put Sarah in this position.

701
00:56:14.280 --> 00:56:19.159
But no, he goes silent.
Next thing you know, he's plaguing Pharaoh,

702
00:56:19.320 --> 00:56:30.039
and Pharaoh gets punished for Abram's deceit, Abram's decision to go to Egypt

703
00:56:30.119 --> 00:56:36.320
and Genesis twelve to ten. The
interpretations can vary, ranging from pragmatic consideration

704
00:56:36.400 --> 00:56:39.280
to spiritual insights about faith, trust, consequences, and a broader theme within

705
00:56:39.320 --> 00:56:44.960
the biblical narrative. Each perspective offers
a unique lens through which to understand the

706
00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.320
significance of this event in Abraham's journey
and in the broader context of biblical teaching.

707
00:56:49.960 --> 00:56:51.880
Now, I don't know which one
you want to go with. I

708
00:56:51.920 --> 00:56:54.159
don't know which where you live where? Oh wait, we're gonna go.

709
00:56:54.239 --> 00:57:00.960
I don't know which way you're leaning. So what do you think about Abraham's

710
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:05.679
decision here? Now? Some of
you are going to be dogmatic. It

711
00:57:05.760 --> 00:57:07.360
was wrong, It was wrong,
It was wrong. Please know there's no

712
00:57:07.440 --> 00:57:13.320
prohibition against what he did. There's
no instructions against what he did. You

713
00:57:13.360 --> 00:57:17.519
can't go find a scriptures and laws
that are placed or given by God,

714
00:57:19.039 --> 00:57:21.960
you know, five hundred, six
hundred, eight hundred years a thousand years

715
00:57:22.039 --> 00:57:24.559
later, and then impose them back
on Abram. You cannot do that.

716
00:57:25.239 --> 00:57:30.039
Abraham was living at a time where
what revelation he had from God is basically

717
00:57:30.079 --> 00:57:32.159
what God has given him. For
the most part, they don't have a

718
00:57:32.159 --> 00:57:37.480
lot and maybe stories that they were
told about Abraham, about Adam, Eve

719
00:57:37.760 --> 00:57:42.719
Noah, maybe stories that were handed
down, they have no written record.

720
00:57:42.920 --> 00:57:45.719
He can't just do a Bible study. God tells him to go. He

721
00:57:45.840 --> 00:57:49.679
goes. The next thing, you
know, there's a severe femine in the

722
00:57:49.760 --> 00:57:52.960
land, and the decision has to
be made, and he makes it very

723
00:57:53.079 --> 00:57:55.800
I think it is fair to say
a pragmatic decision. We got to get

724
00:57:55.840 --> 00:58:00.960
to Egypt because we're gonna die.
Now if we go, I'm going to

725
00:58:01.039 --> 00:58:06.760
die. So Sarah, here's the
strategy to keep me alive. By keeping

726
00:58:06.760 --> 00:58:09.119
me alive, then we can help
preserve everyone. Now, Sarah could have

727
00:58:09.119 --> 00:58:12.599
been taken and you know, who
knows how that could have went down.

728
00:58:14.960 --> 00:58:16.679
But then when it's all said and
done, God intervenes and protects him.

729
00:58:16.679 --> 00:58:21.840
Now does show God ultimately keeping his
covenant promise? Right? Is the point

730
00:58:21.880 --> 00:58:30.880
of this story is Abraham's pragmatic decision
put them in a very dangerous situation,

731
00:58:31.159 --> 00:58:37.800
and as even though they their decisions, we were at least questionable as far

732
00:58:37.800 --> 00:58:42.320
as how it was all going to
ultimately play out. God intervened, demonstrating

733
00:58:42.599 --> 00:58:47.119
God will keep his covenant promise even
when the people fail, and even when

734
00:58:47.119 --> 00:58:52.320
the people put themselves and very i
won't say fail, even when people put

735
00:58:52.400 --> 00:58:57.920
themselves in situations that could have resulted
in well, everything going wrong. Right.

736
00:58:58.039 --> 00:59:00.239
Why? Because Pharaoh could have been
so mad he could have killed Sarah

737
00:59:00.360 --> 00:59:04.639
and Abram. He could have killed
all he could have He could have taken

738
00:59:04.880 --> 00:59:07.760
everything from Abram. He could have
said, you did this to me,

739
00:59:07.800 --> 00:59:12.719
I'm taking everything from you. Get
out. But God intervened, Sarah was

740
00:59:12.719 --> 00:59:17.360
protected, and Abraham walks out unscathed
and better than he entered. I think

741
00:59:17.400 --> 00:59:22.800
this is more of a proof that
God will keep his covenant promise even when

742
00:59:22.840 --> 00:59:30.920
people do things that could call into
question your your your self preservation, Are

743
00:59:30.960 --> 00:59:37.199
your you existing the next day?
Is this about Is this more about God

744
00:59:37.280 --> 00:59:45.639
remaining faithful even when we act somewhat
in a a foolish way or a questionable

745
00:59:45.679 --> 00:59:47.519
way. I don't want I don't
want to put heap too much judgment on

746
00:59:47.559 --> 00:59:50.920
what Abram does here. Now,
when I was young, the way I

747
00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:54.119
preached this is the way I was
always taught. Abraham did not trust God.

748
00:59:55.320 --> 01:00:04.639
Do you trust God? But there's
no prohibition, there's no instruction.

749
01:00:05.079 --> 01:00:09.119
So how do you interpret this?
Now? I want you to go listen

750
01:00:09.400 --> 01:00:19.880
to a sermon today on Genesis twelve
ten through twenty. All right, Abram

751
01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:23.679
leaned towards Egypt and unbelief and soon
found himself crippled by it. I'd completely

752
01:00:23.719 --> 01:00:27.039
disagree. I don't know if.
I don't know if you can say he

753
01:00:27.199 --> 01:00:30.119
leaned towards Egypt and unbelief. I
don't even know if we can say that.

754
01:00:30.440 --> 01:00:34.920
And secondly, I don't know how
he found himself crippled. He came

755
01:00:34.960 --> 01:00:47.079
out unscathed rich. Now you could
argue that when they come up out of

756
01:00:47.199 --> 01:01:00.599
Egypt, you could argue, where
is it now? Sarah Abrams had borne

757
01:01:00.639 --> 01:01:04.719
him no children, and she had
an Egyptian made servant whose name was Hagar.

758
01:01:07.559 --> 01:01:12.800
Now what they did they pick up
hagar in Egypt. In other words,

759
01:01:12.840 --> 01:01:15.679
they left not just with money,
they left even with servants. And

760
01:01:15.719 --> 01:01:19.000
one of the servants was Egyptian.
And well, they're going to use hagar.

761
01:01:19.840 --> 01:01:24.000
Does that become the part that cripples
them is what they obtained in Egypt?

762
01:01:24.920 --> 01:01:28.119
Now again, once again, God
could have stepped in and said,

763
01:01:28.119 --> 01:01:31.599
no, you can't take any servants, You got to leave these people behind.

764
01:01:32.519 --> 01:01:37.599
But God doesn't intervene. The lack
of God intervening and intervening at different

765
01:01:37.679 --> 01:01:46.960
intervals sometimes is baffling to me,
which always raises the question for me is

766
01:01:49.639 --> 01:01:52.599
And I know nobody likes to say
this theologically, but you have to almost

767
01:01:52.639 --> 01:01:57.440
acknowledge that. And I think in
every one of these situations we're going to

768
01:01:57.519 --> 01:02:00.440
see and all seven when we look
at all of these, but we definitely

769
01:02:00.440 --> 01:02:05.039
see it in Abrahm. God could
have stopped this a million different ways,

770
01:02:05.719 --> 01:02:08.800
and he doesn't. And there's millions
of times in your life and my life.

771
01:02:08.880 --> 01:02:13.000
God can intervene. He doesn't have
to part the Red Sea, he

772
01:02:13.039 --> 01:02:16.000
doesn't have to sin plagues. He
could intervene in very very small ways that

773
01:02:16.039 --> 01:02:22.440
would in reality probably prevent sin,
stop sin keep sin from happening, and

774
01:02:22.480 --> 01:02:24.519
God doesn't step in in any way
she performed. I mean, he can

775
01:02:24.559 --> 01:02:30.199
step in a way that would keep
it from even happening, but he doesn't.

776
01:02:31.079 --> 01:02:36.599
Now I'm not excusing sin. I'm
not excusing sin. It's still sin.

777
01:02:37.159 --> 01:02:42.079
But it seems to demonstrate sometimes that
God almost allow I think we have

778
01:02:42.159 --> 01:02:46.039
to say allow sin, does not
prevent sin, because he obviously has some

779
01:02:46.199 --> 01:02:52.119
kind of purpose ultimately in it.
Now that makes it very difficult when you're

780
01:02:52.119 --> 01:02:57.039
looking at someone who's involved in sin, because on some way you've got to

781
01:02:57.079 --> 01:02:59.519
say that that sin. But in
the other way you can say, well,

782
01:02:59.519 --> 01:03:01.119
God could have stepped in fifteen different
ways to stop this from happening,

783
01:03:01.159 --> 01:03:07.880
but he doesn't. I mean,
if God can step in and go hey,

784
01:03:07.119 --> 01:03:12.800
Abram, come go, God literally
speaks to him, go, well,

785
01:03:12.800 --> 01:03:14.880
then God could step in it in
time. Abram, what are you

786
01:03:14.920 --> 01:03:15.960
doing? Stop? No no no
no no no no no no no no

787
01:03:15.960 --> 01:03:22.880
no, do not sleep with Hagar. Don't. And it amazing how well

788
01:03:22.880 --> 01:03:27.519
one moment God is speaking, next
minute he doesn't. Like. That's something

789
01:03:27.559 --> 01:03:32.239
we should all struggle with if you
care about the Bible. All right,

790
01:03:32.679 --> 01:03:37.679
there's the first lean I don't know. I don't know what to do with

791
01:03:37.719 --> 01:03:43.840
that first leaning. I don't know. Do I take proverbs and apply it

792
01:03:43.840 --> 01:03:52.360
to abram I don't know. All
right, NEWSI fit yahoo dot com.

793
01:03:52.400 --> 01:03:58.079
That's news if Yahoo dot com news
if it yahoo dot com. That was

794
01:03:58.119 --> 01:04:03.400
a long discussion, covering a lot
of different perspectives to end with really no

795
01:04:03.519 --> 01:04:10.719
definitive answer, but maybe, just
maybe it will give you pause the next

796
01:04:10.719 --> 01:04:15.639
time you hear a sermon on this
that just goes all in and not really

797
01:04:15.920 --> 01:04:18.239
consider all of these questions. So
thank you for listening. Everyone, Have

798
01:04:18.280 --> 01:04:20.519
a great day. God bless