Aug. 4, 2024

Psalm 83 Pt 11

Psalm 83 Pt 11

We continue our work on Psalm 83

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We continue our work on Psalm 83

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All right, Psalm eighty three, p. Eighty three. We have

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a lot to try to do. I'm debating with myself

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exactly how we have to kind of move forward here.

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But we'll see what we can do here. Let me

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pull up all my notes here, and we can try

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to find a way through this. All right, So Psaw

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maybe three, we have been looking at this for a

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long a long time. We took a slight detour because

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in Saw eighty three we got confronted with the concept

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of prayer. We got confronted with the idea that in

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Ssaw maybe three, they're crying out to God to do

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something in a sense, to intervene, And we were confronted

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with how kind of ridiculous that is. On one hand,

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because when you are praying to God about any situation,

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you're praying to a God who, at the very least

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has done what knew was going to happen, and I'd

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done nothing to stop it from happening. At the very most,

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you're praying to the God who decreed it to happen,

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and through his providence, is guiding and directing it as

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it happens. So then the question is what are we

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praying for? So we looked into church history, the different

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philological ways that prayer should be done based on your theology, right,

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and what did we discover That most people the way

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they pray has literally zero to do with what theology.

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Prayer is more driven by what desire, feeling, emotion, and

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dare I say even a little superstition the way it's

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done right? And so I was greatly bothered by that,

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but I couldn't just leave it alone. So then I

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went back and tried to demonstrate to everyone that when

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you go to Psaw eighty three, you could arguable, wait

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a minute, they're praying for God to do something, So

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why why are they doing that? If what you're saying

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theologically is true, they shouldn't even be praying. So I

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had to answer that, And what was my answer? That

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the Old Testament Jews pray differently than New Testament gentiles,

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and why they have covenants, and these covenants make specific

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promises so they can pray for God's intervention. They can

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pray for God to do this or pray for God

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to do that, because they have specific covenants that outline

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that God will or could do those very things. So

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they are they then praying inconsistent to God's will. No,

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they can pray the words of the of the of

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all the different covenants made which promise blessings, defeating their enemies, preservation, restoration,

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bringing them to the land, et cetera, et cetera. In fact,

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the last hour we were talking more about the covenants,

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so that so I think that Elisa handles all of that.

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We've handled everything, but we got to finish the Psalm, right,

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So I've got to determine how do we get ourselves

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to the finish line. All right, So let's go back

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to Psaw eighty three. Let's kind of work our way

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through the Psalm, all right, and get us to where

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we are, and then we'll talk about it, all right,

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Are you ready? All right? Saw eighty three. First and foremost,

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we have verse one, do not keep silent, Oh God,

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do not hold your peace, and do not be still,

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Oh God. We have a prayer. But this begins to

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kind of establish that we classify this psalm as what

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a lament and what kind of a lament? A communal lament?

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That this is asaf crying out to God, putting words down,

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capturing the emotion of the people, and they are dealing

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with a situation that is happening at that very moment.

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All right, this is not prophesying any thing. They are

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crying out to God because they are facing a crisis

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at that very moment. Simply put, that crisis is articulated carefully.

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And verse well, they have enemies coming against them, or

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see in verse two for behold your enemies. Right, and guests,

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look at verse three. They have taken crafty council against

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your people. They've consulted together. They've come and let us

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cut them off from being a nation. They have consulted together,

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they form a confederacy. So these they have enemies coming

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against them to wipe them off the face of the earth.

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And that was happening when at that time there's not

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some future war. No, it's talking about what's going on.

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Then as Aften composes the lament to capture the people

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crying out to God because they are concerned. Yes, all right,

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So what happens in verse two, verse two, probably down

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to verse five. What happens in that section? Does he

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not describe the characteristics and attributes of the enemy. All right, Now,

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we did take that, and we could we found that

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those characteristics and attributes can apply to our enemies spiritually,

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right to Satan, to demons. We went, we went through

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a list of them, so we we found a little

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bit of application. Right that their enemies have the same

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characteristics as our enemies. So we are like, okay, we

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got we got something in common there, there's a there's

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an application here. Okay, great, right, so that we can

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kind of learn a little bit about our enemies, right then,

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But for them, their enemies not only are their character

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and their attributes describe what happens. Starting a verse six,

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seven and eight, he identifies them specifically, making it very

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clear that they're talking about real enemies. Now, just so

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that you know, there are those who interpret that all

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of those enemies are symbolic. They're not literal. They're just

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describing the enemies against Israel. There's nothing in the text

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that would make me turning that to be symbolic. Those

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are real enemies. I mean, if the author is going

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to go so far as to name them, like hey,

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I'm gonna give you something symbolic by naming something that's real,

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that's who would write that, Like you know what I'm saying.

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I guess you could do that, But there's nothing in

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the text that you could do that. So they're named,

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and we looked at all of them, did we not? Yes,

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we already did all of that. Okay. So that brought

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us to verse nine, verse nine, ten eleven and twelve.

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What do we have in nine, ten eleven and twelve?

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Whoe a request for God to act in the present

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as he did in the past? Right now, this is

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where our part the application falls apart a little bit

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for us. Right So, let me ask a question. Now,

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if you would like to do this today, you can

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leave this church. Go ask anyone you know who goes

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to church and ask him this question. Can we expect, ask,

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and claim that God will do for us in the

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present as he is done in the past as recorded

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in the Bible. Almost every Christian you know will say,

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what yes? And that is the most foolish thing I've

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ever heard of my entire life. You know why, Because

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I can go to my Old Testament and see God

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doing things. Clearly, I should not expect him to do

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that in the present, okay, And He has not done

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it in the present. Now, why could asaf ask God

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to do in the present as God has done in

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the past. Because of the covenants everything hinges on the covenants.

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Israel has covenants. God made covenants with Israel, and those

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covenants include so many promises. Right, if you just take

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the land covenant in Deuteronomy twenty eight, it's defeat your enemies,

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feed you, bless you, provide for you, provide all this

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stuff for you. Those are specific blessings. They can do this.

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This is where it falls apart for us, all right,

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For us, we can expect God to give us all

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spiritual blessings as He has promised us. And we have

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all the promises about what God will do and eternity.

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And in eternity there's some very specific promises, right, no

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more pain, tears, no more death, no more sin, right,

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glorified body, no more sickness, all of it. Now. I

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can pray that God will do that then, but I

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can't pray that what He's going to need to do

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in eternity that he will do now. In fact, that

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is the problem with the charismatic movement that seems to

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take these eternal promises and believe that they are present

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now and so therefore you can believe that there's going

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to be no more pain or no more suffering or

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basically no more death, and you'll be healed of all

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of your medical issues. It's just ridiculous. We have to

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keep things in their proper place. When I'm reading what God,

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when what Israel is praying for will go, You've got

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every right to pray for that. You've got specific promises.

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I can't. And so let's look at how God acted.

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And we've already looked at one of these. So some

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of Now this is where I have to make a

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preaching choice, right because in Psalm eighty three, starting as

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at verse nine, starting in verse nine, it's gonna name

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specific situations where God acted. Well, let me make it

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very clear. In every one of these situations we could

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go to and read. In some cases it covers two

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or three chapters. I could go and we could read

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all two or three chapters and we will finish Psalm

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eighty three in about eighty three years. Okay, So we

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can't do that. But you understand my struggle with that

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because then I don't like to do that all but

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I feel like we lose the plot. Does that make sense?

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Because we're gonna get so into those stories, then we're

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gonna kind of forget Psawm eighty three and then after

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ten years we'll some come back to Saw eighty three.

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I don't so I just have to kind of summarize

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some of these stories and give you the passages. I

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don't feel like I'm gonna be taking anything out of context,

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because I think we'll get the overall feel for it.

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One we've already covered, but we'll go back over it

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and we're gonna see how fast we can move through them.

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All right. Now, here's what I want you to do,

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is we move through them. I want you to see

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in each story what they have in common. I want

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you to see what they have that is different. Most importantly,

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I want you to realize, as you see how God acted,

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he's not doing that today, and to act like that

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he is is ridiculous, all right, because he's not right.

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So everybody ready, what's the first one mentioned in Psalm

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eighty three, the Midianites? You see him in verse nine.

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Deal with them? Now when them is referencing back all

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of these enemies that are just listed. Everybody see that

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Saw maighty three and nine. Deal with them. That them

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goes back to the enemies. Deal with those enemies that

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are present as you have with Midian all right, Now,

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the Midianites were one of the enemies mentioned in Saw

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many three. Can we all say amen to that? All right,

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here's some of the details, all right. The Midianites were

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descendants of Midian, who was the son of Abraham through

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his wife Katorah Genesis twenty five. Please note Abraham had

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more than one wife, okay, right, because polygamy was way

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more common than we may want to admit. Okay. They

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were related to the Israelites through their patriarch patriarchal lineage.

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All right. The Midianites were frequently in conflict with the

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Israelites throughout the Old Testament. One significant event involving the

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Midianites was their alliance with the Moabites and hiring Balem

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to curse the Israelites. As we counted in numbers twenty

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two through twenty four. What do you mostly what do

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you want to basically take from that? The Midianites were

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constantly in conflict with israel constantly in conflict. Right. Why

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the conflict because if they're kind of related, right, Remember,

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we kind of know what happens, right because anyone born

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within the Abrahamic family, right, there's going to be a

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problem because someone gets everything and some don't. And who's

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the one who in a sense gets everything, Isaac, Well,

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you could see anyone related would maybe like it's not fair, right,

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you could say where conflict could possibly arise? Right, because

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so many times, and I know people may not believe this,

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but religious people, people who profess faith in God, are

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self seeking, selfish, argue, fight and do horrible things. Now

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everyone here knows that I love you know everything about Salem.

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Message is love, love love. If I had the money,

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I'd move there and live there. Love Salem, love it,

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love the history. And I'm constantly reading and studying everything

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I can about the Salem witch trials because they utterly

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fascinate me. I have hypotheses. You know why. I think

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the Salem witch trials occurred because of a church fight.

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There was a new pastor. There was half of the

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church supported the pastor the other half didn't, and so

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they started fighting. And then guess what you could do.

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Accuse your enemy being a witch, and then you could

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have them killed. If you have them killed, you eliminate

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people trying to fight against your pastor, or you get

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rid of the people trying to support their pastor. Now

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there's some evidence to support it. I can't. I don't

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think it's the only reason, but it's a big reason,

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meaning that the godly Puritans were not as godly as

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everyone wants to be. In fact, I've got notes and

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everything about it and who the pastor was and everything,

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because i've been, I've been, I've bet, I've read. There's

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a book that goes through literally a timeline of everything

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that happens and and and Salem leaving up to there,

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like on this day and this was the sermon that

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was preached on this day, and this is what happened here,

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and it's it's, it's and when. But it just makes

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me go, man, well, when you see some of these conflicts.

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These are people who believe in God, who do what,

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fighting and arguing and just all the things that happened,

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some of their conflicts are in some ways, I love

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that the Bible is filled with all of these kinds

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of conflicts because it does what shows the reality of

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how messed up we are. The Bible does not make

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people look good. The Bible makes people look like trash. Okay,

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does that make sense? All right? Okay, so are we good?

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So we just understand ongoing conflict, all right? And Judges

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six through seven. Now this to me, you want to

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turn here, Judges six through seven. I know we've already

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looked at this. I don't have time to read everything,

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so you're just gonna have to look at it, all right.

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You can just if you need to look down at something, great,

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but try to focus on me, because if you're just

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gonna sit there and read it, then well then we

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should just just stop all and read it. Does that

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make sense? All right? And Judges six through seven. The Midianites,

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along with other neighboring people, oppress the Israelites for seven years.

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All right, look at chapter six, verse one. Everyone look

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at it and tell me what you see. Tell me

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if you think I'm making it up. Okay, there we go.

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See wow, And that's pretty clear, right, Can we agree

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on that? All right? Okay, So the Midianites, along with

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other neighboring people, oppress the Israelites for seven years. They

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would invade the land during the harvest time, destroying the

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crops and livestock. The oppression led to the rise of

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Gideon as a judge and deliverer. Right, and Gideon does

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a rise in the story. He plays a major part

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in it. Yes, okay, all right, I know that all right.

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Through divine intervention, Gideon led a small band of Israelites

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to defeat the Midianite's army, which numbered in the tens

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of thousands, with only three hundred men. This victory was

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a turning point and the struggle against the Midianite oppression.

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Now God intervenes in a powerful way. He reduces the numbers. Remember,

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he reduces the numbers and gets them smaller and smaller

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until there's only three hundred and they're facing thousands. And

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what was their means a victory? How did what was

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their military strategy? Lamps, pitchers and a trumpet? Right, okay?

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And then they were to shout something right after they

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smashed everything and then yeah, oh okay, well you know,

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and it's it's crazy now what can when I want

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you to look through this is what I want you

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to look through. I want you to look through Judges

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six carefully, right, I want you to look at it carefully,

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and and I want you to look and Judge A

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six seven and let me see here you six through

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eight because that's where most of these chapters. And I

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want you to look carefully six through eight and look

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for God's directions and involvement in everything that happens. You

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find the verses that speak directly of God giving in

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the instruction, God guiding God directing, God telling them what

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to do. Anything where you see God's direct involvement, you

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can just skim. You should be able to easy to

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see the words Lord or God. Okay, tell me the

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first one you find. Okay, Chapter six, some said verse

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someone said, verse one, and what does it say? Okay?

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So God is directing even them being delivered over. Okay,

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so God delivered them being Okay, and we can see

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and we know that we can get to all the discussions.

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Why in fact, just please note God delivering them over

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still fits some of the Covenant promises, because if they

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didn't obey, God would do these things to them. Okay,

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but all right then verse eight, what does it say

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the Lord said to prophet? Okay? Okay, okay, he speaks

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all through that. Okay, keep going gay. Verse ten, let's say, Wow,

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God's all involved in this, is he not? Yeah? See

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God all over this. At some point does he start

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telling them he starts reducing the army. Right where does

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he start reducing the army, Because it's by God's instructions,

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is it not? Where does that happen? And may not

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be in six and may be in seven. I don't know.

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God's gonna start giving specific instructions to reduce the army?

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Is it seven? Okay? What does he say? Okay? And

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then he gives specific instructions on how to lower the numbers?

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Does he not? Okay? He goes through that entire process.

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Does he then give them specific constructions about the picture,

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the lamp and the trumpet? Verse nine? Was this get up? Okay?

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God's all over this? Is it God that tells him

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to get the pictures in the lamp and the trumpet?

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Take your time? Okay? Now, soud? Do we believe that

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ultimately comes from God? Comes from the dream? Do we

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believe the dream was from God? Okay? Why do we

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believe the dream was from God? He worshiped after his dream?

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Maybe an indication? So we see that, all right? Okay,

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it's interesting that God spoke in that direct way. All right?

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So then they go through all of that, and then

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ultimately what happens if you look at verse twenty two,

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they three hundred blew the trumpet and the law at

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the trumpets and then what's the next phrase. The lord said,

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every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp,

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and the army fled. Right, So God intervenes, even causing

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the panic and the fighting against one another. God's intervening

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in every part of it. He's directing it, he's guiding it. Correct. Okay,

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then we know so God, God intervenes in the entire situation.

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God does so. So you can see why Asaph is

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asking for God basically to intervene. You did with the Midianites. Intervene.

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God was directly involved, and it led to the defeat

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of the enemies. Now remember, I'm not gonna go great

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into this again. But after this battle, where you think, okay,

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great God intervened, great things happened. But look at Judges

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chapter eight, verse twenty seven. Judges chapter eight, verse twenty seven,

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when Gideon returns the people. If you look at verse

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twenty two, Judges eight twenty two, the men of Israel

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want Gideon to do what rule over us, both you

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and your sons, for you have delivered us from the

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hand of Midian. But Gideon does not want to rule

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over them. But what does he want? Right? I will

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not rule over you with the Lord. But what does

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he want them to do? He has one request. Look

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at verse twenty four. He wants air. He wants gold,

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ear rings, okay, because they were the Ishramelites. He wants

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all of this plunder. Right, you see all of that,

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uh one than seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the

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crescent ornaments, pendents, purple robes which were of the kings

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of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their neck.

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Then Gideon made it into an ephod. Now this is

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where things get really weird. Right, he made an ephod

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from the gold he had plundered. And ephod was a

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garment worn by priest or the high priest in ancient Israel,

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particularly in the context of the Tabernacle and later in

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the temple. The ephod was a significant and sacred investment

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associated with the religious rituals and the seeking of divine guidance.

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All right, and the case of Gideon, it seems that

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he made an ephod using the gold plundered from their enemies.

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The act is seen is problematic because the ephod was

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meant to be a sacred object for religious purposes, not

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to be misused for personal gain or e idolatrous practices.

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It is likely that Gideon's actions led to negative consequences

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among the Israelites as the ephod became associated with idolatry

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and deviated from its intended purpose in worshiping the One

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True God. In fact, so they do all of this,

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and then what ultimately happens. You'll also notice in verse thirty,

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so verse thirty or sorry, verse thirty three. Okay, we'll

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look at verse thirty. You'll notice this Gideon had seventy sons.

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Who is his own offspring? For he had many wives

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and as concubine, all right, So he had polygamy and concubine, right.

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And then look at verse thirty three. So it was

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soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel

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again played the harlot. All right, so they go right

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back to idolatry. Get in, possibly he's making the ephod

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for some idolatrous practice, he's got multiple wives, he's got

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a concubine, and then they go right back to idolatry.

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So on one hand, showing even the defeat of the

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physical enemy did not ultimately take care of the real problem, right,

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because the real problem is always spiritual okay, but you

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get the issue. But the main thing is God intervenes

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in this in a pretty amazing way, right, three hundred

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versus thousands they use for weapons, They don't have weapons.

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Does everybody understand that they don't have any weapons? You

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go to war without weapons because God is the one

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who will ultimately win the victory, and therefore God ultimately

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gets the praise that is God intervening. Now, it's amazing

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how people will take these stories and talk about when

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you leave here today, you trust God to fight your battles.

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You trust God, and we say that, and then in

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every practical way we do what we take care of

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the problem. So it's always good to preach, but no

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one actually believes it. The biggest problem is you can't

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claim what God did from Midian that he's gonna do

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for us because he did that because he had covenant

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relationship with them and that's why he acted that way.

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But do you see God's involvement in that entire thing.

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God's directing it all obviously in a way which he

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does not direct us today. So everything about that story

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is very different. Can you agree? All right? Now, let's

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go back to psaw Maty three There's much more I

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could say about that, but we've already covered it, so

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I wanted to just get it out of the way quickly.

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All Right, who's the next one mentioned saw Maty three,

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verse nine, there's the midian I. Who's next? Cserah? Everybody

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see Cicerah? All right? Who's Cera? Cica was the commander

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of the Canaanite army who oppressed the Israelites. And saw

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Mati three nine, Cisa is mentioned in the context of

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a plea for God's intervention against enemy nations threatening Israel.

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And here's some things we know. Cicero was a commander

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of the Canaanite army who opposed the Israelites during the

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period of the Judges. He is most prominently featured and

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the story of Deborah and Barak and this Book of Judges,

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where he led the Canaanite forces against Israel. All right,

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Cicerah is portrayed as an enemy of Israel, leading a

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powerful military force that opposed that posed a threat to

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the Israelites. He's being mentioned in saw Mati three underscores

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the historical enmity between the Israelites and their adversaries. Despite

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his military prows Cicera ultimately met his demid eyes at

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the hands of Does anybody know look at Judges four

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through five? Okay, who yeah, right, Elle, all right, and

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we'll let you if you know what happens here. It's

424
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a pretty crazy story. Okay, yeah, it's pretty violent. Okay,

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go to Judges four and five. All right, five, you

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don't really need you really just need four, all right,

427
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because five is the song that is sung. But if

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you look at four, here's what I want you to

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do in four. All right, I'm gonna go through and

430
00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:42.720
tell you everything that happened. But look at Judges four

431
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now and the story of the Midianites. What did we

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see over and over and over God, God, God, God everywhere.

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Now look at Judges four and tell me how much

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you see God directing, guiding, speaking. Okay, we have the

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Lord routed Sicarah and all his chariots and all his

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army with the edge of the sword before Barak and

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Sesara alighted from his chariot fled away on foot. But

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Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as

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and it gives the names and the places, and all

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the army of Sicarah fell by the edge of the sword.

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Not a man was left. Do you see that? But

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do you see God mentioned anywhere else? They did evil

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in the side of the Lord. Right then we see him.

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He's involved a little bit there. But is he directing

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and guiding everything that they're doing? Is he giving them directions?

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They have none of that? Right? Can we agree? There's

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almost none of it mentioned. Just keep that in mind.

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All right, here's the basic idea of what happened. And judges,

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for we have Deborah and Barak. The Israelites again do

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evil in the sight of the Lord, and they are

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oppressed right by King Jabon of Canaan. Deborah, prophetess and judge,

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summons Barak to lead an army against the Canaanites. Barak

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agrees to go to battle, but insists that Deborah, accompasses

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brick comes along with him. Look at Judges four twelve

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twelve and following, I think is where the story really

456
00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:37.559
picks up, right, And is that and we kind of

457
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.319
just read a little bit of that. And Deborah said

458
00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:42.279
to Barak, up, for this is the day in which

459
00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:52.160
the Lord has look at verse fourteen. Judges four, verse fourteen.

460
00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:58.559
This is the day in which the Lord has delivered

461
00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:02.240
sister into your hands. Has not the Lord gone out

462
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:05.519
before you? So Barack went down. Barack went down to

463
00:32:05.559 --> 00:32:08.599
Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him, and the

464
00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:11.960
Lord routed Cisra and all his cheerios. They are accrediting

465
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:17.119
God for the action, But we have no clear anything,

466
00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:20.680
God directing everything. Does that make sense? All right? Everyone

467
00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:23.640
kind of got a pretty good idea there, all right.

468
00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:27.359
In fact, we can see what happens. The army is

469
00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:30.000
put to the sword. Look, at the end of verse sixteen,

470
00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:33.000
Sisah fell by the edge of the sword. Not a

471
00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:36.759
man was left. However, Sisra had fled away on foot

472
00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:42.200
to the tent of Jel, the wife of Heber the Keynite.

473
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:45.039
For there was a place between Jabin, King of Hazar.

474
00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:48.279
There was peace between Jabin, King of Hazar, and the

475
00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:50.839
house of Heboard the Kenite. And Jael went out to

476
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:54.160
meet Cisara and said to him, turn aside, my lord,

477
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:57.240
turn aside to me, do not fear. And when he

478
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:01.240
had turned aside, with her aside, with her into the tent,

479
00:33:01.480 --> 00:33:03.920
she covered him with a blanket. Now do we have

480
00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:09.599
God giving any directions here? No directions, no anything. In fact,

481
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:11.519
she goes out and says, you have nothing to fear.

482
00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:14.240
In fact, you could argue that what she's doing here

483
00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:20.039
is what she's lying. Then he said to her, please

484
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:22.319
give me a little water to drink, for I'm thirsty.

485
00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:26.480
I bet you've been people. Your army's all dead, you've

486
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:29.039
run for your life. She opened a jug of milk,

487
00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:31.319
gave him a drink, and covered him. And he said

488
00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:33.759
to her, stand at the door of the tent, and

489
00:33:33.799 --> 00:33:37.599
if any man comes and inquires of you and says,

490
00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:40.599
is there any man here, you shall say no. He

491
00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:44.359
needs rest, he needs food. And she's playing right along.

492
00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:51.599
Right then Jaelle, Hebrew's wife, took a tent peg. According

493
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:56.160
to some translations or nell, she took a hammer with

494
00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:02.319
softly to him and drove the peg into his temple,

495
00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:05.240
and it went down into the ground. She's got a

496
00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:11.079
pretty good swing. Okay, that's pretty violent, is it? Not? All? Right?

497
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.159
For he was fast, asleep and weary. So he died

498
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:17.000
I like that, And so he died a right. And

499
00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:19.920
then as Barak pursued, sister a Jella came out to

500
00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:22.000
meet him and said to him, come, I will show

501
00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:24.880
you the man whom you seek, And when he went

502
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:27.639
into her tent. There lay Sisa dead with a peg

503
00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:34.679
in his temple. So on that day God subdued Jabin,

504
00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:37.679
King of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel,

505
00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:39.920
and the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger

506
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.920
and stronger against Jab and the King of Canaan, until

507
00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.920
they had destroyed Jabin, King of Canaan. All right, then,

508
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:50.960
then what do we have in chapter five? We have

509
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:54.280
the song? We have the song? All right? Do we

510
00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:59.599
see that? All right? Now overall Judges four through five

511
00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:01.840
to pick the story of Deborah and Barak, who with

512
00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:05.239
Now this is how this describes it. With God's guidance,

513
00:35:05.320 --> 00:35:08.480
led the Israelites to victory against the oppressive Canaanites. Their

514
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:11.280
narrative emphasizes the importance of faith, courage, and obedience to

515
00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:13.639
God's will, as well as highlighting the role of women

516
00:35:13.719 --> 00:35:17.000
like Deborah and the leadership of ancient Israel. All right,

517
00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:22.760
now go back to keep keep your you can, you

518
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:24.639
can you can stay in judges if you need to.

519
00:35:24.679 --> 00:35:29.440
But go back to Psalm eighty three. All right, So

520
00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:31.639
the first one mentioned is the Midianites. We see how

521
00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:34.199
they're defeated. The second one is Sistera, and we see

522
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:37.679
how he is defeated. Correct. Who's the third one mentioned

523
00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:44.039
after cisra Jabin? All right? Did we not just read

524
00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:46.760
about him as well? All right, So we've covered off

525
00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:49.599
all of these. Now here's this is where we I

526
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:52.360
want to least look at this. Now Immediately we realize

527
00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:58.320
there's something to me different about Judges four right there,

528
00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:01.760
when I'm comparing on contray these, I'm like, Judges For

529
00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:05.400
seems so different than the whole story of the Midianites, right,

530
00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:08.960
So I was I was like, hmm, there's something going

531
00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:13.239
on here. So I asked Ai, what what is missing

532
00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:16.159
in Judges For that seems significant? And just to see

533
00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:20.199
if AI would see what I saw? Right? So this

534
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:25.679
is what AI said. The absence of a direct divine

535
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:31.199
command in Judges For, unlike other narratives in the Book

536
00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:35.280
of Judges, can be understood in several ways. Here's a

537
00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:38.440
few perspectives that can be drawn from this difference. So

538
00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:42.400
AI saw the difference. AI was like, there seems to

539
00:36:42.440 --> 00:36:47.119
be God is not necessarily directing this. Now, there's some

540
00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:50.199
of the verses that seem to imply that God is.

541
00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.239
But who's saying it That's the question in Judges for

542
00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:56.840
is it God saying I'm involved or is it them

543
00:36:56.920 --> 00:37:02.559
saying they're involved? Now this is very all right, Let's

544
00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:06.760
make this very clear. This is always the difficulty, especially

545
00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:12.400
with religious people, right, Okay, when America goes to war

546
00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:18.159
and we kill twenty people in a battle, we will

547
00:37:18.199 --> 00:37:27.119
say God was on our side. If someone else wins

548
00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:33.519
the battle, God was on our side. Doesn't everyone believe

549
00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:37.400
God is on their side? When there's a church split,

550
00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:42.239
Doesn't both people believe God is on their side? When

551
00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.920
someone leaves a church? Do they believe God is on

552
00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:49.039
everyone believes God is on their side. Nobody's like, God

553
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:51.440
is not on my side. Everyone believes God is on

554
00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:54.840
their side. So I don't know so, but it's still interesting.

555
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:57.519
Even Ei was like, huh, so this is what AI

556
00:37:57.639 --> 00:38:00.920
suggested we do with this? All right? Are you all right?

557
00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:05.039
Number one? They say that we can understand this from

558
00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:10.400
the perspective of human initiative and leadership. The story of

559
00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:14.199
Deborah and Barack and Judges four highlights the human initiative

560
00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:19.760
and leadership Deborah prophetess and Barack act and Barack act

561
00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:25.519
based on Deborah's prophetic insight rather than a direct divine command.

562
00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:32.519
This can suggest that God's guidance came through inspired leaders

563
00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:37.239
and their discernment rather than explicit instructions. It underscores the

564
00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:41.519
importance of wise and godly leadership in the time of crises.

565
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:47.320
All right, go back to Judges four or maybe three?

566
00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:50.679
Do you see anything where Deborah seems to have prophetic

567
00:38:50.840 --> 00:38:58.280
insight into what they're doing? Do we have any specific

568
00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:03.320
scripture that says heard her prophetic insight gave them direction

569
00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:08.480
and what to do? Here trying to move as fast

570
00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:10.519
as I can through these I apologize if I'm going

571
00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:17.639
too quick, but I'm trying. Do we have anything that

572
00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:21.519
seems to say her prophetic insight or is that just implied?

573
00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:26.639
Where is she referred to as a prophetess? Okay? Four? Four?

574
00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:36.119
What does it say about her? All right? So she's

575
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:48.079
a prophetess and she's judging Israel, And what does she

576
00:39:48.119 --> 00:39:51.320
say God commanded anything specific about what they're to do?

577
00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:08.679
All right? So she is crediting God with the directions?

578
00:40:09.639 --> 00:40:12.280
All right? So that seems to say there is more

579
00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:16.079
divine Is there more divine guidance here than first thought?

580
00:40:16.519 --> 00:40:24.559
What do I think think? So? Does that seem all that. Yeah,

581
00:40:24.559 --> 00:40:28.880
that's what I'm asking. Okay, all right now, because here's

582
00:40:28.920 --> 00:40:32.840
my thing. If we go with this idea of inspired

583
00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:36.599
godly counsel, now you do realize where we end up

584
00:40:36.599 --> 00:40:39.519
in we can end up in a problem here, right, okay?

585
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:44.519
Because obviously in the Old Testament you had prophetesses and

586
00:40:44.599 --> 00:40:50.320
prophets that were directly given information from God and then

587
00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:53.119
they were to take that information directly to the people.

588
00:40:53.320 --> 00:40:56.159
If you think about it, even in Judges six, who

589
00:40:56.199 --> 00:41:00.920
gets the direct information about what to do? Gideon? Here

590
00:41:01.039 --> 00:41:04.840
it would be Deborah getting the direct information. Yes, now

591
00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:21.719
I'm sorry, what you know? We have God? Okay? Possibly okay,

592
00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:25.239
But but if we go with the leadership idea, you

593
00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:27.079
do realize where we kind of end up. We're gonna

594
00:41:27.159 --> 00:41:32.400
end up with a major issue here, right, Does that

595
00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:34.239
may see where this is going to ultimately lead to.

596
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:43.559
If God speaks through godly counsel and people have to

597
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:46.920
listen to that godly counsel for the direction because they

598
00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:50.880
have insight or they are given specific information, then the

599
00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:54.039
authority about what to do or what to believe would

600
00:41:54.079 --> 00:42:00.000
come from godly leadership. Yes, okay, do you see where

601
00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:07.039
that becomes a problem? Nobody in the Protestant church believes that. Okay,

602
00:42:07.239 --> 00:42:10.119
so immediately we would immediately go, wait a minute, we

603
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:14.920
don't operate under that same system, right, because what are

604
00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:18.679
the hallmarks of most Protestants is do we believe in

605
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:23.679
apostolic succession? No, we do not. Right, Catholics believe in

606
00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:27.400
apostolic succession. They believe the Church has that authority in power,

607
00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:32.559
not the people. Some Charismatics believe in apostolic succession, and

608
00:42:32.599 --> 00:42:35.119
they believe that they have apostles in their churches. But

609
00:42:35.199 --> 00:42:38.639
guess what do they submit to those apostles and do

610
00:42:38.800 --> 00:42:40.960
every No, they don't, because in any cases, say well,

611
00:42:40.960 --> 00:42:44.280
could then leave those churches. So it does. So the

612
00:42:44.360 --> 00:42:49.639
Protestant world does not believe this. So immediately we know

613
00:42:49.679 --> 00:42:51.880
once again we're dealing with God moving in a way

614
00:42:52.039 --> 00:42:56.760
that we don't believe God is moving today. Nobody believes. Look,

615
00:42:56.960 --> 00:43:01.519
I don't care what anybody says. Nobody has ever believed

616
00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:04.800
that I have some spiritual insight and that I have

617
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:07.920
some authority because people will disagree with me at the

618
00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:11.199
drop of a hat and leave the church, and nobody cares.

619
00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:15.719
I have no power, no authority, and even degrees in

620
00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:21.960
theology mean absolutely nothing, So we definitely don't go with

621
00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:27.519
this idea right now. It may work then, but even

622
00:43:27.559 --> 00:43:30.119
at that time did the people even listen to the prophets?

623
00:43:31.559 --> 00:43:35.320
They didn't even listen to the prophets, which is kind

624
00:43:35.320 --> 00:43:41.599
of like, even that system doesn't really even work, does it? All? Right,

625
00:43:41.800 --> 00:43:49.039
so that human initiative, okay? Second prophetic mediation, Debra serves

626
00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:51.440
as a mediator of God's will. Her role as a

627
00:43:51.480 --> 00:43:54.320
prophetism implies that she speaks for God even if the

628
00:43:54.360 --> 00:43:57.559
text does not record a specific command from God. This

629
00:43:57.599 --> 00:44:00.960
can illustrate how God works through his appointed and leaders

630
00:44:00.960 --> 00:44:04.199
to communicate his will to his people. Again, that may

631
00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:08.239
be great and that setting, but the people didn't even

632
00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:12.000
usually listen to the prophets. But we reject that idea

633
00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:15.599
outright in twenty twenty four. You don't believe it. I

634
00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:19.760
don't believe it. Nobody believes it. Right Our argument is

635
00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:28.800
what what is the Protestant argument? Not the church, not

636
00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:34.800
the pastor the Bible. And then you take the Bible,

637
00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:41.440
and then we are to judge the pastor in the church.

638
00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:45.199
The people are to judge the pastor in the church.

639
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:48.360
It is a weird system in the Protestant world. Everyone

640
00:44:48.519 --> 00:44:50.679
just got to admit that it's a weird system, right,

641
00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:54.039
because we're like, well, when a pastor is getting ready

642
00:44:54.039 --> 00:44:57.559
to get a job, what do people ask, where do

643
00:44:57.599 --> 00:44:59.760
you go to school? Well? Why do you care where

644
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:01.639
I to school? Does it even matter if I went

645
00:45:01.639 --> 00:45:04.719
to school? Does that give me any do you care?

646
00:45:05.079 --> 00:45:07.599
You care until what the first sermon I preach, and

647
00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:11.400
then somebody immediately disagrees. Nobody cares what school, The schooling

648
00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:15.719
doesn't matter, degrees don't matter, diplomas doesn't none of it matters,

649
00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:21.760
because ultimately who's in charge the individual. So so even

650
00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:26.440
if this works through some kind of divine mediation, it

651
00:45:26.440 --> 00:45:30.519
doesn't matter. Says Faith and Obedience. The narrative focuses on

652
00:45:30.559 --> 00:45:35.039
the faith and obedience of the characters, particularly Barak, who

653
00:45:35.079 --> 00:45:37.599
acts on Debra's word. This can teach that faith in

654
00:45:37.639 --> 00:45:41.679
God's representatives and obedience to their guidance is crucial in

655
00:45:41.719 --> 00:45:46.239
the absence of divine direct communication. Well again, maybe in

656
00:45:46.280 --> 00:45:49.400
that case it would have been, but we believe that

657
00:45:49.440 --> 00:45:56.679
we have divine communication where here. So what I'm trying

658
00:45:56.679 --> 00:46:01.159
to demonstrate is this entire situation is what radically different

659
00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:05.519
from our situation. God is. God does not work in

660
00:46:05.599 --> 00:46:08.039
this capacity in any way, shape or form. In twenty

661
00:46:08.079 --> 00:46:11.519
twenty four. You can't take from this and say, well,

662
00:46:11.519 --> 00:46:14.320
now God's gonna do this. Everything here about this is

663
00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:19.880
completely different, all right, divine sovereignty. Despite the lack of

664
00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:22.639
an explicit command, the outcome of the battle against Cicera

665
00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:25.800
demonstrates God's sovereignty and his ability to deliver his people.

666
00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:28.079
This reinforces the theme that God is always at work

667
00:46:28.119 --> 00:46:31.519
behind the scenes, orchestrating events for his purposes, even when

668
00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:34.639
his actions are not overtly mentioned. Well, now this goes

669
00:46:34.679 --> 00:46:38.199
back to God's sovereign act. That God is what decreeing it,

670
00:46:40.119 --> 00:46:45.119
guiding in directing it. So then what's the point of prayer? Well,

671
00:46:45.519 --> 00:46:47.559
in ssaw mayty three, they could pray because they want

672
00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:52.559
God to sovereignly act on the basis of his covenant,

673
00:46:52.840 --> 00:46:55.760
which they could ask for those things because God would

674
00:46:56.280 --> 00:46:59.639
sovereignly act according to those covenants. But it's completely radically

675
00:46:59.639 --> 00:47:04.599
different for us, all right, So there is a massive difference.

676
00:47:05.039 --> 00:47:07.840
All right. Now go back to Saw eighty three. We're oh,

677
00:47:08.119 --> 00:47:10.400
maybe we can pull this off. Maybe maybe the rest

678
00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:13.159
of these I'm going to go through so fast, all right,

679
00:47:13.519 --> 00:47:15.440
So you better just hang on. We're gonna go through

680
00:47:15.480 --> 00:47:18.599
these quickly, you ready, right, because most of these we've

681
00:47:18.639 --> 00:47:21.519
kind of covered already, if you didn't even realize it, okay.

682
00:47:21.880 --> 00:47:24.559
Jabin was the king of Hazor, who allied with Cicera

683
00:47:24.639 --> 00:47:27.800
against the Israelites. Jabin is mentioned in the context of

684
00:47:27.800 --> 00:47:30.599
a plea for God's intervention against the enemy, the enemy

685
00:47:30.679 --> 00:47:34.960
nations thraightening Israel. Here's some information. Jabin was a common

686
00:47:35.079 --> 00:47:38.599
name for kings of Hazor in the ancient Near East

687
00:47:38.800 --> 00:47:41.280
and the Bible. Jabin is often associated with the Canaanite

688
00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:44.119
kings who opposed the Israelites during the period of the Judges.

689
00:47:44.519 --> 00:47:47.360
Jabin is portrayed as an as an oppressor of Israel,

690
00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:51.039
leading a kingdom that posed a threat to the Israelites.

691
00:47:52.079 --> 00:47:55.320
His mention and Saw eighty three underscores the historical conflict

692
00:47:55.519 --> 00:47:58.920
between the Israelites and their enemies. Jabin is typically depicted

693
00:47:58.920 --> 00:48:02.079
as a powerful ruler with a formidable army at his disposal.

694
00:48:02.320 --> 00:48:05.840
His military might symbolizes the strength of Israel's adversaries and

695
00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:09.760
the need for divine intervention. In the Book of Judges, Jabin,

696
00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:12.800
king of Canaan was defeated by the Israelites under the

697
00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:16.360
leadership of Deborah and Barak. The victory is celebrated in

698
00:48:16.400 --> 00:48:19.199
the Song of Deborah and Judges chapter five and highlights

699
00:48:19.239 --> 00:48:22.360
the theme of God's deliverance in times of need. All right.

700
00:48:23.599 --> 00:48:26.880
The mention of Jabin and Psaw eighty three serves a

701
00:48:26.960 --> 00:48:31.280
reminder of God's supremacy over the nations and his role

702
00:48:31.320 --> 00:48:35.039
as the protector of his people justice. Jabin was defeated

703
00:48:35.079 --> 00:48:37.920
by the Israelites with God's help. The Sawmist calls upon

704
00:48:37.960 --> 00:48:40.719
God once again to intervene and bring down the enemies

705
00:48:40.760 --> 00:48:44.480
of Israel. Jabin represents a historical figure who stood against

706
00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:50.400
the Israelites but was ultimately defeated. All right, Hey, everybody

707
00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:53.119
see that, all right? I think we already looked at that,

708
00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:56.480
and I think it's all good, all right. And Joshua

709
00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:59.599
eleven We learn about how Joshua led the Israelites to

710
00:48:59.639 --> 00:49:02.119
defeat Jabin and his forces and the battle at Hazor.

711
00:49:02.519 --> 00:49:05.800
God gave the Israelites victory over Jabin, fulfilling his promise

712
00:49:06.800 --> 00:49:10.280
in the Bible, though it is important to note there

713
00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:15.599
are two different individuals mentioned in different contexts. The Jabin

714
00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:19.800
defeated by Joshua and Joshua eleven is Jabin the king

715
00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:22.679
of Hazor, and this happens during the conquest of Canaan.

716
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:26.679
This event is described in Joshua eleven. On the other hand,

717
00:49:26.800 --> 00:49:31.679
Jabin defeated defeated. The Jabin defeated by Deborah and Barak

718
00:49:31.719 --> 00:49:36.159
and Judges four possibly is a different Jabin. This Jabin

719
00:49:36.199 --> 00:49:38.679
is the king of Canaan who oppressed the Israelites for

720
00:49:38.719 --> 00:49:41.960
twenty years before being defeated by Deborah and Barak. The

721
00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:46.400
account of the defeat is in Judges four. While both Jabins.

722
00:49:46.440 --> 00:49:49.400
While both Jabins are kings who oppress the Israelites, there

723
00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:54.159
are distinct individuals who ruled at different times in different regions,

724
00:49:54.559 --> 00:50:01.079
all right, So some will argue which is being referred

725
00:50:01.079 --> 00:50:05.159
to in Psalm eighty three does not provide specific details

726
00:50:05.199 --> 00:50:09.239
about the context or historical background of the enemies mentioned.

727
00:50:09.920 --> 00:50:13.800
As a result, the reference to Jabin and Psalm eighty three.

728
00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:19.559
This is, according to win source, is more symbolic than specific,

729
00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:23.920
representing an enemy of Israel rather than a specific historical figure.

730
00:50:24.239 --> 00:50:30.760
I disagree with that, right, so I think that that

731
00:50:30.800 --> 00:50:33.719
takes care of it. Right mentioned Ciara. And when we

732
00:50:33.760 --> 00:50:36.400
read the story of Cisa, who did we read about Jabin?

733
00:50:36.480 --> 00:50:41.960
So why wouldn't you then just connect that Jabin to Ciarah? Like,

734
00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:45.159
I don't understand why there would be complications. But ladies

735
00:50:45.199 --> 00:50:47.880
and gentlemen, if you've ever studied the Bible and read commentaries,

736
00:50:47.960 --> 00:50:52.199
guess what you'll find. Well, you'll just never find any

737
00:50:52.199 --> 00:50:56.880
agreement on anything. I yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I

738
00:50:56.920 --> 00:50:58.840
think everything is listed there. I don't think that. I

739
00:50:58.880 --> 00:51:00.880
think I don't think there's a problem. So can I

740
00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:03.559
never one agree that there shouldn't be a problem there? Okay?

741
00:51:03.639 --> 00:51:05.800
I just want you to know there's two Jabin's Okay,

742
00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:08.119
if you didn't know that, I just want you to

743
00:51:08.159 --> 00:51:09.960
know that. My job is that you're not tossed to

744
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:11.360
and fro. And the only way I can do that

745
00:51:11.400 --> 00:51:13.280
to make sure you know that, all right? Who else

746
00:51:13.360 --> 00:51:17.480
is mentioned as with Jabin to Brook of Kishon, who

747
00:51:17.519 --> 00:51:21.239
perished at Indoor, who became as refuged on the earth,

748
00:51:21.519 --> 00:51:27.079
more like nobles, like Orb and like zeb all right,

749
00:51:27.280 --> 00:51:29.800
these two leaders of the Midianite army were defeated by

750
00:51:29.840 --> 00:51:34.000
Gideon and the Israelites, and judges seven to twenty five allright,

751
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:37.760
And that same story, God caused confusion among the Midianites,

752
00:51:37.880 --> 00:51:40.440
leading to their defeat at the hands of Gideon. The

753
00:51:40.480 --> 00:51:44.360
event showcased God's power. All right, We have them all right? Now,

754
00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:47.639
who else is mentioned? There's Orb and zeb Judges seven

755
00:51:47.719 --> 00:51:52.440
twenty five talks about that, Zeba and Zalmuna. Okay, they're

756
00:51:52.440 --> 00:51:55.000
mentioned as kings of Midian who were defeated by God.

757
00:51:55.320 --> 00:52:05.039
All right, and where is their defeat spoken of? Judge

758
00:52:05.159 --> 00:52:07.320
seven and eight? Okay, so the same story, all right,

759
00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:12.039
same story because Gideon pursues them somebody, right, am I correct? Okay?

760
00:52:12.280 --> 00:52:16.239
All right, So we got everything about them, all right.

761
00:52:16.320 --> 00:52:19.519
Now here's what I want you to Here's what I

762
00:52:19.559 --> 00:52:21.639
want you to see. All right. We'll kind of end

763
00:52:21.639 --> 00:52:24.519
with this. We went through those quickly. But the bottom

764
00:52:24.519 --> 00:52:31.039
line is all of these individuals, right, are historical individuals,

765
00:52:31.119 --> 00:52:36.280
historical nations, historical groups whom God defeated in very specific

766
00:52:36.320 --> 00:52:40.800
ways in the past. And almost every situation we see

767
00:52:40.840 --> 00:52:45.880
God's divine intervention and defeating these enemies. Right, And even

768
00:52:45.920 --> 00:52:50.639
if it's not specifically shown, it seems insinuated clearly that

769
00:52:50.679 --> 00:52:53.960
God is the one involved in the entire process. Right,

770
00:52:54.639 --> 00:52:58.760
So what are some things we can take from this? All? Right?

771
00:53:00.119 --> 00:53:03.000
The Saumus recounts various enemies that God defeated in the

772
00:53:03.039 --> 00:53:08.119
past Midian, Sisera, Jabin, orb, zeb Zeba, and Zalmuna. Well,

773
00:53:08.119 --> 00:53:11.400
the specific details of each victory may vary, there are

774
00:53:11.440 --> 00:53:14.239
some similarities in how God defeated these enemies. Here are

775
00:53:14.239 --> 00:53:17.400
some of the similarities. You're ready. In each case, God

776
00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:21.000
intervene on behalf of his people to secure victory over

777
00:53:21.159 --> 00:53:24.480
their enemies. There were not achieved through human strength or

778
00:53:24.519 --> 00:53:30.199
strategy alone, but through divine intervention and assistance of God.

779
00:53:30.559 --> 00:53:36.039
Can we agree to that divine intervention? Now? Guess what

780
00:53:36.079 --> 00:53:43.079
most pastors would do at this point. Since God intervened,

781
00:53:43.239 --> 00:53:47.079
then he can intervene now, and so then what they

782
00:53:47.079 --> 00:53:50.880
would do is, whatever enemy you're facing, whatever problem you're facing,

783
00:53:51.039 --> 00:53:54.599
whatever trial you're facing, you believe in God, and God

784
00:53:54.639 --> 00:53:57.400
can intervene, and He can defeat your enemies. He can

785
00:53:57.400 --> 00:53:59.800
tear down your walls, you know, all the typical way

786
00:53:59.760 --> 00:54:02.440
people preach. The only problem with that is that's all

787
00:54:02.519 --> 00:54:06.119
ridiculous and none of it is applicable because what God

788
00:54:06.159 --> 00:54:09.480
did in these cases is based primarily on what let

789
00:54:09.559 --> 00:54:22.360
me stated again the Covenant promises. Now spiritually, spiritually, God

790
00:54:22.599 --> 00:54:27.960
defeats all of our enemies ultimately. But we cannot confuse

791
00:54:28.519 --> 00:54:32.199
what promises we have with the promises. Say, their promises

792
00:54:32.239 --> 00:54:39.639
are very what literal, physical material right defeating it. Our

793
00:54:39.719 --> 00:54:43.719
promises are far more spiritual that we have all spiritual

794
00:54:43.719 --> 00:54:48.079
blessings in Christ we have. We have very tangible promises

795
00:54:48.119 --> 00:54:51.480
for what will happen, new body, new heaven, new earth,

796
00:54:51.639 --> 00:54:55.000
no more pain. But in this life we got to

797
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:58.719
be very careful about what promises we claim that divine

798
00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:02.719
intervention is because of the Covenant, all right. The defeat

799
00:55:02.719 --> 00:55:04.719
of these enemies was often portrayed as an act of

800
00:55:04.920 --> 00:55:08.519
justice and judgment by God. These enemies had oppressed God's people,

801
00:55:08.719 --> 00:55:12.039
and God's victory served as a form of judgment against

802
00:55:12.119 --> 00:55:15.719
their wickedness and injustice. Now we can believe that ultimately

803
00:55:15.760 --> 00:55:20.880
God will judge ultimately. Right. Doesn't mean He's going to

804
00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:26.280
intervene now and make everything right now, because clearly that's

805
00:55:26.320 --> 00:55:29.880
not the way it works. All right. God's victories over

806
00:55:29.920 --> 00:55:33.360
these enemies demonstrated his commitment to protecting and preserving his

807
00:55:33.480 --> 00:55:37.159
people despite the threats and challenges they face. God remains

808
00:55:37.199 --> 00:55:41.599
faithful to his covenant with his people and ensured their

809
00:55:41.639 --> 00:55:46.800
safety and security. Why did God intervene and protect covenant?

810
00:55:47.519 --> 00:55:51.360
That our promise, God and our covenant? What can we

811
00:55:51.360 --> 00:55:56.599
hold you? God will preserve and protect us spiritually? No

812
00:55:56.679 --> 00:55:59.440
guarantee he's going to preserve and protect me physically none

813
00:55:59.599 --> 00:56:06.800
zio zero. Ridiculous to even think that. Okay, does that? Agreed? Right?

814
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:11.400
These victories over these enemies fulfilled God's promises to his people.

815
00:56:11.719 --> 00:56:14.519
Throughout the Bible, God consistently assured his people of victory

816
00:56:14.599 --> 00:56:17.400
over their enemies, and the defeats recounted in PSAWM eighty

817
00:56:17.440 --> 00:56:20.119
iree serve as a tangible evidence of God's faithfulness to

818
00:56:20.159 --> 00:56:24.480
his promise. What promise are they referring to covenant promises?

819
00:56:25.039 --> 00:56:28.000
All right? Okay, so I think there's now there are

820
00:56:28.039 --> 00:56:32.039
some differences. Here are some of the differences. All right,

821
00:56:32.440 --> 00:56:36.519
God use and for example Midian God used Gideon and

822
00:56:36.559 --> 00:56:40.159
a small army to defeat the Midianites do unconventional means,

823
00:56:40.239 --> 00:56:43.599
including the confusion caused by blowing trumpets and breaking jars.

824
00:56:43.840 --> 00:56:46.599
Now again, if you, isn't it amazing that people want

825
00:56:46.639 --> 00:56:50.719
to apply this to us and yet want to own

826
00:56:50.760 --> 00:56:57.360
guns to protect. I mean, I don't ever want Christians

827
00:56:57.400 --> 00:57:00.800
to be in charge of the United States military. Hey,

828
00:57:00.920 --> 00:57:04.800
our new strategy. You don't need him sixteen training, you

829
00:57:04.880 --> 00:57:11.880
need picture lamp and trumpet training. See, we ain't. That's

830
00:57:11.880 --> 00:57:14.119
funny how we grab some of it and apply some

831
00:57:14.159 --> 00:57:18.960
of it and then we leave out other parts. That's

832
00:57:19.679 --> 00:57:21.760
that's that would be? Would that not be? Is that?

833
00:57:21.800 --> 00:57:26.559
Would not that be ridiculous? Okay? Uh so that that's

834
00:57:26.639 --> 00:57:28.880
very specific. The way he did in Judges seventh through

835
00:57:28.920 --> 00:57:32.239
eight Cisra and Jabin, God orchestrated a victory through Deborah

836
00:57:32.239 --> 00:57:34.599
and Barack a. Cisro was killed by Jeel, a woman.

837
00:57:34.960 --> 00:57:38.079
But that I mean you have lying involved in that,

838
00:57:38.239 --> 00:57:40.599
You have deceit, you have a tent peg through the head.

839
00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:43.760
I mean, so now do we need to arm everyone

840
00:57:43.800 --> 00:57:47.119
with a tent peg? Like? I mean? These are specific situations,

841
00:57:47.159 --> 00:57:51.400
specific situations I think we have to be Yeah, they're

842
00:57:51.440 --> 00:57:55.119
all very different, right or been zeb they were princes

843
00:57:55.119 --> 00:57:59.599
of media defeated during Gideon's campaign, Zeba and Zalmuna. There

844
00:57:59.599 --> 00:58:03.119
were media and kings captured and killed by Gideon. Every

845
00:58:03.159 --> 00:58:07.400
situation is slightly different, right, So in other words, God's

846
00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:13.159
not using the same method in every situation, agreed, all right.

847
00:58:14.320 --> 00:58:18.039
Some victories in VOD miraculous signs or direct divine interventions,

848
00:58:18.039 --> 00:58:21.440
such as the confusion panic among enemy troops. Other victories

849
00:58:21.480 --> 00:58:25.159
were achieved through human agents like Gideon, Deborah, Barak, and Joelle.

850
00:58:25.519 --> 00:58:30.400
Though God is credited with empowering and guiding in some cases.

851
00:58:30.440 --> 00:58:34.039
The text may not explicitly describe God's involvement, but the

852
00:58:34.079 --> 00:58:37.280
context and overall narrative attributed the victory to his will

853
00:58:37.440 --> 00:58:42.480
and support. All right, So in that section, what can

854
00:58:42.519 --> 00:58:45.079
we take from nine through twelve? What can we take

855
00:58:45.119 --> 00:58:50.599
from nine through twelve? Here's what we can take. The enemies.

856
00:58:51.199 --> 00:58:53.920
The description of the enemies sound like our enemies? Can

857
00:58:53.920 --> 00:59:00.440
we all agree? Yes? What God did for Isra in

858
00:59:00.480 --> 00:59:04.519
the past, them wanting it to happen in the present,

859
00:59:05.119 --> 00:59:08.079
has nothing to do for us because we have no

860
00:59:08.239 --> 00:59:11.599
guarantee that God will work that way in the present.

861
00:59:11.639 --> 00:59:16.280
In fact, we have what reality to tell us doesn't.

862
00:59:17.840 --> 00:59:20.480
So then what can we do? We know that God

863
00:59:20.559 --> 00:59:23.840
will deal with our enemies in a radically different way,

864
00:59:24.239 --> 00:59:26.639
and that shouldn't shock us, because He didn't deal with

865
00:59:26.679 --> 00:59:29.840
the enemies there all in the same way. Did he not, No,

866
00:59:29.920 --> 00:59:34.119
he did not for us. How God deals with us

867
00:59:34.280 --> 00:59:38.800
is not based on what the covenant made with Israel.

868
00:59:39.639 --> 00:59:42.239
God's dealing with us is the fact that we have

869
00:59:42.400 --> 00:59:49.519
been grafted in to the Salvafic promises that are found

870
00:59:49.559 --> 00:59:56.800
in Christ Jesus. Our blessings are spiritual blessings that we

871
00:59:56.880 --> 00:59:59.639
have in Christ. Those spiritual blessings have nothing to do

872
00:59:59.679 --> 01:00:03.280
with what we do or don't do. There ours by faith,

873
01:00:03.840 --> 01:00:10.000
and those spiritual blessings guarantee us what forgiveness of sins,

874
01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:16.599
eternal life, right that we will one day have a

875
01:00:16.639 --> 01:00:21.159
new body, and all those are our spiritual blessings. We

876
01:00:21.280 --> 01:00:27.840
cannot confuse and confound these promises. What is happening here

877
01:00:28.079 --> 01:00:32.360
makes perfect sense for them to ask for because it's

878
01:00:32.400 --> 01:00:34.800
based on what God had done for them. It has

879
01:00:34.880 --> 01:00:41.360
nothing to do with us other than what as God

880
01:00:41.440 --> 01:00:46.559
intervened in their enemies. God will ultimately intervene in our enemies,

881
01:00:46.639 --> 01:00:50.400
but it will happen spiritually in the future. Now, God

882
01:00:50.440 --> 01:00:53.440
will ultimately destroy the enemies, but most and even in

883
01:00:53.480 --> 01:00:57.599
Revelation nineteen, when he's destroying those enemies, it's primarily destroying

884
01:00:57.760 --> 01:01:01.360
the enemies and nations. That what happens immediately after he

885
01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:05.880
destroys those nations, and Revelation nineteen goes to Revelation twenty.

886
01:01:06.039 --> 01:01:08.679
When God destroys all of those people in nineteen, he

887
01:01:08.800 --> 01:01:17.719
just slaughters everyone. What immediately happens in twenty No. No.

888
01:01:17.800 --> 01:01:21.320
Nine in chapter twenty, you're about a thousand years off

889
01:01:24.639 --> 01:01:28.679
the thousand year reign were what happens? Israel gets all

890
01:01:28.679 --> 01:01:33.239
the promises, right, so even Revelation, the destruction of all

891
01:01:33.239 --> 01:01:36.719
the enemies sets up then the framework for Israel then

892
01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:39.440
to get the land. So then then God can fulfill

893
01:01:40.880 --> 01:01:45.159
all of those very physical and material promises, which includes

894
01:01:45.199 --> 01:01:50.760
the destruction of their enemies, them obtaining the land, and

895
01:01:50.840 --> 01:01:56.960
Christ ruling and reigning in their midst So even there

896
01:01:57.039 --> 01:01:59.880
so for us now, so Christians want to go and

897
01:02:00.039 --> 01:02:02.440
then say, see, God's going to destroy our enemies. It's

898
01:02:02.440 --> 01:02:06.400
about destroying Israel's enemies. When are our enemies ultimately destroyed

899
01:02:09.000 --> 01:02:13.280
at the conclusion of the thousand years, when then Satan,

900
01:02:13.719 --> 01:02:16.840
sin and death is in a sense all cast into

901
01:02:16.880 --> 01:02:19.079
the lake of fire, and then we get a new

902
01:02:19.199 --> 01:02:21.840
body and a new heaven and a new earth. And

903
01:02:21.840 --> 01:02:25.159
then guess what that all sin is got? Then all

904
01:02:25.199 --> 01:02:29.159
of our enemies are cast away, right, But until then,

905
01:02:30.280 --> 01:02:32.960
we can't take these promises and claim them for us.

906
01:02:32.960 --> 01:02:36.000
And everyone does. It's like, it's it's frustrating that I

907
01:02:36.079 --> 01:02:40.760
have to be this repetitive and it's so redundant. But

908
01:02:40.880 --> 01:02:44.559
you can't imagine all the sermons that do all of

909
01:02:44.599 --> 01:02:47.159
the things that I'm preaching against. It's just it's so

910
01:02:47.280 --> 01:02:49.199
common that I almost want to I just lose my

911
01:02:49.239 --> 01:02:52.519
mind listening to sermons because and everybody is sitting in

912
01:02:52.559 --> 01:02:55.840
the puch like amen, amen. Sometimes they clap and it's like,

913
01:02:56.079 --> 01:03:01.679
what do you ameny? Like this has nothing to do

914
01:03:01.800 --> 01:03:04.760
with you, and yet they walk out thinking it does.

915
01:03:07.119 --> 01:03:10.000
All right? Can we see a little bit of ourselves here?

916
01:03:10.679 --> 01:03:12.639
We can see a little bit of ourselves here, right,

917
01:03:12.840 --> 01:03:15.000
Because we live in a world where we believe in

918
01:03:15.000 --> 01:03:18.079
a god in whom we cannot see, or we live

919
01:03:18.119 --> 01:03:21.079
in circumstances that call into question the existence and the

920
01:03:21.079 --> 01:03:25.519
involvement of the God and whom we cannot see, and

921
01:03:25.599 --> 01:03:28.000
we face enemies which we can see. That sometimes makes

922
01:03:28.039 --> 01:03:30.920
us forget the enemies in which we cannot see, But

923
01:03:31.039 --> 01:03:33.800
so we can relate, right, we have enemies just like

924
01:03:33.840 --> 01:03:36.519
they have enemies. Those enemies want to destroy us. We

925
01:03:36.599 --> 01:03:40.719
can understand. But what we can't do is think that

926
01:03:40.800 --> 01:03:43.360
God is going to intervene in the same way, because

927
01:03:43.360 --> 01:03:49.800
it's completely different. Everything about those stories are they unique,

928
01:03:50.400 --> 01:03:53.960
They're unique from each other, and they clearly do not

929
01:03:54.119 --> 01:03:58.039
demonstrate how God is operating today. Now, God is operating

930
01:03:58.519 --> 01:04:04.119
today because we believe his eternal decree in providence, right,

931
01:04:04.440 --> 01:04:07.639
But ultimately, for us, what promises can I cling to?

932
01:04:08.599 --> 01:04:11.199
The spiritual promise is given to me in Christ Jesus.

933
01:04:11.760 --> 01:04:16.920
Now who can still keep holding onto some of these promises? Israel?

934
01:04:18.039 --> 01:04:22.199
And Israel can pray that God will do what defeat

935
01:04:22.280 --> 01:04:26.719
their enemies, restore them to the land, bless them with

936
01:04:26.840 --> 01:04:29.760
prayer because all of those promises are given to them

937
01:04:30.199 --> 01:04:34.719
in those covenants. My prayer is going to be very

938
01:04:34.760 --> 01:04:41.039
different from that because the covenantal promises determine everything. So

939
01:04:41.079 --> 01:04:43.079
when we read saw mayby three, you mean bere like, well, man,

940
01:04:43.280 --> 01:04:46.360
that's not what you talked about prayer. Well, because their

941
01:04:46.440 --> 01:04:49.199
prayer is very different because they're praying in line with

942
01:04:49.400 --> 01:04:53.559
the Covenant and that's what and God defeated all of

943
01:04:53.559 --> 01:04:56.599
their enemies. And then starting in verse thirteen, which we'll

944
01:04:56.599 --> 01:04:59.320
try to finish next week thirteen and following Now we

945
01:04:59.320 --> 01:05:04.679
get to them prayer toy section right, and so then, well,

946
01:05:05.360 --> 01:05:07.880
I think I have a solution to a precatory prayers, right,

947
01:05:08.280 --> 01:05:13.960
because once again, guess what Christians have done taking precatory prayers.

948
01:05:14.320 --> 01:05:17.760
Thinking Christians can pray in precatory prayers against political leaders

949
01:05:17.760 --> 01:05:21.159
of whom we do not like. Remember when Christians were

950
01:05:21.159 --> 01:05:28.840
praying for Barack Obama to die? Yeah, and they would

951
01:05:28.960 --> 01:05:32.280
justify buying precatory prayers. I think the precatory prayers, I

952
01:05:32.320 --> 01:05:33.960
go ahead and give your preview, is connected to what

953
01:05:35.760 --> 01:05:40.039
the covenants, which once again would remove it from what

954
01:05:41.119 --> 01:05:45.440
us because God promised to do what to Israel's enemies

955
01:05:46.719 --> 01:05:52.119
to destroy them, so therefore they could pray for the

956
01:05:52.159 --> 01:05:56.079
destruction of their enemies based off God's covenant promises. Now

957
01:05:56.199 --> 01:06:00.760
we can pray for God to ultimately destroy enemies, but

958
01:06:00.880 --> 01:06:05.880
our enemies, according to the New Testament is not what. Wow,

959
01:06:06.519 --> 01:06:10.000
it's not really that complicated. But you can't tell Christians

960
01:06:10.039 --> 01:06:11.719
that because they are like, how dare you tell me

961
01:06:11.760 --> 01:06:14.400
I can't pray for the death of a president. That's

962
01:06:14.440 --> 01:06:21.760
a good Christian thing to do. Nothing Christian about that,

963
01:06:21.920 --> 01:06:23.440
not even the way we're supposed to act in the

964
01:06:23.480 --> 01:06:26.639
New Testament, we're supposed to love our enemy turned the

965
01:06:26.679 --> 01:06:29.000
other cheek. I mean, like praying for the well in

966
01:06:29.039 --> 01:06:32.320
the Old Testament they did. Can you not understand the difference.

967
01:06:32.840 --> 01:06:35.679
That's why I've gone through all of this time to

968
01:06:35.760 --> 01:06:38.599
try to show you that there is a difference in everything,

969
01:06:38.760 --> 01:06:40.960
and that difference has to come with You've got to

970
01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:45.199
keep Israel and the Church separate. And if you don't

971
01:06:45.280 --> 01:06:51.760
keep it separate, there are massive theological implications, massive theological implication.

972
01:06:51.960 --> 01:06:55.920
This is a hermeneutical issue. It's not an issue about eschatology.

973
01:06:56.239 --> 01:06:58.480
It's not an issue about how smart you are versus

974
01:06:58.519 --> 01:07:00.679
how dumb. A dispancing this is not about even being

975
01:07:00.719 --> 01:07:03.599
a dispensation list or not dispensational list. It's like, I've

976
01:07:03.599 --> 01:07:06.519
got to keep this separate because if I don't, nothing

977
01:07:06.559 --> 01:07:10.480
makes any sense because I'm over here acting like I'm

978
01:07:10.519 --> 01:07:15.679
an Old Testament Jew, but I'm not. And those promise,

979
01:07:15.760 --> 01:07:18.280
if those promises are my promises, then I could pray

980
01:07:18.360 --> 01:07:20.760
that way, but then we would have lots of questions

981
01:07:20.800 --> 01:07:23.480
about why God never acts that way, because does he

982
01:07:23.559 --> 01:07:26.840
do anything for us like he did for Israel, no

983
01:07:27.960 --> 01:07:30.400
got man have fallen from heaven, parting the Red Sea,

984
01:07:30.480 --> 01:07:33.280
all those things. Oh, but it's all based because God

985
01:07:33.320 --> 01:07:36.079
made specific promises for them. If we keep that separate,

986
01:07:36.320 --> 01:07:42.360
the Bible makes a whole lot more sense. All right,

987
01:07:42.440 --> 01:07:45.119
let's pray loll God, we come before you this afternoon.

988
01:07:45.239 --> 01:07:47.719
Thank you Lord for being in a place where we

989
01:07:47.760 --> 01:07:52.079
can challenge and question things. Lord, I don't know that

990
01:07:52.079 --> 01:07:54.400
that section in saw mayty three is very hard knowing

991
01:07:54.440 --> 01:07:56.000
how to deal with. Forgive me if I did not

992
01:07:56.079 --> 01:07:58.519
deal with it correctly. Well, Lord, I pray that we

993
01:07:58.840 --> 01:08:03.320
understand what happened then, what they were looking for and

994
01:08:03.400 --> 01:08:07.199
hoping for, and how radically different our situation is, and

995
01:08:07.199 --> 01:08:10.400
that we are not. Then help us keep these distinctions

996
01:08:10.559 --> 01:08:13.639
in our mind, so one we do not become disillusioned,

997
01:08:13.719 --> 01:08:17.920
discouraged and believe that You've abandoned us. At the same time,

998
01:08:18.399 --> 01:08:20.439
it keeps us, the Lord, from trying to claim things

999
01:08:20.439 --> 01:08:22.680
that don't belong to us. Forgive us for when we

1000
01:08:22.760 --> 01:08:25.520
have done that, And Lord, help us continue to seek

1001
01:08:25.760 --> 01:08:28.359
and to understand your word to the best of our ability.

1002
01:08:28.399 --> 01:08:30.079
And we asked this in Jesus name, And God's people

1003
01:08:30.119 --> 01:08:33.000
said