Aug. 4, 2024

Psalm 83 Pt 11

Psalm 83 Pt 11

We continue our work on Psalm 83

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconRadioPublic podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconBreaker podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player icon

We continue our work on Psalm 83

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:06.080
All right, Psalm eighty three, p. Eighty three. We have

2
00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:09.960
a lot to try to do. I'm debating with myself

3
00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:14.599
exactly how we have to kind of move forward here.

4
00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:16.600
But we'll see what we can do here. Let me

5
00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:22.440
pull up all my notes here, and we can try

6
00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:24.760
to find a way through this. All right, So Psaw

7
00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.120
maybe three, we have been looking at this for a

8
00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:30.960
long a long time. We took a slight detour because

9
00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:34.240
in Saw eighty three we got confronted with the concept

10
00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.759
of prayer. We got confronted with the idea that in

11
00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:40.240
Ssaw maybe three, they're crying out to God to do

12
00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:44.359
something in a sense, to intervene, And we were confronted

13
00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.320
with how kind of ridiculous that is. On one hand,

14
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.240
because when you are praying to God about any situation,

15
00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:55.320
you're praying to a God who, at the very least

16
00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:59.320
has done what knew was going to happen, and I'd

17
00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.799
done nothing to stop it from happening. At the very most,

18
00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:08.400
you're praying to the God who decreed it to happen,

19
00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.359
and through his providence, is guiding and directing it as

20
00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:16.400
it happens. So then the question is what are we

21
00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.519
praying for? So we looked into church history, the different

22
00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:24.159
philological ways that prayer should be done based on your theology, right,

23
00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:28.079
and what did we discover That most people the way

24
00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:35.599
they pray has literally zero to do with what theology.

25
00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:42.000
Prayer is more driven by what desire, feeling, emotion, and

26
00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:45.519
dare I say even a little superstition the way it's

27
00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:50.239
done right? And so I was greatly bothered by that,

28
00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:53.159
but I couldn't just leave it alone. So then I

29
00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.239
went back and tried to demonstrate to everyone that when

30
00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:59.640
you go to Psaw eighty three, you could arguable, wait

31
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.760
a minute, they're praying for God to do something, So

32
00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.400
why why are they doing that? If what you're saying

33
00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:08.439
theologically is true, they shouldn't even be praying. So I

34
00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.520
had to answer that, And what was my answer? That

35
00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:17.800
the Old Testament Jews pray differently than New Testament gentiles,

36
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:23.599
and why they have covenants, and these covenants make specific

37
00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:27.599
promises so they can pray for God's intervention. They can

38
00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:29.759
pray for God to do this or pray for God

39
00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.759
to do that, because they have specific covenants that outline

40
00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:38.199
that God will or could do those very things. So

41
00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:42.800
they are they then praying inconsistent to God's will. No,

42
00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.080
they can pray the words of the of the of

43
00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:51.120
all the different covenants made which promise blessings, defeating their enemies, preservation, restoration,

44
00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:53.639
bringing them to the land, et cetera, et cetera. In fact,

45
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.080
the last hour we were talking more about the covenants,

46
00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.400
so that so I think that Elisa handles all of that.

47
00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:04.120
We've handled everything, but we got to finish the Psalm, right,

48
00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:09.560
So I've got to determine how do we get ourselves

49
00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.719
to the finish line. All right, So let's go back

50
00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.120
to Psaw eighty three. Let's kind of work our way

51
00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:18.759
through the Psalm, all right, and get us to where

52
00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:20.919
we are, and then we'll talk about it, all right,

53
00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:24.360
Are you ready? All right? Saw eighty three. First and foremost,

54
00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.879
we have verse one, do not keep silent, Oh God,

55
00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:31.479
do not hold your peace, and do not be still,

56
00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.479
Oh God. We have a prayer. But this begins to

57
00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.960
kind of establish that we classify this psalm as what

58
00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:45.039
a lament and what kind of a lament? A communal lament?

59
00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:50.240
That this is asaf crying out to God, putting words down,

60
00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.719
capturing the emotion of the people, and they are dealing

61
00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:57.599
with a situation that is happening at that very moment.

62
00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:01.000
All right, this is not prophesying any thing. They are

63
00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.639
crying out to God because they are facing a crisis

64
00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:08.360
at that very moment. Simply put, that crisis is articulated carefully.

65
00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:12.319
And verse well, they have enemies coming against them, or

66
00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:17.160
see in verse two for behold your enemies. Right, and guests,

67
00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:20.040
look at verse three. They have taken crafty council against

68
00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.639
your people. They've consulted together. They've come and let us

69
00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.399
cut them off from being a nation. They have consulted together,

70
00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:31.680
they form a confederacy. So these they have enemies coming

71
00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.000
against them to wipe them off the face of the earth.

72
00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:39.079
And that was happening when at that time there's not

73
00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:41.800
some future war. No, it's talking about what's going on.

74
00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:45.800
Then as Aften composes the lament to capture the people

75
00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.319
crying out to God because they are concerned. Yes, all right,

76
00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:56.040
So what happens in verse two, verse two, probably down

77
00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:03.720
to verse five. What happens in that section? Does he

78
00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:07.959
not describe the characteristics and attributes of the enemy. All right, Now,

79
00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.600
we did take that, and we could we found that

80
00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:15.079
those characteristics and attributes can apply to our enemies spiritually,

81
00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:19.519
right to Satan, to demons. We went, we went through

82
00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.839
a list of them, so we we found a little

83
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:25.480
bit of application. Right that their enemies have the same

84
00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:29.439
characteristics as our enemies. So we are like, okay, we

85
00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:32.279
got we got something in common there, there's a there's

86
00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:35.839
an application here. Okay, great, right, so that we can

87
00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:39.959
kind of learn a little bit about our enemies, right then,

88
00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:43.279
But for them, their enemies not only are their character

89
00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.480
and their attributes describe what happens. Starting a verse six,

90
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:56.399
seven and eight, he identifies them specifically, making it very

91
00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:00.120
clear that they're talking about real enemies. Now, just so

92
00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.959
that you know, there are those who interpret that all

93
00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:08.399
of those enemies are symbolic. They're not literal. They're just

94
00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:12.639
describing the enemies against Israel. There's nothing in the text

95
00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.319
that would make me turning that to be symbolic. Those

96
00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:17.560
are real enemies. I mean, if the author is going

97
00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:21.439
to go so far as to name them, like hey,

98
00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:24.560
I'm gonna give you something symbolic by naming something that's real,

99
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.319
that's who would write that, Like you know what I'm saying.

100
00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:30.560
I guess you could do that, But there's nothing in

101
00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:32.600
the text that you could do that. So they're named,

102
00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.639
and we looked at all of them, did we not? Yes,

103
00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:38.279
we already did all of that. Okay. So that brought

104
00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:45.319
us to verse nine, verse nine, ten eleven and twelve.

105
00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.199
What do we have in nine, ten eleven and twelve?

106
00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:53.920
Whoe a request for God to act in the present

107
00:06:56.279 --> 00:07:00.920
as he did in the past? Right now, this is

108
00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:05.079
where our part the application falls apart a little bit

109
00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.319
for us. Right So, let me ask a question. Now,

110
00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:10.839
if you would like to do this today, you can

111
00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:14.879
leave this church. Go ask anyone you know who goes

112
00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:22.439
to church and ask him this question. Can we expect, ask,

113
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.040
and claim that God will do for us in the

114
00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:31.319
present as he is done in the past as recorded

115
00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:35.959
in the Bible. Almost every Christian you know will say,

116
00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:40.839
what yes? And that is the most foolish thing I've

117
00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:45.560
ever heard of my entire life. You know why, Because

118
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.600
I can go to my Old Testament and see God

119
00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:51.720
doing things. Clearly, I should not expect him to do

120
00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:55.519
that in the present, okay, And He has not done

121
00:07:55.560 --> 00:08:00.639
it in the present. Now, why could asaf ask God

122
00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:03.800
to do in the present as God has done in

123
00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:10.600
the past. Because of the covenants everything hinges on the covenants.

124
00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.079
Israel has covenants. God made covenants with Israel, and those

125
00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:19.480
covenants include so many promises. Right, if you just take

126
00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:23.680
the land covenant in Deuteronomy twenty eight, it's defeat your enemies,

127
00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.800
feed you, bless you, provide for you, provide all this

128
00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:33.440
stuff for you. Those are specific blessings. They can do this.

129
00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:38.440
This is where it falls apart for us, all right,

130
00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.919
For us, we can expect God to give us all

131
00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:48.000
spiritual blessings as He has promised us. And we have

132
00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:51.919
all the promises about what God will do and eternity.

133
00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:57.799
And in eternity there's some very specific promises, right, no

134
00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:04.440
more pain, tears, no more death, no more sin, right,

135
00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:08.919
glorified body, no more sickness, all of it. Now. I

136
00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.720
can pray that God will do that then, but I

137
00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:13.679
can't pray that what He's going to need to do

138
00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:18.120
in eternity that he will do now. In fact, that

139
00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.919
is the problem with the charismatic movement that seems to

140
00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.120
take these eternal promises and believe that they are present

141
00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:26.679
now and so therefore you can believe that there's going

142
00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.399
to be no more pain or no more suffering or

143
00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:30.600
basically no more death, and you'll be healed of all

144
00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:34.440
of your medical issues. It's just ridiculous. We have to

145
00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:38.639
keep things in their proper place. When I'm reading what God,

146
00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:42.440
when what Israel is praying for will go, You've got

147
00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.559
every right to pray for that. You've got specific promises.

148
00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:49.039
I can't. And so let's look at how God acted.

149
00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.240
And we've already looked at one of these. So some

150
00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.559
of Now this is where I have to make a

151
00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.799
preaching choice, right because in Psalm eighty three, starting as

152
00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:02.200
at verse nine, starting in verse nine, it's gonna name

153
00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:07.960
specific situations where God acted. Well, let me make it

154
00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:11.240
very clear. In every one of these situations we could

155
00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:14.320
go to and read. In some cases it covers two

156
00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:18.440
or three chapters. I could go and we could read

157
00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.519
all two or three chapters and we will finish Psalm

158
00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:27.039
eighty three in about eighty three years. Okay, So we

159
00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:30.600
can't do that. But you understand my struggle with that

160
00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.559
because then I don't like to do that all but

161
00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:38.360
I feel like we lose the plot. Does that make sense?

162
00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.360
Because we're gonna get so into those stories, then we're

163
00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:43.679
gonna kind of forget Psawm eighty three and then after

164
00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:45.879
ten years we'll some come back to Saw eighty three.

165
00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.639
I don't so I just have to kind of summarize

166
00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.919
some of these stories and give you the passages. I

167
00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:54.639
don't feel like I'm gonna be taking anything out of context,

168
00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:56.600
because I think we'll get the overall feel for it.

169
00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:59.360
One we've already covered, but we'll go back over it

170
00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:02.080
and we're gonna see how fast we can move through them.

171
00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:03.960
All right. Now, here's what I want you to do,

172
00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:06.159
is we move through them. I want you to see

173
00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:11.799
in each story what they have in common. I want

174
00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:17.320
you to see what they have that is different. Most importantly,

175
00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.039
I want you to realize, as you see how God acted,

176
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.159
he's not doing that today, and to act like that

177
00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:29.840
he is is ridiculous, all right, because he's not right.

178
00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:32.759
So everybody ready, what's the first one mentioned in Psalm

179
00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:38.919
eighty three, the Midianites? You see him in verse nine.

180
00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:43.559
Deal with them? Now when them is referencing back all

181
00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:45.639
of these enemies that are just listed. Everybody see that

182
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.480
Saw maighty three and nine. Deal with them. That them

183
00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:51.440
goes back to the enemies. Deal with those enemies that

184
00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:56.519
are present as you have with Midian all right, Now,

185
00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:59.440
the Midianites were one of the enemies mentioned in Saw

186
00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.279
many three. Can we all say amen to that? All right,

187
00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.399
here's some of the details, all right. The Midianites were

188
00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:08.159
descendants of Midian, who was the son of Abraham through

189
00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:12.159
his wife Katorah Genesis twenty five. Please note Abraham had

190
00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:20.000
more than one wife, okay, right, because polygamy was way

191
00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:22.960
more common than we may want to admit. Okay. They

192
00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:27.039
were related to the Israelites through their patriarch patriarchal lineage.

193
00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.360
All right. The Midianites were frequently in conflict with the

194
00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:35.039
Israelites throughout the Old Testament. One significant event involving the

195
00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.840
Midianites was their alliance with the Moabites and hiring Balem

196
00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.879
to curse the Israelites. As we counted in numbers twenty

197
00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:44.679
two through twenty four. What do you mostly what do

198
00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.120
you want to basically take from that? The Midianites were

199
00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:52.600
constantly in conflict with israel constantly in conflict. Right. Why

200
00:12:52.759 --> 00:13:03.519
the conflict because if they're kind of related, right, Remember,

201
00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.919
we kind of know what happens, right because anyone born

202
00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:12.120
within the Abrahamic family, right, there's going to be a

203
00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:19.759
problem because someone gets everything and some don't. And who's

204
00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.600
the one who in a sense gets everything, Isaac, Well,

205
00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:30.159
you could see anyone related would maybe like it's not fair, right,

206
00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:34.840
you could say where conflict could possibly arise? Right, because

207
00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:39.159
so many times, and I know people may not believe this,

208
00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:45.759
but religious people, people who profess faith in God, are

209
00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:54.720
self seeking, selfish, argue, fight and do horrible things. Now

210
00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:59.399
everyone here knows that I love you know everything about Salem.

211
00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:01.879
Message is love, love love. If I had the money,

212
00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:04.039
I'd move there and live there. Love Salem, love it,

213
00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:07.799
love the history. And I'm constantly reading and studying everything

214
00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.840
I can about the Salem witch trials because they utterly

215
00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:15.679
fascinate me. I have hypotheses. You know why. I think

216
00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:21.399
the Salem witch trials occurred because of a church fight.

217
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.799
There was a new pastor. There was half of the

218
00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:32.360
church supported the pastor the other half didn't, and so

219
00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.919
they started fighting. And then guess what you could do.

220
00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:39.559
Accuse your enemy being a witch, and then you could

221
00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:43.600
have them killed. If you have them killed, you eliminate

222
00:14:45.639 --> 00:14:48.600
people trying to fight against your pastor, or you get

223
00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:53.799
rid of the people trying to support their pastor. Now

224
00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:57.399
there's some evidence to support it. I can't. I don't

225
00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.000
think it's the only reason, but it's a big reason,

226
00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:05.679
meaning that the godly Puritans were not as godly as

227
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.360
everyone wants to be. In fact, I've got notes and

228
00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.399
everything about it and who the pastor was and everything,

229
00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.200
because i've been, I've been, I've bet, I've read. There's

230
00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:18.039
a book that goes through literally a timeline of everything

231
00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.279
that happens and and and Salem leaving up to there,

232
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.559
like on this day and this was the sermon that

233
00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:25.679
was preached on this day, and this is what happened here,

234
00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.639
and it's it's, it's and when. But it just makes

235
00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.879
me go, man, well, when you see some of these conflicts.

236
00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.759
These are people who believe in God, who do what,

237
00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:39.840
fighting and arguing and just all the things that happened,

238
00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:43.000
some of their conflicts are in some ways, I love

239
00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:44.960
that the Bible is filled with all of these kinds

240
00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:50.000
of conflicts because it does what shows the reality of

241
00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:55.279
how messed up we are. The Bible does not make

242
00:15:55.399 --> 00:16:01.919
people look good. The Bible makes people look like trash. Okay,

243
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.120
does that make sense? All right? Okay, so are we good?

244
00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:10.720
So we just understand ongoing conflict, all right? And Judges

245
00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:12.799
six through seven. Now this to me, you want to

246
00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.120
turn here, Judges six through seven. I know we've already

247
00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.120
looked at this. I don't have time to read everything,

248
00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:20.279
so you're just gonna have to look at it, all right.

249
00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:22.840
You can just if you need to look down at something, great,

250
00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:24.960
but try to focus on me, because if you're just

251
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:27.759
gonna sit there and read it, then well then we

252
00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:29.600
should just just stop all and read it. Does that

253
00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.919
make sense? All right? And Judges six through seven. The Midianites,

254
00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:36.960
along with other neighboring people, oppress the Israelites for seven years.

255
00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:39.440
All right, look at chapter six, verse one. Everyone look

256
00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.159
at it and tell me what you see. Tell me

257
00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:48.919
if you think I'm making it up. Okay, there we go.

258
00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:51.879
See wow, And that's pretty clear, right, Can we agree

259
00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.639
on that? All right? Okay, So the Midianites, along with

260
00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:57.320
other neighboring people, oppress the Israelites for seven years. They

261
00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.039
would invade the land during the harvest time, destroying the

262
00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:02.759
crops and livestock. The oppression led to the rise of

263
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:07.279
Gideon as a judge and deliverer. Right, and Gideon does

264
00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:08.920
a rise in the story. He plays a major part

265
00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:11.559
in it. Yes, okay, all right, I know that all right.

266
00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:15.319
Through divine intervention, Gideon led a small band of Israelites

267
00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.440
to defeat the Midianite's army, which numbered in the tens

268
00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:23.200
of thousands, with only three hundred men. This victory was

269
00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:26.640
a turning point and the struggle against the Midianite oppression.

270
00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:31.759
Now God intervenes in a powerful way. He reduces the numbers. Remember,

271
00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.160
he reduces the numbers and gets them smaller and smaller

272
00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.319
until there's only three hundred and they're facing thousands. And

273
00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:48.519
what was their means a victory? How did what was

274
00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:55.680
their military strategy? Lamps, pitchers and a trumpet? Right, okay?

275
00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.880
And then they were to shout something right after they

276
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.119
smashed everything and then yeah, oh okay, well you know,

277
00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.799
and it's it's crazy now what can when I want

278
00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:06.559
you to look through this is what I want you

279
00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:09.400
to look through. I want you to look through Judges

280
00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:15.079
six carefully, right, I want you to look at it carefully,

281
00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:20.519
and and I want you to look and Judge A

282
00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:27.400
six seven and let me see here you six through

283
00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.880
eight because that's where most of these chapters. And I

284
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:33.640
want you to look carefully six through eight and look

285
00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:40.160
for God's directions and involvement in everything that happens. You

286
00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:42.559
find the verses that speak directly of God giving in

287
00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:47.279
the instruction, God guiding God directing, God telling them what

288
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:55.440
to do. Anything where you see God's direct involvement, you

289
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:57.440
can just skim. You should be able to easy to

290
00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.920
see the words Lord or God. Okay, tell me the

291
00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:07.960
first one you find. Okay, Chapter six, some said verse

292
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:15.039
someone said, verse one, and what does it say? Okay?

293
00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:18.279
So God is directing even them being delivered over. Okay,

294
00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.000
so God delivered them being Okay, and we can see

295
00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.079
and we know that we can get to all the discussions.

296
00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:26.240
Why in fact, just please note God delivering them over

297
00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.480
still fits some of the Covenant promises, because if they

298
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:31.799
didn't obey, God would do these things to them. Okay,

299
00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:35.960
but all right then verse eight, what does it say

300
00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:46.920
the Lord said to prophet? Okay? Okay, okay, he speaks

301
00:19:46.960 --> 00:20:03.440
all through that. Okay, keep going gay. Verse ten, let's say, Wow,

302
00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:09.160
God's all involved in this, is he not? Yeah? See

303
00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.319
God all over this. At some point does he start

304
00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:17.519
telling them he starts reducing the army. Right where does

305
00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:19.960
he start reducing the army, Because it's by God's instructions,

306
00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:25.240
is it not? Where does that happen? And may not

307
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:26.880
be in six and may be in seven. I don't know.

308
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:33.160
God's gonna start giving specific instructions to reduce the army?

309
00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:43.559
Is it seven? Okay? What does he say? Okay? And

310
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:46.440
then he gives specific instructions on how to lower the numbers?

311
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.960
Does he not? Okay? He goes through that entire process.

312
00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:53.599
Does he then give them specific constructions about the picture,

313
00:20:53.960 --> 00:21:10.759
the lamp and the trumpet? Verse nine? Was this get up? Okay?

314
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:14.960
God's all over this? Is it God that tells him

315
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:17.119
to get the pictures in the lamp and the trumpet?

316
00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:57.880
Take your time? Okay? Now, soud? Do we believe that

317
00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:01.680
ultimately comes from God? Comes from the dream? Do we

318
00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.799
believe the dream was from God? Okay? Why do we

319
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:10.559
believe the dream was from God? He worshiped after his dream?

320
00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:14.599
Maybe an indication? So we see that, all right? Okay,

321
00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:17.559
it's interesting that God spoke in that direct way. All right?

322
00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.200
So then they go through all of that, and then

323
00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:24.119
ultimately what happens if you look at verse twenty two,

324
00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:27.119
they three hundred blew the trumpet and the law at

325
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:31.440
the trumpets and then what's the next phrase. The lord said,

326
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.400
every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp,

327
00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:38.559
and the army fled. Right, So God intervenes, even causing

328
00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:41.839
the panic and the fighting against one another. God's intervening

329
00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:47.759
in every part of it. He's directing it, he's guiding it. Correct. Okay,

330
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:53.960
then we know so God, God intervenes in the entire situation.

331
00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:56.839
God does so. So you can see why Asaph is

332
00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:02.240
asking for God basically to intervene. You did with the Midianites. Intervene.

333
00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:05.200
God was directly involved, and it led to the defeat

334
00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:07.960
of the enemies. Now remember, I'm not gonna go great

335
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:12.039
into this again. But after this battle, where you think, okay,

336
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:18.640
great God intervened, great things happened. But look at Judges

337
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:25.160
chapter eight, verse twenty seven. Judges chapter eight, verse twenty seven,

338
00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:32.279
when Gideon returns the people. If you look at verse

339
00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:35.200
twenty two, Judges eight twenty two, the men of Israel

340
00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:38.920
want Gideon to do what rule over us, both you

341
00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:41.359
and your sons, for you have delivered us from the

342
00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:43.880
hand of Midian. But Gideon does not want to rule

343
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:50.359
over them. But what does he want? Right? I will

344
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.319
not rule over you with the Lord. But what does

345
00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.119
he want them to do? He has one request. Look

346
00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:01.519
at verse twenty four. He wants air. He wants gold,

347
00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:05.000
ear rings, okay, because they were the Ishramelites. He wants

348
00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:07.680
all of this plunder. Right, you see all of that,

349
00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:11.640
uh one than seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the

350
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:15.039
crescent ornaments, pendents, purple robes which were of the kings

351
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.519
of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their neck.

352
00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.559
Then Gideon made it into an ephod. Now this is

353
00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:26.799
where things get really weird. Right, he made an ephod

354
00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:29.079
from the gold he had plundered. And ephod was a

355
00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:32.000
garment worn by priest or the high priest in ancient Israel,

356
00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:34.960
particularly in the context of the Tabernacle and later in

357
00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:38.160
the temple. The ephod was a significant and sacred investment

358
00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:43.119
associated with the religious rituals and the seeking of divine guidance.

359
00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:47.160
All right, and the case of Gideon, it seems that

360
00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:51.000
he made an ephod using the gold plundered from their enemies.

361
00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.480
The act is seen is problematic because the ephod was

362
00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:57.440
meant to be a sacred object for religious purposes, not

363
00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:01.240
to be misused for personal gain or e idolatrous practices.

364
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.319
It is likely that Gideon's actions led to negative consequences

365
00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.359
among the Israelites as the ephod became associated with idolatry

366
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:14.240
and deviated from its intended purpose in worshiping the One

367
00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:19.519
True God. In fact, so they do all of this,

368
00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:27.839
and then what ultimately happens. You'll also notice in verse thirty,

369
00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:36.640
so verse thirty or sorry, verse thirty three. Okay, we'll

370
00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:42.480
look at verse thirty. You'll notice this Gideon had seventy sons.

371
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:47.000
Who is his own offspring? For he had many wives

372
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:53.240
and as concubine, all right, So he had polygamy and concubine, right.

373
00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:55.880
And then look at verse thirty three. So it was

374
00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:01.240
soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel

375
00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:06.240
again played the harlot. All right, so they go right

376
00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:10.359
back to idolatry. Get in, possibly he's making the ephod

377
00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:14.759
for some idolatrous practice, he's got multiple wives, he's got

378
00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:17.559
a concubine, and then they go right back to idolatry.

379
00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:20.440
So on one hand, showing even the defeat of the

380
00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:24.519
physical enemy did not ultimately take care of the real problem, right,

381
00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:28.559
because the real problem is always spiritual okay, but you

382
00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.319
get the issue. But the main thing is God intervenes

383
00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:35.599
in this in a pretty amazing way, right, three hundred

384
00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:41.480
versus thousands they use for weapons, They don't have weapons.

385
00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:45.759
Does everybody understand that they don't have any weapons? You

386
00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:49.720
go to war without weapons because God is the one

387
00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:53.079
who will ultimately win the victory, and therefore God ultimately

388
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:58.720
gets the praise that is God intervening. Now, it's amazing

389
00:26:58.759 --> 00:27:02.240
how people will take these stories and talk about when

390
00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:05.400
you leave here today, you trust God to fight your battles.

391
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.920
You trust God, and we say that, and then in

392
00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:13.119
every practical way we do what we take care of

393
00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.839
the problem. So it's always good to preach, but no

394
00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:18.839
one actually believes it. The biggest problem is you can't

395
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:21.599
claim what God did from Midian that he's gonna do

396
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.680
for us because he did that because he had covenant

397
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.680
relationship with them and that's why he acted that way.

398
00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.240
But do you see God's involvement in that entire thing.

399
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:37.680
God's directing it all obviously in a way which he

400
00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.359
does not direct us today. So everything about that story

401
00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:45.599
is very different. Can you agree? All right? Now, let's

402
00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.079
go back to psaw Maty three There's much more I

403
00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:49.799
could say about that, but we've already covered it, so

404
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:51.319
I wanted to just get it out of the way quickly.

405
00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:57.039
All Right, who's the next one mentioned saw Maty three,

406
00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:04.960
verse nine, there's the midian I. Who's next? Cserah? Everybody

407
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:08.799
see Cicerah? All right? Who's Cera? Cica was the commander

408
00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:12.440
of the Canaanite army who oppressed the Israelites. And saw

409
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:14.799
Mati three nine, Cisa is mentioned in the context of

410
00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:18.559
a plea for God's intervention against enemy nations threatening Israel.

411
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.400
And here's some things we know. Cicero was a commander

412
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:24.160
of the Canaanite army who opposed the Israelites during the

413
00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:28.400
period of the Judges. He is most prominently featured and

414
00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:34.319
the story of Deborah and Barak and this Book of Judges,

415
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.759
where he led the Canaanite forces against Israel. All right,

416
00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:42.039
Cicerah is portrayed as an enemy of Israel, leading a

417
00:28:42.039 --> 00:28:45.759
powerful military force that opposed that posed a threat to

418
00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:49.839
the Israelites. He's being mentioned in saw Mati three underscores

419
00:28:49.880 --> 00:28:55.480
the historical enmity between the Israelites and their adversaries. Despite

420
00:28:55.559 --> 00:29:01.039
his military prows Cicera ultimately met his demid eyes at

421
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:07.480
the hands of Does anybody know look at Judges four

422
00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:13.839
through five? Okay, who yeah, right, Elle, all right, and

423
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.160
we'll let you if you know what happens here. It's

424
00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:22.839
a pretty crazy story. Okay, yeah, it's pretty violent. Okay,

425
00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:28.839
go to Judges four and five. All right, five, you

426
00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:31.160
don't really need you really just need four, all right,

427
00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:34.920
because five is the song that is sung. But if

428
00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.920
you look at four, here's what I want you to

429
00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:40.079
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
00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:45.960
now and the story of the Midianites. What did we

432
00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:52.079
see over and over and over God, God, God, God everywhere.

433
00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:56.000
Now look at Judges four and tell me how much

434
00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:16.039
you see God directing, guiding, speaking. Okay, we have the

435
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.200
Lord routed Sicarah and all his chariots and all his

436
00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:22.960
army with the edge of the sword before Barak and

437
00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:26.319
Sesara alighted from his chariot fled away on foot. But

438
00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.799
Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as

439
00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:31.839
and it gives the names and the places, and all

440
00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:34.359
the army of Sicarah fell by the edge of the sword.

441
00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:37.960
Not a man was left. Do you see that? But

442
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:45.920
do you see God mentioned anywhere else? They did evil

443
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:48.519
in the side of the Lord. Right then we see him.

444
00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:52.240
He's involved a little bit there. But is he directing

445
00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:55.759
and guiding everything that they're doing? Is he giving them directions?

446
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:00.480
They have none of that? Right? Can we agree? There's

447
00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:03.640
almost none of it mentioned. Just keep that in mind.

448
00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:06.960
All right, here's the basic idea of what happened. And judges,

449
00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:10.359
for we have Deborah and Barak. The Israelites again do

450
00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:12.400
evil in the sight of the Lord, and they are

451
00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:18.200
oppressed right by King Jabon of Canaan. Deborah, prophetess and judge,

452
00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:22.160
summons Barak to lead an army against the Canaanites. Barak

453
00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:25.279
agrees to go to battle, but insists that Deborah, accompasses

454
00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:28.839
brick comes along with him. Look at Judges four twelve

455
00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:32.200
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