Are you looking for an exciting
change in your life? Well, get
ready for a breath of new life.
00:00:01.80\00:00:06.20
Today Dr. Byrd speaks on the
topic Stop Fighting Each Other.
And now, here he is,
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speaker/director of Breath
of Life Ministries, Dr. Carlton
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Byrd. PB: Exodus chapter 2,
verse number 11. The Word of God
says to us in Exodus chapter 2
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verse 11. If you have it, let me
hear you say amen. The Word of
God says, "And it came to pass
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in those days, when Moses was
grown, that he went out unto his
brethren, and looked on their
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burdens: and he spied an
Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one
of his brethren. And he looked
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this way and that way, and when
he saw that there was no man, he
slew the Egyptian, and hid him
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in the sand. And when he went
out the second day, behold, two
men"--how many men, everybody?
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Aud.: Two. PB: "Two men of the
Hebrews strove [or were
fighting] together: and he said
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to him that did the wrong,
Wherefore smitest thou thy
fellow? And he said, Who made
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thee a prince and a judge over
us? intendest thou to kill me,
as thou killedst the Egyptian?
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And Moses feared, and said,
Surely this thing is known."
Verse 15, "Now when Pharaoh
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heard this thing, he sought to
slay Moses. But Moses fled from
the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt
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in the land of Midian: and he
sat down by a well." Do me a
favor. Turn to your neighbor and
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say, "Neighbor, stop fighting
each other." Let's pray. Father,
in the name of Jesus through the
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intercession of the Holy Ghost,
come now in this place. You're
here. We sense, we feel Your
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presence but we need You in a
sevenfold way as we preach Your
Word today. Give me strength, I
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pray, and may Thy people not
hear me but hear Thee living and
working through me. Forgive us
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for our sins, and at the appeal
time, move, O God, like You
always do. But I'm asking for
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something special today, O God.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Stop fighting each other. The
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story is told of a little white
first-grade school who, on the
first day of school for her,
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went to a newly integrated
school at the height of the
segregation era. Anxious and
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nervous all day long, the little
girl's mother met her at the
front door of their home when
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the little girl came home from
school. The girl's mother asked,
"How did everything go, honey?"
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"Oh, mother," she said, "you
know what? A little black girl
sat next to me." In fear and
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trepidation, because the mother
was expecting the worst, she
tried ask her daughter calmly,
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"And what happened?" The little
girl said, "We were both so
scared that we held hands all
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day." [Aud. reaction] Now, when
I share this story I acknowledge
that the Lord has brought and
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blessed us a mighty long way. We
may not be where we should be in
terms of race relations, but
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today I praise God that we're
not where we used to be. we are
still in a valley. We still have
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a long way to go. Let's be real.
Can we be real? Though we're not
where we used to be, race
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relations in the United States
are still not where they should
be. While many have thought that
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the racial tensions of the 1960s
were behind us and that we were
entering a post-racial era with
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the election of President Barack
Obama, that Jim Crow was over,
that the segregated South was
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done, think again. We've still
got problems. This is evidenced
by the fact that just three
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years ago our honoree lost her
unarmed son, and quote me, in a
senseless, foolish, unnecessary
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act. We all know the story so
I'll spare you and the honoree
the if you're watching the news
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this week, just this past week
the United States Justice
Department announced that it did
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not find sufficient evidence to
establish that the perpetrator
willfully deprived Ms. Folton's
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son of his civil rights And the
problem, hear me good, hate me
if you want, the problem is not
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just in the world but the
problem is also in the church.
[Aud. reaction] PB: Now we can
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be in denial all we want. Pastor
Byrd, that's not true, we're all
one happy family. I'm telling
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you what I know. You see, I'm
telling you what I see on
committees in the church. I'm
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telling you what I hear people
say on these committees in the
church. I'm telling you how I
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see people connive and navigate
in such a way that it's not
overt but it's covert. I know
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what I'm seeing. I'm telling you
what I saw in South Africa last
week. took place and it was
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called for as the church
pondered the issue of
integration. Finally the vote
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was announced, thinking about
how he had been rejected by the
church. He said, "Lord, I don't
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understand those folks. I tried
to join their church, but they
voted me out." About that same
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time the man heard a voice from
heaven. The Lord said, "Don't
worry about it, my child. I've
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been trying to get in that
church for years. They won't let
me in either." Do I have a
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witness in this place? [Aud.
reaction] PB: I'd better
understand, after I read that
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story, Only love can do that."
Church, we've got a problem. An
author I was reading this month
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calls it a state of emergency.
He says America considered 9/11
to be a state of emergency, but
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he says African Americans have
been in a state of The
Emancipation Proclamation
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preserved the Union. [Aud.
reaction] PB: During the Jim
Crow era, black America was in a
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state of emergency. During the
Civil Rights era, but they make
up 35 percent of drug arrests,
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55 percent of drug convictions,
74 percent of drug prisoners,
and commit 55 percent of all
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robberies. And because of this,
our children are in a state of
emergency as well. When black
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men in with its countless social
injustices, is also responsible.
Racism runs rampant in America's
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work force, schools, communities
and churches and society at
large. Segregation continues in
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many schools. Urban schools are
underfunded and understaffed.
unattended for too long, so it's
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just a matter of time before the
have-nots confront the haves in
a manner that's going to produce
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casualties of a serious kind
resulting in the logical outcome
of a system predicated upon the
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notion that some lives still
don't matter. Let me make this
more plain. Let me bowl down
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somebody's alley. In 2013. What
year did I say? Aud: 2013. PB:
Of those African Americans--you
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call them African Americans,
black Americans, people with
skin color like me--in 90
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percent of the cases in which an
African American was murdered,
the perpetrator or offender was
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an African American. Now, the
system. would have you to
believe that blacks are just
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killing blacks. But the same
thing afflicting the black
community is the same thing
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afflicting the white community.
Because also in 2013, 83 percent
of white murder victims were
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killed by white perpetrators.
Just as it was for blacks, it is
for whites. The killings are
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primarily intra-racial, which is
within a race, and not
inter-racial, between races. So
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today, it's not either or in
reference to blacks and whites,
but it's both and. But too often
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we're only quoted one-sided
statistics with specificity to
the black man. So in the spirit
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of equal opportunity, let me
declare that white men are in
trouble too. There are fewer
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white men in college and
graduate programs per capita
than there were so much talk
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today about stem programs,
science technology, engineering,
and they've added art and math.
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America's unreadiness to deal
with the oil shortage and global
warming, the definite
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deterioration of the United
States in industrial competence,
the loss of market share in the
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automobile, textile and steel
industries, the utter lack of
nonbelligerent imagination when
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it comes to solving world
crises, and the papal lack of
initiative in dealing with a
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budget crisis, the job crisis,
the drug crisis, are just a few
indications of the moral and
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intellectual decline of the
white American male. [Aud.
reaction] PB: So either we're
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going to learn to love each
other and hang together, black
and white, brothers and sisters,
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husbands and wives, boyfriends
and girlfriends, or as Martin
King said, we will surely hang
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separately and die tragically
like fools. There is a
conspiracy led by the devil to
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destroy the black man, the white
man, the red man, the yellow
man, the black woman, the white
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woman, the red woman, the yellow
woman. Society is trying to
eliminate each other, but the
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devil is trying to eliminate us
all. Stop fighting each other.
You cannot hate people without
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hating yourself. Stop fighting
each other. A doctrine of black
supremacy is just as evil as a
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doctrine of white supremacy.
Freedom for the wolves cannot
mean death to the sheep. Stop
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fighting each other. thrown into
the Nile River. The Bible
teaches that Moses' mother hid
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him for three months and then
prepared a basket boat. Knowing
that Pharaoh's daughter would
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come to a certain spot at the
Nile to bathe, she put him into
the boat and placed the boat
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into the reeds along the banks
of the Nile. The princess,
Pharaoh's daughter, found the
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boat; found the baby; fell in
love with the baby, because we
all know that a woman cannot
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resist picking up a baby. Do I
have a witness in this place?
was raised as Pharaoh's adopted
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grandson, but Jochebed, his real
mama, taught him of his heritage
and of the God of the Hebrews. A
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Hebrew in religion. A Hebrew in
loyalty. He refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
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he chose to suffer the
afflictions with the people of
God than to enjoy the pleasures
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of sin for a season. Moses grew
up seeing his people oppressed.
He saw their slavery; he saw
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their forced labor, he saw their
oppression, repression and
suppression. Moses loved people,
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and so it was, the Bible says,
that at the age of 40 he saw an
Egyptian beating up one of his
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people. He looked to the left,
he looked to the right, he saw
this Egyptian beating up his
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brother, and thinking no one was
looking he killed the Egyptian
and buried him in the sand.
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Verse 13 of the text says--we
read it--and when he went out
the second day, after he had
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killed the Egyptian, "two men of
the Hebrews strove together."
They were fighting. Verse 13,
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the second part says: "And he
said to him that did the wrong,
Wherefore smitest thou thy
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fellow?" In other words, why are
you fighting this man? This is
your brother. This is not your
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enemy. Stop fighting your
brother. But the Hebrew said,
"Who do you think you are? Who
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made you ruler and judge over
us? Do you plan to kill me just
like you killed that Egyptian?"
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Lesson to all of us today:
there's always somebody watching
you. There's always somebody who
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sees what you're doing, when you
think nobody is looking. In this
day and age, you'd better
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believe security cameras are
everywhere. In fact, we've got
them in Oakwood Church. Come on,
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say amen. [Aud. reaction] PB:
Somebody right now is watching
everything going on in this
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service. Somebody is always
watching you. Do I have a
witness in this place? Moses was
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afraid. His cover had been
blown. He was now exposed. He
had now been found out. Moses
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now flees, because Pharaoh now
knows and seeks to kill him.
Just as Adam and Eve tried to
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hide their sin, so did Moses.
Why? Sin must always have a
covering. That's why Adam and
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Eve sewed fig leaves together,
made aprons and made clothes
after they'd sinned. No one told
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them they were naked, but now
they knew they were naked
because sin must always have a
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covering. But concealing sin
only delays its discovery.
Because what's in the dark will
00:24:04.46\00:24:10.46
one day come to light. I wish I
had a witness in this place.
Moses' brand of vigilante
00:24:10.46\00:24:18.23
justice was observed by some
Hebrews, and so what did the
Hebrews do? They turned against
00:24:18.23\00:24:26.26
Moses. The Israelites knew no
better, but to turn against one
of their own, who was trying to
00:24:26.26\00:24:34.96
help them. According to Acts
chapter 7 verse 25, it had been
revealed to the elders of Israel
00:24:34.96\00:24:42.76
that Moses was to be their
deliverer, Two thousand years
ago Jesus did something
00:24:42.76\00:24:48.90
especially for you. He died on
the cross of Calvary. That day
you were on his mind. Our offer
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today is Max Lucado's "He Did
This Just For You." This easy to
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what God did to win your heart.
Let Max Lucado beautifully lay
out the way home to our heavenly
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00:25:19.00\00:25:30.06
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passion and promise of God
Almighty, in "He Did This Just
For You." ones you're trying to
00:25:42.06\00:25:49.03
help, the oppressed, will turn
on you and hurt you. They will
turn on the one who helped them,
00:25:49.03\00:25:55.26
rather than that God sent to
liberate them. Harriet Tubman
said, "I freed a thousand
00:25:55.26\00:26:01.50
slaves." She said, "I could have
freed a thousand more if they
only knew they were slaves."
00:26:01.50\00:26:10.03
People under oppression often
turn on each other, People, quit
turning on other people. Stop
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killing each other. Stop
fighting each other. Stop
dogging each other out. The one,
00:26:20.33\00:26:27.60
listen, who was in the
wrong--wrong and strong--the one
in the wrong is the one who got
00:26:27.60\00:26:33.43
the attitude. Who made you a
prince over us? Who put you over
me? But hold up, brother, Moses
00:26:33.43\00:26:40.43
says. The one you're fighting is
not oppressing you. The one
you're fighting did not enslave
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you. The one you're fighting did
not pass segregation laws. The
one you're fighting did not pass
00:26:47.93\00:27:01.23
Jim Crow laws; did not pass
apartheid laws. The one you're
fighting didn't put Nelson
00:27:01.23\00:27:06.70
Mandela in prison. Didn't ignore
the hundreds of thousands of
blacks killed in Rwanda; didn't
00:27:06.70\00:27:16.30
kill Martin King; didn't kill
Metgar Evars; didn't kill
Malcolm X. The one you're
00:27:16.30\00:27:25.73
fighting didn't kill Emmett
Till, Treyvon Martin, to kill
thousands of black men,
00:27:25.73\00:27:34.06
injecting them with syphilis.
The one you're fighting did not
invent the HIV AIDs virus. Stop
00:27:34.06\00:27:40.43
fighting each other. Why do you
strike your fellow Hebrew? Why
do you strike your brother? As I
00:27:40.43\00:27:45.53
was studying this week,
interesting to note is the
fact--listen to me good--that
00:27:45.53\00:27:54.63
the Egyptian guards never
stopped the Hebrews from
fighting one another, because if
00:27:54.63\00:27:59.33
they did, Moses would never have
had to step in and stop them
from fighting in the first
00:27:59.33\00:28:05.56
place. The fact that they were
fighting and no one stopped them
suggests that this was not an
00:28:05.56\00:28:06.56