Hello and welcome
to Books of the Book.
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My name is Devvy Rodriguez
and I'm very pleased that you're
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able to join us in this
very interesting Bible study.
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We're studying the books of
1 and 2 Peter but today we are
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continuing on our
study in the book of 2 Peter.
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With us is Dr. Tom
Shepherd. He is a New Testament
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interpretation professor at the
theological seminary at Andrews
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University. Dr.
Shepherd, welcome.
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Thank you. Good to be with you.
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We have been talking about the
first 11 verses of 2 Peter now
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and today we'll be talking about
verses 12 and on. Can you give
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us a little review of what
we've discussed in our previous
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program? Sure. We
noticed that 2 Peter
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has really kind of a different
direction than 1 Peter does.
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Where 1 Peter is really focused
on helping people face the world
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how they have internal cohesion
and how they fit together and
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how they are to interact with
people around them, in 2 Peter
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the problem that he is facing
is internal. There are false
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teachers who are
misleading people. He begins his
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presentation in 2 Peter chapter
1 with a very positive message
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actually about the Divine
promises and he has this ladder
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of virtues, a long list of very
positive character traits that
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he wants to see developed within
the church members because he
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says these will protect them
from falling away or faltering
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in their faith. So when we get
to verse 12 he's going to start
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talking about why in the
world he's actually writing this
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letter. Now in any of these
books there's rarely kind of a
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mark, a clear cut where it
doesn't have any relationship to
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the past, it just goes
into something completely new.
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Usually there's an intertwining
of ideas. So what I want to do
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is actually start a
little before our passage.
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Our passage for this study
is actually verses 12-15 of
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2 Peter 1. But we're going
to start back in verse 8 because
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there are certain terms that he
uses that kind of tie the ideas
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back together again. So let's
start in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse
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8 and read all the
way through verse 15.
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For these things are yours
and abound. You will be neither
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barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. For he who lacks these
things is shortsighted even to
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blindness and has forgotten that
he was cleansed from his old
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sins. Therefore brethren be even
more diligent to make your call
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and election sure. For if you
do these things you will never
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stumble; for so an entrance will
be supplied to you abundantly
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into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior Jesus
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Christ. And read
verses 12-15 as well.
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Okay. For this reason I will
not be negligent to remind you
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always of these things that you
know and are established in the
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present truth. Yes, I think
it is right. As long as I am in
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this tent to stir you up
by reminding you knowing that
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shortly I must put off my tent
just as our Lord Jesus Christ
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showed me. Moreover I will
be careful to ensure that you
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always have a reminder of
these things after my decease.
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Now Dr. Shepherd I notice here
as we begin in verses 12 and
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onward, Peter mentions the word
remind three times. I underlined
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it here. And he says, I will not
be negligent to remind, verse
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13, reminding you, verse 15
reminding you of these things.
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What is he reminding them of?
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A lot of remembering.
Because if I'm reminding someone
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it's because either they have
forgotten. They know about it
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but they've forgotten, or they
know but I know that they have
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a tendency to forget so I just
don't want them to forget; I'm
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just reminding you.
Yes. Well, actually the way
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Peter has written this, he says
to them that he's sending this
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letter to them because he's
going to depart soon and he has
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written this really in the form
in the ancient world of what we
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would call a testament. We
speak today even of a last will
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and testament. It's something
that you leave where it tells
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how to divide up your property
and what your wishes are
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concerning maybe if you have
children who you would prefer
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that they be raised by and
things like that. The testament
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in the literature of his day
had two characteristics. There's
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reference that they know they're
about to die and then they want
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to teach people to remember the
teaching that they have and they
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want them to observe them.
So you could almost say three
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things you know; that I'm
going to die, and these are the
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teachings that I'm reminding you
about and be sure to obey them
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or keep them, right? This
is exactly what happens here in
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Peter is that you mentioned
one of the characteristics about
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it being reminding, reminding,
reminding. And so he reminds
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them of the things that he has
already taught them. They have
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been taught as Christians and he
doesn't want them to slip away
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from that. This will become also
an important characteristic in
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chapter three as he will
face off with the false teachers
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and the things he talks about
them deliberately forgetting.
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That's interesting because
one of the commandments says
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remember and I always
wondered why would God begin a
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commandment with remember
the Sabbath day, perhaps knowing
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that we might forget about it.
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Might forget and that we should
observe it and keep it fresh in
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our minds. Now one of the things
there's a phraseology there
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of present truth. One of
the important issues to remember
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about truth is that truth is
not simply a set of teachings or
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doctrines that you put on a page
or that you memorize with your
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mind. In Peter's discussion of
the truths he says they have to
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become part of your life, not
just in your head but in your
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heart. They have to be expressed
in your hands, you're saying
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your actions. They have to be
part of your character. Too many
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times we think of doctrines
simply as something we believe
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and then they kind of don't have
this deep rooted linkage to our
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everyday life. And Peter
reminds us that, yes, they are
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to be an important part of our
everyday life. It is not to say
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that he is dismissing the idea
of the importance of teachings.
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He's going to emphasize in
chapter three some very clear
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principles and concepts. You
cannot have, how should I say,
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a true experience that
simply has the ideas and not the
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practice or on the other
hand simply the practice and no
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ideas. Truth has content and
God's truth is ever developing.
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He's showing us more things and
as he does that he expects our
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characters to grow and to move
forward and become more like
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Jesus. Okay. If
we read here, Peter
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talks about his or this tent.
He says, I think it is right as
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long as I am in this tent
to stir you up by reminding you
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and he also says, I must put off
my tent. Now when I read this
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I'm thinking okay is that a
tent? You know the first thing
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that comes to my mind is a
tent we use when we go camping.
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Yeah. So he's writing to these
people and after he finishes
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his letter he must put away
his tent and move on. What is he
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talking about here?
Okay. Peter uses some
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specialized terms that we need
to unpack as we look at this.
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Let's just read verses 13 and
14 again. And remember this is
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the testament so he's going
to be talking about his death so
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we'll kind of keep that in mind.
Let's read verses 13 and 14 one
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more time. Yes, I
think it is right as long
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as I am in this tent to stir you
up by reminding you knowing that
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shortly I must put off my tent
just as our Lord Jesus Christ
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showed me. Moreover, I will
be careful to ensure you always
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have a reminder of
these things after my decease.
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Okay. Now I have the English
Standard Version. You are using
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the New King James Version. In
the English Standard Version it
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translates it a little bit
differently. Actually yours is a
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more literal translation.
So this one's a little more
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interpretive in verse 13.
It says, I think it is right as
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long as I am in this body to
stir you up by way of reminders
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since I know that the putting
off of my body will be soon as
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our Lord Jesus Christ made clear
to me. Now they have a little
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note down below that helps to
explain this. They say that the
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term here for body is the word
for tent. The Greek word is tent
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just like yours puts it.
But when people hear that
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terminology they say tent; is he
going camping and he's about to
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leave and he's been camping out
where they are. No. This is a
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term that was used as a
metaphoric way of speaking of
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the body, but this term is
used to refer to a dwelling or a
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lodging or to the body itself,
but it is literally the word
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tent and there are two
main places in the New Testament
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that talk about this terminology
It's here in 2 Peter chapter 1
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verses 13 and 14 but also over
in the book of 2 Corinthians 5
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where we will go in a minute
because we want to understand
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what Peter is talking about.
But before we go there, there's
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one more term that he uses
and that's the term departure.
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I think yours uses the
phrase decease in verse 15.
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Yes, after my decease.
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Yeah. So mine in verse 15 says,
I will make every effort so that
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after my departure you may be
able at any time to recall these
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things. It's interesting; the
word in Greek is exodus and it
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means a going out or a departure
The term is used over in the
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book of Luke chapter 9 verse 31.
Maybe we should just go there
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very quickly, Luke 9 verse 31,
because it's the other use of
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this term in the New Testament
and just see how Luke makes use
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of the term. This is at the
story of the transfiguration,
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which interestingly enough Peter
is going to talk about shortly
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in 2 Peter chapter 1. So here
we have a parallel story and
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the use of the same phrase.
This is Luke 9 and Moses and
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Elijah have come... Why don't
you read verse 30 and verse 31.
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And behold two men talked with
him who were Moses and Elijah
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who appeared in glory and spoke
of his decease which he was
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about to accomplish at Jerusalem
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Yeah, it's the same term.
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Decease is the same term meaning
Exodus and he's talking about
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his death. His
death, yeah. He's going to..
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And here they say, Behold two
men were talking with him, Moses
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and Elijah, who appeared in
glory and spoke of his departure
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which he was about to accomplish
in Jerusalem, and the term is
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exodus. So the decease when
Jesus was going to die on the
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cross, that's what they
were talking with him about.
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The term exodus was used
metaphorically just to refer to
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a death. Most people don't like
to say the term death. You know
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they'll say well he passed away
or he went to his final rest or
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something like that. So they had
different metaphors that they
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would use in this ancient world
and this was one of them when
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you would talk about their
exodus, their departure, their
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decease which is a
fine way to translate it.
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Well Dr. Shepherd I want to keep
hearing more about this exodus
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or this departure after we
return after a short break.
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