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Series Code: SSH
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00:12 [music] 00:22 [music] 00:32 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, 00:33 and welcome again to "Sabbath School Study Hour." 00:36 A very warm welcome to our friends joining us 00:38 across the country and around the world, 00:39 also to our online members who faithfully tune in 00:42 every Sabbath to join us as we study together, 00:45 also to our church members here in Sacramento area. 00:48 A very warm welcome to you. 00:50 We know we have some visitors that have come from, 00:52 oh, quite a distance to be with us this morning, 00:54 and a very special and warm welcome to all of you. 00:57 Our study today is lesson number six, entitled symbols-- 01:02 or "Symbolic Acts" is what it's called, and we're studying 01:05 through our lesson, courtly dealing with the book 01:07 of Jeremiah, the prophet. 01:09 Just a great study that we've been going through. 01:12 We do have a free offer we would like to let you know about. 01:15 It is a--something a little different about this offer. 01:17 This is "Prophecy Foundations" DVD. 01:21 For our friends watching across North America, if you'd like 01:24 to receive our free offer, the number to call is... 01:31 That number again is... 01:36 and you can ask for offer 814. 01:40 We'll be happy to send that to you, called 01:41 "Prophecies Foundation" DVD set. 01:45 Well, at this time I'd like to invite our song leaders 01:47 to come and join me here on stage. 01:49 And we're going to begin our study time together 01:51 by lifting our voices in praise to God. 01:53 Thank you. 01:58 Jolyne Simler: Thank you, Pastor Ross. 02:00 We know that you love to sing with us as much as we love 02:02 to sing with you by the emails that we receive. 02:05 So let's sing together "Anywhere with Jesus" 02:08 hymn number 508, and we'll sing all three verses. 02:13 [music] 02:18 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go ♪ 02:23 ♪ anywhere he leads me in this world below ♪ 02:28 ♪ Anywhere without him, dearest joys would fade ♪ 02:33 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid ♪ 02:37 ♪ Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know ♪ 02:43 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go ♪ 02:49 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I am not alone ♪ 02:54 ♪ Other friends may fail me, he is still my own ♪ 02:59 ♪ Though his hand may lead me over dreary ways ♪ 03:03 ♪ anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise ♪ 03:08 ♪ Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know ♪ 03:14 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go ♪ 03:20 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep ♪ 03:25 ♪ when the gloomy shadows round about me creep ♪ 03:30 ♪ Knowing I shall waken never more to roam ♪ 03:35 ♪ anywhere with Jesus will be home sweet home ♪ 03:40 ♪ Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know ♪ 03:46 ♪ Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go ♪♪ 03:53 Jolyne: We know that we can go anywhere 03:55 with Jesus safely, don't we? 03:57 He is with us every step of the way, and it is his own way. 04:02 We are going to sing now 567 "Have Thine Own Way Lord." 04:07 And as you're singing that I pray that you will think 04:11 of these words that it's Lord not my way, 04:13 but your way and your will that we can live 04:16 totally in harmony with him till he comes, 567. 04:21 [music] 04:24 ♪ Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way ♪ 04:34 ♪ Thou art the Potter, I am the clay ♪ 04:43 ♪ Mold me and make me after thy will ♪ 04:53 ♪ while I am waiting yielded and still ♪ 05:02 ♪ Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way ♪ 05:11 ♪ Search me and try me, Master, today ♪ 05:21 ♪ Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now ♪ 05:30 ♪ as in thy presence humbly I bow ♪ 05:40 ♪ Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way ♪ 05:49 ♪ Wounded and weary, help me, I pray ♪ 05:58 ♪ Power, all power, surely is thine ♪ 06:07 ♪ Touch me and heal me, Savior divine ♪ 06:17 ♪ Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way ♪ 06:27 ♪ Hold over my being absolute sway ♪ 06:36 ♪ Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see ♪ 06:46 ♪ Christ only, always, living in me ♪♪ 06:59 Jolyne: At this time Pastor Ross will give us 07:01 our opening prayer. 07:08 Pastor Ross: We invite you to bow your heads for prayer. 07:11 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you once again for the 07:14 opportunity to gather together to study your Word. 07:16 Thank you for the special time, the Sabbath, and Lord, as we 07:19 open up the Scriptures we ask that the Holy Spirit will guide 07:21 our hearts, our minds, lead us into clearer truth and impress 07:27 upon us the lessons that you would have us know. 07:29 For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 07:32 Our lesson this morning will be brought to us 07:34 by Pastor Doug Batchelor. 07:36 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Pastor Ross. 07:38 Morning, everyone. It's good to be home. 07:42 Some of you maybe didn't know I was gone. 07:46 But for those that didn't know we were in Michigan for the last 07:50 couple of weeks doing the "Heroes of Faith" program. 07:54 Did some of you tune into? 07:56 Someone, come on. I'm your pastor. 07:57 Hold your hand up. Just make it look good. 08:02 And the Lord blessed. 08:04 We had some of our team here was there with us 08:06 and had a great program, heard wonderful reports 08:09 of people that tuned in from around the world. 08:12 Heard about one church said they had 21 decisions for baptism 08:15 from the participating there, and so it was exciting and very 08:18 thankful for the Lansing, Michigan, Church. 08:22 One of dear friends, Pastor Wes Peppers, was there. 08:26 And just the church opened up to us and had a wonderful program. 08:30 Good to be home, and I'm glad to be able to study the lesson 08:35 with you today in Jeremiah, and a subject of special interest 08:39 of mine dealing with symbols. 08:42 There's a lot of symbols in the Bible that the Lord uses, 08:44 especially if you're an evangelist and you teach 08:47 Revelation, you need to know there's a lot of symbols, 08:49 and what do these symbols mean? 08:52 Jeremiah being, a prophet, God often gave him messages 08:56 in symbols, and so our lesson number six is "Symbolic Acts." 09:00 And we have a memory verse and the memory verse 09:03 is from Roman 9:21. 09:06 I'll be encouraged if you say it with me. 09:08 Romans 9:21, are you ready? 09:12 "Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to 09:17 make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?" 09:22 Talking about the potter and the clay and that'll be addressed 09:25 in more detail in some of the sections that we're going 09:29 through here in just a moment. 09:31 So there's a number of symbols in the Bible and maybe we should 09:33 start by just laying down some ground work. 09:37 Did Jesus sometimes use visual symbols to teach? 09:43 He used grain. 09:44 He used the sheep. 09:46 He used planting, fishing, all the things 09:50 that people saw in their daily life. 09:52 Everything from flowers to mountains, Jesus used 09:54 a lot of the symbolic imagery in his teaching. 09:58 There's a quote here in the lesson from 10:00 "Christ Object Lessons," page 133. 10:02 The significance of the Jewish economy 10:05 is not yet fully comprehended. 10:07 Truths vast and profound are shadowed forth 10:11 in its rites and symbols." 10:12 And she says they're not even fully understood yet. 10:15 "The gospel is the key that unlocks its mysteries. 10:18 Through a knowledge of the plan of redemption its are truths 10:21 open to the understanding." 10:24 And so all through the Bible there are a number of symbols 10:28 and stories that are used, and God teaches us 10:30 through these things. 10:32 And so we're gonna dive right in, and in the first section, 10:35 "Truth in Symbols," it talks about just starting there 10:39 in Genesis with the story of Cain and Abel. 10:42 Two sacrifices that really highlight and illustrate two 10:46 completely different forms of worship and you can read 10:49 about this in Genesis chapter 4, verse 3 through 7. 10:52 "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain 10:56 brought an offering the fruit of the ground unto the Lord. 10:59 Abel also brought the firstlings of his flock and their fat. 11:03 And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 11:05 but he did not respect Cain and his offering. 11:08 And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. 11:11 So the Lord said to Cain, 'If you do what is right 11:15 won't you to be accepted? 11:16 But if you're doing what's wrong sin lies at the door.'" 11:19 Anyway we all know the story of Cain and Abel. 11:21 At the very foundation of the Bible you've got 11:23 this picture of two different kinds of worship. 11:27 How does the Bible end? 11:29 A battle between a true and a false worship. 11:32 One group is worshipping the beast and its image. 11:34 The other is worshipping God biblically. 11:38 And the one who is persecuted is the one who is worshipping right 11:43 by the one who is worshipping wrong. 11:45 I know that sounds very simplistic, 11:47 but that's what happened. 11:48 Cain who had manmade worship, 11:49 it's really righteousness by works. 11:52 Cain brought the fruit of his labors 11:54 rather than a sacrifice, a cost of life. 11:58 Cain's was not accepted. 11:59 How do we know Cain's was not accepted? 12:02 In the early days, like when the temple was built, 12:05 I can think of three times, four times in the Bible 12:09 when fire came down from heaven. 12:12 When God built the earthly sanctuary in the wilderness 12:15 and it was finished and they activated the first sacrifice, 12:18 fire came down from God, showed it was accepted. 12:20 When there was a plague in Jerusalem, and the men were 12:26 dying, and David offered on the threshing floor of Araunah 12:29 there was an angel with a sword drawn. 12:32 Fire came down from God to show he had accepted the sacrifice. 12:36 In the story of Mount Carmel and Elijah, 12:39 who is the true God, Baal or Jehovah? 12:42 Fire came down from God to show. 12:45 And then when Solomon dedicated the temple, says the fire of 12:50 the Lord came down from heaven and the glory of God 12:52 so filled the temple they could not even enter and minister. 12:56 So when it says Cain's offering was not accepted, 12:59 it meant that the fire came and accepted Abel's 13:02 and nothing but fruit flies, 'cause he offered vegetables 13:06 and fruit came to Cain's. 13:07 And he was angry and so he persecuted his brother. 13:12 And so you got these two different forms of worship, 13:15 true and false. 13:16 Do you see those two themes running through the Bible? 13:19 Did Jesus deal with counterfeit worship with 13:21 the Pharisees and the scribes? 13:23 Do you see the prophets addressing counterfeit worship 13:26 in their messages to Israel when they begin 13:28 to compromise with the pagans? 13:30 And Moses warned about it, and he tried to save the Israelites 13:33 from adopting the ways of the Egyptians 13:35 with the golden calf and the Ten Commandments, 13:37 two opposite forms of worship. 13:39 And it's the theme in the last days. 13:42 True worship and false worship and you'll be called legalistic 13:45 if you make a big deal about the particulars of worship, 13:50 but God does. 13:51 He cares how we worship him, because how you worship him 13:55 says something about who he is, and that's very important. 13:58 All right, so that's one symbol. 14:00 Now then there's another prominent symbol that we find 14:02 and Jesus refers to this one. 14:04 You remember in John chapter 3 and verse 15 he says, 14:08 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 14:10 even so the Son of man should be lifted up 14:13 that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, 14:15 but have everlasting life." 14:17 And then we all know John 3:16. 14:19 As Moses lifted up the serpent, that harkens back to a story you 14:23 kind in Numbers 21, verse 8, if you've got your Bibles, 14:26 and there's a symbol here, an important symbol. 14:30 "Then the Lord said to Moses all the children-- 14:33 let me give you the background story. 14:35 Most of you know it, but the children of Israel began 14:38 to complain, manna, manna, manna every day. 14:40 Manna for breakfast. 14:41 Manna for lunch, manna sandwiches, manna porridge, 14:43 manna casserole, manna, manna. 14:45 We wish we were back in Egypt. 14:46 And they began to complain about the manna that God gave 'em 14:49 bread from heaven. 14:50 And so the Lord was displeased. 14:52 He withdrew his protection and there was a plague of serpents. 14:56 Now it is true that in some parts of the country in 14:58 springtime snakes can begin to breed, and hatch out 15:03 in just enormous numbers, and these snakes were not like 15:07 your garden snakes. 15:08 They were actually venomous, and so there was 15:11 a plague of serpents that broke out, 15:13 and they were finding snakes in their boots 15:15 and in their clothes and in their tents 15:17 and they were being bitten. 15:18 And they were dying from the bites. 15:22 And so God told Moses, "Make a fiery serpent." 15:26 They called it the fiery serpent. 15:28 We're not sure. 15:29 It could've been because he had a fiery red color 15:31 or it could've been the fiery burning nature of their sting, 15:33 but they called them fiery serpents. 15:36 "Make a fiery serpent and set it on the pole, and it shall be 15:41 that whoever is bitten when he looks at it shall live." 15:45 So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. 15:49 Obviously a pole so it could be lifted up and if a serpent had 15:52 bitten anybody when he looked at bronze serpent he lived. 15:57 Now God did not want them to worship the bronze serpent, 16:00 'cause years later they had actually kept that as a relic, 16:03 and in the days of Hezekiah he saw people were burning incense 16:06 to this ancient bronze serpent that Moses had made, 16:09 and Hezekiah crushed it. 16:10 He said, "You're turning to idolatry. 16:12 That's not what this is all about." 16:14 That serpent was supposed to be a symbol of the sacrifice 16:18 of Christ, but when it happened they did not know. 16:21 What did a serpent on a stick represent 16:24 to a nation of shepherds? 16:27 Did shepherds carry staffs? 16:30 Are snakes a problem for sheep and goats? 16:32 Do you know if you have pigs can by--or rather pigs 16:38 can be bitten by snakes and live. 16:40 And we had a dog that was bitten by a rattlesnake 16:42 and his neck swole up, but they live through it. 16:45 But sheep and goats they're like people. 16:47 They're a lot more vulnerable. 16:48 They will die. 16:49 They'll seize up and they'll die from a venomous snake bite. 16:52 So when the shepherd saw a serpent that was anywhere 16:56 near their sheep they would clobber it and then 17:00 because they're venomous you don't leave them there 17:02 on the ground, 'cause if someone steps on it barefoot, 17:04 the skeleton teeth of a dead rattlesnake can actually 17:08 still cause an infection and pain 17:10 and problems for a person. 17:12 So you bury it. 17:14 And so whenever you saw a shepherd carrying a serpent 17:17 on a stick it meant there is a dead snake 17:20 going off to a funeral. 17:23 And so when they saw this serpent up on a pole that to 17:27 them, as shepherds, represented a defeated serpent. 17:32 Now we know what that represents for us. 17:34 When Jesus died on the cross and we look by faith at the cross 17:38 we are saved from sin by that. 17:39 And so this was a symbol of salvation. 17:43 Looking in faith--matter of fact, you can read 17:45 in "Patriarchs and Prophets." 17:47 There the author says, "The Israelites saved their lives 17:50 by looking upon the uplifted serpent. 17:52 That look implied faith. 17:55 They lived because they believed the Word of God and trusted 17:58 the means provided for their recovery." 18:01 And then as time goes by, because Jesus said, 18:03 "As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so the Son of man 18:06 should be lifted up," 18:07 we know there's a bigger meaning in that, 18:10 that it symbolized Christ being lifted up. 18:12 Christ said, "If I am lifted up I will draw all men. 18:15 What does lifted up mean? 18:17 Crucifixion right? 18:20 And so no Jesus was not the serpent, but he became sin 18:24 for us who knew no sin. 18:25 All right, somebody look up for me Psalm 91. 18:28 I think we gave that out. 18:30 Who's got that, Alberto? 18:31 All right you'll be next. 18:32 Meantime I'm going to read Genesis 3, verse 14-15. 18:36 Still talking about the serpent. 18:39 If you look here it says, "So the Lord said to the serpent, 18:43 'Because you've done this you are cursed more than 18:45 all cattle and more than any beast of the field. 18:49 On your belly you will go and eat dust all the days of your 18:52 life and I'll put enmity between you and the woman, 18:55 between your seed and her seed. 18:57 It shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.'" 19:01 Does the serpent have a symbolic meaning in the Bible? 19:06 You know Jesus said in, and I'm not seeing too many in North 19:10 America practice this, but Jesus said in Mark chapter 16, 19:15 "And you will take up serpents and if you drink 19:17 any deadly thing it will not hurt you." 19:19 Did Jesus really want us going around on snake safaris? 19:23 So what does a serpent represent? 19:26 Go ahead, and why don't you read Psalm 91:13? 19:29 Alberto: "You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra. 19:32 The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot." 19:36 Pastor Doug: Are we supposed to go around 19:37 stomping on lions and snakes? 19:41 When God--when the devil spoke through the serpent 19:44 from then on the serpent became a symbol of what? 19:47 When you go to Revelation 12 that old dragon, 19:53 the serpent and the devil. 19:57 So who is the serpent? 19:59 It's symbolic for the devil, because it was the devil that 20:01 had possessed the first serpent and so through his-- 20:05 so when it says, "You will tread upon the serpent," 20:09 it's talking, yeah. 20:10 And in the lion. 20:11 The devil goes around as a roaring lion. 20:13 All right, so through the Bible you'll see, 20:15 and when Samson kills a lion and David kills a lion, 20:19 these are talking about types of Christs 20:21 taking on the devil so forth. 20:22 The lions could not keep Daniel in the den. 20:25 The devil could not keep Jesus in the tomb. 20:27 So now I'm getting beyond the lesson a little bit, 20:29 but you get the point. 20:31 Okay, now we're going to go to Jeremiah's prophecy. 20:33 So far that was just talking about some of the symbols. 20:35 Go to Jeremiahs prophecy in chapter 18. 20:38 And we'll be reading verse 1 through 4. 20:42 This is the prophecy dealing with the potter's clay, 20:47 Jeremiah 18:1 to 4. 20:50 And it says, "The Word came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, 20:54 'Arise and go down to the potter's house 20:56 and there I will cause you to hear my words.'" 20:58 He said, "I'm not telling you yet. 21:00 You go and I'll tell you." 21:02 "So I went down to the potter's house and there he was making, 21:05 he was at the wheel and the vessel 21:08 that the potter made was marred." 21:10 Any of you have ever seen a potter working 21:12 with a potter's wheel? 21:14 They're all motorized now, but you can still today go to India, 21:18 and Africa, and some parts of the world, 21:20 and you'll see a potter, and what they've got is like 21:22 a big axle with some kind of a bearing, 21:25 and it's a big flat table, and you'll see them 21:27 take their foot, and very dexterously they are spinning 21:30 the wheel with their foot. 21:32 Some of you remember the old treadle sewing machines where 21:34 you actually had to make the fly wheel go, I had one of those, 21:37 with your foot and it worked, Singer, 21:39 old Singer treadle sewing machine. 21:41 Anyway so they're spinning it, and they got a lump of clay, 21:43 and they get it going fast enough. 21:45 It's got quite a bit, it's like a big fly wheel. 21:47 It's got quite a bit of weight to it. 21:49 So it going. 21:50 It's got a lot of momentum. 21:51 And they take a big old blob of soft clay and they slap it. 21:53 And they know how to get it right in the middle, 21:55 and they start working it, and they center it, 21:57 and they begin to shape it, and press it. 21:59 They'll hammer it down, and they start getting the air out. 22:01 They start making something, 22:02 and it gets spinning pretty quick, 22:04 and when they're doing the final work on the edges 22:06 if they wiggle, or sneeze, or something, 22:08 once it gets out of center and it wobbles 22:10 and it just... 22:11 the whole thing just falls apart. 22:13 Have any of you have ever seen this? 22:15 So they had to have a steady hand to do that. 22:17 So that's why Jeremiah says, the potter was working 22:19 and it says, "The vessel that he made of clay was marred, 22:24 it was disfigured in the hand of the potter. 22:26 It flopped. 22:28 So he pounded it down and made it again into another vessel 22:32 as seen good to the potter to make. 22:34 Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, 22:37 'Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter?' 22:40 says the Lord. 22:41 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hands 22:43 so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 22:47 The instant I speak concerning a nation, concerning a kingdom 22:50 to pluck it up, to pull it down, to destroy it, if that nation 22:54 who I have spoken to turns from it's evil I will relent 22:58 of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.'" 23:02 He saying, "Look, I am the potter. 23:04 You are the clay." 23:05 We were just singing about that a minute ago. 23:07 "And at my will I can change what I planned 23:11 to make out of you." 23:13 Now can you think of a nation that God had destined 23:15 for destruction, but they repented and he changed? 23:19 Nineveh in the time of Jonah. 23:20 A lot of people say, "Oh, I guess Jonah wasn't a prophet." 23:23 He said it would be destroyed. 23:24 He marched up and down the street. 23:26 He said, 'Forty days Nineveh will be destroyed." 23:28 They repented and he didn't destroy it. 23:30 And they say, "Oh, I guess he wasn't a profit." 23:33 God says, "No. 23:34 I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. 23:36 I want them to repent." 23:38 And so he's saying, "Look, it also is true 23:41 if a wicked nation repents I will relent of destroying it. 23:46 If a nation I promised to bless turns from their righteousness 23:50 I can change my plans for them and punish." 23:54 The children of Israel said, "We're God's chosen people. 23:57 You brought us out of Egypt. 23:58 You did all those miracles. 23:59 Your temple is in our midst. 24:00 We're your people." 24:01 But they were turning to sin and God is saying, 24:03 "Look, I can change what I'm going to do with you." 24:06 And that's the message that he's trying to give him here. 24:09 And you look, for instance, in Isaiah 29. 24:15 Somebody down here has got Isaiah 64, okay? 24:18 I'm gonna read Isaiah 29:16. 24:22 "Surely you have turned things around. 24:24 Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay? 24:27 For shall the thing made say to him who made it 24:31 he did not make me? 24:32 Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it 24:35 he has no understanding?" 24:38 It's always strange when you hear an atheist say, 24:41 "I happened by accident," and "There is no God." 24:44 And you know God is looking down and he's going, 24:48 "You're denying that I made you." 24:50 And this is what the nation is doing. 24:53 They're saying, "No, you didn't raise us up." 24:55 You can also look in, these are a couple of verses 24:58 dealing with vessels. 24:59 You can look in Isaiah 45:9. 25:02 "Woe to him who strives with his maker. 25:05 Let the potsherd," Now potsherd is a broken piece of pottery. 25:09 It's what Job used to scrape himself when he 25:11 was mourning and from his boils. 25:13 It says, "Will the potsherd strived 25:16 with the potsherds of the earth? 25:20 Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 25:23 'What are you making?' 25:24 or shall the handiwork says, 'He has no hands?'" 25:27 You know what always struck me as peculiar and I haven't really 25:31 figured out how to deal with it. 25:33 How does the devil who goes way back with God and saw God create 25:38 many things and the devil, Lucifer, knows that God is 25:40 the creator, how does Lucifer grapple with the idea that he 25:43 as the creation that he could somehow over throw the creator? 25:47 Isn't it madness to think that the creation can somehow 25:52 have more power than the creator? 25:54 But if we're made less than angels, the Bible says we are, 25:58 and if Lucifer was the greatest of the angels than can human 26:03 deceive themself too that somehow they can manipulate 26:07 the maker and they're just the, we're just the clay. 26:11 What did God make Adam out of? 26:14 There's not a big difference between dust and clay is there? 26:19 And so here we are. We're just the clay, you know? 26:22 And have you heard of the story in the Bible where Jesus took 26:24 some dust, and he spat on it, and he made clay, and he put it 26:28 on a man's eyes, and he healed him? 26:30 Yeah, so there's a healing that came from the clay itself. 26:33 All right, go ahead read for us, please, Isaiah 68. 26:38 female: "But now, O Lord, you are our Father. 26:41 We are the clay and you our potter 26:44 and all we are the work of your hand." 26:48 Pastor Doug: Yeah, Karen and I had a long discussion 26:50 this morning about praying according to God's will. 26:56 Sometimes we pray and we tell God, "This is what you're 26:58 supposed to do with my life." 27:00 And we say, "This is what I want" 27:02 and "Lord, how come you didn't answer my prayer?" 27:04 We don't always have submission to his will in our prayers. 27:10 We say, "Lord, you gotta do this, 27:11 you gotta fix it, you gotta give me this job, 27:13 you gotta heal me, you gotta do this, 27:15 and if you don't do what I'm telling you to do, 27:16 then you're not real." 27:18 But maybe God is saying, "You pray about it. 27:21 That's fine, but I might have a different answer 27:24 than you anticipate, part of my perfect will." 27:28 That means are you gonna be pliable clay in his hands 27:33 so he can shape you? 27:34 Or are we gonna be resistant and hard and so you crack 27:38 in the potter's hands? 27:40 Romans, now this gets really deep in theology. 27:43 This is one of the great mysteries that the Christians 27:45 have argued about for ages. 27:47 Romans 9:17, "For the Scripture says to the pharaoh, 27:53 'For this very purpose I have raised you up.'" 27:55 He's quoting from the Old Testament. 27:58 "God said to pharaoh, 'For this purpose I have raised you up 28:01 that I might show my power in you and that my name 28:03 might be declared in all the earth.' 28:05 Therefore he has mercy on whom he will and whom 28:08 he will he hardens. 28:11 And you'll say to me then, "Why does he still find fault 28:14 for who has resisted his will? 28:16 But indeed, old man, who are you to reply against God? 28:19 Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 28:22 'Why did you make me like this?' 28:24 Does the potter have power over the clay from one lump 28:28 to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" 28:31 Now do you see what the problem is here? 28:36 Did God make the pharaoh hard-hearted so that he 28:40 can use him as an example to talk about his power? 28:47 This is where we're talking about free will 28:50 and predestination, which is a big debate. 28:54 It says here God hardened pharaohs heart. 28:58 But you know you can read two or three other verses 29:00 in Exodus where it says, "Pharaoh hardened his heart." 29:06 In the Hebrew mind in the Old Testament you'll find 29:08 that God often is given credit for everything. 29:13 Says, "Shall not good come from the hand of the Lord 29:15 and evil also?" 29:16 Isn't that what Job said? 29:18 But the Bible says every good and perfect gift is from God. 29:20 What they mean is that God is sovereign and for evil to come 29:24 he must allow certain things. 29:27 If God wants to make a bad person 29:30 say something good, he can. 29:33 Did he do it with Balaam? 29:35 When Balaam tried to curse he couldn't when blessing 29:38 came out of his mouth. 29:41 And in the same way you know the Lord can choose to change 29:48 a person's intended direction, but ultimately a person is saved 29:52 based on how they respond to the providence of God. 29:58 The things, the plagues, the events that God sent upon Egypt, 30:02 pharaoh could have softened his heart, 30:04 but pharaoh hardened his heart. 30:07 Now some people say God hardened pharaoh's heart, 30:09 'cause God sent the circumstances. 30:11 You see what I'm saying? 30:12 It is true God sent the circumstances, but pharaoh 30:14 had a choice of how to respond to the circumstances. 30:18 Otherwise why would the Lord say, "As for me and my house, 30:23 we will serve the Lord. 30:24 Choose ye this day who you will serve." 30:26 If you have no choice, if God is up in the sky 30:31 as the Greek gods used to make it look, kind of going, 30:34 eeny-meeny-miny-moe. 30:35 I'm gonna save you and you're lost and I need someone 30:38 to be the fall guy. 30:39 I'll call you Judas and you're gonna be the one to betray me. 30:41 Otherwise, I know you wanted to be good, 30:43 but you don't have a choice. 30:44 I need someone to be the fall guy. 30:46 So, Judas, you're going to betray me and hang yourself. 30:48 Sorry, I'm the potter, you're the clay." 30:51 Is that what God did with Judas? 30:53 Or was Jesus anxious to save Judas? 30:55 Did Judas have an opportunity to be saved? 30:59 And then people will say, 31:01 "But someone had to be the betrayer." 31:04 I don't know how God would have done it. 31:06 Those hypothetical questions can go forever and ever, 31:09 but he would have worked it out another way 31:12 or he never would have foretold it was a betrayer, 31:14 but God knew down through time how it was going to happen. 31:17 You see, God knows. 31:18 It's like now with weather satellites the accuracy 31:23 of weather prediction is getting better. 31:25 Still not perfect, but it's a lot better. 31:27 They can look and they could say, 31:29 "We see this front moving in you direction. 31:31 You're gonna get some rain. 31:32 You're gonna get some wind." 31:34 And usually they're getting closer and closer, 'cause they 31:35 have a perspective from the sky that we don't have. 31:39 They get a big picture. 31:40 They can look miles away. 31:41 They can look thousands of miles away and say, 31:43 "A hurricane is gonna hit in a week." 31:45 And they track it with computers and models and that's man 31:51 making his best guess, but they have a higher perspective now. 31:55 How good is God's perspective of the future? 31:58 Is it better than a satellite and a weatherman? 32:02 He can look 1,000 years into the future 32:04 with his perspective. 32:05 So could God predict thousands of years in advance exactly 32:08 how Judas was going to respond? 32:10 But who made the choice? 32:13 See this is the important point. 32:15 Judas chose how to respond. 32:17 Now what about a person who's born with maybe some handicap 32:20 and you're lacking in some gifts and you shake your fist at God 32:23 and say, "How come all these other people 32:25 are pretty and I'm not? 32:26 How come they got these talents and I don't? 32:28 How come I'm handicapped and they're not?" 32:31 Well, that's a place where you might say, "Shall the thing made 32:35 say to the one that made it, 'Why do you make me thus?' 32:38 Will the clay protest against the potter?" 32:41 There's some things where God is sovereign and we just need 32:44 to surrender and say, "Lord, this is what 32:46 I've got to work with. 32:47 I will do my best with the free will I have 32:49 to work with these circumstances. 32:51 I've been born into this body, these talents to serve you." 32:54 That's where you just need to surrender and say, 32:56 "He's the potter." 32:57 But it doesn't mean we don't have a free will. 32:59 You see the difference between the two? 33:01 All right, so moving along here. 33:04 Acts 19:5, "But the Lord said to him." 33:08 I'm gonna look at several vessels. 33:10 We're talking about symbols here. 33:12 Through the Bible vessels are often symbols of people. 33:21 Acts 19:5, "The Lord said to him--" 33:23 Or 9:5. 33:24 Try that one more time. 33:27 Acts 9:15, "The Lord said to Ananias, 33:31 "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine." 33:34 He's telling him to go lay hands on Paul. 33:36 He doesn't wanna do it. 33:37 He says, "Paul, man, he's been persecuted." 33:39 He said, "No. 33:40 Paul is actually gonna be a great apostle. 33:43 He's not gonna be an enemy of Christianity. 33:45 You go lay hands on him. 33:46 He's a vessel of mine." 33:47 What does he mean vessel? 33:51 What are vessels for? 33:52 What do you do with a vessel? 33:57 They hold things, right? 34:00 And we're supposed to be vessels that are 34:02 filled with God's Spirit. 34:06 Vessels are used to save. 34:08 What was Moses put in when he was plucked from the river? 34:12 Put in a vessel. 34:14 What did God use to save Noah and his family? 34:17 Used a vessel. 34:19 That's what a ship is called, a vessel. 34:21 The Ark of the Covenant that held the Ten Commandments, 34:25 it's a vessel. 34:26 You've got these. 34:27 Any of you ever heard of the Holy Grail? 34:30 That's of course a legend, it's not true, but it's a legend that 34:33 came during the Gothic era that somewhere somebody 34:37 and managed to carry off from the Last Supper 34:40 the actual plate where the lamb was, or-- 34:42 it goes back and forth-- 34:43 or it's the cup that Jesus passed around. 34:45 They say it was one cup he passed around, and if you could 34:49 just find that plate or that cup, one of those vessels, and 34:53 you could eat from it or drink from it you'd have some kind of 34:55 supernatural powers, and people went on great prilgrimage 34:57 to find the Holy Grail and they figured, 35:00 "Boy, if you could drink from the cup." 35:02 You know the last thing in the world the disciples were 35:04 thinking of, I don't know if you heard this, 35:07 but when Pope Francis spoke to Congress 35:12 they had a cup of water. 35:14 He took the cup. 35:15 He took a sip of it and he put it down. 35:17 He may have taken two sips of it. 35:19 Most of it was full. 35:20 Immediately after he walked off the platform one of 35:22 the congressman ran up and grabbed the cup. 35:24 How many of you heard about that? 35:27 He took it back to his office where his staffers, Catholics, 35:31 were taking the water and sprinkling each other. 35:33 And then they decide, "Let's just save it. 35:35 "And someone said, "You stole it." 35:37 He said, "No, I'm gonna pay for the cup." 35:39 But to them that was the Holy Grail. 35:43 But the last thing in the world the disciples were thinking 35:45 when Jesus walked away from that Upper Room was, 35:48 "Who wants to sell the cup on eBay?" 35:51 They weren't thinking, because they had eaten so many meals 35:54 with Jesus, they had drunk from so many cups with Jesus 35:57 it didn't even occur to them. 35:59 So the chances that anybody made a special note of that cup is 36:04 pretty remote that it's floating around out there, or the shroud, 36:08 or splinters from the cross. 36:10 They didn't necessarily--matter of fact, that was idolatry. 36:14 They didn't do that back then. 36:17 Anyway, but vessels in the Bible, 36:20 they represent something that holds. 36:22 You know that boy in 1948 that was looking for a goat 36:26 and instead he found these vessels in a cave? 36:29 And you know what was in those vessels? 36:32 The Dead Sea Scrolls. 36:34 The Word of God in a vessel. 36:36 Isn't that what you and I are supposed to be? 36:39 Isn't that what Jesus was? 36:41 The Word became flesh. 36:44 Yeah, I used to--when I first moved up in the hills I didn't 36:47 have all the fancy tanks and things they have now. 36:51 My hot water heater was a 55 gallon drum. 36:53 You know an oil drum. 36:54 We cleaned it out. 36:55 We ran our water in it, and set it next to the stove, 36:57 and it really worked very good in the winter. 36:59 The stove was going. 37:00 We had 55 gallons of hot water under pressure 37:02 and we could have hot showers. 37:03 It was really nice. 37:04 Just put your hand on the barrel you could see 37:06 how much hot water you had left. 37:08 It would* be ice cold at the bottom and be 37:10 piping hot at the top. 37:11 It was amazing. 37:12 Eventually it would blend if you weren't using it, 37:14 but I learned something about barrels. 37:19 I'd get these old barrels, and if I kept them full of water 37:23 they would last for years. 37:25 If they were left empty they rusted and rotted very quickly. 37:29 And if we're not full, we don't last. 37:34 Those that just kinda live under themselves, 37:36 if they're empty vessels they don't last very well. 37:38 2 Timothy 2:19, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ 37:45 depart from iniquity. 37:46 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold 37:49 and silver," in other words in a mansion," 37:52 but there's also wood and clay. 37:54 Some for honor. Some for dishonor." 37:57 Now in some of those homes they had vessels that were 38:00 for display and they were beautiful and then 38:02 you had vessels for taking out the trash. 38:04 And Paul was saying it's all kinds of different vessels. 38:10 "There if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, 38:13 "being a poor vessel, "he'll be a vessel of honor, 38:15 sanctified and useful for the master, 38:18 prepared for every good work." 38:19 That's an important truth. 38:21 We want to allow the Lord to cleanse us so that we 38:23 can be vessels for the filling of his spirit. 38:26 God cannot fill a full vessel. 38:30 He fills empty ones. 38:32 Any of you remember the story? 38:33 This is found in 2 Kings chapter 4. 38:36 It's one of my favorite vessel stories. 38:39 A widow comes to Elisha, the prophet. 38:42 And she had been married to one of the sons of the prophets, 38:45 but her husband died. 38:46 Left her with two boys, and she had no income, 38:50 and her husband had borrowed money to farm, but he died, 38:54 and she couldn't pay back the debt. 38:57 And the creditors back then, if you owed money and the law 39:00 supported them, they would just come whenever payment was due, 39:03 and if you couldn't make the payment they could walk through 39:05 your house ransack, take whatever they thought 39:07 was value of the next payment. 39:09 So the creditor would come and he'd take things, whatever, 39:11 you know, take her furniture, and take the carpets, 39:14 and take things, and finally there's nothing left to take. 39:17 In his next trip he has the right to take her boys 39:20 and make them slaves. 39:22 And she comes to Elisha and she says, "I have nothing." 39:25 And he says, "What do you have in the house?" 39:27 Nothing. 39:28 All I've got this jar of oil. 39:29 He said, "You got something. 39:32 Here's what you do. 39:33 Go through the neighborhood." 39:35 All she had was one little vessel with some oil in it. 39:37 Said, "Go through the neighborhood. 39:39 Tell your boys to help you collect vessels, 39:42 borrow empty vessels from your neighbors. 39:45 Not just a few." 39:46 In other words, get as many as you can get. 39:49 So the boys run up and down the street 39:51 with their Radio Flyer wagons, 39:52 and they collected vessels and they brought this new ones 39:58 and old ones and short ones and tall ones and thin ones 40:01 and wide ones, and some were ornate and some were plain. 40:04 Just all these different-- they didn't match vessels, 40:07 but they were empty. 40:09 Brought 'em into the house. 40:11 Shut the door. 40:12 All the neighbors cared about her and she says, 40:14 "Elisha told me to borrow vessels." 40:16 And so they gave her vessels. 40:17 Then he said take the oil and start to pour from 40:19 your little vessel into your empty ones. 40:21 Now you don't question Elisha. 40:24 Even though it didn't make any sense she started doing it 40:27 and the oil kept coming, and kept coming, and kept coming, 40:31 and here she's got this little, you know, quart of oil, 40:33 and it fills this 30-gallon Firkin full of oil, 40:39 and another one and another one 40:41 and these chalices and vessels are being filled. 40:45 And then she goes back and she says, "Now what?" 40:47 And he said, "Well." 40:50 When all the vessels were full the oil stopped flowing." 40:52 Notice the miracle happened as long as there were 40:54 empty vessels available. 40:57 As long as were--and you notice the miracle of Jesus multiplying 41:00 bread lasted as long as there were hungry people. 41:04 God provides where the need is. 41:05 God doesn't provide miracles in abundance. 41:08 He provides miracles in want. 41:11 And so she says, "Now what?" 41:12 He said, "Now go sell what you have. 41:14 Pay off your debt and live off the rest. 41:16 There will be surplus." 41:18 Just like there was surplus when he multiplied the bread. 41:21 So what does that story mean? 41:23 Talking about symbols and vessels here. 41:26 What does a woman represent? 41:27 It's not in this study, but we know. 41:29 What does a woman represent in Bible symbols? 41:32 Often the church. 41:33 Frequent examples in Scriptures on that. 41:35 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church 41:37 and so forth, and the women in Revelation 12, 41:41 the woman the Revelation 17. 41:42 So here's a woman. 41:44 She's a widow. 41:46 She's got boys and the creditor is to come take them slaves. 41:51 It's like the devil. 41:53 She goes to the prophet, by the way Elisha's name 41:55 is very much like the name of Jesus. 41:57 Elohim is Savior is what it means. 42:01 And he says, "Fill your home with empty vessels." 42:03 What do vessels represent? 42:04 People. 42:07 What kind of vessels? 42:08 Empty ones and pour out the oil. 42:10 What does oil represent? 42:12 If our churches would do that, if we'd go through our community 42:14 and bring all the empty vessels into our house, 42:16 people that are empty. 42:18 You're surrounded in your community with empty vessels. 42:20 They're tall and they're short, and they're wide, 42:23 and they're thin, they're young, and they're old, 42:25 and some of crackpots. 42:30 And you bring all of those vessels into your home 42:33 and you take the little oil you've got. 42:35 Well, Lord, I don't have much. 42:36 Do you have any? 42:37 I have a little. 42:39 Okay take the little you've got and share and you'll find-- 42:41 how much bread did it take to feed 5,000? 42:43 A few loaves. All they had was a little. 42:46 Everyone's got something. 42:47 You take what you have, if you're willing to share 42:49 what you have God performs miracles and multiplies. 42:53 That, to me, is sort of like a story of symbols 42:56 that talks about what the church ought to do. 42:58 And her sons are saved. 43:00 The debtor goes away and everybody's got oil. 43:06 And so it's just a wonderful illustration 43:08 of vessels in the Bible. 43:12 Somebody's got 2 Corinthians 4:7. 43:14 All right, Dick. 43:15 You go on ahead, read that. 43:16 You let me know when you're ready. 43:18 In the meantime I'm gonna read John 2:6. 43:20 How many of you remember the first miracle of Jesus? 43:22 What did he do? 43:24 It was a miracle of vessels wasn't it? 43:27 What is says, "Now there were six water pots of stone 43:31 according to the manner of purification of the Jews 43:34 containing 20 or 30 gallons," I think they call it Firkins, 43:37 "a piece." 43:38 Twenty or thirty gallons, now he did not turn 43:41 that water into booze. 43:43 Can you imagine someone coming to Jesus and saying, 43:45 "You know they're nearly out of booze, 43:47 liquor for the party." 43:48 And he says, "Oh, man, I'm gonna make hundreds of gallons more. 43:51 You just don't worry about it. 43:54 We'll really party now." 43:56 No, that was pure grape juice. 43:58 They called it wine. 43:59 Same word is used. 44:01 But he performed a miracle in taking something very common, 44:05 water, and he turned it to wine, grape juice. 44:10 I always thought it was interesting the first miracle 44:12 of Jesus is turning water to wine, pure grape juice. 44:16 The last thing that happens on the cross, 44:18 they offer him sour wine fermented. 44:22 It's almost like Jesus does a blood-- 44:24 what does that wine represent? 44:27 When he gave his grape juice to the disciples it was 44:29 unleavened bread and unfermented wine. 44:31 He gave it to them. 44:33 It's a symbol of his blood, and so here he gives the pure 44:37 to man at a wedding. 44:39 And at the crucifixion they give him the sour. 44:41 It's almost like he makes a trade with humanity. 44:44 Sorry, go ahead read for us that other verse in Exodus. 44:48 male: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels 44:50 that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." 44:55 Pastor Doug: Thank you. I misspoke. 44:56 I meant 2 Corinthians 4:7. 44:58 We have this treasure in earthen vessels. 45:00 What's the treasure? 45:02 God's Spirit, the presence of Christ. 45:04 Not I that live, but what? 45:06 Christ who lives where? In. 45:08 Go through--just for your own study sometime, 45:12 go through the writings of Paul, 45:14 make a note how often Paul uses the phrase in Christ 45:18 or Christ in you, the hope of glory. 45:21 The Christ, Paul is always referring to Christ within. 45:26 If Jesus is always out here, you're not a Christian. 45:29 Jesus needs to be inside. 45:31 That's what it means to have the personal relationship. 45:33 Okay, the degradation of a nation. 45:35 I'm not gonna take a lot of time here and someone, I think, 45:37 has got Exodus 19. 45:39 Yuri, you'll have that? 45:41 Jeremiah 19, verse 1-2, "Thus says the Lord, 'Go, and get 45:45 a potter's earthen flask, and take some of the elders 45:49 of the people, and some of the elders of the priests, 45:51 and go out to the Valley of the Son of the Hinnom, 45:54 which is by the entry of the Potsherd gate.'" 45:56 Now that's not a good sign right there. 45:58 They're going to the valley of Gehenna, later known as Gehenna, 46:02 son of Hinnom, which became a type of Hades. 46:07 It was the city dump because they had 46:10 all these idols down there. 46:11 And so one of the kings finally said, 46:13 "That's where we're throwing the garbage." 46:15 It was a very steep valley, too, and they would frequently 46:17 burn the trash down there. 46:18 That's why they called it the Potsherd gate. 46:21 Broken pottery. 46:22 Everything was done with pottery back then. 46:24 There were a lot of broken pots. 46:26 I remember when I went to live with my uncle in New Mexico 46:30 that--I think I can tell you this without getting arrested, 46:34 that he took me to an ancient site near Chaco Canyon. 46:41 He lived at the Nageezi Trading Post and there was another 46:44 trading post I would watch over called Kimbato.* 46:46 There's nothing there now but some red cars. 46:49 I went there with Karen last year. 46:51 But I remember, I'm talking 40 years ago. 46:55 I was young, that's more than 40 years ago, 46:57 42 years ago Uncle Harry took me, 46:59 and he showed me an Indian dump, and I couldn't believe it. 47:02 There was all this ancient, Indian pottery, 47:05 just piles and mounds. 47:07 And if you thought, "Oh, wow, I found an Indian artifact," 47:09 you'd get bored there 'cause there was just mountains of it. 47:12 Some of it hundreds, maybe even thousands of years old, painted. 47:15 We'd dig around, we'd find little turquoise beds, 47:17 and it was just like, "Oh, this was great!" 47:19 And I had a whole pile of this stuff I carried around 47:21 with me for a while. 47:22 Now you're not allowed to do that anymore, 47:24 but back then it was just everywhere. 47:26 It was a dump and they had that back in Bible times, 47:29 just lots and lots of broken pottery. 47:32 So he said, "Take this vessel and go out." 47:34 Let's read it here in Jeremiah 19, 47:37 "Get a potter's earthen flasks. 47:40 Take some of the elders with you. 47:42 You want them to be witnesses. 47:43 Go to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom." 47:45 I'm in Jeremiah 19:1-2. 47:47 "By the Potsherd gate and proclaim there these words 47:51 that I will tell you and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, 47:55 O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. 47:57 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, 48:00 I will bring such a catastrophe on this place 48:03 that whoever hears of it their ears will tingle, 48:07 because they have forsaken me and made this an alien place, 48:12 because they have burned incense in it to other Gods 48:14 whom neither they, nor their fathers, or the kings 48:18 of Judah have known and they filled this place 48:20 with the blood of the innocents. 48:22 They've also built the high places." 48:24 And it goes on and it tells us that after he makes this 48:27 statement, says in verse 10, "Then you will break the flask 48:33 in the sight of the men who go with you and say, 48:36 'Thus says the Lord of hosts even so will I break this people 48:40 and this city as one breaks a potter's vessel, 48:43 which cannot be made whole again 48:46 and they will bury them in Topheth 48:48 until there is no place to bury. 48:50 There will be so many graves." 48:52 Wow that would be a pretty scary symbol, illustration. 48:56 Any of you know the story Humpty Dumpty? 49:00 All the king's horses and all the king's men. 49:03 Humpty Dumpty's like an egg we have that's supposed 49:06 to be analogous of King George when they wrote it. 49:09 I don't remember. 49:10 We had someone from England here that can remind me, 49:12 but anyway something broken that can't be fixed with super glue. 49:17 And he's saying, "This is what's going to happen to the nation." 49:19 He takes them and he does it where they're worshipping false 49:21 gods and he cracks down a vessel in there presence. 49:25 That's a pretty strong symbol that they would not forget. 49:27 Did it happen? 49:29 They were destroyed. They never returned. 49:32 They've never had a king. 49:33 You realize since Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, 49:36 Israel has never had a king other than 49:38 Jesus, but you know what I mean. 49:40 They never had a monarchy again. 49:42 So they were broken so that they could not be repaired. 49:44 All right, I've got just a few minutes to talk about-- 49:50 Let me see here. 49:51 Someone's gonna read Exodus 19:5 first. 49:53 Go ahead, Yuri. I think you're ready. 49:55 Yuri: "Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice 49:59 and keep my commandments, then ye shall be a special treasure 50:03 to me above all people for all the earth is mine." 50:08 Pastor Doug: So he said, "If you disobey me, 50:10 I will cast you down like a crack pot. 50:14 If you obey me, you will be a special treasure. 50:17 You don't throw it at the dump. 50:19 You put it on a place of honor. 50:20 It's like what Paul said again. 50:22 You got vessels of honor, vessels of dishonor. 50:24 So he makes this extreme comparison. 50:27 And you're saying, "If you'll obey me I'll protect. 50:29 I'll treat you like a vessel of honor, a treasure." 50:32 Okay that's the first part about smashing the jar. 50:39 And now last section is under the linen belt and someone, 50:43 I think, has got Leviticus 16, okay. 50:46 If you read in Jeremiah 13, Jeremiah 13, 50:49 I'll read verses 1 and 2. 50:51 "Thus says the Lord to me, 'Go and get yourself a linen sash 50:56 and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.' 51:00 So I got a sash according to the Word of the Lord 51:02 and I put it around my waist." 51:05 Now what was this sash to represent? 51:09 You're gonna give us that when you read Leviticus 16. 51:11 So, go ahead, Leviticus 16:4. 51:13 male: "He shall put the holy linen tunic 51:15 and the linen trousers on his body. 51:18 He shall be girded with a linen sash and with a linen turban 51:22 he shall be attired. 51:24 These are holy garments." 51:25 Pastor Doug: So it's pretty clear that the holy garments 51:27 of the priests included a linen sash, and we learned 51:30 in an earlier study that Jeremiah was from 51:33 the family of the priest, right? 51:35 Remember that? 51:37 So he's told to put on--and this is not a normal linen sash. 51:40 It's not a diaper. 51:42 This is not you know, just a piece of white cloth 51:45 that they wrap around. 51:46 It was the kind of piece where it was beautiful. 51:49 It may have had blue in it, which is a sign of loyalty to 51:52 God and it was very spectacular, but then he's told, 51:56 'Don't put it in water." 51:57 In other words don't wash it. 51:59 It was to have all the vivid brightness. 52:01 Wrap it tight, close to your body, but don't wash it, 52:05 and he was to wear it for a while. 52:07 Then he was to go up and then to bury the sash 52:10 by the Euphrates River. 52:11 God told Jeremiah a couple of times to take things 52:14 to the Euphrates. 52:15 Once he was told to take a deed up there. 52:19 Now the Euphrates was the border of Babylon 52:21 where they were going to be carried captive 52:23 and that was a journey that took him a couple of weeks to 52:25 get up there. 52:26 So when God said, "Jeremiah, 52:27 I want you to illustrate something. 52:29 Take a trip to the Euphrates." 52:31 O Lord, really? 52:32 I mean, you know that's a long trip, 52:34 but this is what I want you do. 52:36 So now he takes the sash and he's got to go up to 52:38 the Euphrates River and he buries it in a hole, 52:42 one of the rock up above the river. 52:44 A little crag in the rocks and he buries it there. 52:46 Says, "Okay, go home." 52:47 Okay Lord. 52:48 Says, "After many days." 52:50 It doesn't tell us how long. 52:52 May have been moths. 52:53 May have been a year. 52:55 Says, "Go back." 52:55 It doesn't say a few days, says many days. 52:59 And of course what happens to a piece of cloth that's just 53:01 left out in the elements where there's rain and rot and bugs. 53:05 And he goes back, and he digs it up, and he says, 53:09 "It was ruined and there's nothing I could do." 53:13 It says, "So I went and I hid it at the Euphrates." 53:15 And this is verse 4 to 11, "As the Lord commanded me." 53:18 And it says, "After many days, I went to Euphrates, and I dug, 53:23 and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it, 53:26 and there was the sash ruined. 53:27 It was profitable for nothing." 53:29 You know we say good for nothing? 53:32 "Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, 53:34 'Thus says the Lord, in this manner I will ruin the pride 53:37 of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem 53:40 for as the sash clings to the waist of man, 53:43 he called us to be a nation of priest.'" 53:45 The sash was worn by the priest. 53:48 It's close. 53:49 It's intimate. 53:50 God wanted an intimate relationship with us. 53:52 It was for glory. 53:53 He wanted to be the glory of his people. 53:56 "As a sash clings to the waist of man so I have caused 53:59 the whole house of Israel and the whole house of 54:02 Judah to cling to me,' says the Lord. 54:04 'That they may become my people for reknown, for praise, 54:06 and for glory, but they would not hear.'" 54:10 So basically he says, "I'm going to take you to Babylon 54:12 by the Euphrates and there you'll find out what happens." 54:16 And there would be a great punishment 54:18 that would come upon them. 54:20 You're reading Jeremiah 13:15, "Hear and give ear. 54:22 Do not be proud for the Lord has spoken. 54:26 Give glory to the Lord your God before he causes darkness 54:29 and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains 54:32 and while you're looking for light he turns it 54:34 into the shadow of death and makes dense darkness. 54:37 If you will not hear my soul will reap 54:41 in secret for your pride." 54:42 How does God feel about our pride? 54:44 "My soul will weep,' God says, "Because of your pride. 54:48 My eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, 54:51 because the Lord's flock has been taken captive." 54:53 He says you'll be carried away, you'll be 54:55 humbled for these things. 54:56 So he uses a sash as an illustration. 55:00 Sometimes cloth was used as illustrations and symbols. 55:04 How many of you remember when Solomon had too many wives 55:09 and he started to worship other Gods. 55:12 God sent the prophet, I think his name was Elijah to Jeroboam, 55:15 and what Elijah did was he took a cloth, and he tore it 55:18 into 12 parts, and he gave 10 parts to Jeroboam, 55:22 and he said, two parts will be for Judah. 55:25 So that cloth represented the kingdom of Israel, that robe. 55:29 And then another time when king Saul told Samuel, "Wait." 55:32 He had disobeyed God and he'd not dispatched 55:37 the Amalachites as he was told. 55:39 Samuel was walking away, and Saul reached out to grab Samuel, 55:43 and he grabbed his linen garment, 55:45 and it tore off in his hand. 55:46 A piece of it tore of in his hand, and Saul was desperate, 55:51 and he didn't know his own strength, and for whatever 55:53 reason, and Samuel used it as a symbol. 55:55 He turned back and he said, "Thus the Lord has torn the 55:59 kingdom away from Saul and he will give it 56:02 to your neighbor who is better than you." 56:05 And so, you can see these symbols that are made 56:07 about the cloth as well. 56:09 Well, we've just about run out of time, 56:11 but I think we've covered the bulk of the lesson. 56:13 By the way, I wanna remind our friends that maybe 56:15 not all the time, but most of the time 56:17 what we do is we upload the notes 56:19 and so we've got these notes I've shared and a few extras 56:22 that will be at the Amazing Facts website. 56:24 If you are a teacher and you want to download them 56:26 or just for your personal study we usually have 56:28 the notes that are uploaded there. 56:30 And also, don't forget we do have a free offer, 56:32 and Pastor Ross mentioned to you that everybody 56:35 who would like a copy of "The Prophecy Foundation" DVD. 56:38 It is a DVD. It is not a movie. 56:41 So you need to put it in your computer. 56:43 It has a lot of sermons on it. 56:45 Matter of fact, it's a whole evangelistic meeting. 56:47 It's got all the sermons of an evangelistic meeting. 56:50 The videos are on here. 56:52 The lessons are on here, the resource study books. 56:55 It's a whole evangelistic series that we have 56:57 condensed into one DVD. 56:59 So you get this and you share with people to watch 57:01 and study on their computer. 57:03 People have got it before and say, "Well, I wonder 57:05 what the "Prophecy Foundation" movie is." 57:06 It's not a movie. 57:08 It's a DVD for your computer 57:10 filled with Bible study material. 57:12 You can have it for free. 57:13 It's a great resource for sharing... 57:19 And we'll you a send you a free copy of that. 57:20 God bless you until we study his Word 57:22 together again next week. 57:26 male announcer: For life changing Christian resources 57:28 visit AFBookstore.com or call... 57:36 announcer: Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible study? 57:39 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy 57:41 more truth-filled programming. 57:44 Watch Amazing Facts television by visiting AFTV.org. 57:50 At AFTV.org you can view "Amazing Facts" programming 57:54 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 57:56 right from your computer or mobile device. 57:59 Why wait a week? 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Revised 2015-11-04