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00:12 [music] 00:34 Debbie Thompson Kippel: Welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour," 00:36 coming to you from the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:40 in the Sacramento, California area. 00:42 I want to welcome those of you who are joining us like you 00:45 do every single week, whether you're listening on radio, 00:48 watching--joining us live on our website or on 00:52 the various television networks. 00:54 However you are joining us, you are part of our extended family 00:57 around the world and we're so glad that you're tuning 00:59 in for another program. 01:01 Behind me, you see some lovely gentleman and they are blessing 01:05 us with special music today so I know that you are going 01:08 to want to stay tuned for that. 01:10 But before we sing our favorite songs, I'm gonna tell you about 01:14 our book offer that we have. 01:15 Today, it is, Is It Possible To Live Without Sinning? 01:20 That is the title of the little book written by Joe Crews 01:22 and it is our free offer. 01:24 So, we encourage you, if you have never called in for a--one 01:28 of our free offers, today is a great day to do that. 01:31 Is It Possible To Live Without Sinning? 01:34 At this time, let's pull out our hymnals and sing with us like 01:37 you do everything week. 01:39 We're going to sing one song this morning, "Mine Eyes Have 01:41 Seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord," 647 in your hymnals. 01:45 Join with us. 01:49 [music] 01:57 ♪ Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of ♪ 02:01 ♪ the Lord; he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes ♪ 02:05 ♪ of wrath are stored; he hath loosed the fateful lightning ♪ 02:09 ♪ of his terrible swift sword; his truth is marching on. ♪ 02:17 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 02:21 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 02:25 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 02:29 ♪ His truth is marching on. ♪ 02:34 ♪ He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never ♪ 02:38 ♪ call retreat; he is sifting out the hearts of men before ♪ 02:43 ♪ his judgment seat; O be swift, my soul, to answer ♪ 02:47 ♪ him; be jubilant, my feet! ♪ 02:49 ♪ Our God is marching on. ♪ 02:54 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 02:58 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 03:03 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 03:08 ♪ His truth is marching on. ♪ 03:12 ♪ In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across ♪ 03:16 ♪ the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures ♪ 03:21 ♪ you and me; as he died to make men holy, let us live ♪ 03:26 ♪ to make men free, while God is marching on. ♪ 03:31 Debbie: All together. 03:33 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 03:37 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 03:42 ♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah! ♪ 03:46 ♪ His truth is marching on. ♪ 03:54 Debbie: That is one of those songs that I never like 03:56 it to end. 03:57 I just wish there was ten verses to this song 03:59 and you can just keep going. 04:01 It is such a wonderful song. 04:03 Before Pastor Doug brings us our lesson study, I'm going to let 04:08 Art Garbutt, who is the leader of the Carmichael Men's Chorus 04:13 bring us our special piece. 04:15 He is conducting them and they are singing for us a beautiful 04:19 song that is entitled, "Let it be us." 04:22 Is that correct, Art? 04:24 "Let It Be Said Of Us." 04:25 The Carmichael Men's Chorus. 04:46 [music] 05:05 ♪ Let it be said of us That the Lord was our passion ♪ 05:12 ♪ That with gladness we bore, ♪ 05:16 ♪ Every cross we were given, That we fought the good fight, ♪ 05:24 ♪ That we finished our course, ♪ 05:28 ♪ Knowing within us the power of the risen Lord. ♪ 05:36 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song, ♪ 05:44 ♪ By mercy made holy, By the Spirit made strong. ♪ 05:51 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song, ♪ 05:59 ♪ 'Til the likeness of Jesus Be through us made known. ♪ 06:07 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song. ♪ 06:18 [music] 06:21 ♪ Let it be said of us, We were marked by forgiveness. ♪ 06:29 ♪ We were known by our love And delighted in meekness. ♪ 06:37 ♪ We were ruled by his peace, Heeding unity's call, ♪ 06:44 ♪ Joined as one body That Christ would be seen by all. ♪ 06:52 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song, ♪ 07:00 ♪ By mercy made holy, By the Spirit made strong. ♪ 07:08 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song ♪ 07:15 ♪ 'Til the likeness of Jesus Be through us made known. ♪ 07:23 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, ♪ 07:27 ♪ And the Lord be our song, our song. ♪ 07:34 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song. ♪ 07:41 ♪ By mercy made holy, By the Spirit made strong. ♪ 07:49 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song ♪ 07:56 ♪ 'Til the likeness of Jesus Be through us made known. ♪ 08:04 ♪ Let the cross be our glory, And the Lord be our song. ♪ 08:14 ♪ Let the cross be our glory And the Lord be our song, ♪ 08:26 ♪ our song. ♪ 08:35 Amen. 08:41 Debbie: Thank you so much, 08:42 Carmichael Symphony Adventist Church's 08:44 Men's Chorus. 08:45 That was a beautiful song and a wonderful reminder, 08:49 and I hope that is the prayer of each of us that the cross, 08:53 we will only glory in the cross 'cause that is all that we have. 08:57 Let's bow our heads for prayer at this time. 09:00 Father in heaven, thank you so much for the reminder of what 09:05 these men just sang about. 09:07 Father, we have nothing, we are nothing without you. 09:12 The best things that we could give are filthy rags, but we 09:17 give our hearts today because that is the only thing we can 09:21 give you. 09:23 Father, cleanse them, purify us, and help us to be ready for that 09:28 day when you come in the clouds of glory that we will each be 09:33 there waiting with our families, our loved ones, our friends. 09:38 Thank you so much for the blessed hope that you give us 09:41 as Christians, and we pray that you'll be with us as we open up 09:44 your Word and we study together now, and be with Pastor Doug as 09:48 he brings us our lesson study. 09:50 In Jesus' name, amen. 09:57 At this time, our lesson study is going to be 09:59 brought to us by our senior pastor here at the Granite Bay 10:03 Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pastor Doug Batchelor. 10:09 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Debbie. 10:11 And thank you to the men's chorus, I really enjoyed that. 10:14 I saw a number of old friends in there--well, I didn't mean 10:17 to call them old. 10:18 Long-time friends that were participating in that. 10:21 I want to welcome our friends from our part of the extended 10:24 class that watch from all over the planet, and we're glad 10:27 that you're joining us for our study today. 10:29 If you see in the background here, Granite Bay looks a little 10:32 bit different, it's because we just entered into 10:34 an evangelistic program that began last night that will be 10:38 continuing for a few weeks, and so you'll see the decor's 10:42 a little different to accommodate that event. 10:44 And we would like to remind you, we are continuing in our study 10:49 on the Book of Jeremiah. 10:52 Today, we're in lesson number seven and it's called, 10:55 "The Crisis Continues." 10:57 Lesson seven, "The Crisis Continues." 10:59 The memory verse is Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 24, 11:02 and I always encourage you to say that with me. 11:05 This is from the New King James version, Jeremiah 9:24. 11:09 You ready? 11:11 "'But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and 11:16 knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, 11:21 judgment, and righteousness in the earth. 11:24 For in these I delight,' says the Lord." 11:28 That is a very important and a very powerful verse. 11:31 This study is going to, in particular, be dealing with the 11:35 themes of Jeremiah 9, Jeremiah 10 and is some of Jeremiah 11:40 chapter, most of Jeremiah chapter 26. 11:43 And, of course, we'll be bouncing around through the rest 11:45 of the Word of God 'cause that's the way to understand the Bible, 11:48 here a little and there a little. 11:50 And to begin with, maybe we should start by going to 11:54 Jeremiah chapter 9 and if we read in verse 3--well, I'll 12:00 start reading verse 1 here. 12:03 Jeremiah 9, verse 1, "Oh, that my head were waters, And mine 12:09 eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night 12:13 For the slain of the daughter of my people!" 12:16 Now, Jeremiah is foretelling what is coming and later, he 12:20 does write a book that is full of weeping and it's known, it's 12:23 one of the only major prophets in the Old Testament that really 12:29 writes two books and you have Jeremiah and then lamentations. 12:33 And when someone says they're in lamentations, 12:35 what does that mean? 12:37 It's weeping and crying because Jerusalem had been destroyed. 12:41 They did not listen to his counsel and repent. 12:44 Here he is prophesying in advance because he can see 12:47 what's coming. 12:49 You know, one time Elisha the prophet was talking to 12:54 the King of Syria, Hazael was his name and all of a sudden, 12:58 Elisha began to weep and so much so that Hazael was embarrassed. 13:02 It was very awkward. 13:04 And he said, "Now, why are you weeping so much?" 13:07 And Elisha said, "I'm weeping because I see what you're going 13:09 to do to our people, I see the slaughter. 13:12 I see the men, women, and children you're going to kill. 13:15 Hadn't happened yet, but the prophet saw it and he's weeping 13:19 in advance and so this is part of what's happening here. 13:22 And then look at verse 3, Jeremiah 9, verse 3, 13:26 "And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. 13:30 They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. 13:34 For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me." 13:39 Now, that just came up in our memory verse, 13:41 "They do not know me." 13:43 Is there a connection between the evil and 13:46 not knowing the Lord? 13:49 What does the Lord say is the key to everlasting life? 13:52 In John 17, verse 3, this is one of the greatest statements of 13:56 Jesus' prayer, John 17:3. 13:59 "And this is eternal life that they may know you, 14:03 the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 14:09 Jeremiah 9, verse 6, "'Your dwelling place is in the midst 14:13 of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,' 14:17 says the Lord." 14:19 How important is it to have a knowing relationship with Jesus? 14:23 You've heard people say before, salvation consists on having 14:27 a personal relationship with Jesus. 14:30 What does that mean? 14:32 Here, Jesus talks about those. 14:34 They've gone to church, they've got that, you know, Pharisee. 14:38 He went to church regularly. 14:40 He said, "I pay tithe of all that I have. 14:42 I fast twice a week." 14:43 But he doesn't go to his house justified. 14:45 Here, Jesus talks about those who say, "Lord, Lord." 14:48 And he says, "I don't know you." 14:50 Doesn't that make you a little edgy sometimes to think, "You 14:53 know, I can be going through all of the outward trappings 14:56 of the Christian religion and not have a knowing, 14:59 saving relationship with the Lord," and this is crucial. 15:02 Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for," 15:06 what's the rest of it? 15:07 "Lack of knowledge." 15:09 He goes on in that verse and says, "Because you've rejected 15:12 knowledge." 15:13 It's not just they don't know, they had an opportunity 15:16 to know and they refused it, they rejected it. 15:19 "Because you've rejected knowledge, I'll also reject you 15:21 from being a priest for me. 15:23 Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget 15:27 your children." 15:29 Are there a lot of professed Christians in various churches 15:32 around the world that say, "Oh, we love the Lord," but they've 15:34 deliberately plugged their ears to at least part of his law? 15:38 And the Lord says, "They've forgotten my law, therefore 15:41 I'll forget your children. 15:42 I don't know you. 15:44 My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge." 15:45 Knowing the Lord is the sum total of eternal life. 15:50 We need to have that personal relationship. 15:52 What does it say about Enoch? 15:54 He walked with God. 15:57 You know, who else does it say that about? 15:59 Noah. 16:02 It says Noah walked with the Lord, not only he found grace 16:05 in the Lord, it says Noah walked with the Lord. 16:06 This is what it means, I think, to have a knowing 16:09 relation--Karen calls me and sometimes she'll say, "Hi." 16:14 That's all I need. 16:16 I don't need anymore information, I know who it is 16:18 because we communicate so much, I know her. 16:21 I know the voice. 16:23 And the boys, same thing. 16:27 You hear them, even though their voices are very similar, 16:30 you know who they are. 16:33 How did Abraham know who it was that was saying, "Take your son, 16:36 your only son and offer him"? 16:39 I mean what would you do if someone out of the blue you hear 16:41 a voice that says, "Go offer your child?" 16:43 How could he follow that voice except he knew the Lord? 16:46 He knew who was on the other end of the phone. 16:49 Do we have a relationship where we walk with God 16:52 and we know God? 16:54 Are we in regular communion with him? 16:56 How do you fall in love with somebody? 16:59 You need to know them first and you know them 17:02 through communication. 17:04 I know we've all heard beautiful, romantic stories of 17:07 love at first sight, and I'm sure that sometimes the Lord 17:09 will reveal a person at first sight. 17:11 This is the person. 17:12 Bible says that Jacob saw Rachel and he wept and kissed her, and 17:15 the first time he ever saw her. 17:18 It says that, "Isaac saw Rebekah and he took her to his mother's 17:23 tent and she became his wife," 17:25 and that was a very short courtship. 17:27 That's what it says. 17:29 But generally before marriage, you talk to them, 17:34 they talk to you. 17:36 There's communication and through communication, you get 17:38 to know who the person is and you fall in love with them. 17:41 There's a statement in the book, "Desire of Ages," I don't 17:44 remember the page, I just remember the statement and it 17:46 says, "To know God is to love him." 17:51 So, is it easier to obey God if you love him? 17:55 Is it easier to deny yourself and take up your cross 17:58 if you love him? 18:00 Isn't everything much easier. 18:02 Matter of fact, isn't it drudgery to try to be a 18:05 Christian if you don't love him? 18:07 So, the key is loving him. 18:09 And where does that happen? 18:11 From knowing him? 18:12 How does that happen? Communication. 18:15 It all comes down to he talks to you, 18:17 principally through his Word. 18:19 So, are you in the Word? 18:21 And you talk to him through prayer. 18:24 If you're in daily conversation with the Lord, you will get to 18:29 know him and to know him is to love him and loving him 18:33 is what makes the Christian life delight. 18:35 So, I can never emphasize that enough. 18:37 So, he said, "My people are turned to wickedness 'cause they 18:40 don't know me." 18:41 That was the message of Jeremiah. 18:43 All right, and then he talks also about a judgment in chapter 18:47 9, and you can read for instance in Jeremiah 9 verse 10, 18:53 I'm gonna read through verse 13 here. 18:56 "And I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountain, 19:00 And for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation, 19:03 Because they're burned up, So that no one can pass through; 19:07 Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle." 19:10 The land, you know, usually off in a distance they could hear 19:12 the brain of donkeys or the lowing of the oxen, something. 19:15 "Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; 19:18 They are gone. 19:20 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. 19:23 I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. 19:27 Woe is the wise man--" I'm sorry. 19:30 "Who is the wise man who understand this? 19:33 And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, 19:36 that he may declare it? 19:38 Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, 19:41 so that no one can pass through? 19:44 And the Lord says," why has all this happened? 19:47 "Because they have forsaken My law that I set before them, and 19:51 they have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it." 19:55 Now, did this just happen to Israel, or is this the ultimate 19:59 outcome of any nation that casts aside the law of God? 20:03 It's just a rule of life of cause and effect. 20:08 It happens in your life with the various elements of 20:12 the laws of nature that you set aside. 20:14 There are consequences that you will pay 20:16 and it also happens for a nation. 20:19 When it casts aside the law of God, 20:21 it says it over and over again. 20:23 Was it only Israel that experienced judgments for 20:25 their disobedience or did surrounding nations also 20:29 experience the judgments of God for their sin? 20:32 That's right, you can see that many times and God names 20:35 the different nations in the prophecies. 20:37 You wonder does this say anything to our country? 20:44 Now, Jeremiah is looking ahead and he is seen in vision 20:47 what's gonna happen to Israel. 20:49 Remember the context of what's going on. 20:50 They've been conquered by the Egyptians, 20:53 that's how killed King Josiah or Shishak, king of Egypt. 20:58 And then the Egyptians, they were under tribute 21:01 to the Egyptians, but then the Babylonians conquered 21:03 the Egyptians and they basically said, "We're gonna take over 21:05 Israel as our tribute." 21:07 And they served for a little while and then they rebelled. 21:09 The king came in, dethroned one of those sons, 21:12 took the other into captivity. 21:15 They agreed, "Okay, we'll be your subjects again," 21:17 and now they're thinking about rebelling again. 21:19 Jeremiah's saying to King Zedekiah, "God, if you'll serve 21:23 the king of Babylon, if you'll humble yourselves and obey me, 21:26 you'll get to continue existing. 21:28 Your temple will continue. I'll bless you. 21:30 But if you rebel again after you vowed in the name of the Lord 21:34 to serve, you're gonna be carried away captive. 21:37 The city will be destroyed. 21:38 The temple will be destroyed. 21:39 There'll be no one left." 21:41 And he's describing this woeful judgment. 21:43 What happened to Israel during the Babylonian destruction is 21:49 a precursor of what happens to the world 21:52 after the coming of Christ. 21:54 When they were carried off to Babylon and the land was 21:58 desolate, the Bible says, the land was desolate and it rested 22:01 and kept Sabbath for 70 years, 22:03 that's what's happening to the world. 22:05 After Jesus comes, we're carried off to the golden city, 22:09 the world for 1,000 years is desolate during the millennium. 22:13 Isn't that right? 22:14 It says, there is no man. 22:16 Listen to what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 4:23. 22:19 Of course, this is our theme, Jeremiah. 22:21 "I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void." 22:24 If you stop right there, what does that sound like 22:27 he's talking about? 22:28 When you say, "without form and void," doesn't that sound like 22:31 the creation? 22:33 But you keep reading, you realize he's not going back, 22:35 he's looking forward. 22:37 "I beheld the earth, and it was without form, and void; 22:41 And the heavens, had no light. 22:43 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, 22:46 And all the hills moved back and forth." 22:48 It's like there's this quaking. 22:50 "I beheld indeed there was no man. 22:53 Well, that would seem normal if it's before creation. 22:56 But it says, "And all the birds of the heaven were fled." 22:58 They were there, but they're gone. 23:00 "I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, 23:03 And all its cities were broken down." 23:04 He's not looking back, he's looking ahead to a terrible 23:09 judgment that is gonna completely depopulate the land. 23:13 Isaiah talking about this, he says, "I beheld and the land 23:17 was utterly empty." 23:19 Matter of fact, Isaiah says, "The earth was utterly empty" 23:22 'cause Isaiah's talking about the millennial time. 23:26 It says, "There was no man 23:27 And all the birds heavens were fled. 23:29 I beheld, the fruitful places of the wilderness, all its cities 23:31 were broken down." 23:33 Now, what caused this? 23:34 Is it the coming of Nebuchadnezzar? 23:37 No, it says, "At the presence of the Lord, By His fierce anger. 23:41 For thus says the Lord: 'The whole land shall be desolate; 23:46 Yet I will not make a full end.'" 23:49 They were gonna be carried off to Babylon, but he was not gonna 23:52 make a full end. 23:53 They would come back again. 23:55 "The world would be destroyed by the coming of the Lord, but 23:57 I'll not make a full end because I will make a new heavens 23:59 and a new earth." 24:01 So, what happens to Israel? 24:03 The terrible destruction, the depopulation? 24:05 There were two group, one group was slain by Nebuchadnezzar, 24:09 the other group, they were spared and they were taken off 24:11 to that golden kingdom. 24:13 Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was called the head of gold, right? 24:15 When Jesus comes, some are slain, some are shown mercy 24:19 and they're taking back to his golden kingdom. 24:22 I know that's a crude illustration, 24:23 but you get the point. 24:24 That's what's gonna happen. 24:26 So, Jeremiah's looking ahead. 24:27 He's foretelling this. 24:29 And then someone's got, I think Isaiah 63:9, Hophtees, 24:33 why don't you cue up to read that right away. 24:35 And so, you can look here in Judges 10:16. 24:38 I'll give you one more verse on this theme. 24:41 Judges 10:16, when they realized that there was a judgment 24:46 coming, if they repented, he would postpone it. 24:50 You know people say, "Well, Jonah wasn't really a prophet 24:53 because, you know, God said that he was gonna destroy Nineveh, 24:58 but he didn't destroy it." 25:00 Well God said, "Look, if you repent, I'll show mercy." 25:04 Judges 10:16, "So they put away the foreign gods from among them 25:06 and served the Lord. 25:08 And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel." 25:11 When God saw the oppression of Israel and they humbled 25:15 themselves, he said, "Look, I can't take it anymore." 25:18 Any of you parents, you ever tell your kids, "You do that one 25:21 more time," and you say something rash? 25:24 "You're, you know, in the corner for 6 hours," or whatever it is. 25:28 "In your room the rest of t day. 25:30 No dinner forever." 25:32 Any of you kind of you make a rash--and then they do it again 25:36 and you say, "Okay, to your room," and after an hour goes 25:40 by, you hear them whimpering on in there and no, no. 25:44 All right, come on now. 25:46 Isn't a parent like that? 25:48 You show them mercy? 25:50 Well God, that's how it was. 25:51 You know, he let these judgments come and he'd listen to 25:53 their cry and then his heart would be moved. 25:56 Go ahead and read Isaiah 63:9. 25:58 female: In all their affliction He was afflicted, And 26:02 the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His 26:08 pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them 26:13 All the days of old." 26:15 Doug: That's such an important verse to remember. 26:18 In all of their affliction, why were they afflicted? 26:21 Because they misbehaved. 26:23 He withdrew their protection. 26:24 In all of their affliction, he was afflicted. 26:27 So, if you are experiencing some chastising from God, or some 26:32 judgment from God, or you're going through some trial 26:35 and it may just be a trial. 26:37 It may not be because you've done anything wrong. 26:39 You might be suffering like Job, just because it's a trial 26:41 where you can witness. 26:43 Who is afflicted in your affliction? 26:45 Does the Lord feel it? 26:47 And, you know, we have politicians that tell us they 26:50 feel our pain and some may, but you doubt it usually, right? 26:56 But when God says--do any of you ever have your parents say, all 27:00 right, they take their belt off, they say, "This is gonna hurt me 27:03 more than it hurts you." 27:05 Anyone ever hear that before? 27:08 But God he says, "I am afflicted." 27:12 But isn't the Lord aware of everything? 27:14 He said, "I am afflicted in your affliction." 27:16 So, it hurts him. 27:17 Well, you know what that tells us? 27:19 He allows it because he loves us. Amen? 27:21 All right, next section, creature or creator, and we're 27:24 gonna jump to Jeremiah chapter 10 and we're gonna be looking 27:27 at verses 1 through 15. 27:29 So, if you have your Bibles out, I may just start reading 27:31 a little bit of this. 27:35 And, "Hear the Word of the Lord," Jeremiah 10:1, 27:38 "which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 27:41 Thus says the Lord: 'Do not learn the way of 27:44 the Gentiles--'" I'm gonna stop right there. 27:48 "Do not hear the way of the Gentiles," what was the concern 27:51 that the Lord had when he brought the children of Israel 27:54 into the Promised Land? 27:56 They were surrounded by other nations. 27:59 For one thing he was concerned, "I've told you not to allow any 28:02 of the inhabiting nations to stay. 28:05 Their options are to get out or die. 28:09 You're not to make any covenants with them. 28:12 I don't want you intermarrying with them." 28:16 But there would be other nations around. 28:19 Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. 28:21 Now keep in mind, for 40 years, they had been like an idol 28:24 in the wilderness. 28:26 God was able to really teach them and purify them. 28:28 There weren't too many outside influences, maybe some caravans 28:31 that came and went, but they really had God's a hundred 28:34 percent attention. 28:35 They weren't being influenced by other nations at that point, but 28:39 now when they moved into the Promised Land, this was a land 28:41 that was coveted. 28:42 There was gonna be a lot of other people. 28:44 "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles." 28:46 Leviticus 18:3, "You shall not do as they do in the land 28:51 of Egypt where you lived. 28:53 You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan to which 28:55 I am bringing you. 28:57 You will not walk in their statutes. 28:59 You will follow my rules and keep my statutes 29:01 and walk in them. 29:03 I am the Lord your God." 29:05 Now, what does that say to the church today? 29:07 Do not learn their ways, who's he talking about? 29:10 Is God worried about us taking up the ways of the Philistines, 29:13 or are we surrounded by a different kind of Philistines? 29:16 And is there a temptation to turn on the TV and surf 29:21 the channels and start learning the ways of the world? 29:27 And little by little, as we read the literature of the world 29:30 and are entertained with the entertainment of the world, 29:32 we start learning the way of the Gentiles and it starts affecting 29:35 our thinking. 29:37 God said, "Look, you're to be a holy people to me." 29:39 Amen? 29:41 He tells us, 2 Corinthians 6:17 and 18: "Therefore Come out 29:46 from among them And be separate, says the Lord. 29:48 Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. 29:50 I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and 29:54 daughters, Says the Lord." 29:55 Now, I better pause here. 29:57 That's the next verse I want to jump into. 29:59 It says don't learn their ways. 30:00 What did Jesus tell the disciples? 30:02 They had a real challenge. 30:04 He said, "You're to be in the world but not of the world. 30:07 I want you to reach the lost, you influence them, 30:11 do not let them influence you. 30:13 Yes, they will call you extreme. 30:15 They will call you kooky. 30:16 They will call you all kinds of things, but it doesn't matter 30:20 what they call you. 30:21 Woe unto you if they speak well of you because so they did of 30:24 the false prophets. 30:26 Don't learn their ways." 30:27 Well, that's what had happened to Israel. 30:29 They had take on the gods and the ways of the pagan nations. 30:32 And then the other part of it says, I'm still in Jeremiah 10. 30:35 He said, "Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, 30:39 For the Gentiles are dismayed at them." 30:41 Now, when he says, "the signs of heaven," 30:43 that means a couple of things. 30:45 First of all, don't be worshiping the sun, the moon, 30:48 and the stars, and I think somebody has the next verse. 30:51 You're gonna read Deuteronomy 4:19. 30:53 You have that, okay, Dick. 30:55 We'll get ready for that. 30:56 Let me look here in Deuteronomy 17. 30:59 "If there is found--" And this is verse 2 and 3, Deuteronomy 31:02 17:2 and 3, "If there is found among you, within any of your 31:05 towns that the Lord your God has given you, a man or a woman that 31:09 does what is evil in the sight of the Lord, in transgressing 31:12 His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped 31:14 them, or the sun or the moon or the hosts of heaven," 31:22 or Pisces, or Aquarius, or Virgo, or what's your sign? 31:28 Now, there's nothing wrong with astronomy. 31:32 Someone e-mailed me something last night that I thought 31:35 I could look at on Sabbath. 31:37 NASA and their confederates have just put together the most 31:43 extensive app for looking into all the known heavens and going 31:48 as deep as you can. 31:50 And it's a program, you've got a good resolution on your screen, 31:53 it's amazing. 31:54 You can look at all the sky that they photograph 31:56 and you just click your mouse and it will keep 31:59 zooming in further and further, and it's like 32:01 you're going through space except this isn't, 32:03 you know, some "Star Wars" effects. 32:04 These are the actual stars and it's amazing how deep it is. 32:07 And I think God wants us to study the heavens, but he 32:11 doesn't want us to worship them or make a religion out of it 32:15 as the pagans did. 32:17 We're not to worship the sun, we're not to worship the moon, 32:19 we're not to worship the stars. 32:21 Go ahead and read for us Deuteronomy 4:19. 32:24 Dick: And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and 32:27 when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of 32:30 heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, 32:33 which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under 32:37 the whole heaven as a heritage." 32:40 Doug: You know, you can sort of understand, you realize that 32:44 most energy and life in the world comes from photosynthesis, 32:47 and they've discovered a few rare exceptions at the bottom of 32:50 the ocean but even they argue that photosynthesis creates 32:55 the marine snow that goes down and feeds the creatures that 32:58 live in the dark part of the ocean, ultimately 33:01 it all seems to come from light. 33:03 The coal in the world came from light, all of the energy comes 33:07 from light, photosynthesis. 33:10 And the ancients sort of put two and two together and they said, 33:12 "If everything comes from the sun, it is our God." 33:16 And haven't you seen the moon on a beautiful night reflecting 33:19 the light of the sun? 33:20 They realized the moon reflected the light of the sun. 33:22 And so, it was like the bride and so they had the man, god of 33:26 the sun and the woman, god of the moon. 33:29 And the stars were the children and so many pagan nations had 33:33 variations of that. 33:35 God said, "Do not worship the creation. 33:38 If you think the sun is really something, worship the one 33:40 who made the sun." 33:42 God, remember, he said, "Let there be light," before he even 33:46 made the sun. 33:47 It wasn't 'til the fourth d the sun was made. 33:49 He said, "I made the sun." 33:51 And so, he said, "Do not--" Well, what were they doing in 33:54 Israel in the day of Jeremiah? 33:56 Like the pagans around them, they were worshiping the sun, 33:58 and the moon, and the stars, and the different gods of the suns. 34:03 Do Christians even fall into that a little bit today? 34:09 Where does Sunday worship come from? 34:12 Some may not realize it but you really trace it back and it 34:15 started with taking, adopting the Roman day of worship 34:19 which was to worship the sun, Helios, Apollo, 34:23 and it sort of gravitated. 34:26 It displaced and eclipsed the biblical seventh day. 34:29 And then Jeremiah 10:18, but it says, 34:34 "They altogether are dull-hearted and foolish." 34:38 And this is again, Jeremiah 10. 34:41 "A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. 34:45 Silver beaten into plates; And they brought it from Tarshish, 34:49 And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman And the hands 34:53 of the metalsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; 34:56 They are all the work of skillful men." 34:58 Now, this is, I read that part first because if you look in 35:01 Jeremiah 10, and you go to verse 3, I left this out on purpose. 35:05 Some of you have heard this verse before and misapplied. 35:09 Jeremiah 10, verse 3, "For the customs of the peoples 35:12 are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, 35:15 The work of the hands of the workman, 35:17 the workman with the ax. 35:18 They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it 35:20 with nails and hammers So that it does not topple. 35:23 They are upright, like a palm tree, They cannot speak; They 35:27 must be carried, Because they cannot go--" Now, how many of 35:30 you have heard that applied before to a holiday? 35:34 Have any of you ever heard someone read that and talk 35:37 about Christmas trees? 35:40 I make sure I'm not the only one. 35:41 Maybe it's 'cause of what we do, but I have people ask that 35:44 question on the radio. 35:45 They send it to us and say, "Christmas trees are from the 35:47 devil because it says in Jeremiah 10 they cut a tree, 35:52 they decorate it, they pray to it." 35:55 And I say, "No, that's not what it's saying 'cause if you keep 35:59 reading that verse it says it is a wooden idol." 36:02 They're talking about idolatry, the way they made their idols, 36:06 most of them were not made out of pure gold, or pure bronze, 36:09 or pure silver. 36:10 They cut a piece of wood down, they chisel with the wood and 36:13 make their idol, then they plate it with gold and silver. 36:16 And basically he says, you're praying to the stock of a tree, 36:20 it had nothing to do with Christmas trees. 36:23 Now, that's a whole different subject about where all that 36:25 comes from, but this verse is not talking about 36:28 Christmas trees. 36:29 This verse was talking about idolatry, and I think it was 36:32 Isaiah that says, "They have eyes but they see not. 36:36 And they have ears, but they hear not. 36:38 And they have mouths--" It's not talking about a Christmas tree, 36:40 talking about their idols. 36:42 And then he says, "They cut a block of wood and at a part 36:45 of the wood, they make a god and whatever is left over when 36:48 they're done carving their god, they use to cook dinner." 36:51 And they say, "Part of it, you're our god, the other part 36:54 they cook their dinner," and he sort of makes fun of 36:56 what the customs of the people. 36:58 He says they're vain. 37:00 It's a workman with an ax. 37:02 "They decorate it with silver and gold and fasten it 37:05 with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. 37:07 They are upright, like a palm, They cannot speak; They must be 37:10 carried, Because they cannot go, they can't even walk. 37:13 Do not be afraid of them, the cannot do evil, 37:16 they cannot do good. 37:17 Inasmuch as is like You, O Lord God (You are great, and Your 37:22 name is great in might), Who would not fear You, O King of 37:26 the nations? 37:28 For this is Your rightful due. 37:30 For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their 37:32 kingdoms, There is none like You. 37:34 But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; 37:37 A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. 37:40 Silver is beaten into plates; It is brought from Tarshish, 37:43 And gold from Uphaz." 37:44 Tarshish was the farthest place and, you know, they're still 37:48 looking for the silver mines in Spain that the Bible 37:51 talks about. 37:53 Blue and purple are their clothing. 37:55 He used to dress them up. 37:57 Any of you ever seen some of these holidays and some of them 37:59 maybe Spanish or Mexican towns where they're carrying idols up 38:03 the street and everyone follows? 38:06 They did this in Bible time. 38:08 During the feast, they'd carry these silver, it was wood plated 38:11 with silver and they'd carry them around. 38:13 They'd pray to him, throw flowers at them, 38:14 and burn incense before them. 38:16 It says, "But the Lord God," verse 10, "is the true God. 38:20 He is the living God, the everlasting King. 38:23 His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will 38:27 not be able to endure His indignation. 38:31 Thus you shall say to them: 'The gods that have not made 38:35 the heavens and the earth shall perish." 38:37 Now, we just talked about don't worship, the sun, the moon, and 38:40 the stars. 38:41 And here he says, "The gods that did not make 38:43 the heavens and the earth will perish 38:45 from the earth and from under these heavens." 38:50 You remember when Jonah was on his boat and finally they 38:55 cast lots and they found out the storm was from Jonah? 38:57 They said, "Tell us about who you are." 38:59 And he said, "Well, I was worship the God that made 39:01 the heaven, and the earth, and the sea." 39:03 He said, "I worship the god that made everything your gods are 39:06 made out of, and that's what basically god is saying here. 39:10 Instead of worshiping the sun, and the moon, and the stars, 39:12 this is the God that made those things. 39:14 He's emphasizing that. 39:15 All right, let's go to a call to repentance, Jeremiah 26, 39:18 Jeremiah 26:1 to 6, and I'll read this very quickly and then 39:23 we'll talk about that theme. 39:25 And someone down here has a verse for us, 1 Kings 8:34. 39:28 Jeremiah 26, "In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim 39:33 the son of Josiah, the king of Judah--" Josiah was a good king. 39:36 Jehoiakim, not so good. 39:39 "King of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, 'Thus 39:42 says the Lord: 'Stand in the court of the Lord's house, 39:46 and speak to all the cities of Judah, which have come to 39:49 worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command you to 39:52 speak to them. 39:53 Do not diminish a word. 39:55 Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that 39:58 I might relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to 40:02 bring against them because of their evil doings.'" 40:04 Hear what the Lord is saying? 40:06 "Perhaps they'll relent. 40:08 Perhaps they'll repent and I can relent if they will 40:12 humble themselves, I don't want to do it." 40:14 Why hasn't the Lord come yet? 40:20 Because 2 Peter chapter 3, "The Lord is longsuffering 40:23 to us who are not willing that any should perish." 40:27 He is postponing that last judgment. 40:29 Now, sometimes a person might get, you know, they might get 40:35 10 years, they might get 5 years they might get 20 years for 40:39 their crimes but there's still a glimmer of hope that there'll be 40:41 life after prison. 40:44 But when you get the death penalty, it's not much hope and 40:49 the Lord is saying, "You know, there's still hope, and I want 40:53 to give as much opportunity for as long as I can because of 40:58 the evil of their doings." 41:01 Verse 4, Jeremiah 26:4, "And you will say to them, 'Thus says the 41:04 Lord: If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law that 41:08 I have set before you, to heed the words of My servants the 41:11 prophets whom I sent to you, both rising early and sending 41:14 them (but you have not listened), then I'll make this 41:16 house like Shiloh, and I'll make this city a curse to the nations 41:20 of the earth." 41:22 What happened to Shiloh, who remembers? 41:24 You remember Eli? 41:28 Hophni and Phinehas? 41:31 And they were the priests of the Lord, but they turned from 41:35 the law of the Lord and they sinned and they thought, 41:37 "Oh, but we've got the temple." That's Shiloh. 41:39 Temple didn't used to mean Jerusalem, it was at Shiloh. 41:41 "We've got the temple. We've got the ark. 41:42 We can fight the Philistines. 41:44 We'll just carry the ark in the battle 'cause God is with us." 41:47 But the sons of Eli were committing adultery, they were 41:49 robbing the people, they were evil, they were taking bribes. 41:53 But they thought, "We're God's people. 41:56 We've got the ark. 41:57 We've got the--I am a fifth generation Jew." 42:00 That's what they were saying. 42:02 Did that make any difference? 42:03 They went into battle with the Philistines and thought, 42:06 "We'll just take the ark with us as a good luck charm." 42:08 And the ark was captured, the men were slaughtered, 42:12 the Philistines took Shiloh and he said, "Look, don't say, 42:18 you know, we got the temple here and we're God's people. 42:21 We're untouchable." 42:22 God said, "I'll withdraw my protection." 42:25 That's a lesson for us as a church, it's a lesson for us as 42:28 a country that when we repudiate the reasons that God has been 42:34 blessing, then we're gonna be exposed like everyone else. 42:36 All right, and he said, "So repent." 42:39 Go ahead, read for us please 1 Kings 8:34. 42:43 Karen: "Then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your 42:46 people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave 42:49 to their fathers." 42:51 Doug: "If they were carried away because of their 42:54 disobedience and they prayed towards that place," Solomon 42:57 said, "then hear from heaven, forgive." 43:00 If they repented, he'd bring them back. 43:02 Jeremiah, in his prophecies, not only talks about judgment that 43:05 isn't coming yet, Jeremiah looks beyond the judgment and he says, 43:09 "And when the judgment comes, if you'll turn to the Lord, those 43:12 of you who survive, if you'll turn to the Lord from the place 43:15 where you're carried captive and pray, they'll forgive you 43:18 and bring you back." 43:20 That goes all the way back to the days of Solomon. 43:22 Lack at the dedication prayer of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 43:25 chapter 6, verse 37 through 39. 43:28 This is one of the greatest prayers in the Bible. 43:30 By the way, it's one of the longest prayers in the Bible, 43:33 and it's still not as long as some prayers we pray in church, 43:36 but it is quite a prayer. 43:39 2 Chronicles 6, verse 37, "And when they come to 43:43 themselves in the land where you carried them captive--" 43:47 Notice those term, "when they come to themselves." 43:49 Where do you find that in the New Testament? 43:52 Prodigal son in a far country because of his sin 43:55 came to himself. 43:58 What does that sound like? 44:00 Sounds like you're crazy a you've come to your senses, 44:01 right? 44:03 "Yet when they come to themselves in the land where 44:05 they were carried captive, and they repent, and they make 44:08 supplication, they pray to You in that land of their 44:12 captivity," Solomon's looking way down the line. 44:15 "And they say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have 44:17 committed wickedness.'" 44:18 They humble themselves, they confess, they repent. 44:20 "And when they return to You with all their heart and with 44:23 all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they've 44:26 been carried captive, and pray towards their land--" Now, if 44:30 that's us praying towards Christ and heaven where we want to go. 44:33 "Which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have 44:36 chosen, and toward the temple that I have built for Your name: 44:38 Then hear from heaven." 44:40 Pray towards the temple. 44:42 When Daniel was in Babylon, did he pray towards the temple? 44:47 Was the temple there anymore? 44:50 It was destroyed. 44:51 It was rubble, but he remembered what Solomon said 'cause Daniel 44:54 read the Bible, it says so. 44:56 And it says, "Pray towards this place," Daniel opened his 44:59 window, he prayed towards that place. 45:00 He did exactly what it said. 45:02 People probably thought he was a fanatic. 45:04 Some of his countrymen said, "Daniel, 45:06 the temple's not even there. 45:07 Why are you praying towards that place?" 45:09 He says, "'Cause God told me to.'" 45:11 They prayed towards this place in the, city which You have 45:14 chosen, and toward the temple that I built for Your name: Then 45:16 hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer, their 45:20 supplications, maintain their cause, forgive Your people who 45:23 have sinned against You." 45:25 And then, Karen just read the verse, "Bring them back to the 45:28 land that I have given them." 45:31 So, this was all about coming to their senses in repentance. 45:34 Ezekiel 14:6, "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says 45:38 the Lord God: Repent, turn away from your idols, 45:44 and turn your faces away from all your abominations.'" 45:47 What does repentance mean? 45:50 A sorrow for sin in turning away from it. 45:54 What were the first words of John the Baptist as he prepared 45:56 for Jesus' first coming? 45:58 Repent, first word, "Repent 46:01 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 46:03 Then when Jesus came and he began his ministry, what were 46:06 the first words of Jesus? 46:08 "Repent," same thing, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 46:11 And how many sermons have you heard lately on repentance? 46:15 Why? 46:18 It's because we don't need to repent anymore, nothing to 46:20 repent of, or is it not--who likes to be told to repent? 46:26 Well, that gets you re-elected to tell people to repent. 46:30 That's an unpopular message. 46:32 What did it do for John t Baptist? 46:33 Prison. 46:35 What'd it do for Jesus? Crucifixion? 46:37 How about Jeremiah? Banishment. 46:40 Isaiah? Execution. 46:42 Is repentance a popular message? 46:45 How did most of the apostles, their message was, as they went 46:50 when they said to Peter, "What do we do, men and brethren?" 46:53 He said, "Repent." 46:55 A lot of converts but Peter was crucified upside down. 46:58 It's not a popular message. 46:59 Not hearing a lot these days within the church about the 47:03 importance of repentance and turning back to God and living 47:06 Christ-like lives, I'd said enough. 47:09 Okay, go ahead read for us, what is it? 47:11 Acts 17:30? 47:13 Karen: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, 47:16 but now commands all men everywhere to repent." 47:19 Doug: God winked or he overlooked the times of 47:22 ignorance, but now he commands everyone to repent because he 47:25 says, "Christ has come." 47:27 He's speaking to the First Coming. 47:29 Here we are on the borders of the Second Coming. 47:31 Do we need to hear a message of repentance? 47:36 Do you think, do you see honestly in your heart, in the 47:42 last two generations within our church and our country, do you 47:47 see people are getting holier and drawing closer to God, 47:50 or do you think that generally speaking, Christians are 47:54 becoming more like the world and drifting from God? 47:59 So, do we need to hear a message of repentance now more or less? 48:05 If we're gonna have a rival, people talk a lot about revival, 48:10 but they don't talk about the prerequisites to revival. 48:13 It's to talk about sin and sometimes be specific. 48:19 Jesus revealed to the Samaritan woman that he was the Messiah 48:22 and there was a great revival and many Samaritans accepted 48:24 the Lord. You know what he said first? 48:26 "Go call your husband." 48:28 That's pretty personal. 48:30 Why did he say that? 48:32 She had a major sin in her life. 48:33 He said, "Yeah, the guy you're living with, 48:35 you're not married to." Oops. 48:37 How would you like to have Jesus point that out? 48:39 He had to address something specific in her life, and 48:43 there's a lot of specific sins I think that need addressing in 48:48 the church before there's gonna be revival and people are gonna 48:50 change, they have to repent, that means turning, 48:54 not just hearing about it, but turning from their sins. 48:56 All right, next section, I think it's the last section here is 48:59 the call for death. 49:03 So, they didn't like what Jeremiah was saying. 49:05 "And when the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up 49:09 from the king's house to the house of the Lord and sat down 49:13 in the entry of the Gate of the Lord's house. 49:16 And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and 49:18 all the people, saying, 'This man deserves to die! 49:21 For he has prophesied against this city, and have heard 49:27 with your ears.'" 49:28 He is, "You know, we're getting ready to fight against 49:30 the Babylonians and he's dis-enheartening everybody." 49:32 Who's next here? 49:34 Emily, are you gonna read this next verse? 49:36 Get ready for Acts--no rather, Jeremiah 38, verse 4, 49:40 if you would. 49:42 It's dis-enheartening everybody. 49:44 What did they say about Amos and his prophecy. 49:48 Amos 7, verse 10, "Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to 49:51 Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, 'Amos has conspired against you 49:55 in the midst of the house of Israel. 49:58 The land is not able to bear all his words." 50:00 Amos was prophesying about their sin and they're saying, 50:03 "Haven't you heard? 50:04 He's got the audacity--" What did King Ahab say to a Elijah 50:08 when he saw him at the end of 3-1/2 years of famine? 50:11 "Are you he, O troubler of Israel? 50:15 Your prophecies caused all these problems." 50:18 And what did Elijah say? 50:21 "No, you are the troubler of Israel, you and your sins and 50:24 Jezebel's sins," and kind of threw it right back at him. 50:26 Alright, go ahead, read that for us please. 50:30 Emily: "Therefore the princes said unto their king, please, 50:33 let this man be put to death: for thus he weakens the hands of 50:37 the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all 50:41 the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man 50:45 seeketh not the welfare of--" I'm so sorry. 50:49 "For this man seeks not the welfare of this people, 50:53 but the hurt." 50:55 Doug: Now, you can understand why that would not be popular. 50:58 It wouldn't be popular today. 51:00 If you've got an army and a nation getting ready to go war 51:03 against the people who have put them under tribute, 51:08 you'd be called patriots. 51:12 You're getting ready to lay your lives on the line to free your 51:14 country from and oppressing power and then along comes a 51:18 prophet and said, "Don't fight against them. 51:20 You're being oppressed because of your sin, submit." 51:22 Would that be popular? 51:25 How many here remember the story in the Bible where King 51:27 Jehoshaphat and King Ahab were considering going to battle 51:33 against the kingdom of Syria to retake the city of Ramoth-Gilead 51:37 that used to be part of Israel and had been taken by 51:39 the Syrians? 51:41 And King Jehoshaphat said, "Ahab, my horses are like your 51:45 horses, my men like your men. 51:46 We'll work together in this battle to reclaim that land 51:48 that used to belong to us." 51:50 The Syrians took it, "But let's consult the Lord. 51:54 We should really get God's word on this." 51:57 Ahab said, "No problem. 51:58 I got a lot of prophets." 52:00 So, he brought all the prophets of Baal out, hundreds of them. 52:02 Said, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead and fight or not?" 52:06 And all the prophets said, "Go up and prosper," and they had a 52:09 big cheerleading meeting, and they carried on and they blew 52:13 the horns, they beat the drum. 52:15 They had a mascot and one guy put on horns and he said, "With 52:18 these iron horns, you will push the Syrians 'til you push them 52:21 out of the land." 52:23 And it was looking really good and everyone's going, 52:25 "Rah, rah, rah, fight, fight, fight, fight." 52:26 And Jehoshaphat, he's looking around and he sees from their 52:30 clothing and their behavior, these are not prophets of 52:32 Jehovah, these are Baal prophets. 52:35 And he says to Ahab, he says, "Do you have any prophets of 52:37 Jehovah here we can talk to?" 52:39 Ahab goes, "Yeah, we got one guy but he's sort of a downer, 52:45 Micaiah, you know, he never says anything good about me." 52:50 He says, "Let's give him a chance." 52:52 So Micaiah is brought and as Micaiah's being brought, the 52:55 servant from Ahab that brings him says, "Hey look, little word 52:57 of advice that we're having a great rally. 53:00 We're getting ready to go right, moral is high. 53:03 Don't say anything to discourage the soldiers in the kingdom. 53:08 Everyone is spirit, it's good spirit. 53:10 Don't ruin it." 53:11 And he said, "I'll say whatever God tells me to say." 53:15 And so he gets out there and Jehoshaphat says, "Well, 53:18 Micaiah, what's the word? 53:19 Shall we go fight with the Syrians or not?" 53:21 And a little bit of divine sarcasm, Micaiah says, 53:24 "Go up and prosper just like all the others." 53:29 And Ahab said, "All right. 53:31 Give it to me straight." 53:32 He knew he was being sarcastic, something about the tone of his 53:34 voice. He said, "Okay. 53:36 I saw Israel scattered on the hills as sheep without 53:40 a shepherd." 53:42 Israel was the kingdom of Ahab meaning something was gonna 53:43 happen to the shepherd. 53:45 And Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat said, "Didn't I tell you that 53:50 he wouldn't say anything good about me?" 53:53 And Micaiah goes on and he says, "You're gonna die 53:56 in this battle." 53:57 And so Ahab says, "How dare you? 53:59 Put him in prison. 54:01 Feed them with the bread of affliction and the water of 54:03 affliction until I return in peace." 54:05 Micaiah said, "If you come back in peace, God has not spoken 54:07 by me." 54:09 What holy audacity for a prophet to be able to say that when you 54:13 know nobody there listening is gonna appreciate it, 54:17 but it was the Word of God. 54:18 The people were sinning. 54:20 There was a judgment coming. 54:22 He warned them, "Do not come to Ramoth-Gilead and fight. 54:24 God is not in it. 54:26 The Syrians took it because of your sins." 54:29 They did lose the battle. 54:31 Ahab was slain and you always wonder, you never hear what 54:33 happened to Micaiah. 54:35 You always hope maybe they said, "Oh, you were right, let him out 54:37 of jail." It never says. 54:39 Son of Ahab might have killed him. 54:41 You don't know what happens. 54:42 It takes courage though, to tell the nation you need to repent 54:45 and to be that, the one who's swimming against the tide, 54:49 and this is what Jeremiah was faced with. 54:51 He had a lot of courage. 54:53 Well, we're out of time for today's lesson, but I want to 54:55 remind you, we have a special gift book and it's called, 54:59 It Is Possible To Live Without Sinning? 55:01 I actually read this flying in a plane one day and the title 55:04 scared me, but it was really a very encouraging book. 55:07 So, if you'd like a free copy of this, call the number that you 55:10 see on your screen, in fact, you can even download it for free 55:13 and read it at the Amazing Facts website, 55:15 simply AmazingFacts.com. 55:17 God bless you, friends, until we study his Word together 55:20 again next week. 55:23 announcer: Did you know that Noah was present at the birth 55:25 of Abraham? 55:27 Okay, maybe he wasn't in the room, but he was alive and 55:30 probably telling stories about his floating zoo. 55:34 From the creation of the world to the last day events of 55:37 Revelation, BibleHistory.com is a free resource where you can 55:40 explore major Bible events and characters, enhance your 55:44 knowledge of the Bible and draw closer to God's Word. 55:48 Go deeper, visit the amazing Bible timeline at 55:52 BibleHistory.com. 56:05 announcer: Throughout recorded history, tales of 56:08 ghosts and spirits can be found in folklore in nearly 56:12 every country and culture. 56:15 Egyptians built pyramids to help guide the spirits 56:18 of their leaders. 56:20 Rome sanctioned holidays to honor and appease the spirits of 56:23 their dead. 56:25 Even the Bible tells of a king that used a witch to contact the 56:29 spirit of the deceased prophet. 56:32 Today, ancient folklore of spirits and apparitions have 56:35 gone from mere superstitions to mainstream entertainment 56:40 and reality. 56:42 Scientific organizations investigate stories of hauntings 56:45 and sightings, trying to prove once and for all the existence 56:50 of ghosts. 56:52 Even with all the newfound technology and centuries of 56:57 stories all over the world, 56:59 there is still no clearcut answer. 57:05 So, how do we know what's true? 57:08 Why do these stories persist? 57:13 Does it even matter? 57:15 We invite you to look inside and find out for yourself. 57:23 Visit GhostTruth.com. 57:31 announcer: Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible Study? 57:33 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy more 57:36 truth-filled programming. 57:38 Watch Amazing Facts Television by visiting AFTV.org. 57:44 At AFTV.org, you can view Amazing Facts programming 24 57:49 hours a day, 7 days a week right from your computer 57:53 or mobile device. 57:54 Why wait a week? 57:56 Visit AFTV.org. 57:58 It's that easy. 58:02 announcer: For life-changing Christian resources, 58:05 visit AFBookstore.com or call 1-800-538-7275. 58:12 [music] 58:24 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 abercap.com |
Revised 2015-11-12