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00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:36 Welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite Bay 00:38 Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Sacramento. 00:41 I'd like to welcome our online Sabbath School members scattered 00:44 across the country and around the world, as well as the many 00:47 others who tune in on a regular basis to participate, to study 00:51 with us here at our Sabbath School. 00:53 I'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School members 00:56 here in person. 00:57 I know we have some visitors who are joining us today. 00:59 Very warm welcome to all of you on a very warm July day 01:04 here in Sacramento. 01:06 As many of you know, we've been studying through our lesson 01:08 quarterly entitled "The Least of These," and today we find 01:12 ourselves on lesson number five. 01:14 Interesting study, it's called "The Cry of the Prophets." 01:17 So we're going to be looking at some of what's called the minor 01:20 prophets, or the smaller books that we find in the Old 01:22 Testament, dealing with our subject of mercy and it's called 01:26 "The Least of These" is our lesson quarterly. 01:28 If you don't have a copy of the lesson, we're only 01:31 on lesson number five. 01:32 There's a total of 13 lessons. 01:34 If you'd like to download today's lesson, it's free. 01:37 Just go to Lesson.aftv.org and, as mentioned already, lesson 01:42 number five is the one that we're looking at today. 01:44 We also have a free offer that we'd like to tell our friends 01:47 about who are joining us. 01:48 We have a DVD, DVD sermon, entitled 01:51 "When a Christian Falls." 01:53 I think it's an encouraging study and I think 01:56 you'll enjoy that. 01:58 All you'll need to do to receive a free DVD of this study is call 02:01 the number... and you want to ask for offer number 867 02:09 or you can send a text message or text the code "SH128" 02:13 to the number 40544. 02:17 And you'll get a link as to where you can download 02:20 the sermon entitled "When a Christian Falls." 02:23 Well, before we get to our study, we always like to start 02:26 by lifting our voices in song so we'd like to invite our song 02:30 leaders to come forward at this time. 02:40 female: As we do every time we study together, we love to 02:43 sing and I believe that that is truly just another 02:45 part of worship. 02:47 So if you are at home and have your hymnals, you might need 02:50 to pull them out. 02:51 We are going to sing a song that everyone knows, hymn number 348. 02:57 We're going to sing, "The church has one foundation. 02:59 'Tis Jesus Christ our Lord." 03:02 We're going to sing the first, the third, and the fourth verse. 03:09 ♪♪♪ 03:16 ♪ The church has one foundation. ♪ 03:22 ♪ 'Tis Jesus Christ, her Lord. ♪ 03:26 ♪ She is His new creation ♪ 03:31 ♪ by water and the Word. ♪ 03:36 ♪ From heav'n He came and sought her ♪ 03:42 ♪ to be His holy bride; ♪ 03:46 ♪ with His own blood He bought her, ♪ 03:52 ♪ and for her life He died. ♪ 03:58 ♪ Though with a scornful wonder ♪ 04:03 ♪ men see her sore oppressed, ♪ 04:08 ♪ though foes would rend asunder, ♪ 04:15 ♪ The Rock where she doth rest. ♪ 04:19 ♪ Yet saints their faith are keeping, ♪ 04:23 ♪ their cry goes up, "How long?" ♪ 04:28 ♪ And soon the night of weeping ♪ 04:33 ♪ shall be the morn of song. ♪ 04:40 ♪ 'Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war, ♪ 04:50 ♪ she waits the consummation ♪ 04:55 ♪ of peace forevermore; ♪ 05:00 ♪ 'til with the vision glorious, ♪ 05:06 ♪ her longing eyes are blessed, ♪ 05:12 ♪ and the great church victorious ♪ 05:18 ♪ shall be the church at rest. ♪♪ 05:40 Jean: Amen. 05:42 Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer. 05:45 Dear Father, once again, we are indeed grateful for the many 05:47 blessings that You bestowed upon us for life, for strength, but 05:50 most of all we are grateful for Jesus, for the gospel, for hope 05:55 for a future with You and with those that love You. 05:58 Father, as we open up Your Word and study a theme that we find 06:01 all the way back in the times of the prophets in the Old 06:04 Testament, a theme that is relevant and important for us 06:07 today, we do pray for the Holy Spirit to come and guide our 06:10 hearts and lead us into a clear understanding of the gospel and 06:14 the work that You wish to do for us. 06:16 So bless our time together. 06:17 We ask this in Jesus's name, amen. 06:21 Our lesson this morning is going to be brought to us 06:23 by Pastor Doug. 06:30 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Pastor Ross. 06:32 Good morning, everybody. 06:34 How are you? 06:37 Good to see you this morning. 06:39 I want to welcome our friends who are studying with us via the 06:42 Internet or maybe it's Facebook or satellite or whatever the 06:47 different technology might be. 06:50 We're glad that you joined us. 06:51 We know that we have some of you who are regular Sabbath School 06:54 class members for our Granite Bay program and some of you are 06:58 actually some of our online members around the world because 07:01 there is no church nearby that you can attend that you've 07:05 adopted us, and we're very thankful for that. 07:09 We're continuing in our lesson, "The Least of These," and today 07:12 we're doing lesson number five. 07:15 And the lesson is about "The Cry of the Prophets." 07:18 "The Cry of the Prophets." 07:20 We'll see how, through the course of the Bible, a number of 07:23 the different prophets, both some of the major prophets and 07:28 minor prophets, talk about the importance of justice, a cry for 07:32 justice. 07:34 And we have a memory verse, and the memory verse is from the 07:36 book of Micah, chapter 6, verse 8. 07:39 If you want to say this with me, it's here in the lesson, in the 07:42 New King James Version, Micah 6, verse 8: one of my 07:46 favorite verses. 07:47 Are you ready? 07:49 "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord 07:53 require of you but that you do justly, to love mercy, and to 07:58 walk humbly with your God?" 08:01 You know, I love these bottom-line verses. 08:05 This is one of those verses that gets right to the bottom line. 08:07 Lord, what do You want from me? 08:09 Matter of fact, this verse was so precious to me that years ago 08:13 it was a reason that we named one of our boys Micah is because 08:17 this verse touched me. 08:19 What does God want from us? 08:21 "To love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly 08:26 with your God." 08:27 If you get those things covered, you're probably walking 08:29 in the gospel. 08:31 Now, in the lesson that we're dealing with, it's talking about 08:37 how, over the course of history, it seems like under just about 08:43 every different form of government, at some point or 08:45 other, mankind gravitates. 08:50 If you don't have love and you don't have the gospel, mankind 08:52 will eventually gravitate to exploit and take advantage of 08:56 his fellow man. 08:57 There's almost never an age in history you can point to where 09:01 it doesn't seem like, given a chance, people will grind down 09:08 the poor and take advantage of their brother. 09:10 And many of the leaders, even though in the governments, they 09:12 started out with the best of intentions to have revival in 09:15 government, it ends up gravitating that way 09:18 after a generation. 09:19 You know, when you study history, churches go 09:26 through a cycle. 09:29 Denominations. 09:32 Most denominations start out with a vision. 09:37 They want to get back to the basics and there's sacrifice and 09:41 simplicity and the people are mission-minded and they're out 09:44 there and there's trust and there's integrity but then, as 09:48 they grow and they become more successful, they need to get 09:51 organized and, as they get organized, then they start 09:53 building institutions, and one or two generations goes by and 09:58 then pretty soon it becomes cultural and it's the social 10:02 life of the group instead of it being the vision of 10:05 the early founders. 10:08 And the next thing you know, you've just got a denomination 10:10 and they lost that early--that passion, that vision. 10:15 I mean, I'll just pick out of thin air, the Methodists. 10:21 Got the greatest respect--we'll talk a little later in the 10:25 morning services about one of the founders. 10:29 Greatest respect for John Wesley and Charles Wesley and their 10:33 mother who had, like, 18 kids and all raised godly, and the 10:37 passion they had, crossing oceans to do mission work. 10:43 And, you know, Methodism, you know how it got its name? 10:47 They were so methodical about their devotions and about living 10:52 a godly life and sanctification, the church spread like crazy and 10:56 there was a great revival. 10:58 If John Wesley could be resurrected today and look at 11:02 the Methodist church today he would be aghast, that they have 11:06 drifted so far from the Scriptures and the passion 11:10 and the ideal. 11:12 It's because the devil is constantly pulling us back 11:15 towards the world. 11:17 Instead of being governed by the gospel, they're governed 11:18 by culture. 11:20 That's happened to the Lutherans, it's happened to the 11:23 Baptists, it's happened to the Pentecostals. 11:28 It's happened to us. 11:31 As a few generations go by, we start to be governed by the 11:35 culture around us. 11:37 Now, I said this about religion. 11:39 It's a cycle that churches tend to go through. 11:41 We start out like Ephesus and we end up like Laodicea. 11:46 It's a cycle that you see in history. 11:48 You also see this cycle with the governments. 11:52 The people get so tired of some despot that's grinding down the 11:58 poor or you've got, like, the French Revolution. 12:01 What brought about the French Revolution? 12:04 You had all the wealthy aristocrats that were just 12:08 exploiting the poor people. 12:10 They thought the purpose of the poor was to make the rich more 12:13 comfortable and when they came and then talked to, was it Maria 12:18 Antoinette, and they said, "The people are starving. 12:20 They have no bread." 12:21 She said, "Let them eat cake." 12:23 You remember that one? 12:26 And they were so removed that finally, the people rose up and 12:29 they said, "We need a new government. 12:32 We need a government that's going to have justice." 12:34 And they built the guillotine and when it came to the rulers 12:37 and the aristocrats, they said, "Off with their heads." 12:41 Well, how do you think Communism took off? 12:44 Because of the Bolsheviks, the Tsar, and they felt like they're 12:49 grinding down the poor and when they said, "We're going to have 12:51 a government of the people where everybody's equal," and there 12:53 was a great revolution so there'd be justice and equality. 12:59 I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, one of my classes 13:03 required me to read the book "Animal Farm." 13:06 Any of you ever required to read "Animal Farm"? 13:08 You know, even if you're a Christian you can read 13:11 that book. 13:13 It really talks about these farming animals that rise up 13:17 against the farmer because he's taking advantage of them. 13:19 And so they chase away the farmer and pretty soon the 13:21 animals are in charge. 13:23 And they say, "All of us are going to be equal now." 13:25 I think the pig ends up somehow getting the lead role. 13:30 And pretty soon, the pig is eating better than all the other 13:33 animals and they don't understand. 13:35 They said, "You said we'd be all equal." 13:37 And he said, "We are all equal, but some of us are more equal 13:41 than others." 13:42 That was a famous line in the book. 13:45 That's what happens. 13:47 America's got a government where we're all supposed to be equal. 13:50 Then why do we have separate tax laws for congressmen and 13:52 senators? 13:55 As time goes by, it seems we all gravitate down. 14:01 It's a siphon effect to the lowest common denominator. 14:04 Not only does it happen in churches, it happens in 14:06 governments, and the Bible not only talks about religion, it 14:09 talks about government. 14:10 And you're going to see this, so we're going to talk--we're going 14:14 to be looking at some of the different rulers that took 14:16 charge in the Bible and we're going to start with Samuel. 14:20 Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Samuel 14:22 and chapter 8. 14:24 Now, the best form of government is a benevolent godly 14:32 dictatorship. 14:34 You're going to think, "Pastor Doug, how dare you say 14:35 such a thing?" 14:37 If you get somebody who has absolute control and they are 14:42 absolutely converted, that's the best government. 14:45 But that's so hard to get, that you almost need 14:50 a representative government. 14:52 What were the times when they had the best government 14:56 in Israel? 14:58 Don't be afraid to venture a guess. 15:05 I didn't hand out any Scriptures today so I'm letting you talk 15:07 from the floor. 15:08 If you haven't--I'll repeat what you say, so--huh? 15:10 Moses. That's true. 15:14 Moses was absolutely converted and he was a just leader 15:17 and--but at one point, Moses--Jethro came to visit him 15:23 and he watched Moses. 15:26 From the time he woke up in the morning he sat down and he 15:29 judged the people. 15:31 Now you've got, like, 1 1/2, 2 million people. 15:33 They must have had about 2 million people because they 15:35 numbered the soldiers one time and they were, like, 600,000 15:38 fighting men so you add in the women and the children and the 15:40 old, and you got a lot of people. 15:43 And when you get that many people, there's going to be 15:46 disagreements and squabbles. 15:48 "Their goat went rampaging through my tent and destroyed 15:51 everything. 15:52 What are you going to do about that?" 15:54 And so you have to listen to the case and, you know, and you can 15:58 listen to the civil laws that Moses gives and you can tell he 16:01 had a lot of experience, he says, and if you had an oxen and 16:05 you knew that oxen had a tendency to bore people with his 16:09 horns and you didn't restrain him, then you're guilty. 16:12 Now, it was the first time it happened, you had no idea he was 16:14 going to act that way, then there's a different punishment. 16:16 And they had different laws for manslaughter, premeditated, 16:18 unintentional, and you could tell Moses was dealing 16:21 with all kinds of case. 16:22 He was a converted person, he was a just judge, led by the 16:25 Holy Spirit, but he was judging all day long, and his 16:28 father-in-law came to visit him. 16:30 How old was Jethro, if Moses was 80? 16:34 But his father-in-law comes to visit him and he watches him all 16:37 day long, judging the people. 16:39 And he said, "What you're doing is not good. 16:41 You're going to wear yourself out. 16:43 Let me give you some advice. 16:45 It's called delegate. 16:48 You need to search out among you wise, honest people that you can 16:52 trust, people who will loathe to take a bribe, people 16:58 who have good judgment. 17:00 And you need to set them over thousands and hundreds and 17:03 fifties and tens. 17:05 And all the little family squabbles, they can take it to 17:07 the tribal leader of ten or whatever and then you'll have 17:10 the fifties and the hundreds and, by the way, when Jesus sat 17:13 the people down to give them bread, do you know how 17:16 He did it? 17:17 He broke them up in companies of fifties and hundreds. 17:20 And Moses, God said, "Your father-in-law has good counsel. 17:26 You need to follow that." 17:28 So they--I don't know what process they used. 17:30 Maybe the people elected the judges or maybe Moses just--they 17:34 did a survey to find out who had the most honest people, people 17:39 with some age and experience, and they appointed them. 17:41 And when they were picked, it says, "These are going to be 17:45 people that hate covetousness. 17:48 You can't bribe them." 17:50 They're--and, you know, Moses said, "You will not show 17:53 preference to the rich because they're rich and," he said, 17:59 "you will not show preference to the poor." 18:01 Now you know what happens in our government these days. 18:03 We swing back and forth between being so overly careful to take 18:08 care of the poor that we abuse the rich, or we're so concerned 18:11 about the rich, we abuse the poor. 18:13 It goes both ways, two extremes. 18:16 And so Moses actually said that. 18:19 He said, "Don't give preferential treatment to 18:20 either. 18:22 You have to be absolutely fair. 18:24 You need to have a just scale." 18:26 That was the best government when they had that. 18:29 So during the reign, I heard someone say Moses. 18:31 Who else? 18:34 Joshua, they probably had a good government. 18:37 I was almost--Joshua almost lived during a time of military 18:41 conquest but I'm sure they had those cases. 18:44 How about David? 18:47 Did I hear David? 18:49 And the early reign of Solomon was great justice. 18:53 Jehoshaphat, he went through the land, he appointed judges that 18:57 would be just. 18:59 There would be fairness among the people and there was great 19:02 prosperity during those times. 19:04 There was also a lot of national contentment during those times. 19:08 So with that as a backdrop, we're going to go and we'll take 19:15 a look--what did I say? 19:16 We're going to go look at Samuel chapter 8, verse--now, during 19:21 the time of Samuel, was there tranquility? 19:23 Not Eli, but from the time Eli died and Samuel was young. 19:27 He was a head prophet and priest, up until he got old. 19:30 Now, you go to chapter 8 of 1 Samuel and verse 1: "Now it came 19:36 to pass that when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges 19:39 over Israel. 19:41 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second 19:43 was Abijah; and they were judging in Beersheba. 19:47 But his sons did not walk in his ways; and they turned aside 19:51 after dishonest gain, and they took bribes, and they perverted 19:57 justice." 19:59 And so the people became very discontent. 20:04 And Samuel was fair, he was honest, he was just. 20:07 But his sons, they let the wicked go off scot free because 20:10 they'd get a bribe. 20:12 Now, we heard something in the news this week that's been the 20:17 rage about a man named Epstein that was flagged several years 20:25 ago and arrested for trafficking young girls and doing terrible 20:31 things and he's out walking the streets. 20:36 At least, he was, for several years because it looks like he 20:39 had a lot of money and influence and good lawyers and got 20:41 preferential treatment. 20:45 He's back in jail again and--but people are amazed how he seemed 20:52 to be able to walk away with a very minimal sentence with such 20:56 overwhelming evidence. 21:01 You remember a few years ago they had what they called the 21:05 trial of the century. 21:08 And a famous celebrity football star was Exhibit A in the murder 21:16 of his wife and another gentleman. 21:19 But because had really good attorneys and had money and had 21:24 celebrity, he walked away and people were outraged. 21:31 But then later, in a civil trial, he was convicted. 21:35 But then he walked away. 21:38 Then he got arrested again for pulling a gun and threatening 21:40 someone for stealing sports memorabilia, thrown in jail. 21:44 He's free and golfing again today. 21:50 This is someone who everyone is pretty sure murdered two people. 21:57 And you wonder, do you get preferential treatment if you 22:00 have celebrity? 22:01 And if you have wealth? 22:04 Yeah, so they said to Samuel, "Your sons are not doing 22:11 what you did." 22:14 And they came to him and I think you can go to--they said, "Your 22:20 sons do not walk in your ways. 22:23 The elders gathered together to Samuel," I'm in verse 4, "at 22:26 Ramah, 'You're old, your sons don't walk in your ways. 22:30 Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.' 22:35 But the thing displeased Samuel." 22:37 Now, was God shocked that they would ask for a king? 22:41 No. 22:43 Was it God's plan that they have a king? 22:45 No, but He knew it would happen. 22:47 You know, even in the law of Moses, it says, "When you pick a 22:49 king." 22:51 He knew it would eventually happen, that they'd reject Him, 22:53 they'd reject the theocracy and they'd go towards a monarchy. 22:56 And God said, "Moses." 22:59 The Lord told Moses to say, "When you get a king, tell him 23:03 not to multiply horses and trust in his horses. 23:06 Don't come back to Egypt and get horses. 23:08 Tell him not to multiply money, lest he trust in his money, and 23:12 tell him not to multiply wives." 23:14 So finally, they get one of the greatest kings they've had. 23:18 What was his name? 23:20 Solomon. What does he do? 23:22 He goes down to Egypt and he gets horses from Egypt. 23:24 And then he gets a wife from Egypt. 23:26 He gets a few spare wives along the way. 23:28 Gets about 1000 before he's done. 23:30 And then it says: "Do not multiply money." 23:33 He amassed a tremendous fortune. 23:35 Most of it got carried back to Egypt, did you know that? 23:38 When Shishak came up during the time of his son Rehoboam. 23:41 The very things that God said not to do. 23:44 So God knew they would ultimately get a king. 23:46 But then He said, "I'm going to give you some advice." 23:48 God told Samuel, "Don't take it personal. 23:52 It's not you they've rejected; it's Me they've rejected." 23:54 He said, "But I want you to go tell them what to expect." 23:57 Now listen to what Samuel says. 23:58 This is 1 Samuel 8, verse 10: "So Samuel told all the words of 24:04 the Lord to the people who had asked him for a king. 24:07 And he says, 'This will be the behavior of the king who will 24:10 reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them for 24:14 his own chariots to be his horsemen, and some will run 24:17 before his chariots. 24:18 He will appoint captains over--'" 24:21 Now, did that happen? It did. 24:23 It says Absalom appointed 50 men to run before his chariot. 24:26 I'm sure the others did that as well. 24:29 "He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over 24:33 his fifties, he will set some to plow his ground and to reap his 24:37 harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for 24:40 his chariots. 24:41 He'll take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 24:46 He'll take the best of your fields and your vineyards and 24:49 your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 24:52 He'll take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to 24:55 his officers." 24:57 Now, wait a second. 24:58 Ten percent went to the priest, now Samuel's saying another ten 25:01 percent is going to go to the king. 25:03 The more government you have, the more taxes you have to 25:06 sustain the government. 25:08 Isn't that right? 25:11 And it seems like we're always voting new departments in the 25:14 government and it's almost impossible to diminish them once 25:17 you vote them. 25:19 Once you vote people a benefit for free, just try to take it 25:22 away and watch what happens. 25:25 It's always easy to give a person a raise when they're an 25:28 employee but tell them you have cuts and you have to take that 25:30 raise back again, and you have a riot. 25:34 "He'll take the best of your fields, a tenth of your grain 25:38 and your vintage, and give it to his officers and his servants. 25:41 He'll take your male and your female servants, and the finest 25:43 young men, and donkeys, and put them to his work. 25:47 He'll take a tenth of your sheep. 25:49 And you will be his servants. 25:51 And you will cry out in that day because of your king that you 25:55 have chosen for yourself, and the Lord will not hear you in 25:58 that day." 25:59 In other words, look, if you get a king, I'm just telling you 26:01 that eventually you're going to get one that's not converted and 26:03 he was--he's going to exploit you and he's going to oppress 26:09 you and he's going to take advantage of you and you can 26:13 say, "Oh man, this king is grinding us down." 26:15 God's going to say, "I told you. 26:17 You said you didn't want Me, you wanted a king. 26:18 There you go." 26:20 And any of you ever have a parent, you ask for something, 26:25 they knew it wasn't very good and they gave you what you 26:26 wanted and then you cried out? 26:29 I remember one time my father picked up--my parents 26:33 were divorced. 26:34 My dad came to pick me and my brother up for his time with us 26:38 and said he can take us to a movie. 26:40 So he was on the way to the movie and we saw him drive by 26:43 the drive-in theater. 26:45 Well, we had been to that drive-in theater before and they 26:46 were showing "Dumbo." 26:48 Well, we were young. 26:49 We said, "Go there, Dad. Go there." 26:51 He said, "No, you don't want to go there." 26:52 "Go there, Dad. Go there, go there." 26:53 He said, "You don't want to go there. 26:55 Said, "No, go there. We want to go there." 26:56 He said, "Okay, you want to go there." 26:58 He took us to the drive-in theater and it was like a 27:01 Perry Mason movie, not for kids at all. 27:05 And we said, "Oh, we don't want to stay here." 27:06 He said, "No, we're going to stay and watch it now. 27:09 You asked for it, you got it." 27:12 I remember going to sleep in the back seat, miserable. 27:17 Anyway, so He says, "I'm going to give you what you want, if 27:22 you want it bad enough." 27:25 And they ended up having a variety of kings 27:27 that oppressed them. 27:28 There was a few good ones but so often He says, "I'll give you 27:31 what you want," and they were sorry they asked for it. 27:34 Next, we go to Amos. 27:37 He's among the minor prophets. 27:39 Now, Amos was among what--you know, there's technically 12 27:42 minor prophets, interesting number, in the Old Testament. 27:45 He was a contemporary. 27:49 Amos lived during the time of Hosea and Isaiah. 27:52 He was active from about 760 to 755 BC during the rule of the 27:56 kings Jeroboam II and King Uzziah, and the king Uzziah 28:00 reigned for 52 years. 28:03 He was a long-reigning king. 28:05 Jeroboam II I think was king in the northern empire. 28:08 Even though Amos was from the southern empire that worshiped 28:13 God and had the temple, most of his ministry was in 28:16 the northern kingdom. 28:17 And so he wrote during a time of relative peace and prosperity 28:20 but there was also terrible neglect of God's law and they 28:24 were at that time grinding down the poor. 28:27 So let's look, for example, in the book of Amos chapter 7, 28:30 verse 14. 28:32 First thing, Amos did not go to the school of the prophets and 28:36 he says in Amos 7:14, he says to Amaziah: "I was no prophet, nor 28:41 was I the son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder 28:45 and a tender of sycamore fruit." 28:48 That sycamore fruit was really a--they were like a very 28:51 primitive form of fig. 28:53 They weren't the best figs. 28:55 They usually fed those to the animals. 28:56 And so he says, "Look, I was doing my business. 28:58 God called me as a prophet. 29:00 I did not go--I did not go looking for this calling. 29:02 God placed it on me. 29:04 I was not one of the sons of the prophets you trained for it. 29:06 And so he's given some difficult messages. 29:10 Now, they like the first messages that Amos gives because 29:14 in his first messages, he is decrying the kingdoms of Moab 29:21 and Edom and Ammon and the other empires in Israel, going, "Yes, 29:25 keep prophesying." 29:26 And then he said, "And now, for you, I've got a word 29:29 from the Lord." 29:31 And you go to Amos chapter 2, verse 4: "Thus says the Lord: 29:36 'For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not 29:41 turn away its punishment, because they've despised the law 29:44 of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. 29:47 Their lies lead them astray, lies which 29:49 their fathers followed. 29:53 But I'll send a fire upon Judah, and it will devour the palaces 29:56 of Jerusalem." 29:58 Now, how do we know Amos was a prophet? 30:00 Did it happen? 30:02 Just as a little follow-up so you know that he was a prophet, 30:06 if you look in 2 Kings 25, verse 8, 2 Kings 25, verse 8: "And in 30:11 the 5th month, on the 7th day of the month which was the 19th 30:15 year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, captain 30:19 of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, 30:22 came to Jerusalem. 30:24 He burned the house of the Lord and the king's house; and all 30:28 the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the 30:31 great," these are the palaces, "he burned with fire. 30:34 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the 30:38 captain of the guard broke down the wall of Jerusalem 30:40 all round about." 30:42 And so it didn't happen right away but the prophecy of Amos 30:44 was vividly fulfilled. 30:46 And he said, "Why was this judgment coming? 30:49 Because you're neglecting the law of the Lord and those were 30:51 particularly laws that had to do with caring for the poor, about 30:55 justice, and equity. 30:59 So if you turn now to Amos chapter 3, and we're going 31:02 to go there. 31:04 In the book of Amos chapter 3, and we're going to start out 31:08 reading verse--chapter 3, verse 9: "Proclaim in the palaces at 31:15 Ashdod," that was the Philistines. 31:17 "In the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: 'Assemble on 31:20 the mountains of Samaria; see a great tumult in her midst, 31:25 and the oppressed within her.'" 31:26 Samaria is where? 31:29 It's a northern kingdom, kingdom of Israel. 31:33 This is where Amos's prophecy was. 31:35 He's saying that tell among the Philistines and tell the people 31:39 of Egypt, they can celebrate because the northern kingdom's 31:44 going to fall. 31:45 "'For they do not know to do right,' says the Lord, 'who 31:49 store up violence and robbery in their palaces.' 31:53 Therefore thus says the Lord God: 31:55 'An adversary will be all around the land; and 31:59 he will sap your strength from you, and your palaces 32:02 will be plundered.' 32:04 Thus says the Lord." 32:05 Now, this happened during the time of Assyria, the palaces of 32:07 the northern kingdom, Samaria, were plundered. 32:10 "Thus says the Lord: 'As a shepherd takes from the mouth of 32:14 a lion two legs and a piece of an ear, so shall the children of 32:18 Israel be taken who dwell in Samaria--in the corner of a bed 32:22 on the edge of a couch!'" 32:24 You know, a shepherd might find that 32:28 a lion has come among the flock and he chases off the lion and 32:32 all that's left of the lamb are some small parts. 32:35 And he's saying that's what's going to happen to Israel. 32:38 It was going to be just decimated because of their 32:42 unjust behavior. 32:45 "'So shall the children of Israel be who are taken out, who 32:50 dwell in Samaria--in the corner of a bed on the edge of a couch! 32:53 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,' says the Lord 32:56 God, and the God of hosts, 'that in that day I will punish Israel 33:01 for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the 33:04 altars of Bethel; and on the horns of the altar 33:07 they'll be cut off.'" 33:08 Bethel was where they set up a false altar 33:10 and a golden calf. 33:12 "And it shall fall to the ground." 33:15 That happened during the time of King Josiah. 33:17 "'I will destroy the winter house along with the summer 33:20 house; the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses 33:22 will have an end,' says the Lord." 33:25 You notice it says that Amos prophesied during a time of 33:27 prosperity. 33:29 People not only had their winter house, they had their summer 33:31 house. 33:32 It's because the rich were exploiting the poor and there 33:35 was a lot of wealth in the kingdom but it wasn't, you might 33:38 say, it wasn't evenly distributed. 33:41 Now, I'm going to get political for a minute. 33:44 Can I do that in church? 33:47 You don't know what I'm going to say so you don't know how to 33:48 answer me yet. 33:50 Everyone wants to live in a country that cares for the poor, 33:57 that cares for the sick. 34:00 But do you want the government to say, "We don't think that you 34:06 are good enough to do it so we're going to make you do it"? 34:12 What's the best government to live in? 34:14 Isn't it the government where the government says, "We believe 34:16 that we govern an honest and a loving people. 34:18 We are not going to force you with laws to care for the poor 34:22 and the sick. 34:24 We are going to serve in government, we're going to 34:28 support the country, we're going to protect you from foreign 34:31 invasion, we're going to protect your freedoms but we're going to 34:35 trust that you are a just people." 34:38 When the government has to say, "Look, we don't think we're 34:41 doing enough to care for the poor and so we're going to take 34:44 more away from working people to care for people who can't work 34:47 for whatever reason, you're basically saying, "We don't 34:49 trust that you'll do it." 34:52 These things that the government now is forcing people to do, by 34:55 penalty if you don't do it, used to be done by Christians 35:00 in the country. 35:02 Governments never used to run orphanages. 35:04 Governments never used to run hospitals. 35:07 You notice that they don't have a hospital called First Sisters 35:10 of Atheism? 35:14 You got Mercy General Methodist, you got Baptist Hospital, you 35:16 got Catholic Hospital, you got an Adventist Hospital. 35:19 Churches used to do all these things. 35:22 But what happened is the government said, "We're not 35:23 going to trust the people to do it anymore. 35:25 We're going to make you do it." 35:27 And it basically took the blessing away from the people to 35:30 say, "We're going to do this willingly from our hearts," and 35:32 the government then mandated it. 35:34 You don't get a blessing for it. It's a tax. 35:36 The more laws that a government has, is a result of the more 35:41 lawless the people are. 35:43 And when people are greedy, then the government feels like we've 35:48 got to make them do it. 35:50 And it's usually because the gospel's departed 35:52 from the people. 35:54 Okay, that's all I'm going to say about that. 35:56 Amos 8, verse 4. 36:00 I read verses 11 in chapter 5. 36:03 Go to Amos chapter 8, verse 4: "Hear this, you who swallow up 36:07 the needy, and you make the poor of the land fail, saying: 'When 36:10 will the New Moon be past, that we might sell grain?'" 36:13 They said they're keeping the new moon, 36:15 but they don't want to. 36:16 They can't wait for the sun go down so they can go 36:18 make more money. 36:19 "And the Sabbath, that we might trade wheat?" 36:22 They were keeping the Sabbath but they were hating every 36:24 minute of it because they couldn't wait for the sun go 36:26 down so they could open up their stores and sell again. 36:30 Just watching the clock. You don't ever do that, do you? 36:32 "Oh, I can't do that yet, it's Sabbath. 36:34 Can't wait to do what I want to do. 36:37 It's still holy time. 36:39 Can't wait for God's time, special time, to be over so I 36:42 can do my regular thing." 36:44 I've been guilty of that before, I'll confess. 36:50 You've got to watch the clock. 36:52 But is that the right spirit? 36:54 Amos is saying, "You just can't wait to go out and make more 36:57 money and grind down the poor, that we might buy the poor for 37:01 silver, and the needy a pair of--for a pair of sandals--even 37:05 selling the bad wheat." 37:07 I'll even sell stuff that's no good at a profit to the poor 37:10 for--so I can make money. 37:13 And he said, "That's not just." 37:16 You know, one of the people in the Bible who you can see the 37:21 right attitude: there was a farmer who married Ruth. 37:25 Do you remember his name? 37:27 Boaz. 37:29 He had the attitude that God wanted him to have. 37:31 Moses had instructed the people. 37:33 He said, "You shall not harvest the corners of your field. 37:37 You shall not go over your olive tree and shake 37:41 every branch twice. 37:42 You'll shake it once, you'll leave the rest for," what? 37:45 "For the poor. 37:47 You do not--you leave the corners of your field and the 37:50 edges of your fields for the poor and the hungry and the 37:53 widows among you." 37:54 And do you remember when Boaz said, "Who's that woman out 38:00 there in the field with the other ladies that's harvesting?" 38:03 They said, "That's a Moabite. She came back with Naomi. 38:05 She's helping take care of Naomi who lost, you know, her husband 38:07 and her two sons." 38:09 And he told his harvesters, "Leave some extra sheaves. 38:13 Drop some extra sheaves for the poor." 38:17 You know, that's the attitude of the Christian is he not only 38:21 didn't harvest the edges of his field, he told his harvesters, 38:23 "Don't pick it all up. 38:25 Leave plenty behind." 38:27 And then when Ruth came to the floor, he said, "Open up your 38:30 robe," and he filled her robe with extra food because he knew 38:33 Naomi was hungry and she was poor. 38:35 He was a generous man and that's the spirit that God wanted 38:39 everybody to have. 38:41 One time, David came to see if he could buy the threshing floor 38:46 of Araunah and Araunah said, "Just take it. 38:50 I'll give it to you. 38:52 I'll not only give you the threshing floor, I'll give you 38:53 the oxen to sacrifice and the implements to use for firewood." 38:59 When Abraham needed a place to bury Sarah, he said, "I'd like 39:04 to buy this cave of Machpelah," and the people of Heth said, 39:07 "No, no, we'll give it to you." 39:09 I mean, there was a lot more generosity during that age where 39:13 people cared. 39:15 Have you read about Job? 39:17 Job said, "If I did not hear the cry," and I'm paraphrasing here. 39:20 He said, "If I did not hear the cry of the poor and the 39:24 fatherless and the widowed, then let me suffer. 39:26 But God, You know that I have cared for the poor and the 39:29 fatherless and the widowed." 39:31 The people did it back then. 39:33 Every wealthy man was a philanthropist back 39:35 in that time. 39:37 But when you get where folks are more grasping and stingy, then 39:40 it ends up the government has to force people to do it because 39:43 they don't have the spirit anymore. 39:44 So you can see Amos was talking about that. 39:48 "Sell even bad wheat." 39:50 Now, go to Micah. 39:51 I got a lot of prophets left and I'm running out of time. 39:54 Micah 6, verse 8. 39:57 That was our memory verse: "He has shown you, O man, what is 39:59 good; what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, love 40:03 mercy," show mercy to the poor and the fatherless 40:06 and the widows. 40:08 Was it James who said, "Pure religion and undefiled before 40:12 God is this, to visit the widow and the fatherless in their 40:16 affliction and keep yourself unspotted from the world." 40:19 He said, "This is pure religion to care for the poor and the 40:22 fatherless." 40:24 You know, there were a lot more orphans back in Bible times. 40:26 Men would go off to war and they did not have social services. 40:32 How many of you have read about George Mueller who started those 40:35 orphanages? 40:36 It's an incredible story, how he had sometimes thousands of 40:39 orphans. 40:41 Orphans, if you ever read "Oliver Twist," you at least 40:43 heard of it, back when that was written, these orphans would 40:47 just roam the streets of England by the thousands because the 40:52 plagues had gone through and killed their parents or wars or 40:54 whatever reason and there were so many children 40:58 without parents. 40:59 And it was during that time, Mueller, he started building 41:03 these orphanages and he just depended on the generosity of 41:07 Christians to keep it going and he just prayed. 41:11 He never sent out an appeal letter, never made an offering 41:14 appeal, he would pray all the time. 41:15 And the money kept coming. 41:17 God would move on people. 41:19 Micah chapter 2, verse 8: "Lately My people have risen up 41:21 as an enemy--you pull off the robe with the garment from those 41:25 who trust you, as they pass by." 41:28 Now, back in Bible times, you know, now if you want to, you 41:32 know, go rent a piece of equipment, they say, "We're 41:34 going to hold your credit card." 41:35 They didn't have credit cards back then. 41:36 You would actually give them your robe. 41:39 If you were poor and you needed to borrow something, they'd say, 41:42 "I want your robe," and they were taking the robes and the 41:46 clothes from the poor and they were shivering at night and they 41:48 had nothing because that was their surety. 41:53 "You pull the robe with the garment from those who trust 41:56 you, as they pass by, like men returned from war. 42:00 The women of My people you cast out from the pleasant houses; 42:03 from their children you've taken away My glory forever. 42:07 Arise and depart, for this is not your rest; because it is 42:11 defiled, it shall destroy, yes, with utter destruction. 42:16 If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, saying, 42:19 'I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,' even he would be a 42:23 prattler of this people." 42:25 Talks about how they were oppressing the poor. 42:27 Go to Micah chapter 3, verse 8: "But truly I am full of power in 42:32 the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, and declare 42:36 to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. 42:39 Now hear this, you heads of the houses of Jacob and rulers of 42:42 the house of Israel, who harbor justice and pervert all equity, 42:47 who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity: Her 42:50 heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, her 42:55 prophets divine for money." 42:57 I've always said that's one of the quickest ways to tell the 43:01 difference between a true prophet and a false prophet, is 43:03 the false prophet is going to send you a bill, an invoice. 43:06 "Yet they lean on the Lord, and they say, 'Is not the Lord 43:12 among us? 43:14 No harm can come to us.' 43:15 Therefore because of you Zion 43:17 will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of 43:20 ruins, and the mountains of the temple like before the hills of 43:24 the forest." 43:26 Now, Micah was among the last prophets before the New 43:27 Testament time, and did his prophecy come true because of 43:31 the injustice that was happening in Israel? 43:34 I'm going to read to you from the commentary of Adam Clarke. 43:37 Notice what Micah said would happen: "Because of the 43:40 injustice and taking advantage of the poor, Zion will be plowed 43:45 like a field," that's where the temple was. 43:48 "Jerusalem will become heaps of ruins and the mountain of the 43:52 temple like a bare hill of the forest." 43:55 Here's what Adam Clarke says happened. 43:58 "Thus did the Romans treat Jerusalem when it was 44:00 taken by Titus. 44:02 Turnus Rufus, or as he is called by St. Jerome, Titus Arinius 44:07 Rufus, according to Josephus, he caused a plow to be drawn over 44:12 all the courts of the temple," they did not leave one stone 44:15 upon another, as Jesus said. 44:17 And they got down to bare dirt so that they actually plowed the 44:20 ground, "to signify that it should never be rebuilt, and the 44:25 place only to serve for agricultural purposes. 44:29 Thus Jerusalem became heaps, and an indiscriminate mass of ruins 44:33 and rubble; and mountain of the house, Mount Moriah, on which 44:38 the temple stood, became so much neglected after the total 44:41 destruction of the temple, that it was soon resembled the high 44:44 place of a forest. 44:46 What is said here may apply also, as before hinted, to the 44:50 ruin of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar at the last reign 44:52 of Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews." 44:55 So it happened both during the time of Nebuchadnezzar when he 44:58 destroyed the temple but especially was fulfilled during 45:01 the time when the Romans destroyed it. 45:03 And we were there just last year. 45:05 I see Dwayne and Betty were there and we saw, remember, 45:07 the rubble still. 45:08 They got piles of huge rubble and stones that were there, that 45:13 they've left as a monument to remind what the Romans 45:17 had done to the city. 45:19 All right, going to look under Ezekiel and his cry for justice. 45:23 Ezekiel 16:48: "'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'neither your 45:27 sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your 45:31 daughters have done. 45:33 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her 45:36 daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; 45:40 neither she did strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy. 45:44 And they were haughty and they committed abominations.'" 45:47 Now we know what those abominations were. 45:49 Some people point to this verse in Ezekiel 16, they say, "The 45:52 sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not sexual immorality. 45:55 It was their pride and their fullness of bread." 45:57 No, that's not what it says. 46:00 It says, yeah, they had pride, fullness of bread, and they were 46:03 haughty and "committed abomination." 46:06 That word "abomination" is used by Moses to talk about 46:09 homosexual behavior. 46:12 And if you doubt that, you look in Jude verse 7: "As Sodom and 46:16 Gomorrah, and the cities around them in similar manner to these, 46:19 having given themselves over to sexual immorality and going 46:23 after strange flesh," not what is natural, in other words, 46:27 "are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance 46:30 of eternal fire." 46:32 Ezekiel is simply adding to the mix of what they did. 46:36 It wasn't just the sexual immorality. 46:38 He said that "she didn't strengthen the hand of the poor 46:43 and the needy. 46:45 They had an abundance and fullness of food." 46:48 You know, one of the signs of the last days, it says, "As it 46:51 was in the days of Noah, they planted and they builded." 46:54 Do you know we're planting and building more than ever before? 46:59 Do we have more idle time? 47:01 Yeah, you might not think so but yeah. 47:09 People used to wake up and go to the farms, they'd then 47:11 fall--they'd fall in the wheelbarrow. 47:13 The wife would bring the husband home and dump him out in bed. 47:16 He'd wake up the next day and they'd do the same thing. 47:18 And now through mechanized farming, most of the people 47:23 living on a farm, see, they had to just work like that all day 47:26 long to have enough food. 47:28 And a few people lived in the city. 47:29 Do you know the majority of people in the world now, I think 47:31 as of about eight years ago, live in the city in 47:34 the urban areas. 47:36 And not on farms. 47:37 And because we've figured out how to do mass farming, 47:39 people now have a little more abundance of time. 47:44 And idleness, the fullness of food and yet not caring 47:49 for the poor and the people who are suffering. 47:54 Ezekiel 34, verse 2: "Son of man, prophesy against the 47:58 shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the 48:01 Lord God to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel 48:04 who feed themselves! 48:06 Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 48:08 You eat the fat and you clothe yourselves with wool; 48:11 you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 48:13 The weak you've not strengthened, nor have you 48:16 healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought 48:20 back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with 48:24 force and cruelty you've ruled them."'" 48:26 Are there a breed of pastors 48:29 out there that instead of caring for the flock are 48:31 more interested in prosperity and wealth? 48:34 Is that just my imagination or are there a growing number of 48:37 preachers that flaunt their godliness by their money? 48:41 And they say, "This is how we show." 48:43 One pastor I know of had the audacity, church bought 48:45 him a Bentley. 48:47 He said, "You need to buy one for my wife too." 48:50 And it's just amazing, the abuse. 48:54 Where the pastors are supposed to care for the people of a 48:57 flock and feed the people the Word of God and nurture them 49:01 and inspire them towards godliness. 49:03 All right, I can just read a quote here from "Prophets and 49:10 Kings," page 282: "Against the marked oppression, the flagrant 49:14 injustice and the unwanted luxury and extravagance, the 49:18 shameless feasting and drunkenness, the gross 49:21 licentiousness and debauchery of their age, the prophets lifted 49:25 their voices but in vain were their protests. 49:28 In vain, their denunciation of sin. 49:30 All of the judgments that were foretold by Micah and Amos and 49:34 Ezekiel ultimately came on the people in the Old Testament and 49:39 many of those same sins are repeated in the church today as 49:43 we've seen. 49:45 I am out of time. 49:46 I'm sorry I didn't have time to get to Isaiah but we got most of 49:49 the lesson and I trust you were edified. 49:52 I want to remind everybody we do have a special free offer. 49:55 And the offer is "When a Christian Falls." 49:58 How do you get back up again? 50:00 If you're a Christian and you fall, how do you get a new 50:01 beginning? 50:03 This is a free DVD that we'll send anybody who would like one. 50:06 You simply ask or you can call... 50:10 That's 866-Study-More. 50:12 Or you can text. 50:14 Here's what you text: "SH128" and you text that code to 40544 50:22 and you'll be asking for offer number 867. 50:25 You can download this information or listen to it, 50:27 I should say, online. 50:29 Thank you very much. 50:30 We are out of time for today's study. 50:32 God bless. 50:33 We'll study His Word together again next week. 50:37 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 50:39 free resource. 50:40 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 50:43 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 50:45 mobile device. 50:46 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 50:50 the key word on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 50:54 shown on your screen, and be sure to select the digital 50:57 download option on the request page. 50:59 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 51:03 "Amazing Facts," wherever and whenever you want and most 51:07 important, to share it with others. 51:11 ♪♪♪ 51:21 Doug: We're here on the beautiful coast of the island of 51:23 Puerto Rico. 51:24 And if you were to travel east about 2000 miles, of course, 51:27 you'd be out in the middle of the ocean but you'd also be in 51:30 the middle of a mystical sea called the Sargasso Sea. 51:33 It gets its name because of this common brown seaweed that can be 51:37 found floating in vast mass. 51:40 The area of the Sargasso Sea is about 700 miles wide and 2000 51:45 miles long. 51:47 Now, the seaweed itself is fascinating stuff. 51:50 It was first observed and called gulf weed by Christopher 51:53 Columbus. 51:54 It gets the name sargum* from the Portuguese. 51:56 Some people use it as herbal remedies. 51:58 But out in the middle of the Sargasso Sea the water is some 52:01 of the bluest in the world. 52:03 It's there you can see 200 feet deep in places. 52:06 It also has a great biodiversity and ecosystem that surrounds the 52:10 Sargasso Sea. 52:12 For years, scientists wondered where the American and the 52:15 Atlantic eels were breeding. 52:16 They knew the adult eel swam down the rivers out into the 52:19 Atlantic but they never could find the place where they 52:22 reproduced. 52:23 Finally, they discovered it was out in the middle of the 52:25 Sargasso Sea. 52:27 So it's a fascinating place but if you were an ancient sailor 52:29 you did not want to get stuck there. 52:31 Doug: Being caught in the doldrums was extremely difficult 52:37 for the ancient sailors. 52:39 Of course, their boats were driven by wind and sail and 52:41 they'd be caught in the vast mass of the seaweed that would 52:45 wrap around their rudder, barnacles would begin to grow. 52:47 It's an area that is notorious for light and baffling winds and 52:51 so they'd make no progress. 52:53 They'd get stuck. 52:55 The men would become extremely dispirited. 52:57 Sometimes, violence and even insanity would break out as 53:00 people were trapped in the doldrums. 53:03 Well, friends, perhaps sometimes you've felt that you're trapped 53:06 in the doldrums. 53:08 You've gone through episodes of depression, you feel like you're 53:10 going in circles, life seems stifling. 53:13 You know, the Bible offers good news. 53:15 There is a way out. 53:17 The Bible talks about a famous character that was trapped in a 53:19 cycle of depression. 53:21 He was low as you could be. 53:23 Matter of fact, he even had seaweed wrapped around his head. 53:25 His name was Jonah. 53:27 But God gave him a way of escape. 53:29 In Jonah chapter 2, verse 3 through 7, we read: "For You 53:33 cast me into the depths, Into the heart of the seas, and the 53:37 floods surrounded me; all of Your billows and Your waves 53:41 passed over me. 53:42 Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will 53:45 look again towards Your holy temple.' 53:48 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep 53:51 closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head. 53:54 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with 53:58 its bars closed behind me forever; yet You've brought my 54:02 life up from the pit, O Lord, my God. 54:05 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my 54:09 prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple." 54:12 You know, friends, the way that Jonah got out of his 54:15 discouraging circumstances, he turned to God and he prayed. 54:19 And if God could hear Jonah's prayer, just think about it, he 54:21 was as far away from God as anybody could be, he was in the 54:24 belly of a sea monster in the bottom of the ocean in the dark, 54:28 yet he turned to God and God heard his prayer. 54:30 You know, these ancient sailors, when they were trapped on the 54:33 deck of a ship for weeks, stuck in the doldrums, discouraged, 54:36 sometimes they would have a prayer meeting and pray that God 54:39 would send a breeze that would set them free and get their 54:43 boats moving. 54:44 They turned to God in prayer and often miracles would happen and 54:47 the wind would flutter in the sails and bring them out of 54:50 their seaweed prison. 54:52 Friends, maybe you have been stuck in the doldrums. 54:54 Maybe you've been caught in a cycle of depression. 54:57 If God can do it for Jonah, if He can do it for the ancient 54:59 sailors, He can do it for you. 55:01 Turn to the Lord in prayer. 55:02 Trust His Spirit to blow through your soul and to set you free. 55:08 ♪♪♪ 55:18 announcer: "Amazing Facts" changed lives. 55:27 female: My mother passed away when I was three and my paternal 55:30 grandparents decided they would care for my two others sisters 55:35 and I so that my father would have time to mourn. 55:39 We never really had a mother or a strong fatherly figure and I'm 55:44 not blaming my dad, I'm just saying that's how things 55:46 worked out. 55:49 When I was in high school, my oldest sister got into an 55:55 argument with our father and my sister and I decided that we 56:00 would take her side and so that caused a split in our family. 56:08 For four years we lived in the same house. 56:13 We ate from the same pot, we used the same restroom, we 56:16 walked by each other but we never said anything to our 56:18 father and he never said anything to us. 56:24 A year later, I had decided I would move out for college. 56:27 He wasn't very happy with that. 56:30 We got booted out of the house. 56:33 We went back to apologize but we weren't really accepted back. 56:39 I have felt so alone a lot of my life. 56:44 I felt like I've had to fend for myself. 56:47 I've been missing a fatherly love. 56:50 I don't have family with me. 56:54 I don't have a lot of things but I have God 57:02 and I've been fulfilled. 57:04 I've been satisfied. 57:06 God has been my Father. 57:19 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel much farther 57:22 than ever before. 57:23 Thank you for your support. 57:31 female announcer: Let's face it. 57:32 It's not always easy to understand everything you read 57:35 in the Bible. 57:36 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, the Bible 57:40 can generate a lot of questions. 57:42 To get biblical straightforward answers, call into "Bible 57:45 Answers Live," a live nationwide call-in radio program where you 57:49 can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor and ask him your most 57:52 difficult Bible questions. 57:54 For times and stations in your area or to listen to answers 57:57 online, visit bal.amazingfacts.org. 58:04 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2019-07-29