Hello and welcome to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:00:31.56\00:00:34.46 I'm Jill Morikone and we're delighted that you have taken 00:00:34.56\00:00:37.53 time from your day to open up the word of God, 00:00:37.57\00:00:40.07 and to study along with us. 00:00:40.10\00:00:42.10 We are in the fourth quarter studying "Oneness in Christ." 00:00:42.14\00:00:45.97 We are in the second lesson of that quarter... 00:00:46.01\00:00:49.24 "Causes of Disunity" 00:00:49.28\00:00:51.48 Last week, we talked about love is the foundation for unity, 00:00:51.51\00:00:56.42 and we talked about creation. 00:00:56.45\00:00:57.89 Sin is the catalyst for division and disunity - as we saw 00:00:57.92\00:01:03.63 that take place in the fall and later with the Tower of Babel. 00:01:03.66\00:01:07.13 And then we saw how God made a call back to unity 00:01:07.20\00:01:10.63 when He called Abraham as His friend back into righteous 00:01:10.67\00:01:15.00 right relationship with Him and called the entire nation of 00:01:15.04\00:01:18.61 Israel and by extension each one of us as Christians 00:01:18.64\00:01:22.01 we're called back into unity with God the Father, 00:01:22.04\00:01:24.75 Son and Holy Spirit. 00:01:24.78\00:01:26.78 I want to introduce our panel to you at this time... 00:01:26.82\00:01:29.38 On my left is Shelley Quinn, lovely to be here; 00:01:29.42\00:01:31.89 Brother Johnny Dinzey, a pleasure to be here; 00:01:31.92\00:01:34.46 Mollie Steenson - we're delighted that you could 00:01:34.49\00:01:36.83 come up and join us for the Sabbath School Lesson, 00:01:36.89\00:01:38.83 why thank you; and Pastor John Lomacang, 00:01:38.86\00:01:41.06 our pastor here - good to be here. 00:01:41.10\00:01:43.06 It's a privilege to open up the word of God 00:01:43.10\00:01:44.93 with each one of you and to share. 00:01:44.97\00:01:46.47 And before we go any further, let's go to the Lord in prayer 00:01:46.50\00:01:49.54 and Shelley, would you pray for us here? Absolutely. 00:01:49.57\00:01:52.17 Heavenly Father, We come in the name of Jesus 00:01:52.21\00:01:55.04 thanking You for unity in Christ; thanking You, Lord, 00:01:55.08\00:01:59.41 for these lessons and, Father, our prayer is that Your church.. 00:01:59.45\00:02:05.22 that we may one with Jesus and one with You, 00:02:05.25\00:02:09.02 and one with each other, so Father, help us 00:02:09.06\00:02:11.89 to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit would say through us 00:02:11.93\00:02:15.96 today and for each one of us to put this into practice. 00:02:16.00\00:02:20.64 We thank You in advance for the answer to the prayer of faith. 00:02:20.70\00:02:23.67 In Jesus name... Amen 00:02:23.97\00:02:25.74 Amen! Thank you. 00:02:25.77\00:02:27.38 Before we jump into our lesson here today, 00:02:27.44\00:02:30.11 I want to give you the website where you can get this 00:02:30.15\00:02:33.28 Quarterly for yourself, just go to... 00:02:33.31\00:02:35.32 ABSG.Adventist.org 00:02:35.35\00:02:39.49 and you can download your own copy. 00:02:39.52\00:02:41.72 That stands for "Adult Bible Study Guide.Adventist.org 00:02:41.76\00:02:47.23 and you can get your copy or we always encourage you 00:02:47.30\00:02:50.20 to visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:02:50.23\00:02:53.03 They would have a copy of the Quarterly; 00:02:53.07\00:02:55.07 they would invite you to sit down in a Sabbath School 00:02:55.10\00:02:57.87 Class and participate in the discussion. 00:02:57.91\00:03:00.38 As I mentioned already, we're on Lesson 2 and our topic is 00:03:00.41\00:03:03.98 "Causes of Disunity" 00:03:04.05\00:03:06.48 Now "Merriam Webster," the Dictionary, defines unity 00:03:06.51\00:03:10.79 as "a condition of harmony or being in one accord; 00:03:10.82\00:03:15.56 the conflict or state of being made one." 00:03:15.59\00:03:18.53 Now Shelley, the potential for conflict is huge the moment 00:03:18.56\00:03:21.76 you introduce someone beside yourself. That's right. 00:03:21.80\00:03:24.07 So anybody who is married would that, 00:03:24.13\00:03:27.20 anybody who has gone to college and lived with a roommate 00:03:27.24\00:03:29.87 would know that anytime you introduce someone 00:03:29.90\00:03:31.97 beside yourself, you automatically have the 00:03:32.01\00:03:34.88 opening, the potential for conflict. 00:03:34.91\00:03:37.98 Now you multiply that in a church by 10 people 00:03:38.01\00:03:41.02 or 100 people or 1,000 people, and Pastor John, 00:03:41.05\00:03:44.29 you could have a great deal of conflict. Understatement. 00:03:44.32\00:03:47.79 Laughter... that's right. 00:03:47.82\00:03:49.72 Unity is a place where there is love instead of selfishness. 00:03:49.76\00:03:54.56 There is diversity instead of control and there is 00:03:54.56\00:03:58.97 humility instead of arrogance; there is doctrinal purity 00:03:59.00\00:04:05.91 instead of tolerance and moral relativism. 00:04:05.94\00:04:10.35 Should unity be preserved at the cost of truth? 00:04:10.38\00:04:13.85 The answer to that is "absolutely not." 00:04:13.92\00:04:17.59 I think of Martin Luther and a quote here from 00:04:17.62\00:04:21.26 "Great Controversy," p.166, Ellen White talking about 00:04:21.29\00:04:25.09 Martin Luther - she says... "Had the reformer yielded 00:04:25.13\00:04:28.46 a single point, Satan and his hosts 00:04:28.50\00:04:31.67 would have gained the victory, but his unwavering 00:04:31.70\00:04:34.60 firmness was the means of emancipating the church 00:04:34.64\00:04:37.47 and beginning a new and better era." 00:04:37.51\00:04:39.91 In that case, unity would not ... should not, should never be 00:04:39.94\00:04:43.71 at the expense of doctrinal truth; 00:04:43.75\00:04:46.25 at the expense of the word of God. 00:04:46.28\00:04:48.58 As we talk about the history of Israel, 00:04:48.62\00:04:53.32 we see a history of walking with God and then falling 00:04:53.36\00:04:58.69 away from God - we begin to see apostasy; 00:04:58.73\00:05:01.73 we begin to see rebellion - choosing to walk away from God. 00:05:01.76\00:05:05.60 And then we see the results of that of disunity. 00:05:05.63\00:05:09.60 And then God called to His people and they came back. 00:05:09.64\00:05:14.34 They repented - they came back, they were restored into unity 00:05:14.38\00:05:18.08 and right relationship with Him, 00:05:18.11\00:05:19.45 and then we that falling-away again. 00:05:19.48\00:05:22.15 That's what Sunday's lesson is all about... 00:05:22.18\00:05:24.12 "Return O backsliding children," and before we do that, 00:05:24.19\00:05:27.79 I want to read the memory text, you can look up and follow 00:05:27.82\00:05:30.73 along at home - we're in Proverbs 9:10... 00:05:30.76\00:05:34.83 The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, 00:05:34.83\00:05:38.97 and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." 00:05:39.00\00:05:44.27 What are the causes for division is disunity in the church? 00:05:44.31\00:05:47.44 Obviously, they are all under one heading and you could 00:05:47.48\00:05:50.61 categorize that as sin, but I like to categorize it in 00:05:50.65\00:05:54.08 three different categories. 00:05:54.12\00:05:55.92 We could say "sin, stubbornness and selfishness." 00:05:55.95\00:06:00.19 All of them really do fall under the category of sin 00:06:00.22\00:06:02.56 and we know that. 00:06:02.59\00:06:03.96 But sin leads, obviously, to disobedience to God, 00:06:03.99\00:06:07.30 and unfaithfulness to His word. 00:06:07.36\00:06:09.66 Stubbornness is me just saying, "I'm unwilling 00:06:09.70\00:06:13.34 to surrender my pride, my own way to the will of God... 00:06:13.37\00:06:18.04 thinking "I'm right and my way is the only way." 00:06:18.07\00:06:21.28 Selfishness is seeking myself and my own needs 00:06:21.31\00:06:26.28 or what I think are my needs ahead of other people. 00:06:26.31\00:06:30.09 Now those are what I would call the three main categories 00:06:30.12\00:06:33.09 of disunity or division in a church, 00:06:33.12\00:06:35.22 but there are quite a few subcategories, 00:06:35.26\00:06:37.23 we could say, under that... 00:06:37.26\00:06:38.69 One of those would be "gossip." 00:06:38.73\00:06:41.33 Now gossip can do a great deal to cause division 00:06:41.36\00:06:44.70 and disunity in the church. 00:06:44.73\00:06:46.80 Miss Mollie, you've told me this for years... 00:06:46.84\00:06:49.04 "If I were to say something about someone else to you, 00:06:49.07\00:06:52.27 what happens? 00:06:52.31\00:06:53.64 You now have to deal with that." 00:06:53.68\00:06:55.01 Now this could be rectified with this other person, 00:06:55.04\00:06:58.05 and this could be solved, but you're going to, forever, 00:06:58.08\00:07:00.65 have something in your mind about that other person. Yes 00:07:00.68\00:07:03.95 Gossip brings division and disunity. 00:07:04.02\00:07:07.29 Evil surmising brings division and disunity. 00:07:07.32\00:07:11.79 Think about 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter on love 00:07:11.83\00:07:15.26 in verse 5 it says... "Love thinks no evil." 00:07:15.30\00:07:19.43 But when I begin to either surmise or think evil of 00:07:19.47\00:07:22.07 someone else, what happens? 00:07:22.10\00:07:23.51 It changes the way I relate to that person 00:07:23.54\00:07:26.54 and that leads to disunity. 00:07:26.57\00:07:29.24 Jealousy! Jealousy certainly leads to division and disunity. 00:07:29.28\00:07:34.48 1 Corinthians 3:3... "Where there are envy, 00:07:34.52\00:07:37.72 (or you can say jealousy) strife, and divisions among you, 00:07:37.75\00:07:42.26 are you not carnal or behaving like mere men?" 00:07:42.29\00:07:46.59 Quarreling - that definitely leads to 00:07:46.63\00:07:49.33 division or to disunity. 00:07:49.36\00:07:51.43 2 Timothy 2:23-24... "Don't have anything to do 00:07:51.47\00:07:55.74 with foolish and stupid arguments because 00:07:55.77\00:07:58.54 you know they produce quarrels and the Lord's servant 00:07:58.57\00:08:01.88 must not quarrel, instead he must be kind to everyone, 00:08:01.91\00:08:06.21 able to teach, not resentful." 00:08:06.25\00:08:09.55 What else leads to disunity? Lack of prayer. 00:08:09.58\00:08:12.75 I think of Matthew 18:20... "Where two or three people 00:08:12.79\00:08:16.42 are gathered in His name (what does Jesus say?) 00:08:16.46\00:08:19.16 I am there in the midst of them." That's right. 00:08:19.19\00:08:21.23 So that means when we come together, 00:08:21.26\00:08:22.90 when we pray, what happens? 00:08:22.93\00:08:24.70 Jesus draws near and we draw near to each other. 00:08:24.73\00:08:28.60 We come in unity, but if I refuse to pray with my sister 00:08:28.64\00:08:32.77 or my brother, if I choose not to do that, that leads 00:08:32.81\00:08:36.54 to disunity. 00:08:36.58\00:08:37.91 I think also a lack of confrontation leads to disunity. 00:08:37.95\00:08:42.15 Now you may say... "How is that even possible?" 00:08:42.18\00:08:44.85 But when you sweep things under the carpet, 00:08:44.89\00:08:47.36 what happens? 00:08:47.39\00:08:48.72 Resentments begin to build up in your own heart 00:08:48.76\00:08:52.26 and you never go to the person and actually address 00:08:52.29\00:08:54.56 or talk about things... that can lead to disunity. 00:08:54.56\00:08:58.30 I also believe a lack of evangelism or a lack of 00:08:58.33\00:09:01.77 evangelistic spirit leads to disunity because if you see a 00:09:01.80\00:09:05.74 church or church members that are evangelistic in heart 00:09:05.77\00:09:10.18 and mind and life and that's all they think about, 00:09:10.21\00:09:12.38 there is no room for division in that because they're 00:09:12.41\00:09:15.28 focused on that one mission. 00:09:15.32\00:09:17.12 As I mentioned already, the history of Israel is filled with 00:09:17.15\00:09:20.02 a repeated pattern... walking with God and then 00:09:20.09\00:09:23.66 following after other gods, choosing their own way 00:09:23.69\00:09:26.73 to walk in sin and selfishness and stubbornness, 00:09:26.76\00:09:29.70 and then that led to apostasy and division... 00:09:29.73\00:09:33.13 And then they made the choice, God called to their hearts 00:09:33.17\00:09:36.54 "Come back to Me," and then we that repentance 00:09:36.57\00:09:39.44 and that reformation and them coming back to Him. 00:09:39.47\00:09:41.74 Let's look in Deuteronomy 28, this is the law of blessing 00:09:41.78\00:09:46.72 and curses - blessings and cursings I guess you would say. 00:09:46.75\00:09:50.49 Deuteronomy 28 and before we look at blessings that 00:09:50.52\00:09:53.76 take place as a result of walking 00:09:53.79\00:09:56.52 in unity with God - as a result of walking in His commands. 00:09:56.56\00:10:00.20 Let's look at the conditions... 00:10:00.23\00:10:01.53 Now when I read Deuteronomy 28, I see three conditions 00:10:01.56\00:10:04.43 for those blessings to come upon the children of Israel, 00:10:04.47\00:10:07.60 and by extension, you could say, "us as 00:10:07.64\00:10:09.40 the children of God today." 00:10:09.44\00:10:11.04 Let's read verse 1, Deuteronomy 28:1... 00:10:11.07\00:10:14.14 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey 00:10:14.18\00:10:17.61 the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully 00:10:17.65\00:10:20.72 all His commandments which I command you today, 00:10:20.78\00:10:23.18 That the Lord your God will set you high above 00:10:23.22\00:10:25.99 all nations of the earth, and all these blessings 00:10:26.02\00:10:28.69 shall come upon you and overtake you because you obeyed 00:10:28.72\00:10:31.73 the voice of the Lord your God." 00:10:31.76\00:10:34.13 So let's look first at the beginning... 00:10:34.20\00:10:36.13 It says, "It shall come to pass, if you diligently obey 00:10:36.16\00:10:40.07 the voice of the Lord your God..." 00:10:40.10\00:10:41.84 Now in Hebrew, the word for diligently is "shema" 00:10:41.87\00:10:45.07 which means "to hear." 00:10:45.11\00:10:46.84 The word for obey is "shema" which means "to hear." 00:10:46.91\00:10:51.11 So in other words, it's almost - now I'm not a Hebrew scholar, 00:10:51.15\00:10:54.62 but if I were reading that, it lists the word twice. 00:10:54.65\00:10:57.02 It says "hear-hear," so it's almost like God is saying... 00:10:57.05\00:11:00.66 "If you really listen." 00:11:00.69\00:11:03.22 You know, He mentions it twice... 00:11:03.26\00:11:05.36 "If you hear, hear." 00:11:05.39\00:11:06.83 "If you really listen to My voice." 00:11:06.90\00:11:10.33 And what are you supposed to do when you listen? 00:11:10.37\00:11:11.87 It says, "To observe carefully all His commandments." 00:11:11.90\00:11:14.74 "Observe" is "shamar, which means "to keep watch over, 00:11:14.77\00:11:19.31 to preserve, to guard." 00:11:19.34\00:11:22.41 So what is God saying here... we are to listen, 00:11:22.44\00:11:26.01 listen very closely because it mentions "hear, hear" twice. 00:11:26.05\00:11:29.45 We are to hear His voice and we are to keep watch 00:11:29.48\00:11:33.72 or guard over His commandments. Amen! 00:11:33.76\00:11:36.62 In other words, we are to walk in obedience 00:11:36.69\00:11:38.96 to what He has called us to do. 00:11:38.99\00:11:40.56 The third condition I see in verse 14... 00:11:40.60\00:11:43.13 It says, "So you shall not turn aside from any of the words 00:11:43.16\00:11:46.57 which I command you this day, to the right or to the left, 00:11:46.60\00:11:49.27 to go after other gods to serve them." 00:11:49.30\00:11:53.07 So not only are we to listen closely for the voice of God, 00:11:53.11\00:11:57.01 not only are we to keep watch over His commandments, 00:11:57.08\00:11:59.81 we are not to walk after other gods. 00:11:59.85\00:12:03.15 We're not to follow after gods of our own choosing. 00:12:03.18\00:12:05.62 So what are the blessings that come upon us? 00:12:05.65\00:12:07.96 There are blessings regardless of location... 00:12:07.99\00:12:11.56 Whether you are in the city or the country; 00:12:11.59\00:12:13.80 whether you're going in or coming out. 00:12:13.83\00:12:16.00 There are blessings on your home and your children. 00:12:16.03\00:12:19.77 Blessings on your job and your finances. 00:12:19.80\00:12:22.34 The Bible talks about garden and herds and food and storehouses. 00:12:22.37\00:12:26.54 Money - That you will be able to lend money, 00:12:26.57\00:12:29.44 and you don't even have to borrow money. 00:12:29.48\00:12:31.85 There will be blessing and protection and vindication 00:12:31.88\00:12:35.65 against your enemies. 00:12:35.68\00:12:37.25 And what is the result of all these blessings? 00:12:37.29\00:12:40.46 That is in verse 10... It says that, "All peoples 00:12:40.52\00:12:43.69 of the earth shall see that you are called by the name 00:12:43.73\00:12:46.96 of the Lord and they shall be afraid of you." 00:12:47.00\00:12:50.03 So all people - in other words, God didn't give the blessings 00:12:50.10\00:12:52.90 for the children of Israel to just sit down in their luxury... 00:12:52.93\00:12:56.20 "I have a lot of blessings from God and I'm having 00:12:56.24\00:12:58.87 a really good day today." 00:12:58.91\00:13:00.31 They were given blessings because they were called to 00:13:00.38\00:13:03.55 be a light - they were called to be as a city set on the 00:13:03.58\00:13:07.35 hill to the Gentiles - to those around them to see this 00:13:07.42\00:13:11.32 is what happens as a result of walking with God. 00:13:11.35\00:13:15.39 You know the history of Israel and they did not always 00:13:15.42\00:13:18.16 choose those blessings; they did not always hear; 00:13:18.19\00:13:21.13 they did not always observe and keep... 00:13:21.16\00:13:23.06 And they DID turn after false gods, 00:13:23.10\00:13:26.17 but God did not forsake them. 00:13:26.20\00:13:27.80 Our last Scripture is Jeremiah 3. 00:13:27.84\00:13:30.87 Jeremiah 3- this is at a time of general disobedience. 00:13:30.91\00:13:37.71 As a whole, the nation of Israel had turned away from God, 00:13:37.75\00:13:41.45 and yet, He gives this beautiful appeal 00:13:41.48\00:13:43.65 in Jeremiah 3:14... "Return O backsliding children," 00:13:43.69\00:13:50.09 says the Lord, for I am married to you. 00:13:50.13\00:13:53.16 I will take you one from a city and two from a family, 00:13:53.19\00:13:57.83 and I will bring you to Zion." Return. That's right. 00:13:57.87\00:14:02.27 So even in a time of disobedience and walking 00:14:02.30\00:14:05.17 away from God - God still wanted to be their people. 00:14:05.21\00:14:10.15 He still loved them. 00:14:10.18\00:14:12.25 He still wanted them. 00:14:12.28\00:14:14.75 He still wanted to restore them and restore them back 00:14:14.78\00:14:19.05 into unity and right relationship to Him. 00:14:19.09\00:14:22.29 Before we go on to Shelley and she's going to talk about 00:14:22.32\00:14:24.73 the judges and the spiritual condition 00:14:24.76\00:14:26.70 in the time of the judges, I just want to say, 00:14:26.73\00:14:29.06 "I don't know where you feel like you are in your walk 00:14:29.10\00:14:32.00 with God today - you might feel like, "I'm like the 00:14:32.03\00:14:34.24 children of Israel and I've wandered far from God; 00:14:34.27\00:14:37.11 I've not listened to His voice; I have not kept 00:14:37.17\00:14:41.21 His commandments; I have turned after other gods. 00:14:41.24\00:14:44.25 And God is speaking to you right now and He says, 00:14:44.28\00:14:46.78 "I love you with an everlasting love, would you 00:14:46.82\00:14:49.92 return to me? 00:14:49.95\00:14:51.29 I am married to you and I love you and I want you 00:14:51.32\00:14:54.39 as my son and as my daughter." Amen and Amen! 00:14:54.42\00:14:57.76 Thank you Jill for that beautiful foundation. 00:14:57.79\00:15:00.83 And, you know, this is such a great lesson... 00:15:00.86\00:15:04.00 "The Causes of Disunity" 00:15:04.07\00:15:07.27 My lesson is Monday and, boy, the title tells you 00:15:07.34\00:15:13.81 what a cause of disunity is. 00:15:13.88\00:15:16.44 "Right in His Own Eyes" When we think that we are right, 00:15:16.48\00:15:21.75 and we believe that our way is better 00:15:21.78\00:15:24.19 than God's way, we're in trouble. 00:15:24.29\00:15:26.62 There's going to be disunity. 00:15:26.65\00:15:28.72 So, you will recall, who succeeded Moses? 00:15:28.76\00:15:32.73 Who was it that took the children of Israel 00:15:32.76\00:15:36.13 into the land of Canaan? Joshua? Yes! 00:15:36.16\00:15:39.77 So the Book of Judges is the history of the period that 00:15:39.80\00:15:45.94 immediately followed after Joshua died until 00:15:45.97\00:15:52.78 the time of Samuel. 00:15:52.81\00:15:55.42 So let's look at Deuteronomy 16:18... 00:15:55.45\00:16:00.49 When Moses instructed, in Deuteronomy 16:18, 00:16:00.52\00:16:06.76 "You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates 00:16:06.83\00:16:12.53 which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes 00:16:12.57\00:16:18.61 and they shall judge the people with just judgment." 00:16:18.64\00:16:23.45 So after Moses and Joshua had died, 00:16:23.48\00:16:31.02 what they did was follow this advice and judges 00:16:31.05\00:16:33.96 were appointed to be the highest civil authorities in the land. 00:16:33.99\00:16:37.03 Now Samuel comes along, he was a priest, 00:16:37.79\00:16:41.23 a prophet and the last judge and he was the first king-maker. 00:16:41.26\00:16:47.64 So he linked the period of the judges with the monarchy, 00:16:47.67\00:16:51.54 but the Jewish tradition says that Samuel authored this book. 00:16:51.57\00:16:57.95 I highly doubt it because Samuel was absolutely against 00:16:57.98\00:17:04.55 making a king. 00:17:04.59\00:17:06.49 Samuel did not - he was totally opposed to that idea. 00:17:06.52\00:17:11.29 And what we see in Judges 17:6 and then in 21:25 as well... 00:17:11.33\00:17:17.77 It's an identical quote, it says, "In those days, 00:17:17.80\00:17:23.91 there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right 00:17:23.94\00:17:30.15 in his own eyes." 00:17:30.18\00:17:32.58 So the author seems to be in favor of having a king, 00:17:32.61\00:17:38.09 and he thought maybe this would basically prevent 00:17:38.12\00:17:42.72 their spiritual decline. 00:17:42.76\00:17:45.03 But we know that the kings did not solve the apostasy. 00:17:45.06\00:17:51.47 In fact, they led their people into apostasy so often. 00:17:51.50\00:17:56.24 So the theme of Judges is one of sin and apostasy 00:17:56.27\00:18:02.54 from true religion and it's interesting because 00:18:02.58\00:18:05.61 it shows how it always brings God's displeasure 00:18:05.65\00:18:09.68 and then what does God do? 00:18:09.72\00:18:12.05 He permits suffering; He permits disaster, 00:18:12.09\00:18:17.19 but it isn't vindictive, it's supposed to be educational. 00:18:17.26\00:18:22.73 In other words, God allows this to come on the people 00:18:22.76\00:18:26.67 to bring about sincere repentance. 00:18:26.74\00:18:29.87 And then what He does is, He raises up a person 00:18:29.90\00:18:32.84 or circumstances to bring relief from the disaster, 00:18:32.87\00:18:37.68 and we see this pattern in Judges 00:18:37.71\00:18:39.75 just repeated over and over. 00:18:39.78\00:18:41.58 So God's people would only... let me say it this way... 00:18:41.62\00:18:49.16 God's people would only find unity in their nation 00:18:49.19\00:18:55.43 through loyal obedience. 00:18:55.46\00:18:58.07 It's just what you said earlier. 00:18:58.10\00:19:00.67 Righteousness exalts a nation, but moral decay brings 00:19:00.70\00:19:06.91 about the national weakness. 00:19:06.94\00:19:09.24 So let's look at Judges 2:6-13 and we'll look at the spiritual 00:19:09.28\00:19:15.42 and social conditions of Israel during the time of the judges. 00:19:15.45\00:19:20.12 Judges 2:6-13... "When Joshua had dismissed 00:19:20.19\00:19:25.23 the people, the children of Israel went each to his own 00:19:25.26\00:19:27.86 inheritance to possess the land. 00:19:27.86\00:19:29.86 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, 00:19:29.90\00:19:34.54 and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. 00:19:34.57\00:19:40.08 (so for that whole generation, everybody that had served 00:19:40.11\00:19:43.98 Joshua and lived during that time) 00:19:44.05\00:19:46.95 who had seen all the great works of the Lord 00:19:47.02\00:19:51.15 which He had done for Israel..." 00:19:51.19\00:19:54.29 (so Joshua and those elders that served with him, 00:19:54.32\00:19:57.89 and lived just beyond his death, they were familiar 00:19:57.93\00:20:02.56 with all the works of the Lord) and it says in verse 8... 00:20:02.60\00:20:06.70 "Now Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, 00:20:06.74\00:20:09.80 died when he was 110 years old, and they buried him within 00:20:09.84\00:20:15.44 the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, 00:20:15.48\00:20:19.75 in the mountains of Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gaash. 00:20:19.78\00:20:25.42 When all that generation... (here's going to be a switch 00:20:25.45\00:20:29.56 now)... had been gathered to their fathers, 00:20:29.59\00:20:32.96 (what does that mean - when they're gathered to their 00:20:32.99\00:20:35.43 fathers, they're sleeping the sleep of death with the fathers) 00:20:35.46\00:20:39.17 Another generation arose after them who did not know 00:20:39.20\00:20:45.51 the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. 00:20:45.54\00:20:50.38 So in one generation, they're forgetting about 00:20:50.41\00:20:53.78 their covenant Redeemer. 00:20:53.85\00:20:56.28 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord 00:20:56.32\00:21:01.92 and served the Baals, and they forsook the Lord God of 00:21:01.96\00:21:05.06 of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, 00:21:05.09\00:21:08.43 and they followed other gods from among the gods of the 00:21:08.46\00:21:12.57 people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; 00:21:12.63\00:21:17.27 and they provoked the Lord to anger. 00:21:17.31\00:21:21.68 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths." 00:21:21.71\00:21:27.58 Now I'm going to jump forward 00:21:27.62\00:21:29.22 just a little bit to Judges 3:5-7... 00:21:29.25\00:21:32.15 "Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, 00:21:32.19\00:21:38.43 the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, 00:21:38.46\00:21:41.33 and the Jebusites. 00:21:41.36\00:21:43.16 And they took their daughters (they took the daughters 00:21:43.20\00:21:46.80 of these pagan people) to be their wives, 00:21:46.87\00:21:50.57 and they gave their daughters (the Israelite daughters) 00:21:50.64\00:21:54.94 to the sons of these pagans and they served their gods. 00:21:54.98\00:22:01.65 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." 00:22:01.68\00:22:06.59 That's repeated seven times in the Book of Judges. 00:22:06.62\00:22:10.16 "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." 00:22:10.23\00:22:13.50 "They forgot their God and they served the Baals 00:22:13.53\00:22:17.03 and the Asherahs." 00:22:17.07\00:22:19.30 So God had commanded them to be separate from the people. 00:22:19.33\00:22:25.74 He sent them in there as a light to the Gentiles, 00:22:25.77\00:22:29.31 but He wanted them to be separate 00:22:29.34\00:22:31.35 from their unholy influences. 00:22:31.41\00:22:34.08 We are in this world, but we're not to be of this world, right? 00:22:34.12\00:22:39.59 So He was saying to them - don't conform to their pagan 00:22:39.62\00:22:44.59 practices and what happened was, the evil of the pagans... 00:22:44.63\00:22:50.63 they tempted the Israelites and within just one generation, 00:22:50.70\00:22:56.40 one generation, after the death of Joshua, those who had 00:22:56.44\00:23:02.11 participated in the conquest that they've gone on 00:23:02.14\00:23:05.38 and suddenly these people become more and more 00:23:05.41\00:23:08.68 like the people that they were actually charged to displace. 00:23:08.72\00:23:12.92 It's amazing... the Bible says, Bad company 00:23:12.95\00:23:19.33 corrupts good morals. That's right. 00:23:19.36\00:23:21.46 Evil companionship - this is why it is so important 00:23:21.50\00:23:25.23 if you as a youth - sometimes you don't understand 00:23:25.27\00:23:29.54 why your parents may say, "Son, I don't want you to hang 00:23:29.57\00:23:33.94 with this group of kids," and you think, "Well, why not?" 00:23:33.98\00:23:37.85 "Why not?" I remember my mother 00:23:37.88\00:23:40.88 told me once - I always had to bring my friends home 00:23:40.92\00:23:43.22 to meet her and after I brought this one friend home, 00:23:43.25\00:23:46.92 she said, "Honey, I want you to be friendly to her, 00:23:46.96\00:23:50.93 but I don't want you to be too close to her." 00:23:50.96\00:23:53.36 And come to find out, there were good reasons 00:23:53.40\00:23:55.33 why my mother saw through it before I did. 00:23:55.40\00:23:58.03 But what happened - these evil companions ruined 00:23:58.07\00:24:04.54 the training and the good intentions of the people, 00:24:04.57\00:24:07.11 and they began to follow the inclinations of their own heart. 00:24:07.18\00:24:10.58 And this is what happens - the nation lost the memory 00:24:10.65\00:24:15.18 of God's redemptive work and the historical pattern, 00:24:15.22\00:24:18.79 the people abandoned the Lord their Redeemer and then in 00:24:19.79\00:24:22.99 judgment, He would send in foreign enemies; 00:24:23.02\00:24:26.29 they would cry out to the Lord and in mercy, 00:24:26.33\00:24:30.23 He would provide a deliverer. 00:24:30.27\00:24:33.03 So instead of learning the lessons that they should have, 00:24:33.07\00:24:38.47 they kept going deeper and deeper into depravity, 00:24:38.51\00:24:41.18 but God is a bigger Savior than we are a sinner. 00:24:41.21\00:24:45.75 Aww, Amen Shelley. Thank you so much. 00:24:45.78\00:24:48.32 It's amazing they forgot in one generation what God 00:24:48.35\00:24:51.32 had instructed and how they had walked with Him, 00:24:51.35\00:24:53.12 but praise the Lord that judgment is redemptive. 00:24:53.15\00:24:56.09 We're going to take a short break just now. 00:24:56.12\00:24:57.83 Don't go anywhere... we'll be right back. 00:24:57.86\00:24:59.96