Matthew Blewett – Heaven and Earth – Class 1 – Patterns of Purpose

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Welcome back.
This is day one of the 2024

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Idyllwild Bible School.
Our third period teacher is

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Brother Matthew Blewett.
His general topic is Heaven and

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Earth.
Today’s topic is Patterns of

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Purpose.
Right, good morning everyone.

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I will try and be loud to keep
you awake for this graveyard

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session.
I’m sure as the week goes on,

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you’ll become more fortified and
be able to stay awake for the

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whole session.
We’re going to be doing a series

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called Heaven and Earth.
And this first session is kind

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of, I guess, a foundational one,
one that I have to go through to

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try and establish a kind of
thinking that I think is very

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helpful for the rest of what
we’re going to be talking about

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during the week.
So we might not get into the

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meat and bones of heaven and
Earth.

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And I’m going to already make an
apologies.

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I think if I ask you to open
your Bibles and turn to Genesis

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one verse one, which you can do,
many of you would probably

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think, well, I don’t need to do
that, Matt, Because if there’s

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one verse in the Bible, I would
be prepared to come on the stage

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and give you a full of our heart
repetitions of it is Genesis one

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verse one.
And sure enough, it is probably

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the most well known verse in all
of the Bible.

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Even I think people that don’t
believe that the Bible is the

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word of God would be able to
repeat the first verse of the

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Bible.
In the beginning, God created

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the heaven and the earth.
And I have some good news about

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this series given that it’s in
the third session and I’ve got

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some bad news.
The good news is at one level

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this is going to be the most
simple Bible school series

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you’ve ever attended.
Perfect for a third session

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because we’re only going to talk
about one verse and essentially

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3 words.
And so we could do it all now

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and it’ll all be done.
The bad news is, at the same

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time, it could be the most
complicated that you’re ever

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going to deal with.
And we’re dealing with really

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this relationship actually
between simplicity and

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complexity, between order and
chaos, how it plays out in our

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lives and how it plays out in
the Word of God and in things

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that are spiritual.
And I guess that’s what we’re

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going to be trying to to deal
with in this series.

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I’m going to be focusing on this
verse, Genesis one, verse one.

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In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth for

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me.
It’s only been probably in the

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last five or six years that the
way that I’ve come to understand

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the holistic and amplified
meaning of that opening sentence

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of the Bible has changed
completely.

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I guess for me and maybe for
some of you in this room before

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I had this change of, of view of
Genesis one verse one, the first

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verse of the Bible was a very
powerful opening introduction to

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the Bible that made it very
clear that God existed before

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all things and then was the one
who created all things that we

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see around us in the real world.
A very powerful introduction.

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I want to put it to you that not
only is it a powerful

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introduction, it is the whole
story.

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It contains within it the
purpose and the pattern of

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reality.
And from this verse we have a

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framework and a lens to
understand not only the rest of

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Scripture, but in fact the real
natural world in which we live.

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And those are some, I hope,
quite bold claims.

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And what I want to try and do
during this series of talks is

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through taking you through what
I mean by that, what I mean by

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the pattern of heaven and earth,
to be able to show you that

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perhaps there is some truth to
the claim that I’m making.

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And that’s not just because I
want to be able to make that

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claim.
It’s because I think if you

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begin to understand the pattern
that is being established in

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Genesis, one verse one, first of
all, it will be really helpful

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as a lens or a framework when
you do further Bible reading or

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Bible study.
Because it just provides you

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with an angle of looking at
things that perhaps is a little

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bit different to the way you may
have done it in the past.

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But even more importantly, well,
as importantly, I should rather

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say it provides a framework for
us to view the world in which we

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live in, the world of our five
senses, and how that actually

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works with the spiritual world.
And I think that’s very

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important, extremely important
in the world that we live in

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today and also perhaps for our
community.

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What do I mean by that?
Well, one of the things I want

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to really leave behind, besides
talking and helping you perhaps

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see a greater perspective on
this pattern of heaven and

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earth, is I want to encourage
all of us.

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And I’m sure there are many who
are already practising active

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disciples, but I want to
encourage us towards activated

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discipleship.
And you’ll see as we carry on in

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the series of talks, exactly
what I mean by that.

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But we live in a world that is
becoming more and more passive

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and we’re going to be faced with
that challenge more and more,

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especially as technology
continues to do what it’s doing

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to us.
What do I mean by that?

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Well, you know what I mean.
It’s very easy to spend hours

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today sitting back and consuming
information, consuming

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entertainment, living
essentially in a virtual world.

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No longer having to actually go
physically to the shop to buy

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anything.
No longer perhaps even having to

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physically go into a church, a
hall, no longer physically

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having to do most of the things
that your parents would have had

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to do.
And we are being virtualised and

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we are becoming passive.
And so a big encouragement on

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the journey that I’ve been on in
understanding the pattern of

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heaven and earth is
understanding how important it

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is for us to be activated in our
discipleship.

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And I guess, you know, the real
clue to it all is that the first

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time we encounter our God is he
is active, He is a creator.

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You know, we often talk about
what do we know about God, His

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characteristics in Exodus 34.
He’s merciful, gracious,

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long-suffering, abundant and
loving kindness and truth.

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But before we even learn that
about God, we learn that he is a

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creator.
He is making things.

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And this is what we want to
encourage through the course of

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this series.
But we’re going to start in this

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first session by talking about
patterns.

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I’ve made the statement that in
Genesis chapter one, verse one,

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and specifically in the words
heaven and earth, we have what

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I’ve called what I would would
would put forward the

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foundational pattern of all
reality and the purpose of all

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creation in those three words.
And when we understand why it’s

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important to see things and why
it is that actually reality is

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revealed to us in patterns,
Hopefully you’ll you’ll see why

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I’m using that terminology.
So for this session, I just want

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to help us in thinking about
patterns.

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And I think it’s very useful
again, from a, a, a, a

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understanding of how the world
works around us.

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And also from when we reading
our Bibles and studying our

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Bibles.
I think often when we study the

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Bible, when we try and
understand elements of the

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Bible, we, we come with a rules
based approach or a linear

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approach to trying to unravel
Scripture and that’s often not

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helpful.
In fact, I think many of the

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debates and the issues that we
have within our community and

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also that we have with one
another are really because we’re

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trying to oversimplify the
beauty of what is presented to

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us in the Word of God.
And what we’re going to see is

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when we understand that reality
is revealed to us in patterns,

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it’s going to help us to
understand that there is neither

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an oversimplified world or
Bible, nor is there a Bible of

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over complexity and chaos that
we cannot come to grips with.

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The truth is somewhere in
between.

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So let me try and make some more
sense out of that.

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We live in a very complicated
world right now.

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There are so many things going
on that could gain your

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attention.
There are millions and millions

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of data points that could be
feeding into you.

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And quite frankly, some of them
are feeding into you and they

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have nothing to do with me right
now.

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But hopefully for most of you,
because I’m the loudest person

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in the room, you are paying some
attention to me and what I’m

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saying.
But how then do we make sense of

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a world of infinite complexity?
Well, the way we make sense of

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it is we begin to see patterns
of meaning, patterns of purpose

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within that complexity.
So that’s just a very simple

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idea, but that’s actually the
way that we navigate our way

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through the world.
We navigate our way through the

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world through identifying
patterns.

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And the amazing thing is this is
that those patterns actually

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exist.
And we’re going to see both in

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the natural world and in the
spiritual world, because there

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was a designer and a creator.
I often say to someone who

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believes in a materialistic view
of the world, who believes that

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there is no design, who believes
that things came by pure random

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chance.
Why is it that we’re not in a

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chaotic world completely?
Why is it that there is some

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consistency of patterns?
And that’s the greatest

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evidence, isn’t it, that there
is a designer.

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Because once you decide you want
to create something for a

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purpose, for example, I want to
create this podium.

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What do I do next?
I want to create a podium that

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we can use for a speaker to put
their notes on and to be able to

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address an audience.
I design something that is going

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to achieve that purpose, and
then the design reveals a

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pattern of what a podium is, and
that is exactly what patterns

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do.
They reveal purpose, They reveal

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design.
And the fact that we find

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patterns throughout the natural
world, in fact, that’s what the

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scientists do through their
research, is to identify

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patterns from the darkness of
the things we don’t know.

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We reveal things and we learn
new patterns is really evidence

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that behind what may appear to
be a chaotic world are very

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simple rules pointing towards
purpose.

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And that’s in fact, as I say,
how we deal with simplicity and

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complexity.
And what you really begin to

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understand then is that we live
in a world where there are some

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very, very simple ideas.
And on the edges, as you can see

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on that picture, there’s some
roughness, there’s some

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complexity.
And the challenge for us

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sometimes is to be able to live
in that space, if you will,

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between chaos and order, between
simplicity and complexity.

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And we tend to to veer to the
one extent or to the other.

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It’s very, very tempting to try
and shoehorn the world into a

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place of pure order where
everything we can work out and

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make sense of.
We do the same with the Bible.

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And so we we really reduce the
pattern to a set of rules.

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And of course that leads to a
whole bunch of problems because

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when something in reality turns
up that doesn’t fit within our

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set, within the rules that we’ve
established, we end up in real

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trouble or we go to the other
extreme.

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And because those things have
happened in our life and chaos

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has come in, we think, well,
well, this is just a world of

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infinite chaos.
We can no longer identify the

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patterns of purpose.
And so I think just

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understanding in your mind that
the way that we navigate the

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world and the way that we might
navigate Scripture as well

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through pattern recognition is
really important.

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And the cool thing is this, we
from the beginning were

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designed, God designed us to be
good pattern recognisers.

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I mean, you think about it, this
is a cool story.

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The first task that was ever
given to a man was a patent

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recognition task because Adam
had been wandering around all

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these animals, bumblebees, all
sorts of animals, like they’re

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just there.
So God says, hang on a moment,

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Adam, I can make things a bit
simpler for you.

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I’m going to put you here and
I’m going to bring these animals

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in front of you.
And what you’re going to do is

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you’re going to start to
recognise that a whole bunch of

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them look similar.
And then what you can do is you

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can give them a name, and now
you have established a pattern

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and you’ve put a name and you
can link that pattern to a whole

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bunch of understanding that you
have with those animals.

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So you can imagine Adam is
sitting there and an animal

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comes along and it looks like a,
you know, this little mammal

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with four legs and a tail and a
round nose.

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And he says, I see a lot of
those, and they make a sound

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like Eeyore, Eeyore.
And they don’t look particularly

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intelligent.
I’m going to call that donkey.

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And so he names the pattern.
And here’s the interesting thing

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about patterns.
Not all of the donkeys are going

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to look exactly the same.
There’s going to be some big

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donkeys and smaller donkeys and
but they generally are all

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donkeys.
And the interesting thing about

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pattern recognition is the more
resolution we get, then we start

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to distinguish and we start
getting better at understanding

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that here’s a new pattern that’s
emerging.

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And so while he’s looking at
these donkeys, he notices that

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some of the donkeys actually
have straps.

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You know, like in Africa, we say
you get some donkeys that are

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white with black stripes and
some donkeys that are white with

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black stripes.
So yeah, that way around.

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And he says, yes, these ones are
different.

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And he calls them zebras using
the American word.

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And so he begins to identify
these patterns.

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And that’s the way in which we
navigate life by identifying

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those patterns.
The interesting thing is that as

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we go through life, we actually
begin to not just recognise the

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patterns, but we begin to
actually create those same

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pattern recognitions in our
brain.

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00:14:23,880 –> 00:14:26,080
And so although that’s a
positive thing because now we

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can actually make sense of a
highly complex world, of course,

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00:14:30,040 –> 00:14:34,000
if we start to recognise the
wrong patterns, the patterns

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that don’t speak towards truth,
well, things can actually become

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quite problematic.
You see in Genesis, in Genesis

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chapter one, we have an
interesting way in which the

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record is recorded for us.
It’s almost like God saying, I

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need you to understand that
there is a link between the

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00:14:54,080 –> 00:14:58,040
patterns of heaven and the
patterns of earth between, we

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might say spiritual patterns and
natural patterns.

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And when you read the text, you,
you know, we’ve read it so many

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times.
So we, we often don’t see this.

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We, we’re seeing God reveal
creation to us.

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And there are words that are
invisible that we cannot see.

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Call them ideas, things that you
cannot touch or feel or smell

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00:15:16,640 –> 00:15:20,800
with your 5 senses.
And those words are called it

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patterns of spiritual truth, and
they give rise to a natural

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pattern.
And so we have, for example, the

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pattern of let there be light.
Those are words invisible.

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00:15:32,200 –> 00:15:35,960
And then there was light.
And then there’s the pattern of

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let the waters divide and then
the waters divided.

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And so the Scripture starts off
by saying to us, not only are

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there patterns out there, in
actual fact, the patterns that

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00:15:46,680 –> 00:15:51,160
you’re seeing in the natural
world are directly linked to

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00:15:51,160 –> 00:15:55,720
patterns of meaning, to patterns
of spiritual truth.

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And it’s only if you’ve trained
yourself to understand what

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00:15:59,920 –> 00:16:02,560
those patterns of spiritual
truth are that you’ll truly

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understand what’s going on
around you in the real world, in

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the world, what not the real
world, in the world that you can

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touch and taste and feel and
smell.

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And so that umbilical chord is
something we’re going to be

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00:16:13,440 –> 00:16:18,640
exploring a lot in the series,
the link between the earth and

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00:16:18,640 –> 00:16:21,640
the heaven that we’re going to
be looking at and the patterns

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00:16:21,880 –> 00:16:26,400
that are paralleled between
heaven and earth.

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But there are some pitfalls, as
I was alluding to earlier,

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00:16:33,680 –> 00:16:37,000
because if our mind has been
trained not with the right

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00:16:37,000 –> 00:16:40,640
spiritual patterns, then the
things that we recognise and the

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00:16:40,640 –> 00:16:44,040
things that we think are true
could very well not be true.

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Because as I’ve said, we’re just
matching a pattern and we could

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00:16:48,680 –> 00:16:51,040
recognise the wrong emphasis of
the pattern.

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00:16:51,360 –> 00:16:53,520
And so sometimes there is an
ambiguity.

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00:16:53,840 –> 00:16:56,360
So most of you looking at that
delightful picture of that are

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00:16:56,360 –> 00:17:01,600
seeing what, what are you seeing
a woman?

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00:17:02,160 –> 00:17:04,880
All right.
And all the, anybody young here.

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00:17:05,000 –> 00:17:07,880
I was with the youth, of course,
90% of them, and I’m sure many

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00:17:07,880 –> 00:17:10,280
of you have seen this picture
said they were seeing a young

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00:17:10,280 –> 00:17:12,079
beautiful lady.
All right.

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00:17:12,240 –> 00:17:14,359
And there were 10% which
actually were all the teachers

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00:17:14,359 –> 00:17:17,480
at the back or the, the, the,
the, the mentors at the back.

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00:17:17,680 –> 00:17:20,359
And of course, they were seeing,
like all of you, an old lady,

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00:17:21,280 –> 00:17:23,040
all right?
Because what’s happening is the

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00:17:23,040 –> 00:17:25,520
pattern in front of us we’re
first seeing.

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00:17:25,520 –> 00:17:26,920
And I know that some of you are
just so good.

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00:17:26,920 –> 00:17:28,480
You’re seeing both at the same
time.

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00:17:29,000 –> 00:17:31,240
All right?
We’re seeing, first of all, one

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00:17:31,240 –> 00:17:35,240
pattern that’s matching the the
patterns that have already been

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00:17:35,520 –> 00:17:37,360
sort of designed into our
thinking.

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00:17:38,120 –> 00:17:41,120
And here’s another some examples
because it’s just fun to do this

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00:17:41,120 –> 00:17:42,720
kind of thing.
All right?

305
00:17:43,080 –> 00:17:45,360
Of course, that’s not a Penguin,
that’s Abraham Lincoln.

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00:17:46,160 –> 00:17:48,360
All right.
And then of course, we’ve got a

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00:17:48,360 –> 00:17:54,040
beautiful Roman or whatever
Greek pillars, or you might say

308
00:17:54,040 –> 00:17:57,280
you’re seeing people.
And so we’ve got this idea of

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00:17:57,400 –> 00:18:00,960
what we call pattern
instability, where patterns can

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00:18:00,960 –> 00:18:04,520
actually, depending on your
perspective, actually be seen

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00:18:04,520 –> 00:18:07,160
differently completely.
And really where this is all

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00:18:07,160 –> 00:18:10,200
going to is what we’re going to
be trying to make sure we can do

313
00:18:10,480 –> 00:18:12,680
both now and as we move
throughout the course of our

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00:18:12,680 –> 00:18:15,480
life is how are we going to make
sure that the patterns that we

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00:18:15,480 –> 00:18:18,520
start to recognise, and
especially as we go deeper and

316
00:18:18,520 –> 00:18:22,760
deeper into those patterns are
actually the kind of patterns

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00:18:22,920 –> 00:18:25,840
that speak to the spiritual
patterns of truth.

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00:18:26,320 –> 00:18:30,240
And Romans, Paul says to us, do
not conform to the pattern of

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00:18:30,240 –> 00:18:34,160
this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind.

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00:18:34,400 –> 00:18:37,400
Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is,

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00:18:37,600 –> 00:18:40,680
his good, pleasing and perfect
will.

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00:18:41,160 –> 00:18:47,320
And so it is often the case that
we are passively filling our

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00:18:47,320 –> 00:18:50,440
minds so much with the
entertainment, with the

324
00:18:50,440 –> 00:18:54,120
information of the world, that
that’s the pattern that’s been

325
00:18:54,120 –> 00:18:57,880
developed in our mind.
And so it’s so much easier for

326
00:18:57,880 –> 00:19:01,640
us to recognise those patterns
rather than the spiritual truth

327
00:19:01,640 –> 00:19:04,360
patterns that are primarily
recorded in the Word of God.

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00:19:04,360 –> 00:19:07,360
And that’s something we want to
be trying to work to

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00:19:07,360 –> 00:19:10,120
intentionally change as best we
can.

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00:19:10,840 –> 00:19:15,640
You know, Jesus alluded to this
ability to use the patterns of

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00:19:15,640 –> 00:19:19,280
earth to actually understand
spiritual patterns when in

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00:19:19,280 –> 00:19:23,800
Matthew 16 He said to them, when
it is evening you say it will be

333
00:19:23,800 –> 00:19:27,360
fair weather for the sky is red,
and in the morning it will be

334
00:19:27,360 –> 00:19:30,160
foul weather today for the sky
is red and threatening

335
00:19:30,160 –> 00:19:32,560
hypocrites.
You know how to discern the

336
00:19:32,560 –> 00:19:36,040
patterns of the sky and the
weather, but you cannot discern

337
00:19:36,040 –> 00:19:39,600
the signs of the time.
So what He was saying is you,

338
00:19:39,880 –> 00:19:43,640
you, you should be able to look
out into the world around you

339
00:19:43,840 –> 00:19:46,880
and, and when you can see the
patterns of the world around

340
00:19:46,880 –> 00:19:49,880
you, you should be able to use
those to link to the spiritual

341
00:19:49,880 –> 00:19:52,920
truth patterns that are going to
teach you real significant

342
00:19:52,920 –> 00:19:54,840
meaning.
And of course, they weren’t able

343
00:19:54,840 –> 00:19:56,280
to do that.
They weren’t able to make that

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00:19:56,280 –> 00:19:59,640
link that’s put in place in
Genesis chapter one.

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00:19:59,960 –> 00:20:02,840
And we want to try and do a lot
of that in this session.

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00:20:03,560 –> 00:20:09,040
Now, in actual fact, most of the
patterns that we encounter in

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00:20:09,040 –> 00:20:12,040
the real world.
And I want to argue, actually,

348
00:20:12,040 –> 00:20:15,240
all the patterns that we find in
Scripture are what we call

349
00:20:15,280 –> 00:20:18,960
fractal in nature.
So I’m not sure how many of you

350
00:20:18,960 –> 00:20:22,200
have ever come across the term
fractals, but I want to spend

351
00:20:22,360 –> 00:20:26,640
maybe the last 20 minutes just
talking to you about fractals.

352
00:20:26,840 –> 00:20:28,320
And this is where the math comes
in.

353
00:20:28,520 –> 00:20:30,960
So, so far, if that was
complicated, that was the simple

354
00:20:30,960 –> 00:20:32,960
part.
Now for the complicated part,

355
00:20:33,280 –> 00:20:37,880
just when you’re falling asleep.
All right, So The thing is this.

356
00:20:38,240 –> 00:20:42,400
Why do we find things actually
being revealed in repeating

357
00:20:42,400 –> 00:20:44,560
patterns?
Well, again, Genesis provides

358
00:20:44,560 –> 00:20:47,280
the answer.
The way in which the world has

359
00:20:47,280 –> 00:20:51,520
actually, according to God be
created is through this idea of

360
00:20:51,520 –> 00:20:56,920
forming and filling this idea of
iteration, of repetition.

361
00:20:57,240 –> 00:20:58,520
And that’s the beautiful
language.

362
00:20:58,520 –> 00:20:59,960
You see when you’re reading
Genesis One.

363
00:21:00,080 –> 00:21:02,560
It’s kind of like you, you, you
sort of stumble over your words

364
00:21:02,560 –> 00:21:03,960
because it’s repeated over and
over again.

365
00:21:03,960 –> 00:21:07,280
And you know, Genesis One’s got
so few words to describe the

366
00:21:07,280 –> 00:21:10,400
creation of everything.
And yet over and over again it

367
00:21:10,400 –> 00:21:13,600
says things like the Earth
brought forth graph, the herb

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00:21:13,600 –> 00:21:17,480
that yields seed according to
its kind, the tree that yields

369
00:21:17,480 –> 00:21:20,800
fruit whose seed is in itself
according to its kind.

370
00:21:21,520 –> 00:21:25,280
That emphasis is teaching us
that the way in which the earth

371
00:21:25,280 –> 00:21:30,800
is revealing itself is this idea
of a seed that then produces

372
00:21:30,800 –> 00:21:35,640
fruit that repeats itself, that
replicates itself, that iterates

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00:21:35,640 –> 00:21:38,200
itself.
And that’s really something

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00:21:38,200 –> 00:21:42,080
important to observe, because
what we then learn to observe is

375
00:21:42,080 –> 00:21:45,720
that actually the patterns that
we see in life are fractal.

376
00:21:45,720 –> 00:21:50,120
They are repeating but at
different levels of scale and

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00:21:50,120 –> 00:21:52,720
that’s what we actually mean
when we talk about a fractal.

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00:21:52,720 –> 00:21:56,640
So that is what a fractal is.
I’m sure you have encountered

379
00:21:56,640 –> 00:21:59,600
them, even if you didn’t know
that they were called fractals,

380
00:21:59,920 –> 00:22:03,120
kaleidoscopes, like I’m sure
many of you were given by your

381
00:22:03,120 –> 00:22:05,640
mum or your dad or your
grandmother at some stage, but

382
00:22:05,800 –> 00:22:08,160
probably they are on your
computer screensaver now.

383
00:22:08,160 –> 00:22:12,640
It is an example of a fractal.
A fractal describes a pattern

384
00:22:13,000 –> 00:22:17,080
that has repeating self
similarity at different levels

385
00:22:17,080 –> 00:22:19,520
of Zoom.
And I feel like a university

386
00:22:19,520 –> 00:22:22,360
lecturer at this point in time
giving you a formal definition

387
00:22:22,360 –> 00:22:23,800
like that.
But it’s going to get better

388
00:22:24,120 –> 00:22:26,640
because I just want you to
understand a little bit about

389
00:22:26,640 –> 00:22:29,600
this concept of practice.
Because I think when we

390
00:22:29,760 –> 00:22:33,040
obviously go through the rest of
the series and we see the level

391
00:22:33,040 –> 00:22:36,040
at which the heaven and earth
pattern repeats itself

392
00:22:36,040 –> 00:22:38,600
throughout Scripture and
throughout the reality of the

393
00:22:38,600 –> 00:22:41,720
world, we’re going to have to
understand this idea of

394
00:22:41,720 –> 00:22:45,880
repeating self similarity.
It’s interesting that the phrase

395
00:22:45,880 –> 00:22:49,680
self similarity is that when we
see patterns in a fractal

396
00:22:49,680 –> 00:22:53,000
repeat, we’ve been talking about
this idea of simplicity and

397
00:22:53,000 –> 00:22:55,720
complexity.
It’s isn’t that the repetition

398
00:22:55,720 –> 00:23:00,000
is always exactly the same.
We can pick up that it’s very

399
00:23:00,000 –> 00:23:04,280
similar, it’s self similar, but
always there’s just a little bit

400
00:23:04,280 –> 00:23:06,680
of a change.
There’s just a little bit of

401
00:23:06,760 –> 00:23:09,440
complexity.
And if you think about it,

402
00:23:09,600 –> 00:23:13,720
that’s where the beauty of the
natural world and the spiritual

403
00:23:13,720 –> 00:23:16,600
world lies.
It’s never that we get it down

404
00:23:16,600 –> 00:23:19,040
and say, well, that’s something
we can understand and it just

405
00:23:19,040 –> 00:23:22,880
repeats over and over again.
But rather that every time

406
00:23:22,880 –> 00:23:26,120
there’s just something new,
there’s something surprising.

407
00:23:26,120 –> 00:23:31,880
I think, I guess at the essence
of what we call beauty is that

408
00:23:31,880 –> 00:23:35,120
element of surprise.
Like we’ve never quite got it.

409
00:23:35,560 –> 00:23:39,080
And yet there’s enough
familiarity that we can lock

410
00:23:39,080 –> 00:23:40,600
into.
And that’s what’s being

411
00:23:40,600 –> 00:23:41,960
expressed in this idea of
fractals.

412
00:23:41,960 –> 00:23:44,560
In fact, the concept of fractals
is very new.

413
00:23:44,560 –> 00:23:47,480
So if you didn’t know about it,
you you’ve got every excuse.

414
00:23:47,480 –> 00:23:49,320
It probably wasn’t taught you
when you were at school,

415
00:23:49,320 –> 00:23:53,640
although the word was coined in
the 1970s by this very handsome

416
00:23:53,640 –> 00:23:56,320
letter over here, Benoit
Mandelbrah.

417
00:23:56,600 –> 00:24:00,240
And he was a Polish French
mathematician.

418
00:24:00,640 –> 00:24:03,120
And I’m going to give you the
very quick lesson on this chap.

419
00:24:03,840 –> 00:24:06,080
And why is it important?
Well, because I’m not going to

420
00:24:06,080 –> 00:24:09,600
try and explain to you all the
detail of what he discovered,

421
00:24:09,600 –> 00:24:14,200
but he, he really was looking at
the real world and realising

422
00:24:14,400 –> 00:24:16,920
that the way in which
mathematicians and especially

423
00:24:17,120 –> 00:24:19,920
geometry people that were
working in Euclidean geometry

424
00:24:20,080 –> 00:24:22,760
were trying to measure the
natural world wasn’t working.

425
00:24:22,960 –> 00:24:25,440
The natural world just appeared
too complicated.

426
00:24:26,280 –> 00:24:30,640
And the particular conundrum
that was facing the

427
00:24:30,880 –> 00:24:33,840
mathematicians of the time was
really what they called the

428
00:24:33,840 –> 00:24:38,080
coastline paradox, which was,
you know, if you were to measure

429
00:24:38,360 –> 00:24:42,040
the coastline of the beautiful,
is that the British Isles or

430
00:24:42,040 –> 00:24:43,720
Great Britain?
Which one do I call that?

431
00:24:44,400 –> 00:24:46,000
Great Britain?
Thank you very much, Johnny.

432
00:24:46,000 –> 00:24:50,240
So if if we had to try and
measure the coastline of Great

433
00:24:50,240 –> 00:24:53,360
Britain, you know, you know, how
long is it?

434
00:24:53,360 –> 00:24:55,160
Is there one answer to that
question?

435
00:24:55,480 –> 00:24:58,760
Well, Simply put, what
Mandelbrough was able to

436
00:24:58,760 –> 00:25:02,280
postulate is what it depends on
the size of your ruler.

437
00:25:03,240 –> 00:25:07,400
Because hey, if you’ve got a big
ruler that’s, I guess 100 miles

438
00:25:07,400 –> 00:25:09,640
long, well then you’re going to
get a certain length.

439
00:25:09,640 –> 00:25:13,400
It’s going to be an OK answer.
It’s going to be 1 answer that

440
00:25:13,400 –> 00:25:16,640
is pretty much correct.
This is the size of the

441
00:25:16,640 –> 00:25:20,840
circumference of Great Britain.
But what if I give you a ruler

442
00:25:20,840 –> 00:25:24,520
that is now one mile long?
You can see from the outline of

443
00:25:24,520 –> 00:25:27,440
the coastline suddenly now
you’re going to start going into

444
00:25:27,440 –> 00:25:30,760
the the nooks and crannies of
that coastline and your

445
00:25:30,760 –> 00:25:34,280
measurements going to be longer.
And what if I gave you a

446
00:25:34,280 –> 00:25:35,920
measurement that was one inch
long?

447
00:25:36,200 –> 00:25:37,320
And what if I gave you a
measurement?

448
00:25:37,360 –> 00:25:39,800
You can see where this is going,
which is one thousandth of an 1

449
00:25:39,800 –> 00:25:42,600
millionth of an inch.
In fact, what mathematicians

450
00:25:42,600 –> 00:25:44,800
will tell you, and I won’t try
and prove it to you using a

451
00:25:44,800 –> 00:25:47,880
formula, that the circumference
and the people living in Great

452
00:25:47,880 –> 00:25:50,200
Britain are going to be so
pleased to hear this of their

453
00:25:50,200 –> 00:25:55,200
beautiful island is infinite,
the space is finite.

454
00:25:55,200 –> 00:25:56,880
That’s an interesting thing just
to think about for a while.

455
00:25:57,600 –> 00:26:01,680
The the area is finite, but the
circumference is infinite.

456
00:26:01,840 –> 00:26:05,160
There’s this point at which the
infinite and finite are joining

457
00:26:05,160 –> 00:26:08,360
are meeting.
And So what Bennett was able to

458
00:26:08,360 –> 00:26:12,560
do is he said, I wonder if I
could create a formula to try

459
00:26:12,560 –> 00:26:17,120
and work out like, like, what
does this space look like where

460
00:26:17,120 –> 00:26:19,360
the finite and the infinite
touch?

461
00:26:19,880 –> 00:26:22,080
What does it look like?
Has it got a shape?

462
00:26:22,680 –> 00:26:26,800
Is there a shape to to the
meeting of the finite and the

463
00:26:26,800 –> 00:26:28,520
infinite?
And he got it right.

464
00:26:28,920 –> 00:26:32,440
He created this thing called the
Mandelbrot set.

465
00:26:33,240 –> 00:26:37,000
And you know, this thing could
only really be drawn when we

466
00:26:37,000 –> 00:26:40,560
actually had the computing power
to do the calculations of

467
00:26:40,560 –> 00:26:43,080
iteration.
And this beautiful diagram that

468
00:26:43,080 –> 00:26:44,960
you’re seeing on your screen
here, which is the Mandelbrot

469
00:26:44,960 –> 00:26:46,800
set, and I’ll explain to you
exactly what it’s trying to

470
00:26:46,800 –> 00:26:51,080
demonstrate in a moment, is
being developed by extremely

471
00:26:51,080 –> 00:26:56,440
powerful computing power to
actually reveal a very simple

472
00:26:56,440 –> 00:26:59,280
mathematical formula.
And I say it’s simple, but I’m

473
00:26:59,280 –> 00:27:01,560
not going to put it up there for
you, but believe you me, take my

474
00:27:01,560 –> 00:27:03,800
word for it.
It’s a formula representing

475
00:27:03,800 –> 00:27:06,680
iteration.
And all that Mandelbrot wanted

476
00:27:06,680 –> 00:27:10,280
to do was to drive that formula
through, to put it onto a, A, a,

477
00:27:11,640 –> 00:27:16,440
a, an axis of X&Y, and then draw
the set of numbers that you put

478
00:27:16,440 –> 00:27:19,360
into the series.
And the formula that actually

479
00:27:19,880 –> 00:27:23,120
always remained finite, in other
words, the answers were always

480
00:27:23,120 –> 00:27:24,520
finite.
In other words, they never

481
00:27:24,520 –> 00:27:29,120
exploded into Infinity.
And all the answers of numbers

482
00:27:29,280 –> 00:27:31,760
that remain finite are coded
black.

483
00:27:32,000 –> 00:27:36,880
They are in the Mandelbrot set.
And all the numbers that explode

484
00:27:36,880 –> 00:27:39,880
to Infinity, you know, like when
you’re doing that 8 ^2 and then

485
00:27:39,880 –> 00:27:42,000
you square 16.
Yeah, Is that right?

486
00:27:42,160 –> 00:27:45,000
And then you square 6, you know,
it just goes mad quickly, that

487
00:27:45,000 –> 00:27:47,080
kind of thing.
All those numbers are outside of

488
00:27:47,080 –> 00:27:50,360
the set.
But here’s the thing, when they

489
00:27:50,360 –> 00:27:52,000
started doing this, and you
might say, well what are all

490
00:27:52,000 –> 00:27:53,920
these lovely other colours over
here?

491
00:27:54,440 –> 00:27:57,080
And all they’ve done is they’ve
said, OK, all the numbers that

492
00:27:57,080 –> 00:27:59,240
fit into the finite set will
make black.

493
00:27:59,880 –> 00:28:02,840
All the numbers that are
escaping, some of them escape

494
00:28:02,840 –> 00:28:04,360
very quickly.
In other words, after three

495
00:28:04,360 –> 00:28:06,960
iterations, it’s a number that
we can’t even understand.

496
00:28:06,960 –> 00:28:09,440
Some take a long time.
So what we’ll do is we’ll colour

497
00:28:09,440 –> 00:28:11,800
them differently.
And in this particular example,

498
00:28:11,800 –> 00:28:14,480
you can change your colours.
In this example, they’re moving

499
00:28:14,480 –> 00:28:19,320
from colours like blue, the blue
spectrum of the rainbow all the

500
00:28:19,320 –> 00:28:22,000
way to red.
And blue means it took a longer

501
00:28:22,000 –> 00:28:24,640
time to escape to Infinity all
the way to red where it’s

502
00:28:24,640 –> 00:28:27,320
escaped quickly.
And so they took those simple

503
00:28:27,320 –> 00:28:29,960
rules, they give it to a
computer and they say let’s see

504
00:28:29,960 –> 00:28:33,240
what happens.
And the mathematician’s jaws

505
00:28:33,280 –> 00:28:37,080
dropped because what they
discovered is this is this

506
00:28:37,080 –> 00:28:41,520
repeating pattern of self
similarity that was repeating in

507
00:28:41,520 –> 00:28:44,360
this most beautiful pattern that
you’re seeing in front of you.

508
00:28:44,520 –> 00:28:48,000
In fact, the words of Mandelbrot
were this was a way to see

509
00:28:48,160 –> 00:28:51,240
Infinity.
Botanist wonders spring from

510
00:28:51,240 –> 00:28:55,040
simple rules which are repeated
without end.

511
00:28:56,280 –> 00:28:59,040
And in a way, what we have up
there, whether you believe me or

512
00:28:59,040 –> 00:29:02,960
not, is a view into the mind of
our Creator, and it is the

513
00:29:02,960 –> 00:29:08,040
nature and structure of all
patterns, a view of Infinity and

514
00:29:08,280 –> 00:29:13,000
Infinity together, underlying
order with surprises.

515
00:29:13,400 –> 00:29:16,920
Romans 120 says, for since the
creation of the world, his

516
00:29:16,920 –> 00:29:20,440
invisible attributes are clearly
seeing, being understood by the

517
00:29:20,440 –> 00:29:23,480
things that are made, even his
eternal power.

518
00:29:23,760 –> 00:29:28,520
And Godhead, there’s a chap, Oh,
here we go.

519
00:29:28,640 –> 00:29:30,360
Here’s the Mandelbrot set.
Now what we’re going to do is

520
00:29:30,360 –> 00:29:33,920
we’re going into zoom zone.
I want you to watch that as it’s

521
00:29:33,920 –> 00:29:36,640
happening, you’re going to start
seeing self similar patterns

522
00:29:36,640 –> 00:29:39,520
repeating over and over again.
So what’s going on here is we’re

523
00:29:39,520 –> 00:29:41,320
just reducing the scale all the
time.

524
00:29:41,560 –> 00:29:43,800
Imagine you’re on your computer,
you’re zooming in, you’re

525
00:29:43,800 –> 00:29:46,680
zooming in.
But as you’re zooming in, not

526
00:29:46,680 –> 00:29:50,040
only is it always interesting
and always new and beautiful,

527
00:29:50,040 –> 00:29:51,720
but you’re recognising
similarity.

528
00:29:51,720 –> 00:29:54,320
Can you see the self similarity?
That’s the fractal

529
00:29:54,520 –> 00:29:58,360
characteristic, self similarity,
but at the same time, beauty of

530
00:29:58,360 –> 00:29:59,560
detail.
There it is again.

531
00:29:59,800 –> 00:30:03,360
You’ve seen that bugger before,
and there’s the same fractal

532
00:30:03,360 –> 00:30:06,640
pattern coming out again and
over and over again.

533
00:30:06,880 –> 00:30:10,120
We are seeing the same
similarity, but slightly

534
00:30:10,120 –> 00:30:11,880
different.
We’re moving into what we call

535
00:30:11,880 –> 00:30:15,000
the Valley of the Sea Horses.
That’s the Valley of the Sea

536
00:30:15,000 –> 00:30:16,840
horses.
And you’ll notice emerging out

537
00:30:16,840 –> 00:30:20,600
of that is the original
macrocosm that you saw in the

538
00:30:20,600 –> 00:30:24,800
very beginning, and it starts to
emerge over and over again.

539
00:30:26,040 –> 00:30:28,520
Johannes Kepler, who actually
was born before we really

540
00:30:28,520 –> 00:30:31,040
understood fractals, said
something that I always thought

541
00:30:31,040 –> 00:30:33,480
is quite amazing.
In mathematics, we have the

542
00:30:33,480 –> 00:30:36,400
opportunity to think God’s
thoughts after Him.

543
00:30:36,920 –> 00:30:39,160
Since we astronomers, our
priests, are the highest God in

544
00:30:39,160 –> 00:30:43,080
regard to the book of nature, it
befits us to be thoughtful not

545
00:30:43,080 –> 00:30:46,560
of the glory of our minds, but
rather, above all else, of the

546
00:30:46,560 –> 00:30:51,360
glory of God.
So why do I think this is

547
00:30:51,360 –> 00:30:53,480
important?
Well, I want to show you that

548
00:30:53,480 –> 00:30:56,520
when you understand the concept
of this repeating pattern at

549
00:30:56,520 –> 00:30:59,600
different levels of zoom, you
will now start seeing it

550
00:30:59,680 –> 00:31:02,720
everywhere in the natural world.
Well, let me show you what I

551
00:31:02,720 –> 00:31:05,880
mean by that.
So you’ve seen a Fern.

552
00:31:06,320 –> 00:31:09,080
A Fern is a fractal.
Can you see that the overall

553
00:31:09,080 –> 00:31:13,440
leaf of the Fern has a shape
that every one of the sub leaves

554
00:31:13,520 –> 00:31:16,480
that’s coming off that Fern has
the same shape That every one of

555
00:31:16,480 –> 00:31:19,520
the sub sub leaves of that Fern
has the same shape.

556
00:31:19,760 –> 00:31:23,040
In fact even if you look at the
veins on a sub sub leaf it has

557
00:31:23,040 –> 00:31:26,000
the same shape.
You could go and pick an example

558
00:31:26,240 –> 00:31:28,800
but just miss out on those
stinging nickels by the Creek.

559
00:31:29,040 –> 00:31:31,080
Make sure you’re also
accompanied by an adult over the

560
00:31:31,080 –> 00:31:34,720
age of 18.
And we see this all over in

561
00:31:34,720 –> 00:31:38,000
flora.
This self similar repeating

562
00:31:38,040 –> 00:31:40,800
patterns.
Flowers.

563
00:31:41,200 –> 00:31:43,720
Look at the flowers, go around,
pick up a flower.

564
00:31:43,720 –> 00:31:48,440
See the fractal in the sea.
Good old octopus.

565
00:31:49,520 –> 00:31:51,320
And here’s the thing that really
stunned.

566
00:31:51,400 –> 00:31:54,000
And This is why a guy like
Benoit Mandelbrough, who was

567
00:31:54,000 –> 00:31:56,680
trying to actually understand if
he could come up with a fractal

568
00:31:56,680 –> 00:32:01,200
geometry to try and work out how
he could take the complexity of

569
00:32:01,200 –> 00:32:05,720
a coastline and be able to, to,
to come up with useful formulas

570
00:32:05,720 –> 00:32:08,160
so that we could, we could
understand it better.

571
00:32:08,400 –> 00:32:11,960
Or, or is it just chaos?
And as a result of the work that

572
00:32:11,960 –> 00:32:14,680
he did, I should have said he’s
been able to come up with a new

573
00:32:14,680 –> 00:32:16,560
form of geometry called fractal
geometry.

574
00:32:16,560 –> 00:32:20,480
And that geometry is responsible
for so many changes that we take

575
00:32:20,480 –> 00:32:22,200
for granted.
In fact, the fact that you have

576
00:32:22,320 –> 00:32:25,440
mobile phones, those of you that
are using them right now, you

577
00:32:25,440 –> 00:32:28,080
wouldn’t have them if it wasn’t
for fractal geometry.

578
00:32:28,600 –> 00:32:30,720
Most of our healthcare systems
have been impacted.

579
00:32:30,920 –> 00:32:34,320
But here’s the thing, you know,
in some ways we can maybe begin

580
00:32:34,320 –> 00:32:37,800
to understand that in organic
systems, we would have

581
00:32:37,800 –> 00:32:42,040
repetition at different scales.
But this same repetition happens

582
00:32:42,040 –> 00:32:44,560
in natural landscapes.
And there’s an example from

583
00:32:44,560 –> 00:32:48,480
Bryce Canyon on the screen, and
it happens when you look at

584
00:32:48,480 –> 00:32:53,680
river systems and natural
coastlines and when you look at

585
00:32:53,680 –> 00:32:56,040
a snowflake, you see the same
thing.

586
00:32:56,240 –> 00:32:58,600
Large patterns, smaller
patterns, smaller patterns,

587
00:32:58,600 –> 00:33:01,480
smaller patterns.
Microcosm, microcosm.

588
00:33:02,920 –> 00:33:05,960
Lightning in the sky has a
fractal pattern.

589
00:33:05,960 –> 00:33:11,280
Nature.
Cyclonic weather systems have a

590
00:33:11,280 –> 00:33:15,040
fractal pattern nature all the
way up into the way in which we

591
00:33:15,040 –> 00:33:19,280
view the galaxies and the stars
with a repeating structured

592
00:33:19,440 –> 00:33:22,360
pattern of self similarity.
But then it comes all the way

593
00:33:22,360 –> 00:33:24,760
back.
Here’s here’s the thing to our

594
00:33:24,760 –> 00:33:27,840
own bodies, and This is why it’s
had such an impact in

595
00:33:27,840 –> 00:33:30,480
healthcare.
Understanding that most of the

596
00:33:30,520 –> 00:33:34,640
organs in our body are designed
around a fractal pattern system.

597
00:33:34,880 –> 00:33:37,480
Our lungs have a fractal pattern
nature.

598
00:33:38,400 –> 00:33:41,320
Our blood vessels have a fractal
pattern nature.

599
00:33:41,920 –> 00:33:46,080
In fact, all of our nervous
system has a fractal pattern

600
00:33:46,080 –> 00:33:49,280
nature all the way to our
brains.

601
00:33:49,400 –> 00:33:51,960
And the neural network that I
was talking about a bit earlier

602
00:33:51,960 –> 00:33:56,400
on has a fractal pattern nature.
And when you look at that

603
00:33:56,400 –> 00:33:59,960
picture, you begin to understand
why this is so significant.

604
00:33:59,960 –> 00:34:04,800
Because on the one side we have
a picture of the fractal pattern

605
00:34:04,800 –> 00:34:09,880
nature of the brain cell, and on
the other we have perhaps the

606
00:34:09,880 –> 00:34:14,920
highest version that we can see
of the whole galaxies being

607
00:34:14,920 –> 00:34:18,800
spread out in our universe with
a very, very similar fractal

608
00:34:19,000 –> 00:34:22,320
pattern nature.
So we have this idea of

609
00:34:22,320 –> 00:34:26,360
macrocosms and microcosms
repeating patterns of self

610
00:34:26,360 –> 00:34:29,320
similarity right throughout
nature.

611
00:34:30,400 –> 00:34:34,320
And I think when we bring this
all back to what we want to be

612
00:34:34,320 –> 00:34:38,960
looking at throughout the series
is a I’m going to be encouraging

613
00:34:38,960 –> 00:34:42,840
you to look closer at the world
around you and the way in which

614
00:34:42,840 –> 00:34:44,719
those patterns are revealed to
us.

615
00:34:44,920 –> 00:34:47,920
And the lessons as a result that
they teach us and the

616
00:34:47,920 –> 00:34:50,520
experiences and the way in which
they connect us to the

617
00:34:50,520 –> 00:34:53,639
spiritual.
But at the same time, it is an

618
00:34:53,639 –> 00:34:55,800
incredible way to approach the
Scripture.

619
00:34:55,800 –> 00:35:00,000
I think so often when we come to
the word of God and we come with

620
00:35:00,360 –> 00:35:04,920
a pure linear approach or a flat
line approach, we can lose the

621
00:35:05,400 –> 00:35:09,120
the true power of what is on
offer when we open up the word

622
00:35:09,120 –> 00:35:10,760
of God.
And so I just wanted to spend a

623
00:35:10,760 –> 00:35:14,080
little time just emphasizing
that to finish off with.

624
00:35:14,840 –> 00:35:19,560
So the Bible is in fact, I
believe a fractal, fractal

625
00:35:19,560 –> 00:35:21,880
pattern.
It’s laid out in fractal

626
00:35:21,880 –> 00:35:24,840
patterns.
And that is why often when some

627
00:35:24,840 –> 00:35:27,320
people first encounter the
Bible, it can appear chaotic.

628
00:35:27,440 –> 00:35:29,000
It’s not written out like a
textbook.

629
00:35:29,160 –> 00:35:31,360
It’s not written out with a
bunch of rules and principles

630
00:35:31,360 –> 00:35:34,520
that we can just mark off for
someone who first encounters the

631
00:35:34,520 –> 00:35:36,920
Bible before they can start
recognising the patterns.

632
00:35:37,080 –> 00:35:39,080
It’s like the coastline of the
UK.

633
00:35:39,520 –> 00:35:44,400
It just looks chaotic.
But as you begin to to recognise

634
00:35:44,400 –> 00:35:47,440
the patterns, you begin to see
the order and the structure.

635
00:35:47,520 –> 00:35:51,520
But here’s the here’s the point.
Don’t let that make you become

636
00:35:51,520 –> 00:35:54,240
lazy.
Don’t let that make you think

637
00:35:54,240 –> 00:35:56,560
you’ve discovered it.
And they’re not going to be

638
00:35:56,560 –> 00:35:59,600
repeating self similarities to
the point of Infinity.

639
00:35:59,720 –> 00:36:02,320
No, that’s the beauty we all
understand.

640
00:36:02,320 –> 00:36:04,920
There’s just endless levels of
marvel.

641
00:36:05,160 –> 00:36:09,880
As we zoom in and we get higher
and higher resolution view, we

642
00:36:09,880 –> 00:36:13,600
see more and more there’s self
similarity, the things that we

643
00:36:13,600 –> 00:36:16,680
can link to, but there are new
things that are revealed all the

644
00:36:16,680 –> 00:36:18,760
time.
And so this is a great way to

645
00:36:18,760 –> 00:36:22,080
think about approaching our
Bible reading our Bible study.

646
00:36:22,080 –> 00:36:26,040
And the point is that actually
the, the, the whole way in which

647
00:36:26,200 –> 00:36:29,480
specifically the Hebrew
scriptures are established is

648
00:36:29,480 –> 00:36:31,760
actually using a pattern
approach.

649
00:36:31,760 –> 00:36:34,400
And I, I know that some of you
have come across some of these

650
00:36:34,400 –> 00:36:39,200
ideas that the literary style,
in fact of the Hebrew Bible is

651
00:36:39,200 –> 00:36:41,360
very much grounded in pattern
recognition.

652
00:36:41,560 –> 00:36:43,640
So you would have come across
some of you chiasms.

653
00:36:43,640 –> 00:36:44,960
I haven’t got time to go into
the detail.

654
00:36:45,240 –> 00:36:47,040
You could ask me if you want to
know more details.

655
00:36:47,040 –> 00:36:50,760
But the way in which many texts
are actually set up is in a

656
00:36:50,760 –> 00:36:54,240
repeating pattern style.
Acrostic psalms and acrostic

657
00:36:54,760 –> 00:36:57,440
chapters are using a pattern
structure.

658
00:36:58,520 –> 00:37:01,680
There’s a lot of vocal pattern
in the Hebrew language,

659
00:37:01,800 –> 00:37:05,200
incredible amount of use.
We lose this in the English of

660
00:37:05,200 –> 00:37:09,520
assonance and alliteration,
which is a a acoustic pattern

661
00:37:09,720 –> 00:37:14,160
which is built into the Hebrew
text, and of course thematic

662
00:37:14,160 –> 00:37:16,680
pattern.
So when we look at themes in the

663
00:37:16,680 –> 00:37:20,280
Bible, we’re expecting to find
those themes repeat, but at

664
00:37:20,280 –> 00:37:23,720
different layers and levels.
And this is often when we fall

665
00:37:23,720 –> 00:37:28,480
over each other because we we
find a link of a theme and then

666
00:37:28,480 –> 00:37:30,560
somebody else seems to have
found something that looks

667
00:37:30,560 –> 00:37:32,800
different.
But really all it is is

668
00:37:32,800 –> 00:37:36,040
something at a different level
or scale that’s self similar.

669
00:37:36,640 –> 00:37:39,880
And really that’s the fractal
nature of scripture revealing

670
00:37:39,880 –> 00:37:41,920
itself.
I want to use an example so so

671
00:37:41,920 –> 00:37:44,680
that I can try and bring this
together to make some sense.

672
00:37:44,680 –> 00:37:47,400
So let’s have a look at this.
If you’ve got your Bibles open,

673
00:37:47,520 –> 00:37:49,160
let’s go to Isaiah 9, verse
seven.

674
00:37:50,440 –> 00:37:57,320
Isaiah Chapter 9 verse 7 and it
says in Isaiah 9 verse seven,

675
00:37:57,320 –> 00:38:00,160
one of these passages that you
know, if you if you think long

676
00:38:00,160 –> 00:38:02,320
and hard about it, it kind of
like messes with your mind

677
00:38:02,320 –> 00:38:06,440
because it says this talking
about the future Kingdom of God.

678
00:38:06,760 –> 00:38:11,560
Isaiah 97 says of the increase
of his government and peace,

679
00:38:11,880 –> 00:38:16,360
there will be no end.
Upon the throne of David and

680
00:38:16,360 –> 00:38:19,560
over his Kingdom, to order it
and establish it with judgement

681
00:38:19,560 –> 00:38:22,120
and justice.
From that time forward, even

682
00:38:22,120 –> 00:38:25,440
forever, the zeal of the Lord of
hosts will perform this.

683
00:38:25,960 –> 00:38:28,240
So we know that passage well.
But did you see what that

684
00:38:28,240 –> 00:38:31,640
passage says?
It has this picture of endless

685
00:38:31,680 –> 00:38:33,760
iteration.
That’s what’s going on there.

686
00:38:34,120 –> 00:38:36,760
Of the increase of his
government and peace, there will

687
00:38:36,760 –> 00:38:38,600
be no end.
It’s like that, Mandelbrot said.

688
00:38:38,720 –> 00:38:40,640
Because by the way, I could have
left to go in for two hours,

689
00:38:40,640 –> 00:38:43,800
just zoom just keeps going and
deeper and deeper.

690
00:38:44,000 –> 00:38:46,880
There will be no end.
And this is this idea that we,

691
00:38:47,080 –> 00:38:49,960
we often just can’t get to grips
with this idea of Infinity.

692
00:38:50,120 –> 00:38:53,960
So the Kingdom is here, but it’s
just growing and growing and

693
00:38:53,960 –> 00:38:56,000
growing and becoming bigger and
bigger and bigger.

694
00:38:56,680 –> 00:39:01,040
And that’s the eternity aspect
of the Kingdom in Isaiah 9 verse

695
00:39:01,040 –> 00:39:04,480
7.
But really that’s a macrocosm

696
00:39:04,480 –> 00:39:07,800
growing scale of the fractal
that is the Kingdom.

697
00:39:08,760 –> 00:39:10,200
So what’s the essence of the
pattern?

698
00:39:10,760 –> 00:39:13,760
What’s like the what’s the basic
structure of the pattern of the

699
00:39:13,760 –> 00:39:17,440
Kingdom that we’re seeing
increasing in size here in

700
00:39:17,440 –> 00:39:19,520
Isaiah 9 verse seven?
Well, I want to put it to you

701
00:39:19,520 –> 00:39:22,800
that Jesus actually shares with
us the essence of the pattern in

702
00:39:22,800 –> 00:39:25,200
the Lord’s Prayer.
He says in the Lord’s Prayer, we

703
00:39:25,200 –> 00:39:31,520
pray your Kingdom come, your
will be done on earth as it is

704
00:39:31,520 –> 00:39:34,880
in heaven.
So the essence of the pattern of

705
00:39:35,000 –> 00:39:40,280
Kingdom is the sovereignty of
God, God’s will, which is in

706
00:39:40,280 –> 00:39:43,760
heaven on earth.
So wherever we have the

707
00:39:43,760 –> 00:39:48,480
sovereignty of God’s will
manifested in earth, and we’ll

708
00:39:48,480 –> 00:39:52,280
talk a bit more about what earth
can actually represent, we have

709
00:39:52,400 –> 00:39:57,080
the pattern of the Kingdom.
So that’s why we see the

710
00:39:57,080 –> 00:40:00,520
following demonstrated as a
fractal in Daniel.

711
00:40:00,520 –> 00:40:02,760
So if you will come with me now
to Daniel.

712
00:40:03,560 –> 00:40:05,440
Chapter 2 We know this passage
very well.

713
00:40:05,440 –> 00:40:09,080
Daniel’s dream, Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream, Daniel’s interpretation

714
00:40:09,280 –> 00:40:12,920
of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and I
don’t know if you’ve noticed it,

715
00:40:13,560 –> 00:40:17,240
he’s describing the coming
Kingdom, but he uses a

716
00:40:17,240 –> 00:40:21,560
microcosm, macrocosm, kind of
increasing scale way of

717
00:40:21,560 –> 00:40:25,080
describing it.
So we have in Daniel 2 verse 34,

718
00:40:25,760 –> 00:40:30,720
you watch while a stone was cut
without hands, which struck the

719
00:40:30,720 –> 00:40:35,840
image on its feet of iron and
clay and broke them in pieces.

720
00:40:36,240 –> 00:40:40,920
So we have, as it were, I put it
to you, a Kingdom, a stone cut

721
00:40:40,920 –> 00:40:44,640
without hands.
Jesus Christ, a man in whom the

722
00:40:44,640 –> 00:40:50,120
sovereignty of heaven dwelt in
him who was the first revelation

723
00:40:50,120 –> 00:40:53,160
truly of the Kingdom of God is
the stone.

724
00:40:53,840 –> 00:40:57,440
And that stone comes to the, the
image of Nebuchadnezzar, the

725
00:40:57,440 –> 00:40:59,480
kingdoms of men, as Daniel
describes this.

726
00:40:59,680 –> 00:41:01,280
And it begins like that.
Boom.

727
00:41:02,040 –> 00:41:04,600
Now what’s going to happen is
it’s going to iterate.

728
00:41:04,600 –> 00:41:07,320
It’s going to increase in scale
and size.

729
00:41:07,480 –> 00:41:10,360
And so we have the way it’s
described.

730
00:41:10,840 –> 00:41:13,960
Look at verse 35.
Then the iron and the clay and

731
00:41:13,960 –> 00:41:15,880
the bronze and the silver and
the gold were crushed together

732
00:41:15,880 –> 00:41:18,440
and became like chaff from the
summing summer threshing floor.

733
00:41:18,640 –> 00:41:21,120
The wind carried them away so
that no trace of them was found.

734
00:41:21,440 –> 00:41:24,640
And the stone that struck the
image became a great mountain.

735
00:41:25,360 –> 00:41:29,200
So now that Kingdom that was a
stone, think of Azayanan, of the

736
00:41:29,200 –> 00:41:31,520
increase of his government has
now become a mountain.

737
00:41:32,080 –> 00:41:35,160
Like it’s Israel.
It’s like now a Kingdom the size

738
00:41:35,160 –> 00:41:37,640
of a mountain.
Oh, OK, cool.

739
00:41:37,640 –> 00:41:40,600
So that is that that that
Kingdom now is at a bigger

740
00:41:40,600 –> 00:41:42,560
level, which is the level of a
mountain.

741
00:41:42,960 –> 00:41:46,200
And then it says and the great
mountain then fold the whole

742
00:41:46,200 –> 00:41:48,360
earth.
So it says with as if the

743
00:41:48,360 –> 00:41:51,880
mountain now has become a range
of mountains that’s following

744
00:41:51,880 –> 00:41:55,120
the earth.
And so we get in this microcosm,

745
00:41:55,320 –> 00:41:59,480
macrocosm, super macrocosm, it’s
a fractal repeating itself.

746
00:42:00,280 –> 00:42:04,960
And just in case you’re not
seeing it all now, when we come

747
00:42:04,960 –> 00:42:08,160
back to that passage that for so
long I think many of us have

748
00:42:08,160 –> 00:42:12,080
tried to explain in the wrong
way when Jesus turned to them

749
00:42:12,080 –> 00:42:14,800
and said, and the Kingdom of God
is within you.

750
00:42:15,760 –> 00:42:21,400
Absolutely, all the way to the
macrocosm of one day, God’s

751
00:42:21,400 –> 00:42:25,080
sovereignty fulling all the
earth as we have been promised,

752
00:42:25,400 –> 00:42:30,520
all the way to the opportunity
for right now, the sovereignty

753
00:42:30,520 –> 00:42:36,240
of God, the will of heaven to
full your heart and your life.

754
00:42:36,800 –> 00:42:41,520
And Jesus says the Kingdom of
God is within you like a stone,

755
00:42:41,800 –> 00:42:46,560
like a seed, it will self
replicate, it will become self

756
00:42:46,560 –> 00:42:50,680
similar and grow and grow until
it fills the whole earth.

757
00:42:51,080 –> 00:42:53,200
And that’s just one example of
many.

758
00:42:53,480 –> 00:42:56,840
But the one fractal foundation
we will be talking a lot about

759
00:42:57,040 –> 00:42:59,960
and be illustrating over and
over again, is that which is

760
00:42:59,960 –> 00:43:03,080
captured in the phrase heaven
and earth, which we will focus

761
00:43:03,080 –> 00:43:04,440
on a bit more tomorrow.