Aaron McKee – The Relenting and Unrelenting God – Class 1 – The Paradox (Exo. 33v12-34v7)

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This is Class 1.
The overall subject is the

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relenting and unrelenting God,
and the first class is entitled

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The Paradox.
Brother Aaron going.

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Too far now.
All right.

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Well, good morning, brothers and
sisters.

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This is a lovely view of
everybody.

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Brother Kurt was not wrong about
the weather.

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To go from a place where we do
not see the sun for weeks on end

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to an abundance of sun made Rose
and I question some of our life

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choices as to as to where we
are.

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But thank you not only for the
warmth of the sun, but also the

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warmth of your hospitality and
welcoming us here.

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It’s it certainly means a lot.
The words of Solomon save the

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writing of many books.
There is no end.

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And, and I found myself thinking
this recently as walking the

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aisle of a local bookstore.
I’ve reflected that while

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walking by many different books
written by many different

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authors, penned over many
different years.

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While many of the faces were the
same, many of the characters

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were the same.
There’s nothing revolutionary in

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in that observation.
Brothers, sisters.

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Because in fact, some of some of
history’s most famous

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individuals are are extensively
written on, aren’t they?

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You think they’re Napoleon
Bonaparte, right?

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The the, the French emperor, the
the the Conqueror of Europe.

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In fact, you know he’s
extensively written on.

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There are over 300,000 books
dedicated to the life of

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Napoleon.
If William Shakespeare, that

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illustrious playwright, how many
of you think there are brothers,

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sisters.
There’s over 150,000 books

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written on his life.
Abraham Lincoln 120,000 People

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spend years, in many cases
hundreds and thousands debating

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character, all for the simple
reason that character is hard to

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define, isn’t it not?
Not only is it defined on a

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number of ambiguous moral
qualities like being caring and

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kind and and patient and
long-suffering, but but it

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changes over time and
circumstance.

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It’s perceived in many different
ways by the many people who

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observe us in our lives.
You know how you see something

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that the angle and event
transpires imparts vastly

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different assessments of a
person’s character?

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For that reason, Brun sisters,
you might know somebody a very

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long time in this life, yet yet
still not truly know them.

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To add to this challenge, people
are are frustratingly complex,

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aren’t we?
No one of us in this room can be

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reduced to a single thing.
Brun sisters.

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It’s not so neat as that, isn’t
it?

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We can’t be be boxed into
something.

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We’re layered as individuals and
in many ways that is a

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reflection of our God, our God
who has many things at many

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times in the record of this book
in front of us this weekend,

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brothers and sisters, we are
going to dedicate our thoughts

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to just two qualities of the
powerful, dynamic, merciful and

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just character of our God.
And as I say that, you know,

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just two qualities, we’ll, we’ll
know that that’s going to be

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anything but simple and far from
easy.

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Because on the surface, these
are qualities that present as a

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paradox, things conflicting that
are seemingly incompatible,

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qualities that that on the
surface are of enormous depth

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and scope.
These are traits woven through

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the very heart of Scripture.
We see them pattern from the

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first words of Genesis to the
final statement of Revelation.

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These are traits we consider
that reveal the essence of our

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God, who he is, how he works,
what he expects of the works of

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man trace when considered that
that strike the the heart of his

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identity.
These are qualities Bron sisters

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revealed in glimmers and
shadows.

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They pass us on the summits of
Sinai.

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They’re born to us in the shadow
of God’s law.

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These are things Bron sisters,
prophets and kings long to

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understand, sought to know, but
were convinced they knew about

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God.
And these are things that John

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witnessed and all its glory.
These are things, Bron sisters,

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that will not be hidden from
you, but they are plainly and

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purposely revealed to us in the
record of this book.

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Not just in sentiments and
words, Brun sisters, but they

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are demonstrated in the
countless lives of those who

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allow themselves to be shaped
and molded by the expression of

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God’s character.
And of course, the things we

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will consider this weekend, what
will dedicate our thoughts to

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grasp in our coming classes, is
the relenting an unrelenting

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character of our God.
But we’ll start our thoughts

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this morning with the simple
acknowledgement that all

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throughout Scripture, our our
Bible is written on a fault

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line.
You guys might know something

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about that in California, but we
can know this in many ways.

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But perhaps the most apparent is
simply the structure of

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Scripture itself.
But let’s think about it for a

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moment, Brun sisters, because we
see this in the most macro sense

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possible.
When we look at at the

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composition of the Bible, we see
it in the last words of the old

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verse, the New Testament.
How does the Old Testament M

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Brun sisters?
Behold, writes Malachi, I send

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Elijah to turn the hearts of
fathers, lest I strike you with

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destruction.
That’s how the Old Testament

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ends.
It ends in a in a decree of

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judgement.
Contrast that to the new.

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How does it end, we think, to
the last words of revelation.

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Surely I come quickly.
May the grace of Christ be with

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you all.
One’s a blessing, the other a

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curse.
And in many ways, Bruns sisters,

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that that reflects what what
some see as these two distinct

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characters of God.
You know, some go so far as to

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label God a God of Old or New
Testament, a God of law and

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justice or or the God of grace,
a God of judgement and fire.

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The other who saves some go so
far as to negate one over the

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other.
They refuse to acknowledge, to

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read, to perceive, to to profess
one over the other.

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They they hold to a God of love
or or or diligently cling to the

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God of justice who who only
rewards those who who who’ve

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carefully walked in his
footsteps.

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And that tension, Brun sisters,
that we see at the highest level

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of Scripture that that’s
something that goes beyond the

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surface.
In fact, it goes to the heart of

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His word.
Let’s think about it for a

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minute, Brun sisters.
We’ll dedicate some time this

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morning to think about it.
Come with me to Ezekiel chapter

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24.
You know, it’s no secret that at

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certain times in the record of
Scripture, God is depicted in

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very unrelenting ways.
You know, your minds might go to

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First Samuel 15.
I am not a man that I relent

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says God might go to Numbers 23.
God is not man that he lies, nor

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son of man that he relents.
What I have said will I not do.

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These are bold declarations,
bronze sisters.

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And not only are these
declarations, not only are these

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sentiments, but we know all too,
all too well that there are

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times where God takes decisive
action, times where judgments

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are decreed and subsequently
executed and unrelenting ways.

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And in Ezekiel 24, we see one
such character in action.

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Here we’re introduced to a
people in the culmination of

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their obstinance towards God.
This is a people who walk

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contrary to his ways.
They reject the appeals of

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prophets.
They they burn the word of God

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rather than hear it.
And at the writing of this

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chapter, they now see the
culmination of these actions,

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the judgments of God.
They come to fruition.

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They look beyond the walls of
Jerusalem.

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They see the armies of Babylon.
And in this moment, verse 14,

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what does God say?
This was my judgment.

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This I have spoken, says God.
It will come to pass.

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I will not go back.
I will not spare, I will not

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relent, I will not relent says
God.

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And we know that to be true.
Brun sisters once stated this

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would come to pass and what we
see here is this character of

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God in action.
He unequivocally stated that his

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judgements were final, they
would not be turned.

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I am not a man says God, that I
should relent and and Brun

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sisters, we know this is an
aspect of our God not only

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highlighted in the words of
Ezekiel, not only in the

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judgement of Israel.
In fact, we see this one echoed

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all throughout his word.
We see this character of God in

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the words of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, a contemporary of

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Ezekiel, writing to the to the
same impending judgement, makes

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a similar declaration in
Jeremiah 4 verse 28.

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He says the earth will mourn
this day, the heavens will be

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darkened for this I’ve spoken,
says God, this I purposed.

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I will not relent.
I will not turn back again.

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Jeremiah 15, verse six.
He says I’m weary of relenting.

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I will not spare my judgments.
And of course, this

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characterization of our God Bron
sisters, it extends far beyond

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these writings, far past the
words of Israel and Judah.

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We see this character of God in
the accounts of Amos, Amos

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chapter 1.
We’re giving these declarations

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of guns justice spoken in
context to holding our world to

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account for the the
transgressions of the nations.

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What does it read?
It says the Lord roars from

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Zion.
He utters his voice from

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Jerusalem, and thus he says in
verse 3 for the transgression of

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Damascus, I will not relent.
My punishment first Lord.

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Thus says the Lord for the
transgressions of Gaza, I will

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not relent.
Verse nine against Tyre, I will

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not relent.
Verse 11 against Edom, I will

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not relent.
Verse 13 against Amon, I shall

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not relent.
Chapter 2 against Moab, I will

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not relent.
Verse four against Judah, I will

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not relent.
For Israel because they sell the

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righteous for silver and they
reject the law of God, I will

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not relent.
And in many ways, run.

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Sisters, what we witness in
these verses is a

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characterization of our God that
we’re perhaps a bit familiar

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with.
This is the God of David in

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Psalm 91, who would characterize
as the God of vengeance, who

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would declare in Deuteronomy 32,
Vengeance is mine, says God.

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One who holds the guilty to
account who will not suffer, and

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justice who, once his judgements
are made for good or bad, will

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not deviate or turn till it is
fulfilled.

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And while that might sound very
neat, brothers, sisters, you

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know, something that we can, you
know, draw a, a box around and,

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and, and say, well, that’s who
our God is.

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And, and maybe there’s a degree
of uncomfortableness and that’s

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a, you know, we, we take some
comfort because it’s

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predictable.
We have to acknowledge

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attention, brothers, sisters,
attention, because in Jeremiah

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26, in the very same place of
history as Ezekiel prophesied in

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the very same book, in the mouth
of the same prophet who himself

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characterized the judgments of
God as unrelenting, what does he

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say in verse 13?
Now, therefore, men, Judies

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repair your ways, obey the voice
of God and the Lord will relent.

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He’ll change says Jeremiah.
In other words, those things you

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just read before the judgments
he pronounced that were once

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certain that would unequivocally
come to pass by the mouth of the

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same prophet are no longer so
God would change the judgments

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that were unchangeable.
What a fascinating, you know,

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contrasting paradox of character
being being presented to us.

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Brun sisters and we see this
this conflict, these seemingly

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paradoxical traits.
Bron sisters.

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We see them all throughout our
Bibles.

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We see them in Amos Amos again,
that same prophet we just read

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who opens his book with the the
long list of God’s unrelenting

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judgments.
What does it say in Chapter 7

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upon seeing these visions of
destruction, upon hearing them,

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what does Amos say?
Oh, God, please forgive.

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How can we stand?
We are so small and what does

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God say?
It says and the Lord relented

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and said, it shall not be gone
again.

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Verse four got your judgments of
fire that devour the deep.

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And he says, O Lord, please
cease.

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How can we stand?
And what does it say?

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And the Lord relented and said,
it shall not be done.

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And when you think of it, Brun
sisters, just as we see the

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00:14:42,400 –> 00:14:48,520
unrelenting God, how often do we
have the image of the relenting

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00:14:48,520 –> 00:14:52,920
1?
You know, sometimes we see him

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00:14:53,040 –> 00:14:55,240
in the same place as we see him
in Sodom and Gomorrah.

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Judgement was made, but willing
to relent if just just 10

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00:14:57,680 –> 00:14:59,080
righteous were found in that
city.

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And when 10 could not even be
found, what does he do?

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He sends his angels for Lot, and
not only Lot, but his entire

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family.
We see him in Second Samuel 24.

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Judgment is made for the
transgression of David, but at

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his prayer relents from from
striking Jerusalem.

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We see it in Exodus 32.
The words our brother read were

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in the face of Israel’s
transgressions.

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In the Sinai judgment is
declared, but at the words of

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00:15:19,920 –> 00:15:22,520
Moses the Lord relented from
disaster.

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00:15:22,520 –> 00:15:27,160
We see it in the words of Joel
Brown sisters, who in Speaking

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of times to come, when
characterizing the day of our

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00:15:31,240 –> 00:15:32,600
Lord’s return, a day of
judgement.

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What does he say of that day?
The earth will quake, the

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00:15:34,240 –> 00:15:36,400
heavens tremble, the sun, the
moon, the clouds will be

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00:15:36,400 –> 00:15:38,080
darkened.
The voice of the Lord will be

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00:15:38,080 –> 00:15:41,120
uttered before his army and
executed in power.

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Yet even then, even in this last
moment, the moment of justice

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00:15:48,200 –> 00:15:49,720
promised to come to this world,
what does it say?

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00:15:49,720 –> 00:15:55,680
Verse 12.
But return to me says God, for I

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am gracious and merciful and I’m
slow to anger and abounding in

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00:15:59,920 –> 00:16:04,560
love and I relent over disaster.
What a beautiful picture of our

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God.
Brother and sisters.

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This is the God of love that I,
I think John was writing of.

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So what do we make of this
brother and sisters?

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00:16:27,090 –> 00:16:30,800
You know, we, we use these words
this morning and in some ways

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00:16:30,800 –> 00:16:32,840
they’re semantics.
We say unrelenting and

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00:16:32,840 –> 00:16:34,360
relenting.
But but this tension, brother

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00:16:34,360 –> 00:16:37,200
and sisters, is is manifest in
many ways throughout the word of

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00:16:37,200 –> 00:16:39,480
God.
It’s synonymous for grace and

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00:16:39,480 –> 00:16:44,640
truth, justice and mercy,
goodness and severity.

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00:16:44,640 –> 00:16:46,880
Well, brother and sisters, as we
talk about this, we might

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00:16:46,880 –> 00:16:50,160
reflect that that we struggle in
this tension.

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00:16:53,040 –> 00:16:57,360
We play with these traits we’re
we’re in seeing contrast, but

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00:16:57,360 –> 00:17:00,720
for comfort, but sometimes far
more often personality we we we

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00:17:00,720 –> 00:17:06,560
bump one over the other conform
God to ways we’re comfortable

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00:17:06,560 –> 00:17:08,440
seeing him.
We we promote a God predictable

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00:17:08,440 –> 00:17:11,079
and justice or reliable and
grace and bronze sisters.

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00:17:11,079 –> 00:17:13,319
If you do that, know that you
are not alone in it.

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In fact, that’s something we see
in the earliest records of

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00:17:18,000 –> 00:17:19,680
Scripture.
Paul equally warned in the 1st

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00:17:19,680 –> 00:17:22,599
century of those who who lived
by the law of circumcision, who

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00:17:22,599 –> 00:17:25,119
could only see the unrelenting
God of truth.

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As much as He warned US against
those who abuse grace to the

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00:17:33,960 –> 00:17:38,240
point of sin, He warns of it
because how we perceive this

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00:17:38,240 –> 00:17:44,600
dynamic of God, brothers,
sisters, matters and has

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00:17:44,600 –> 00:17:46,800
incredible far reaching
consequence.

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We see it in Jonah who in his
accusing words I knew you were

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gracious and merciful.
Lord exposed the character that

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00:17:52,720 –> 00:17:58,080
resented God’s grace because He
craved His justice.

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00:18:01,280 –> 00:18:05,440
We see it in Judas because he
could not perceive the extents

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00:18:05,520 –> 00:18:08,040
of God’s character of grace took
his own life.

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00:18:08,040 –> 00:18:10,120
We see it in the words of Christ
and the parable of talent, who

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00:18:10,120 –> 00:18:12,960
when explaining why that servant
never went out while he while he

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00:18:12,960 –> 00:18:15,480
didn’t yield the gain with it,
while he buried it in the ground

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00:18:15,560 –> 00:18:16,920
and didn’t do as the master
asked.

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00:18:16,920 –> 00:18:20,120
What did the servant say?
I did this because I knew you

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00:18:20,120 –> 00:18:25,880
were a hard man.
Exposing the core of his

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00:18:25,880 –> 00:18:27,920
failure.
Brun sisters was rooted in

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00:18:27,920 –> 00:18:30,680
misperception of the master.
He could only see the

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00:18:30,680 –> 00:18:33,920
unrelenting that dictated
everything he was in his life.

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00:18:34,080 –> 00:18:38,280
In their examples is the lesson
that who you believe God to be

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00:18:41,960 –> 00:18:43,640
is how you will show him in your
life.

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00:18:43,640 –> 00:18:46,560
In their examples of the lesson
that how you perceive the

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00:18:46,560 –> 00:18:53,960
character of God dictates
everything about who you are in

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00:18:53,960 –> 00:18:59,760
a walk in the truth, come with
me to first Kings 19,

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00:19:14,620 –> 00:19:19,580
we mentioned a few who struggled
in the perception of God.

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00:19:19,580 –> 00:19:21,780
Bron sisters and Elijah is one
of them.

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00:19:21,780 –> 00:19:27,600
Elijah is a man who flattened
God’s character, the one that

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00:19:27,600 –> 00:19:30,320
shapes through confrontation,
and it’s hard to fault them for

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00:19:30,320 –> 00:19:31,760
this.
I think we needed a degree of

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00:19:31,760 –> 00:19:35,640
grace for Elijah because he,
like many, shapes perception on

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00:19:35,640 –> 00:19:39,960
life experience.
Think how think how God worked

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00:19:39,960 –> 00:19:41,600
in Elijah’s life.
You know, Ahab was a wicked

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00:19:41,600 –> 00:19:42,840
king.
He brings a drought.

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00:19:42,840 –> 00:19:45,280
He exposed the prophets of Baal
with fire from heaven.

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00:19:45,280 –> 00:19:47,160
He meets their taunts and
execution.

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00:19:47,160 –> 00:19:49,200
And we have to reflect that in
the same way, brothers and

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00:19:49,200 –> 00:19:53,040
sisters, our perception of God
is often rooted in how he worked

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00:19:53,040 –> 00:19:57,600
in our lives.
Often we lean to grace because

305
00:19:57,680 –> 00:20:02,680
we are those who’ve needed it.
We gravitate the truth because

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00:20:02,760 –> 00:20:04,240
we’ve perhaps had lives
disrupted.

307
00:20:04,240 –> 00:20:07,480
So we crave order and structure
in our faith and ecclesias.

308
00:20:07,600 –> 00:20:10,440
But we have to push beyond lived
experience from sisters.

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00:20:10,440 –> 00:20:13,440
We have to strive for the
fullness of God because

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00:20:13,440 –> 00:20:21,160
misperception almost destroyed
Elijah.

311
00:20:26,680 –> 00:20:31,800
You see, after what he
envisioned as the irrefutable

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00:20:31,800 –> 00:20:34,440
moment, the the culminating
activist ministry, after the

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00:20:34,440 –> 00:20:36,240
moment that that should have
turned the heart of Israel,

314
00:20:36,240 –> 00:20:38,280
Because after all, isn’t that
how God works?

315
00:20:38,280 –> 00:20:41,160
Where where he will expose his
power to man and they will

316
00:20:41,160 –> 00:20:42,840
listen?
After the moment of fire from

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00:20:42,840 –> 00:20:44,560
heaven that should have turned
them to God.

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00:20:44,600 –> 00:20:50,120
When it fails, He gives up.
It was beyond his knowledge of

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00:20:50,120 –> 00:20:51,680
God at that point.
He casts himself in the

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00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:53,200
wilderness.
He despairs his own life.

321
00:20:53,200 –> 00:20:56,240
And in this moment, in searching
to to know God, how he works

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00:20:56,240 –> 00:20:59,440
with man, how he reaches Sinai
and he witnesses the events of

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00:20:59,440 –> 00:21:10,180
verse 12.
And in this moment Elijah is

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00:21:10,180 –> 00:21:12,300
confronted with some powerful
truth.

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00:21:12,300 –> 00:21:15,020
Bruin sisters.
The 1st is that it disclaims the

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00:21:15,020 –> 00:21:21,760
perception Elijah formed of God,
of a God all about presenting

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00:21:21,760 –> 00:21:25,080
truth firmly, undeniably, no, no
matter how callous and cold.

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00:21:25,080 –> 00:21:27,400
And you know, if people don’t
accept that they can burn in

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00:21:27,400 –> 00:21:30,320
fire for all he cares.
God shows him something deeper,

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00:21:33,000 –> 00:21:36,960
that it’s not in the nature of
our God to coerce or destroy,

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00:21:37,120 –> 00:21:40,280
but by qualities of his
character touch the heart of

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00:21:40,280 –> 00:21:41,680
man.
That’s something the fires of

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00:21:41,680 –> 00:21:46,320
Carmel could not do, says God.
That’s something the earthquakes

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00:21:46,320 –> 00:21:49,200
at Sinai or are the winds that
part of the Seas for Israel

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00:21:49,280 –> 00:21:52,240
could not instill in their
hearts centuries before fear can

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00:21:52,240 –> 00:22:01,080
impart the reality of Godburn,
sisters, but it will not change

337
00:22:01,080 –> 00:22:02,920
hearts.
The lesson learned at Sinai are

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00:22:02,920 –> 00:22:04,520
the words of Zechariah 4, verse
6.

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00:22:04,520 –> 00:22:09,080
I will call them, says God, not
by might nor by power, but by my

340
00:22:09,080 –> 00:22:11,080
spirit.
This weekend, brothers and

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00:22:11,080 –> 00:22:18,720
sisters, we will seek to better
understand this spirit, this

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00:22:18,720 –> 00:22:21,960
character of God that changes
the heart of man.

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00:22:22,120 –> 00:22:29,080
But the second thing we’ll note
is that while he uses the winds

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00:22:29,200 –> 00:22:31,880
and the fire and the earthquake
to do his bidding and and

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00:22:31,880 –> 00:22:34,520
manifest power and state his
authority, God says to know me,

346
00:22:34,520 –> 00:22:43,320
Elijah, to truly understand me.
Is to look deeper.

347
00:22:43,320 –> 00:23:06,530
Come with me to Exodus 33.
You know it’s no accident that

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00:23:06,530 –> 00:23:09,730
when running to understand God
Elijah comes to Sinai.

349
00:23:09,730 –> 00:23:12,050
In fact, isn’t just just Sinai.
He goes to infect the

350
00:23:12,050 –> 00:23:18,680
Septuagint, calls this place The
Cave, the very place Moses 400

351
00:23:18,680 –> 00:23:21,320
years prior stood and sought to
know the character of God.

352
00:23:21,320 –> 00:23:25,400
You see, like Elijah, Moses came
here in despair, Brun sisters,

353
00:23:27,400 –> 00:23:30,280
in a moment of confusion and in
face of failure, in fear,

354
00:23:30,280 –> 00:23:32,800
struggling to see how God works
with man in face of this

355
00:23:32,800 –> 00:23:35,080
enormous sin of Israel, he
ascends that mountain.

356
00:23:35,080 –> 00:23:38,640
And in face of grace that
challenged his concept of God,

357
00:23:38,720 –> 00:23:40,640
he cries out these words on the
screen.

358
00:23:40,760 –> 00:23:49,880
Show me your ways.
That I may know you in these

359
00:23:49,880 –> 00:23:56,000
words, Brun sisters, we’ll end
on three thoughts to frame our

360
00:23:56,000 –> 00:23:58,080
weekend to come.
The 1st is this statement.

361
00:23:58,160 –> 00:23:59,720
Show me your ways, you know do
do.

362
00:23:59,960 –> 00:24:06,560
Do you find it strange, Brun
sisters, that Moses asked this

363
00:24:06,560 –> 00:24:11,600
now?
But he’s the first person in in

364
00:24:11,600 –> 00:24:14,520
the entire record of Scripture
to ever pose this question of

365
00:24:14,520 –> 00:24:15,520
God.
But but think about it for a

366
00:24:15,520 –> 00:24:17,960
moment.
This is a man who after how many

367
00:24:17,960 –> 00:24:23,360
years walked with God?
How many moments did he speak to

368
00:24:23,360 –> 00:24:25,520
him in intimacy?
How many signs and wonders

369
00:24:25,680 –> 00:24:28,800
performed by his power.
And through his hand the seas

370
00:24:28,800 –> 00:24:32,760
were parted through him.
He spoke to God in the burning

371
00:24:32,760 –> 00:24:34,680
Bush.
He heard his name in the Bush of

372
00:24:34,680 –> 00:24:36,000
fire.
He saw him in the plagues of

373
00:24:36,000 –> 00:24:37,760
Egypt.
And now he says, show me who you

374
00:24:37,760 –> 00:24:47,920
are.
We see what Moses is truly

375
00:24:47,920 –> 00:24:50,640
asking here, Brun sisters, in
the words of Psalm 103, the

376
00:24:50,640 –> 00:24:53,800
words of David verse seven, who
in speaking to this very moment

377
00:24:53,800 –> 00:24:55,320
at the events of Sinai, what
does he say?

378
00:24:55,400 –> 00:24:58,560
At Sinai you showed Israel your
axe, the fire in the the

379
00:24:58,560 –> 00:25:08,040
earthquake and cloud to Moses.
You showed your ways.

380
00:25:08,240 –> 00:25:14,640
Like Elijah Brun sisters, Moses
knew God by his actions.

381
00:25:16,360 –> 00:25:18,880
The God that broke the back of
Egypt with justice.

382
00:25:18,880 –> 00:25:21,920
The God who broke the the
bondage maker with unrelenting

383
00:25:21,920 –> 00:25:23,600
truth.
What he’s seeking now is to

384
00:25:23,600 –> 00:25:29,160
understand what is behind these
actions, what’s the character of

385
00:25:29,160 –> 00:25:31,000
God that will always guide His
hand with men.

386
00:25:31,000 –> 00:25:33,760
He’s looking, Brun sisters, for
a blueprint for how God is

387
00:25:33,760 –> 00:25:36,800
committing to work in his life,
to work with Israel, to work

388
00:25:36,800 –> 00:25:39,480
with us, and the importance of
knowing this Brun sisters of

389
00:25:39,480 –> 00:25:41,400
this distinction.
We see it in the words of Psalm

390
00:25:41,400 –> 00:25:43,840
95, the words of David, verse 9
to 10.

391
00:25:44,320 –> 00:25:49,440
These are the words of God.
Actually, your Father’s put me

392
00:25:49,440 –> 00:25:51,600
to the test, says God.
And I loathe them for it,

393
00:25:51,600 –> 00:25:54,840
because they only saw my axe,
but went astray in their hearts

394
00:25:54,840 –> 00:25:59,040
because they did not know my
ways.

395
00:26:02,960 –> 00:26:05,760
Time and again, brothers,
sisters, Israel only saw the

396
00:26:05,760 –> 00:26:10,000
superficial.
Time and again saw his axe,

397
00:26:10,120 –> 00:26:14,680
missed his intentions,
interpreted his power, missed

398
00:26:14,680 –> 00:26:16,760
his character.
We see it in the spies sent to

399
00:26:16,760 –> 00:26:19,440
the land of Israel, thinking God
sent them there for their

400
00:26:19,440 –> 00:26:22,800
destruction.
We see it in the grumblings in

401
00:26:22,800 –> 00:26:24,760
the wilderness, thinking God
brought them there to die.

402
00:26:24,760 –> 00:26:26,840
We see it in the bronze serpent,
a symbol of their atonement

403
00:26:26,880 –> 00:26:30,560
turned into an idol of worship.
Acts inspire awe and fear.

404
00:26:30,560 –> 00:26:34,440
Brothers, sisters, knowing the
character of God changes our

405
00:26:34,440 –> 00:26:39,520
hearts.
The challenge for believers are

406
00:26:39,520 –> 00:26:42,320
the words of Christ, of John 15.
No longer do I call you

407
00:26:42,320 –> 00:26:46,800
servants, for the servant does
not know the master.

408
00:26:46,880 –> 00:26:49,000
They behave on actions and
orders.

409
00:26:49,000 –> 00:26:52,840
But I call you friends, for all
I have heard of the Father, I

410
00:26:52,840 –> 00:26:55,560
make known to you.
Friends, brothers and sisters,

411
00:26:55,800 –> 00:27:01,600
know the ways, the intense, the
reasons.

412
00:27:01,680 –> 00:27:04,720
That’s what we will endeavour to
do this weekend, to glimpse the

413
00:27:04,720 –> 00:27:10,520
ways of God, to understand his
character guiding his hand and

414
00:27:10,520 –> 00:27:13,360
our lives, and in this world, to
draw near as Moses did, and be

415
00:27:13,360 –> 00:27:16,760
called a friend of the living
God as he once was.

416
00:27:16,840 –> 00:27:22,520
For that reason, Brun sisters,
Exodus 34 will be a turning

417
00:27:22,520 –> 00:27:27,320
point in our Bibles.
For this reason, the words of of

418
00:27:27,320 –> 00:27:30,480
Moses in verse 7 will be one of
the most quoted passages of

419
00:27:30,480 –> 00:27:32,400
Scripture by other authors of
Scripture.

420
00:27:32,400 –> 00:27:36,120
This is literally a hinge in the
word of God that authors keep

421
00:27:36,120 –> 00:27:39,800
returning to.
Moses quotes this, Hosea quotes

422
00:27:39,800 –> 00:27:42,400
it, Jeremiah, Joel, David.
The authors of Lamentation quote

423
00:27:42,400 –> 00:27:44,600
this first because they
recognize in it what we should

424
00:27:44,600 –> 00:27:46,480
all see.
And that’s that to know these

425
00:27:46,480 –> 00:27:54,520
qualities is to know God.
Hosea 3 verse 11 says there is

426
00:27:54,520 –> 00:28:02,800
no knowledge of God when there
is no mercy or truth in the

427
00:28:02,800 –> 00:28:15,160
land.
The second thing we’ll note are

428
00:28:15,160 –> 00:28:19,120
in these words that I may know
you and it’s so important we

429
00:28:19,120 –> 00:28:22,080
understand Brun sisters, what
Moses is really asking here

430
00:28:22,080 –> 00:28:24,360
because you see, what he’s not
asking is something

431
00:28:24,360 –> 00:28:28,120
intellectual.
What he’s not asking is

432
00:28:28,120 –> 00:28:30,600
something theological or even
ideological.

433
00:28:30,600 –> 00:28:32,560
What he’s seeking is something
deeper.

434
00:28:32,560 –> 00:28:35,320
This word no Brun sisters that
is used all throughout Scripture

435
00:28:35,480 –> 00:28:40,880
to describe intimacy intimacy in
relationships between husband

436
00:28:40,880 –> 00:28:42,840
and wife intimacy between God
and man.

437
00:28:42,840 –> 00:28:45,600
We think to the words of Amos
three you only have I known says

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God my chosen and elect people
intimacy in Exodus 3 verse

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seven.
I know their suffering says God

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00:28:53,040 –> 00:28:55,680
I I feel it as my own in the
suffering of Egypt.

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00:28:55,760 –> 00:28:58,200
So what he’s asking bronze
sisters, it is not just the

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illogical not just the list of
facts about his God.

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It’s an experiential 1 when he
can emulate, when he can, when

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he can replicate one that he
might receive the grace of God.

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We will endeavour by the sisters
to know God in this way, to

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understand the practical
expression behind these

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qualities of character.
So it may be said of us as

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written long ago of Josiah.
He showed justice and mercy.

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00:29:31,980 –> 00:29:36,140
And was that not knowing me?
Says God.

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00:29:47,440 –> 00:29:53,440
The final thing we’ll note, run,
sisters, is how God answers

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Moses, because you see, in
response to the impossible

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00:29:56,280 –> 00:30:03,160
dream, in response to man’s
desire to stand in the presence

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00:30:03,320 –> 00:30:06,640
of God’s glory, the essence of
God on high and his, his power

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00:30:06,640 –> 00:30:08,520
and might, how does he respond?
What does he do?

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Like Elijah, God draws him
closer beyond the divine

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00:30:14,040 –> 00:30:16,440
expression of power, beyond the
axe, beyond this heart of

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00:30:16,440 –> 00:30:19,240
darkness and cloud and fire that
consumed the mountain top, that

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drew the rest of Israel away
from him.

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00:30:21,160 –> 00:30:23,160
And in the midst of these
things, what does he show?

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His name, Brun sisters.
His character, the glory of God

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00:30:30,040 –> 00:30:32,680
that he works in this earth is
his character.

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00:30:32,680 –> 00:30:34,160
And what does he say?
How does he show it?

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00:30:34,160 –> 00:30:41,640
He says, Moses, I am a God
merciful, I am gracious, I am

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abounding in love and mercy to
the thousandth.

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00:30:44,160 –> 00:30:48,720
This is who I am, but by no
means will I clear the guilty.

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00:30:48,880 –> 00:30:57,040
This is who I am.
Moses, always our God is a

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relenting and unrelenting God
born sisters.

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00:30:59,760 –> 00:31:02,960
He is a God of grace and truth,
justice and mercy.

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00:31:03,040 –> 00:31:06,520
In our coming classes we are
going to reconcile how these

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qualities work together, not in
contrast, not in compromise.

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00:31:13,640 –> 00:31:17,000
This man often perceives and
practices these things, but

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through each other and for a
single purpose.

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00:31:19,440 –> 00:31:22,240
Bruns sisters, we will work in
our coming classes to live the

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00:31:22,240 –> 00:31:25,520
words of Eli afasted Job.
Acquaint now yourself and be at

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00:31:25,520 –> 00:31:29,920
peace with him to be guided in
the words of Jeremiah.

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00:31:30,000 –> 00:31:32,880
Let not the wise glory and
wisdom, but let him who glories

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00:31:33,000 –> 00:31:42,520
glory in this, that he
understands and knows me, that I

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00:31:42,520 –> 00:31:47,320
am the Lord who exercises love
and justice in the earth.

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00:31:47,320 –> 00:31:52,120
For these things, says God, I
delight.