Jason Hensley – The Gospel of Peace – Class 2 – Interconnected Peace

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Brother Jason doesn’t have a
reading as well, so we’ll get

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right to our introduction.
So this is the 2023 Manitoulin

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Family Bible Camp.
Our speaker for this session is

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Brother Jason Hensley from the
Simi Hills, California Ecclesia.

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His theme this week is the
Gospel of Peace.

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This is his second class and the
subject for this class is

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interconnected Peace.
Brother Jason.

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Look at this.
Here we go.

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All right, I’m free.
Well, good morning, everyone.

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How are you today?
You doing good.

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Good there.
I’m doing good too.

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OK, all right, so here we go.
So we’re talking about

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interconnected peace.
Today.

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I wanted to show you our three
sections.

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I labeled this Jews and
Gentiles, but really this is

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kind of like historical
background.

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So it’s going to be looking at
Jews and Gentiles, but not not

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totally.
We’ll look at a few other things

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as well.
Then we’re going to do a case

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study as we walk through the
book of Romans and a case study

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in Ephesians.
Now, I will tell you this is

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going to be a targeted case
study because we’re looking at

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peace, right?
So we’ll be thinking

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specifically about peace in
these.

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So if you’re looking at it and
thinking, well, that’s not

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really what Romans is about.
Well, yeah, you’re right.

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But it’s it’s specifically we’re
tracing peace.

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Through.
Romans and Ephesians.

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Here’s the main message.
All shades of peace are

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interconnected.
Now let me see if you remember.

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Do you remember the main message
from yesterday?

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Peace matters.
Very good.

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OK, well, now you’ll see that
I’m really challenging you today

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because that was only two words.
Right now you get 6.

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So that’s I know whoo I didn’t,
I didn’t do multiples, but you

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know, two up through.
So we skipped 4 because I I

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believe in you.
So here we go.

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All shades of peace are
interconnected.

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And what I mean by that is that
we discussed these different

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kinds of peace yesterday, right?
World Peace, inner peace, peace

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with God, interrelational peace,
all of these are connected to

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each other.
I don’t think that we can really

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have some of them without the
others.

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They’re all linked together.
And so that is why peace is so

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crucial.
When we want peace with God, we

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need to learn to have peace with
each other.

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Here’s our why.
Question Why should Christians

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live at peace with others?
And what I mean by that is in

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the ecclesia and also outside,
right, we are told to live at

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peace with all men.
That means everybody.

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So why, why are we told to do
that?

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So that’s what we’re going to be
looking at really today.

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This is the why of what we saw
yesterday.

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We saw that peace was important.
And now we’re really going to

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build up why it matters so much,
why it is such a big deal for

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us, and in fact, how it is
connected to the gospel.

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OK, so with that said, we’re
going to jump in and we’re going

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to take a look at the historical
ideas here.

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Now, again, I said this is Jews
and Gentiles, but we’re going to

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look at a few other things
first.

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Generally when I give these
classes, people will come to me.

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And I was actually, I was really
intrigued that nobody came and

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said this to me yesterday.
Maybe maybe you just thought I

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was crazy and you didn’t say it
or something, but typically

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people will say to me, well wait
a minute, you know you’re

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talking about being peaceful,
but what about the Lord Jesus?

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And you can just kind of think
through your mind of all the

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times that the Lord was not
peaceful, right There’s.

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Quite a few of them, you know,
we know that he turned over the

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tables of the money changers
twice, right?

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He does at the beginning of his
ministry and at the end.

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That’s not peaceful, you know,
by any definition.

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I don’t think you could construe
that in any kind of way to be a

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peaceful thing.
When you look at Matthew 23 and

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he says, woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, those are

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not peaceful words.
So I think that that’s something

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for us to consider.
We need to kind of understand

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that first and, and that’s where
this historical context can help

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us a little bit.
So in order to understand some

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of that, first I want to give
you a suggestion.

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Now, we talked about Simon the
Pharisee yesterday.

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Right you.
Remember that, and with Simon

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the Pharisee, the Lord Jesus
read his thoughts.

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Now I think that that’s a
crucial thing to understanding

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who the Lord Jesus is, that he
is consistently doing this.

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Like you’ll see that phrase and
it comes up over and over, but

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he knowing their thoughts, said
right, this is who the Lord

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Jesus is.
It’s part of being the Son of

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God that you can read the
thoughts of others.

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And so therefore, when the Lord
Jesus says to somebody you

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hypocrite, he does that on what
basis?

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On the basis that he knows that
they’re a hypocrite, right?

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He’s not just saying, well, I
saw you do that.

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And that probably is
hypocritical because maybe you

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said this or something like
that.

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You know, that’s kind of what we
would do, right?

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We’d say, hey, that’s
hypocritical or something along

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those lines.
And we do it on the basis of,

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you know, some, some ideas that
we piece together well the Lord.

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Jesus does it.
On the fact that he just read

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your brain and he says I read
your brain and what came out was

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hypocrisy.
So you’re a hypocrite.

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You know, when he calls them
whitewashed tombs, he says I

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just read your brain and what I
found was a whitewashed tomb.

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So he can do that.
We can’t.

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So I think that that’s a crucial
thing in understanding this.

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When we look at the way that the
Lord Jesus speaks, the way that

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the apostle Paul speaks, when
they have the Holy Spirit, that

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kind of changes things a lot.
So that’s number one.

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Number two, I think it’s also
helpful for us coming at this in

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our North American perspective
where, you know, people get

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really injured by things that
other people say and are highly

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sensitive.
It’s good.

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It’s good for us to recognize
that in a lot of cases people

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weren’t that way.
You know, and, and in fact, I, I

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remember just going to Israel
and being like, wow, why are

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people so mean to me?
And then you then you realize

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like, Oh no, that’s just how
everybody talks.

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And and you’re like, yeah, you
know, and you and you give it

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back and, you know, whatever
it’s like.

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And then you’re like in.
So that’s the it’s, it’s how

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things are in different
cultures, right?

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That’s just how it works.
And I think that’s.

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Helpful for us to acknowledge
that.

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Now, I’m not saying that Israeli
culture today is the same as

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back then.
My point is that.

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We have to look at culture back
then in order to understand how

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did people talk and in order to
evaluate, right.

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We don’t want to go through the
Gospels and say, Oh, look, see,

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that was, you know, one of the
meaner things that Jesus says.

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Therefore, a lot of things that
Jesus said we would construe as

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mean.
So we should say mean things,

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right.
I had somebody tell me that

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before and I was like, what?
Like, no, that’s that’s not how

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it goes.
Like we need to understand what

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was actually considered mean
back then and thereby on those

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standards determine did Jesus
say mean things?

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And the answer is no.
By the way.

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OK.
So let’s go back and look

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historically at this.
So I’m going to show you some

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quotes from the Talmud.
Now, can I just get a show of

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hands on who is familiar with
the Talmud?

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OK, All right, I’ll give you a
definition then.

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So let’s let’s talk a little bit
about what this is.

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Now #1 I want to make this
incredibly clear.

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The Talmud is not the Bible.
It is not inspired.

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It is culturally Jewish
material.

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All right, I’m not saying it’s
right.

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I’m not endorsing it.
So please don’t like go home and

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be like, I’m going to start
reading the Talmud or something

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like that.
And I found this cool book in

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class.
No, that’s, that’s not what I’m

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doing.
I’m just trying to show this is

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historically what things were
like.

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So it’s important to know.
Here’s how the Talmud comes

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together.
So there are two major dates

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that Christadelphian should know
in addition to their

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anniversary.
So the dates are the 9th of of

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586 BCE, 9th of off 5. 86 BCE,
What happened on that day?

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Babylon destroys the first
temple, right?

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We all, we often talk about 70
AD, right?

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Or AD 70.
Well, we should also be aware of

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the destruction of the first
temple.

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So that’s 586 BCE, 9th of off.
Now what’s interesting is they

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happen on the same day
traditionally, so 9th of off,

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586 BCE.
And then you also have the 9th

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of off 70 CE, right?
That’s the destruction of the

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Second Temple.
So you have the.

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Destruction of the First Temple
by the Babylonians 586 You have

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the destruction of the Second
Temple. 70 OK, now with that

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said, you get the destruction of
the First Temple in 586.

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Jews are carried off into exile,
and I think here’s something

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that we often miss.
Can you imagine being a Jewish

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person and attempting to follow
the law or the Torah in Babylon?

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Just think about what would
happen.

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Right, you’d you’d.
Be going along with your normal

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life and you’d realize, oh, I
just committed an unintentional

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sin that means I need to go to
the temple and offer a

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sacrifice.
And then you think, oh wait, the

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temple is thousands of miles
away.

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Sorry, I don’t know kilometers.
It’s probably thousands of

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kilometers too.
Thousands of kilometers away

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and.
Yet it doesn’t actually exist.

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Right.
So how are you going to offer

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your sin offering?
How’s that supposed to work?

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And suddenly you realize, oh,
wait a minute, we were supposed

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to be offering a sacrifice in
the morning and at night.

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We were supposed like our lives
were supposed to revolve.

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Around this temple.
We were supposed to go there

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three times a year.
When the feast of Passover shows

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up, you’re sitting there in
Babylon and you think, well,

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where do I go, right?
What am I?

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What am I supposed to do here?
And you suddenly realize, I just

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can’t follow the law at all.
And that was the point, right?

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In 586, the people were supposed
to realize it wasn’t actually

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about the law, right?
It was about the principles.

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God was trying to teach the
principles beneath.

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What’s interesting is there were
a number of people who did

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realize, oh, it’s about the
principles.

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The problem is this was the
scribes, by the way.

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So a group of scribes come
together, 586 they’re in exile

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in Babylon, and they say, what
do we do about the law?

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We can’t follow it.
So they say, well, how about we

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look at the principles and we
try and understand what the

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principles were, and then we
create a way to follow those

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principles.
In other words, we make a new

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law that follows the same
principles.

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That was their idea.
Now you can see maybe how this

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is starting to go wrong, right?
The principles are good.

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You’re supposed to follow the
principles.

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That’s what God was teaching
them.

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The issue is, is that you don’t
create new laws to follow the

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same principles.
But this is what takes place.

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These scribes come together and
they say, well, we want to

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follow the principles.
So this is actually them saying

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we’re going to follow the spirit
of the law, right?

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We’re going to follow the spirit
of the law.

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But to do it, they make more
laws.

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00:11:33,280 –> 00:11:36,240
So that’s the issue.
This group of scribes eventually

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00:11:36,240 –> 00:11:38,760
morphs into who are called the
Pharisees.

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00:11:39,880 –> 00:11:41,520
So these scribes become the
Pharisees.

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00:11:41,520 –> 00:11:44,560
They’re the early predecessors
of the Pharisees, and they put

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00:11:44,560 –> 00:11:46,720
together what is known as the
Oral Torah.

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00:11:48,160 –> 00:11:53,160
The Oral Torah is what the
Pharisees push, and they say

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00:11:53,160 –> 00:11:56,440
this is how the law applies
today, right?

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00:11:56,440 –> 00:11:58,400
So it’s things that were not
written in the Torah, but it

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00:11:58,400 –> 00:11:59,640
was.
Supposed to be the principles of

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00:11:59,640 –> 00:12:03,520
the Torah that end up as like
the the laws that they’re

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00:12:03,520 –> 00:12:06,560
following.
Well, I mean, they, they weren’t

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00:12:06,640 –> 00:12:08,360
right, but that was the idea
behind them.

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00:12:08,760 –> 00:12:10,960
So this is what Jesus is
referring to when he talks about

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00:12:10,960 –> 00:12:14,200
the tradition of the elders,
like Matthew 15, Mark 7.

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00:12:14,880 –> 00:12:16,120
Those are the things that he’s
talking about.

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00:12:16,480 –> 00:12:19,280
Those are the traditions.
So the Pharisees followed those,

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00:12:19,280 –> 00:12:22,320
the Sadducees don’t.
And what ends up happening?

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00:12:22,800 –> 00:12:26,360
Is the Pharisees say these are
the words of God, so they create

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00:12:26,360 –> 00:12:29,080
this whole history for them.
This is why they call them the

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00:12:29,080 –> 00:12:31,160
Oral Torah.
So you had the written Torah,

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00:12:31,400 –> 00:12:33,200
which was the first five books,
right?

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00:12:33,840 –> 00:12:37,080
And then you had the Oral Torah,
which they claimed was given to

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00:12:37,080 –> 00:12:40,480
Moses on Mount Sinai by God.
God just decided not to write it

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00:12:41,520 –> 00:12:44,680
conveniently and instead he
spoke it.

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00:12:44,920 –> 00:12:48,000
And it just so happened that he
spoke it to Moses, who gave it

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00:12:48,000 –> 00:12:50,560
to Joshua, who then gave it to
their family members.

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00:12:51,840 –> 00:12:53,400
And those family members were
the scribes.

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00:12:54,720 –> 00:12:57,160
So they say, we have this, you
know, new secret information

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00:12:57,160 –> 00:12:59,160
that we’re now revealing to you
now that we’re in exile in

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00:12:59,160 –> 00:13:01,400
Babylon.
And it’s all about how you

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00:13:01,400 –> 00:13:03,960
follow the law in exile.
It’s called the Oral Torah.

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00:13:03,960 –> 00:13:06,400
It’s actually the words of God.
You can see why this made the

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00:13:06,400 –> 00:13:10,200
Lord Jesus so mad, right?
Like this is totally claiming to

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00:13:10,200 –> 00:13:13,400
know like new information about
God and putting words in God’s

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00:13:13,400 –> 00:13:19,400
mouth.
So they claim all this and then.

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00:13:21,320 –> 00:13:23,280
The Pharisee movement takes hold
of it.

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00:13:24,400 –> 00:13:27,600
The Temple is destroyed 70 CE,
the second Temple, right.

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00:13:27,840 –> 00:13:30,640
So therefore the Sadducees
disappear because the Sadducees

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00:13:30,640 –> 00:13:32,720
were the priests.
And so the only people who are

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00:13:32,720 –> 00:13:36,360
left are Pharisees, which then
become the people called rabbis.

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00:13:37,400 –> 00:13:39,360
So that’s sort of the, you know,
that’s, that’s a very brief

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00:13:39,360 –> 00:13:42,920
history of how this all works.
They then decide the rabbis do

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00:13:42,920 –> 00:13:44,920
because they say, you know, this
whole temple destroying thing,

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00:13:44,920 –> 00:13:46,960
this is not so good.
So why don’t we actually write

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00:13:46,960 –> 00:13:49,480
down the Oral Torah?
So they write it down.

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00:13:49,720 –> 00:13:53,800
So the Oral Torah becomes
written and that is what’s

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00:13:53,800 –> 00:13:58,560
called the Mishnah.
A bunch of rabbis get together.

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00:13:59,200 –> 00:14:02,160
There’s some in Jerusalem,
there’s some in Babylon.

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00:14:02,480 –> 00:14:05,040
They get together and they
create commentaries on the

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00:14:05,040 –> 00:14:07,240
Mishnah.
That’s called the Gomorrah.

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00:14:08,200 –> 00:14:11,080
So you have the Mishnah and the
Gomorrah, and then the Mishnah

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00:14:11,080 –> 00:14:14,000
and the Gomorrah get put
together into one book, and that

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00:14:14,000 –> 00:14:16,760
is the Talmud.
So that’s all the history.

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00:14:16,760 –> 00:14:20,000
Talmud creation happens right
around 200 BCE.

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00:14:20,360 –> 00:14:22,800
You might be wondering why we’re
talking all about all this, but

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00:14:22,800 –> 00:14:25,520
it’s an important piece of just
kind of understanding the

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00:14:25,520 –> 00:14:27,960
historical context of all of
these things, right?

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00:14:27,960 –> 00:14:29,960
When these things happen,
because the Talmud gives us a

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00:14:29,960 –> 00:14:33,680
huge insight into what 1st
century Jewish life was like,

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00:14:34,280 –> 00:14:35,480
right?
It is the writings of the

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00:14:35,480 –> 00:14:37,760
Pharisees.
So that’s important.

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00:14:38,080 –> 00:14:41,440
Now, as we look at that, I just
want to show you some of the

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00:14:41,800 –> 00:14:43,240
things that show up in the
Talmud.

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00:14:43,240 –> 00:14:45,040
So I have a very small sampling
here.

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00:14:45,240 –> 00:14:47,600
This is how people talk all the
time in the Talmud.

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00:14:47,800 –> 00:14:51,120
So the Talmud is these
collections of here’s what the

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00:14:51,120 –> 00:14:53,320
law is, here’s what the Oral
Torah is, and then it’s a bunch

286
00:14:53,320 –> 00:14:56,080
of debates about them.
So here’s just a little sample

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00:14:56,080 –> 00:14:58,480
from one of the debates.
It says Rava said to him.

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00:14:58,480 –> 00:15:00,040
So this is Rava.
He’s one of the rabbis.

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00:15:00,240 –> 00:15:03,360
He’s talking to another rabbi.
He says, fool, when that verita

290
00:15:03,360 –> 00:15:05,600
is taught, it’s referring to a
case dot, dot, dot.

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00:15:05,600 –> 00:15:07,360
And he goes on and he talks
about something else.

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00:15:07,840 –> 00:15:11,080
Here’s another example, Raba,
that’s not the same as Rava.

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00:15:11,880 –> 00:15:15,320
Raba said to him, fool, we
learned in the Mishnah that this

294
00:15:15,440 –> 00:15:18,400
that this halakha applies and
then he goes and he explains

295
00:15:18,400 –> 00:15:20,880
what the halakha is, etcetera.
Holakha is one of the

296
00:15:20,880 –> 00:15:22,200
commandments on how you’re.
Supposed to live.

297
00:15:23,680 –> 00:15:27,760
Now do you notice how the rabbis
address one another?

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00:15:29,080 –> 00:15:30,840
Fool.
Now I will tell you this is

299
00:15:30,840 –> 00:15:33,600
actually a nice translation that
the Talmud is written in Aramaic

300
00:15:33,800 –> 00:15:36,280
and the Aramaic there.
Is actually idiot.

301
00:15:37,440 –> 00:15:39,840
So this is, this is what they
call each other all the time,

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00:15:39,960 –> 00:15:42,240
you know, and they just, they go
back and forth on all of this.

303
00:15:42,360 –> 00:15:45,440
And in fact, this is one of the
things that like the Talmud

304
00:15:45,560 –> 00:15:50,120
loves about it and it, and it’s
still in modern Jewish culture.

305
00:15:50,120 –> 00:15:53,160
Like, I don’t know if you’ve
ever heard the phrase three Jews

306
00:15:53,160 –> 00:15:55,800
4 opinions, right?
Like that’s, and I’m not, I’m

307
00:15:55,800 –> 00:15:58,280
not trying to be, you know, like
anti-Semitic or anything along

308
00:15:58,280 –> 00:16:00,240
those lines.
That’s, that’s like a phrase

309
00:16:00,240 –> 00:16:02,280
that Jews use.
I’ve had it told to me many

310
00:16:02,280 –> 00:16:04,760
times when I’ve gone to
synagogues or whatnot.

311
00:16:04,880 –> 00:16:06,440
And they use it as like a thing
of pride.

312
00:16:06,840 –> 00:16:08,960
You know, they’re like 3 Jews, 4
opinions.

313
00:16:08,960 –> 00:16:11,520
Like that’s who we are.
Like we argue, we debate, we

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00:16:11,520 –> 00:16:14,200
call each other idiots, like,
and then we go out for coffee.

315
00:16:14,400 –> 00:16:17,000
You know, it’s, it’s like
that’s, that’s how they do

316
00:16:17,000 –> 00:16:20,600
things and they love it.
So I just, I think it’s helpful

317
00:16:20,600 –> 00:16:22,240
to recognize this.
Here’s another example.

318
00:16:22,360 –> 00:16:26,000
This is Rabbi Eliezer versus
Akiva or Rabbi Akiva.

319
00:16:26,360 –> 00:16:28,480
So, Rabbi Akiva.
Was one of the the big deal

320
00:16:28,480 –> 00:16:30,920
rabbis.
So if you hear something, you

321
00:16:30,920 –> 00:16:33,760
know that he wrote, it’s usually
like, whoa, people, people

322
00:16:33,760 –> 00:16:36,320
really pay attention to it.
He was just.

323
00:16:36,640 –> 00:16:39,160
Historical interest.
He was the rabbi that supported

324
00:16:39,600 –> 00:16:42,960
Barkokba in the Barkokba.
Rebellion, if that means

325
00:16:42,960 –> 00:16:46,240
anything to you.
OK, so here’s here’s.

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00:16:46,240 –> 00:16:48,360
This just listen to this.
Conversation.

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00:16:48,360 –> 00:16:51,160
OK, Rabbi Eliezer said to him.
That’s Akiva.

328
00:16:51,360 –> 00:16:54,760
About this Akiva, you have light
heartedly responded to me with a

329
00:16:54,760 –> 00:16:58,840
faulty, a fortatory inference
with regard to slaughter.

330
00:16:59,760 –> 00:17:02,960
His death, that is, Akiva’s
death, will be with slaughter,

331
00:17:03,000 –> 00:17:05,119
meaning as punishment for this
disrespect, you will be

332
00:17:05,119 –> 00:17:09,520
slaughtered by other people.
So Eliezer is just like, well,

333
00:17:09,520 –> 00:17:12,160
Akiva, I didn’t like how you
responded to me there.

334
00:17:12,319 –> 00:17:15,520
So I just want you to know that
when you die, people are going

335
00:17:15,520 –> 00:17:16,599
to not treat.
You very well.

336
00:17:17,680 –> 00:17:20,680
And Akiva’s like, OK, thanks.
And then they like just move on,

337
00:17:21,280 –> 00:17:23,960
You know, there’s no, there’s no
like issue here.

338
00:17:23,960 –> 00:17:26,640
There’s no Akiva saying like, I
hate you or anything like that.

339
00:17:26,880 –> 00:17:32,040
Like this is just normal.
This is normal talk.

340
00:17:32,760 –> 00:17:36,280
In fact, this is important for
us particularly because we will

341
00:17:36,280 –> 00:17:38,800
see things like in John chapter
8, when the Lord Jesus is

342
00:17:38,800 –> 00:17:41,200
talking to a group of Jews.
He says you were of your father

343
00:17:41,200 –> 00:17:43,600
the devil.
You remember that you’re of your

344
00:17:43,600 –> 00:17:47,000
father the devil.
And that phrase became terrible

345
00:17:47,080 –> 00:17:50,040
in Christian history.
It was taken to mean that Jews

346
00:17:50,040 –> 00:17:52,040
are actually demonic and that
they have horns.

347
00:17:52,200 –> 00:17:54,680
In fact, I have met Jewish
people today who say that

348
00:17:54,680 –> 00:17:57,400
Christians will still come to
them and ask to feel their head,

349
00:17:58,080 –> 00:18:00,040
to see if they have horns.
Yeah.

350
00:18:00,480 –> 00:18:02,480
Multiple Jewish people.
Have come and talk to me about

351
00:18:02,480 –> 00:18:06,560
that.
So that verse was misunderstood

352
00:18:06,560 –> 00:18:10,320
because this historical context
wasn’t understood, but in fact

353
00:18:10,320 –> 00:18:13,440
that was a thing that Jews said
to each other back then.

354
00:18:13,600 –> 00:18:15,080
So here’s another example from
the Talmud.

355
00:18:15,480 –> 00:18:18,920
This is Dosa Ben Harkinas, and
he’s talking about his brother

356
00:18:19,000 –> 00:18:23,560
Johannitan Ben Harkinas.
So he that’s Dosa said to them.

357
00:18:23,560 –> 00:18:25,760
Did you hear that Dosa Ben
Harkinas issued this?

358
00:18:25,760 –> 00:18:27,600
Ruling.
Or did you hear that it was

359
00:18:27,600 –> 00:18:30,680
stated by Ben Harkinas?
Because he wants to know, was

360
00:18:30,680 –> 00:18:33,080
this my ruling or was it just by
somebody in my family?

361
00:18:34,480 –> 00:18:36,760
They said to him, on your life,
Rabbi, we simply heard Ben

362
00:18:36,760 –> 00:18:38,800
Harkiness.
He said to them, if so, it is no

363
00:18:38,800 –> 00:18:41,040
wonder, as I have a younger
brother who is the first born of

364
00:18:41,040 –> 00:18:44,440
the Satan, IE, he’s extremely
sharp and as brazen as a demon.

365
00:18:44,520 –> 00:18:46,920
And his name is Johannatan, and
he’s among the disciples of

366
00:18:46,920 –> 00:18:49,920
Shamai, which, you know, in the
Talmud being a disciple of

367
00:18:49,920 –> 00:18:53,440
Shamai, that kind of, you know,
that’s you don’t want to be that

368
00:18:54,520 –> 00:18:59,200
it is he who issued this ruling.
OK, So what you got again here

369
00:18:59,200 –> 00:19:00,920
is this is just how people talk
about each other now.

370
00:19:00,920 –> 00:19:03,400
This is his brother, right?
It’s not like he’s not saying I

371
00:19:03,400 –> 00:19:05,920
hate my brother.
He’s just saying, oh, you know,

372
00:19:05,920 –> 00:19:07,040
like my brother.
Yeah, we have.

373
00:19:07,040 –> 00:19:09,200
We spar, right?
Like, this is this is the kind

374
00:19:09,200 –> 00:19:11,160
of thing that happens.
I totally disagree with him.

375
00:19:11,240 –> 00:19:12,520
He doesn’t ever know what he’s
talking about.

376
00:19:12,680 –> 00:19:15,560
But then he’ll say, brother, you
know, the next time he sees him.

377
00:19:15,800 –> 00:19:17,280
And that’s how things will be
like.

378
00:19:17,280 –> 00:19:20,480
This is how the Talmud is.
This was the historical context

379
00:19:20,480 –> 00:19:22,960
back then.
This was how Jews, particularly

380
00:19:22,960 –> 00:19:27,360
rabbis, spoke to each other.
In fact, there is one story.

381
00:19:27,560 –> 00:19:29,720
I’ll tell you about it just
because it’s so strange to us.

382
00:19:29,920 –> 00:19:32,840
There’s one story in the Talmud
in which these rabbis are

383
00:19:32,840 –> 00:19:35,320
arguing with each other and they
can’t figure out what the

384
00:19:35,320 –> 00:19:37,760
correct ruling on this law in
the Torah is.

385
00:19:38,120 –> 00:19:42,560
So one rabbi says, well, if I am
right, I will use my mind powers

386
00:19:42,680 –> 00:19:45,400
and move this one tree from
there to there.

387
00:19:46,080 –> 00:19:48,960
And then all the rabbis watch
and he goes, you know, any the

388
00:19:48,960 –> 00:19:51,720
tree starts to float and the
tree moves and everyone’s like,

389
00:19:51,720 –> 00:19:53,720
whoa, you know, he must be
right.

390
00:19:53,720 –> 00:19:56,640
He has mind powers.
And the other rabbi then he’s

391
00:19:56,640 –> 00:20:00,320
talking says, Oh yeah, Well, if
I am right then.

392
00:20:00,600 –> 00:20:04,120
The walls of this house that we
are in will cave in on us and

393
00:20:04,120 –> 00:20:07,320
the walls bend down, you know,
on on top of them.

394
00:20:07,560 –> 00:20:09,920
And so you have this like
contest of not only like the

395
00:20:09,920 –> 00:20:13,560
rabbis like their, their
understanding of the Torah, but

396
00:20:13,560 –> 00:20:16,200
like their mental power, right?
Like this guy has so much mind

397
00:20:16,200 –> 00:20:18,320
power.
One guy can move a tree, but the

398
00:20:18,320 –> 00:20:20,960
other guy can like move a house.
You know, so like they’re trying

399
00:20:20,960 –> 00:20:23,160
to show I have a bigger brain
than you kind of thing.

400
00:20:23,160 –> 00:20:25,720
So they’re like going back and
forth and like arguing over all

401
00:20:25,720 –> 00:20:28,080
this and then finally get this.
This is the weirdest part.

402
00:20:28,520 –> 00:20:34,200
God comes and God says to them,
I don’t want to see my children

403
00:20:34,200 –> 00:20:36,440
quarreling with one another,
right?

404
00:20:36,440 –> 00:20:38,840
So you actually have this
intervention in the story of

405
00:20:38,840 –> 00:20:40,480
saying you need to treat each
other nicer.

406
00:20:40,640 –> 00:20:43,480
And the rabbis say no, like,
it’s actually OK.

407
00:20:43,480 –> 00:20:44,960
Like this is just how we talk,
no big deal.

408
00:20:44,960 –> 00:20:47,360
Don’t worry about it.
And so they say to God, they

409
00:20:47,360 –> 00:20:50,240
quote him one of the verses from
Proverbs, I don’t remember which

410
00:20:50,240 –> 00:20:52,320
it is.
They quote him a verse from the

411
00:20:52,320 –> 00:20:55,720
Old Testament that says like,
you know, something along the

412
00:20:55,720 –> 00:20:57,400
lines of.
Like you should be right about

413
00:20:57,400 –> 00:21:00,120
things or something like that.
And so they quote this verse to

414
00:21:00,120 –> 00:21:03,720
God, and God says, I’ve been
bested by my own children.

415
00:21:04,280 –> 00:21:08,040
And he starts laughing and he
says, I love that my children

416
00:21:08,160 –> 00:21:10,040
will argue over these things.
And he leaves.

417
00:21:11,480 –> 00:21:14,920
So like, that’s that just gives
you an idea of the cultural

418
00:21:14,920 –> 00:21:17,000
context.
And I say that and I wanted to

419
00:21:17,000 –> 00:21:19,240
spend, you know, a lot of time
looking at this just because

420
00:21:19,240 –> 00:21:21,480
it’s so important for us to
understand when we talk about

421
00:21:21,480 –> 00:21:25,960
peace, like this is a big deal
context because we can

422
00:21:25,960 –> 00:21:28,360
completely misunderstand what’s
going on and completely

423
00:21:28,360 –> 00:21:30,920
misunderstand how people are
treating each other unless we

424
00:21:30,920 –> 00:21:32,680
recognize the way that they
talked.

425
00:21:33,400 –> 00:21:36,720
So that’s that’s the big thing.
I would suggest to you a lot of

426
00:21:36,720 –> 00:21:39,240
those times when we read Jesus’s
words and we think, wow, that

427
00:21:39,240 –> 00:21:42,520
was harsh.
Most people probably heard those

428
00:21:42,720 –> 00:21:46,640
and didn’t think.
That right, that’s that’s now

429
00:21:46,640 –> 00:21:49,000
there are times right where, you
know, the lawyer and Luke 11

430
00:21:49,000 –> 00:21:51,640
says like you’re offending us.
But think about that.

431
00:21:52,160 –> 00:21:54,320
Like Jesus was saying things
that we’d be like, well,

432
00:21:54,320 –> 00:21:56,720
obviously he’s offending them,
right?

433
00:21:57,040 –> 00:22:00,640
But the lawyer actually felt the
need to say, hey, you know,

434
00:22:00,640 –> 00:22:03,960
like, just want you to know this
is not like bro talk anymore.

435
00:22:03,960 –> 00:22:07,160
Like I’m feeling a little like,
I don’t feel good about this,

436
00:22:07,600 –> 00:22:09,760
right?
That shows us there were

437
00:22:09,760 –> 00:22:11,640
different standards at that
time.

438
00:22:11,720 –> 00:22:13,280
I think that that’s important to
recognize.

439
00:22:13,760 –> 00:22:16,560
OK, so that’s the first thing
that’s historical.

440
00:22:16,920 –> 00:22:20,320
Now, in addition, as we talk
about Romans and Ephesians.

441
00:22:20,520 –> 00:22:23,240
I think it’s helpful for us to
also understand some historical

442
00:22:23,240 –> 00:22:27,280
perspective as far as how Jews.
Worked.

443
00:22:27,280 –> 00:22:30,120
With Gentiles.
So let’s just take a look at

444
00:22:30,120 –> 00:22:32,560
this.
So this is the letter of

445
00:22:32,560 –> 00:22:34,600
Aristius.
This is the letter that tells us

446
00:22:34,600 –> 00:22:36,960
about how the Septuagint
supposedly came into being.

447
00:22:36,960 –> 00:22:40,400
And I say supposedly because it
says that the 70 scholars who

448
00:22:40,400 –> 00:22:43,360
put together Septuagint were put
in 70 different rooms, and they

449
00:22:43,360 –> 00:22:46,000
all translated at the same time,
and they came up with word for

450
00:22:46,000 –> 00:22:48,520
word the same translation.
That.

451
00:22:49,640 –> 00:22:52,640
Seems highly unlikely.
I don’t even come up with the

452
00:22:52,640 –> 00:22:55,360
same translation when I
translate something twice, so

453
00:22:56,200 –> 00:22:57,760
you know, I can’t imagine that
taking place.

454
00:22:57,920 –> 00:23:00,040
But anyway, what this is saying
is.

455
00:23:00,160 –> 00:23:03,600
This is just giving us a little
bit of a a background as far as

456
00:23:03,800 –> 00:23:06,280
Jews and Gentiles and some of
the the ways that the Jews

457
00:23:06,280 –> 00:23:08,720
interacted with them.
So for instance, we won’t read

458
00:23:08,720 –> 00:23:09,800
through it, but you can if you
want.

459
00:23:10,480 –> 00:23:14,200
It says that when those Jews
came down to translate the

460
00:23:14,200 –> 00:23:17,920
Septuagint version that Ptolemy
the second says to them, hey,

461
00:23:17,920 –> 00:23:20,080
you know, rabbis, I want to eat
a meal together.

462
00:23:20,240 –> 00:23:25,040
And the rabbis are kind of like,
well, you know, it sounds nice.

463
00:23:25,920 –> 00:23:30,160
And the reason is because they.
Can’t eat with gentiles right

464
00:23:30,160 –> 00:23:32,280
there it’s.
A real awkward moment because

465
00:23:32,280 –> 00:23:34,240
they can’t eat with gentiles
because maybe the food was

466
00:23:34,240 –> 00:23:35,960
offered to idols.
All of this.

467
00:23:36,240 –> 00:23:38,440
And so he says, oh, right.
You know, I got to make.

468
00:23:38,600 –> 00:23:40,520
I have to make preparations for
your banquet.

469
00:23:40,520 –> 00:23:43,080
I got to, you know, make it
everything OK for you.

470
00:23:43,120 –> 00:23:44,480
I got to do it all kosher.
I get it.

471
00:23:44,760 –> 00:23:48,320
So Jews just didn’t normally eat
with Gentiles, right.

472
00:23:48,320 –> 00:23:49,560
So that’s, that’s the thing to
note.

473
00:23:50,880 –> 00:23:53,240
Here’s an instance of just what
a big deal this was.

474
00:23:53,240 –> 00:23:55,040
So this is from the book of
Second Maccabees.

475
00:23:55,040 –> 00:23:57,000
Again, this is not biblical
unless you’re a Catholic, which

476
00:23:57,000 –> 00:24:01,040
we aren’t.
But this is this is from Second

477
00:24:01,040 –> 00:24:03,560
Maccabees.
And it again is just sort of

478
00:24:03,560 –> 00:24:06,840
historical, some of the the
stories that Jews see as

479
00:24:06,840 –> 00:24:09,280
history.
So this is between the

480
00:24:09,280 –> 00:24:10,720
testaments, between the two
testaments.

481
00:24:10,920 –> 00:24:14,480
And this shows you an example of
what a big deal it was to avoid

482
00:24:14,480 –> 00:24:16,440
eating with gentiles.
So listen to this.

483
00:24:17,000 –> 00:24:19,640
Eleazar, one of the scribes in
high position, a man now

484
00:24:19,640 –> 00:24:22,920
advanced in age and a noble
presence, was being forced to

485
00:24:22,920 –> 00:24:25,280
open his mouth to eat swine’s
flesh.

486
00:24:26,080 –> 00:24:29,200
OK.
But he welcoming death with

487
00:24:29,240 –> 00:24:31,640
honor rather than life with
pollution.

488
00:24:31,760 –> 00:24:34,440
So what’s life with pollution?
It’s eating.

489
00:24:34,440 –> 00:24:39,960
Pig went up to the rack of his
own accord, spitting out the

490
00:24:39,960 –> 00:24:42,960
flesh as all ought to go who
have the courage to refuse

491
00:24:42,960 –> 00:24:46,160
things that it is not right to
taste, even for the natural love

492
00:24:46,160 –> 00:24:47,800
of life.
Now you will notice this is

493
00:24:47,920 –> 00:24:49,920
definitely not an unbiased
source.

494
00:24:50,880 –> 00:24:52,960
Right.
This is saying, you know, look

495
00:24:52,960 –> 00:24:56,080
at Eliezer like the man, right?
You can imagine like if they had

496
00:24:56,080 –> 00:24:58,720
trading cards back then, it
would be like Eliezer the man.

497
00:24:58,720 –> 00:25:00,200
And you know, he has big muscles
and like.

498
00:25:00,480 –> 00:25:02,800
Here he is because he didn’t eat
pork, right?

499
00:25:03,000 –> 00:25:04,480
So this is this is the big
thing.

500
00:25:04,720 –> 00:25:08,520
So what he did is instead he
says, I will not eat pork,

501
00:25:08,520 –> 00:25:11,200
Instead put me on the rack.
And he walks up to the rack and

502
00:25:11,200 –> 00:25:14,800
goes, right, like, I won’t do
that pork and Maccabees is like,

503
00:25:14,960 –> 00:25:19,520
that’s what everyone should do.
Eliezer was a man, right?

504
00:25:19,560 –> 00:25:21,200
OK, so there you go.
You get that?

505
00:25:21,360 –> 00:25:23,720
You get that sense.
And in fact, you even still see

506
00:25:23,720 –> 00:25:27,120
this in New Testament times
after Christianity has entered

507
00:25:27,120 –> 00:25:28,880
the scene.
So here’s Peter.

508
00:25:29,080 –> 00:25:33,000
And after he goes to preach to
Cornelius, the ecclesia

509
00:25:33,000 –> 00:25:38,680
confronts him and says, you ate
with Gentiles.

510
00:25:43,160 –> 00:25:47,080
This is how strong the culture
was at that time, right?

511
00:25:47,080 –> 00:25:49,920
Even in a collegial life, Peter
was confronted.

512
00:25:50,080 –> 00:25:53,640
With this, what were you?
Thinking don’t you remember

513
00:25:53,640 –> 00:25:56,440
Eleazar Right?
Like like.

514
00:25:56,480 –> 00:25:59,760
How could you not do that?
You ate with gentiles.

515
00:26:01,640 –> 00:26:03,040
In addition, they weren’t
supposed to marry.

516
00:26:04,800 –> 00:26:07,160
Now, I think we’re fairly
familiar with that idea, so I’m

517
00:26:07,160 –> 00:26:08,360
not going to go into these
quotes.

518
00:26:08,560 –> 00:26:11,400
They weren’t supposed to marry.
That comes out of the the Old

519
00:26:11,400 –> 00:26:13,560
Testament, out of the Torah.
So we don’t need to get into

520
00:26:13,560 –> 00:26:15,160
that.
But just, again, historically,

521
00:26:15,280 –> 00:26:18,440
this was a big thing.
Like the only way that you could

522
00:26:18,440 –> 00:26:21,320
marry is if the person became a
Jew, right?

523
00:26:21,720 –> 00:26:23,040
They had to.
Accept Judaism.

524
00:26:23,040 –> 00:26:25,280
They had to accept everything
that came with it, including

525
00:26:25,280 –> 00:26:31,400
circumcision, all of that in
addition to that, so you

526
00:26:31,400 –> 00:26:33,040
couldn’t eat with gentiles, you
couldn’t marry them.

527
00:26:33,800 –> 00:26:38,320
You also saw them as impure.
Now I want to just step back and

528
00:26:38,320 –> 00:26:40,840
talk a little bit about the
marriage piece, because we’re

529
00:26:40,840 –> 00:26:42,840
looking at this in terms of 1st
century, right?

530
00:26:43,160 –> 00:26:45,480
Like we knew those things that
Jews and Gentiles wouldn’t get

531
00:26:45,480 –> 00:26:47,400
married.
But I want you to think about it

532
00:26:47,400 –> 00:26:52,040
in regard to the 1st century.
Just imagine how complicated

533
00:26:52,040 –> 00:26:54,840
that would make things.
If you’re in an ecclesia and you

534
00:26:54,840 –> 00:26:58,080
have a Jew and a Gentile who
want to get married, some people

535
00:26:58,080 –> 00:27:02,280
would be saying, well, is that
guy going to get circumcised?

536
00:27:03,200 –> 00:27:04,480
Right.
You have, you have this question

537
00:27:04,480 –> 00:27:06,480
of trying to figure out, you
know, are you going to, he’s

538
00:27:06,480 –> 00:27:09,600
going to keep kosher, right?
And you have to try and try and

539
00:27:09,600 –> 00:27:12,600
piece this together because when
you work through the New

540
00:27:12,600 –> 00:27:16,160
Testament, it appears as though
there were a number of Jewish

541
00:27:16,160 –> 00:27:20,760
Christians who continued to hold
to the Torah, continue to hold

542
00:27:20,920 –> 00:27:24,920
to sometimes even some of the
oral traditions up until the

543
00:27:24,920 –> 00:27:26,040
destruction of the Second
Temple.

544
00:27:26,640 –> 00:27:28,600
We talk about how the
destruction of the Second Temple

545
00:27:28,840 –> 00:27:30,400
was to show that Judaism was
done.

546
00:27:30,960 –> 00:27:33,400
And I agree with that.
I think it was, but I think it

547
00:27:33,400 –> 00:27:37,040
was additionally to show the
Jewish Christians, right?

548
00:27:37,040 –> 00:27:39,720
We’ve we’ve moved on, right?
This is this is the end.

549
00:27:39,840 –> 00:27:42,640
But up before that there were a
bunch of them who were still

550
00:27:42,640 –> 00:27:44,960
doing all this stuff.
And so I want us to put

551
00:27:44,960 –> 00:27:48,320
ourselves into that situation in
the 1st century to understand

552
00:27:48,400 –> 00:27:53,040
how hard this would be as you
try and bring together not just

553
00:27:53,040 –> 00:27:55,080
two cultures, right?
We have that happen in marriages

554
00:27:55,080 –> 00:27:59,720
today, but it’s two cultures in
which one of the cultures says

555
00:28:00,200 –> 00:28:03,040
no way, right?
I can’t have anything to do with

556
00:28:03,040 –> 00:28:06,880
you.
So this gives you an idea of a

557
00:28:06,880 –> 00:28:08,080
little bit of that.
No way.

558
00:28:08,080 –> 00:28:10,240
Peace.
This is the gentile impurity.

559
00:28:10,440 –> 00:28:13,480
So this is from the Talmud says
it was said of Rabbi Ishmael,

560
00:28:13,960 –> 00:28:16,760
the son of Kim Hith.
It once happened on the Day of

561
00:28:16,760 –> 00:28:18,360
Atonement.
He spoke in a public place with

562
00:28:18,360 –> 00:28:21,160
an Arab whose saliva was
sprinkled on the high priest

563
00:28:21,160 –> 00:28:23,000
clothes, right.
So they were talking, you know,

564
00:28:23,200 –> 00:28:25,360
getting really excited and maybe
he said a lot of peas or

565
00:28:25,360 –> 00:28:28,080
something and and you know, the
saliva came out, got on the high

566
00:28:28,080 –> 00:28:30,200
priest clothes.
And because he got saliva on

567
00:28:30,200 –> 00:28:34,760
him, look at this, he became
unclean because the Arab might

568
00:28:34,760 –> 00:28:37,840
be unclean.
It’s possible that the Arab was

569
00:28:37,840 –> 00:28:39,640
unclean because he didn’t know
the laws of cleanness and

570
00:28:39,640 –> 00:28:41,280
whatnot.
So therefore the high priest was

571
00:28:41,280 –> 00:28:42,800
unclean.
And because of that, he could

572
00:28:42,800 –> 00:28:45,160
not perform his duties as a high
priest on the Day of Atonement.

573
00:28:46,360 –> 00:28:48,200
So he has to step back and his
brother takes his spot.

574
00:28:48,200 –> 00:28:50,800
So that’s what that story is all
about.

575
00:28:53,080 –> 00:28:56,040
You might be familiar with the
layout of the second temple.

576
00:28:57,000 –> 00:28:59,760
So this portion here that I’ve
outlined in blue, that was

577
00:28:59,760 –> 00:29:01,680
referred to as the Court of the
Gentiles.

578
00:29:02,000 –> 00:29:04,960
So you have there on the bottom
left, that’s the Royal Stoa.

579
00:29:05,080 –> 00:29:06,560
That’s where the money changers
would have been.

580
00:29:06,560 –> 00:29:09,200
That’s where the Sanhedrin met.
And then you have the Court of

581
00:29:09,200 –> 00:29:11,960
the Gentiles in that blue
section.

582
00:29:11,960 –> 00:29:15,000
So if you were a Gentile, you
were allowed to go into the

583
00:29:15,000 –> 00:29:18,280
Court of the Gentiles.
However, you had to stop right

584
00:29:18,280 –> 00:29:23,560
there at that green marking that
is referred to as the Sorag.

585
00:29:24,840 –> 00:29:30,840
It was a a fabric covering and
it was blocked off.

586
00:29:31,520 –> 00:29:35,120
You could not as a Gentile go in
here is what Josephus says about

587
00:29:35,120 –> 00:29:36,280
it.
He says, When you go through

588
00:29:36,280 –> 00:29:38,960
these first cloisters unto the
2nd court of the temple.

589
00:29:39,200 –> 00:29:41,680
There was a partition made of
stone all around, so there’s

590
00:29:41,680 –> 00:29:44,560
stones and the fabric whose
height was 3 cubits.

591
00:29:44,560 –> 00:29:46,000
Its construction was very
elegant.

592
00:29:46,200 –> 00:29:49,080
Upon it stood pillars at equal
distances from one another,

593
00:29:49,080 –> 00:29:52,120
declaring the law of purity.
Some in Greek, some in Roman.

594
00:29:52,120 –> 00:29:55,960
Letters that quote no foreigners
should go within that sanctuary.

595
00:29:56,200 –> 00:29:58,480
For the 2nd court of the temple
was called the sanctuary.

596
00:29:58,720 –> 00:30:00,920
And was ascended to by 14 steps
from the 1st court.

597
00:30:01,080 –> 00:30:03,320
This court was four square and
had a wall about it peculiar to

598
00:30:03,320 –> 00:30:05,400
itself.
So what Josephus is saying is

599
00:30:05,400 –> 00:30:10,080
that this portion here was
blocked off from gentiles.

600
00:30:10,680 –> 00:30:14,640
So if you were a gentile, you
could only go in that outside

601
00:30:14,640 –> 00:30:19,360
area.
In fact, archaeologists have now

602
00:30:19,360 –> 00:30:23,840
discovered the markings that
have that say what Josephus

603
00:30:23,840 –> 00:30:25,720
wrote about.
So this is in the Istanbul

604
00:30:25,720 –> 00:30:30,240
Museum and there’s a like 1/2
version in the Israel Museum in

605
00:30:30,240 –> 00:30:32,640
Jerusalem.
Here’s what it says.

606
00:30:33,280 –> 00:30:35,720
No stranger is to enter within
the balustrade round about the

607
00:30:35,720 –> 00:30:37,440
temple enclosure.
Whoever is caught will be

608
00:30:37,440 –> 00:30:39,640
responsible to himself for his
death, which will ensue.

609
00:30:41,280 –> 00:30:45,080
You know, pretty straightforward
if you if you are a gentile and

610
00:30:45,080 –> 00:30:47,720
you go into this section.
Well, you will die and it’s your

611
00:30:47,720 –> 00:30:56,080
own fault, but that again gives
you that sense of this was the

612
00:30:56,080 –> 00:30:58,920
feeling about Gentiles right.
It was there is this

613
00:30:59,560 –> 00:31:01,600
uncleanness.
The Gentile could be unclean and

614
00:31:01,600 –> 00:31:03,120
so then that would make the
temple unclean.

615
00:31:03,400 –> 00:31:05,600
And I don’t this I don’t know
why this verse is on here.

616
00:31:05,640 –> 00:31:07,200
I meant to change it in in
between the break.

617
00:31:07,480 –> 00:31:08,640
That’s not what it’s supposed to
have.

618
00:31:09,560 –> 00:31:13,040
It’s supposed to have Acts 21 in
Acts chapter 21, the apostle

619
00:31:13,040 –> 00:31:15,880
Paul goes into the temple.
You remember he shaves his head

620
00:31:15,880 –> 00:31:19,160
because he he has this vow.
He goes in the temple and the

621
00:31:19,160 –> 00:31:24,880
people get really upset about it
because they say what he brought

622
00:31:25,320 –> 00:31:28,960
Trophimus the Ephesian into the
temple and they can’t believe

623
00:31:28,960 –> 00:31:29,960
it.
And what do they do?

624
00:31:30,480 –> 00:31:33,200
They grab Paul and they start
beating him up.

625
00:31:35,240 –> 00:31:39,800
So that gives us again, this is
some of the historical cultural

626
00:31:39,800 –> 00:31:41,920
understanding that we need to
have when we approach the New

627
00:31:41,920 –> 00:31:44,360
Testament, right?
There are no people that will

628
00:31:44,360 –> 00:31:46,960
walk into like a Christadelphian
ecclesia and get beat up because

629
00:31:46,960 –> 00:31:48,960
of it.
So it’s an important thing,

630
00:31:49,200 –> 00:31:51,800
hopefully.
So it’s, it’s an important thing

631
00:31:51,800 –> 00:31:55,160
for us to understand, right?
When we try and understand, you

632
00:31:55,160 –> 00:32:00,240
know, what was happening back
then, OK, so this is not how

633
00:32:00,240 –> 00:32:02,520
everybody felt, but it was how a
lot of people felt.

634
00:32:02,640 –> 00:32:06,680
So when we start looking at
peace, right, when we try and

635
00:32:06,680 –> 00:32:10,160
understand peace, I think we
need to recognize that the 1st

636
00:32:10,160 –> 00:32:14,440
century ecclesia was probably
one of the most unpeaceful

637
00:32:14,440 –> 00:32:19,280
places because you have this
natural division that has been

638
00:32:19,280 –> 00:32:22,840
in place for hundreds of years
that a number of Jewish people

639
00:32:22,840 –> 00:32:28,160
felt was created by God, right?
And they would turn to your

640
00:32:28,160 –> 00:32:31,960
passages in the Old Testament to
prove that Jews and Gentiles,

641
00:32:32,080 –> 00:32:35,160
that Moabites, that foreigners,
right, Moabites and Ammonites

642
00:32:35,160 –> 00:32:37,000
cannot answer to the 10th
generation.

643
00:32:37,320 –> 00:32:39,600
And they would say look like,
you know, if they’re not going

644
00:32:39,600 –> 00:32:43,720
to get circumcised, what do you
do about this verse, right?

645
00:32:43,720 –> 00:32:46,440
Like it would have been a major
challenge.

646
00:32:46,440 –> 00:32:49,120
And Can you imagine when people
tried to break bread?

647
00:32:49,520 –> 00:32:53,720
Well, there would be I can’t sit
over there with him because look

648
00:32:53,720 –> 00:32:58,000
like he’s a gentile.
We can’t eat with gentiles.

649
00:32:58,000 –> 00:33:01,160
Don’t you know that, right?
Like this is this is a meal.

650
00:33:01,240 –> 00:33:03,320
It can’t happen.
So you could you could picture

651
00:33:03,320 –> 00:33:05,200
Jews coming along and saying,
well, OK, you know, we’re going

652
00:33:05,200 –> 00:33:08,200
to have the Jewish like morning
service and we’ll have the

653
00:33:08,200 –> 00:33:11,000
Gentile afternoon service, you
know, or something like that.

654
00:33:11,600 –> 00:33:15,120
And what’s fascinating is the
Apostle Paul comes along and

655
00:33:15,120 –> 00:33:20,720
Paul says, absolutely not.
And I think that that’s one of

656
00:33:20,720 –> 00:33:25,080
the amazing things to see that
when you look at how difficult.

657
00:33:25,080 –> 00:33:27,960
This would have been.
When they’re trying to piece

658
00:33:27,960 –> 00:33:31,280
this together and when you have
one side pulling out their

659
00:33:31,280 –> 00:33:33,960
Bibles and saying this is what’s
right and the other side saying

660
00:33:34,160 –> 00:33:36,880
this is what’s right, it’s a
major challenge.

661
00:33:36,880 –> 00:33:39,960
And yet the apostle Paul in fact
says, well, guess what guys?

662
00:33:41,080 –> 00:33:42,960
We’re going to figure it out,
right?

663
00:33:42,960 –> 00:33:44,280
And that’s that’s what we have
to do.

664
00:33:44,880 –> 00:33:47,560
So I want us to see that as we
talk about peace.

665
00:33:48,880 –> 00:33:51,360
So we’re going to work.
Through Romans, and we’re going

666
00:33:51,360 –> 00:33:54,440
to see Romans as a little bit of
a case study here because the

667
00:33:54,440 –> 00:33:59,680
ecclesia in Rome was built out
of Gentiles and Jews, right?

668
00:33:59,680 –> 00:34:03,440
So you’re going to have this,
this fighting together of trying

669
00:34:03,440 –> 00:34:04,840
to bring these two groups
together, so.

670
00:34:05,040 –> 00:34:06,880
Let’s just first.
Take a look at an outline of

671
00:34:06,880 –> 00:34:08,679
Romans.
And then after that, we’re going

672
00:34:08,679 –> 00:34:09,880
to see how this relates to
peace.

673
00:34:10,639 –> 00:34:14,000
So let’s look at the well, we
won’t turn these up.

674
00:34:14,000 –> 00:34:15,480
You can write them down and turn
them up if you want.

675
00:34:15,480 –> 00:34:16,840
I’ll, I’ll talk to you about
what they say.

676
00:34:17,280 –> 00:34:19,120
But Romans chapter one verses
one through 17.

677
00:34:19,120 –> 00:34:20,280
That’s really our introduction,
right?

678
00:34:20,280 –> 00:34:22,360
It’s kind of it’s like Paul
saying hi, right?

679
00:34:22,480 –> 00:34:23,719
That’s kind of how he starts his
letters.

680
00:34:24,199 –> 00:34:27,120
When you move on, you basically
get the human condition.

681
00:34:27,840 –> 00:34:31,639
So he brings out Gentiles are
condemned.

682
00:34:31,639 –> 00:34:35,520
You remember the part where he
says they should know, right?

683
00:34:36,159 –> 00:34:38,840
The the invisible things of God
are known.

684
00:34:39,880 –> 00:34:44,120
By nature, by his creation.
So the Gentiles should know God

685
00:34:44,280 –> 00:34:47,960
based on creation.
He then goes on in chapter 2 to

686
00:34:47,960 –> 00:34:51,320
condemn the Jews because he says
just like the Gentiles should

687
00:34:51,320 –> 00:34:54,360
have understood God from nature,
the Jews should have understood

688
00:34:54,360 –> 00:34:58,000
God from the law.
So the Gentiles had nature, the

689
00:34:58,000 –> 00:35:00,080
Jews had the law, and nobody got
it.

690
00:35:00,560 –> 00:35:03,080
He says.
So therefore he sums it all up

691
00:35:03,080 –> 00:35:05,640
in Romans chapter three.
He has this big litany of Psalms

692
00:35:05,640 –> 00:35:09,040
that he strings together and he
says, look, everyone has been

693
00:35:09,040 –> 00:35:15,880
condemned.
Therefore, he says in chapters

694
00:35:15,880 –> 00:35:18,840
three and four, we needed
something else, right?

695
00:35:18,840 –> 00:35:20,480
We had to be justified through
faith.

696
00:35:20,960 –> 00:35:25,120
And so God creates justification
through faith and he brings out

697
00:35:25,120 –> 00:35:27,920
peace in chapter 5 through the
Lord Jesus Christ.

698
00:35:28,760 –> 00:35:33,120
That means of salvation, Paul
goes on to argue, means a

699
00:35:33,120 –> 00:35:34,760
complete transformation of our
lives.

700
00:35:34,760 –> 00:35:36,480
So that’s what chapter 6 is
about.

701
00:35:36,480 –> 00:35:38,120
This is why we read it at
baptisms, right?

702
00:35:38,400 –> 00:35:41,680
Because we are then associating
ourselves with the Lord Jesus

703
00:35:41,800 –> 00:35:43,840
and we are saying our life will
go in a different direction.

704
00:35:44,400 –> 00:35:47,000
So he brings out this is the
meaning of baptism, this is the

705
00:35:47,000 –> 00:35:49,560
meaning of the law.
This is life in the Spirit.

706
00:35:49,560 –> 00:35:51,160
Of God.
Now again, I, I don’t want to

707
00:35:51,160 –> 00:35:54,560
sound like I’m saying, you know,
that we, we live with the Holy

708
00:35:54,560 –> 00:35:56,920
Spirit or something like that.
This is just, these are Paul’s

709
00:35:56,920 –> 00:35:59,360
words, right?
This is he talks about those led

710
00:35:59,360 –> 00:36:04,040
by the Spirit in Romans 8.
He then explains, OK, so now you

711
00:36:04,040 –> 00:36:06,960
might be confused, right?
I thought that Israel was God’s

712
00:36:06,960 –> 00:36:10,360
special people.
So if God is justifying all

713
00:36:10,360 –> 00:36:14,360
through faith and if God is
calling people who believe to

714
00:36:14,360 –> 00:36:16,440
then live different lives, well,
where does Israel actually fit

715
00:36:16,440 –> 00:36:18,400
in?
So then he explains, well here’s

716
00:36:18,400 –> 00:36:22,480
Israel’s portion.
That’s Romans 9 through 11 and

717
00:36:22,480 –> 00:36:27,120
he stops at that point and he
introduces the word.

718
00:36:27,960 –> 00:36:30,840
You may be noticed it before
Romans 12 verse one.

719
00:36:30,960 –> 00:36:37,040
He starts with the word,
therefore, so he’s now laid out

720
00:36:37,040 –> 00:36:39,280
all the theology.
Right, Romans one through 11.

721
00:36:39,440 –> 00:36:42,040
Here’s the theology.
So Romans chapter 12 verse one,

722
00:36:42,040 –> 00:36:45,880
he says therefore, if you
understand all these things, if

723
00:36:45,880 –> 00:36:48,520
you understand that there’s
condemnation, but there doesn’t

724
00:36:48,520 –> 00:36:51,600
have to be condemnation because
we are justified through Christ

725
00:36:51,800 –> 00:36:53,320
and you understand that this
impacts.

726
00:36:53,320 –> 00:36:56,120
Who we are as people.
If all of this makes sense to

727
00:36:56,120 –> 00:36:58,000
you, therefore, here’s how you
live.

728
00:36:58,240 –> 00:36:59,560
And that’s what chapter 12 is
about.

729
00:37:00,080 –> 00:37:03,640
Chapter 12131415.
They’re all about how to live a

730
00:37:03,640 –> 00:37:07,200
new life, and it shouldn’t be
surprising then, that when we

731
00:37:07,200 –> 00:37:10,560
work through chapters 12. 13 and
14 and 15.

732
00:37:11,160 –> 00:37:14,640
Guess what the emphasis is?
It’s on learning to work with

733
00:37:14,640 –> 00:37:18,520
each other.
So he says, if you understand

734
00:37:19,480 –> 00:37:24,560
what the death of the Lord Jesus
means, that means that even

735
00:37:24,560 –> 00:37:29,120
though you’re a Jew and even
though you’re a Gentile, you’re

736
00:37:29,120 –> 00:37:32,520
going to figure it out.
So that’s the big emphasis here.

737
00:37:33,040 –> 00:37:34,200
And then he closes up the
letter.

738
00:37:34,440 –> 00:37:36,000
So that’s kind of like his
climax.

739
00:37:36,160 –> 00:37:37,600
It’s like his crowning point
here.

740
00:37:37,840 –> 00:37:39,600
That he says.
You have to understand the

741
00:37:39,600 –> 00:37:42,720
theology, and when you have that
theological base and it makes

742
00:37:42,720 –> 00:37:45,800
sense to you, you understand
what the Lord Jesus did for you

743
00:37:45,800 –> 00:37:52,560
and how He conquered death.
Then you learn to create peace.

744
00:37:53,880 –> 00:37:54,960
So here’s the progression of
thought.

745
00:37:54,960 –> 00:37:56,840
Here’s the quick summary.
You have the first section,

746
00:37:56,840 –> 00:37:59,640
everybody’s in trouble.
Second section, but God has a

747
00:37:59,640 –> 00:38:01,800
plan.
Third, the complaint.

748
00:38:01,800 –> 00:38:05,440
The plan completely overhauls
your life, 4th it doesn’t

749
00:38:05,440 –> 00:38:08,720
exclude Israel and 5th as a
result of that plan, the

750
00:38:08,720 –> 00:38:10,120
ecclesia.
Has to work at its differences,

751
00:38:10,120 –> 00:38:12,040
so.
That’s what he’s saying to the

752
00:38:12,040 –> 00:38:14,640
people in Rome.
Jews, Gentiles.

753
00:38:15,280 –> 00:38:18,920
It’s time to work this out.
So let’s just.

754
00:38:18,920 –> 00:38:21,600
Look at this in a little bit
more detail because what I want

755
00:38:21,600 –> 00:38:24,160
to suggest to you, and this
really struck me when I saw

756
00:38:24,160 –> 00:38:27,880
this, is that each of these
sections is actually based on

757
00:38:27,880 –> 00:38:31,520
peace.
I want to, I want to suggest to

758
00:38:31,520 –> 00:38:37,480
you that the apostle Paul is
using peace as sort of like the

759
00:38:37,720 –> 00:38:42,760
the theme as he works through
this letter and he crowns it

760
00:38:42,880 –> 00:38:45,840
with chapters 14 and 15.
Is that a bird?

761
00:38:47,920 –> 00:38:50,960
Wow, that’s really unfortunate
for that bird.

762
00:38:52,280 –> 00:38:55,560
Oh, well, I don’t know what to
do.

763
00:38:55,680 –> 00:38:57,960
I guess it can listen to the
class.

764
00:38:58,720 –> 00:39:01,200
OK, so here’s here’s how this
goes.

765
00:39:01,200 –> 00:39:04,560
Right you have you have Section
1 and the first section is about

766
00:39:04,560 –> 00:39:06,840
how everybody’s in trouble.
Now I don’t think it’s an

767
00:39:06,840 –> 00:39:09,520
accident that as we read through
this in Romans chapter 3.

768
00:39:09,840 –> 00:39:13,040
Just listen to this says as it
is written, there is no one

769
00:39:13,040 –> 00:39:16,560
righteous, not even one.
There is no one who understands

770
00:39:16,560 –> 00:39:18,680
there’s no one who seeks God.
All have turned away.

771
00:39:18,680 –> 00:39:20,200
They have together become
worthless.

772
00:39:20,360 –> 00:39:23,360
There is no one who does good,
not even one quote.

773
00:39:23,480 –> 00:39:26,760
Their throats are open graves,
their tongues practice deceit.

774
00:39:27,000 –> 00:39:29,120
The poison of Vipers is on their
lips.

775
00:39:29,280 –> 00:39:31,040
Their mouths are full of cursing
and bitterness.

776
00:39:31,200 –> 00:39:32,720
Their feet are swift to shed
blood.

777
00:39:32,880 –> 00:39:37,240
Ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not

778
00:39:37,240 –> 00:39:39,360
know.
So at the end of this section

779
00:39:39,520 –> 00:39:42,400
the apostle Paul says, look, I
show that everybody is under

780
00:39:42,400 –> 00:39:45,040
condemnation.
And what that means is that you

781
00:39:45,040 –> 00:39:52,240
have no peace.
There is no peace before the

782
00:39:52,240 –> 00:39:55,880
work of the Lord Jesus, so he
says no peace.

783
00:39:55,960 –> 00:39:58,560
So then you move on into the
second section and surprisingly

784
00:39:59,400 –> 00:40:04,040
or perhaps not, you then see
that when this plan gets

785
00:40:04,440 –> 00:40:07,120
implemented through the Lord
Jesus Christ, well, look at what

786
00:40:07,120 –> 00:40:09,480
it brings out says Romans 5
verse one.

787
00:40:09,480 –> 00:40:13,880
Therefore, since we have been
justified through faith, we have

788
00:40:13,880 –> 00:40:16,880
peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.

789
00:40:17,160 –> 00:40:20,080
So you start out in this
position of having no peace and

790
00:40:20,080 –> 00:40:23,160
the apostle Paul says, but don’t
worry because.

791
00:40:23,440 –> 00:40:27,160
There’s a plan to bring peace.
That’s what this is about.

792
00:40:28,120 –> 00:40:30,160
There’s no peace.
And then there’s the plan to

793
00:40:30,160 –> 00:40:33,280
bring about peace and it
completely overhauls your

794
00:40:33,280 –> 00:40:35,800
individual life.
So you have, on one hand, you

795
00:40:35,800 –> 00:40:37,760
have peace with God, right?
That’s what we saw in the last

796
00:40:37,760 –> 00:40:39,960
section.
And what we’re seeing is, in

797
00:40:39,960 –> 00:40:44,720
fact, all these pieces of peace
are connected, right?

798
00:40:44,840 –> 00:40:47,600
So you have peace with God in
the last section.

799
00:40:47,600 –> 00:40:50,600
That’s Romans 5 verse one.
And then when you have that

800
00:40:50,600 –> 00:40:53,280
peace with God and you start to
live differently, what you will

801
00:40:53,280 –> 00:41:00,400
experience then wow, Romans 8
verse six says the mind governed

802
00:41:00,400 –> 00:41:03,640
by the flesh is death, but the
mind governed by the Spirit is

803
00:41:03,640 –> 00:41:06,160
life and peace.
You then begin to experience

804
00:41:06,320 –> 00:41:08,680
that individual peace, that
inner peace.

805
00:41:10,320 –> 00:41:15,560
So you start to understand what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done,

806
00:41:15,680 –> 00:41:20,840
how He conquered death, and
through that you join it and you

807
00:41:20,840 –> 00:41:23,320
have peace with God.
And as you develop that peace

808
00:41:23,320 –> 00:41:25,520
with God, you start to realize
who He really is.

809
00:41:25,600 –> 00:41:27,880
You start to understand grace
and forgiveness.

810
00:41:28,040 –> 00:41:30,760
And as you understand those
things, then you feel.

811
00:41:30,760 –> 00:41:34,600
That peace, that inner peace,
and you start to live according

812
00:41:34,600 –> 00:41:38,600
to the Spirit.
Now you’ll notice here I’m

813
00:41:38,600 –> 00:41:41,120
quoting the KJV again.
I mentioned this yesterday that

814
00:41:41,160 –> 00:41:44,640
some manuscripts don’t have it.
It clearly fits nicely with my

815
00:41:44,800 –> 00:41:47,120
framework here.
But maybe it’s not there, right?

816
00:41:47,800 –> 00:41:50,560
So this is Romans 1015.
Even in the section about

817
00:41:50,560 –> 00:41:52,520
Israel, you will notice it
mentions peace.

818
00:41:52,640 –> 00:41:55,040
And I think it’s fascinating
that it says, he says, look,

819
00:41:55,400 –> 00:41:58,720
Israel hasn’t been excluded, and
so the gospel of peace will be.

820
00:41:58,720 –> 00:42:06,270
Brought to them too.
So then you get in Romans 12

821
00:42:06,270 –> 00:42:12,390
verse one, you get the Therefore
therefore I urge you, brothers

822
00:42:12,390 –> 00:42:15,230
and sisters, in view of God’s
mercy, to offer your bodies as a

823
00:42:15,230 –> 00:42:17,310
living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God.

824
00:42:17,310 –> 00:42:19,230
This is your true.
And proper worship now.

825
00:42:19,520 –> 00:42:24,080
I always understood this verse
to mean get out there and work

826
00:42:24,080 –> 00:42:26,720
in the ecclesia, and I think
that’s good.

827
00:42:27,400 –> 00:42:31,760
So I don’t don’t understand
this, please, as me saying like

828
00:42:31,960 –> 00:42:33,880
work in the ecclesia is bad or
something like that.

829
00:42:33,880 –> 00:42:35,840
I think we should be getting out
there and doing everything we

830
00:42:35,840 –> 00:42:38,480
can, but I think that’s taking
the verse out of context.

831
00:42:38,680 –> 00:42:42,360
Because if we continue to read,
you will notice that the next

832
00:42:42,360 –> 00:42:44,520
few verses are all about being
one body.

833
00:42:46,520 –> 00:42:47,640
They’re all about working
together.

834
00:42:48,520 –> 00:42:52,760
And then if you keep reading, he
says it again, if it is possible

835
00:42:52,760 –> 00:42:56,520
as far as it depends on you live
at peace with everyone, right?

836
00:42:56,520 –> 00:42:59,880
So he keeps bringing this out
over and over that you’re 1 body

837
00:43:00,000 –> 00:43:02,480
live at peace with each other.
And the reason he brings this up

838
00:43:02,920 –> 00:43:05,480
is he says like this is the
major thing he wants to work on

839
00:43:05,480 –> 00:43:07,840
with them.
He says you have to understand

840
00:43:07,840 –> 00:43:10,800
this because you are Jews, you
are gentiles.

841
00:43:10,880 –> 00:43:13,960
And I know it’s hard.
I know that when you come

842
00:43:13,960 –> 00:43:16,160
together on Sunday, you don’t
want to sit with these people,

843
00:43:16,840 –> 00:43:18,640
right?
I know that you don’t want your

844
00:43:18,640 –> 00:43:21,680
daughter talking to him.
I, I know that this is a

845
00:43:21,680 –> 00:43:25,320
cultural thing that you are
struggling with and that some of

846
00:43:25,320 –> 00:43:28,000
you, you know, you’re probably
arguing biblically about Jews

847
00:43:28,000 –> 00:43:29,560
and Gentiles bringing being
together.

848
00:43:29,960 –> 00:43:34,360
And I get that.
But he says, if you understand

849
00:43:34,360 –> 00:43:37,520
what the Lord Jesus did, if you
understand that you had no peace

850
00:43:37,760 –> 00:43:41,080
and that the Lord Jesus is
bringing peace and that you can

851
00:43:41,080 –> 00:43:44,160
have inner peace through him, he
says how could you not have

852
00:43:44,160 –> 00:43:47,280
peace with each other, right?
Because that’s what this is all

853
00:43:47,280 –> 00:43:49,600
about.
He’s bringing out in Romans that

854
00:43:49,600 –> 00:43:56,240
the plan of God is about peace.
So therefore, if we believe

855
00:43:56,320 –> 00:44:02,000
Romans 5, if we believe Romans
8, and we believe that we’ve

856
00:44:02,000 –> 00:44:05,840
been given that peace with God,
the apostle Paul.

857
00:44:05,880 –> 00:44:10,520
Emphasizes this peace because.
He’s saying we therefore have to

858
00:44:10,520 –> 00:44:16,040
have peace with each other.
So the next few chapters go on.

859
00:44:16,280 –> 00:44:20,680
To stress that now I want to
just bring this out because I

860
00:44:20,680 –> 00:44:23,200
think to me this is one of the
most powerful things that comes

861
00:44:23,200 –> 00:44:27,640
out here.
Romans 14 if you, if you ever

862
00:44:27,640 –> 00:44:31,600
get the chance, I, I completely
recommend doing a study just of

863
00:44:31,600 –> 00:44:35,520
that chapter 14 and 15.
And maybe you already have.

864
00:44:35,920 –> 00:44:38,080
Sometimes I think it gets a
little bit confused with First

865
00:44:38,080 –> 00:44:41,080
Corinthians 8, which is also
about eating food offered to

866
00:44:41,120 –> 00:44:43,000
idols.
But I think we need to just look

867
00:44:43,000 –> 00:44:47,160
at the context a little bit.
So let’s let’s go ahead and open

868
00:44:47,160 –> 00:44:50,800
up here to Romans 14.
And I want us to look first at

869
00:44:50,800 –> 00:44:58,520
verse 2.
So just to help us understand,

870
00:44:58,520 –> 00:45:02,160
because this was a different
thing in Corinth and I think we

871
00:45:02,160 –> 00:45:04,000
need to.
Really recognize what the

872
00:45:04,000 –> 00:45:08,360
problem was here.
So Romans 14 verse two, it says

873
00:45:08,360 –> 00:45:13,320
there verse 2 for one believeth
that he may eat all things,

874
00:45:13,320 –> 00:45:15,720
another who is weak eateth
herbs.

875
00:45:16,640 –> 00:45:19,240
So this is a similar situation
to what was going on at Corinth

876
00:45:19,640 –> 00:45:22,480
in that you had somebody who
decided to become a vegetarian

877
00:45:22,920 –> 00:45:25,920
and the reason they were being a
vegetarian was because they

878
00:45:25,920 –> 00:45:27,520
figured that that way they could
avoid food that.

879
00:45:27,520 –> 00:45:31,160
Was offered to idols, right?
But that wasn’t the only thing,

880
00:45:31,440 –> 00:45:32,520
right?
And This is why I say this is

881
00:45:32,520 –> 00:45:33,760
different than First
Corinthians.

882
00:45:34,160 –> 00:45:36,600
So in this case.
You have people who are acting

883
00:45:36,600 –> 00:45:39,040
as vegetarians.
But then in addition to that,

884
00:45:39,160 –> 00:45:43,960
look at verse 5, verse five says
one man esteemeth one day above

885
00:45:43,960 –> 00:45:45,640
another.
Another esteemeth every day

886
00:45:45,640 –> 00:45:47,880
alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded

887
00:45:47,880 –> 00:45:49,680
in his own mind.
What do you think Paul’s talking

888
00:45:49,680 –> 00:45:53,840
about there?
That’s the Sabbath, right?

889
00:45:54,240 –> 00:45:58,120
There’s, there’s Jews in the
ecclesia who are saying, look,

890
00:45:58,120 –> 00:45:59,720
you got it.
What do you, why are you not

891
00:45:59,720 –> 00:46:01,400
following Shabbat?
Like, what are you thinking?

892
00:46:02,160 –> 00:46:04,600
You know, clearly, let’s look at
Genesis, right?

893
00:46:04,600 –> 00:46:07,760
This is a holy day.
God sanctifies the 7th day.

894
00:46:07,840 –> 00:46:11,040
He rests on the 7th day.
Like you’re just acting like

895
00:46:11,040 –> 00:46:14,720
it’s normal, right?
And you can you can imagine this

896
00:46:15,200 –> 00:46:17,320
problem and you can imagine them
going back.

897
00:46:17,320 –> 00:46:19,160
To the old.
Testament and saying we have

898
00:46:19,160 –> 00:46:21,040
biblical reasons for feeling
this way.

899
00:46:24,120 –> 00:46:27,800
So what you have going on here
is this is very much in the

900
00:46:27,800 –> 00:46:31,760
context of Jew and Gentile.
In fact, just just to really

901
00:46:31,760 –> 00:46:35,880
bring it out, you can see it in
verse 14 that the apostles talks

902
00:46:35,880 –> 00:46:38,840
about nothing being unclean of
itself, right?

903
00:46:38,840 –> 00:46:40,560
So this is about cleanness and
uncleanness.

904
00:46:41,320 –> 00:46:46,120
So what we’re looking at is Jews
and Gentiles learning to get

905
00:46:46,120 –> 00:46:50,760
along based on the fact that for
centuries Jews have had a

906
00:46:50,760 –> 00:46:52,880
different understanding of
Scripture because Gentiles

907
00:46:52,880 –> 00:46:55,960
haven’t even read it, right?
And then they come along and now

908
00:46:55,960 –> 00:46:58,240
they’re saying, well, actually
all those things that you’re

909
00:46:58,240 –> 00:47:00,080
clearly showing me are
commandments.

910
00:47:00,200 –> 00:47:02,080
We don’t actually have to follow
those, right?

911
00:47:02,960 –> 00:47:05,320
And the Jews are like.
But that’s what it says.

912
00:47:06,200 –> 00:47:07,960
Right.
Like, what do you mean?

913
00:47:08,280 –> 00:47:11,760
You’re telling me that the words
of the Bible don’t matter, you

914
00:47:11,760 –> 00:47:13,640
know, or something like that?
Like that’s it.

915
00:47:13,800 –> 00:47:16,840
You can picture this is this
would be a serious debate.

916
00:47:17,120 –> 00:47:19,840
This would be a big problem.
So they’re going.

917
00:47:19,840 –> 00:47:22,840
Back and forth.
And I think it’s astonishing

918
00:47:22,840 –> 00:47:25,920
then to see what the apostle
writes here in Romans 14 verse

919
00:47:25,920 –> 00:47:33,160
14, he says, I am convinced.
Being fully persuaded in the

920
00:47:33,160 –> 00:47:37,760
Lord Jesus now.
We often miss this, I think,

921
00:47:37,760 –> 00:47:40,240
because we just, we don’t notice
Paul’s emphasis.

922
00:47:40,240 –> 00:47:42,720
We just say like, you know, OK,
so he’s really convinced of

923
00:47:42,720 –> 00:47:44,200
this.
That’s not, that’s not what’s

924
00:47:44,200 –> 00:47:47,640
going on here.
The apostle triple emphasizes

925
00:47:47,640 –> 00:47:52,560
what he’s about to say.
He says, I am convinced, I’m

926
00:47:52,560 –> 00:47:58,120
persuaded and I am persuaded in
the Lord Jesus, right?

927
00:47:58,120 –> 00:47:59,920
There’s there’s those 3
emphasis.

928
00:47:59,920 –> 00:48:02,560
So convinced, persuaded, and
then in the Lord Jesus, or if

929
00:48:02,560 –> 00:48:04,360
you have the KJV, it’s by the
Lord Jesus.

930
00:48:05,760 –> 00:48:09,720
Now the reason that this matters
for us is if you search these

931
00:48:09,720 –> 00:48:12,040
phrases in the Greek, here’s
what you’ll find.

932
00:48:12,680 –> 00:48:15,520
You’ll find that occasionally
Paul will say I’m convinced and

933
00:48:15,520 –> 00:48:18,560
persuaded.
Occasionally he’ll say I’m

934
00:48:18,560 –> 00:48:22,120
convinced in the Lord Jesus.
Sometimes he’ll say I’m

935
00:48:22,120 –> 00:48:25,920
persuaded in the Lord Jesus.
But you will never find any

936
00:48:25,920 –> 00:48:28,440
other instance where he says I
am convinced being fully

937
00:48:28,440 –> 00:48:33,680
persuaded in the Lord Jesus.
In other words, this is the only

938
00:48:33,680 –> 00:48:37,640
time that the apostle is triple
emphasizing something like this

939
00:48:37,800 –> 00:48:38,920
now, I think.
That, that is huge.

940
00:48:38,920 –> 00:48:42,400
For us, because what that tells
us is that this is the most

941
00:48:42,400 –> 00:48:45,080
emphatic verse that the apostle
ever writes.

942
00:48:47,840 –> 00:48:53,040
Now that’s amazing to me because
it is not about theology, right?

943
00:48:53,040 –> 00:48:56,920
It is not about him, you know,
saying here’s how you need to

944
00:48:56,920 –> 00:49:00,600
understand the atonement.
Or here’s how you need to be

945
00:49:00,600 –> 00:49:02,720
ready for the Kingdom of God.
Or something like that.

946
00:49:03,080 –> 00:49:06,680
His most emphatic verse is about
getting along with each other.

947
00:49:10,480 –> 00:49:15,800
So in his most emphatic verse he
says this, I am convinced, fully

948
00:49:15,800 –> 00:49:19,280
persuaded in the Lord Jesus that
nothing is unclean in itself.

949
00:49:19,400 –> 00:49:21,560
So he says you need to
understand that, right?

950
00:49:21,680 –> 00:49:25,400
Understand this basis that this
is OK, It’s OK that you disagree

951
00:49:25,400 –> 00:49:27,360
on this.
And he says with that

952
00:49:27,360 –> 00:49:31,920
understanding, consider this.
If anyone regards something as

953
00:49:31,920 –> 00:49:34,000
unclean, then for that person,
it is unclean.

954
00:49:34,200 –> 00:49:36,280
If your brother or sister is
distressed because of what you

955
00:49:36,280 –> 00:49:38,360
eat, you are no longer acting in
love.

956
00:49:39,920 –> 00:49:41,960
Now this is one of those
instances.

957
00:49:41,960 –> 00:49:45,520
I was just talking about how I’m
quoting the NIV up here.

958
00:49:45,520 –> 00:49:48,920
I actually I’m, I should, I
should tell you this, I, I, I

959
00:49:48,920 –> 00:49:52,120
like to change my translation
every year that I do the

960
00:49:52,120 –> 00:49:54,920
readings from.
So I put together the study when

961
00:49:54,920 –> 00:49:57,560
I was using the NIV and I
actually don’t like how the NIV

962
00:49:57,600 –> 00:50:00,680
handles a number of passages.
So in case you’re thinking like,

963
00:50:00,680 –> 00:50:02,200
oh, you know, Jason likes the
NIV.

964
00:50:02,200 –> 00:50:06,080
I, I, it’s not really one of my
favorites, but I, but I didn’t

965
00:50:06,080 –> 00:50:07,560
want to change all the verses,
right?

966
00:50:07,840 –> 00:50:11,360
So anyway, what it says up here
is it says you are no longer

967
00:50:11,360 –> 00:50:13,520
acting in love.
Well, that’s one of those

968
00:50:13,520 –> 00:50:16,320
instances where unfortunately
that the NI VS emphasis on

969
00:50:16,320 –> 00:50:19,040
trying to be more readable,
which makes it nice to read when

970
00:50:19,040 –> 00:50:21,640
you’re doing the readings right.
I felt like it really made some

971
00:50:21,640 –> 00:50:24,440
of the stuff that Paul writes
make more sense, but

972
00:50:24,440 –> 00:50:26,960
unfortunately it’s not as
literal as it could be there.

973
00:50:27,800 –> 00:50:29,600
Says you are no longer acting in
love.

974
00:50:29,640 –> 00:50:33,440
What that really says in the
Greek is you are no longer

975
00:50:33,600 –> 00:50:39,720
walking in love.
Now that’s really interesting

976
00:50:39,720 –> 00:50:44,480
because the apostle Paul will go
on later in Ephesians to.

977
00:50:44,480 –> 00:50:50,760
Quote that phrase, and in
Ephesians chapter five he tells

978
00:50:50,760 –> 00:50:52,160
us what it means to walk in
love.

979
00:50:54,000 –> 00:50:57,840
So Ephesians chapter 5.
Verse two, listen to this

980
00:50:58,440 –> 00:51:03,280
Ephesians 5 verse two he uses
that same phrase of walking in

981
00:51:03,280 –> 00:51:05,280
love.
Listen to what walking in love

982
00:51:05,280 –> 00:51:08,320
is.
Ephesians 5 verse two says and

983
00:51:08,320 –> 00:51:13,040
walk in love as Christ also hath
loved us and hath given himself

984
00:51:13,040 –> 00:51:17,240
for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet

985
00:51:17,240 –> 00:51:20,280
smelling savour.
So what Paul is emphasizing here

986
00:51:21,160 –> 00:51:25,120
is he says walking in love.
That’s the fact that the Lord

987
00:51:25,120 –> 00:51:32,160
Jesus gave his life for you.
So he says, if you can’t figure

988
00:51:32,160 –> 00:51:35,000
out how to get along, right, if
you’re if you’re looking at this

989
00:51:35,000 –> 00:51:36,920
and say, oh, well, you know, I’m
going to eat whatever I want,

990
00:51:37,080 –> 00:51:38,640
even though that bothers that
person.

991
00:51:38,840 –> 00:51:41,520
Or if you’re looking at that
other person and judging them

992
00:51:41,520 –> 00:51:43,240
and saying, well, they’re not a
good believer because they eat

993
00:51:43,240 –> 00:51:46,000
whatever they want, right.
And you know, you have these

994
00:51:46,000 –> 00:51:49,240
scriptural basis for feeling
this way yet, Paul says.

995
00:51:49,840 –> 00:51:52,480
If you look at that person and
feel that way, he says you

996
00:51:52,480 –> 00:51:54,400
missed the point of the
sacrifice of Christ.

997
00:51:57,200 –> 00:51:59,480
That’s why this is his most
emphatic verse, right?

998
00:51:59,640 –> 00:52:03,920
Like he, he says this, the Lord
Jesus walked in love and how did

999
00:52:03,920 –> 00:52:07,160
he do that?
He gave his life for you and he

1000
00:52:07,160 –> 00:52:12,760
gave his life for them.
So that’s why this is such a big

1001
00:52:12,760 –> 00:52:15,680
deal.
And so in fact, when he brings

1002
00:52:15,680 –> 00:52:21,360
it all together, he says.
Do not buy your eating.

1003
00:52:22,400 –> 00:52:24,960
Destroy someone for whom Christ
died.

1004
00:52:26,840 –> 00:52:31,280
Now it’s interesting that he’s
talking about the strong and the

1005
00:52:31,280 –> 00:52:35,120
weak in Romans 14, right?
I don’t think it’s an accident

1006
00:52:35,960 –> 00:52:40,080
that, yes, the weak are the ones
who are wanting to become

1007
00:52:40,080 –> 00:52:42,880
vegetarian, right?
And and, you know, wanting to

1008
00:52:42,880 –> 00:52:45,080
follow the Sabbath and all that.
And the strong are the ones who

1009
00:52:45,080 –> 00:52:46,240
recognize that you don’t need
that.

1010
00:52:46,560 –> 00:52:49,280
But I don’t think it’s an
accident then in Romans 5.

1011
00:52:50,560 –> 00:52:55,360
Paul wrote this Romans 5 verse
six For when we were yet without

1012
00:52:55,360 –> 00:53:00,120
strength, in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly when we

1013
00:53:00,840 –> 00:53:03,160
were without strength.
Now that word without strength

1014
00:53:04,160 –> 00:53:08,800
in the Greek is the word weak.
Same word as Romans 14 verse one

1015
00:53:10,120 –> 00:53:14,080
and and two.
So that’s Romans 5 verse 6 and

1016
00:53:14,080 –> 00:53:16,280
Romans 14-1 and two.
In other words, what Paul is

1017
00:53:16,280 –> 00:53:22,480
saying is that everyone in some
sense is the weak.

1018
00:53:23,720 –> 00:53:27,960
And that’s the basis on which we
learn to work together to

1019
00:53:27,960 –> 00:53:32,720
recognize that, you know, I this
is what I think it says, here’s

1020
00:53:32,720 –> 00:53:34,360
why.
And you say, well, this is what

1021
00:53:34,360 –> 00:53:37,920
I think it says, here’s why.
And we can sit down together and

1022
00:53:37,960 –> 00:53:40,720
we can say, OK, well, you know,
let’s, let’s talk through this.

1023
00:53:41,160 –> 00:53:44,680
Let’s try and figure it out.
In some cases, maybe.

1024
00:53:45,200 –> 00:53:46,440
You know, I’m not.
I’m not.

1025
00:53:46,440 –> 00:53:47,960
Talking on 1st principles, don’t
worry.

1026
00:53:47,960 –> 00:53:50,320
But in some cases maybe you’ll
have to compromise.

1027
00:53:50,320 –> 00:53:52,880
I know sometimes that people
feel like that’s a bad word, but

1028
00:53:53,080 –> 00:53:55,920
you know, I, I think that that’s
an important thing for us to

1029
00:53:55,920 –> 00:53:58,280
consider.
Right, that’s how we get along.

1030
00:54:00,320 –> 00:54:02,240
Now I put my remote somewhere.
I got all excited.

1031
00:54:02,640 –> 00:54:08,320
There it is.
OK, I got 5 more minutes.

1032
00:54:08,840 –> 00:54:12,360
So let’s really quickly walk
through Ephesians because

1033
00:54:12,360 –> 00:54:13,280
Ephesians is.
Wow.

1034
00:54:13,840 –> 00:54:16,280
Yeah, OK, four.
So Ephesians is the same thing.

1035
00:54:17,200 –> 00:54:20,320
But I think you’ll notice that
same point that what the apostle

1036
00:54:20,320 –> 00:54:23,920
does is he gives us the
sacrifice of the Lord, and he

1037
00:54:23,920 –> 00:54:26,720
says this sacrifice was about
peace.

1038
00:54:27,040 –> 00:54:30,040
So you have the same problem,
Jews and Gentiles, and it’s

1039
00:54:30,040 –> 00:54:33,440
again revolved around peace.
Ephesians 2 verses 11 to 13 says

1040
00:54:33,560 –> 00:54:36,960
Therefore remember that formerly
you who are Gentiles by birth

1041
00:54:37,160 –> 00:54:39,280
and called uncircumcised by
those who call themselves the

1042
00:54:39,280 –> 00:54:41,680
circumcision, which is done in
the body by human hands.

1043
00:54:41,880 –> 00:54:44,120
Remember that at that time you
were separate from Christ,

1044
00:54:44,360 –> 00:54:46,840
excluded from citizenship in
Israel, foreigners to the

1045
00:54:46,840 –> 00:54:49,360
covenants of promise, without
hope, without God in the world,

1046
00:54:49,480 –> 00:54:53,120
but now in Christ Jesus, you who
once were far away, have been

1047
00:54:53,120 –> 00:54:54,640
brought near by the blood of
Christ.

1048
00:54:54,760 –> 00:54:58,120
Now I’ve underlined it on there,
that’s an illusion.

1049
00:54:59,480 –> 00:55:01,920
He says you were once far away
and you’ve been brought near by

1050
00:55:01,920 –> 00:55:03,320
the blood of Christ.
Now that’s an illusion.

1051
00:55:03,320 –> 00:55:06,720
I would suggest you to Isaiah 57
because that whole section is

1052
00:55:06,720 –> 00:55:10,120
quoting Isaiah 57 and we’ll
we’ll look at it maybe as we go,

1053
00:55:10,200 –> 00:55:13,840
depending on how fast they talk,
but being far away.

1054
00:55:14,160 –> 00:55:16,960
Isaiah 57 talks about those who
are far, and the reason we need

1055
00:55:16,960 –> 00:55:19,480
to recognize that illusion is
because look at what it’s saying

1056
00:55:19,480 –> 00:55:24,080
to those who are far.
It says peace to those who are

1057
00:55:24,080 –> 00:55:25,560
far.
And that’s Paul’s point.

1058
00:55:25,840 –> 00:55:29,480
He says you once were strangers
from the covenant, you once were

1059
00:55:29,480 –> 00:55:32,800
aliens from the Commonwealth of
Israel, and he says, but now you

1060
00:55:32,800 –> 00:55:36,880
have peace because of what the
Lord Jesus did.

1061
00:55:38,880 –> 00:55:41,920
So he explains that He Himself
is our peace.

1062
00:55:42,240 –> 00:55:47,280
How not just peace with God, not
just inner peace, but he says

1063
00:55:47,480 –> 00:55:51,640
the Lord Jesus has made the two
groups one and has destroyed the

1064
00:55:51,640 –> 00:55:54,520
barrier, the dividing wall of
hostility by setting aside in

1065
00:55:54,520 –> 00:55:57,120
his flesh the law with its
commands and regulations.

1066
00:55:57,240 –> 00:55:59,320
And he doesn’t say it’s going to
be easy to figure out the peace,

1067
00:55:59,440 –> 00:56:02,640
but he says that peace has to
happen right?

1068
00:56:02,640 –> 00:56:04,360
Because that’s the sacrifice of
Christ.

1069
00:56:05,280 –> 00:56:09,120
He says uniting those two
groups, making you one, is what

1070
00:56:09,120 –> 00:56:11,440
the Lord Jesus did.
And if you aren’t?

1071
00:56:11,560 –> 00:56:15,840
That.
Then you’ve missed it.

1072
00:56:17,240 –> 00:56:20,680
That’s when he quotes Isaiah 57.
He came and preached peace to

1073
00:56:20,680 –> 00:56:24,360
you who were far away, and peace
to those who are near.

1074
00:56:28,320 –> 00:56:32,680
So what we see?
Is that when it comes to the

1075
00:56:32,680 –> 00:56:38,320
story of the gospel, it’s the
gospel of peace.

1076
00:56:39,120 –> 00:56:42,640
And all of these aspects of
peace are connected.

1077
00:56:43,600 –> 00:56:49,560
In fact, ultimately I would put
to you, I think really peace

1078
00:56:49,560 –> 00:56:52,720
with each other is probably the
hardest kind of peace to bring

1079
00:56:52,720 –> 00:56:54,760
about, right?
Because you know, you, you have

1080
00:56:54,760 –> 00:56:56,880
to bring together all these
different kinds of people.

1081
00:56:56,880 –> 00:56:59,040
And, and even though we’re not
dealing with Jews and Gentiles

1082
00:56:59,040 –> 00:57:01,760
today, right?
There’s still a lot of different

1083
00:57:01,760 –> 00:57:04,800
opinions and a lot of different
feelings about stuff, right?

1084
00:57:04,800 –> 00:57:06,480
And it’s it’s hard to make it
work.

1085
00:57:07,040 –> 00:57:09,880
And yet what we see when we come
to Romans, when we come to

1086
00:57:09,880 –> 00:57:13,360
Ephesians, is the apostle Paul
acknowledges, yes, it’s hard.

1087
00:57:13,560 –> 00:57:19,160
But he says when you understand
what God is doing and how God is

1088
00:57:19,320 –> 00:57:23,160
bringing out peace with God, how
he’s bringing out your inner

1089
00:57:23,160 –> 00:57:26,400
peace, and that all of these
things together link and should

1090
00:57:26,400 –> 00:57:31,360
inspire you to be at peace with
each other, he says how can you

1091
00:57:31,360 –> 00:57:35,520
not strive for that peace?