Jason Hensley – The Gospel of Peace – Class 5 – Making Peace and Unity

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This is the 2023 Manitoulin
Family Bible Camp.

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Our speaker for this session is
Brother Jason Hensley from the

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Simi Hills, California Ecclesia.
His theme this week is the

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Gospel of Peace.
This is his 5th and final class

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in the series and the subject
for this class is Making Peace

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for the Jason.
Thanks for the Brian.

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I thought I’d stand here this
time.

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Just kidding.
I can’t actually do that.

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All right, all right, here we
go.

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So we’re on class five, last one
together, making peace and

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unity.
We surprisingly have three

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sections where we will be
looking at the destruction of

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the Canaanites first.
This is one of those ones that

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really tends to bother people
because I outlined yesterday

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that one of the things that you
were really being taught from

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the law was peace.
The Law of Moses was supposed to

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be teaching peace, and yet how
do you deal then with the

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destruction of the Canaanite?
So we’ll look at that.

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One of the other things that
people wonder then is what is

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the meaning of the Phineas
story, right?

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How how does this all fit?
Particularly it’s interesting

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because his story is
characterized by peace.

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So how’s that all fit?
So look at that as well and then

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possibly some other challenges
depending on on time that we

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have.
And then we’re going to wrap it

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up with principle and
application.

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So we’ll see how all of this
comes together.

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Our main message is that
principles bring unity.

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Now let’s just go back and
remember our previous core

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messages.
I practice so I remember #3 this

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time.
OK, our core message for number

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one was peace matters.
Very good.

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OK, day two, court message.
All shades of peace are

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interconnected.
Very good.

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Day three, peace is universal.
Very good.

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All right.
And yesterday’s day four, the

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Law of Moses.
Taught peace very good.

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OK.
I hope all the rest of you who

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aren’t saying anything or
thinking it OK.

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Good.
So the Law of Moses taught

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peace.
So that’s what we’ve seen.

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And hopefully that really shows
the centrality of peace to

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Scripture’s narrative, to what
it’s bringing out.

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What we’re going to see today,
you will notice that the core

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message doesn’t actually mention
peace at all.

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And that’s because we’ve seen
now the foundation for peace.

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And what we’re going to see is
that we can build on that.

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We have our foundation for
peace.

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And now once we understand
peace, we can then understand

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where unity comes from.
Unity is built on principles.

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And I think that’s a contrast,
by the way, we’re going to talk

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about in our third section
together where I talk about

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principles and applications.
Those are different.

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I think a lot of times we treat
them as though they’re the same

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principles and applications.
And we’ll talk about what’s the

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difference between the two.
But I want to suggest to you

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that unity comes from agreement
on principles.

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Not necessarily.
Agreement on applications our

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why question why was Phineas
commended for his violence

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right.
I told you that this was that I

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you know had my list of gory
stories right well Phineas was

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definitely near the top.
It was one of my favorites like

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that sorry.
That was how I you know that was

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how I rolled It was my little
boy Ness, I guess, but I I just

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thought the whole idea of like,
you know he was strong enough to

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through two people at once.
I was like.

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Wow.
That guy was a man.

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So, you know, anyway, there you
go.

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But I think the question is in
relation to what we’re looking

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at here.
What what is it that we see

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going on?
There’s something really

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interesting about this narrative
because what he does is

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tremendously violent.
And yet God comes along and

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says, I’m giving you my covenant
of peace.

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Huh?
All right, so first let’s talk

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about the destruction of the
Canaanites.

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I mentioned yesterday that a
university people ask me about

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this frequently.
How can you?

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This is this.
Is an apologetics kind of thing.

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They say, how can you as a
genocide scholar, how can you

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support the Bible when the Bible
clearly supports genocide,

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right?
So they ask me this, Well, it’s

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interesting because I want to
suggest to you, I think that’s

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actually the wrong approach.
Obviously it’s the wrong

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approach and I think it’s the
wrong box.

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I think as soon as we start to
think about genocide.

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And the Canaanites, we’re kind
of missing the point of what’s

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going on.
Now, let me just historically

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back up what I’m saying.
Anybody want to give me a

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suggestion or give me a thought
as to when genocide is given a

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definition?
Anyone know?

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Yeah, Steve, I was hoping you’d
know.

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Yep, late 40s.
Oh, very good.

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Which you can kind of figure
that out when you place it on

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your historical timeline, right?
It happens just after the

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Holocaust.
So the the man who comes up with

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it, his name is Raphael Lemkin.
If you’re interested, you can

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look up his story.
It’s kind of interesting.

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Raphael Lemkin, he grows up in
Poland.

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He is Jewish.
He is able to get a teaching

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position in the United States as
a professor.

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So he flees.
Poland in the 1930s.

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The rest of his family does not,
so they are annihilated.

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Throughout the 1930s, he is very
driven to try and come up with

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how do I describe what it is
that’s taking place?

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He studied the Armenian genocide
of the early 1900s.

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And what really bothered him
about it, This is his famous

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quote.
He said, why is the murder of 1

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considered the same as the
murder of a million, Right?

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He says.
Our our language simply says if

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you murder one person, it’s the
same as murdering a million

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because you’re just a murderer,
right?

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And he said that’s not right.
He wanted to come up with

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another term.
So he goes through all kinds of

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terms.
It happens.

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You know, it’s really, well,
it’s really good that he was a

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professor of linguistics.
So he’s able to, to bring

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together these different ideas.
So he brings together Genos and

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C Day, right?
And he creates the word

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genocide.
That’s 1947.

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So 1947.
It’s at meeting of the UN.

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He lobbies the UN and eventually
the UN accepts this definition

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of genocide and they create a
Commission, interestingly

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enough, but I don’t need to go
into all this.

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OK, I’ll just tell you the last
point.

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Interestingly enough, the United
States didn’t accept the

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definition until the 1990s.
Is that weird?

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OK, so I want to just give you
that information.

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I felt like that was important
because it helps us to

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understand that when the
definition, but we need to know

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where words come from because
when they get used, we need to

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understand why they don’t.
Work.

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For certain things.
In other words, genocide is a

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word that was created in the
1940s and was not made for this.

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This is completely different if
you walk through all.

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The major genocides of the last
century, which there were a lot,

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if you walk through all of them,
you will notice that they do not

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share characteristics with what
happens in the Bible.

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It’s not the same.
So is it mass death?

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Yes, it is.
But I would put to you that it’s

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probably better.
Like if you really want to, you

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know, you could make a case that
this is genocidal, but I think

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it’s better and it’s more
helpful to instead recognize how

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this is different because it’s
incredibly different.

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There’s a, there’s a framework.
Called the 10 stages of

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genocide.
I don’t know if anybody’s ever

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heard of it, but if you take
those 10 stages and you compare

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them to what scripture says.
You will notice that these only

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match about half.
So the structure of the

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Canaanites only match about half
and it just it doesn’t fit.

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So I want to just say that right
off the bat.

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Now let’s just talk a little bit
about what God does say.

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So let’s look.
Exodus 23 that sounded weird.

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Let’s just talk a little bit
about what God does say.

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Let’s talk a lot about what God
says.

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Sorry, that’s I didn’t mean to
sound that way at all.

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So Exodus 23, let’s look at at
what he says in relation to

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getting rid of the Canaanites.
So Exodus 23 verses 31 to 33

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says I will set your border from
the Red Sea to the sea of the

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Philistines, from the wilderness
to the Aphrates.

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For I will give the inhabitants
of the land into your hand.

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You should drive them out before
you.

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You shall make no covenant with
them and their gods.

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They shall not dwell in your
land, lest they make you sin

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against me.
For if you serve their gods, it

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will surely be a snare to you.
You’ll notice there’s nothing

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there really about killing.
And so this is the first time

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that God explains specifically
after giving the 10

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commandments, when he explains
this is what you’re going to

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have to do.
And he essentially says you

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drive them out, right?
Well, he gets a little more

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detailed when we get into
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 7

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verses one and two.
This says when the Lord your God

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brings you into the land you are
entering to possess and drives

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out before you many nations, the
Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,

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Canaanites, parasites, Hiveites,
and Jebusites, 7 nations larger

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and stronger than you.
When the Lord your God has

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delivered them over to you and
you have defeated them, then you

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must destroy them totally.
So in Exodus it was drive them

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out.
Deuteronomy we now get the

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explicit directions which are
completely get rid of them, make

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no treaty with them, show them
no mercy.

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Our term is Karem.
In the Hebrew it’s the same

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term.
That’s used to describe the city

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of Jericho.
So all the stuff that’s in

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Jericho, a lot of times you’ll
see that translated as devoted

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to God.
So it was, it was devoted in the

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sense that it wasn’t for anybody
else, right?

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That’s that’s why you’ll notice
that it’s translated here as

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destroy.
It wasn’t like they were going

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to take them as slaves anything
like that.

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It was that was the end.
Make no treaty with them.

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Show them no mercy.
So you can see this, and again,

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a lot of people will read this
and they’ll jump to aha, see

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genocide.
Now, again, I think it’s really

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important for us to understand
the nuance, and sometimes we

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miss nuance just because we get
so used to reading the biblical

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record.
It’s good that we read it a lot.

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It’s good that we’re familiar
with it, but familiarity

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sometimes makes us a little bit
sloppy.

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So let’s take a look and try and
picture what it would have been

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like to be an Israelite, because
I think first of all, the

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Israelites should have and would
have wrestled with this.

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How do you work this out?
Exodus 20, verse 13, You shall

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not murder.
Have you ever thought about

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that?
We know it’s one of the 10

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commandments.
And by the way, I would have

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translated that as you shall not
kill.

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Now you shall not murder.
There’s a little, there’s a

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whole rabbinic debate about
this.

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I think it’s silly.
It should be.

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You shall not kill.
Some people try to get around it

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and say, oh, well, it just
meant, you know, you shouldn’t

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kill people on purpose, right?
I’m pretty sure God didn’t want

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you to kill people regardless of
if it was on purpose.

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So you shall not murder, or you
shall not kill.

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In addition, look at Leviticus
19 verses 33 to 34.

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It says when a stranger, when a
stranger sojourns with you in

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your land, you shall not do him
wrong.

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You shall treat the stranger who
sojourns with you as the native

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00:11:43,520 –> 00:11:46,120
among you.
You shall love him as yourself,

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00:11:46,320 –> 00:11:47,920
for you were strangers in the
land of Egypt.

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00:11:48,080 –> 00:11:50,200
I am the Lord your God.
Now this is important because

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00:11:50,200 –> 00:11:52,720
we’re again, again, we’re used
to this idea that you will love

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00:11:52,720 –> 00:11:54,040
your neighbor as yourself,
right?

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00:11:55,480 –> 00:11:59,160
Do you notice what this says?
You will love your stranger as

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00:11:59,160 –> 00:12:03,320
yourself.
So that’s another piece here.

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So Can you imagine being an
Israelite, hearing the 10

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commandments, thinking, OK, God
doesn’t want us to kill.

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You have this overall framework
of peace that we established

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00:12:14,560 –> 00:12:18,040
yesterday.
And then in Leviticus 19 verses

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00:12:18,040 –> 00:12:22,200
33 to 34, you read that those
strangers who have decided to

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00:12:22,200 –> 00:12:25,400
follow Israel, right?
The Gentiles, that you’re

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00:12:25,400 –> 00:12:27,120
supposed to love them as you
love yourself.

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00:12:27,360 –> 00:12:31,280
So you have this framework.
And then God says, by the way,

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00:12:31,840 –> 00:12:35,480
there are seven nations that I
want you to totally obliterate

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00:12:35,640 –> 00:12:39,560
and have absolutely no mercy on
them.

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You’d be thinking, well, how’s
that work?

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00:12:48,920 –> 00:12:53,160
How does this go together?
Now, I don’t think this was a

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00:12:53,160 –> 00:12:58,000
contradiction.
I think this was multiple

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00:12:58,000 –> 00:13:01,720
principles overlapping.
That’s what I was trying to

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00:13:01,720 –> 00:13:04,360
establish yesterday, right?
If we take this as rules, then

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00:13:04,360 –> 00:13:07,200
yes, you get a contradiction.
This is not rules.

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00:13:08,280 –> 00:13:11,640
Instead, God was teaching
principles, and the principles

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00:13:11,800 –> 00:13:16,720
overlay each other.
Where one principle is taken is

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00:13:16,720 –> 00:13:19,320
given precedence over another.
We can talk about that more

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00:13:19,320 –> 00:13:21,320
later.
I went on for a long time about

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00:13:21,320 –> 00:13:23,680
it with the teens and I realized
I didn’t have time to do that.

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00:13:24,120 –> 00:13:27,080
So we can, we can talk about it
at the end if you want.

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00:13:28,200 –> 00:13:32,360
OK.
Now I think God actually set up

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00:13:32,360 –> 00:13:35,120
the Israelites to really
understand what he was doing

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00:13:35,120 –> 00:13:38,160
with these principles so that
when they were given those

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00:13:38,160 –> 00:13:40,480
verses to destroy the nations,
and then when they were given

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00:13:40,480 –> 00:13:43,200
the verses to not murder and to
love their stranger as

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00:13:43,200 –> 00:13:47,160
themselves, that they would have
had a framework for really for

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00:13:47,160 –> 00:13:49,680
actually understanding this.
And that’s here.

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00:13:49,840 –> 00:13:51,920
Take a look at these verses and
see if you notice what’s in

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00:13:51,920 –> 00:13:56,000
common with them.
So these are God’s work

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00:13:56,240 –> 00:13:59,480
initially during the first few
plagues with Egypt.

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00:14:00,000 –> 00:14:01,880
This is what He says in Exodus
7, verse five.

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00:14:01,880 –> 00:14:06,880
It says, and the Egyptians will
know that I am the Lord when I

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00:14:06,880 –> 00:14:10,040
stretch out my hand against
Egypt and bring the Israelites

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00:14:10,040 –> 00:14:13,040
out of it.
Exodus 7, verse 17.

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00:14:13,360 –> 00:14:14,720
Again, look for what’s in common
here.

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00:14:15,200 –> 00:14:18,320
This is what the Lord says.
By this you will know that I am

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00:14:18,320 –> 00:14:20,600
the Lord with the staff that is
in my hand.

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00:14:21,000 –> 00:14:23,920
I will strike the water of the
Nile and it will be changed in

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00:14:23,920 –> 00:14:26,480
the blood.
Exodus 8, verse 10.

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00:14:27,400 –> 00:14:30,280
Tomorrow, Pharaoh said.
Moses replied.

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00:14:31,040 –> 00:14:35,600
It will be as you say, so that
you may know that there is no

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00:14:35,600 –> 00:14:38,720
one like the Lord our God do.
You notice what’s in common with

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00:14:38,720 –> 00:14:43,040
all these.
You will know that I am Yahweh,

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00:14:43,920 –> 00:14:45,880
and I think we’re familiar with
that, right?

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00:14:45,880 –> 00:14:49,000
They show up over and over in
the plagues that God says.

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00:14:49,080 –> 00:14:52,480
These plagues will teach Israel
that I’m Yahweh, right?

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00:14:52,520 –> 00:14:54,200
It’s going to do both.
They’ll teach Israel that I’m

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00:14:54,200 –> 00:14:59,240
Yahweh and they will teach Egypt
that I am Yahweh, that I am he

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00:14:59,240 –> 00:15:02,480
who will be, you know, they have
all these different gods that

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00:15:02,480 –> 00:15:05,960
for for various things and I
will show I am the one.

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00:15:06,680 –> 00:15:09,320
I am the one that will be I am
the one that was I am the one

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00:15:09,320 –> 00:15:13,960
that is.
So he’s showing he is the one.

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00:15:15,560 –> 00:15:19,160
Now I think it’s really helpful
when we just again, think about

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00:15:19,160 –> 00:15:22,680
it and play it through.
Let me ask you this.

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00:15:23,000 –> 00:15:27,080
We’re talking about massacre of
people, so.

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00:15:29,760 –> 00:15:33,680
Which plague was it where people
died?

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00:15:35,840 –> 00:15:38,600
It’s the last one, right?
Have you ever thought about

287
00:15:38,600 –> 00:15:41,600
that?
I think that’s fascinating.

288
00:15:43,920 –> 00:15:48,080
God saves the massacre till the
final plague, he says.

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00:15:48,080 –> 00:15:50,560
During each plague, look, I’m
giving you an opportunity to

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00:15:50,560 –> 00:15:53,720
know who I am, to know that I am
the real God.

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00:15:54,600 –> 00:15:56,960
And so when they don’t learn it
in plug one, they’re supposed to

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00:15:56,960 –> 00:15:58,680
learn it in plug 2.
When they don’t learn it in two,

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00:15:58,680 –> 00:16:00,320
they’re supposed to learn it in
three, etcetera.

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00:16:00,440 –> 00:16:03,400
And finally, all the way at the
end, God says, look, you leave

295
00:16:03,400 –> 00:16:07,880
me no choice.
If you don’t know that I’m

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00:16:07,880 –> 00:16:10,560
Yahweh now, then there’s going
to.

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00:16:10,560 –> 00:16:14,520
Be stronger consequences and
that is when the massacre

298
00:16:14,520 –> 00:16:17,720
happens.
I think that’s really important

299
00:16:17,720 –> 00:16:21,240
as we try and understand the way
that God is working with Egypt

300
00:16:21,240 –> 00:16:22,960
here.
And I’m going to suggest you to

301
00:16:22,960 –> 00:16:27,280
the Canaanite nations.
Now let’s think about this a

302
00:16:27,280 –> 00:16:35,400
little bit further.
God in fact made a way so that

303
00:16:35,480 –> 00:16:38,200
the Egyptians did not have to
take part in that massacre,

304
00:16:38,360 –> 00:16:42,880
right?
Exodus 12 verses 37 to 38 says

305
00:16:42,880 –> 00:16:44,720
the Israelites journey from
Ramses to Sukkot.

306
00:16:44,720 –> 00:16:47,760
There are about 600,000 men on
foot beside women and children.

307
00:16:48,200 –> 00:16:49,640
Many other people went up with
them.

308
00:16:49,640 –> 00:16:51,840
And sometimes we miss this just
because it’s so small.

309
00:16:51,920 –> 00:16:54,720
KJV says a mixed multitude.
And we just kind of read over

310
00:16:54,720 –> 00:16:55,880
that.
Oh, there was, you know, a group

311
00:16:55,880 –> 00:16:59,120
of people.
Well, they weren’t Israelites,

312
00:16:59,360 –> 00:17:01,160
right?
Because we were just told that

313
00:17:01,160 –> 00:17:03,560
the Israelites went.
So who are these people that

314
00:17:03,560 –> 00:17:05,960
went up with them?
They would have had to have been

315
00:17:05,960 –> 00:17:10,599
Egyptians, right?
So these were Egyptians who ally

316
00:17:10,599 –> 00:17:15,760
themselves to the Israelites.
Now what that would have meant,

317
00:17:15,920 –> 00:17:18,680
because this is the Passover
story, Exodus 12, what that

318
00:17:18,680 –> 00:17:21,240
would have meant is that they
were there in the camp of

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00:17:21,240 –> 00:17:23,160
Israel.
Now just think about how God

320
00:17:23,160 –> 00:17:26,280
arranged this because this is
this is so striking and yet it’s

321
00:17:26,280 –> 00:17:31,560
so subtle.
God said, if you do not want

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00:17:32,640 –> 00:17:36,240
your first born to die, what did
you need to do?

323
00:17:39,600 –> 00:17:41,720
Blood on the door frame, right?
What kind of blood?

324
00:17:42,880 –> 00:17:45,040
A lamb.
Now did you ever think about

325
00:17:45,040 –> 00:17:49,560
that?
If you were an Egyptian, how

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00:17:49,560 –> 00:17:53,960
would you get a lamb?
You had to go to the Hebrews.

327
00:17:53,960 –> 00:17:57,160
Why?
Because they were shepherds,

328
00:17:58,160 –> 00:17:59,240
right?
You remember that being

329
00:17:59,240 –> 00:18:01,040
mentioned, that they’re
shepherds, therefore they have

330
00:18:01,040 –> 00:18:04,520
to live all the way in Goshen.
Now, on top of that, just just

331
00:18:04,520 –> 00:18:06,120
look at how God like ensured
this.

332
00:18:06,120 –> 00:18:10,160
This is awesome.
So not only did you have to go

333
00:18:10,160 –> 00:18:11,920
to the Hebrews just because
they’re shepherds, right?

334
00:18:12,440 –> 00:18:15,080
But you also had to go to the
Hebrews because just in case

335
00:18:15,240 –> 00:18:18,960
there happened to be, you know,
the one Egyptian guy who decided

336
00:18:18,960 –> 00:18:21,120
to become a shepherd, he had no
sheep.

337
00:18:21,840 –> 00:18:24,640
Why?
Because they all died in the

338
00:18:24,640 –> 00:18:28,160
plague.
Not only that, if you wanted

339
00:18:28,160 –> 00:18:29,480
hyssop, guess where you had to
go?

340
00:18:29,480 –> 00:18:33,600
You had to go to the camp of
Israel because all the trees

341
00:18:33,600 –> 00:18:37,880
were destroyed in Egypt.
So God sets this up and he says,

342
00:18:38,040 –> 00:18:40,600
look, I’m telling you, here’s
the way that this is all going

343
00:18:40,600 –> 00:18:42,320
to work.
And Moses is very explicit.

344
00:18:42,320 –> 00:18:44,000
He explains these are the things
that are going to happen.

345
00:18:44,160 –> 00:18:49,680
So God says if you don’t want
your first born to die, you have

346
00:18:49,680 –> 00:18:51,560
to go to the camp of Israel.
You have to get a lamb from

347
00:18:51,560 –> 00:18:53,080
them, you have to get hyssop
from them.

348
00:18:53,520 –> 00:18:56,800
In other words, you have to join
Israel, you have to join their

349
00:18:56,800 –> 00:18:58,640
camp.
And a number of people realize

350
00:18:58,640 –> 00:19:01,760
that and they do it.
But I think it’s crucial for us

351
00:19:01,760 –> 00:19:08,360
to notice that God provided a
way to be saved.

352
00:19:08,360 –> 00:19:13,320
From the massacre, yes, there
was a massacre, but it is not

353
00:19:13,720 –> 00:19:16,400
genocide the way that people
understand genocide.

354
00:19:17,560 –> 00:19:20,000
If you look at every single
genocide of the 20th century,

355
00:19:21,040 –> 00:19:22,320
you will find that there was no
escape.

356
00:19:24,200 –> 00:19:26,360
If you were targeted, that was
it, right?

357
00:19:26,360 –> 00:19:27,840
You couldn’t.
If you were Jewish, you couldn’t

358
00:19:27,840 –> 00:19:30,320
say, oh, well, I got baptized as
a Christian, too bad it didn’t

359
00:19:30,320 –> 00:19:33,280
matter, right?
You had Jewish blood.

360
00:19:36,440 –> 00:19:40,720
But here God provides a way out.
And I think that’s why it’s so

361
00:19:40,720 –> 00:19:42,520
helpful.
For us to reframe this to step

362
00:19:42,520 –> 00:19:44,960
back and say, well, wait a
minute, let’s not actually use

363
00:19:44,960 –> 00:19:48,000
that term because that’s not
really what’s going on here.

364
00:19:48,720 –> 00:19:52,240
Instead, what God is doing is
he’s saying I’m setting before

365
00:19:52,240 –> 00:19:55,440
you life and death.
Which do you choose?

366
00:19:57,360 –> 00:20:00,240
And in fact, that’s what God has
always done, right?

367
00:20:00,240 –> 00:20:02,560
That’s what God does with us.
It’s the same thing.

368
00:20:02,560 –> 00:20:04,360
It’s just, you know, death for
us comes a little later

369
00:20:04,360 –> 00:20:08,240
sometimes.
But this is the choice that God

370
00:20:08,240 –> 00:20:11,760
puts out, life, death.
This is not about massacres.

371
00:20:13,240 –> 00:20:14,960
And so when we come to the
Canaanites.

372
00:20:15,400 –> 00:20:19,520
It’s the same thing.
So let’s just build this out and

373
00:20:19,520 –> 00:20:21,240
see that that’s what God is
doing.

374
00:20:21,320 –> 00:20:23,760
Our God is a God of peace.
He is not one who stands up and

375
00:20:23,760 –> 00:20:26,280
says, haha, destroy the
Canaanites or something like

376
00:20:26,280 –> 00:20:27,440
that.
That’s not what was going on.

377
00:20:27,880 –> 00:20:30,720
In fact, when you take a look at
Deuteronomy 20 verses 10 to 15,

378
00:20:30,880 –> 00:20:34,360
look at the contrast.
It says when you March up to

379
00:20:34,360 –> 00:20:36,960
attack a city, make its people
and offer a peace.

380
00:20:37,360 –> 00:20:41,720
Huh.
Well, that’s interesting.

381
00:20:42,680 –> 00:20:44,680
If they accept and open their
gates, all the people in it

382
00:20:44,680 –> 00:20:46,600
shall be subject to forced labor
and shall work for you.

383
00:20:46,880 –> 00:20:49,520
If they refuse to make peace and
they engage you in battle, lay

384
00:20:49,520 –> 00:20:52,000
siege to that city.
When the Lord your God delivers

385
00:20:52,000 –> 00:20:53,960
it in your hand, put to the
sword all the men in it.

386
00:20:54,440 –> 00:20:56,240
As for the women, the children,
the livestock and everything

387
00:20:56,240 –> 00:20:58,320
else in the city, you may take
these as plunder for yourself.

388
00:20:58,760 –> 00:21:00,880
You may use the plunder the Lord
your God gives you from your

389
00:21:00,880 –> 00:21:02,640
enemies.
This is how you are to treat all

390
00:21:02,640 –> 00:21:03,920
the cities.
Notice this.

391
00:21:04,200 –> 00:21:07,480
This is important that are at a
distance from you and do not

392
00:21:07,480 –> 00:21:12,200
belong to the nations nearby.
Now, sometimes I think we miss

393
00:21:12,200 –> 00:21:14,400
this.
You may have heard people

394
00:21:14,400 –> 00:21:17,440
talking before about the
destruction of the Canaanites,

395
00:21:17,640 –> 00:21:19,440
and I think often at least I
have done this.

396
00:21:19,440 –> 00:21:22,240
Maybe you haven’t.
Often I will jump to

397
00:21:22,240 –> 00:21:26,760
spiritualizing the story and I
will say, look, this is about

398
00:21:26,800 –> 00:21:29,600
our walk and the truth.
The Canaanites represent the

399
00:21:29,600 –> 00:21:31,800
world.
Now I think that’s a fine

400
00:21:31,800 –> 00:21:34,720
interpretation, OK?
I’m not saying that that’s bad

401
00:21:34,960 –> 00:21:36,760
or anything like that, but I
think sometimes.

402
00:21:36,920 –> 00:21:39,120
When we get a little overly
zealous to jump to the spiritual

403
00:21:39,120 –> 00:21:42,720
application, we miss what’s
actually going on because what

404
00:21:42,720 –> 00:21:46,120
we’re being told here is that
God made a differentiation.

405
00:21:47,800 –> 00:21:52,160
God made a differentiation here
between those seven Canaanite

406
00:21:52,160 –> 00:21:53,840
nations that he said needed to
be destroyed.

407
00:21:54,600 –> 00:21:57,800
And those people, quote that are
at a distance from you, right?

408
00:21:57,800 –> 00:22:00,840
It was not like God said to to
Israel, go destroy the whole

409
00:22:00,840 –> 00:22:03,600
world.
That wasn’t the point.

410
00:22:04,200 –> 00:22:05,600
He said I want you to go
destroy.

411
00:22:05,920 –> 00:22:07,920
A very specific subset of
nations.

412
00:22:09,840 –> 00:22:11,320
And it wasn’t even just the
people that were in the

413
00:22:11,320 –> 00:22:13,400
territory.
They were going right Because

414
00:22:13,480 –> 00:22:16,240
this is all about when you’re in
your territory, this is what

415
00:22:16,240 –> 00:22:18,480
you’re going to do.
It was a specific set of seven

416
00:22:18,480 –> 00:22:20,320
nations.
In fact, he explains that again,

417
00:22:20,320 –> 00:22:22,760
if you keep reading in
Deuteronomy 20 verses 16 to 18,

418
00:22:22,760 –> 00:22:25,640
he says, However, in the cities
of the nations the Lord your God

419
00:22:25,640 –> 00:22:27,960
is giving you as an inheritance,
do not leave alive anything that

420
00:22:27,960 –> 00:22:29,440
breathes completely destroy
them.

421
00:22:29,440 –> 00:22:31,600
The Hittites, Amorites,
Canaanites, parasites, Hivites,

422
00:22:31,600 –> 00:22:33,560
Jebusites.
Again, you will notice that it

423
00:22:33,560 –> 00:22:36,120
says in the cities of the
nations the Lord your God is

424
00:22:36,120 –> 00:22:38,920
giving you as an inheritance
that is in a particular portion

425
00:22:38,920 –> 00:22:41,480
of this, as the Lord your God
has commanded you.

426
00:22:41,680 –> 00:22:44,240
Otherwise, they will teach you
to follow all the detestable.

427
00:22:44,240 –> 00:22:47,000
Things they do in worshipping
their gods, you will sin against

428
00:22:47,000 –> 00:22:50,760
the Lord your God.
So what you get is God makes a

429
00:22:50,760 –> 00:22:53,800
distinction.
There are seven nations.

430
00:22:53,800 –> 00:22:56,000
You are to destroy the other
nations.

431
00:22:56,320 –> 00:22:58,560
Come to them, ask them if
they’ll make peace with you.

432
00:22:58,920 –> 00:23:00,520
If they won’t, then you fight
them.

433
00:23:03,000 –> 00:23:07,560
That should be an indication to
us that there’s more going on

434
00:23:07,560 –> 00:23:10,640
here.
This is not just an opportunity

435
00:23:10,640 –> 00:23:13,560
to say, oh, look, God commits
mass murder, you know, and right

436
00:23:13,560 –> 00:23:14,800
off the Bible, as some people
like to do.

437
00:23:14,800 –> 00:23:17,920
That’s not what’s happening.
There’s more going on.

438
00:23:18,080 –> 00:23:20,880
So we need to try and understand
then what is it about these

439
00:23:20,880 –> 00:23:23,120
specific nations?
What is it about the Hittites,

440
00:23:23,120 –> 00:23:25,160
Amorites, Canaanites, parasites,
Havites, and Jebusites?

441
00:23:25,360 –> 00:23:27,880
Why does God say I’m going to
destroy those nations?

442
00:23:29,560 –> 00:23:36,280
I will suggest to you he gives a
little hint and he does it in

443
00:23:36,280 –> 00:23:40,760
the promises to Abraham, Genesis
15.

444
00:23:41,760 –> 00:23:44,720
This is our story.
In which Abraham is put into a

445
00:23:44,720 –> 00:23:47,000
deep sleep.
You remember that he cuts these

446
00:23:47,000 –> 00:23:49,480
animals in half.
He goes into a deep sleep, then

447
00:23:49,520 –> 00:23:51,560
a a smoking fire and burning
furnace.

448
00:23:51,560 –> 00:23:56,520
They travel through through the
the the pieces of the animal and

449
00:23:56,520 –> 00:23:59,880
then God gives a prophecy to
Abraham or Abram at the time.

450
00:24:00,560 –> 00:24:04,200
This is what He says.
As we read this, just look for

451
00:24:05,000 –> 00:24:08,560
our indication as to what God
had against those seven nations.

452
00:24:10,240 –> 00:24:13,080
Genesis 15 verses 13 to 16.
It says.

453
00:24:13,560 –> 00:24:18,080
Then the Lord said to him, Know
for certain that for 400 years

454
00:24:18,080 –> 00:24:20,400
your descendants will be
strangers in a country not their

455
00:24:20,400 –> 00:24:23,320
own, that they will be enslaved
and mistreated there.

456
00:24:24,080 –> 00:24:26,600
But I will punish the nation.
They serve as slaves, and

457
00:24:26,600 –> 00:24:28,360
afterward they will come out
with great possessions.

458
00:24:28,720 –> 00:24:31,880
You, however, will go to your
ancestors in peace and be buried

459
00:24:31,880 –> 00:24:34,040
at a good old age in the 4th
generation.

460
00:24:34,440 –> 00:24:36,600
Your descendants will come back
here, for the sin of the

461
00:24:36,600 –> 00:24:38,800
Amorites has not yet reached its
full measure.

462
00:24:40,760 –> 00:24:42,160
Do you notice the hint that God
gives here?

463
00:24:43,640 –> 00:24:49,200
He says, in effect, he had
promised Abraham the land,

464
00:24:49,200 –> 00:24:50,880
right?
Abraham came and he was going to

465
00:24:50,880 –> 00:24:53,400
inherit that land.
But God says to Abraham, it’s

466
00:24:53,400 –> 00:24:56,720
not actually time yet.
It’s not time for you to inherit

467
00:24:56,720 –> 00:25:01,640
the land because God indicates
he’s actually working with the

468
00:25:01,640 –> 00:25:04,800
Amorites.
He says, I’m not going to

469
00:25:04,800 –> 00:25:07,640
destroy all the Amorites yet
because they’re not bad enough.

470
00:25:09,480 –> 00:25:12,400
Have you ever noticed that?
Like that’s, that’s fascinating

471
00:25:12,400 –> 00:25:14,680
to see.
It’s just a little sentence here

472
00:25:14,760 –> 00:25:17,960
in which God is saying, I’ve
been working with the Amorites

473
00:25:18,160 –> 00:25:20,120
and I don’t want you to destroy
them.

474
00:25:20,800 –> 00:25:24,120
So there must be some kind of
change that takes place here.

475
00:25:24,360 –> 00:25:27,880
And then a couple, 100 years
later and the time when God says

476
00:25:28,160 –> 00:25:32,400
you do need to destroy them and
the difference is that at that

477
00:25:32,400 –> 00:25:35,400
time they weren’t sinful enough.
And by the time of the Exodus,

478
00:25:35,400 –> 00:25:39,680
they are.
So what I would suggest to you,

479
00:25:39,680 –> 00:25:44,240
this is telling us is that God
gives a little indication that

480
00:25:44,240 –> 00:25:47,240
he’s actually working with the
MRI nation.

481
00:25:50,280 –> 00:25:54,600
Now that shouldn’t be that
surprising because one of the

482
00:25:54,600 –> 00:25:57,600
other nations that he mentions
here is the Jebusites, right?

483
00:25:59,600 –> 00:26:02,880
Well, we know that he was also
working with the Jebusites.

484
00:26:03,920 –> 00:26:08,040
How do we know that?
Because of Jerusalem, right?

485
00:26:08,640 –> 00:26:13,360
Jerusalem’s other name is Jebus.
Guess who lived in Jebus?

486
00:26:13,920 –> 00:26:21,920
Jebusites, right?
So the king of Jebus was

487
00:26:21,920 –> 00:26:25,920
Melchizedek, priest of the Most
High God.

488
00:26:28,280 –> 00:26:30,920
So you can put this together and
you can see that God says you’re

489
00:26:30,920 –> 00:26:33,040
not going to take over the
Amorites because I’m still

490
00:26:33,040 –> 00:26:36,560
working with them.
They apparently you know that

491
00:26:36,560 –> 00:26:37,120
was.
Just the last.

492
00:26:37,120 –> 00:26:39,440
Chapter Genesis 14 where we
learned about Melchizedek, they

493
00:26:39,440 –> 00:26:43,320
apparently weren’t going to take
over Jebus either because

494
00:26:43,320 –> 00:26:45,960
Melchizedek was there teaching
the truth to people.

495
00:26:46,880 –> 00:26:51,040
And So what you see is God says
there’s these specific nations.

496
00:26:51,160 –> 00:26:53,600
And I would suggest to you, the
reason that God says we’re going

497
00:26:53,600 –> 00:26:56,120
to destroy these seven is
because he says I’ve been

498
00:26:56,120 –> 00:27:01,360
working with them and now I’ve
reached the end.

499
00:27:03,080 –> 00:27:05,760
I’ve worked with the nations.
People have come to me.

500
00:27:05,840 –> 00:27:10,000
They’ve come to know me.
And now there’s very few people

501
00:27:10,000 –> 00:27:14,680
left who are going to do that.
So that’s why in Leviticus

502
00:27:14,680 –> 00:27:20,440
chapter 20, when God explains to
the people what it’s going to be

503
00:27:20,440 –> 00:27:23,480
like when they get into the
land, look at what He says about

504
00:27:23,480 –> 00:27:27,200
the nations.
Leviticus 20 verses 22 to 23.

505
00:27:27,200 –> 00:27:30,840
He says, keep all my decrees and
laws and follow them so that the

506
00:27:30,840 –> 00:27:33,840
land where I’m bringing you to
live may not vomit you out.

507
00:27:34,440 –> 00:27:36,800
You must not live according to
the customs of the nations.

508
00:27:36,800 –> 00:27:39,720
I’m going to drive out before
you because they did all these

509
00:27:39,720 –> 00:27:40,920
things.
I abhorred them.

510
00:27:41,080 –> 00:27:49,520
Now this is astonishing because
God says it’s not that Israel

511
00:27:49,520 –> 00:27:50,920
has standards.
They do.

512
00:27:50,920 –> 00:27:52,440
He gives them to them.
But that’s not what He’s

513
00:27:52,440 –> 00:27:55,920
referring to here.
He says, in fact, the land has

514
00:27:55,920 –> 00:27:59,280
standards.
Do you notice that, right?

515
00:27:59,280 –> 00:28:01,840
He says, I’ve given you these
laws and you’re supposed to

516
00:28:01,840 –> 00:28:03,000
follow them.
But guess what?

517
00:28:03,920 –> 00:28:08,160
Other people had laws too, and
they were supposed to follow

518
00:28:08,160 –> 00:28:10,880
those and they didn’t.
So I’m kicking them out.

519
00:28:12,080 –> 00:28:16,040
And in fact, Israel, you might
feel really special.

520
00:28:16,480 –> 00:28:18,160
And yes, they are the chosen
people of God, right?

521
00:28:18,160 –> 00:28:22,480
I’m not minimizing that.
But he says if you live like

522
00:28:22,480 –> 00:28:24,040
those nations, you’re going to
be out too.

523
00:28:25,120 –> 00:28:30,960
And that’s what happens.
So what we see going on is that

524
00:28:30,960 –> 00:28:35,560
God is so much bigger than I
think we often realize, right?

525
00:28:35,560 –> 00:28:39,240
Scripture is the story.
Of God working with Israel, and

526
00:28:39,240 –> 00:28:45,240
that’s wonderful, but every once
in a while we get hints of the

527
00:28:45,240 –> 00:28:47,800
fact that God was working in
other places.

528
00:28:47,880 –> 00:28:48,720
Right.
Where does?

529
00:28:48,840 –> 00:28:50,600
Where does Jethro?
Come from, you know, have you

530
00:28:50,600 –> 00:28:52,720
ever wondered that?
How do you get this priest who

531
00:28:52,720 –> 00:28:56,280
gives Moses like the spiritual
advice and he’s praying to

532
00:28:56,280 –> 00:28:58,160
Yahweh, right?
All these, where does he come

533
00:28:58,160 –> 00:29:00,400
from?
But he comes from the fact that

534
00:29:00,400 –> 00:29:03,160
God was working with various
other nations.

535
00:29:04,200 –> 00:29:06,880
And so when we recognize that, I
think suddenly it can make sense

536
00:29:07,360 –> 00:29:13,400
that just as God wanted to allow
those in Egypt to follow him.

537
00:29:13,640 –> 00:29:16,320
And so he keeps saying, you will
know that I am Yahweh, you will

538
00:29:16,320 –> 00:29:19,280
know that I’m Yahweh.
He’s doing the same thing in the

539
00:29:19,280 –> 00:29:22,200
background with the Amorites,
with the Jebusites.

540
00:29:22,360 –> 00:29:25,360
And so that’s why, as we get to
the story of the destruction of

541
00:29:25,360 –> 00:29:29,240
the Canaanites, you actually
have the Israelites breaking the

542
00:29:29,240 –> 00:29:32,320
rule because it’s not a rule,
right?

543
00:29:32,800 –> 00:29:35,640
It’s a principle.
So that when they come to

544
00:29:35,640 –> 00:29:37,920
Jericho, Rahab says, can I join
you?

545
00:29:38,760 –> 00:29:40,000
Right.
I would like to become an

546
00:29:40,000 –> 00:29:42,120
Israelite.
And the Israelites don’t say,

547
00:29:42,120 –> 00:29:45,920
no, sorry, we’re supposed to
kill all the Canaanites, right?

548
00:29:45,920 –> 00:29:49,240
They say, yeah, you can, because
that’s the whole point.

549
00:29:49,800 –> 00:29:52,800
God wanted the Canaanites to
convert, and when they get to

550
00:29:52,800 –> 00:29:56,600
the point of not converting, he
says we’ll go wipe them all out.

551
00:29:56,720 –> 00:30:00,160
But then when there’s still
remnants who want to, God says,

552
00:30:00,360 –> 00:30:05,520
yeah, do it.
And so that’s why we see that of

553
00:30:05,520 –> 00:30:07,320
these seven nations they were
supposed to destroy.

554
00:30:07,520 –> 00:30:09,920
That’s why we see righteous
people who came around.

555
00:30:10,200 –> 00:30:12,920
You have Ahimelech in first
Samuel 26, verse six, you have

556
00:30:12,920 –> 00:30:17,040
Uriah the Hittite.
Second Samuel 2339, you have

557
00:30:17,040 –> 00:30:18,960
Rahab.
You have Ornin the Jebusite.

558
00:30:19,240 –> 00:30:23,680
First Chronicles 2118 and 23.
So you have all of these people

559
00:30:23,840 –> 00:30:29,280
who convert to follow the way of
truth from these nations,

560
00:30:29,440 –> 00:30:32,600
despite the fact that the
Israelites were told to destroy

561
00:30:32,600 –> 00:30:35,480
them.
And that is because God’s

562
00:30:35,480 –> 00:30:41,240
overall purpose with the
Canaanites was to bring them to

563
00:30:41,240 –> 00:30:45,400
His glory.
And so those who would respond

564
00:30:45,720 –> 00:30:52,960
could.
That then also explains Israel’s

565
00:30:53,080 –> 00:30:56,480
job.
Israel was called the Kingdom of

566
00:30:56,480 –> 00:31:00,520
priests, right?
What was the job of the priest

567
00:31:02,040 –> 00:31:04,520
they were to teach?
That didn’t mean that every

568
00:31:04,520 –> 00:31:07,400
person in the land was supposed
to be a priest, right?

569
00:31:07,400 –> 00:31:08,480
They aren’t.
They weren’t all going to be

570
00:31:08,480 –> 00:31:11,360
doing the offerings.
So God says this specifically

571
00:31:11,360 –> 00:31:17,160
because each individual
Israelite was to see themselves

572
00:31:17,160 –> 00:31:20,200
as part of this Kingdom that
would be a priest to the

573
00:31:20,200 –> 00:31:24,240
nations.
And so God explains this, that

574
00:31:24,240 –> 00:31:27,240
as they’re going around and as
they’re destroying, this is how

575
00:31:27,240 –> 00:31:28,560
they were supposed to see
themselves.

576
00:31:28,960 –> 00:31:31,040
He says, see Deuteronomy 4-5 to
seven.

577
00:31:31,200 –> 00:31:33,320
I have taught you decrees and
laws that the Lord my God

578
00:31:33,320 –> 00:31:35,520
commanded me, so that you may
follow them in the land you are

579
00:31:35,520 –> 00:31:36,640
entering to take possession of
it.

580
00:31:37,000 –> 00:31:39,760
Observe them carefully, for this
will show your wisdom and

581
00:31:39,760 –> 00:31:44,120
understanding to the nations who
will hear about all these

582
00:31:44,120 –> 00:31:46,920
decrees and say surely this
great nation is a wise and

583
00:31:46,920 –> 00:31:50,560
understanding people.
Now again, by the way, people

584
00:31:51,040 –> 00:31:52,480
misunderstand what’s going on
here.

585
00:31:52,680 –> 00:31:55,000
You might hear I don’t.
Maybe, maybe you don’t hear

586
00:31:55,000 –> 00:31:56,640
people say this, but I hear, I
hear them say it.

587
00:31:56,800 –> 00:31:58,800
They’ll say, oh, look, you know,
you can compare the Code of

588
00:31:58,800 –> 00:32:04,200
Habarami Hammurabi, the Code of
Hammurabi to the Law of Moses,

589
00:32:04,280 –> 00:32:06,720
and you can say, oh, look, see,
Moses got a whole bunch of his

590
00:32:06,720 –> 00:32:09,920
laws from the Code of Hammurabi.
No, that’s not what’s going on.

591
00:32:10,040 –> 00:32:12,680
Instead, it’s what we saw
yesterday.

592
00:32:12,960 –> 00:32:16,760
God was trying to show you have
these laws and you’re supposed

593
00:32:16,760 –> 00:32:18,360
to understand the principle
beneath them.

594
00:32:18,600 –> 00:32:21,280
And that when you’re living by
those principles, when you say,

595
00:32:21,280 –> 00:32:24,960
oh look, you broke my arm, I
forgive you that the nations

596
00:32:24,960 –> 00:32:30,600
will say what?
Who does that, right?

597
00:32:30,600 –> 00:32:33,040
That was the point.
It wasn’t like Moses was copying

598
00:32:33,040 –> 00:32:35,400
the laws.
He was taking those laws and

599
00:32:35,400 –> 00:32:40,520
showing here’s the better way.
This is what these things mean.

600
00:32:43,720 –> 00:32:46,560
What other nation is so great as
to have their gods near them,

601
00:32:46,560 –> 00:32:49,080
the way the Lord our God is near
us whenever we pray to Him?

602
00:32:55,240 –> 00:32:59,840
OK, so to wrap that up, our
first section.

603
00:33:00,280 –> 00:33:04,840
Which took 35 minutes.
Well, we can see, I hope that.

604
00:33:04,840 –> 00:33:06,840
Peace is the foundation, right
God?

605
00:33:07,000 –> 00:33:10,360
God was not saying go in and
destroy the Canaanites because I

606
00:33:10,360 –> 00:33:15,960
want to just destroy people.
The whole initial goal was

607
00:33:15,960 –> 00:33:19,080
conversion.
God was working with the people

608
00:33:20,160 –> 00:33:23,120
for centuries to bring about a
time of.

609
00:33:23,120 –> 00:33:26,080
Peace.
And yet because they resisted

610
00:33:26,080 –> 00:33:28,520
that, because they chose death
rather than life.

611
00:33:29,480 –> 00:33:32,960
God says, well then I can’t.
Bring peace with you here.

612
00:33:36,400 –> 00:33:43,280
OK, let’s talk about Phineas.
So how do we work with this?

613
00:33:44,360 –> 00:33:45,800
How does how does this all fit
together?

614
00:33:45,800 –> 00:33:47,360
Right?
You have a story that’s rather

615
00:33:47,360 –> 00:33:49,000
violent, and yet it’s about
peace.

616
00:33:49,360 –> 00:33:51,320
So here’s the story.
Numbers 25, six to nine.

617
00:33:51,840 –> 00:33:54,160
Then an Israelite man brought
into the camp of Midianite woman

618
00:33:54,160 –> 00:33:56,480
right before the eyes of Moses
and the whole assembly of

619
00:33:56,480 –> 00:33:58,440
Israel, while they were weeping
at the entrance to the tent of

620
00:33:58,440 –> 00:34:01,760
meeting.
When Phineas son of Eliezer, son

621
00:34:01,760 –> 00:34:04,280
of Aaron the priest, saw this,
he left the assembly, took a

622
00:34:04,280 –> 00:34:06,360
spear in his hand, and followed
the Israelite into the tent.

623
00:34:07,000 –> 00:34:08,880
He drove the spear into both of
them, right through the

624
00:34:08,880 –> 00:34:10,400
Israelite man and into the
woman’s stomach.

625
00:34:11,080 –> 00:34:12,679
Then the plague against the
Israelites was stopped.

626
00:34:12,840 –> 00:34:15,120
But those who died in the plague
numbered 24,000.

627
00:34:15,480 –> 00:34:17,679
First of all, you can notice by
the way, that Phineas saved

628
00:34:17,679 –> 00:34:21,159
lives, right?
We can see that for sure because

629
00:34:21,159 –> 00:34:25,360
he stops the plague.
So Phineas’s action here is

630
00:34:25,360 –> 00:34:28,440
actually an action of life,
right?

631
00:34:28,440 –> 00:34:29,520
He.
Saves life.

632
00:34:29,520 –> 00:34:33,600
So that’s an important thing to
notice and that appears to be

633
00:34:33,760 –> 00:34:35,639
the way that God interprets it
as well.

634
00:34:36,920 –> 00:34:40,000
So if you look at the next few
verses, it says the Lord said to

635
00:34:40,000 –> 00:34:43,080
Moses, Phineas son of Eleazar,
son of Aaron, the priest has

636
00:34:43,080 –> 00:34:45,480
turned my anger away from the
Israelites since he was a

637
00:34:45,480 –> 00:34:47,320
zealous for my honor among them
as I am.

638
00:34:47,880 –> 00:34:49,480
I did not put an end to them in
my zeal.

639
00:34:50,800 –> 00:34:54,960
Therefore tell him I am making
my covenant of peace with him.

640
00:34:55,480 –> 00:34:57,360
So you get a covenant of peace
that comes out of this.

641
00:34:57,560 –> 00:34:59,840
And all the way at the end of
the Old Testament in Malachi,

642
00:35:00,520 –> 00:35:04,440
you have a commentary on this
section, and Malachi references

643
00:35:04,480 –> 00:35:06,840
again that same covenant of
peace, although he calls it a

644
00:35:06,840 –> 00:35:08,280
covenant of.
Life and peace.

645
00:35:09,040 –> 00:35:12,560
So you have it in two places
that Phineas’s action here was

646
00:35:12,560 –> 00:35:19,160
actually peaceful.
Why?

647
00:35:21,840 –> 00:35:25,920
Well, I think the key.
Is for us to follow this

648
00:35:25,920 –> 00:35:29,320
process.
We want to examine our context.

649
00:35:30,080 –> 00:35:32,600
When we’ve done that, we can
determine the principle and then

650
00:35:32,600 –> 00:35:33,760
we can figure out the
application.

651
00:35:33,760 –> 00:35:35,120
So let me just talk about what
this means.

652
00:35:35,840 –> 00:35:39,400
Context is things like what was
the historical setting?

653
00:35:40,760 –> 00:35:42,640
So what was the historical
context at the time?

654
00:35:43,400 –> 00:35:46,440
That would be your historical
context, obviously.

655
00:35:47,440 –> 00:35:49,520
What was the?
Literary context, right?

656
00:35:49,520 –> 00:35:51,760
That would be like reading
numbers 25 or, you know, the

657
00:35:51,760 –> 00:35:53,760
whole book of numbers.
What was the literary context?

658
00:35:53,920 –> 00:35:55,240
Then what was the Biblical?
Context.

659
00:35:55,560 –> 00:35:58,840
That’s like, where does Phineas
show up in other places in

660
00:35:58,840 –> 00:36:01,560
Scripture, right?
Or where else is this talked

661
00:36:01,560 –> 00:36:03,600
about once you build up those 3
Context.

662
00:36:03,600 –> 00:36:06,960
Historical, literary, biblical.
Then you have all the facts and

663
00:36:06,960 –> 00:36:08,680
you can try and figure out, OK,
what’s the principle?

664
00:36:09,280 –> 00:36:10,720
So the principle is a timeless
truth.

665
00:36:11,960 –> 00:36:15,080
So what is the timeless truth
that comes out of this story?

666
00:36:16,560 –> 00:36:19,480
When you have that, then you can
develop the application.

667
00:36:20,120 –> 00:36:23,880
Every one of us has a different
context that we live in, right?

668
00:36:23,880 –> 00:36:26,360
Your struggles are different
than mine.

669
00:36:26,880 –> 00:36:29,760
So because of that, when I have
a principle, my application of

670
00:36:29,760 –> 00:36:31,400
the principle will be different
than yours is.

671
00:36:31,600 –> 00:36:34,600
It will look different.
You know, sometimes just merely

672
00:36:34,600 –> 00:36:36,960
because we’re doing different
things, right, mine might be

673
00:36:36,960 –> 00:36:39,600
disciplining a student at school
or something like that, and

674
00:36:39,600 –> 00:36:42,240
yours, I don’t know, you know,
whatever, whatever it might be,

675
00:36:42,240 –> 00:36:43,760
disciplining an employee or
something.

676
00:36:44,960 –> 00:36:50,400
So we take the context, we build
the principle on that, and then

677
00:36:50,400 –> 00:36:53,440
we develop our application.
Well, I think when we look, by

678
00:36:53,440 –> 00:36:56,680
the way, at the story, the
principal kind of jumps out to

679
00:36:56,680 –> 00:36:59,000
us.
Do you notice what God commended

680
00:36:59,000 –> 00:37:02,080
Phineas for says?
Since he was as zealous for my

681
00:37:02,080 –> 00:37:04,840
honor among them as I am, I did
not put an end to them in my

682
00:37:04,840 –> 00:37:06,640
zeal.
So the thing that specifically

683
00:37:06,640 –> 00:37:10,720
commended is Phineas’s zeal.
I think that’s really, really

684
00:37:10,720 –> 00:37:16,080
crucial for us to notice.
Here’s why sometimes we don’t go

685
00:37:16,080 –> 00:37:19,720
through this process and we
start to make mistakes.

686
00:37:19,720 –> 00:37:22,400
Because of that, let me give you
some examples.

687
00:37:23,480 –> 00:37:25,200
I remember being at a youth
weekend.

688
00:37:25,840 –> 00:37:27,760
Some of you also might remember
this because some of you were

689
00:37:27,760 –> 00:37:29,320
there.
I remember being at a youth

690
00:37:29,320 –> 00:37:34,600
weekend in which the topic was
Phineas right, and it was

691
00:37:34,600 –> 00:37:36,720
lunchtime.
My brother got up to pray for

692
00:37:36,720 –> 00:37:41,400
lunch and he prayed.
That we would all be Phineas’s

693
00:37:41,400 –> 00:37:44,840
to each other.
And I remember like during the

694
00:37:44,840 –> 00:37:47,400
prayer, like I’m not trying to
make fun of somebody’s prayer,

695
00:37:47,520 –> 00:37:50,360
but I remember during the
prayer, like I was kind of like,

696
00:37:50,440 –> 00:37:52,280
you know, I really wanted to
open my eyes and see if anybody.

697
00:37:52,280 –> 00:37:54,360
Else was like.
Oh, that sounds scary.

698
00:37:54,600 –> 00:37:59,200
You know, like, like because we
have to try and figure out what

699
00:37:59,200 –> 00:38:02,640
was the principle, because if we
jump over the principal step, we

700
00:38:02,640 –> 00:38:04,560
get, well, we’re going to be a
Phineas.

701
00:38:04,640 –> 00:38:06,680
And what did Phineas do?
Well, he stabbed two people with

702
00:38:06,680 –> 00:38:10,280
a javelin because of his zeal.
So like, is that what we’re

703
00:38:10,280 –> 00:38:12,720
supposed to do?
You know, was that is that the

704
00:38:12,720 –> 00:38:14,480
lesson?
And you know, you look at that

705
00:38:14,480 –> 00:38:16,360
and you’re like, well, obviously
no, right.

706
00:38:16,560 –> 00:38:18,320
The the lesson is not go stab
people.

707
00:38:19,920 –> 00:38:24,080
But it’s only that because we
figured out what the principle

708
00:38:24,080 –> 00:38:28,440
is.
And the principle is zeal.

709
00:38:29,600 –> 00:38:32,040
It wasn’t about the fact that
Phineas stabbed people, right?

710
00:38:32,040 –> 00:38:35,400
That that happened, yes.
But what God commends him for is

711
00:38:35,400 –> 00:38:37,680
God doesn’t say, wow, good
stabbing.

712
00:38:37,840 –> 00:38:42,720
Like God says, you were zealous
and that was good, right?

713
00:38:42,720 –> 00:38:44,960
That’s what God cares about.
He cared about the zeal.

714
00:38:45,080 –> 00:38:47,760
So when we have that principle,
we can then figure out the

715
00:38:47,760 –> 00:38:53,360
application from that.
That’s why we don’t do things

716
00:38:53,360 –> 00:38:57,840
like this.
It says now, my son, the Lord be

717
00:38:57,840 –> 00:38:59,840
with you and may you have
success and build the House of

718
00:38:59,840 –> 00:39:01,480
the Lord your God as he said you
would.

719
00:39:02,240 –> 00:39:06,640
Now we automatically again, I
don’t think we we like enunciate

720
00:39:06,640 –> 00:39:09,560
it like this, but we
automatically say, oh, right,

721
00:39:09,640 –> 00:39:11,560
Solomon was supposed to go build
the House of God.

722
00:39:12,600 –> 00:39:15,560
Well, why aren’t we?
And that’s because of this

723
00:39:15,560 –> 00:39:18,040
process, right.
We understand there’s a context

724
00:39:18,040 –> 00:39:21,320
here, and this is specific to
Solomon’s context.

725
00:39:21,640 –> 00:39:22,840
He was supposed to build the
house.

726
00:39:22,960 –> 00:39:25,240
So there’s a principle that
comes out and we can take that

727
00:39:25,240 –> 00:39:27,640
principle and apply.
It’s not like we just do what

728
00:39:27,640 –> 00:39:29,760
Solomon did.
But sometimes we get a little

729
00:39:29,760 –> 00:39:33,680
fuzzy on this, right?
Have you ever tried to quote

730
00:39:33,680 –> 00:39:36,080
layout the fleece, right?
Like Gideon?

731
00:39:36,920 –> 00:39:40,760
You know, sometimes we do that
thing and and we say, oh, see,

732
00:39:40,760 –> 00:39:43,880
you know, like I’m going to flip
heads or tails and God make it

733
00:39:43,880 –> 00:39:46,000
be heads if I’m supposed to do
this or something like that.

734
00:39:46,400 –> 00:39:49,880
And we miss the whole point.
Like the point was not that God

735
00:39:49,880 –> 00:39:51,720
is going to answer your prayer
and tell you what to do.

736
00:39:52,120 –> 00:39:53,880
That was not that was not what
was going on there.

737
00:39:54,080 –> 00:39:58,880
The point was that God was
saying to Gideon, I recognize I

738
00:39:58,880 –> 00:40:00,080
don’t want to put words in God’s
mouth.

739
00:40:00,920 –> 00:40:07,360
He was telling Gideon that
Gideon could trust him because

740
00:40:07,360 –> 00:40:10,760
Gideon was scared.
And the principle that comes out

741
00:40:10,760 –> 00:40:14,320
of this is that God is willing
to work with our fear.

742
00:40:15,880 –> 00:40:18,600
It’s not telling us.
You know, ask for signs like

743
00:40:18,600 –> 00:40:21,160
that.
People don’t do that in

744
00:40:21,160 –> 00:40:22,840
Scripture.
Because, by the way, Gideon

745
00:40:22,840 –> 00:40:25,400
wasn’t actually asking for a
sign on what he was supposed to

746
00:40:25,400 –> 00:40:26,320
do.
I don’t know if you noticed

747
00:40:26,320 –> 00:40:28,600
that.
So we also just misread that

748
00:40:28,600 –> 00:40:30,840
passage.
Gideon was asking for a sign

749
00:40:30,840 –> 00:40:34,120
that God would be with him, he
says, because he was scared.

750
00:40:35,640 –> 00:40:37,840
But sometimes we get a little
bit, you know, a little wishy

751
00:40:37,840 –> 00:40:42,440
washy with this whole context
principle application.

752
00:40:42,600 –> 00:40:46,680
And when we work through it, we
can then come to these stories

753
00:40:46,680 –> 00:40:49,480
with clarity.
It’s the same reason that, you

754
00:40:49,480 –> 00:40:52,320
know, we don’t pray to the Holy
Spirit and say that like, you

755
00:40:52,320 –> 00:40:54,560
know, people should fall down
dead when they lie, right?

756
00:40:55,480 –> 00:40:57,000
Because that was a specific
context.

757
00:40:57,080 –> 00:40:58,680
That’s not the lesson that
you’re supposed to learn.

758
00:40:59,240 –> 00:41:01,360
You’re not supposed to learn
that the Holy Spirit will kill

759
00:41:01,360 –> 00:41:05,480
you if you lie.
There are principles instead.

760
00:41:05,600 –> 00:41:07,800
So what’s our principle here?
Well, the principle is that God

761
00:41:07,800 –> 00:41:14,320
loves zeal for Him.
Now we also need to understand

762
00:41:14,320 –> 00:41:17,280
Phineas’s context because I
think that makes a big

763
00:41:17,280 –> 00:41:20,240
difference.
Take a look at numbers 25 versus

764
00:41:20,240 –> 00:41:23,600
one to five and see if you can
understand why Phineas did what

765
00:41:23,600 –> 00:41:26,160
he did.
Numbers 25 versus one to five.

766
00:41:26,160 –> 00:41:29,360
It says while Israel was staying
in Shittim, the men began to

767
00:41:29,360 –> 00:41:32,480
indulge in sexual immorality
with Moabite women who invited

768
00:41:32,480 –> 00:41:34,240
them to the sacrifices to their
gods.

769
00:41:34,960 –> 00:41:37,160
The people ate the sacrificial
meal and bowed down before these

770
00:41:37,160 –> 00:41:39,080
gods.
So Israel yoked themselves to

771
00:41:39,080 –> 00:41:41,720
the Bale of Peor.
The Lord’s anger burned against

772
00:41:41,720 –> 00:41:43,560
them.
The Lord said to Moses, take all

773
00:41:43,560 –> 00:41:46,160
the leaders of these people,
kill them and expose them in

774
00:41:46,160 –> 00:41:48,760
broad daylight before the Lord,
so that the Lord’s fierce anger

775
00:41:48,760 –> 00:41:51,720
may turn away from Israel.
So Moses said to Israel’s

776
00:41:51,720 –> 00:41:54,760
judges, Each of you must put to
death those of your people who

777
00:41:54,760 –> 00:41:56,120
have yoked themselves to the
veil of pure.

778
00:41:56,280 –> 00:41:58,680
Why did Phineas go and kill
those two people?

779
00:42:00,240 –> 00:42:04,280
Because God said to, right?
It was not like, you know,

780
00:42:04,360 –> 00:42:07,120
really complicated, like he was
standing there.

781
00:42:07,240 –> 00:42:09,880
Moses says, you guys need to go
kill the leaders who are doing

782
00:42:09,880 –> 00:42:11,400
this.
Phineas sees a leader who’s

783
00:42:11,400 –> 00:42:13,800
doing it and Phineas is like,
well, there you go.

784
00:42:14,040 –> 00:42:17,080
That’s what I’m supposed to do.
There was no ambiguity in this

785
00:42:17,080 –> 00:42:19,400
situation.
He had a direct command from God

786
00:42:19,600 –> 00:42:23,840
kill these people.
So he does notice.

787
00:42:23,880 –> 00:42:27,240
That’s not what he does in other
situations, right?

788
00:42:27,240 –> 00:42:30,200
In Joshua 22, he goes and he
talks to them.

789
00:42:35,080 –> 00:42:38,080
In Judges chapter 20, he prays
for direction.

790
00:42:42,800 –> 00:42:46,840
And then in addition to that, he
also has the people inquire,

791
00:42:47,360 –> 00:42:50,280
right?
He, he takes multiple steps and

792
00:42:50,280 –> 00:42:55,280
he doesn’t kill people.
So I think it’s one of those

793
00:42:55,280 –> 00:42:56,240
things that’s really
interesting.

794
00:42:56,240 –> 00:42:59,080
Like he kind of gets known for
numbers 25, right?

795
00:42:59,080 –> 00:43:01,960
And that’s that’s fine.
But it’s interesting that that’s

796
00:43:02,240 –> 00:43:04,000
the only time he does something
like that.

797
00:43:09,120 –> 00:43:14,920
So what is the principle?
I think the principle that comes

798
00:43:14,920 –> 00:43:20,280
out of this is that God loves
zeal for him, and zeal comes

799
00:43:20,560 –> 00:43:23,000
from knowing who God really is,
right?

800
00:43:23,000 –> 00:43:24,920
So this is what I think we’re
supposed to take from this

801
00:43:24,920 –> 00:43:27,080
story.
This is not a story I would

802
00:43:27,080 –> 00:43:30,120
suggest that goes against peace.
It is not a story that’s

803
00:43:30,120 –> 00:43:33,400
necessarily condoning violence.
It’s a story.

804
00:43:33,680 –> 00:43:36,560
That instead shows that here’s
somebody who was told to do

805
00:43:36,560 –> 00:43:38,680
something that would have been
incredibly hard.

806
00:43:40,160 –> 00:43:42,760
I’m sure that stabbing two
people is not fun.

807
00:43:43,040 –> 00:43:43,960
You know?
Phineas wasn’t like.

808
00:43:43,960 –> 00:43:48,320
Yes, here comes my opportunity.
Like he did it because that’s

809
00:43:48,320 –> 00:43:53,600
what God said to do.
And God says, I love that zeal

810
00:43:54,400 –> 00:43:56,800
and he commends the zeal that
Phineas had.

811
00:43:57,360 –> 00:43:59,760
So I think that’s a a crucial
thing for us to look at this

812
00:43:59,760 –> 00:44:05,240
story as God characterizes it.
Is primarily a story of peace.

813
00:44:06,640 –> 00:44:10,400
It’s a story of peace because of
Phineas’s zeal that he listens.

814
00:44:12,880 –> 00:44:16,320
So those are just a few things.
That that we can take a look at.

815
00:44:16,320 –> 00:44:19,280
I’m going to skip all these.
I apparently got highly zealous

816
00:44:20,040 –> 00:44:22,080
and, you know, made a lot of
slides.

817
00:44:22,560 –> 00:44:26,360
So there we go.
OK, in our last 15 minutes

818
00:44:26,360 –> 00:44:28,560
together.
So what we’ve seen, just just to

819
00:44:28,560 –> 00:44:31,480
kind of recap this.
Is we’ve, we’ve been looking at

820
00:44:31,480 –> 00:44:35,120
some of the things in the Old
Testament that give people

821
00:44:35,120 –> 00:44:39,160
reason to say, oh, the Old
Testament is violent.

822
00:44:39,720 –> 00:44:42,640
It’s not about peace.
This is one of the reasons that

823
00:44:42,640 –> 00:44:46,040
people still get this idea that
there’s a different God of the

824
00:44:46,040 –> 00:44:48,000
Old Testament versus the God of
the New Testament.

825
00:44:49,960 –> 00:44:52,600
But hopefully by putting this
together, we can see that no, in

826
00:44:52,600 –> 00:44:54,920
fact, it’s the same God.
It’s the same God that has

827
00:44:54,960 –> 00:44:57,600
always felt like mercy triumphs
over judgment.

828
00:44:58,800 –> 00:45:01,800
This is the same thing from the
beginning to the end.

829
00:45:03,000 –> 00:45:07,720
So let’s then wrap it up.
In our last 15 minutes, we’ve

830
00:45:07,720 –> 00:45:10,320
talked about principles and
applications as we’ve gone

831
00:45:10,320 –> 00:45:12,280
through looking at the
Canaanites and at Phineas.

832
00:45:12,680 –> 00:45:15,600
And so I want to just show how
these principles and

833
00:45:15,600 –> 00:45:19,520
applications also.
Are relevant to us living in

834
00:45:19,520 –> 00:45:24,320
peace and unity.
We have to examine our context,

835
00:45:24,640 –> 00:45:27,640
we determine the principle, we
develop the application.

836
00:45:28,640 –> 00:45:32,000
My suggestion to you, and we’re
going to see how this I think is

837
00:45:32,000 –> 00:45:36,080
supported scripturally.
My suggestion to you is that

838
00:45:37,800 –> 00:45:46,960
unity is formed on agreement of
principles, not agreement of

839
00:45:46,960 –> 00:45:49,680
application.
Now, if you just think about

840
00:45:49,680 –> 00:45:53,520
this, it makes sense.
I think on an individual scale,

841
00:45:56,240 –> 00:45:57,880
my context is different than
yours.

842
00:45:58,760 –> 00:46:02,000
Therefore, I’m going to
implement the principles

843
00:46:02,000 –> 00:46:06,600
differently, so.
If you look.

844
00:46:06,600 –> 00:46:11,440
At how I’m implementing the
principles, what you should do

845
00:46:12,720 –> 00:46:14,880
is come and ask me about my
principles.

846
00:46:16,560 –> 00:46:18,400
To find out, do we actually
agree on the principles?

847
00:46:18,400 –> 00:46:20,920
And I.
Think that’s what we’re going to

848
00:46:20,920 –> 00:46:27,480
see throughout Scripture?
Take a look, Mark chapter 2

849
00:46:27,480 –> 00:46:30,520
verses 23 to 28.
So notice what the Lord Jesus

850
00:46:30,520 –> 00:46:34,080
does, says one Sabbath Jesus was
going through the grain fields

851
00:46:34,600 –> 00:46:36,640
and as his disciples walked
along they began to pick some

852
00:46:36,640 –> 00:46:39,600
heads of grain.
Pharisee said to him, look, why

853
00:46:39,600 –> 00:46:41,240
are they doing what is unlawful
on the Sabbath?

854
00:46:41,800 –> 00:46:44,200
He answered, have you never read
what David did when he and his

855
00:46:44,200 –> 00:46:47,200
companions were hungry and in
need in the days of Abiathar the

856
00:46:47,200 –> 00:46:49,000
high priest?
He entered the House of God and

857
00:46:49,000 –> 00:46:51,960
ate the consecrated bread which
is lawful only for priests to

858
00:46:51,960 –> 00:46:54,120
eat and he gave some to his
companions.

859
00:46:54,240 –> 00:46:57,200
Now that’s all application.
He brings out a specific

860
00:46:57,200 –> 00:46:59,880
application.
Why are they actually arguing

861
00:46:59,880 –> 00:47:05,000
about what David did?
No, because he’s building this

862
00:47:05,000 –> 00:47:08,360
to say there’s actually a
principle here, and that’s what

863
00:47:08,360 –> 00:47:12,600
we’re talking about.
So he says the Sabbath was made

864
00:47:12,600 –> 00:47:13,920
for man, not man for the
Sabbath.

865
00:47:14,760 –> 00:47:16,760
So the Son of Man is Lord even
of the Sabbath.

866
00:47:16,920 –> 00:47:21,000
So he puts out, do we have
agreement on this principle?

867
00:47:22,720 –> 00:47:25,880
And they didn’t.
So that’s why there was disunity

868
00:47:25,880 –> 00:47:27,720
between the Lord Jesus and the
Pharisees.

869
00:47:29,560 –> 00:47:33,320
Same kind of thing, Luke 13
verses 14 to 17, indignant

870
00:47:33,320 –> 00:47:34,840
because Jesus had healed on the
Sabbath.

871
00:47:35,000 –> 00:47:37,360
The synagogue leader said to the
people, there are six days for

872
00:47:37,360 –> 00:47:39,800
work, so come and be healed on
those days, not on the Sabbath.

873
00:47:40,040 –> 00:47:43,360
Now it wasn’t really about what
were you doing on the Sabbath.

874
00:47:43,600 –> 00:47:46,920
So that’s why the Lord Jesus
turns and says, you hypocrites,

875
00:47:47,120 –> 00:47:49,560
doesn’t each of you on the
Sabbath untie your ox or donkey

876
00:47:49,560 –> 00:47:51,720
from the stall and lead it out
to give it water?

877
00:47:52,800 –> 00:47:57,760
Don’t you look, He’s saying,
isn’t life prized on the

878
00:47:57,760 –> 00:48:00,920
Sabbath?
Isn’t that your principle?

879
00:48:02,840 –> 00:48:03,840
Then?
Should not this woman, a

880
00:48:03,840 –> 00:48:07,640
daughter of Abraham whom Satan
has kept bound for 18 long

881
00:48:07,640 –> 00:48:10,280
years, be set free on the
Sabbath day from what bound her?

882
00:48:10,440 –> 00:48:13,400
When he said this, all his
opponents were humiliated, but

883
00:48:13,400 –> 00:48:14,840
the people were delighted with
all the wonderful.

884
00:48:14,840 –> 00:48:17,920
Things he was doing.
So he again brings it to the

885
00:48:17,920 –> 00:48:23,280
principle to ask, did they have
agreement on that principle?

886
00:48:23,880 –> 00:48:27,000
The main issue wasn’t the wrong
application.

887
00:48:27,120 –> 00:48:33,120
The wrong application came from
the wrong principle, and that’s

888
00:48:33,120 –> 00:48:35,560
why each time.
He brings it back to the

889
00:48:35,560 –> 00:48:39,040
principal.
He doesn’t hammer it out over

890
00:48:39,960 –> 00:48:45,080
should I heal on the Sabbath?
He says, here’s the principle.

891
00:48:47,080 –> 00:48:50,360
Do you agree on this?
So I think that’s the crucial

892
00:48:50,360 –> 00:48:53,480
thing and you will see this all
throughout Scripture in

893
00:48:53,480 –> 00:48:56,120
disagreements.
So just think about Acts chapter

894
00:48:56,120 –> 00:48:57,520
15.
You remember the Jerusalem

895
00:48:57,520 –> 00:49:01,360
conference.
Why did the why was the

896
00:49:01,360 –> 00:49:07,400
Jerusalem conference convened
circumcision, right?

897
00:49:07,600 –> 00:49:09,120
Should the Gentiles be
circumcised?

898
00:49:09,960 –> 00:49:13,360
So you have Jerusalem conference
discussing should the Gentiles

899
00:49:13,360 –> 00:49:16,800
be circumcised.
Now think about how this goes,

900
00:49:17,040 –> 00:49:20,840
because you can see that the
people who speak at the

901
00:49:20,840 –> 00:49:24,280
Jerusalem conference are talking
1st about application.

902
00:49:25,080 –> 00:49:28,080
So you get Peter who stands up
and he says here’s what happened

903
00:49:28,920 –> 00:49:32,400
when I worked with Cornelius and
his family and here was the

904
00:49:32,400 –> 00:49:34,080
application, right?
They didn’t have to be

905
00:49:34,080 –> 00:49:35,720
circumcised.
So you get somebody gives that,

906
00:49:36,240 –> 00:49:38,720
you have Paul who stands up and
he says here’s all the things

907
00:49:38,720 –> 00:49:40,360
that have happened with me and
the Gentiles.

908
00:49:42,400 –> 00:49:44,120
Nobody changes their mind when
they hear those things.

909
00:49:44,120 –> 00:49:46,480
Did you ever notice that nothing
happens?

910
00:49:46,520 –> 00:49:50,280
People are like, Oh, yeah, OK,
when do people change their

911
00:49:50,280 –> 00:49:51,480
minds?
At the Jerusalem conference,

912
00:49:52,840 –> 00:49:55,120
when James stands up and here’s
what he says.

913
00:49:55,320 –> 00:50:02,600
He says Tabernacle of David and
everybody’s like, Yep, What?

914
00:50:03,480 –> 00:50:04,640
I mean, have you ever thought
about that?

915
00:50:04,640 –> 00:50:06,680
Like, how does that even, how
does that even make any sense?

916
00:50:06,800 –> 00:50:08,680
Can you imagine somebody getting
up in your ecclesia?

917
00:50:08,840 –> 00:50:10,920
You’re like having a debate
about stuff, and they’re like

918
00:50:11,040 –> 00:50:13,640
Tabernacle of David, everyone.
And then all of a sudden

919
00:50:13,640 –> 00:50:15,520
everybody closes their Bibles.
Yep, end of discussion.

920
00:50:16,600 –> 00:50:19,280
Like, huh?
How does that help anything?

921
00:50:21,080 –> 00:50:22,200
It’s because that’s the
principle.

922
00:50:23,720 –> 00:50:28,080
The Tabernacle of David was all
about Gentiles coming to God

923
00:50:28,320 –> 00:50:34,200
outside of the law of Moses.
It was a tent outside of the

924
00:50:34,200 –> 00:50:38,800
Tabernacle where the Gentiles
could come and worship God.

925
00:50:38,960 –> 00:50:42,160
And so James gets up and he
says, let me give you all the

926
00:50:42,160 –> 00:50:44,240
principle.
It’s the Tabernacle of David.

927
00:50:44,360 –> 00:50:46,760
And everybody says that’s it,
he’s got it.

928
00:50:48,160 –> 00:50:51,360
We agree.
It wasn’t about the application,

929
00:50:51,360 –> 00:50:52,280
right?
They were arguing about the

930
00:50:52,280 –> 00:50:55,400
application initially.
They needed the principle, and

931
00:50:55,400 –> 00:50:57,040
the principle was what brought
the unity.

932
00:50:58,800 –> 00:51:02,080
It’s the same thing, by the way,
when Paul argues with Peter, you

933
00:51:02,080 –> 00:51:03,440
remember it in Galatians chapter
two.

934
00:51:03,640 –> 00:51:05,600
He stands up and he says, what
are you doing?

935
00:51:05,680 –> 00:51:13,040
How is it that you as a Jew are
trying to compel people to keep

936
00:51:13,920 –> 00:51:15,360
what we’ve never been able to
keep?

937
00:51:16,440 –> 00:51:19,120
Right now?
That’s the application, he goes

938
00:51:19,120 –> 00:51:21,040
on.
And he explains the principle.

939
00:51:21,440 –> 00:51:27,320
He says because by the works.
Of the law shall no flesh be

940
00:51:27,320 –> 00:51:29,960
justified.
And so he presents that

941
00:51:29,960 –> 00:51:33,120
principle to Peter, right?
He says, you know, he’s looking

942
00:51:33,120 –> 00:51:36,280
at Peter’s actions as though,
like, how could you be doing

943
00:51:36,280 –> 00:51:38,680
these things?
Do you actually believe this,

944
00:51:38,760 –> 00:51:41,080
that by the works of the law, no
flesh will be justified?

945
00:51:41,120 –> 00:51:44,840
Is that, is that true to you?
Because if you agree on that,

946
00:51:44,840 –> 00:51:46,040
then we can work through the
other stuff.

947
00:51:46,880 –> 00:51:50,920
But if you don’t agree on that,
then we got problems, right?

948
00:51:50,920 –> 00:51:52,640
That’s, that’s what we have
going on.

949
00:51:53,040 –> 00:51:56,320
So this is what we see over and
over scripturally with conflict

950
00:51:56,520 –> 00:51:59,120
that you have peace, right?
That’s the foundation.

951
00:51:59,280 –> 00:52:01,720
You have peace.
And once you have that peace,

952
00:52:01,880 –> 00:52:04,040
then you can say, here are my
principles.

953
00:52:04,080 –> 00:52:07,400
What do you think?
And I would suggest to you that

954
00:52:07,400 –> 00:52:13,000
a lot of times we get buried in
the applications and we really.

955
00:52:13,600 –> 00:52:16,120
Make a mistake.
I just want to tell you a story.

956
00:52:16,120 –> 00:52:17,560
This is on a personal level for
me.

957
00:52:18,440 –> 00:52:21,720
There was a brother that I had a
really hard time with.

958
00:52:22,360 –> 00:52:24,440
I felt like we were doing
everything opposite.

959
00:52:26,120 –> 00:52:28,760
I was trying to encourage people
to be more studious.

960
00:52:28,760 –> 00:52:30,640
I felt like, and he was trying
to encourage people to be less

961
00:52:30,640 –> 00:52:33,320
studious like that.
That was kind of how it, how it

962
00:52:33,560 –> 00:52:37,640
I perceived it.
So what I did is I tried to do

963
00:52:37,640 –> 00:52:40,520
all kinds of things to get him
off of speaking lists, right?

964
00:52:41,160 –> 00:52:43,600
That that was pretty lame.
Right, I’ll acknowledge that.

965
00:52:43,960 –> 00:52:46,000
So I tried to do all kinds of
things like that so that he did

966
00:52:46,000 –> 00:52:51,520
not speak anywhere.
He invited me to his house, had

967
00:52:51,520 –> 00:52:53,520
dinner with me and told me he
thought I should transfer

968
00:52:53,520 –> 00:52:56,000
ecclesias.
Right?

969
00:52:56,000 –> 00:52:59,240
Like so you can see how this is
not very good.

970
00:53:01,120 –> 00:53:06,040
One day we saw each other and he
said, can I talk to you

971
00:53:06,400 –> 00:53:08,240
privately?
I said OK, that’s fine.

972
00:53:09,000 –> 00:53:13,280
So he went out and he said,
what’s your goal in life?

973
00:53:15,120 –> 00:53:18,720
And I said, well, I want to
teach people about the Kingdom

974
00:53:18,720 –> 00:53:23,720
of God.
And he said, did you know that?

975
00:53:23,720 –> 00:53:30,920
That’s my goal too.
And after that, we’ve had unity

976
00:53:31,120 –> 00:53:34,520
between the two of us.
He goes about it differently.

977
00:53:35,640 –> 00:53:38,440
I still don’t necessarily like
the ways he always goes about

978
00:53:38,440 –> 00:53:43,840
it, but we agree on principle,
not an application.

979
00:53:44,920 –> 00:53:48,520
And because we have those shared
principles, we can say, you know

980
00:53:48,520 –> 00:53:50,960
what, I don’t totally understand
what you’re doing, but that’s

981
00:53:50,960 –> 00:53:55,640
OK, because I know we’re trying
to get to the same spot and I

982
00:53:55,640 –> 00:53:57,720
know that we’re trying to get
other people to the same spot.

983
00:53:59,760 –> 00:54:03,160
And that’s the point.
So hopefully in all of this we

984
00:54:03,160 –> 00:54:04,960
can recognize.
The value of peace.

985
00:54:05,600 –> 00:54:09,480
We can see that our God loves
peace, and we can see that peace

986
00:54:09,600 –> 00:54:13,600
is the initial basis.
And once we have peace, we can

987
00:54:13,600 –> 00:54:19,320
then build unity on that piece.
But unity only comes by shared

988
00:54:19,320 –> 00:54:21,560
principles.
And sometimes we get lost in

989
00:54:21,560 –> 00:54:27,040
trying to make shared
applications, but instead it’s

990
00:54:27,040 –> 00:54:29,520
all about our principles.
That’s what we need to discuss

991
00:54:29,520 –> 00:54:31,840
with each other.
That’s what we have to share

992
00:54:31,840 –> 00:54:32,280
with each other.