1 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:14,680 So today's scripture teaching reading is the book, the entire 2 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:20,160 book, which depending on your Bible is like 2 pages of Obadiah 3 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,560 and I will be reading it right now. 4 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:29,000 The vision of Obadiah thus says the Lord God concerning Edom, we 5 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,880 have heard a report from the Lord and a messenger has been 6 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:38,520 sent among the nations. Rise up, let us rise against it. 7 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:43,200 For battle I will surely make you least among the nations you 8 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,600 shall be utterly despised. Your proud heart has deceived 9 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,480 you. You that live in the clefts of 10 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:52,600 the rock, whose dwelling is in the heights. 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,440 You who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the 12 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,280 ground, though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest 13 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,519 is set among the stars. From there I will bring you 14 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:10,280 down, says the Lord. If thieves came to you, if 15 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,280 plunderers by night, how you would have been destroyed? 16 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,040 Would they not steal only what they wanted? 17 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,080 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 18 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,120 How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures searched out. 19 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,080 All your allies have deceived you. 20 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:33,920 They have driven you to the border. 21 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,000 Your Confederates have prevailed against you. 22 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,440 Those who ate your bread have set a trap for you. 23 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:46,760 There is no understanding of it. On that day, says the Lord, I 24 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:52,000 will destroy the wise out of Edom and understanding out of 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,680 Mount Esau. Your warriors shall be 26 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:59,280 shattered, O Temen, so that everyone from Mount Esau will be 27 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,120 cut off for the slaughter and violence done to your brother 28 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,320 Jacob. Shame shall cover cover you, and 29 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:13,240 you shall be cut off forever. On that day you stood aside. 30 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,680 On the day that strangers carried off his wealth and 31 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,320 foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem. 32 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,840 You too were like one of them. But you should not have gloated 33 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,160 over your brother on the day of his misfortune. 34 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,840 You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the 35 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,160 day of their ruin. You should not have boasted on 36 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,040 the day of distress. You should not have entered the 37 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,240 gate of my people on the day of their calamity. 38 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,680 You should not have joined in the gloating over Judah's 39 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,280 disaster on the day of his calamity. 40 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:55,160 You should not have looted His goods on the day of His 41 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,440 calamity. You should have not have stood 42 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,600 at the crossings to cut off the fugitives. 43 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,680 You should not have handed over his survivors on the day of 44 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,480 distress, For the day of the Lord is near against all the 45 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,000 nations. As you have done, it shall be 46 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,720 done to you. Your deeds shall return on your 47 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,960 own head. For as you have drunk on my holy 48 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,200 mountain, all the nations around you shall drink. 49 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,760 They shall drink and gulp down, and shall be as though they had 50 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:35,160 never been. But on Mount Zion there shall be 51 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:40,440 that those that escape, and it shall be holy, and the House of 52 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,160 Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them. 53 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,240 The House of Jacob shall be a fire, the House of Joseph of 54 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,120 flame, and the House of Esau stubble. 55 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,800 They shall burn them and consume them. 56 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:02,320 And there shall be no survival of the House of Esau, for the 57 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,440 Lord has spoken. Those of the Negeb shall possess 58 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,880 Mount Esau, and those of the Shephalah the land of the 59 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,960 Philistines. They shall possess the land of 60 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,519 Ephraim, and the land of Samaria and Benjamin shall possess 61 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:26,120 Gilead. the Exiles of the Israelites who are in Hala shall 62 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:31,320 possess Phoenicia as far as Zarephath, and the Exiles of 63 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:36,000 Jerusalem who are in Shephart shall possess the towns of the 64 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,160 Negeb. Those who have been saved shall 65 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:45,960 go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the Kingdom 66 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:50,160 shall be the Lord's, the word of the Lord. 67 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,520 Thank you Katie for reading all the hard words. 68 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:01,400 That's why I made her do the whole thing. 69 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,320 Good morning. I'm Carl. 70 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,040 I know most of you, but not all. Something I would love to remedy 71 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,400 after the service if possible. Come say hi or I'll. 72 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,800 I'll look for you if I can. I'm one of the pastors on the 73 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,080 teaching team here. If you don't know me, we're 74 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,520 continuing this series. We've been in on the minor 75 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,680 prophets today. Before we get into that, I know 76 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,560 we just did silence and prayer. We're going to do just a little 77 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:32,640 bit more just so that I can get my heart ready to do this thing. 78 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,880 OK, so just pray for me quietly or out loud if you really have 79 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,000 to, I guess. Come Holy Spirit. 80 00:05:49,420 --> 00:05:51,980 Amen. All right, so we've been on this 81 00:05:51,980 --> 00:05:55,780 series on the minor prophets. These are the books at the end 82 00:05:55,780 --> 00:05:58,060 of the Old Testament. If you're a Bible Y person, 83 00:05:59,060 --> 00:06:03,180 there's a whole song with the men and with Zachariah Malachi. 84 00:06:05,220 --> 00:06:08,500 And when we started this sermon series, Jared, in his 85 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:12,200 introduction, he reminded us they're, they're called minor 86 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,880 prophets, not because they're not important, just 'cause these 87 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:16,840 books are real short. We read a whole one. 88 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:19,440 This may be the only time in your life you've ever heard a, 89 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,720 a, a sermon on a whole book of the Bible at one go, like in one 90 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:24,360 sitting. Oh, maybe you guys come from 91 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,280 like we did. The whole book of Matthew took 92 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:29,160 48 hours. I don't know. 93 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,040 What was cool about these minor prophet books that are shorter 94 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,760 is that they were so small. They could be gathered all into 95 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,600 one scroll called the Book of the 12, which is cool. 96 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,240 It's bummed out that we lost that. 97 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,040 It feels like I would watch that movie, The Book of the 12. 98 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,600 And we have to remember that these books, the Book of the 12 99 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:57,400 that were gathered together were gathered together for a reason. 100 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,400 They were compiled. In fact, every book that's in 101 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,320 this thing we call the Bible was compiled. 102 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:11,360 It was put together and canonized and for a reason, I 103 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,200 know some of us were raised that the Bible floated down on a 104 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,680 cloud from heaven one day and we all just made copies. 105 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,360 This is not what happened. I'm sorry, historically 106 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,440 inaccurate. It was, it was, it was gathered. 107 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,000 And I believe, and we believe at Central Vineyard that the the 108 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,080 writings in these books are God inspired. 109 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,240 God put his hand on the people who were writing these things, 110 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,840 and for me, I put a ton of faith because the Bible can be hard to 111 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,840 understand. In the compilers, the people 112 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,920 that brought it all together, they said this is him and this 113 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:43,680 is him. We're taking this and this and 114 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,280 canonized it. Because for me, the only way to 115 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,320 read this thing is in the context of all the other pieces 116 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,400 of it. So we can best understand this 117 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:59,680 God who is so great and these us people who are so complex. 118 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,880 So the book of the 12th, this section, we got to ask 119 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,640 ourselves, what's its purpose? What do we have this book for? 120 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:10,760 Right. And it's a little challenging 121 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,200 the the 12. These books are books of 122 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,080 prophecy. And when we're looking at books 123 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,240 of prophecy, there's the plain reading of a book of prophecy is 124 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,120 a prophet. A person said, Hey, this thing 125 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,840 is going to happen. And that's the reading. 126 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,040 Like, hey, you guys, later I'm going to 711. 127 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,880 It doesn't even there's no, the story doesn't even happen in the 128 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,960 book, right? They say it's gonna happen and 129 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,240 that's it in a very, very plain reading, right. 130 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,160 And so we might, if we're reading the book, we might say, 131 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,360 oh, but these are the keys to the future. 132 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,560 Maybe we are a people that that like wanna know what the secrets 133 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:52,080 are, what's all gonna happen, right? 134 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:56,560 And, and we could read the book as a future telling story. 135 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,480 Unfortunately, if you're looking for the books of prophecy to 136 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,280 tell you the future, a lot of it already happened. 137 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,000 It was prophesied and then it happened. 138 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:16,400 OK Mark Biddle wrote an article I'm drawing on for this called 139 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,520 The Nature of Prophetic literature in Hermeneutics, 140 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,440 actually called Obadiah, Jonah, Micah in canonical context. 141 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,080 But he says, of course, historically informed readers of 142 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,560 Scripture will recognize with reference to these pieces that 143 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:34,000 Babylon has already fallen once in the fulfillment of prophetic 144 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:36,640 predictions. So if we're looking for Babylon 145 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,720 to fall, it already didn't. And we have to acknowledge that. 146 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,240 We can have a lot of conversation offline about how 147 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:51,240 much of the Scripture in the Bible, Old and New Testament 148 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,680 prophecy has already happened. But we're not going to do that 149 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,960 anymore because I'm out of time. But if it's the case that has 150 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,960 already happened, the book of Obadiah, then what's the point? 151 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:03,880 Like, hey, this thing's going to happen. 152 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,880 And then it did handshakes all around, early lunch. 153 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,920 Like, what's the point? Why put it in the Bible? 154 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:17,120 Then again, we return to Biddle. He goes on to say whereas 155 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,640 popular readings of biblical prophecy as apocalyptic 156 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,080 prediction, this is to say what's going to happen in the 157 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:27,000 future fall short and fail to take history seriously. 158 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:30,520 Any purely historical reading fails to credit already 159 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:35,080 fulfilled prophecy with any ongoing canonical authority in 160 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:36,640 the life of the church. That was a lot. 161 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:37,800 It's a lot. Let's leave that up for a 162 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,360 second. So what we're saying is, hey, if 163 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,600 you're saying these are the secrets of the future, probably 164 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,840 not like you have to be historical and acknowledge 165 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:49,200 they've already happened. But if you're saying, hey, it 166 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,000 already happened, handshakes all around, early lunch, then you're 167 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,560 saying this part of the Bible is irrelevant to me. 168 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,280 It's useless. Well, that can't be we all 169 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,680 Scripture is God breathed and useful, right? 170 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,120 So it's got to be in there for some kind of a reason. 171 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:07,120 So that's what his article is about. 172 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,960 I will give you the gist of it. Prophetic literature in general, 173 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,000 and particularly this book of the 12, this collection of 174 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:20,280 stories are stories that resonate with us today and them 175 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:22,720 resonate through people throughout time. 176 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,720 And they reveal God's truth well outside of their specific 177 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,640 instance. They're not just future telling 178 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,960 stories, they are truth telling stories. 179 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,640 OK, so in prophetic literature, particularly the book of the 12, 180 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,800 we find information that that reveals the truth about who we 181 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,880 are as humans. We find truth about who God is 182 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:48,200 and the promises that God makes. And we find also an invitation 183 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:53,800 to us, to another way of living. That's what we can do and and 184 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:55,760 use these books for us. That's what they are. 185 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,400 So the book of the 12, it's a toolkit. 186 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,160 Think of a little wrap with a bunch of wrenches and 187 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,560 screwdrivers in it that we can reach into. 188 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:05,840 And we have to do a couple of things. 189 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:07,680 We got to find the right tool for the job. 190 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,520 We're going to say, which of these stories is resonant with 191 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,480 us today in our cultural context, in our place, What's 192 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,040 the right story for the job? OK. 193 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,920 And we picked that out and then we have to interpret it properly 194 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,360 to use it. How does this wrench fit this 195 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,120 story and the situation that we are in today? 196 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,720 OK, so I'm really excited about this because I went from having 197 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,880 a bunch of like things that were sort of cryptic crystal ball 198 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:39,000 nonsense or garbage to a toolkit I like a toolkit who likes to be 199 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,600 able to fix things, right? It's good. 200 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,040 So we've got some things available to us here. 201 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:44,960 So let's break this story around. 202 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:49,560 Let's get Part 1 up. OK, so sorry about the the 203 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:52,800 translation, the differences. I was late to the party. 204 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,280 I'm using the NIVI think we're using maybe the NASB before, but 205 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:58,640 this way you guys get more context. 206 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:00,400 So you're welcome. I'm not sorry. 207 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:09,560 OK, next slide. So this is the part where God is 208 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:12,400 mad at Edom. OK, this story's a little 209 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,560 different because lots of times we say, hey, straighten up or 210 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:18,560 you're in big trouble. This is like you done messed up 211 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:19,600 and here's what's going to happen. 212 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,920 Then we start off with the you're already doomed portion. 213 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:27,280 OK, So like, you know, your, your pride has deceived you and 214 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,840 you think you're hidden and in the heights and you're not going 215 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:31,200 to get away. You're going to try to fly and 216 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:32,640 I'm going to bring you down. Go ahead. 217 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,600 And this part, this part is particularly nasty actually. 218 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,880 It's like, hey, if thieves came by, they would steal some of 219 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:43,840 your stuff. But you know, they would just 220 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,640 take like what's out the silver and kind of move their way on. 221 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:50,160 And like grape pickers, they would steal your grapes. 222 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:51,880 But of course, they don't have time to hang around and take 223 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:56,480 every last grape. Moving on, it says, but what I'm 224 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,520 going to do to you, I'm going to get everything. 225 00:13:58,520 --> 00:13:59,720 I'm going to get to your hidden stuff. 226 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:01,120 I'm going to take every last grape. 227 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:03,520 Like I'm taking all your stuff, all of it. 228 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,320 In fact, you people who are your friends, they're going to trick 229 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,320 you and the people you have dinner with, they're going to 230 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:09,560 trap you. How about that? 231 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,360 Like it's super doom, doom language. 232 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,960 OK, what's next? Right. 233 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,040 Again, we have, you know, even the wise, those who are of 234 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,600 stature and wisdom among you hidden in the mountains. 235 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,360 I'm coming for them too. Forget about it more years. 236 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:26,680 We'll be terrified. So it's very doomy. 237 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,160 And and then this is a transitional piece. 238 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,160 This is a verse 10. It's the first time we start to 239 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,600 talk about why, which is next. Because of the violence against 240 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,640 your brother Jacob, you will be covered in shame. 241 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:43,040 So This is why this is happening. 242 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,000 You will be destroyed forever. The day of the Lord is near for 243 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,160 all Galatians. Briefly, the day of the Lord is 244 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,280 a day of judgment, like when everything's going to be 245 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,320 reckoned. So you better mess up and sort 246 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:56,680 yourself out. All right, next. 247 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,080 These are a little bit later on, 15 and 16. 248 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:04,280 So as you have done, it will be done to you. 249 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,400 There's some clever fun word play here. 250 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:11,480 I was confused by this myself. So just as you drank on my hilly 251 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,680 hill, you'll keep drinking, which sounds like good. 252 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,480 I like drinking. I was already drinking. 253 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,200 The concept here is that we're playing with metaphors. 254 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,240 So just as you literally, when you were pillaging, were 255 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,960 drinking all the wine, you're going to drink the cup of wrath 256 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,200 and you're going to keep drinking that cup of wrath. 257 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,400 So we're back to this very doomy language here. 258 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,600 You like drinking? Drink this kind of thing. 259 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:37,920 All right, what's next? Oh, good. 260 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:42,120 OK, So that's Section 1 is sort of you are doomed, real, real 261 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,520 bad, doomed, negative, not good stuff. 262 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,000 Next step is why we're going to spend the most time later on 263 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:49,600 this section. We'll zip through it right now. 264 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,320 So because of the violence I really liked in the other text, 265 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,960 it said stood aside. I like, stood aloof like it's 266 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:04,800 got nothing to do with me. Carried off the wealth, gloating 267 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,000 over misfortune. Keep going. 268 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:09,720 Yeah. So it's just This is why we're 269 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:10,840 going to get into that. More later. 270 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:12,600 This is what this is what you did, Edom. 271 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:14,320 You know what you did, and I'm telling you what you did. 272 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,720 Last section. This is the promise. 273 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,240 This is where we learned about God's promise for restoration, 274 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:22,240 which. Go ahead. 275 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:29,280 So Mt Zion will be holy again, Jacob will possess his 276 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,680 inheritance. Jacob will be fire just of a 277 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:33,960 flame. It's interesting, this stubble 278 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:35,280 piece, we don't have time for it. 279 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,520 This stubble language, the stubble here is like little bits 280 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,080 of bracken sticks, stuff like that. 281 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,400 Undergrowth. This has appeared in, I think, 282 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,480 every text that we've studied so far. 283 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,960 The word stubble, I didn't look it up, what it is in the 284 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,600 original language. You do it report back to me but 285 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,120 I think fascinating so we we have here a refining fire right 286 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,280 that burns away all of the waste making things holy and right 287 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,640 again and a little little extra doom no survivors from Esau 288 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:10,160 moving on the people so this is about God's people will come 289 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,040 back into the land right because this piece is about exile. 290 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,599 It's about people who were taken away from by the Babylonians 291 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:19,359 into exile. They're going to come back and 292 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,359 this is just a very you get this and you get that you get this in 293 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,119 ways that are about restoring things to the way they were 294 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,760 ordained to be is the meta concept. 295 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,840 Next more of that. Go on. 296 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:35,600 Oh, and all the Kingdom will be the Lords. 297 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,240 There you go. So that's the book. 298 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,280 That's that's how that shakes out. 299 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,200 Probably have notes somewhere. OK yeah. 300 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:45,320 Shape of the story a little different, as I said. 301 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,120 So if we're going to take this thing apart as a story, we need 302 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:54,040 to understand we got the shape, OK, you're doomed because you 303 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:55,600 did this thing and people are going to be restored. 304 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,920 That's the shape of the story. OK, We need now to think about 305 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,280 who are the characters? And we're going to think about 306 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,200 this literally, but also figuratively, right? 307 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,320 If we're going to be able to use this tool or toolbox, it can't 308 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,440 be just about literal ancient peoples or it's useless to us. 309 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,480 It needs to be about peoples and and characters that we 310 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,040 understand in a story. Shape makes sense. 311 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:20,440 OK, so we have literally this is about the the land of Judah, the 312 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,360 people of Judah. This is the southern part of 313 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,680 what was the nation of Israel, some of the remaining faithful 314 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,400 tribes of God's people. OK, that's Judah. 315 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:36,520 And when we have Edom, OK, Edom is a Kingdom that's just to the 316 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:41,320 South of Judah, occupying part of what was once Israel, mostly 317 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:51,040 a little further South. And in this story, Judah is the 318 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,000 victim, right? So Judah, Babylon comes in and 319 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:55,920 takes Judah and, and destroys them. 320 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:01,000 And Edom is not so much the perpetrator of the violence, 321 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,400 which is interesting in this story. 322 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,160 It's not like you came and did this thing. 323 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:11,840 Edom is the bystander. Edom is the one who stands by, 324 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,640 who stands aloof, who stands aside. 325 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:18,920 And then maybe kind of, well, as long as it's a pillage, maybe 326 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:20,960 I'll take a little something for myself. 327 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,760 That's Edom in the story. Still the bad guy in our story. 328 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,280 OK. If we looked at the text more 329 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,000 often than the words Judah and Edom, we see some different 330 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,320 names. You guys remember what names we 331 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:40,520 saw in the place of Judah and Edom, Jacob and Esau. 332 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,280 That's right. Jacob and Esau. 333 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,880 So the people of Edom were believed to be the descendants 334 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,880 of Esau. Now, this is the audience 335 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,240 participation portion. Congregational participation 336 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,360 portion. What can you tell me about Jacob 337 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:02,160 and Esau? Shout out, brothers. 338 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,760 Yes, Jacob and Esau are brothers in the story. 339 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:07,800 Very important. OK. 340 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:13,880 Who was their dad? Isaac Oh, this is going well. 341 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,000 Who's Isaac's dad? Abraham. 342 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:22,960 So if you're churchy people, this, the God's promise to 343 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,320 create a people is to Abraham, whose son is Isaac, whose sons 344 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,480 are Jacob and Esau? What's Jacob's other name? 345 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:38,200 Later on, Israel, right? So we have here a story of 346 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,720 brothers and a story of neighbors. 347 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:47,120 Jacob becomes Israel, Esau becomes Edom. 348 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:53,080 We have a brother who is also a neighbor in this story. 349 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:54,600 And we think of these characters. 350 00:20:54,600 --> 00:21:00,480 We have brothers, and one brother is attacked, right? 351 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,480 And the other one stands by and watches his brother get attacked 352 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:14,000 and taken away. Obadiah 111 through 14 on the 353 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,360 day you stood aloof. On that day when they came, you 354 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,440 stood aloof while stage strangers carried off your 355 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,320 brother's wealth. And the enemy entered your 356 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:30,800 brother's gates and cast lots for your brother's great city. 357 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,680 This is to say, they were having so much fun, they had to gamble 358 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,880 for who was going to get what. You. 359 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,160 We're like the enemy of your brother. 360 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:46,200 Go ahead. You should not gloat over your 361 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:51,120 brother in the day of your brother's misfortune, nor should 362 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:57,680 you rejoice over the people of Judah, your brother's people, in 363 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:03,120 the day of their destruction, nor boast bragging about it in 364 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:04,680 the day of your brother's trouble. 365 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,040 Next slide. You should not March through the 366 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:14,160 gates of of your brother in the day of your brother's disaster, 367 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,280 nor should you gloat over your brother in your brother's 368 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,760 calamity in the day of his disaster, nor seize his wealth. 369 00:22:30,550 --> 00:22:36,070 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down your 370 00:22:36,070 --> 00:22:40,550 brother's fugitives or hand over your brother's survivors on the 371 00:22:40,550 --> 00:22:46,400 day of his trouble. This is your brother. 372 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,640 The brother, Edom Esau, stands aloof. 373 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,080 He gloats. He seizes his brother's wealth. 374 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,320 He hands over those who survived this calamity to the enemy. 375 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,280 And God says for this there will be judgement. 376 00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:07,200 And he says that the first brother will be restored. 377 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,480 That's the story. That's how it works, and that's 378 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,480 the tool from our toolkit that we're working with today. 379 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:22,440 How do we apply it? OK, We're centering this into 380 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,680 brothers so that we can understand this symbolically, 381 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:30,040 emotionally, right? But it is not about one person. 382 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:36,960 The story is about peoples, OK? And the peoples are God's people 383 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,480 and the brother who lives next door to God's people. 384 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,240 OK, so if we're going to understand that, if we're going 385 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,880 to stand God's people and the neighbor to God's people, we got 386 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,200 to deal with what that is. So who are God's people? 387 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:58,280 Let's look in Genesis. This is when God comes to 388 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,600 Abraham and says, I'm going to make you a people, his people. 389 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,320 Our first introduction of people, the Lord said to Abram, 390 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,960 go from your country and your people and your father's 391 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,480 household into the land. I will show you, I will make you 392 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,800 a great nation. I'm going to make a people and I 393 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,880 will bless you. I will make your name great and 394 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,760 you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless 395 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:26,440 you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on 396 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:32,440 earth will be blessed by you. So within the paragraph where 397 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,680 God makes his people, He says the purpose of you, it's to be a 398 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,040 blessing to all the people. I'm making you a people so you 399 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:42,800 can make everybody my people. Amen. 400 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:52,160 Next slide from Isaiah, Don't let foreigners who commit 401 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:56,120 themselves to the Lord say the Lord will never let me be a part 402 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:58,360 of his people. Don't let people come. 403 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:02,880 Say that I will bless foreigners who commit themselves to the 404 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,440 Lord, who serve Him and love His name, who worship Him and do not 405 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,280 desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my 406 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,720 covenant. I will bring them to my holy 407 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,160 mountain of Jerusalem and fill them with joy in my House of 408 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,400 prayer. I will accept their burnt 409 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:26,320 offerings and sacrifices because My temple, my house says the 410 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:32,120 Lord, will be called a House of prayer for all nations, for the 411 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:37,960 sovereign Lord who brings back the outcasts of Israel, will 412 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,600 bring back others beside my people, Israel. 413 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,560 When I restore my house, I'm bringing everybody and everybody 414 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,240 who wants to be a part of my family and my nation observe 415 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:50,840 what it is to be a part of my thing. 416 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,400 They're invited everyone. Don't let them say you'll never 417 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,000 be a part of my family. They're not step brothers and 418 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:03,200 sisters. Next slide this is anybody 419 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,200 recognize this shout it out if you do bonus extra points. 420 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:13,040 It's a Great Commission then Jesus, you've heard of him came 421 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:15,480 to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been 422 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,440 given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples 423 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,560 of what? All nations, baptizing them in 424 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,920 the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 425 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,280 So we want to know who the people of God are. 426 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:31,920 We're going to look at what the Scripture says. 427 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,360 The people of God are established from the beginning. 428 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,920 All nations, all nations. God has come. 429 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,920 He made a people to make a blessing to include all the 430 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,280 nations. You get it. 431 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,400 All the nations who are invited to be a part of the people of 432 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,400 God, that's who God is caring about in this story. 433 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,800 Any story we look at in the Scripture, if we want to know 434 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:57,600 when God's talking about God's people, who he's talking about, 435 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,080 he's talking about all nations, everybody's invited. 436 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,400 So we know who that is in the story. 437 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,920 All nations, God's people. Who's the neighbor of all the 438 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,400 nations then? Well, good news, Jesus has dealt 439 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,800 with this question about who neighbors are in the Bible. 440 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,400 Let's review this story. Little thing called a Good 441 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,800 Samaritan on one occasion, an expert in the law to test Jesus. 442 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,840 Teacher. He asked, what must I do to 443 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,520 inherit eternal life? This was a test, you'll note. 444 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:33,640 Yes, Thank you. Sorry. 445 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,840 You don't back up even when I'm crazy. 446 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:37,880 All right. What is written in the law? 447 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:39,360 Jesus. Like, OK, smart guy. 448 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,600 You, you're you're an expert. What's written in the law? 449 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,440 How do you read? How do you interpret what the 450 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,040 law says? The expert says love the Lord 451 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,400 your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your 452 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,040 strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as 453 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,280 yourself. Jesus says you have answered 454 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,320 correctly. Do this and you will live. 455 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,120 But the teacher of the law, not satisfied with getting a Gold 456 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:07,440 Star from Jesus, wanted to justify himself. 457 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,000 He wanted to get out of this. Gosh, that seemed kind of like a 458 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,560 lot. Well, OK then Jesus, who is my 459 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,120 neighbor? And reply Jesus said a man was 460 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:21,920 going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by 461 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,400 robbers. They stripped him of his 462 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,800 clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 463 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,320 A priest happened to be going down the same road and he saw 464 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,280 the man and he passed by on the other side. 465 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:40,640 Don't want none of that. A Levite, A holy man, came to 466 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,040 the place and saw him, and he passed by on the other side as 467 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:49,280 well. But a Samaritan, a Samaritan, as 468 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,560 he travelled, came where the man was, and he saw him. 469 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,760 And he took pity on him. And he went to him and bandaged 470 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,120 his wounds, pouring oil and wine. 471 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:03,960 And he put the man on his own donkey bleeding, cut up mystery 472 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:09,960 man, put him in his car full of crap and brought him to the end 473 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,800 and took care of him. The next day he took out two 474 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,280 denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 475 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,120 Look after me, he said, and when I return I will reimburse you 476 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,080 for any extra expense you may have. 477 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:27,360 Which of these three smart guy do you think was a neighbor? 478 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,520 To the man who fell into the hands of robbers, the expert in 479 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:39,720 the law replied, The one who had mercy on him, Jesus said Go and 480 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:45,320 do likewise. Another story, OK, another tool 481 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,440 from the toolbox. We have a parable story tool. 482 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:49,960 We have our professors, Let's put them together. 483 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:51,520 We got to look at this one really quick. 484 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,400 Got to go faster on this victim. OK, Israelite person of God for 485 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:58,360 the audience of the story, right? 486 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,120 So a person of God is attacked. Characters 2 Supposedly holy 487 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:06,160 people, priest and Levite, who stand aloof, who stand aside. 488 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:13,160 And the Samaritan. Samaria land north of Judah, a 489 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,880 people thought to be related to the people of God. 490 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:21,560 We have a brother. We found another brother, 491 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:23,800 another brother, neighbor, who lives next door. 492 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:30,000 But this brother, the Samaritan, doesn't behave like Edom, like 493 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,120 Esau. This brother behaves like a 494 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,760 neighbor should. This is a person, the Samaritan, 495 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:41,640 who is an outsider who is shunned and disliked and reaches 496 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:46,840 across difference and disgust to care for this person who acts 497 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,760 like a real neighbor. That's what a neighbor should 498 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,960 be. So we've got our tools. 499 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,320 How do we apply them? Going back to our original 500 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:56,960 story, we got 2 characters to choose from. 501 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:58,760 We got the people of God. We got the victim. 502 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,840 OK, and we got the neighbor. All right, So let's look, we 503 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,240 could say, do we sit comfortably in the victim seat? 504 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,520 Are we the victim? This is a really important 505 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:13,680 question. If you're a victim, this is a 506 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,320 story of consolation. Hey, we know terrible things 507 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,400 happen to you. The Lord will restore you. 508 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:25,480 You will be OK, but there's not a lot to do if you're the victim 509 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,560 but sit around and wait for the Lord to sort things out. 510 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:31,960 And it's also a really risky headspace to be in if you're 511 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,360 living in a place of I am justified, I have been done 512 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,640 wrong by and the Lord will visit retribution upon my enemies. 513 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,040 I'm going to be pretty sure you're right about that. 514 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,520 So let's check. What is a victim in the story? 515 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:47,680 What does it take to be a victim? 516 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,360 Well, like I said before, the events that happened in the 517 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,640 stories, the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon, right? 518 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,720 So what do the Babylonians do? They besiege the city of 519 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,440 Jerusalem. They keep people from getting 520 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,040 resources. They ultimately destroy it, the 521 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,360 archaeological evidence suggests, through carefully set 522 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,240 fires. They burn it to the ground, they 523 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,880 raise the temple, and then they snatch away the people and take 524 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,800 them to service in Babylon. That's what a victim looks like 525 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,440 in our story. OK, if if you want to know if 526 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,640 you're a victim in this story, have you lived through the 527 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,200 slaughter of your people, the pillaging of your property, the 528 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,000 end of your nation as you know it, and you now live somewhere 529 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:30,800 else in exile? That would make you the victim 530 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,440 in this story. OK, maybe you are. 531 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:40,000 If you are living here as a refugee from another place, you 532 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,120 might be the victim, particularly in Ohio. 533 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,000 If you want to check to see who's sitting in the victim 534 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:51,360 seat, people from Somalia, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan and 535 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,320 others, these would be good candidates for victim. 536 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,600 But I think for me, I don't sit in that seat and you know, I'll 537 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,800 tell you what else you know, if you sit in the victim's seat 538 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:07,520 because you don't give a bother about it, you don't care because 539 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,760 you're busy surviving. You're not looking for 540 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,280 justification right now, you're just trying to get by. 541 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,800 OK. If you're looking for self 542 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,160 righteousness and justification, you're probably sitting in the 543 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:23,080 neighbor's seat. So understand if we are the 544 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,480 neighbor, then we have a choice on what kind of neighbor do we 545 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,320 want to be good neighbor, good sibling or not? 546 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:37,160 Edom or Samaria, what can we do? How can we be a good neighbor? 547 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:42,480 And what does it look like to be a good neighbor in times when 548 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,920 even your government appears to be taking on the role of Babylon 549 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,920 of the victimizer? In their book Jesus and the 550 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,800 Powers, NT Wright and Michael Byrd wrestle with this question. 551 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:00,680 When do we appeal to Caesar and submit to governing authorities? 552 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,280 And when do we tell Caesar that we must obey God rather than 553 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:08,520 human authorities and pray for the government to fall into 554 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,719 divine judgment? Next slide. 555 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,199 Can we disobey divinely instituted government? 556 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:21,080 Can that disobedience even go so far as passive and active 557 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,000 resistance? It's a great book. 558 00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:27,920 It's really thoughtful. It's so thoughtful, it really 559 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,800 bothers me. I would love it for it to be 560 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,000 more straightforward, but it's it's really complex. 561 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,360 The answer to this question. Next slide. 562 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,159 The answer is yes for two reasons. 563 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:46,639 No earthly institution, whether monarch or magistrate, possesses 564 00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:48,880 absolute authority. The authority of the state is 565 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,000 not an invioluble, inviable position, but a performance of 566 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,440 service to lead us to serve, a service rendered to God, an 567 00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,520 exercise for the people. Next slide. 568 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,480 The government's authority is then conditional upon its 569 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:05,920 performance to meet God's standards of righteousness, and 570 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:10,040 when the consensus, the people and how they wish to be governed 571 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,240 accordingly. Oh, excuse me a second. 572 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:17,440 While government is divinely instituted for the common good 573 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,880 and should be paid in principle, not every governor is good. 574 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:29,440 I've lost my place entirely. What's the next slide? 575 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:42,520 OK, great, thank you. They go on to say yes. 576 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,880 For rulers who engage in cruelty, injustice, and avarice, 577 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,520 we they cannot say they do so with divine sponsorship. 578 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,800 By virtue of their office, their legitimacy is forfeit, for only 579 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,960 good government can claim the mantle of divinely appointed 580 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,840 authority. Accordingly, God brings order 581 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,800 through the government, but does not ordain every individual 582 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:05,880 ruler. As such, it can be right for 583 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:07,840 Christians to retort to state authorities. 584 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:13,360 We must obey God, not human beings, and refuse to be afraid 585 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:19,360 of the King's orders. So in the course of finding ways 586 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:24,560 to be good neighbors, according to this book at least, it's 587 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,600 permissible to resist. And I agree, personally 588 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,080 speaking, For for Carl, that's my name. 589 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,240 Whenever we're in places like this, we're talking about things 590 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:40,120 at this, this level of importance and complexity. 591 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:44,040 You must turn to your own conscience and the voice of the 592 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,600 Lord within you and within your family and, and community. 593 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,600 So I'd encourage you as you're considering what it looks like 594 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:55,760 to be a good neighbor, to do that, to take it seriously and 595 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:01,640 engage with the Lord on it. I would just ask that as you do 596 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,720 that you remember the principle of what does it mean to care for 597 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:09,200 your brothers and sisters? What does it mean to be a good 598 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:11,040 neighbor? What does it look like to live 599 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:15,440 out your faith in real practice? I'll leave you with one more 600 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,440 quote from the book and one from the Bible. 601 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:25,360 So how do we live, love, pray, work and follow Jesus Christ 602 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,000 under the shadow of governments that deny citizens basic 603 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,360 freedoms, manufacture idolatries and injustice, and act with 604 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:36,840 impunity in their crimes against humanity? 605 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:48,080 The answer is that faith is our defiance, and defiance is 606 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:54,440 contagious. You can stand, the band can come 607 00:37:54,440 --> 00:38:02,440 up, Jesus said to the ruler. Which of these three do you 608 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,000 think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of 609 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,880 robbers? The expert in the law said the 610 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:16,440 one who had mercy, the one who had mercy on him, the one who 611 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:22,280 had mercy on the man who was beaten in the street, Jesus told 612 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:35,710 him, go, we're going to enter into a time 613 00:38:35,710 --> 00:38:43,750 of worship and prayer. It's my hope that what I shared 614 00:38:43,750 --> 00:38:52,080 today will be to you an encouragement and not a stick. 615 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,960 That that is is is here to hit you about the head. 616 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:03,800 That it is a reminder that we can live out our faith together 617 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,000 in being good neighbors. None of us is doing this alone. 618 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,240 That we are working to be a people of mercy. 619 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:18,680 So if anything struck you that you would like the Lord to speak 620 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,720 into right now, could we have people, prayer people here 621 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:23,440 today? You guys can come up and take 622 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,640 your places around the room. Please come and get prayer.