Season two of Love in Context podcast welcomes you. Get ready for engaging unscripted conversations
with your hosts, Ben and Spencer. Our mission remains unchanged to explore the Bible through
the powerful lens of love. In this new season, we'll embark on a journey together, unearthing
fresh insights and gaining deeper understanding of how we can love God and live out our faith
in practical ways. So let's dive into this season of Love in Context, where love in the
context of the Bible intersect to transform our lives. Welcome back everyone. Love and
Context podcast. Yeah. So today we're going to be talking about covenants and actually
for the next few weeks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And not to be confused with halo, not to be
confused with halo talking about the covenant. Yeah. If you grew up between like your, your
teenage years or between like 97 and 2010, yeah, you might hear covenant and you're like,
I'm going to be master chief. That's not what we're talking about today. Yeah. Not at all.
No. So nice try. Yeah. Yeah. I was just clarifying. Yeah. It's a good clarification. Yeah. So
there is a, there's a number of covenants that we're going to be covering today. We're
going to be talking about the Adamic covenant. Next week we're going to be talking about
the Noahic covenant. People actually do combine those covenants and I'll explain why when
we get through the Noahic covenant, we want to look at them both individually before we
talk about them together. Then there's going to be the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant,
and then finally the messianic covenant. Yes. And so that's going to be the next few weeks.
And it's really important. I was actually just having this conversation with somebody
today about, um, it, there's presumptive knowledge in the Bible, right? Yes. Uh, there's presumptive
knowledge that, uh, the writers are going to assume that you have. And one of those
things is in the ancient near East and even to this day, they still have covenants just
not in the same way. Um, covenants is a, is a, um, it's thoroughly ingrained in their
history and their culture. And so when they talk about covenants, it's not necessarily
something that we're super familiar with in American culture. Yes. So, uh, we're going
to try to just take some high level ideas so that as you encounter them and as we encounter
them in the Bible, we're like, Oh, right. So this is this covenant and this has to do
with this. What were some Jewish thoughts on this and how do we actually ingrain those
things? Right. Um, so two resources I'm going to recommend that I think are really, I'll
actually three resources. One is the Bible. Uh, I feel like that's going to really help
you get into the texts. Um, another one is, uh, Sandra Richter's Epic of Eden. I'm going
to put that on the screen so people can see, uh, Epic of Eden. And then there's a, another
book called, uh, Peter Gentry's kingdom, covenants and kingdom or kingdom through covenants.
Yeah. I forget the exact title. Uh, if you look up Peter Gentry and, uh, covenants, that's
what's going to pop up. So if you are somebody who does not like big words or, um, long diagrams,
Epic of Eden is going to be the one for you. Yep. And if you're a person who likes to get
into the minutia, Peter Gentry is going to be a little bit better for you. If you're
looking for like an overview and an entry point to have that conversation, um, Epic of
Eden is going to be your, be your gem. Uh, Sandra Richter is a great, uh, scholar has,
has some great input on that. Um, but if you are a nerd like myself, uh, Peter Gentry's
is going to be a lot of fun, but they're going to use a lot of words that once again, assumptive
knowledge. So, and I'm going to refer back to, um, their, their work on a, on a relatively
frequent basis throughout the series. Yeah. All right. So let's talk briefly on what is
a covenant, right? And so I'm actually going to pull out of chapter three of, uh, Richter's
book and she talks about how a covenant is a formal agreement or a relationship established
by God with humanity and involves commitments, responsibilities and blessings. Right. Now
in the biblical context, um, there's a lot of them in the old, the old Testament and
they emphasize the framework of God's dealing with his people and each covenant reveals
something about God's character and about his intentions for his creation. Yeah. Right.
So those are things we're going to be focusing on. Um, the major covenants I told you about
Noahic, Adamic, um, the Abrahamic, the mosaic, uh, these are really important. And then of
course the messianic covenant. Um, all of the covenants are meant to be relational,
relational, relational. Wow. I can say words. I can say words. They're good words. I do
need more coffee. Hold on a second. We got coffee right here. I am going to, uh, I slurped
a little bit so that the podcast listeners can know that I actually drank the coffee.
Yeah. Right. Um, so the covenants are going to be, uh, relational and, uh, covenantal
fidelity is crucial. Okay. The obligations in the agreements reflect a deeper relationship
between God and his people. Now, um, there is a, another aspect to it because, uh, at
the very end, when we recap this, we're also going to talk about how we have covenants
with each other. Yeah. We're going to be specifically talking about the covenants between humanity
and God. And then the last week we're going to talk about how we exist in covenant with
each other and how those things are coexisting, especially with the church. So the first one
we're going to be talking about, we're going to end up in Genesis one, um, one 26, right
at the end of day one. So I don't know if you guys know that, uh, it's the first page
in the Bible and this is what's known as the Adamic covenant because it's made with Adam
and, uh, at the end of the, of the first week. So if you remember all the way back to episode
two of love and pot context podcast, we talked about the creation story and we talked about
God's purpose in creation and all these different things. And so if you remember this, this
covenant is coming on the heels of this, uh, chiastic story where they talk about the purpose
of humanity is meant to dwell with God in this place of rest and restoration. And out
of that, we're supposed to live into something, right? That's, that's the Genesis one story
is that we were created for purpose, not for nothing. Yeah. Right. We were created, uh,
to be something with God, not because of something that we can do, but because of whose image
we're made in. Yep. And, uh, I think we're going to start in Genesis one 26. Can you
jump in there? Yeah. The God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
uh, so that they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky over the
livestock, over the wild animals, over the creatures that move along the ground. And
so God made mankind in his own image, the image of God, he created a male and female.
He created them and God blessed them and said, be fruitful and increase in numbers, fill
the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea. Um, the, and the birds of the
sky and every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every
seed bearing plants on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit in it
and seed in it. They will be yours for food and all the beasts of the earth and birds
of the sky and creatures that move along the ground, everything that has breath and life,
I give every green plant for food. And it was so God saw all that they had made and
it was very good. All that God saw all that he had made and it was very good. There was
evening and there was morning the sixth day. So right in the middle of this chiasm, because
six day six is in the chiasm and God makes us pronouncement. Um, and we, we've dispelled
this a bunch of times, but I'm going to say it one more time. Who is the covenant made
with? It's made with man, male and female. He created them. So it is not with just the
male portion of the humanity. It's made with humanity overall. Yeah. Um, we're calling
it Adamic because, uh, Adam actually would be, be like dust or man. Um, so like, please
don't get it into your head that men are the only ones held to this or inside of this covenant.
It is humanity overall. And so one of the first things he says here is he says, uh,
so we're talking about this theme. It's going to be, uh, commitments, responsibilities and
blessings, right? So what are the commitments that he says? He says, um, you're going to,
you need to go be, sorry, responsibilities. You need to be fruitful and multiply, subdue
the earth and fill it. And I'm going to give you all of these things for you to eat and
you're going to have authority over this land. Right. And the, the expectation with this
is that the garden doesn't stay just a garden, but the garden continues to expand under the
purview of humanity as they, uh, are fruitful and multiply and so do the earth. Right. Yeah.
Like this is the invitation with this covenant. Yes. Now, of course it doesn't end that way,
but let's, let's just stop here and talk about, um, the Adamic covenant because this is the
covenant with all people made in the image of God. This is what we're called to do. Right.
This is what we are called to do. And by the way, the Adamic covenant didn't suddenly end.
Now we will talk about how all the covenants are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. That
is four weeks from now. So let's not get ahead of ourselves, but that does not mean that
they end. Uh, remember that we've talked about how Jesus says, I did not come to, um, abolish
the law, but to fulfill it, which means to put it on display. In other words, to actually
live it out. So this portion of the covenant is for all of humanity and it doesn't end.
Yep. So every single person we run into, which by the way that is, should give us pause as
we run into the image of God in the world with humanity. Yep. This person is responsible
with, um, being fruitful and multiplying. So doing the earth and filling it. And, uh,
in other words, stewarding the world that we've been given. Yes. Every single person
non-Christian follower of Christ and non follower of Christ, we all have this responsibility
to, uh, take care of this world that God has given us. Yeah. So at this point, God does
give some specific conditions for this. So jump over to Genesis two 15, the Lord took
man and put him in the garden of Eden, uh, to work and take care of it. And then the
Lord commanded man, you are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but you must not eat
of the tree of knowledge and good and evil for if you eat of it, you will surely die.
Then the Lord God said, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable
for him. And so now that the Lord God had formed out of the ground, all the wild animals,
the birds of the sky, uh, he brought them to the man, uh, to see what he would name
them. And whenever the man, whatever the man called the creature, that was its name. So
God gave man, so God, so the man gave names to the livestock and the birds of the sky
and the wild animals, but for Adam, no suitable helper was found. So the Lord caused the man
to fall into a deep sleep while he was sleeping. He took out the man's rib and closed the place
up, uh, close the place up with flesh. And then the Lord made a woman from the rib he
had taken out of man. And so he brought her to the man and the man said, this is bone
of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called a woman for she was taken from man.
So and that concludes with they were both naked and they felt no shame. In other words,
this covenant has been put in place, but there is no shame in this covenant at this point.
Um, so God has said, uh, be fruitful and multiply. It's really hard to be fruitful by yourself,
right? Especially in the terms of actually having children, um, that, that doesn't work.
Um, not for humanity. At least there are, there are creatures in the world that are
able to reproduce by themselves, but humanity is not one. And so you can't reproduce by
yourself. Um, so part of the covenant, then he comes and gives this responsibility, this
commitment. So he, uh, says you're, I'm placing you in this garden. This is where you're going
to start subduing the earth. And this is where you're going to start tending and you can
eat from everything except this tree. Now, uh, one of the things we discussed, and I
believe it was episode three of the podcast. So we're going back to our roots, uh, is why
would God put a tree there that is a temptation? And we talked about, like with our children
is that when we were our children, uh, if we ask them to obey, if they never have the
option to disobey, then they also never have the option to obey. Right. And, uh, there
is this, this, uh, this tree is put here and it's a clear instruction from God. Like what
is good be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth and fill it. What is bad? Don't leave
from this tree. Yeah. Right. It's very clear guidelines of what you're supposed to do and
what you're not supposed to do. So you could actually say, which is why we talked about
whether or not this tree actually is the knowledge of good and evil, or is it the ability to
determine good and evil on your own terms? Because they already actually know what is
good and what is evil. Yep. Right. And, um, and so then, uh, um, pursuant to this covenant,
which is to be fruitful and multiply woman is created for man out of man, two parts of
the same hole. This commission is for both of them. Right. So this is God's covenant
from, from the beginning with, uh, Adam, with humanity. Now, um, I want to throw some things
out here that I actually researched from Jewish thought. So it's from Jewish commentary, mid
rosh and some other things. Um, so one of their first things that they talked about
is, uh, creation and humanity's role is that the image of God, uh, they emphasize that
humanity is created in the lim Elohim, which is the image of God. Um, that'll just roll
off your tongue by the way, uh, which signifies a special status and responsibility in creation.
It's often interpreted to mean that humans are stewards of the earth. I think we would
both agree with that. Yeah. Um, I also liked the, the way they say, uh, special status.
Yeah. Um, in all of creation, there is, um, even if you look at the world today and you
have misgivings about different pieces of, um, science or whatever, there is a, there
is something different about humanity that we now populate the entire world and, um,
control the world and, or at least as what we can't control. And, uh, but they're always
like, humanity is finding ways to like exist in environments where they shouldn't exist.
I think of like Antarctica, right? Where it's freezing cold and people figure out ways to
live there. Right. Yeah. Or, uh, how often are we trying to figure out ways to go deeper
and deeper into the sea? Right. Um, there is something about humanity that there's something
special about humanity in the way that we are, we are wired that we go to places and
we start to actually, um, I'm going to say, it's not the right word, but I'm going to
say cultivate them into places that we can exist. Um, there is something special about
humanity and so like a hundred percent I'm on board with the Jewish thought there. Right.
Well, I mean, we live in Alaska, right? There's places in Alaska where we're like, dear Lord,
why does anybody live there? Yeah. Okay. Like, like I've been to spots in Alaska where you're
there in the winter and you're like, it's minus 50 degrees outside. Why am I here? Yeah.
We're talking about Fairbanks. Sorry. Sorry. Fairbanks. I'm throwing you under the bus.
I was going to call it by name, but like there's places in Alaska where like, why, why are
people here? Like why, why would you be here? There is a, there is a location Barrow where
during the winter they get very, very little sunlight. They get none. Yeah. It is, it is,
um, very, very dark for very long portions of the year. And you're like, why would you
do this? Now, incidentally, if you live there, um, stock up on your vitamin D, the winter's
coming. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but there's something about humanity that is, um, we're like, we're
going to figure out ways to do that. So then, um, they said that, uh, the second thing is
that they talk about the commandments and free wills. So they're given Mitzvot, which
is the commandments and there's this prohibition against eating from the tree of knowledge
and it's seen as a test of their free will, right? You have free will. Now what are you
going to do with it? Yeah. Right. The consequences of disobedience, uh, then are going to highlight
the choices of moral responsibility. Yeah. Right. And, uh, so what is our moral responsibility?
We have the ability to choose. That's what free will is. The ability to do right or not
do right. Yeah. What are you going to do? By the way, this also comes up in the next
story with Cain and Abel where your God says, um, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is good, won't you be accepted? But if you don't do what is good, evil is
waiting at your door waiting to devour you, but you must conquer it. So the, the thing
about this covenant and why we, why, of course it's at the beginning of the Bible. So that's
why you start with this covenant. But the intention of God from the very beginning for
humanity is inside of this covenant. The intention is for us to live once again in this Genesis
one, um, chiasm. It talks about living with God in us in a, in a kind of life, a qualitative
life, right? One that we're not defined by what we do, but by whose image we're made
in and because of that image we live in to do something. Right. Um, this reminds me,
cause we just recently were in the book of James, like sometimes people will say, um,
you have to do good things to be a Christian. I was like, no, you actually need to accept
Christ by faith, which is what James says. But if you have faith, it's going to be demonstrated
in what you do. Right. It's not the things that make you faithful. It's a faith that
causes things. Right. And you can have deeds without faith, but you can't have faith without
deeds. And in the same way, like there's this idea is like, if you're made in the image
of God, then you're going to, uh, it's going to bring about, if you're living into that
image, it's going to be about bring about stewardship. It's going to bring about justice.
It's going to be about, uh, working the land and about expanding and stewarding things.
Well, you can do those things and not be living in it, the image, but if you're living into
the image, you're going to be these things, right? There's going to be this, this qualitative
light diet, not defined by the quantity of things you can do, but by the relationship
that you exist inside of. You have to choose that though. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like
these, the, because we've been talking about these covenants and you have to choose to
live into the covenant. Correct. That God has made for you. And if you choose not to,
then you're not going to be fulfilling it, which ultimately is the issue with Adam and
Eve and we've, we've talked at length about it, but we'll, we'll come back to it again.
Um, they decide that they don't like the way the terms are being defined. Right. So what
do they do? It's like, nah, no, they go eat. Right. I think that what you're doing is holding
back from me. So I'm going to define this on my own terms, right? I'm going to decide
what is good and what's evil. By the way, is there anything more destructive than something
with somebody's life than they, they, then the statement where they're like, just do
what's right for you now within reason, because there is absolutely, um, uh, a certain truth
to that if you are living a certain way, but if you're only considering yourself and nothing
else. Well, yeah, there's gotta be, that statement's gotta be taken with some balance, right? Correct.
Like, um, cause it, if you start superimposing what's, what works for you onto somebody else,
it's not going to work. Right. Um, so there is a level of, there is a level of like, I
do what's right for you. Right. Right. Um, but there's also a level with that of make
sure you're not bulldozing over other people in the process, because that's what we tend
to do. Yeah. I'd be like, well, this is, this is what I do. This is what my life's about.
And then you kind of push people aside. There is, um, we just in our small group yesterday,
we were talking about these trees called their eight ads in the Bible. And there are these
master trees with this, this incredibly intricate root system. Yeah. But if you have a vineyard,
you don't let an eight ad exist in your vineyard because you have to rip it up and all the
saplings and everything else. Cause the root system will suck the life out of everything
around it. Yeah. And when you, when you live only for yourself and your second life from
everything around you, like that, that's an eight ad. That's an eight ad. It's, it's a
tree that's literally sucking the life out of everything around it. And, um, the call
of, of the Adamic covenant is actually to cultivate, to grow, to, um, to expand, to
bring life. Yep. And, uh, and there are times like, because we just got done, this is Genesis
one, Sabbath rest, important things. Yep. And there's a rhythm to that, right? You have,
you have to be able to take time to rest in the identity of Jesus in the identity of God,
right? In the identity that you're made in. Yeah. But if, but if you're only feeding into
yourself, which is not Sabbath, then you're, you're actually going to be sucking the life
from everything else around you. Yep. Right. And so it's, it's, uh, I think there, there
are two ideas on opposite spectrums. And if you roll, actually, I'm not going to say that
because I think if you roll too far into embracing God in the Sabbath, that's a good thing. Right.
But you're not supposed to Sabbath seven days a week. No, there's balance. Yeah. There's
balance is what you're trying to say. Is that like, um, like if you're like, oh man, I need
Sabbath and you're like, and you're like, okay. And then every day is Sabbath. And then
you're not actually reaching your community or getting out into the world you live in
to share, to bring Jesus to that world. Yeah. Right. To steward that those relationships
well, um, then you're missing the point. Right. Right. So there's, there's balance. You need
that time with God, but also it comes back to the idea of loving God, loving people.
Right. Like you can't, you can't do those two things separate from each other. Correct.
Right. Like if you're loving God and leaning into what he, who he is, you're naturally
going to want to love his creation. Right. Exactly. Uh, love for God is naturally going
to demonstrate it in your love for the other people around you. Yeah. And that's, and that's
uh, illustrated here in the Adamic covenant where, where when God's laying this out for
them, he's, he's saying because of your relationship with me, you are now stewarding all of this.
Yeah. Right. And when we try to steward something outside of the authority of God, uh, bad things
happen or trouble happens. Right. It doesn't go as well as we think. So a couple of things
that I think are really foundational to understand about the, the Adamic covenant is, um, is
when you compare it to like the texts that are written from the, from the world around
the Mesopotamian culture and, and that area, um, it's incredibly personal. Yeah. Uh, it's
incredibly relational. Yeah. Uh, this is a, this is a foundational relationship between
God and humanity and it establishes, I'm going to use this word, an intimate connection between
God and humanity because I think that word is important. Um, not intimate in the sense
of like husband and wife, but intimate is, is in like, it is close and interwoven. God
is like interweaving himself with his people. Right. And we are called the bride of Christ.
Right. I would, I would say that. Yeah. Intimate as in husband, wife would fit. Yeah. It's,
it's not, it's not, I, uh, I'm saying it for the weirdos out there that are going to take
it to weird places. Gotcha. Right. So if you're a weirdo, don't take it to weird places, but
it is, it is an intimate relationship where, where you, we are being bound together. And
that's also, if you read the first couple of chapters of Genesis, you're going to see
that God is walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. That's a normal thing.
Uh, it's normal for him to come out and call their names. Yeah. He has gone and he's educated,
uh, and had, uh, um, Adam name every single animal that he's created. Right. This is,
this is a regular part of their relationship. So right off the bat with the Adamic covenant,
we understand that God is a relational, uh, intimately focused God who wants a relationship
with humanity. And I think sometimes where we get skewy as we go along into Christian
theology is we forget that that's the foundation. God wants relationship with his people. Right.
Um, I feel like the church has been coming back to that though. I do too. I do too. There
is a lot of people who are really starting to move back, which by the way, also is being,
um, anytime there's a move of God moving people back towards what's happening, there's also
going to be pushed back on both sides that are not quite right. Right. And so, um, yeah,
always get into the Bible and compare it to text. Yes. You know, but there is absolutely,
there's a lot of churches and a lot of people who are doing some really good things, especially
I want to focus on the global church. Y'all are killing it. Like you're doing so like
God is moving and I love it, you know, and it's starting to really impact. I think what's
happening locally as they, especially as they bring their passion and their fervor back
into America. Yeah. Right. Um, the second part is so it's, it's intimate, it's relational,
but there's also, um, there's work for us, right? We were designed for work. We're designed
for work. Right. Like, uh, and so, um, it's actually there if you, and it's interesting
cause you, if you compare this to like some scientific studies, it will actually show
things like laziness and apathy. People who lean into that have higher tendencies for
things like depression, anxiety, suicide, so on and so forth. So like, if you lean into
that, like, well, I'm just don't want to, like, just want to be lazy with my life. Like
you're actually going to naturally lean towards not wanting to be here. Right. And the reality
is, is we have work to do. Like when we say yes to Jesus, there are, uh, when we say yes
to Jesus, we are leaning into who he's designed us to be. And as in we are designed to have
a job. Right. Right. Now with that said, I've also heard ministry leaders take this and
say, because we have work to do, here's the 5,000 volunteer things you need to do at the
church on top of your full-time job. And here's this list of expectations. And then when within
a year, those people are like, I can't breathe. Yeah. Right. There's balance there. There
is a regular conversation that I've had is people who come to the church and then they,
and they get used so much, right? They, they don't put balance in their life as far as
like rhythms and being able to take rest and different things. Right. And they're like,
man, it was really, I just needed to take a break for a couple of months, three months.
Sometimes people take, have to break breaks for longer periods of time, not because God
is exhausting them, but because activity is. And, uh, and ministry leaders like that is
a really important thing for us to understand. It's why Sabbath is so important. And we're
going to continue to always talk about how Sabbath is important, like learning how to
rest. Um, actually we have somebody who, uh, is a, is a dynamite person and they were,
um, they were talking about needing to, um, sing less often on Sunday morning. And I said,
yeah, let's, let's figure it out. Right. And, uh, and one of, one of the things that I said
in, and I mean this with all my heart, I said, you need to be here as often as it is, is,
is ministering to you and you're not burning yourself off. Right. Cause it's not going
to do us any good for you to be there every week and grow further and further from God.
Amen. Or just to exhaust yourself to the point where you're not able to do anything else
for God. The church is meant to, you know, we gather so that we can scatter so that we
can actually exist in the community. Um, one of the things pastor Nick said a couple of
weeks ago, and I really appreciated it. And I, I really, um, agree with him here is that
we had a, we had, um, something significant happened in town and he said that he was wondering
what our church was going to do, but then he looked and our church was everywhere, but
it was the people just stepping into roles. And like the church didn't have to put out
an announcement and call to call to action or anything like that. The people who were
involved because they're already ingrained in the community, living Jesus showed up.
And like, you could see people, you're like that, that person is, you know, he's in my
small group. He he's on the speaking team. He's on the worship team. He's, he's a guy
that is, you know, hanging out in the, in the pews. Well, we don't have pews, but, uh,
in the, in the chairs, you know, like we started seeing these people just showing up. And,
uh, because when God, when there was an opportunity to be stewards of what God has given us, they
lived into that image, right? They lived into that commitment. Now later, of course, we're
going to talk to this messianic covenant, but they're living into right now, the Adamic,
which is that we were created for a purpose to actually bring that purpose into the world
and actually steward it and expand it. Right. Yeah. We're always given a choice.
Right. Uh, we're given a choice in obedience. Like you said, we have to make a decision
and there are consequences when we don't live into it. Right. Um, you know, we live in a
fallen world. There's a consequence of not living into the covenant. Yeah. Uh, the nice
thing that we do see in, uh, the book of Genesis, and I want to get here in the end of chapter
three is, um, God goes through and he talks about all these different things that are
going to happen. Um, but he makes this statement to them. Um, sorry. Okay. He makes the statement
to them and it's actually in the, in the, at the, the backend of the curse that comes
against the serpent. Yeah. And he says that cursed are you above all livestock and all
wild animals, you will crawl on your belly and you'll eat dust all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and them,
but he will crush your head and you will strike a seal. So there's this, this foundational
thing set up back in the book of Genesis that even though this is coming, the consequences
are here. They are not forever. And, uh, luckily we have the whole book, so we know how, how
it's going to end. And we're going to be talking about that over the next few weeks. Right?
Um, so this is the Adamic covenant. This is the foundation is that you were created for
purpose made in an image. You're given a job, you're given a function and we're called to
live into that. We have a choice, live in or defined for ourselves. Yeah. Uh, both of
them have blessings and consequences, right? But even in the consequences, God doesn't
leave us there. Yeah. Yeah. And I, and I feel like, Hmm, what's the better choice? Uh, go
read, go read the Bible. It makes it pretty clear. Yeah. There is a, all throughout the
Bible that, that people who are faithfully living into the covenant that God calls them,
it ends very well for them. Um, and all throughout people who are not, it is usually not. Yeah.
It usually does not end well. Yeah. So when it turns out when you tell God, I don't want
to live in your house, he's like, okay, let me know when you want to come back in. Right?
Uh huh. It's like the, it's like the 18 year old kid was like, I'm going to make it on
my own. And then six months later, they're like, mom, help. They're like, I'm going to
go out and I'm going to live on my own. What is rent? Who's FICA? Like, why are they taking
all my money? That's a reference to a TV show that people my age would probably get, but
uh, you know, and then, yeah, there's so many things. Uh, I remember, uh, just really quick
here for at the end of the episode for people. I remember when, uh, my brother was, uh, 16,
17th. Um, and he bought, he was like, oh, I'm going to buy myself my first, my first
car. And he went and he bought a car that was right at the edge of what he could afford.
And uh, because you know, it was like, well, I have the money and then I'll be able to
do X, Y, and Z. And it was a, it was a Camaro. I forget what year it was. Um, now I'm gonna
tell the story and then I'll come back and tell a funny part of that. You know, what
he didn't think about was gas and insurance and, um, upkeep and you know, tires go bad.
You have to replace tires. So there's a lot of things that go into having a car and into
maintaining it. It's not just the cost of the car itself, right? You gotta have oil
changes, right? And that's when gas was, you know, cheap relatively. Now it's a lot more
expensive if you have to do that for a car. Um, now the funny part of the story and, um,
he's he does a long time ago, so I'm not gonna feel bad about sharing the story. Um, he had
taken the car and he parked it on and it was a very small incline, but, um, he didn't put
the parking brake on, right? So he got out of the car and it didn't move or anything
like that. It was, it was in position, but, uh, where we lived, there was the road, but
then there was a neighbors that had like, uh, like a six foot drop from the road that
you walked down. And, uh, so he went to go show somebody his car, he looks out the window
and the car had like gone and it was like halfway over that six foot ledge. So this
is the first day he has the car, right? That it, it had slowly rolled over and then popped
over there. Like he's lucky it didn't, the whole thing didn't flip over because that
would have just been, you know, totaled. But, uh, uh, yeah. So, oh man, so great. That is,
that is my brother who is wildly successful in his job and, uh, just one of the nicest
people you will meet. Um, but he has, he has some stories around cars. So if you ever meet
him, like ask him some of those stories. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So that is week number one,
Adamic covenant. Yep. Until next time.
And that's a wrap for today's episode of love and context. We hope you enjoyed this engaging
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