1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 Season two of Love in Context podcast welcomes you. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,600 Get ready for engaging unscripted conversations with your host, Ben and Spencer. 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:17,120 Our mission remains unchanged to explore the Bible through the powerful lens of love. 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:21,060 In this new season, we'll embark on a journey together, unearthing fresh insights and gaining 5 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:25,440 deeper understanding of how we can love God and live out our faith in practical ways. 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,200 So let's dive into this season of Love in Context, where love and the context of the 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,560 Bible intersect to transform our lives. 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,660 Well welcome back everyone. 9 00:00:37,660 --> 00:00:39,400 We were gone for minutes. 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:40,400 Exactly. 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,280 Well, a week in your timeline. 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:47,440 Yeah, you guys are going to watch this episode and the last episode back to back and you're 13 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,360 going to be like, do they wash their clothes? 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:50,360 The answer is no. 15 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,360 Well, in my case, okay, I'm going to be real honest here. 16 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:59,520 I know how to do laundry, but my wife is always so fast that I never do any laundry. 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,240 That's because my wife is like superhuman with doing laundry. 18 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,520 Like literally the second, like you got to be careful if you want to wear something a 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,240 second time, don't drop it on the ground because it goes in the laundry. 20 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,600 That's how it's how my wife is too. 21 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,640 Like you'll make coffee and be like, I'm going to sit down for five minutes and drink my 22 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,600 coffee and you'll sit down for five minutes, drink your coffee and it'll be like, well, 23 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:18,360 dishes got done, laundry got done. 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,720 Yeah, everything got done in five minutes. 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,440 There are women listening to this and they're like, no, that's just men. 26 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,760 I was like, that's quite possible, but also my wife is like superhuman. 27 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:27,760 I swear. 28 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:28,760 Yeah. 29 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:35,000 Um, well, so my, so my wife, like one day, you know the story, but she comes home and 30 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,000 she's like, I need your help. 31 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:37,660 It's like, okay. 32 00:01:37,660 --> 00:01:43,000 And so I walk outside and backed up to our deck is the truck with like a 200 pound massage 33 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,960 chair in the back of the truck. 34 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,120 And I, and I was like, how'd you get that up there? 35 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,120 She's like, I just lifted it into the back. 36 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:56,360 And now the truck we had at the time as a 2004 Chevy, 2,500 with a toolbox bed, the 37 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,520 beds like four feet off the ground. 38 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,960 And I was like, I was like, okay, yeah, right. 39 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:02,960 Like who helped you? 40 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:04,360 She was like, no, I just lifted it in there. 41 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:05,360 Yeah. 42 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:06,880 And then I was like, that's not surprising to me. 43 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:07,880 I was like, okay. 44 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:08,880 It's like, great. 45 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:09,880 All right. 46 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:14,400 So like, when we, like when we're saying that, like our wives are crazy, they, they legit 47 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:15,840 are by crazy. 48 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,000 We mean awesome, crazy, awesome, crazy, because they may listen to this one. 49 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:20,960 This may be the podcast episode they listen to. 50 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:25,640 So, and if that's the case, we love them so much. 51 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:26,640 Yeah. 52 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:27,640 All right. 53 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:31,040 Well, we're in week four of our covenant series. 54 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:32,640 And so we have talked about the Adamic. 55 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,360 We've talked about the new egg and how those are connected. 56 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,280 And then we talked last week about the Abrahamic and we're going to be talking about the Mosaic 57 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:45,200 covenant, by the way, the Mosaic and the Abrahamic are going to be kind of related in that they're 58 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,560 for the same group of people. 59 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,680 And it's very important that you understand these separately from each other, especially 60 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:53,280 as we get into the new Testament. 61 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:54,280 Yes. 62 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,280 Right. 63 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,280 Because there is a call on the life of Gentiles that is not the same as the call on the life 64 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:00,280 of Jews. 65 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:01,280 Yes. 66 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,200 And it means that God has, God is the King and he gets to tell us what we're supposed 67 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:06,200 to do. 68 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,200 And he has called different people to live different ways to put his glory on display 69 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:10,200 for all the world. 70 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:11,200 Yeah. 71 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,000 As simple, like a simple comparison is we live in Alaska, right? 72 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,040 Alaskans are very different than Floridians. 73 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:18,040 Right. 74 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:23,360 So like if, if we went down to Florida and said, no, this is how you live. 75 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,360 Right. 76 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,680 We have a lot of people laugh at us and vice versa. 77 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:27,680 Right. 78 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:28,960 But on the flip side, we're both Americans. 79 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:29,960 Yes. 80 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,360 And so it like, there is a lot of things that are in common between us, but there is just 81 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,720 different things about how we engage life and there's not a right or wrong about it. 82 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:37,720 Yep. 83 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,960 It's about in our case, like what, what are we called to be as, as, as how we were born? 84 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:48,000 So, um, going, going back to, so if, if you're unfamiliar with the Mosaic covenant, this 85 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:52,920 is going to be the covenant that God gives to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. 86 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:59,360 Uh, after they do the golden calf, uh, the, uh, if you didn't hear me mumble, I said, 87 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,760 you know, the golden calf portion and, uh, God is affirming like his call on them and 88 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,240 who we all have embarrassing stories. 89 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:06,880 Yeah, we all have embarrassing stories. 90 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,480 Um, and then Mo and then it's also going to cover the rest of Torah, right? 91 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,680 Because you're going to have like this, uh, in the same way with the, uh, Abrahamic, Abrahamic, 92 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,760 we have the covenant that takes place over like six chapters. 93 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:23,120 But then the rest of the book of Genesis is like this reaffirmation of this covenant, 94 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,760 generation to generation and God working it out for each person. 95 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,480 Same way with the Mosaic covenant and really for the rest of the old Testament, you're 96 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:33,440 going to see this covenant that comes up with Moses at Sinai and how it's carried on with 97 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,520 the Jewish people throughout the rest of their history up till Jesus. 98 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:37,520 Yes. 99 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:38,520 Right. 100 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:44,040 And, uh, so one of the places I want to take a look at first is in Exodus 19 and 24. 101 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,240 So just to give you a quick synopsis, once again, we did cover a lot of this in our, 102 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,780 in our season last season when we covered Torah. 103 00:04:51,780 --> 00:04:56,240 So what happens is they arrive at Mount Sinai, the Israelites, they camp at Mount Sinai after 104 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:57,240 leave Egypt. 105 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,400 Uh, Moses then goes up the mountain and God calls him to convey a message to the people, 106 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,080 which means he has to go back down the mountain, then back up the mountain, then down the mountain 107 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,480 because yep, Moses needs to get a steps in. 108 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:09,480 Apparently. 109 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,160 So God offers a covenant promising Israel that they will be his treasure possession, 110 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:14,600 which we're actually going to read that in just a minute. 111 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:15,600 A holy nation. 112 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,280 If they obey the people go, yep, that sounds good. 113 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,920 Then God instructs Moses to then consecrate the people and prepare them for his presence, 114 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:23,920 right? 115 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,840 Which is very, um, the imagery that's happening at Sinai is definitely that of a wedding, 116 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:29,160 especially middle Eastern wedding. 117 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:30,160 Right. 118 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,840 And so then, uh, the people, they wash their clothes, they refrain from approaching the 119 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:34,840 mountain. 120 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,600 Um, but on the third day, God descends on the mountain in fire and smoke with thunder 121 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,400 and a loud trumpet sound, which by the way should sound familiar. 122 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,760 If you're familiar with the book of acts, it happens again. 123 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:52,840 Um, uh, and they, uh, the people are terrified and they express their fear and they ask Moses 124 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:54,880 to speak to God on their behalf. 125 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:55,880 And that actually occurs. 126 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,360 That specific conversation occurs in chapter 20. 127 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:03,280 Um, the people don't want to talk to God face to face, even though God was willing to meet 128 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:04,280 them there. 129 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:05,720 They're like, Nope, we're terrified. 130 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,560 And so we're actually going to put somebody between you and me. 131 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:10,560 Yeah. 132 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,200 Which by the way, uh, is not a good way to have a relationship. 133 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:15,320 No, right. 134 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,440 That's not the way that it was, it was intended to be, but it is the way that God is going 135 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,720 to choose to work through his people because he's also going to respect them. 136 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:22,720 Yeah. 137 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,480 Funny, like funny story that kind of relates to this is years ago, my wife and I, we were 138 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,600 working at the same organization. 139 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,680 Um, her office, my, my desk sat right outside her office. 140 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:39,120 I had a little cubicle space and, um, I often would have people come up to me. 141 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:40,400 I was not her secretary. 142 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,120 I was not any of that. 143 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:44,360 I had people come up to me and be like, Oh, do you know where she's at? 144 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,320 And I was like, I was like, well, do you have her phone number? 145 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:49,320 And they're like, yeah. 146 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,040 I was like, give her a call. 147 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:52,040 Yeah. 148 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,040 Right. 149 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:54,040 Like I'm not middleman for this. 150 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:55,040 Right. 151 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:56,780 Um, we had two totally different jobs, different departments. 152 00:06:56,780 --> 00:06:59,240 We just happened to have desks that were close to each other. 153 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:00,240 Yeah. 154 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,200 So there would be times where she would be at her desk around the corner and people would 155 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,000 walk up to me, not even look to see if she was there and be like, Oh, do you know where 156 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:08,160 Lindsey's at? 157 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:09,720 And my answer was the same. 158 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:10,720 Yeah. 159 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:11,720 Do you have her phone number? 160 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:12,720 Like, yeah. 161 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:13,720 Oh, you should give her a call. 162 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:14,720 They'll be like, okay. 163 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:15,720 Then they give her a call. 164 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:17,120 Then they hear her phone ring at her desk, which was right over there. 165 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:18,120 Right. 166 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,920 And then they kind of look at me and be like, what? 167 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,360 But like the point being is like, when you have some, when you're trying to have conversation 168 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:31,960 or relationship with someone and you are trying to do that through somebody else, it never 169 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:32,960 works. 170 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:33,960 Right. 171 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,920 Um, this is, this is by the way, it's like, it's a, we're, I'm going to make an application 172 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,480 here that isn't necessarily in the text, but it's, it's something that is really important 173 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,320 because it's going to come up back in Matthew and, and just with like a lot of like the 174 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:47,880 connection with people. 175 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,520 When you have issues with somebody else, don't talk to somebody. 176 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,800 It's not like a third party about it. 177 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:53,800 Yeah. 178 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,960 Like there are, there are circumstances where talking to the third party might be preferential. 179 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,760 Like if you're afraid or if you're concerned, like about like your own wellbeing and something 180 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,760 and you need to involve a third party, a hundred percent outside of that, if you're like, I 181 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,760 still want uncomfortable conversation, well get uncomfortable and restore your relationship 182 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,640 with your brother or sister. 183 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,680 Like go and have the uncomfortable conversation and at least figure out a way to amicably 184 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:16,680 move forward. 185 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:17,680 Right. 186 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:18,680 Yep. 187 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,000 Stop involving other people and getting them involved in your gossip. 188 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,160 I feel like there's a whole like chapter of the Bible about this, but yeah, you know, 189 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:27,880 yeah, that's another podcast episode. 190 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,840 Well, you've only read 10 chapters of the Bible, so that's a call back to the previous 191 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:32,840 episode. 192 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,040 Anyways, that's going to get snapped out and somebody's going to be like, Oh, Spencer doesn't 193 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:38,040 read. 194 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:39,040 No. 195 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:40,040 Yeah. 196 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,800 I want to read this, this passage here, which I think is, is the actual like summing up of 197 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,960 the, of the covenant that God is actually giving them. 198 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,700 So once again, this is like a marriage, right? 199 00:08:49,700 --> 00:08:53,240 If you look at the 10 commandments as like a Ketubah, which is the ancient, like this 200 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:54,960 is who I am and this is who I expect you to be. 201 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,920 We had a great episode where we talked about how the 10 commandments is meant to be, how 202 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:03,920 we relate to God, how we relate out to each other and about how, as we relate to God, 203 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,880 it's supposed to shape how we relate to other people, which I think Jesus has something 204 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:07,880 to say about. 205 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:08,880 Yeah. 206 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:09,880 It reads this. 207 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:15,520 It says, now, if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you 208 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,760 will be my treasured possession. 209 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:23,480 Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me, a kingdom of priests and a holy 210 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:24,480 nation. 211 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:25,760 Yeah. 212 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:26,760 This is God's promise. 213 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:31,880 He says, if you do what I tell you to do out of the whole earth, it's all mine, but you're 214 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:32,880 going to be special. 215 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:33,880 Yeah. 216 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,080 Because through you, incredible things are going to happen because you're actually going 217 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:38,160 to be a kingdom of frees. 218 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:44,680 You're going to bring my kingdom everywhere and be way different than everybody else and 219 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:46,800 invite them into this kind of life. 220 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:47,800 Right? 221 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:48,800 Yeah. 222 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:50,400 Like this is, this is a really cool thing. 223 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:55,880 Now, uh, one of the issues that we have reading this through modernize is we forget that ancient 224 00:09:55,880 --> 00:10:04,800 gods, uh, theological texts and, and worships and stuff, they didn't tell you what the God 225 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,280 wanted. 226 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:07,600 It was very ambiguous. 227 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:12,560 If you love me enough, if you sacrifice enough, if you give enough, then maybe, but it would 228 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:16,680 never specify what the enough is, what the quantification it was. 229 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:17,680 It was always so ambiguous. 230 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:21,640 And, you know, and then if, if like your crops fell, well, you just didn't love God enough. 231 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:22,640 Right? 232 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:23,640 Yeah. 233 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:29,360 It would be like, um, it'd be like if you entered into a business deal and you were 234 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,680 saying, okay, what is our, there's upfront cost. 235 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,320 You're like, what is our breakeven point? 236 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,640 Like where's our breakeven numbers? 237 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,640 And people are like, well, you know, you think blah. 238 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,840 And then you're like, that inspires how much confidence in you. 239 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:45,840 Yeah. 240 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,800 They're like, it's, it's real ambiguous, but you know, just keep putting in your effort 241 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,680 and you'll probably make it there. 242 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:51,680 Right. 243 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:53,120 You know, God might be pleased with you. 244 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,400 Like if someone was trying to get you to invest in a business and that was your sales pitch. 245 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:58,400 Yeah. 246 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,280 It's, and even if you're in the middle of that, man, that's a place of like anxiety, 247 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:03,720 like am I doing enough? 248 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:08,000 And then you're quantifying like your work, like your work is now the definitive measure 249 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,280 of who you are. 250 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,080 But God says, I'm going to give you a list of things that I want you to do because they're, 251 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,800 they're important to me and they relate how you're going to talk to me. 252 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,000 And it's going to be how you treat other people. 253 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:19,000 Right. 254 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,520 And, uh, uh, you know, that's the 10 commandments. 255 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,680 A lot of what shows up in the book of Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy is that you're going 256 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:31,240 to look different and it's going to cause you to be a healthier, holier people. 257 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,400 Which I think brings us to one of the main points of, uh, one of the talking points on 258 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,520 this covenant, which is that there are responsibilities. 259 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:38,520 Yeah. 260 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:44,480 Like this, this, unlike the Abrahamic covenant where it's, where it's 100% on God, right. 261 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:45,720 And there is us living by faith. 262 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,960 So there's a little piece of us there. 263 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:53,600 This one is actually God saying, no, here is you are responsible for, and then there's 264 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,680 a whole list of things, right? 265 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:56,680 Right. 266 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,200 There's a whole list of rules that you need to follow. 267 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:00,600 You need to abide by. 268 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:01,600 Yeah. 269 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,280 And, uh, and those rules aren't meant to be restrictive. 270 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:08,080 If you actually compare those two, we've talked about this on the podcast too, but if you 271 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:13,000 actually compare those two, uh, the other religions of the day, you would find that 272 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,520 those rules and regulations were very free and very uplifting. 273 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:22,080 Uh, they provided more equitable status, uh, across everyone in the nation. 274 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:27,400 They were feigned from things like child sacrifice and so on and so forth. 275 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,600 And Paul's actually going to mention in the book of Galatians, he's goes like the purpose 276 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:35,040 of the law was always supposed to be, it was supposed to be your guardian to bring you 277 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,000 to the point where you were fully embraced by Torah made flesh. 278 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,000 Yes. 279 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,000 Right. 280 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:42,000 Jesus Christ, right? 281 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,080 The purpose of the law wasn't to sit there in condemning. 282 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:45,080 You were already condemned. 283 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:50,720 The purpose of the law was to actually bring you up in such a way that when Messiah was 284 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,360 here, when Torah made flesh was here, you would recognize him and identify with his 285 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:55,360 kingdom. 286 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:56,360 Yeah. 287 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:03,920 So there is a responsibility placed on the Israelites says, listen, I want to do these 288 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,120 things for you, but you can't be telling the wrong story. 289 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:08,120 Yeah. 290 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:09,120 Right. 291 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,240 It's not a, like, God's not like do this or else. 292 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,200 He's like, no, if you want the blessing and, and he's fully clear with them. 293 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:17,240 He's like, Hey, this is what I want to do. 294 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:18,240 Do you want to be a part of it? 295 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,240 And they're like, woo, yeah. 296 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:20,240 Woo. 297 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:21,240 And he's like, cool. 298 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:22,240 I'm going to come down there. 299 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,480 And then they're like, whoa, hold up. 300 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:25,660 Right. 301 00:13:25,660 --> 00:13:28,960 And a lot of what they're, they're going, when they go through is God says, I want you 302 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:29,960 to be different. 303 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:30,960 I want you to be different. 304 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,360 I want you to be a different kind of people in the world. 305 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,040 And then throughout the story of Torah, and you're going to see this, if you listen to 306 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,720 last season's episodes, they keep wanting to be like everybody else. 307 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,120 And God's like, no, you're not supposed to be like everyone else. 308 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,280 That's the point. 309 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:47,720 You're different. 310 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:52,160 You're going back to the default of what humanity is supposed to be leading the way for the 311 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,360 kingdom to come to earth. 312 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,000 And they're like, yeah, but pig bones. 313 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,000 Yeah. 314 00:13:58,000 --> 00:13:59,000 Right. 315 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,440 Like, but God, have you tasted bacon? 316 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:02,640 Right. 317 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:04,480 And yeah. 318 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:08,000 And it's a, and by the way, if you check out our Leviticus episodes, we have some really 319 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,000 interesting like conversations about like dietary and some different issues of why, 320 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,280 why those might have been prohibited and stuff. 321 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:20,280 But like, um, it is, you know, the law was meant to actually create them to be the kind 322 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:21,480 of person I actually are. 323 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,920 One of our, uh, one of our teachers last week was teaching on, uh, I, you have heard her 324 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,120 said, but I say unto you, and he's like, Jesus isn't raising the bar. 325 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,880 He's saying that like not committing murder was never just about not committing murder. 326 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,680 It was about being a person that doesn't harbor anger in their heart. 327 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,120 But yes, don't commit murder. 328 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:43,120 Right. 329 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,360 But if you're just sitting around and you're like, ah, I wish that person would fall over 330 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:47,920 and land on a spike. 331 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:49,000 Like I got news for you. 332 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:50,400 You're committing murder in your heart. 333 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:51,400 Uh huh. 334 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:52,920 Like that's not a way that you're supposed to live. 335 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,000 The law is supposed to like, no, it's about life. 336 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,720 That's why you don't murder. 337 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:58,720 Right. 338 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,400 Um, I, I had, I had this done up here and I, um, I just think it's really cool. 339 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:08,120 So one of the earliest codes of law that we can find from this area is the code of a Hammurabi. 340 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:09,120 Yeah. 341 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,240 And so you take the law of the Torah and you take the code of Hammurabi and you compare 342 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:14,240 them side by side. 343 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,600 And one of the reasons I do this is because you have to contextualize the book of Leviticus. 344 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:18,600 Yes. 345 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,520 Because if you read it in modern context, you're like, man, this is oppressive. 346 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:26,680 So talking about the source of law in Torah, it's given by God through Moses, right? 347 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:32,320 In the, in Hammurabi, it was attributed to King Hammurabi and inspired by the gods. 348 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:33,320 Right. 349 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:38,840 Uh, the moral and ethical focus of the Torah is to emphasize justice, mercy, and holiness. 350 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:46,960 The focus of Hammurabi is to focus on maintaining order and hierarchy regarding social justice. 351 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,880 The Torah says to protect the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien. 352 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:55,040 Hammurabi says there's limited protections, but if you have them, they're often favoring 353 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,480 the people in power. 354 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,640 Talking about slavery, because that's one people love to talk about in the Bible, right? 355 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,640 In the Torah, slaves have rights. 356 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:09,400 Hebrew slaves have to be freed every seven years that's showing up in Exodus 21. 357 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,440 And you can, they are not second class citizens. 358 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,200 You can't treat them as nothing. 359 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,960 Hammurabi says there's harsh conditions, but slaves are most likely seen as property owning 360 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,080 to the person who owns them. 361 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:26,540 In punishments, uh, Torah talks about proportional justice to being that it can be an eye for 362 00:16:26,540 --> 00:16:29,960 an eye or a tooth for a tooth, but you can't take a life for a tooth. 363 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:31,080 Right. 364 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:35,520 In Hammurabi, it's often severe and class based penalties. 365 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:40,600 Talking about property rights, there's detailed laws of restitution in Torah that if you do 366 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,400 this, you do this for your, your person that you took from restitution often favors property 367 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,160 owners in Hammurabi's law. 368 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:49,160 Just a couple more here. 369 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,520 Uh, in religious practice, Torah is centralized worship and strict monotheism. 370 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,800 Uh, it is everybody's supposed to be together and with one person. 371 00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:58,800 Right? 372 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:03,200 So, uh, Hammurabi is polytheistic and there was tons of different rituals out there, like 373 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,280 all sorts of different, you know, you go do your own thing. 374 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,760 And then finally talking about family law, there was an emphasis in Torah on marital 375 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,800 fidelity and protection of women. 376 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:20,200 Um, in Hammurabi, there was, there was, yes, emphasis on, on marital fidelity, but it was 377 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:26,200 strictly about patriarchal control and not about, uh, protection of women. 378 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,680 So you start to, and this is just one law, right? 379 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:29,960 We're not talking about the law of the Chaldeans. 380 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,600 We're not talking about the law of the Egyptians, like comparing them. 381 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,760 Leviticus is radical in its day. 382 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:41,840 It is a hippie dippy law telling them, God's saying, no, it's, you're going to be different. 383 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,380 You are going to be a different kind of people. 384 00:17:44,380 --> 00:17:49,640 And when you live this, it actually says in Leviticus, it says, if you live by these things, 385 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,440 then I will tabernacle among you. 386 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,720 It means that I will make my physical dwelling among you. 387 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:56,000 And guess what? 388 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:57,000 He did. 389 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,000 His name is Jesus. 390 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,720 He's physically tabernacled among us. 391 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:01,720 Yep. 392 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:02,720 Yeah. 393 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,640 So you have to contextualize these things, right? 394 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,560 You have to do that, especially when you're talking Torah. 395 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:15,760 Otherwise you get, uh, otherwise you just get a whole bunch of misinformation out there. 396 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:22,180 And so you, uh, and, and I want to just preface this a little bit, but I would encourage you 397 00:18:22,180 --> 00:18:26,880 to go research what known laws there are, the known legal systems there are surrounding 398 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,280 Israel or the Hebrews at the time. 399 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:30,280 Yeah. 400 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,960 I also want to caution that you are going to find some stuff that you are like, that 401 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,760 is grotesque and horrible. 402 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:38,760 Just know that. 403 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:39,760 Yeah. 404 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:40,760 Okay. 405 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,200 But when you actually start to contextualize that, you start to realize that like, man, 406 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,600 God is truly a God of love, right? 407 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,000 He's truly a God of compassion, of mercy. 408 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,000 He's truly patient with his people because there, there are, there were legal systems 409 00:18:54,000 --> 00:19:00,960 in place, um, back in that day where it was like one slight wrong and it was like, you're 410 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:01,960 dead. 411 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:02,960 Yeah. 412 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,880 Like people were walking on such thin ice. 413 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:06,880 You stole my horse. 414 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:07,880 I take your life. 415 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:08,880 Yeah. 416 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:09,880 Right. 417 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:10,880 You look at me wrong. 418 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,880 I take your life. 419 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:12,880 Yeah. 420 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:14,320 I'm stronger than you. 421 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:15,320 I take your life. 422 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:16,320 Right. 423 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:17,320 I want what you have. 424 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:19,760 I take your life. 425 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:20,760 Exactly. 426 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,400 Versus where God's laws like, okay, proportional justice. 427 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:24,400 Yes. 428 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:25,400 Right. 429 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,720 I for an eye, tooth for a tooth, which by the way, even in Levitical law is allegory. 430 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:30,720 Yeah. 431 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:31,720 It's not literal. 432 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:32,720 Yeah. 433 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:34,760 Um, but I for I, tooth for a tooth, like proportional justice. 434 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:36,320 He's like, yes, a hundred percent. 435 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:42,080 He's like, he's like, but if, if someone gives you a scratch, you can't break their arm. 436 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,560 Yeah. 437 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:48,600 And uh, the, so what is, what is the purpose then of this mosaic covenant? 438 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,520 Like what is God coming and actually doing with them? 439 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:56,240 Is making them a prototype of what humanity is supposed to look like. 440 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:57,240 Yeah. 441 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:58,240 Right. 442 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,080 Cause the Torah is going to represent the nature of God, right? 443 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:02,480 It's going to represent who God is. 444 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:06,000 That's why when in John, it says in the beginning was the word, the word is with God, the word 445 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:07,000 was God. 446 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,240 He was with God in the beginning. 447 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,840 Jesus is the Torah made flesh. 448 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:11,840 Yeah. 449 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,840 I've always looked at it as God being like, I'm making this covenant with you to return 450 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,280 you to who you're supposed to be. 451 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:18,280 Correct. 452 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:19,840 Not necessarily like a making new. 453 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:21,440 We use that term making new. 454 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:22,440 Yeah. 455 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,840 But it's, it's really a return to, it's really a return to Eden, right? 456 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,800 Return to who we're supposed to be. 457 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,000 The people were supposed to be with God and Eden. 458 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,000 Um, Brad Gray is going to call it restoration of all things, which is I think a good way 459 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:35,000 to say that. 460 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,360 Uh, Brad Gray, by the way, walking the text, great place to find some contextual information. 461 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:42,160 We're always going to, if you find stuff, they're great. 462 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:43,160 Love it. 463 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,720 Um, so the, the purpose of the mosaic covenant is he says, Hey, you're going to do this and 464 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:49,440 you're going to look different. 465 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,280 Now in last episode, we talked about the works of the law, right? 466 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:57,000 Uh, the, the fancy way of saying is mix Ate Al-Tara, right? 467 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,900 The works of the law, which is what Paul talks about in the book of Galatians. 468 00:21:00,900 --> 00:21:05,320 And so this is the, this is probably the sign of the covenant that you're going to take 469 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:06,320 with it. 470 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,080 Now, sometimes people are going to say, well, that's circumcision. 471 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:13,920 Well, no, circumcision is a sign of the Abrahamic covenant, which you do need to be part of 472 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,880 the Abrahamic covenant to be in the mosaic covenant. 473 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,600 But the mosaic covenant, there's a lot of things that go with it, which is, uh, not, 474 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,440 not wearing tassels on the end of your robe, right? 475 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,240 Uh, not wearing blended fabrics. 476 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,240 Uh, there's prohibitions on eating. 477 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,200 So they're, you know, they don't only pork and they don't only certain kinds of shellfish, 478 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:31,200 right? 479 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:32,200 Or shellfish at all. 480 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:33,200 That might, yeah. 481 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,160 Um, well they eat fish, but not, not shellfish. 482 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:42,640 Um, the, uh, there's, there's certain kinds of animals that are prohibited from eating. 483 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:49,320 Uh, there are certain aspects like observation of Sabbath observation of, uh, festivals because 484 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,440 you're going to be telling the story over and over again as you go along because we're 485 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,640 dumb and we forget, right? 486 00:21:55,640 --> 00:22:03,520 Um, we being humanity, not, um, like there, these things are, uh, there, there are things 487 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:09,040 that you are, they are called to do and called to live and also to administer justice, to 488 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:10,520 have years of Jubilee. 489 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,840 These are things that make you inherently Jewish. 490 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:14,200 Right. 491 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,840 And a lot of times one of the conversations I've had around covenants is when people are 492 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,680 like, well, there's all these covenants, like which one are you living into? 493 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,520 It's like, well, as a person, you can live into multiple covenants, right? 494 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:25,520 Right. 495 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:31,360 Like, so as, as a human being, as a man, married man with a family, there are multiple roles 496 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:32,360 I play, right? 497 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:36,040 I have a covenant relationship with my wife, right? 498 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:40,440 I have, there's essentially a covenant relationship that I'm a father, right? 499 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:45,640 Uh, there's, uh, responsibilities I have at church, there's relationship there, right? 500 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,360 The point of covenants is to draw you closer into relationship with the one who's designed 501 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:50,760 the covenant, right? 502 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:56,000 So there's all these different, that you can live into multiple covenants at the same time. 503 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:57,000 Right. 504 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,080 As long as you are doing it for the right reason. 505 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,080 Right. 506 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,640 Uh, coming back to our story from last week in the Galatians, one, the issue that Paul 507 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:12,360 has in Galatia is that the people who are receiving Jesus are then being told that if 508 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:16,480 they don't observe the Mosaic covenant, they will not be able to participate in what Jesus 509 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:17,480 has brought. 510 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:18,480 Yeah. 511 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,200 And Paul's like, dude, you're already participating. 512 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:28,440 Like, if you then think you have to get something else, then what you say you have now doesn't 513 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:29,440 have any worth. 514 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:30,440 Yeah. 515 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:34,080 And like, that's the big crux of the conversation in, uh, in Galatians. 516 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:39,160 Like, Paul's not saying anything bad about Jewish people, but he's like Gentiles, you 517 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,760 were justified by your faith. 518 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:41,760 Abrahamic covenant. 519 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,120 You're right underneath of it. 520 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:47,400 Like, why are you now thinking that you have to do something in order to receive the blessing 521 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:48,400 of God? 522 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:49,400 You already have it. 523 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:50,400 Yeah. 524 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:51,400 Right. 525 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,880 And, uh, and this is by the way, this is a huge source of contention in the church and 526 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,400 conversation that I've heard over the last, well, I'm 37. 527 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,680 So let's just say 37 years, right? 528 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,560 These people talking about, well, you know, uh, when Paul converted to Christianity, Paul 529 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,420 didn't convert to Christianity. 530 00:24:06,420 --> 00:24:10,200 He had his faith realized as a Jew. 531 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:11,200 Jesus is a Jewish Messiah. 532 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,840 And he said, Jesus is the son of God and I'm following after him as my rabbi. 533 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,060 Like like a hundred percent, like he didn't become a Christian. 534 00:24:19,060 --> 00:24:21,980 He became a Jew that followed Jesus. 535 00:24:21,980 --> 00:24:23,800 Christian is a term that we've invented. 536 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:25,640 Uh, I'm not invented. 537 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:31,880 Christian is a term that we use to describe people who follow Jesus, but following Jesus 538 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,840 is an outcry of the story from the very beginning. 539 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:35,840 Yeah. 540 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:36,840 Right? 541 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:37,840 Yeah. 542 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:38,840 Yeah. 543 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,440 So, yeah, when we are, choose to follow Christ, um, we're not defined. 544 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:48,360 So as the world tries to define us as Christian, right? 545 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,640 But the reality is it's Christ who defines us. 546 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:51,640 Correct. 547 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:52,640 Right? 548 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:57,680 So following Christ, we're not, we are defined by him. 549 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,280 Not by what the world tells us, not by how the world tells us we should be defined as 550 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,160 quote unquote Christian. 551 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,600 We need to lean into our relationship with Christ and let everything else work itself 552 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:08,600 out. 553 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,160 I think, I think for one of the conversations I've had with people when they say, well, 554 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,200 if I following Jesus, why is it important that I understand like the Mosaic covenant? 555 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,600 I was like, well, because it has to do with Torah. 556 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:19,040 Jesus is the Torah made flesh. 557 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,040 We should probably know the things that Jesus is talking about because he's actually putting 558 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:27,960 these things on display and then calling us to live in a different way out of that. 559 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:28,960 Yes. 560 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:29,960 Right? 561 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:36,120 And, uh, it's, it's a covenant that is, you know, it's man, it has, it has been, um, all 562 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:38,600 throughout the old Testament, you read it and we'll, we'll have lots of stories through 563 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,000 the old Testament where people struggle. 564 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,000 Yeah. 565 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,840 But God is faithful every single time. 566 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,080 Like they get sent into captivity a number of times. 567 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:52,060 They have oppression come a number of times to kind of reorient their brain, but God is 568 00:25:52,060 --> 00:25:54,600 always there waiting for them to come back. 569 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:55,600 Yep. 570 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:56,600 Right. 571 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:01,160 Um, I want to make a few notes here that I just had on, um, the law or Torah and the purpose 572 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,640 for Jewish people is it's covenantal relationship. 573 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:09,360 It establishes and maintains a covenant between God and Israel and it sets up Israel apart 574 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,160 as a Holy nation distinct from other people. 575 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,040 And it provides moral, ethical and religious guidelines for daily living. 576 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,040 Yes. 577 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,480 It's a covenant of social justice and fairness within the community. 578 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,040 And it reveals God's characters and expectations for his people. 579 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:29,920 By the way, I want to read that again, reveals God's character and his expectation for his 580 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:30,920 people. 581 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:31,920 Yeah. 582 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,720 Uh, it prepares the way for Pete, the coming Messiah by highlighting the need for redemption. 583 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,400 Now, uh, it highlights God's character. 584 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:43,020 Jesus is later going to have a conversation and you preached on this a few weeks ago where 585 00:26:43,020 --> 00:26:46,680 I teach a lot is going to say, what is the greatest commandment? 586 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,800 Jesus says, whatever you heard it said, love Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and 587 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:50,800 strength. 588 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,680 And he's like, what's the, what, what about the other one? 589 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,080 You know, he says, love your neighbor as yourself. 590 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,620 He says, go and do these, right? 591 00:26:58,620 --> 00:27:01,200 All long prophets hang on these two commands. 592 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:02,200 Once again, this is BLT. 593 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,400 So if you're like, man, that was quite the right translation. 594 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:05,400 You're right. 595 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,520 It was not. 596 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:08,520 You made the point. 597 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,960 And I completely agree with this is that Jesus can't, you don't separate loving God from 598 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,540 loving other people. 599 00:27:14,540 --> 00:27:18,980 When you understand the character of God, you're going to have that character extend 600 00:27:18,980 --> 00:27:19,980 out to people. 601 00:27:19,980 --> 00:27:24,680 And when you love God and you, and you're identifying and connecting with God, it will 602 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,080 extend to how you treat other people. 603 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:31,080 And if it doesn't, I have questions about what you're connecting to. 604 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:32,080 Yes. 605 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:33,080 Right. 606 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:38,760 That's not to say that people aren't difficult because well, we've been friends. 607 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,600 Yeah. 608 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:47,920 My wife likes to do very, she is very much a hippie. 609 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:54,040 And so, so every once in a while I will send Ben a picture of like just hippie things my 610 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:55,040 wife's doing. 611 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,600 Oh, this is about the candle, isn't it? 612 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:57,600 Oh yeah. 613 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:58,600 Yeah. 614 00:27:58,600 --> 00:27:59,600 Okay. 615 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:00,600 Yeah. 616 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:01,600 Yeah. 617 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:02,600 Ben will be like, what is happening right now? 618 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,560 So like one of the things we did, my wife and I did the other day is there's this, there's 619 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,180 this wax tube that you can buy. 620 00:28:10,180 --> 00:28:11,180 You stick it in your ear. 621 00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:13,880 You light the top on fire and it actually pulls ear wax out. 622 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,320 Works really well. 623 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,040 It looks really weird. 624 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:18,040 So no context. 625 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,460 I took a picture of it and sent it to Ben and Ben's like, why are you lighting brains on 626 00:28:21,460 --> 00:28:22,460 fire? 627 00:28:22,460 --> 00:28:23,460 Yeah. 628 00:28:23,460 --> 00:28:24,460 Right. 629 00:28:24,460 --> 00:28:30,520 So like point being is like, we have areas in our worlds where we disagree, right? 630 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:31,520 Right. 631 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:35,600 We have things in our worlds that we do differently. 632 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:37,160 Okay. 633 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:42,400 With that said, that doesn't mean we're any less friends or we're any less brothers. 634 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:43,400 Or love each other less. 635 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:44,400 Yeah. 636 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:45,400 Or love each other less. 637 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:50,880 Like, if I was to say, Ben, you have to do everything exactly how I live life and then 638 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:55,480 I can love you, that's not emulating the love of God. 639 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,440 That's emulating, that's actually conditional manipulation. 640 00:28:58,440 --> 00:28:59,440 Right. 641 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:04,520 An unconditional love is saying, Hey, I understand that we live life a little differently. 642 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:05,520 Yeah. 643 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:06,520 Right. 644 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,080 But I have some priorities in your life that I don't have. 645 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,520 And I have some priorities in my life that you don't have. 646 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:11,520 Right. 647 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,440 I, I read a quote and I sent it to you from a, from a book that I read and, and you're 648 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,840 welcome by the way to disagree with this quote, cause it's not scripture, but I think it cares 649 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:20,840 a really important point. 650 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:26,400 And it was, I'm not going to quote it exactly correct, but it says, um, love cannot be conditional 651 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,000 because if it's conditional, it's not love. 652 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:31,920 Right. 653 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,080 And it's not true love if it's actually conditional. 654 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:39,840 And, and, uh, and I mean, I hear right away, I hear typing type, type, type, type, type, 655 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:44,440 and I was like, there, there's a huge amount of truth to that. 656 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,280 Like if you actually are going to love people, it can't be based on what they're going to 657 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:49,280 do for you. 658 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:50,280 Yeah. 659 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,760 There's, um, if your love is conditional, that's called manipulation. 660 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:54,760 Correct. 661 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,200 Um, and it's a manipulation masquerading as love. 662 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:58,200 Yes. 663 00:29:58,200 --> 00:29:59,200 Yeah. 664 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,920 So if you're like, well, I love people, if they do this, that's you trying to manipulate 665 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:03,560 them into doing what you want. 666 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:04,560 Yeah. 667 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:05,680 So it's not love. 668 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:06,680 Love is unconditional. 669 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:07,680 Right. 670 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:13,000 Um, and if you want an example of that, uh, take, take a good parents, for example, right? 671 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,640 I mean, we use the parenthood example all the time. 672 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,520 One more parents, but it's also an example that just holds true. 673 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,160 It's literally an example that screams in our face every morning. 674 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:22,160 Yes. 675 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,160 Yeah. 676 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:24,160 Uh-huh. 677 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,200 And it's also an example of God, the father's relationship with us. 678 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:27,200 Right. 679 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:32,320 Um, so, but like you take, you take good parents, for example, like I don't love my daughter 680 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,360 less when she's being a butt. 681 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,960 Do I want her to be a butt every day? 682 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:40,960 No. 683 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:44,760 Like, but she has moments where she's like, just for those of you who don't know my kid, 684 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:50,360 my kid goes from smiley, huggy, snuggly to scream in your face back to smiley, huggy, 685 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:51,360 snuggly. 686 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:52,920 And those are her two motons. 687 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:53,920 Okay. 688 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:55,440 Uh, there's no, and it's like a switch. 689 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,520 It's and then it's gone and it's gone. 690 00:30:58,520 --> 00:30:59,520 Yup. 691 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:00,520 Yup. 692 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:02,200 Ben's witnessed it and it's like, it's like, all right. 693 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:04,480 And, uh, you're not the only one, just so you know. 694 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:05,480 No, no, no. 695 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:10,080 But, uh, but I don't love her less because she's acting out a certain way. 696 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:11,080 Right. 697 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:12,080 Right. 698 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:13,080 Now, is there corrective measures we take? 699 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:14,080 Absolutely. 700 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:15,840 But that doesn't mean I love her less. 701 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:16,840 Yeah. 702 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:17,840 Yeah. 703 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:18,840 Yeah. 704 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,880 It's, I think really learning how to love people authentically is difficult. 705 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:22,880 Oh, it's so hard. 706 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:27,160 Um, it's one of the reasons why the mosaic covenant as it's supposed to transform you 707 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:30,120 is supposed to change you as a person over time. 708 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:31,120 Yeah. 709 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:32,120 Right. 710 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,880 So one of the things I would say is that, uh, it's just one of those things where you, 711 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,600 you have to be intentional and take, you know, you talked about like people think what are 712 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:41,600 great works. 713 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:42,920 It's like taking one step towards it. 714 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,200 Then you take another step towards it. 715 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:46,200 Yeah. 716 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,400 Like if you love people tomorrow more than you love them today, you're moving in the 717 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:50,400 right direction. 718 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:51,400 Yeah. 719 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:52,400 And it can be a fraction of an inch. 720 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:53,400 Right? 721 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:54,400 Yeah. 722 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:59,120 Maybe like one of the goals I set for in my life a while ago and I come back and keep 723 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:04,600 revisiting is like, okay, am I making the cashiers at the grocery store smile? 724 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:05,600 Right? 725 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:07,440 Like, am I just making their environment? 726 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,240 Am I intentionally trying to make their day a little bit better or am I the cause of their 727 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:12,240 crows feet? 728 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:13,240 Right. 729 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:14,240 Right. 730 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,000 Am I the cause of them being a disgruntled angry person? 731 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:18,000 I don't know. 732 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,000 Not all of them are. 733 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:20,000 Yeah. 734 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,000 But, uh, right. 735 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,600 Like the people I encounter, like how am I making their day a little bit better? 736 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,040 Yeah. 737 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:27,040 So good. 738 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,040 So I'm going to leave us with one little thought here because, um, I'd like you guys to go 739 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,200 do some, some homework and think, think about this. 740 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,880 Um, this whole idea of like, as we love God, as we understand the character of God, it 741 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:39,800 transforms the way that we treat other people. 742 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:45,360 Uh, the teacher of the law has this thing where he then tries to catch Jesus or tries 743 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:48,680 to justify himself and he makes a statement. 744 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,720 Who then is my neighbor? 745 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:54,320 And then Jesus tells a story. 746 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:55,320 Yeah. 747 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,120 So I'd like you guys to go take a look at that story and really think about the ramifications 748 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:05,600 of what it means to have mercy on the people that are so far away from you. 749 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:06,600 Yeah. 750 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:07,600 Amen. 751 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:08,600 Cause that's the call of Jesus. 752 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:09,600 Amen. 753 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,920 The Mosaic covenant is meant to change us and transform us into something else. 754 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,280 And that's going to be recognized, of course, in the person of Jesus. 755 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,720 Next week, we're going to be talking about the Davidic covenant, but then we'll be actually 756 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,400 talking and start will be left. 757 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,640 It is where we're talking about the Davidic covenant, but then after that we will be talking 758 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,560 about the messianic covenant and the covenant that Jesus brings and, and pulls all these 759 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:34,000 pieces together and gives us into this future of the kingdom of God. 760 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:40,520 If you have thoughts, um, concerns, complaints, cookies, get cookies, I can send you our address. 761 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:41,520 You can send them to us. 762 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,560 Um, you know, send us a message, drop a, drop a comment. 763 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:45,560 We'd love to hear from you guys. 764 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:46,560 Yeah. 765 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,600 Till next time. 766 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:52,620 And that's a wrap for today's episode of love and context. 767 00:33:52,620 --> 00:33:56,520 We hope you enjoyed this engaging conversation and gain valuable insights into the powerful 768 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,520 message of love within the Bible. 769 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,640 We'd love to hear from you and continue the conversation. 770 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:08,000 Connect with us by sending us your questions, thoughts, and suggestions to loveandcontextatgmail.com. 771 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,620 We greatly appreciate your feedback and ideas for future episodes. 772 00:34:12,620 --> 00:34:16,920 Stay connected with us on social media for updates, behind the scenes content, and additional 773 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:17,920 resources. 774 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:22,720 You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook at love and context. 775 00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:25,720 Don't forget to hit that follow button to stay up to date with the latest episodes and 776 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:27,840 join our growing community. 777 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,360 Thank you for being part of the love and context family. 778 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,180 Remember, love is at the heart of it all. 779 00:34:33,180 --> 00:34:38,080 Until next time, keep seeking wisdom, embracing love, and living out your faith in the context 780 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:48,760 of today's world.