WEBVTT 00:00:02.619 --> 00:00:05.679 Welcome to season three of Love in Context. This 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.140 season, we're exploring the life of Jesus step 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:10.419 -by -step and uncovering what his story teaches 00:00:10.419 --> 00:00:13.400 us about loving God and others. Here on Love 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:15.539 in Context, we're all about having real conversations 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:17.660 about how to live out that love in practical, 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:19.920 everyday ways and understanding the Bible in 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.079 its full context. We're so glad you're here. 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:24.960 Let's dive into season three of Love in Context. 00:00:27.539 --> 00:00:30.539 All right, welcome back. Love and Context with 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:33.939 Benjamin Edwards and Les Kronk. It's good to 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:36.280 see you again. Good to be here, Ben. Yeah. And 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:38.259 if you're on YouTube, you also will see him. 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:41.539 And he is looking just as young as, honestly, 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:44.060 as long as I've known you. I'm trying to stay 00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:45.920 that way. That's kind of not fair. I actually 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.520 went to school with your kids. Yep. Yeah. So 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:51.780 he looks good, doesn't he? Retired man. He's 00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:54.280 living the good life. Staying healthy. Yeah. 00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:58.039 I just do want to brag on you a little bit, though, 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:01.399 because Les retires, and, like, as soon as he's 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.040 retired, he has, like, 1 ,000 people coming after 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.959 him for consulting gigs. Yep. So you know that 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:08.560 you're good at your stuff, that the second you 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.019 retire, they're like, hey, you want to work again? 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.359 Yeah, well, it's not bad when they say, charge 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:14.859 us whatever you want because we need you. There's 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:18.019 an open door there. Yeah. You just have to be 00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:19.739 careful. Summer in Alaska, you cut into your 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:21.629 fishing time. That's what I'm worried about right 00:01:21.629 --> 00:01:24.670 now, yes. So we've been in life of Jesus, and 00:01:24.670 --> 00:01:26.829 you were actually with me last week when we talked 00:01:26.829 --> 00:01:29.250 about John the Baptist preparing the way for 00:01:29.250 --> 00:01:31.049 Jesus, and we talked about baptism, we talked 00:01:31.049 --> 00:01:34.170 about mikvah, and so coming out of the Spirit, 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:35.790 coming and descending on Jesus and remaining 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:39.250 there, he goes out into the desert. Right. Right, 00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:41.489 and so there's going to be this portion of temptation. 00:01:41.609 --> 00:01:44.090 So I thought before we actually read the story, 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:47.019 I'm going to give some high -level... cultural 00:01:47.019 --> 00:01:48.640 perspective things. And then we'll read through 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:50.099 the story and have some conversation about it. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:54.700 Good. All right. So, uh, the wilderness in, uh, 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:57.900 in Hebrew is, is mid bar, mid bar. And it's, 00:01:57.900 --> 00:01:59.620 um, I think I've talked to you about like Hebrew 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:02.659 groupings that shepherd wilderness, God's voice. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.400 They're all going to be related in the same word 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:08.020 family, uh, because you go to hear God's voice 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:11.870 in the desert, in the desert. Right. Israel was 00:02:11.870 --> 00:02:13.610 tested, refined during their 40 years in the 00:02:13.610 --> 00:02:15.310 desert. And he talks about that. Moses talks 00:02:15.310 --> 00:02:18.210 about that in Deuteronomy. And I believe it's 00:02:18.210 --> 00:02:21.389 Hosea. God says to the prophet Hosea, he says, 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:24.050 I led you like a bride in the desert. Right. 00:02:24.389 --> 00:02:27.490 So to God, this time is not the same as like 00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:29.849 we think of wandering in the desert. It's something 00:02:29.849 --> 00:02:32.129 significantly different. It's actually a time 00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:35.009 of getting to know God and about us knowing God 00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:37.610 and God knowing us. It's a time of stepping apart 00:02:37.610 --> 00:02:41.650 from the chaos of life into a quieter place. 00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:44.289 And if you think about, like we've talked about 00:02:44.289 --> 00:02:46.009 how Sinai is kind of like this wedding ceremony 00:02:46.009 --> 00:02:50.110 between Israel and God, right? The desert's their 00:02:50.110 --> 00:02:53.750 honeymoon, right? It's where you learn to trust 00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:57.180 each other. And sometimes not. That's not exactly 00:02:57.180 --> 00:02:59.479 what you'd think of as a honeymoon, the wilderness 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.060 area. Matt, that's only because you live in Alaska. 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:04.919 If you lived in Israel, you'd probably be like, 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:06.340 yeah, let's go to the desert for our honeymoon. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.639 Probably. Oh, man. So it's a place of physical 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.860 desolation, but spiritual dependence, right? 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:15.520 That's the wilderness. So Jesus is going to spend 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.120 40 days in the wilderness, and this is going 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.080 to parallel to Israel's 40 years. I want to keep 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:20.639 that in our heads because there's a lot of things 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:22.479 that are going to be paralleling the Old Testament 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:26.289 here. repeatedly I have said, and we've said 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:29.990 through this podcast, Jesus is Torah made flesh. 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.330 So there's going to be a million things going 00:03:32.330 --> 00:03:34.710 on in his life that are going to be echoes from 00:03:34.710 --> 00:03:37.069 Torah. It's one of the reasons we started our 00:03:37.069 --> 00:03:40.629 series in Torah before we got to Jesus. Because 00:03:40.629 --> 00:03:44.289 it makes this year so much easier. There's going 00:03:44.289 --> 00:03:47.699 to be connections to Moses and Elijah. Fasting 00:03:47.699 --> 00:03:50.080 for 40 days and finding themselves in the wilderness, 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.719 which is also going to be important because Jesus 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.599 is going to be stepping in as a second Moses. 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:56.979 And people are also going to be like, are you 00:03:56.979 --> 00:03:59.699 Moses? Come back. Are you Elijah? Also Mount 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:02.120 Transfiguration. Who's there with him? Yeah. 00:04:02.419 --> 00:04:05.180 Moses and Elijah. Yeah. These are pictures that 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:06.699 are meant to be coming up over and over again. 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:10.400 So in Jewish thought, the wilderness is a place 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.740 of testing and purification, and it's a place 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:16.149 of divine encounter and provision. such as manna 00:04:16.149 --> 00:04:19.990 in Exodus 16. And then Jesus' retreat echoes 00:04:19.990 --> 00:04:22.769 these themes of trial and encounter. Now, he's 00:04:22.769 --> 00:04:24.310 going to meet a guy in there we call the Satan, 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:29.470 the devil, right? The Satan, by the way, it's 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:31.329 interesting, in the Old Testament and most of 00:04:31.329 --> 00:04:33.610 the places that you find Satan's name in the 00:04:33.610 --> 00:04:38.550 scripture, it's not Satan, it's the Satan. The 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:42.089 Satan. The Hebrew word Satan actually means adversary 00:04:42.089 --> 00:04:45.279 or accuser. Okay. Right? And so in the Old Testament, 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.639 Satan appears in texts like Job 1 -2, Zechariah 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.860 3, 1 -2, as a figure who tests the faithfulness 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:55.939 of individuals. Now, by the second... I can speak. 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.980 By the second temple period time, Satan was increasingly 00:04:59.980 --> 00:05:03.019 seen as a personalized figure of evil. This is 00:05:03.019 --> 00:05:05.500 really emphasized strongly in books like 1 Enoch. 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:09.220 Okay. Right? But that is not necessarily the 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:11.480 perspective in the Old Testament. The Satan is 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:14.779 kind of like this. He's actually in the heavenly 00:05:14.779 --> 00:05:17.959 host, and his job is to go and accuse and test 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:22.170 and see what people are doing. And that, by the 00:05:22.170 --> 00:05:23.810 way, that pushes up against like Christian ideology 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:26.129 sometimes because people are like, oh, I don't 00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:27.790 know if I like that. I was like, well, that is 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:31.029 what the thought was. And so you have to understand 00:05:31.029 --> 00:05:32.490 where the thought came from and how we got to 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:36.629 where we are. And because of the Satan, so people 00:05:36.629 --> 00:05:38.730 would look at in Jewish tradition, righteous 00:05:38.730 --> 00:05:41.329 individuals were often tested by God or external 00:05:41.329 --> 00:05:43.610 forces to prove their faithfulness. So you have 00:05:43.610 --> 00:05:48.170 like... Abraham in Genesis 22, Job in Job, well, 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:51.170 the book of Job, right? They're actually put 00:05:51.170 --> 00:05:54.649 in these positions to be faithful to God, and 00:05:54.649 --> 00:05:58.149 it's not always necessarily just because they're 00:05:58.149 --> 00:05:59.790 not having to prove something, but it's actually 00:05:59.790 --> 00:06:03.290 changing something in them. In them. Right? And 00:06:03.290 --> 00:06:05.069 this is something we're going to talk about as 00:06:05.069 --> 00:06:08.649 we go through here, is that trials, tests, are 00:06:08.649 --> 00:06:11.550 not about proving your worth. It's about actually 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:13.370 increasing your worth. In other words, changing 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:15.810 who you are and forming who you are and who God 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.790 wants you to be. That's going to be really applicable 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:20.889 later when James talks about consider it a pure 00:06:20.889 --> 00:06:23.709 joy whenever you face trials. Because these trials 00:06:23.709 --> 00:06:25.209 are actually going to help you become something 00:06:25.209 --> 00:06:28.470 you've never been. Right. Right? Which is difficult. 00:06:29.009 --> 00:06:31.769 It is a difficult time, but having experienced 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:35.230 that, it takes you to where God wants you to 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:38.500 be. Yeah. So all three of the Synoptic Gospels, 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.120 Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are going to talk about 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:41.500 this story. We're going to be reading out of 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:43.519 Matthew. So if you want to check out Mark and 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:45.339 Luke, there's small differences, once again, 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:49.339 having to do with the linguistic and perspectives 00:06:49.339 --> 00:06:51.860 of what they're trying to talk about. All three 00:06:51.860 --> 00:06:55.259 of them talk about being led by the Spirit. And 00:06:55.259 --> 00:06:57.120 I think this is really important, especially 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.459 when we talk about there are people who listen 00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:01.040 who are Pentecostal, non -Pentecostal. That's 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.920 totally fine. But we all recognize that the Spirit 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.439 does work. And I think that it's important to 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.100 see. Jesus is baptized, the Holy Spirit comes 00:07:08.100 --> 00:07:10.879 and rests on him, and then from that moment, 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:14.800 he's led by the Spirit. Right. Right? And so 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.879 Jesus is led by the Spirit. All three Gospels 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:20.439 say he's led by the Spirit to this place. Right? 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.060 If Jesus Christ, God made flesh, thinks it's 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:26.250 important to be led by the Spirit of God... How 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:29.009 much more for us. Right, exactly. It becomes 00:07:29.009 --> 00:07:31.189 really important, like when you were here for 00:07:31.189 --> 00:07:32.529 prophetic, when we were talking about the prophetic, 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:35.069 it was, why is it so important for us to hear 00:07:35.069 --> 00:07:37.589 the voice of God? Right. Right? Everything flows 00:07:37.589 --> 00:07:41.189 from that. Yeah. So let's jump in here. Let's 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:44.370 read the story all the way through here. It's 00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:46.769 starting, I forget exactly where that is. It's 00:07:46.769 --> 00:07:52.329 Matthew chapter 4, starting in verse 1. Then 00:07:52.329 --> 00:07:54.529 Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 00:07:54.529 --> 00:07:57.810 to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 00:07:57.810 --> 00:08:00.569 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. Imagine that. 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:02.790 Yeah, I know, right? Listen, it would take me 00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:05.329 a lot less than 40 days and 40 nights. The tempter 00:08:05.329 --> 00:08:08.389 came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, 00:08:08.569 --> 00:08:11.769 tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, 00:08:11.970 --> 00:08:15.089 It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, 00:08:15.290 --> 00:08:17.829 but on every word that comes from the mouth of 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:20.899 God. Then the devil took him to the holy city 00:08:20.899 --> 00:08:23.139 and had him stand at the highest point of the 00:08:23.139 --> 00:08:26.040 temple. Real quick here. Where's the holy city 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:29.399 for people listening? It's Jerusalem. So he's 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:32.820 in Jerusalem. He has been transported to Jerusalem 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:35.139 to the highest point of the temple. Right. Which, 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:37.220 if you've seen the temple, is on top of the Holy 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:40.169 of Holies. Yeah. Okay. Just helping people picture 00:08:40.169 --> 00:08:43.450 this. Foundation, yeah. So he's on the highest 00:08:43.450 --> 00:08:45.370 point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, 00:08:45.470 --> 00:08:47.389 he said, throw yourself down, for it is written, 00:08:47.529 --> 00:08:50.289 he will command the angels concerning you, and 00:08:50.289 --> 00:08:53.970 they will lift you up in their hands so that 00:08:53.970 --> 00:08:55.929 you will not strike your foot against a stone. 00:08:56.769 --> 00:08:59.789 Jesus answered him, it is also written, do not 00:08:59.789 --> 00:09:03.070 put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the 00:09:03.070 --> 00:09:05.169 devil took him to a very high mountain and showed 00:09:05.169 --> 00:09:07.970 him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 00:09:08.540 --> 00:09:10.779 All this I will give you, he said, if you will 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:13.740 bow down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.159 Away from me, Satan, for it is written, Worship 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.179 the Lord your God and serve him only. Then the 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:21.379 devil left him and the angels came and attended 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:25.039 him. All right. This is a short section with 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.460 a ton of meaning. Yes. So I want to point out 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:30.419 there's three places that he gets confronted. 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:34.480 And so I want to specify something I was talking 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.340 about earlier. I think that if you think the 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:38.820 devil is a specific entity, that is entirely 00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:41.419 appropriate. But I also want to make sure that 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:43.200 we're not misunderstanding what's going on in 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.799 the Old Testament. That the role of the Satan 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:51.370 is not just a name, it's a title. It's a title. 00:09:51.429 --> 00:09:56.549 In other words, his job is to accuse and to tempt. 00:09:56.970 --> 00:10:00.690 This is his job. And it's important for us to 00:10:00.690 --> 00:10:02.409 know that when we're actually running into these 00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:04.570 things because later they're going to say things 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:07.600 like the devil's job is to come in. Still, kill, 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:09.940 and destroy. Right? Because you're supposed to 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:12.259 pull away from the character of God. It's to 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:13.940 accuse you of being away from the character of 00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:18.440 God. Okay. So the Satan, Satan in this circumstance, 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:21.519 the devil, goes and takes Jesus, and he first 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:23.419 talks to him in a wilderness. So what do we say 00:10:23.419 --> 00:10:25.879 about wilderness? It's a place you go to meet 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:26.820 God. It's a place you go to meet God. Right? 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.220 Yep. Then he takes him to the top of the temple. 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:31.960 The temple. Which is the place where heaven and 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:34.639 earth intersect. Gotcha. Right? And then he takes 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.440 him on a very high mountain. Have we ever heard 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:38.940 of a very high mountain in the Old Testament 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:41.279 before? I think there might have been one where 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.080 some tablets were carved out. Yeah, and so these 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.019 aren't accidental places. These are places of 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:50.039 extreme significance, like the desert, the actual 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:52.159 temple where heaven and earth meet, a very high 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:53.740 mountain where you can see everything, but it's 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:56.039 also somewhere close to where God is, right? 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:58.539 Especially in ancient understanding. So Satan 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:02.820 is actually taking Jesus to the most... Religious 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:05.720 places. Religious sites. And so if we were to 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:08.139 do that today, and I'm just trying to make up 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:10.679 some things, so something that had extreme significance 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:16.120 to believers today, let's say he took us to the 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:19.220 Jordan River, right? And he took us to, well, 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:21.580 probably still the temple area, right? The temple 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.460 area. He'd take us to the empty tomb, take us 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:27.620 to Calvary, right? Like these are places of extreme 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:33.059 significance, right? And so the first thing he 00:11:33.059 --> 00:11:37.279 does is he talks to Jesus, who is hungry, totally 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:40.620 tracks. Yep, totally does. What's the longest 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:44.500 fast you've ever done? Zero food, 10 days. Yeah, 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:46.019 I don't think I've ever even done 10 days. I 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:47.320 think I did like five or six, and then I had 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:51.980 to start eating basic food. I am weak. My will 00:11:51.980 --> 00:11:54.480 is much stronger, but my flesh is so much weaker. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.649 It's a challenge. It certainly is. I have not 00:11:57.649 --> 00:11:59.789 fasted ever for a significant period of time 00:11:59.789 --> 00:12:02.409 where you get like 20, 30, 40 days. But I have 00:12:02.409 --> 00:12:05.250 friends who have done that. And one of the things 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:06.970 that they talk about is like, while physically 00:12:06.970 --> 00:12:09.769 you may not be strong, you actually gain a significant 00:12:09.769 --> 00:12:13.070 amount of mental clarity. You do, and I've fasted 00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:16.450 lengthy times for selected important items in 00:12:16.450 --> 00:12:20.210 your life. You find something that is a huge 00:12:20.210 --> 00:12:22.690 distraction in your life and set that aside, 00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:25.190 and it would be challenging for many people to 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:29.110 put your phone down and not touch it for a while. 00:12:29.629 --> 00:12:31.970 There are things that really are distractions 00:12:31.970 --> 00:12:34.070 in our lives. How dare you look at my phone when 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:37.470 you say that? They're great tools. Ben, you could 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:39.149 put your phone down. I could. You're right. I 00:12:39.149 --> 00:12:43.559 could. And the reason I'm bringing this up is 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:45.980 that it is not a moment of weakness. This is 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:47.759 not a time of weakness that the devil comes to 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:49.899 talk to Jesus. It's actually at the height of 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:52.120 his strength, right? It's actually at the height 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:53.799 of his strength that he comes and he actually 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.039 engages him on this. But he immediately goes 00:12:56.039 --> 00:13:00.379 to a physical commodity, right? Now, in the wilderness, 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:08.080 by the way, these three temptations is what I'm 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.730 going to call them, tests. are actually mirroring 00:13:10.730 --> 00:13:13.009 tests that Israel went through in the desert 00:13:13.009 --> 00:13:16.210 and that ultimately they struggled with. God 00:13:16.210 --> 00:13:18.970 still had patience with them, but ultimately 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:20.850 they struggled with and failed because they failed 00:13:20.850 --> 00:13:23.470 to trust God in those situations. And Jesus is 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:25.570 coming in as Torah made flesh, as a representative 00:13:25.570 --> 00:13:27.509 of Israel, and he's going to flip this on its 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:31.330 head. So the first thing is bread in the desert, 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:36.379 hunger, thirst. We've talked about this a lot, 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:39.440 but Israel really struggled with this one. They 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.759 were hungry and they doubted his provision. Why 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:45.059 did you lead us out into the desert so we're 00:13:45.059 --> 00:13:48.820 going to die? Right? And then so much that they're 00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:51.200 like, we should get rid of this Moses guy. It's 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.539 his fault that we're here. He had it good back 00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:55.240 in Egypt. You remember that slavery back there? 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:57.779 That was awesome. We had food. We had food. And 00:13:57.779 --> 00:14:01.279 nothing else. Yeah. You know? And ignore the 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.480 fact, of course, that Pharaoh literally threw 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.259 all of her baby boys into the river. Ignore the 00:14:06.259 --> 00:14:07.940 fact that we were only valued for what we could 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:10.059 produce. Ignore the fact that they stopped giving 00:14:10.059 --> 00:14:12.559 us straw for bricks. Ignore all those things. 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:15.519 I'll ignore those. The hard times, it seems easier 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.320 to forget those. In those positions, when they 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:21.879 grumbled, God provided manna, teaching Israel 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:25.399 to rely on him daily. That's Exodus 16, by the 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:30.580 way. Deuteronomy 8 .3, which is Moses' I'm going 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:33.200 to call it final diatribe to the second generation 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:34.600 that's going to go in and take the land, right? 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:38.240 Reminding them of what has happened. He says, 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.139 man does not live on bread alone. Remember this. 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:45.100 Man doesn't live on bread alone, but by every 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:47.940 word that proceeds from the mouth of God. All 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:49.940 three of Jesus' responses are going to be from 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:52.899 the book of Deuteronomy. I think that's significant 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:55.559 because this is the declaration that Moses is 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.100 giving to the people before they step into the... 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:00.909 Promised land. And what is Jesus about to say? 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.529 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is here. Is 00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:06.629 here. You're about to step into something. Yeah. 00:15:06.669 --> 00:15:10.809 Right? And so Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 3, stepping 00:15:10.809 --> 00:15:13.490 into God's provision and refusing to use his 00:15:13.490 --> 00:15:16.149 divine power for self -sufficiency. And he steps 00:15:16.149 --> 00:15:18.909 in and succeeds or maybe elevates where Israel 00:15:18.909 --> 00:15:20.370 struggled. And I'm not going to say the word 00:15:20.370 --> 00:15:22.889 fails because I don't think that every time you 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:25.360 mess up, it's a failure. Right. you will learn 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.120 something about who God is and learn something 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.200 about who you are with God. They struggled with 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.779 manna. Yeah. But they ate manna and they learned 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:35.740 the system and God provided and they got that. 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:41.940 Yeah. But it was still a test. Yeah. It is, and 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:47.720 it's interesting that Satan is testing Jesus 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.299 with something that... God ultimately did. Now, 00:15:50.379 --> 00:15:52.399 of course, God didn't turn stones to bread. He's 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.940 made bread come down from heaven, but it's a 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:56.980 very similar thing. God provided bread in the 00:15:56.980 --> 00:15:58.799 desert. Now Satan is offering to provide bread 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.600 in the desert. I feel like there's something 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:05.419 that'll preach there, right? That just because 00:16:05.419 --> 00:16:07.539 it's offering you something that God also offers 00:16:07.539 --> 00:16:08.940 you doesn't mean that it's going to be good for 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:12.080 you. Satan actually wasn't necessarily providing, 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:15.460 offering bread in the desert. He was challenging 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:18.659 Jesus to create it. Just like God created manna 00:16:18.659 --> 00:16:20.220 from heaven, he said, you can create bread from 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:25.100 these stones. Did God really say? Right? Did 00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:27.500 God really say? Did God really say, going back 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:30.799 to Genesis, didn't God say that you have the 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:36.120 authority to turn stones into bread? Yeah. Come 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:37.840 on, Satan. Yeah. Your tricks are getting old. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.539 Yep. Right? So the second thing, he goes and 00:16:40.539 --> 00:16:42.500 he takes them to the temple, and he challenges 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:44.399 them to throw himself off, citing scripture. 00:16:45.449 --> 00:16:47.990 Citing the Psalms, which by the way, we've talked 00:16:47.990 --> 00:16:50.509 about this before, but Psalms, there is good 00:16:50.509 --> 00:16:52.850 theology in Psalms, but Psalms ultimately are 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:55.750 an expression of love and adoration to God or 00:16:55.750 --> 00:16:58.450 expression of human emotion and worship to God, 00:16:58.549 --> 00:17:00.769 which means that sometimes there are things in 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:02.350 the Psalms that shouldn't be taken literally 00:17:02.350 --> 00:17:05.869 as things you're supposed to do. I've gotten 00:17:05.869 --> 00:17:07.630 pushback on that, and I remind people that there 00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:10.410 is literally a psalm that ends with, happy is 00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:12.470 the man who gathers his children and bashes their 00:17:12.470 --> 00:17:14.769 heads against the rock. This is not a divine 00:17:14.769 --> 00:17:17.170 command for us to go and do. Not something literal. 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:20.349 It is showing the gambit of human emotion from 00:17:20.349 --> 00:17:24.769 rage to love to adoration to lament, like all 00:17:24.769 --> 00:17:27.650 these different places that you have. And it 00:17:27.650 --> 00:17:31.910 is something that is necessary, and I think it 00:17:31.910 --> 00:17:36.529 is a necessary expression before God. I struggle 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:40.450 sometimes in the way that we pray and talk to 00:17:40.450 --> 00:17:43.289 God because everything is always so polished. 00:17:44.490 --> 00:17:49.289 It's always so like refined, you know? And I 00:17:49.289 --> 00:17:51.490 remember, I remember I was praying one time and 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:54.009 I was frustrated and I was like, we were praying 00:17:54.009 --> 00:17:55.509 with somebody and I was like, and God, I'm just 00:17:55.509 --> 00:17:57.789 pissed off about this. And somebody was like, 00:17:57.849 --> 00:17:58.869 well, you can't say that to God. I was like, 00:17:58.910 --> 00:18:01.440 yeah, cause he doesn't know. Yeah. right? You 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:02.960 know what God wants to know is He wants to hear 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:05.000 who, like, He wants me to be real, because He 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.940 can do something with that. No, I'm totally that 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:12.480 way. I've told God there's still, I will say, 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:14.339 losses in my life, people that we've lost that 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:17.819 I don't understand, you know? And I said, God, 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:20.039 I'm still mad about that one. Doesn't mean, you 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:22.640 know, I believe any less in God, but I'm mad 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.440 about that, and I've told God I'm mad about it, 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.640 but I also trust Him implicitly, and so I can 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:29.549 let it go. We talked about this. Spencer and 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:31.529 I, it was in our first season of our podcast. 00:18:32.069 --> 00:18:35.369 When James was four, he told me that I did not 00:18:35.369 --> 00:18:37.589 love him. And you know why I didn't love him? 00:18:37.849 --> 00:18:41.710 He had to brush his teeth. Yeah. He yelled and 00:18:41.710 --> 00:18:46.430 he screamed. He's like, you don't love me. You 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:50.430 don't know what love is. And you know what? I 00:18:50.430 --> 00:18:54.180 was frustrated, but also I was like. You're still 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:56.099 going to brush your teeth, bud. It's going to 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:59.279 happen. And sometimes people, they have this 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:01.539 idea that if you raise your voice at God, if 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:03.680 you talk to him. And I was like, you know what 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.759 the worst thing is, is when somebody is upset 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.400 and they won't just talk to you and you know 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:10.400 they're upset. Right. And like, I mean, you're 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.299 a father. Wouldn't you rather your kids just 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:14.200 talk to you even if they're upset? If you're 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:16.240 arguing with God and yelling at God, at least 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.039 you're talking to him and he'll listen and he'll 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:26.000 respond. Yeah. So he quotes scripture, quotes 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.420 the Psalms. I got off on a really long tangent 00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:31.500 there. It's easy to do. Good one though. He quotes 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:34.700 the Psalms and he says, hey, Psalms says you 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:39.140 can jump off this and you'll be fine. Well, at 00:19:39.140 --> 00:19:42.960 Manasseh in the book of Exodus, Israel tested 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:45.559 God by demanding water and then complaining about 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:49.190 the water that they did get. And then... This 00:19:49.190 --> 00:19:51.690 water tastes like a rock. This water tastes bitter. 00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:56.369 It tastes nasty, right? And so they're asking, 00:19:56.509 --> 00:19:59.029 they asked this question, they said, is the Lord 00:19:59.029 --> 00:20:03.069 really among us or not? That's 17 .7. Because 00:20:03.069 --> 00:20:05.950 they didn't like the water that they got. Is 00:20:05.950 --> 00:20:08.769 the Lord really here? Right. There's water coming 00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:11.289 out of this rock. Yeah. But is he really here? 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:14.470 You know, and it's a struggle because like... 00:20:15.150 --> 00:20:18.609 God provided them water from the rock, but warned 00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:21.910 Israel against testing him. And Moses is going 00:20:21.910 --> 00:20:23.670 to recall this once again from Deuteronomy. This 00:20:23.670 --> 00:20:26.769 is where Jesus quotes from. He says, he recalls 00:20:26.769 --> 00:20:28.650 this failure. He says, you shall not put your 00:20:28.650 --> 00:20:33.509 God to the test as you did at Manasseh. Right? 00:20:33.589 --> 00:20:38.230 This is Deuteronomy 6 .16. Jesus steps into that 00:20:38.230 --> 00:20:42.660 same issue that Israel had. And he says, I'm 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:44.759 not going to test God's care and provision. I 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:48.799 know that it exists. I know that if I fell off 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:52.079 of here, he's got my back. I don't need to do 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:57.299 it to prove it to you. Right? And unlike Israel, 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.960 Jesus trusts God without having to prove it. 00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:10.400 Quick, this is another rabbit trail, so it is 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:12.819 what it is. At this point, they've been listening 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:14.099 to me long enough, they know I'm going to get 00:21:14.099 --> 00:21:17.799 on a rabbit trail. It is, when we talk about 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:22.559 God moving in prophetic and powerful ways, I 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:24.579 don't know how many people have come that don't 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:26.960 know Jesus, and they say, well, if he would just 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:35.599 blank, right? Yep. I'd believe. Yeah. And then 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:37.599 something dramatic happens in their life, and 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:41.480 they're like, oh, man, lucky me. Yeah. Right. 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:44.079 Right? And people always, they're like, well, 00:21:44.180 --> 00:21:47.640 you know, I want to tell a very specific story. 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:49.299 And this is actually a good friend of mine who 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:51.859 is actually in the process of learning how to 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:56.019 follow Jesus now. But at the time, right over 00:21:56.019 --> 00:21:59.559 the head. Yeah. Right? They were hitting ends 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:01.819 meet, and they did not have the money that they 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:04.980 needed. in order to pay their rent. So they were 00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:06.500 in the process of getting moved out of their 00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:08.019 place and they were going to not have their place, 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:11.519 you know, in two days. And they needed, um, I 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:14.480 can't, it was like $250, which, you know, if 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:16.039 you don't have any money is significant. That's 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:19.619 a lot. Yeah. You know, and I called Tara and 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:21.220 I said, Hey, I think we can step in and do this. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:22.960 I think we have the wiggle room in our budget 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.180 to not put ourselves in trouble at this point. 00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:27.299 Um, this is by the way, when we were much younger. 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:31.559 Um, and, and so I went and I said, Hey, um, this 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:35.019 is for you. I don't want this back. Just go take 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:40.119 care of what you got going on. And prior to actually 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:41.720 coming to them, they said that they had prayed 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.680 and asked God for help. And then they're like, 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:49.160 I'm so glad you stepped in and did this. And 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:51.319 I said, well, you should really thank God. They're 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:55.420 like, well, God didn't do anything. Yeah. And 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:57.680 I'm like, okay. Other than Inspire Ben. Other 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.019 than Inspire Ben and Tara speak to us that we 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:04.180 can step in and actually fill this gap. You're 00:23:04.180 --> 00:23:07.079 correct that God did not form money out of air, 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:11.920 right? But he did use his people to go and do 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:13.960 those things. And I think people sometimes forget 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:17.259 the miraculous nature of hospitality and love, 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:19.700 right? That's right. That's what we're here to 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:21.619 show and share, and there's so many ways to do 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:23.799 that. And I agree, and I was tempted to go down 00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:26.140 that similar rabbit trail when you brought that 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:33.519 up, because I've seen too many cases where services... 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:36.559 want to focus on signs and wonders to impress 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:39.460 people with God. And I'm all about signs and 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:42.240 wonders. Me too. No question, but... I've seen 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.460 too many awesome things that God has done. Yeah, 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.579 I've seen them, I've experienced them, felt them, 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:50.700 and I know that, but that's not what it is to... 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:53.380 It's not what changes lives. And well, in every 00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:57.700 sign and wonder, if it doesn't lead to... an 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:00.279 invitation or a step into the kingdom of god 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:02.880 like i mean it meets people's needs so i never 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:04.519 want to pretend like it's wasted correct right 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:07.480 because um paul's gonna say you planted a seed 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:09.619 so and so watered so and so harvested like okay 00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:12.380 so regardless like you're you're doing the work 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:15.640 yeah i was like but if if it's not if people 00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:17.599 are just seeking the gift and not the gift maker 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:20.859 yeah right it's problematic yeah because the 00:24:20.859 --> 00:24:22.779 gift maker is inviting you to a different kind 00:24:22.779 --> 00:24:26.299 of life And the miracle and the prophetic is 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:28.880 connecting you to that person. Yeah. And that 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.079 person is going to radically change who you are. 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:34.799 Yep. All right. So I just, by the way, I just 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:36.799 love that Jesus actually says is he actually 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.380 uses the Greek word. I'm going to have to read 00:24:39.380 --> 00:24:41.220 this really closely because I don't read Greek 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:44.819 very well. Ekparazo. Ekparazo. That's how I'm 00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:46.319 going to say it. If somebody is a Greek reader 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:48.579 and they're like, that's not right. Send me an 00:24:48.579 --> 00:24:51.319 email. I'm sorry. Yeah. But it actually means 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.099 to provoke or challenge. And it's actually forbidden 00:24:54.099 --> 00:24:57.079 in Jewish theology. Okay. You can't provoke a 00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:00.259 challenge from people. So the devil doesn't actually 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:03.940 just say, hey, he's actually provoking a challenge, 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:07.640 similar to the Israelites going, prove it, God. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:09.700 Yeah, prove it. I know you just gave us bread 00:25:09.700 --> 00:25:14.220 from heaven. Prove it. Yeah. Which is just crazy. 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:17.960 Exactly. It's like, you're going to prove this 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:21.319 bread just came from heaven? Going back to this 00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:22.900 idea of people talking about, well, God just 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:24.480 has to prove to me he exists. And I was like, 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:27.039 you breathe in, you think, you reason, you have 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:29.240 family, you have a life, you have a house that 00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:31.299 you sleep in, and you need God to prove it? Yeah. 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:36.740 Come on, man. Yeah. You know? Sorry. Come on, 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:39.309 dude. It could be. guy or gal. So I'll use dude, 00:25:39.450 --> 00:25:42.710 but that is gender neutral there. Yep. All right. 00:25:42.730 --> 00:25:45.349 So then we go to the third one and then Satan 00:25:45.349 --> 00:25:48.029 offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. If 00:25:48.029 --> 00:25:51.529 you will bow down and worship him. So this, we 00:25:51.529 --> 00:25:53.349 hinted at this earlier, this is going to connect 00:25:53.349 --> 00:25:57.549 to Sinai, very high mountain. And Israel struggles 00:25:57.549 --> 00:26:01.210 because I, when's the last time you read that 00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:03.470 story? It's interesting because God initially 00:26:03.470 --> 00:26:08.220 invites Israel to consecrate themselves. At Sinai. 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:10.819 And then he says, okay, it's time for you to 00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:13.700 come up the mountain. And the people are afraid. 00:26:13.900 --> 00:26:16.640 Yeah. They see the thunder, they see the fire, 00:26:16.680 --> 00:26:18.339 and they're afraid, and so they don't want to 00:26:18.339 --> 00:26:22.039 go up the mountain. The invitation was always 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:24.440 for all of Israel. All of them. All of them. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.759 They were afraid, and they said, hey, Moses, 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:31.400 why don't you go up there? Right? Why don't you 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:33.640 go up there? And then later they're going to 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:35.779 complain, like, who made you mediator between 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:39.460 us and God? Right. You did. You did. You did. 00:26:40.059 --> 00:26:42.339 You had the invitation to come up here, and you 00:26:42.339 --> 00:26:45.319 didn't. And you didn't. And you didn't. And because 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:47.660 you didn't, Moses goes up the mountain, which, 00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:49.220 by the way, he's 80 years old at this point, 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:53.099 which I just love this. He goes up this mountain, 00:26:53.180 --> 00:26:56.400 which is like a three -mile trek. And then he 00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:58.740 has to go. He receives the commandments. He's 00:26:58.740 --> 00:27:00.500 there for 40 days. Then he has to go down the 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:02.000 mountain. He sees what's going on. He has to 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.599 go back up the mountain to talk to God. And I'm 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:06.640 like, poor Moses, man. He's going up and down 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.559 this mountain like crazy. I'm planning on doing 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.119 that when I'm 80, but we'll see. Yeah, we'll 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:15.039 see. So they're like, we're too afraid. We're 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:16.819 not going to go. You go up into the mountain. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.779 You speak to God, and we'll accept what you have 00:27:19.779 --> 00:27:21.900 to say. So they don't get to hear directly from 00:27:21.900 --> 00:27:23.940 God because they're not willing to go up the 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:26.500 mountain. Right. They're too afraid. Boy, that'll 00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:28.880 preach all day. Yeah. Too afraid of the presence 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:30.680 of God. Too afraid of the presence of God that 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:32.400 I'm never going to actually hear from him. Yeah. 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:35.039 And so a lot of times in our churches today, 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:38.319 a lot of us hear revelation from pastors and 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:41.279 from people who read the Bible and insight rather 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.480 than ever actually learning to hear the voice 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:45.759 of God ourself. Yeah. Which, by the way, I'm 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.819 not doubting. Moses was still a great leader, 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:49.839 had good things to say, important things to say. 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:52.519 Yep. But God wanted his people to be in communion 00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:56.320 with him. That's right. And they said no. No, 00:27:56.320 --> 00:27:59.619 we're okay with that. So he's on the top of this 00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:02.980 mountain. And while Moses is up there, the people 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:08.740 go, man, guy's been gone for a while. What are 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:10.660 we going to do, Aaron? And he's like, well, I'll 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:11.799 tell you what, bring me all your gold. And he 00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:13.880 throws it in the fire, crafts a calf. And he 00:28:13.880 --> 00:28:18.019 says, hey, this is the God who brought you out 00:28:18.019 --> 00:28:20.420 of Israel. After all the miracles that they've 00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:24.089 experienced and they lose. focused that quickly. 00:28:24.289 --> 00:28:26.269 They, at this point, they've walked through the 00:28:26.269 --> 00:28:29.369 Red Sea. They have received bread from heaven. 00:28:29.490 --> 00:28:31.309 They've received quail. They've received water 00:28:31.309 --> 00:28:33.690 from a rock. I believe at this point they've 00:28:33.690 --> 00:28:35.269 actually had a fight with the Amalekites and 00:28:35.269 --> 00:28:37.630 just whipped their butts. Yeah. Right? So they've 00:28:37.630 --> 00:28:40.250 done all of these things. With God. With God. 00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:42.230 And then they go there and then they heard the 00:28:42.230 --> 00:28:43.750 voice of God and they were so afraid of it they 00:28:43.750 --> 00:28:47.490 sent up Moses. And by the way, the thunder and 00:28:47.490 --> 00:28:49.210 stuff is still on the mountain. It hasn't gone 00:28:49.210 --> 00:28:51.230 anywhere. Right. They're still at the mountain 00:28:51.230 --> 00:28:55.210 and they go, Yeah, this thing that we created, 00:28:55.250 --> 00:28:58.369 this is what brought us out of Egypt. This thing 00:28:58.369 --> 00:29:03.650 that we created. Okay. Can we poke at some people? 00:29:03.890 --> 00:29:09.869 Oh, yeah, please. A lot of times there's a tendency 00:29:09.869 --> 00:29:12.490 when people are successful in work, right? Because 00:29:12.490 --> 00:29:14.029 you had a successful career. I would say that 00:29:14.029 --> 00:29:15.849 you had a very, very successful career where 00:29:15.849 --> 00:29:19.319 you say, you know, my life that I have. The fact 00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:21.460 that I can care for my kids, I can give to my 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:24.819 community. It's something that I built. Yeah. 00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:28.799 Something that I did. Yep. I know, and I think 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.859 you know, that every success we have is because 00:29:31.859 --> 00:29:34.940 God gave it to us. My success is because the 00:29:34.940 --> 00:29:37.019 relationship I had with the Lord. And because 00:29:37.019 --> 00:29:38.759 we took the things that God gave us and we put 00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:41.079 them into practice. Correct. Now, what I don't 00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:43.059 want to hear... take that because I think people 00:29:43.059 --> 00:29:45.339 take that snapshot and then they say, well, if 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:47.440 I just go and trust the Lord, then I'm going 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:50.099 to have success in business. No, you're going 00:29:50.099 --> 00:29:52.019 to have success into that which he calls you. 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:55.660 Right. Right. It might be caring for the homeless. 00:29:56.099 --> 00:30:00.599 It might be parenting. It might be, you know, 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:02.240 a good example. We have somebody in our church 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:06.460 who does foster care. Right. And that might be 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:08.579 your life. Yeah. Or you might be called to be 00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:11.200 the best barista in the world. Right. Somebody 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:13.500 who shares the love of Jesus and the Holy Spirit 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:15.819 with every cup of coffee you pour. And that was 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:17.900 the key. I would just reflect on my own career. 00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:21.500 I was in management of a lot of people, but my 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:27.480 focus wasn't on necessarily all the big picture 00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:29.599 management. It was helping each individual be 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.709 successful in who they were created to be. and 00:30:32.709 --> 00:30:35.990 helping them excel, because as they grew and 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:38.650 gained confidence, I always joked and said, it 00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:40.190 makes my life easier. If you guys all do a great 00:30:40.190 --> 00:30:42.210 job, then my job as a manager is much easier. 00:30:42.869 --> 00:30:45.809 Well, and so Satan takes him up here, and he 00:30:45.809 --> 00:30:48.150 confronts Jesus with something that, by the way, 00:30:48.190 --> 00:30:50.029 I feel like we don't realize how often we're 00:30:50.029 --> 00:30:53.240 actually confronted with this. Worship me. Turn 00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:58.319 your attention to me. Bow your head to me. Whether 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:01.500 it be your job, your insurance that takes care 00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:03.920 of your health, your 401k plan, I don't care 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:07.079 what it is. Even your family can become this, 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:09.200 right? Because you place them above God rather 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.380 than God to them. And he says, if you do this, 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:16.259 man, you're gonna have everything in the garden. 00:31:16.779 --> 00:31:18.779 Now, if you eat that food, you'll be like God. 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:24.710 Adam and Eve, you're already Like God. You know 00:31:24.710 --> 00:31:26.849 what's good, you know what's evil, and you're 00:31:26.849 --> 00:31:30.069 made in his image. You just don't get to define 00:31:30.069 --> 00:31:33.450 for yourself what's good and evil. Right. If 00:31:33.450 --> 00:31:35.569 you bow down and worship me, Jesus, you'll have 00:31:35.569 --> 00:31:40.170 everything. I already have everything. Yeah. 00:31:40.890 --> 00:31:45.069 And because of that, I bow down and give praise 00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:48.150 to the Father. Right. And I worship him only. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:51.220 Thou shalt have no other gods than me. Because 00:31:51.220 --> 00:31:54.619 I know everything comes from him. Every single 00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:57.819 thing. Every breath, every tear, every laugh, 00:31:58.019 --> 00:32:01.319 every cry. It's all sustained inside of the world 00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:05.220 that he spoke into existence. Right? Now, of 00:32:05.220 --> 00:32:06.579 course, Jesus cheats a little bit because he 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:10.880 was there. Yeah. He really knows. He's not interpreting 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:12.940 this. He's not interpreting this. He was there. 00:32:13.779 --> 00:32:19.720 But he says, go away, Satan. Yeah. It's written, 00:32:19.819 --> 00:32:24.380 Deuteronomy. Moses knowing this. Worship the 00:32:24.380 --> 00:32:28.720 Lord your God only. And serve him only. Because 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:31.339 if you don't get this right, nothing else is 00:32:31.339 --> 00:32:35.279 going to be right. Period. In the Roman Empire, 00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:38.039 earthly power was often tied to worshiping pagan 00:32:38.039 --> 00:32:40.180 gods or an emperor. The Greek word for worship 00:32:40.180 --> 00:32:44.789 here is proskunio. It means to bow down, symbolizing 00:32:44.789 --> 00:32:48.609 submission. And Jesus' refusal emphasizes that 00:32:48.609 --> 00:32:51.450 worship belongs only to God. By the way, this 00:32:51.450 --> 00:32:53.369 is not the last time Jesus is going to say something 00:32:53.369 --> 00:32:54.990 like this. It's just not going to be about Satan 00:32:54.990 --> 00:32:56.769 next time. It's going to be about Rome. Yeah. 00:32:57.190 --> 00:32:59.029 He's going to take a coin. He says, whose inscription 00:32:59.029 --> 00:33:02.730 is on this? Right. Why don't you give to Rome 00:33:02.730 --> 00:33:06.769 what's Rome? By the way, never give to Rome what's 00:33:06.769 --> 00:33:11.480 God's, which is you. Powerful. Powerful statement. 00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:14.940 Yep. Real powerful. So after this, the, uh, after 00:33:14.940 --> 00:33:16.460 these three temptations, the angels come and 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:18.559 they minister to Jesus. Um, by the way, this 00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:20.640 is a great connection back to Elijah being cared 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.779 for after, uh, Mount Carmel. Yep. Right. Exactly. 00:33:23.859 --> 00:33:26.740 Um, in his case though, he's, uh, he's hungry 00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:28.640 and he's depressed and he's like, Oh, what's 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:31.160 holding me? And he's like, tell you what, Elijah, 00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:34.519 take a nap. Have a snack. It will be okay. Have 00:33:34.519 --> 00:33:38.640 a cookie and a nap. Cookie and a nap. That's 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:43.660 a grandpa speaking right there. Oh, man. The 00:33:43.660 --> 00:33:46.779 Malakim, which is the Hebrew for the angels, 00:33:46.920 --> 00:33:49.180 are understood in Jewish tradition to be God's 00:33:49.180 --> 00:33:51.200 messengers who step in and help people in times 00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:57.019 of need. let's talk about like what I think are 00:33:57.019 --> 00:33:59.359 three big takeaways in here. Three, three big 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.900 takeaways. Jesus steps in here in this conversation 00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:07.539 as a, as a second and he's a second Adam, right? 00:34:07.619 --> 00:34:09.480 Right. There's a lot of these mirroring from 00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.940 the garden, right? He is the second Moses and 00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:16.820 Israel, right? He is like, in a lot of cases, 00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:19.280 like a second David, right? He's stepping in 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:21.019 and he's the second, like he's the greater of. 00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:23.300 That's what the book of Hebrews is going to talk 00:34:23.300 --> 00:34:29.090 about a lot. Adam was tempted in a lush garden. 00:34:29.329 --> 00:34:31.329 Jesus, though, was tempted in a barren wasteland. 00:34:31.429 --> 00:34:36.789 Right. Right. But like Deuteronomy says, like 00:34:36.789 --> 00:34:39.369 Israel did, Jesus goes in the desert. He confronts 00:34:39.369 --> 00:34:41.769 the devil, takes three tests and says, no, that's 00:34:41.769 --> 00:34:44.389 not who we're going to be. Yeah. That is not 00:34:44.389 --> 00:34:46.250 who we're going to be, nor who God wants us to 00:34:46.250 --> 00:34:50.650 be. That's how we're supposed to come out of 00:34:50.650 --> 00:34:53.190 the desert. And each of us has a wilderness at 00:34:53.190 --> 00:34:56.170 some point in our lives. And understanding the 00:34:56.170 --> 00:34:58.750 purpose of that wilderness is so key with God. 00:34:59.550 --> 00:35:02.289 And it's not necessarily hard times. It's quiet 00:35:02.289 --> 00:35:05.150 times. There's so many different facets of what 00:35:05.150 --> 00:35:08.670 we could see as a wilderness in our lives. Sometimes 00:35:08.670 --> 00:35:11.090 I wonder about this story. I was like, this story, 00:35:11.210 --> 00:35:15.309 yes, it parallels Israel. what is this for Jesus? 00:35:15.489 --> 00:35:17.809 Because like we talked about, he has to grow 00:35:17.809 --> 00:35:20.909 in knowledge and favor, just like anybody else. 00:35:21.510 --> 00:35:24.289 That is this experience when he steps out, he's 00:35:24.289 --> 00:35:27.550 like, he already knows, but now he experientially 00:35:27.550 --> 00:35:29.650 knows what it means to stand against temptation. 00:35:29.849 --> 00:35:32.809 Yeah. Right? Right. Like to stand in the face 00:35:32.809 --> 00:35:36.150 of something like the devil, the accuser, a heavenly 00:35:36.150 --> 00:35:37.949 host of some capacity that we don't completely 00:35:37.949 --> 00:35:41.199 understand. Right. Right? Somebody who is like 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:44.119 their entire being is around testing whether 00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:46.340 or not you actually mean what you say you mean. 00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:48.880 And being very, having thousands of years of 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:52.079 practice of tricking people. Yep. And testing 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:57.579 people. Yep. He was good at it. He was good at 00:35:57.579 --> 00:36:00.980 it. Still is. Yep. In fact, one of the things 00:36:00.980 --> 00:36:03.619 that I was, the second takeaway is actually that 00:36:03.619 --> 00:36:06.760 the devil misuses scripture, which by the way, 00:36:06.760 --> 00:36:09.880 still happens today. Very much. It's why knowing 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:13.260 the voice of God and knowing your Bible and then 00:36:13.260 --> 00:36:16.199 the narrative of what God teaches is really important. 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:18.960 In context. In context. That's where so many 00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:20.599 misunderstandings come from. And I think you've 00:36:20.599 --> 00:36:24.139 done a very good job in this podcast and other 00:36:24.139 --> 00:36:29.750 teachings on... building that context. No! That's 00:36:29.750 --> 00:36:33.170 very important. I'll take it. Well, and it's 00:36:33.170 --> 00:36:36.190 such a difficult thing because I was having this 00:36:36.190 --> 00:36:38.389 conversation, and I think I wrote about it in 00:36:38.389 --> 00:36:42.570 something. But when you start with the premise 00:36:42.570 --> 00:36:45.949 that God is angry, you're going to massively 00:36:45.949 --> 00:36:48.889 misread Torah. Now, I don't want to misspeak 00:36:48.889 --> 00:36:50.909 because there are portions in Torah where God 00:36:50.909 --> 00:36:53.579 gets real frustrated. Real frustrated. But the 00:36:53.579 --> 00:36:56.019 overall narrative throughout Torah is that God 00:36:56.019 --> 00:36:58.280 loves his people. The overall narrative of the 00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:00.480 Old Testament is God loves his people. And his 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:04.960 patience endures like decades. And there's so 00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:07.639 many cases of forgiveness and repentance and 00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:11.420 patience on God's part that he just continually 00:37:11.420 --> 00:37:14.880 brings Israel back to himself. It's crazy. Sometimes 00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:16.539 people will be like, well, yeah, but there was 00:37:16.539 --> 00:37:18.380 this king and then this king that he dealt with. 00:37:18.460 --> 00:37:21.059 And I was like, those were 40 years apart. Yeah. 00:37:22.190 --> 00:37:24.909 It sounds to me like God has a lot of patience 00:37:24.909 --> 00:37:28.070 and love. It's almost like that whole thing of 00:37:28.070 --> 00:37:30.309 love to a thousand generations and punishing 00:37:30.309 --> 00:37:33.010 to the third. A thousand is a lot bigger than 00:37:33.010 --> 00:37:35.110 three. It sure is. It's significantly bigger 00:37:35.110 --> 00:37:39.369 than three. But Satan preys on not only things, 00:37:39.510 --> 00:37:42.309 and I was going to say accusation, temptation, 00:37:42.650 --> 00:37:49.449 preys on things that are desires, right? Oh, 00:37:49.469 --> 00:37:52.659 yeah. Physical. Power, emotional, spiritual. 00:37:53.480 --> 00:37:56.980 But beyond that, it often uses things that we 00:37:56.980 --> 00:38:00.739 are quasi -familiar with. Right. And it's just 00:38:00.739 --> 00:38:04.179 twisted enough. Yeah. Right? Now, the flip side 00:38:04.179 --> 00:38:07.219 of that that I think is worth mentioning just 00:38:07.219 --> 00:38:10.480 briefly is that every person who does not view 00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:12.780 Scripture the exact same as you is not the Satan. 00:38:13.059 --> 00:38:17.409 Correct. Right? It's okay to have some disagreements. 00:38:18.030 --> 00:38:20.809 There's a reason why we talk about things show 00:38:20.809 --> 00:38:23.849 up in like a creed, for example. Like these things 00:38:23.849 --> 00:38:27.409 are really important. But outside of that, everybody 00:38:27.409 --> 00:38:29.250 has different experiences with God. Everybody 00:38:29.250 --> 00:38:31.130 encounters his word differently. And also God 00:38:31.130 --> 00:38:33.090 works differently in all of us. He sure does. 00:38:33.150 --> 00:38:36.170 That we have a way to find unity in spite of 00:38:36.170 --> 00:38:38.230 the fact that we don't agree. Correct. Right? 00:38:38.409 --> 00:38:42.670 That's huge. The last thing here is it says that... 00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:45.880 I want to talk about the fact that this is not 00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:47.619 an isolated event where Jesus is going to do 00:38:47.619 --> 00:38:50.059 what the devil wants and it's gone. It says that 00:38:50.059 --> 00:38:52.920 he leaves him for another opportune time. That's 00:38:52.920 --> 00:38:55.980 actually in Luke. Oh. Right? Luke 4 .13, it says 00:38:55.980 --> 00:38:57.980 the devil leaves him for a more opportune time. 00:38:58.219 --> 00:39:03.420 Right. When would that be? I don't know. Crucifixion 00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:05.159 is definitely going to be one. Yeah. You know, 00:39:05.219 --> 00:39:07.420 it turns out that when you're being beaten and 00:39:07.420 --> 00:39:10.800 whipped and nails through your wrist and can't 00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:12.699 breathe, that's... Probably a time that you're 00:39:12.699 --> 00:39:14.599 not thinking straight. Yeah. It's an easy time 00:39:14.599 --> 00:39:19.400 to be tempted. And yet on the cross, we talked 00:39:19.400 --> 00:39:22.059 about this. You and I preached together before 00:39:22.059 --> 00:39:25.860 Easter. Jesus preached a sermon through quoting 00:39:25.860 --> 00:39:29.800 the text. Yeah. Quoting Psalms. Yeah. The Son 00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:33.780 of God in his crucifixion quotes a Psalm. Yeah. 00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:36.000 But it's not a Psalm of testing. It's a Psalm 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:39.239 of deliverance. Deliverance. Yeah. Yeah. That's 00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:41.599 cool. Yeah. So much so. Just thought about that 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:45.619 just now. Yep. So I think the, like for us is 00:39:45.619 --> 00:39:47.519 like recognizing that when we trust Jesus, we're 00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:49.159 stepping into something greater than ourselves. 00:39:49.599 --> 00:39:51.820 Right. And we're trusting something greater than 00:39:51.820 --> 00:39:53.659 ourselves. We're not, we're trusting his finished 00:39:53.659 --> 00:39:55.920 work, his complete work. We don't have to complete 00:39:55.920 --> 00:40:00.750 it. We just walk in his step. Right. But temptation 00:40:00.750 --> 00:40:02.289 and the things around us are going to try to 00:40:02.289 --> 00:40:04.010 get us off track, are going to use things that 00:40:04.010 --> 00:40:05.550 are familiar with us, even up to the Word of 00:40:05.550 --> 00:40:07.869 God. Yes. One of the things I think is interesting, 00:40:07.949 --> 00:40:10.030 since I started posting this podcast and blogs 00:40:10.030 --> 00:40:11.849 and different things that I've been doing, I 00:40:11.849 --> 00:40:16.190 get a lot of reels of Christians, right? And 00:40:16.190 --> 00:40:18.690 the things some of these people say about each 00:40:18.690 --> 00:40:20.789 other. Yeah. I was like, man, take a breath. 00:40:21.110 --> 00:40:23.449 That's right. That's not what Christianity is 00:40:23.449 --> 00:40:26.909 supposed to be about. It's not at all. It's amazing 00:40:26.909 --> 00:40:28.869 how often people think that they need to defend 00:40:28.869 --> 00:40:31.900 God. Yeah. He's been doing it just fine. He literally 00:40:31.900 --> 00:40:33.539 spoke it all into existence. He doesn't need 00:40:33.539 --> 00:40:37.940 you to defend him. Right. The last rabbit trail, 00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:42.000 I promise. Sometimes James, my oldest, will try 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:47.039 to defend me to my youngest. Okay. Right? No, 00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:50.739 dad told you not to do that. Dude, I got this. 00:40:51.440 --> 00:40:53.340 Right. You don't need to step in. I got this. 00:40:53.420 --> 00:40:56.000 I got this. You know? You know that from raising 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.119 kids. I sure do. You're like, no, you don't need 00:40:58.119 --> 00:41:00.960 to micromanage them. I got this. I am in full 00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:03.579 control of what's going on here. Right. But you 00:41:03.579 --> 00:41:06.300 don't understand. They're doing this. No. I got 00:41:06.300 --> 00:41:09.659 it, kid. Yeah. I got it. We're good. I can fix 00:41:09.659 --> 00:41:12.300 this one, God. Just listen to me. That's our 00:41:12.300 --> 00:41:15.659 story. Oh, man. And then the last thing is, is 00:41:15.659 --> 00:41:18.219 that as you follow Jesus, there's going to be 00:41:18.219 --> 00:41:20.380 situations where you're going to completely nail 00:41:20.380 --> 00:41:23.739 it. In the desert. Yep. And there's going to 00:41:23.739 --> 00:41:25.159 be other times where you completely botch it 00:41:25.159 --> 00:41:29.699 in the desert. But one of the encouragements 00:41:29.699 --> 00:41:33.380 we have from Israel is they got mad at Marah, 00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:38.360 but he gave them water at Elim. Yeah. They didn't 00:41:38.360 --> 00:41:40.539 trust him in the bread, so he gave them bread 00:41:40.539 --> 00:41:44.199 and quail. Right. They didn't, you know, and 00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:48.480 there was the golden calf, and Moses comes down 00:41:48.480 --> 00:41:50.760 and he... breaks the commandments. When he goes 00:41:50.760 --> 00:41:55.280 back up, God makes him new tablets. Yeah. God's 00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:59.400 patience is great. He's a God of redemption. 00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:01.900 Yeah. He's a God who, and when you're walking 00:42:01.900 --> 00:42:03.559 as a kid after him, you're going to trip and 00:42:03.559 --> 00:42:05.119 fall. And he's like, all right, I got you, bud. 00:42:05.219 --> 00:42:07.440 Let's stand up. Yeah. The only thing I'm not 00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:08.820 going to let you do is sit there and wallow in 00:42:08.820 --> 00:42:10.960 your, in your pity. And that's so huge. Cause 00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:12.860 that's, that's where we struggle the most as 00:42:12.860 --> 00:42:16.039 we, we make mistakes sometimes continually and 00:42:16.039 --> 00:42:21.260 we lose, trust in that forgiveness. We just think, 00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:26.239 because as a human, I don't have that level of 00:42:26.239 --> 00:42:28.760 forgiveness that God does unless I lean on him. 00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:33.380 And it's been challenging. God will push that. 00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:36.260 I definitely have a lot more love and forgiveness 00:42:36.260 --> 00:42:38.920 for my kids than I do for my brothers. Yep. Yeah, 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:40.860 and I love my brothers, but let's be honest. 00:42:40.940 --> 00:42:42.739 We got more love and forgiveness for our kids 00:42:42.739 --> 00:42:45.519 than we do for our brothers. Yep, yep. But following 00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:47.519 Jesus means having the same love that he has 00:42:47.519 --> 00:42:49.840 for us for each other. For each other. Whew, 00:42:49.980 --> 00:42:52.690 that's a tall order. It's a big one. All right. 00:42:52.730 --> 00:42:54.829 Well, I think we'll, we'll close it there. And 00:42:54.829 --> 00:42:57.269 I appreciate you being here again, uh, sharing 00:42:57.269 --> 00:42:59.449 with us from your, from your schedule. Uh, once 00:42:59.449 --> 00:43:01.070 again, I'm gonna let people know if you are listening, 00:43:01.150 --> 00:43:03.329 I do have a book coming out in May 15th. It's 00:43:03.329 --> 00:43:05.349 probably out now because I think this one's not 00:43:05.349 --> 00:43:07.250 going to post to like June something. So May 00:43:07.250 --> 00:43:10.769 15th, it was released, uh, hardback softback 00:43:10.769 --> 00:43:13.269 and audible. And I'm looking, I might post it 00:43:13.269 --> 00:43:15.309 on Spotify too. Uh, I have the rights to do that. 00:43:15.369 --> 00:43:19.519 So, um, but the, uh, But, yeah, so beautiful 00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:22.420 chaos, infinite love, talking about raising kids 00:43:22.420 --> 00:43:25.840 and understanding that, oh, snap, I might be 00:43:25.840 --> 00:43:28.300 God's kid. Yeah. Right? And this is way different 00:43:28.300 --> 00:43:29.239 than I thought. And there's a lot of parallels. 00:43:29.460 --> 00:43:31.920 A lot of parallels. A lot of parallels. And, 00:43:32.159 --> 00:43:34.260 oh, one more fun thing, and this is probably 00:43:34.260 --> 00:43:36.139 going to be in the next couple of months, but 00:43:36.139 --> 00:43:39.679 Spencer and I. teased earlier that we were turning 00:43:39.679 --> 00:43:42.940 our Torah series into a series of books. The 00:43:42.940 --> 00:43:45.360 Genesis one is done. Uh, we've been proofreading 00:43:45.360 --> 00:43:47.820 it and, uh, that'll probably get released in 00:43:47.820 --> 00:43:49.760 the next few months if people want to go and 00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:51.340 engage that a different way. If some people are 00:43:51.340 --> 00:43:53.300 like, man, your audio originally was not very 00:43:53.300 --> 00:43:56.139 good. Yeah. Read the book, read the book. Now, 00:43:56.219 --> 00:43:58.820 the funny thing is about that is that, uh, the 00:43:58.820 --> 00:44:00.880 next step is actually to record the audio book 00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:04.420 of a book that I wrote from the podcast dialogue, 00:44:04.699 --> 00:44:07.820 which is just, it feels like, at some point, 00:44:07.820 --> 00:44:10.559 like Inception, right? Yep. Yeah. And I'm reading 00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:14.519 that book, and I will highly recommend it. Ben 00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:20.039 does an excellent job of a very encouraging explanation 00:44:20.039 --> 00:44:22.599 of things that we don't all understand in Torah. 00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:25.300 Yeah. All right, guys, you have a good one, and 00:44:25.300 --> 00:44:28.219 we'll see you next week. Well, you'll see us 00:44:28.219 --> 00:44:31.900 next week. We won't see you. And that's a wrap 00:44:31.900 --> 00:44:34.599 for today's episode of Love and Context. We hope 00:44:34.599 --> 00:44:36.719 this conversation encouraged you and gave you 00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:39.119 fresh insights into how we can better love God 00:44:39.119 --> 00:44:41.219 and others through the powerful truths of the 00:44:41.219 --> 00:44:43.619 Bible. We'd love to hear from you. Send your 00:44:43.619 --> 00:44:46.619 questions, thoughts, or suggestions to loveandcontext 00:44:46.619 --> 00:44:49.380 at gmail .com. 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