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Welcome to the Love in Context podcast, unscripted conversation with Ben and Spencer.

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We're so glad that you could join us today, whether that's from your car, office, home,

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church, or wherever you're at.

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We did have a few sound quality issues with our first few episodes.

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Those have been resolved.

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So if you do notice that the sound is funny in the first couple episodes, we do apologize

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for that.

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If you want to contact us, you can email us at loveincontext.gmail.com.

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Also follow us on Instagram at loveincontext.

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Welcome to the Love in Context podcast, an unscripted conversation with Ben and Spencer.

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I'm Ben.

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I'm Spencer.

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And this shout out is for his sister, who I'm going to call Jacqueline this week.

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She gets a different name every week just because she complains about us the most.

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So we're like, you get a different name every week.

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Yeah.

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I actually have no idea what her real name is.

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And so, and I prefer you didn't tell me so that I could just keep guessing.

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All right.

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Sounds good.

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So this week we're going to be in, we're actually out of the first 11 chapters.

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And we're going to cover a brief, like I want to talk about a really cool thing from the

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first 11 chapters.

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But after that, we're going to start talking about Abram.

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Yeah.

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He will be Abraham.

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That's after he's told he can't have bacon anymore.

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His name is Abraham.

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Like I guess it's like an homage to that.

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That's probably true.

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That is not contextually correct.

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It's not contextually correct.

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It's funny.

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So we're going to be talking about Abram and just kind of like some big things to know

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about him.

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I think one of the things that tends to happen with Old Testament characters, right?

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Because we're Gentiles, right?

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Yeah.

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I didn't ask you, you might be Jewish, but I'm assuming you're a Gentile.

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I am.

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We kind of forget that we're grafted into a tree sometimes.

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Right?

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And so like the story of Abraham and the story of Isaac, Jacob, and the Exodus, like these

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are also our story.

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Yeah.

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These are our history.

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Right?

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We need to understand the story that we're a part of.

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Absolutely.

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And I think sometimes like the modern church, what we do is we try to walk on from that.

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Yeah.

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We forget that we're actually grafted into a story.

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And so part of what we're seeking to do in the Torah series is really understand like

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when we're living into Jesus' identity, right?

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The identity that Jesus calls out for us, like to bring kingdom.

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Like what is this based in?

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Like what is the Jewish history?

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Like what is this history that we're actually coming from?

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Right?

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What's some thoughts that we can do?

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So if you have not read your Bible, I would really question how you got to this podcast.

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Maybe somebody just shared it with you.

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But if you have not read this section of the Bible recently, that's actually what I meant

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to say.

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We're going to be getting to the part.

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Yeah, I think you should.

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We're going to be between Genesis 12 and 16.

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We're just going to cover part of Abram's life today because there's a lot and we're

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going to do some really high level stuff.

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Once again, please check out some of the stuff from the Bible Project and the Baymaw podcast.

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They do a much better deep dive.

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They do.

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And we're not really trying to get into those portions of it.

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We're actually trying to just take some ideas and talk about Christian living, love and

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context.

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Yeah.

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All right.

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So go ahead and pause, take a look at those and then we'll get started.

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So one thing to mention here is those of you who know the story, you'll be like, okay,

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Abram, Abraham, same person, right?

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Correct.

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Okay.

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Biologically, yes, but there is a distinct thing that happens when his name gets changed

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from Abram to Abraham.

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We're not going to get into that today.

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No.

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Okay.

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But I wanted to say that because a lot of times we read, okay, we're talking about Abram

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and a lot of times people are like, okay, we're just talking about Abraham.

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It's like, no, we're talking about Abram.

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Right.

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So there is a fundamental thing that happens with that name change.

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That's another episode, but I just want to put that in there so you're aware of it.

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Yeah.

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And then it's not the last time it's going to happen in scripture too where God changes

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somebody's name and they dramatically, their character changes.

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Yeah.

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Because identity is associated with your name.

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Yeah.

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Are you going to live into your identity or not?

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Right.

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So one of the things we wanted to talk about because there's a huge narrative shift between

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one through 11 and 12.

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Yes.

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Right.

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So we've gone from talking over thousands, hundreds of years to talking about one guy

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for a hundred years.

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I mean, we're going to be on Abram for chapters.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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But one of the interesting things is we talked about chiasmus, right?

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If you actually take the first 11 chapters of Genesis, you know what actually felt like

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it forms another chiasmus, which is really cool.

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I'm not going to really get into it, which once again, go check out the Baymaw podcast

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because they have a great episode on it and they have a great chart and they made it and

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I'm not going to do that.

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If you ever see me make charts, like you're glad that I didn't make it.

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But Genesis one is a story about learning our identity, finding our identity in Christ

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and really specifically about finding it at Sabbath rest.

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Right.

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Isn't it crazy that the first 11 chapters, when you actually diagram out the chiasm,

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it comes to the center on the name of Noah.

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You know what Noah's name means?

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It means he rests.

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Isn't it crazy that chapter one starts with, you know, the story about needing to find

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rest in the sight of God's identity.

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Right.

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And the whole 11 chapters, after talking about everything and understanding who is this guy,

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right.

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It comes back to once again, he rests.

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Yeah.

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Finding your identity and rest.

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Man, it's so good.

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It's almost like God wanted us to not miss the point.

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Yeah.

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And yet, where do we find most of our identity?

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In busyness.

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In busyness.

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How much can you do?

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How much can you accomplish?

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I'm going to make a book recommendation.

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We don't do that very often, right?

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No.

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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by Mark Comer.

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Do yourself a favor and check out that book.

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He talks about how we've led busyness run our life and learning how to let go of things

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and just eliminate hurry in our life.

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Guys, John Mark Comer, first of all, is great all the time.

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And honestly, if you write us an email and you're like, I don't like John Mark Comer,

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I'm sad for you because he's a great man.

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He has some great stuff.

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And I was like, I'm not going to agree with him on everything, but I love his perspective

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on most things.

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And this is one book that I don't even know if there's audio book versions or is.

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But if you get an audio book version and then you listen to it at two times speed, I'm going

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to be like, bro, you missed the point.

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Yeah.

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No kidding.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Like take your time with this one.

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I'm feeling challenged on that particular one.

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I literally just attacked Ben's heater a little bit.

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Yeah.

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So I listened to everything.

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I just told him I listen to almost everything at two times speed.

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And so he's literally just throwing me under the bus.

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Do you hear that, Jacqueline?

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Once again, calling out your sister.

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You only have one sister, right?

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I have four sisters.

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No, 14 sisters.

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Is that what you said?

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No, no.

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Four.

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I got four.

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Okay.

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So now we don't even know which sister I'm calling out, right?

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Yeah.

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I mean, you think a lot of large numbers eventually I'm going to get one of their names right.

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Maybe.

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There's a couple of them that I'm like, yeah, you're just not going to get there.

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It's going to be a fun game now.

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This is a good episode.

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I already like it so far.

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So one through 11, like that's a really cool thing.

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Like I said, check out the Baymaw episode.

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I think it's wonderful.

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And learning to understand like your identity comes from your relationship with God, learning

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how to rest your mandate.

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And it's not that you don't work, but you work from a place of settled.

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Hurry tends to come from a place of I'm not enough.

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One of the, the, the team that I work with in my job, one of the things I tell them all

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the time is let's do a few things.

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Well, like let's not do a bunch of stuff kind of okay.

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Like, right, let's do a few things.

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Well, yeah.

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As that's going to have a way better impact than if we just try to do everything.

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By the way, church, can you just hear that?

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If you're a pastor of a church, like find the things you do really well and start with

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that lean into that.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Um, yeah, no kidding.

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Yeah.

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Actually just every organization, let's do a few things.

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Well, do a few things really well, and you can add things over time.

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Yeah, sure.

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But make sure that the things you're adding, you're learning how to do well.

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All right.

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This is what happens when you do a few things.

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Well, people take notice and they say, I want to be a part of that.

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And so then you start attracting people who have a different skill set, who then can add

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to your team or whatever you're doing and do some different things.

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Well, yeah, doing a few things well is, it's going to make a big difference.

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And you know, and getting known for doing those things well.

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Right.

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And you'd be surprised how much more productive you become.

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So speaking of doing things well, let's jump into chapter 12 and talk about this guy by

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the name of Abram.

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Yeah.

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Right.

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So I was talking to a fellow in our in our church.

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We were sermon prepping.

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Right.

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And I was talking about Genesis chapter 12.

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And I love this part.

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It says, the Lord said to Abram, go from your country, your people and your father's household

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to the land I will show you.

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And I'm going to jump over your verse two and three because I want to come back and

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talk about those.

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It says, so Abram went as the Lord had told him.

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Okay.

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Where did Abram go?

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We don't know.

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We don't know.

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Maybe they tell us where he went.

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Right.

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But God says go and Abram just goes.

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Uh huh.

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Which I love.

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Right.

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Because how many times are you working with people and they're like, yeah, I just want

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to know what God's will is.

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Go bring the kingdom.

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Where?

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Wherever you go.

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Mm hmm.

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They're like, well, I just I want to be able to be of service to God.

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Okay.

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What do you do?

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I work in a dog food company.

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Great.

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Be of service to God there.

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Well, but I really feel like I need to preach.

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Okay.

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Why do you feel like you need to preach?

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Well, because I've got a word to share.

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00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:27,760
Okay.

260
00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,480
Are there not people at the dog food company to talk to?

261
00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:31,480
You know what I mean?

262
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:32,480
Uh huh.

263
00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,160
No, I'm not saying that if God puts a call on your life of preaching, right?

264
00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:36,320
Like absolutely.

265
00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:37,320
You pursue that.

266
00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:38,320
Yeah.

267
00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,200
I heard a fast say this way.

268
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,880
It's easier to steer a moving ship.

269
00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:43,880
Right.

270
00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:44,880
Right.

271
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:46,680
It's much harder to steer a ship that's not moving.

272
00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:47,680
Mm hmm.

273
00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:48,680
Right.

274
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:50,160
That does just get tossed by the waves.

275
00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:51,160
Right.

276
00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,960
And it's actually, so Dallas Willer, another book recommendation by the way, which incidentally

277
00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,400
is very connected to John Mark Comer and you can do the research as to why.

278
00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:00,400
Mm hmm.

279
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,920
Dallas Willer wrote a book called The Divine Conspiracy.

280
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:05,240
Mm hmm.

281
00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,880
And in it, he was talking about how we're called to live like Jesus.

282
00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:08,880
Yeah.

283
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:09,880
Right?

284
00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:10,880
Called to be Jesus in the world.

285
00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:12,280
Now, he stops and he clarifies.

286
00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,280
He says, now some of you just heard that you're supposed to become a Middle Eastern rabbi

287
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:22,600
and you're supposed to go die on a cross, be buried, resurrected, you know, ascend to

288
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:23,600
heaven.

289
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,920
It's like, you don't understand what he's actually saying.

290
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,400
Like you're not supposed to become Jesus.

291
00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,320
Like you're not supposed to go be a Middle Eastern rabbi.

292
00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:31,720
Right.

293
00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:38,320
Our call to become like Jesus now becomes, are you a stay at home mom?

294
00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,720
What does it look like when Jesus is a stay at home mom?

295
00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,260
Are you a student in school?

296
00:11:45,260 --> 00:11:49,240
What does it look like when Jesus is a student in school?

297
00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,240
Are you a advisor on finances?

298
00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,600
What does it look like when Jesus advises people about their finances?

299
00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,440
Are you a contractor?

300
00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:01,300
What does it look like?

301
00:12:01,300 --> 00:12:06,760
The thing is you're trying to become like Jesus and Jesus wants to actually invade where

302
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:08,240
you are.

303
00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:09,720
Right?

304
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,000
Heaven is invading earth.

305
00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:12,100
Got news for you.

306
00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:14,120
On that equation, you're probably earth.

307
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:15,120
Yeah.

308
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:20,440
But when you let heaven, Jesus's identity invade where you are, suddenly his hands of

309
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:25,520
feet go everywhere and you start to see light pour out of everything.

310
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,960
People are like, oh, I have to change everything about who I am.

311
00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,640
No, you need to let Jesus become who you are.

312
00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:31,800
Right?

313
00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:36,880
So yeah, you do have to change, but God didn't put those desires in you for no reason.

314
00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,080
He wants to use them for the glory of the kingdom.

315
00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,160
Let's dispel change a little bit.

316
00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:42,160
Yeah.

317
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:46,280
The most American believers I know are like, I have to change.

318
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,720
And I'm specifically talking to American believers here.

319
00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:49,720
Yeah.

320
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:51,200
They're like, I have to change.

321
00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:55,360
So I'm going to pull up my own bootstraps and be more like Jesus.

322
00:12:55,360 --> 00:13:00,480
No, just take the time to be with Jesus and he's going to change you.

323
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:01,480
Right?

324
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:02,480
Right.

325
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:03,480
And we should clarify it.

326
00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,840
Like, obviously we are not talking about sinful behaviors.

327
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,080
No, like don't be Jesus and sinful.

328
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,720
Actually, yeah, do be Jesus and sinful behaviors and you won't do them.

329
00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,080
But we're talking about like on your day to day life, you're like, oh, well, I have to

330
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,720
I have to stop playing tennis.

331
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,520
Who said that?

332
00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,480
Right?

333
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,560
Neither one of us play tennis, so I'm not even sure why I came up with that analogy.

334
00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:28,400
Like table tennis would be like the closest.

335
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:29,680
I have no idea.

336
00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:33,160
Like it's been at least 10 years since I've touched a tennis racket.

337
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:34,160
Yeah.

338
00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:35,160
At least.

339
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,840
And I think the last time I even touched a tennis racket, I always did the thing where

340
00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,200
you know, you take it and you like bounce it on your head.

341
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:41,200
Right?

342
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,120
And I'm actually playing tennis.

343
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:45,120
We love tennis players.

344
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:46,120
Yeah.

345
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:47,600
Sorry if we just insulted you.

346
00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,880
Yeah, no, what I'm saying is I'm bad at tennis.

347
00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,440
But it is like if I'm into tennis, OK, how do I use it for the glory of God?

348
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:58,820
If you're into hiking, OK, how do you do it for the glory of God?

349
00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:02,240
If your big thing is that you like to cook.

350
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,400
OK, how do you do it for the glory of God?

351
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:10,080
Our goal is to bring the kingdom into the world on earth as it is in heaven.

352
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,920
That's the mandate, right?

353
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:18,440
Stop trying to stop trying to leave the earth and go to heaven, bring heaven to earth.

354
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:19,440
Yeah.

355
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:20,440
All right.

356
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,600
So like and and that's why I love this thing about Abraham, right?

357
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:24,720
He's like God says, go.

358
00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:25,720
He's like, OK.

359
00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:27,880
And he just goes.

360
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,640
He has no idea where he's going.

361
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,000
And I love him for that.

362
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,400
And by the way, we could we could learn a lesson.

363
00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,680
We could, you know, like what would happen?

364
00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,720
Like, OK, so we're just like sitting in our room and we hear God say, OK, get in your

365
00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,600
car and go.

366
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,560
Americans were going to be like, go where?

367
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:45,560
Doesn't matter.

368
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,600
He said, get in the car and go.

369
00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,960
And probably along the way, you're going to figure it out.

370
00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,520
But we're so scared to be led by the spirit.

371
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:56,320
That we never listen.

372
00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:57,320
Yeah.

373
00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:58,320
Right.

374
00:14:58,320 --> 00:14:59,320
So good.

375
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:00,320
So.

376
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:01,320
All right.

377
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:06,160
We got to talk about blessing because I this is one of the things that just frustrates me

378
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,160
greatly in the church in America.

379
00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,280
Can we do this?

380
00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:11,280
We can.

381
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,000
Spoiler alert, we're getting into blessing.

382
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,520
You're going to hear a lot of Ben for a few minutes.

383
00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,520
Yeah, there's this then you're going to hear a lot of it.

384
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:20,520
Yeah.

385
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:25,720
So if there is a soapbox to stand on, this is probably mine because there are two portions

386
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,960
of the church that really frustrate me and blessing.

387
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:34,360
There are the point there are the people that look at blessing for selfish reasons.

388
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,080
And there are the people who sit around and poverish because they never ask God for anything.

389
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:39,080
Right.

390
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,080
We're not supposed to be either of those things.

391
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:44,400
Okay.

392
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,820
So take a look at verse two.

393
00:15:46,820 --> 00:15:50,160
This is foundational to our understanding because everything built on this is going

394
00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:51,160
to come after.

395
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,160
Okay.

396
00:15:52,160 --> 00:16:00,560
God says to Abraham, he says, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.

397
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:06,200
I will make your name great, which is very funny considering the story that came previously.

398
00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:07,400
Right.

399
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,720
And you will be a blessing.

400
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,980
Okay.

401
00:16:12,980 --> 00:16:17,160
I will bless you so that what?

402
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,720
All nations are going to be blessed.

403
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,080
This is the story of Israel.

404
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:29,760
God puts him at the at the crossroads of the earth to be a blessing, to be a visual representation

405
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,180
of his story.

406
00:16:32,180 --> 00:16:37,160
And that through their blessing, they're going to bless all nations.

407
00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,320
The sad thing that ends up happening over and over again is Israel wants to be like

408
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,960
all nations and God's like, no, you're supposed to be different so that all nations can be

409
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:44,960
blessed.

410
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,560
Boy, if only there was an application for the church today, right?

411
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,120
Yeah.

412
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:52,520
Blessing is not a bad thing.

413
00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:58,000
Blessing is a necessary component of the Christian life because you are supposed to be blessed

414
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,880
so that all nations can be blessed.

415
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:02,880
It's not for you.

416
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,080
And by the way, I think the tendency is to think about money.

417
00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:07,800
Blessing is not about money.

418
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:08,800
No.

419
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:09,800
Right?

420
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:15,480
Nowhere in this part of nowhere in this passage does it equate blessing with money.

421
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,480
Right.

422
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,680
Hear that.

423
00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,320
It's not about money.

424
00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:27,400
It's about receiving and being a go between between God and the world, which by the way,

425
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:34,080
in Acts chapter two, God opens his new fangled temple called the church and he drops his

426
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,960
Holy Spirit into all of them.

427
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:42,120
Because now you, the church are the place where heaven and earth meet with the Holy

428
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:49,400
Spirit and everywhere you go, God goes.

429
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:54,560
If you don't receive the blessing, you can't give the blessing.

430
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,080
You hear me?

431
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,600
If you don't actually have the Holy Spirit inside of you, you can give the Holy Spirit

432
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,280
around like you can't see God moving around you without the Holy Spirit moving through

433
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:04,280
you.

434
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:05,280
You're the place where heaven and earth meet.

435
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:09,360
You're supposed to bring light to darkness and love to hate.

436
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,840
Wholeness to brokenness.

437
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,980
That's our mandate now.

438
00:18:13,980 --> 00:18:15,680
It's not our power.

439
00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:17,120
It's not our temple.

440
00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,100
We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

441
00:18:19,100 --> 00:18:23,480
He dwells in us and through that all nations are blessed.

442
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:28,400
And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that happened in Acts chapter two fulfills two

443
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,720
things in the Old Testament.

444
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,600
One, it reversed what happened at Babel.

445
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:35,600
Yep.

446
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:36,600
Okay.

447
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,680
They were all talking and everybody was understanding them.

448
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:45,480
And there were people there who spoke wide variety of languages, but they could understand

449
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:46,480
what was going on.

450
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:47,480
Yeah.

451
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:48,480
Right.

452
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:49,480
Such a good observation.

453
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:50,480
That's one.

454
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:51,480
That's one.

455
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:56,820
Two, it takes this blessing that Abraham is and says, hey, I'm grafting this into a church

456
00:18:56,820 --> 00:18:59,920
that's now going to go out to the world.

457
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:04,380
So if Israel is a people and we've been grafted into that, then we have Israel all across

458
00:19:04,380 --> 00:19:07,680
the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.

459
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:08,680
Amen.

460
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:10,560
Dude, that's awesome.

461
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,000
I love it.

462
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,980
You just took this idea of confusing the languages as a scatter.

463
00:19:14,980 --> 00:19:19,360
Now they all speak the same language, even though they speak different languages.

464
00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:23,760
And then they scatter and the church is unstoppable because they're no longer united in their

465
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,640
selfishness, which by the way, I'm always going to talk against with the church.

466
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,840
If you're looking for blessing to be selfish, you missed the point.

467
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:31,840
Yeah.

468
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:32,840
You're buying into something.

469
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,180
It's just not the kingdom of God.

470
00:19:35,180 --> 00:19:39,140
And if you are not asking God and you're not living in blessing, you're also buying into

471
00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:40,800
something and it's not the kingdom of God.

472
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:41,800
Yeah.

473
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,200
You're supposed to be blessed.

474
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:49,960
Might not be materially, but your relationship with your spouse, it should be blessed.

475
00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:50,960
Yeah.

476
00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,120
Doesn't mean it's always going to be perfect.

477
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:54,120
Good golly.

478
00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,880
Me and my wife do not get along all the time.

479
00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,120
I can say the same about my wife and myself.

480
00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:01,720
You're like, I can say the same about you and your wife.

481
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:02,920
They're right.

482
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:03,920
Yeah.

483
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,440
We don't get along all the time, but we are blessed.

484
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,400
Raising our kids is not easy every day.

485
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,160
No, but it is a blessing.

486
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:20,480
Man, my kids are absolutely a blessing and I'm supposed to live that way.

487
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,720
When I come and I participate in something, it should bless the people around me.

488
00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:30,120
Now here is a question church family, right?

489
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,760
Are you actually blessing your community or not?

490
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,800
Because I think that's going to be a real tale of whether or not you're connecting with

491
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:38,760
the kingdom of God or not.

492
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,400
And you don't need to be wealthy to bless your community.

493
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:43,400
Right.

494
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:44,400
We just said it's not about money.

495
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:45,400
Yeah.

496
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:46,400
Not about money.

497
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:47,400
Yeah.

498
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:48,880
I want to say it one more time.

499
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,440
You don't need to be wealthy to bless your community.

500
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:52,440
Yeah.

501
00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,040
I know that we have a person who comes to our group.

502
00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:56,440
Right.

503
00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:02,880
Who blesses me every time they come to our group because they make amazing cornbread.

504
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:04,600
Oh my word.

505
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:05,600
Yeah.

506
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:06,600
You know who I'm talking about.

507
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:07,800
I was so fat last group.

508
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:08,800
Yeah.

509
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,880
It was so good.

510
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:12,880
And I was like, here's the thing.

511
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:18,160
I was like, they baked cornbread.

512
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:19,160
And you're like, okay.

513
00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:20,160
Yeah.

514
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:21,160
But you know what?

515
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:22,560
I was like, I know a person in that group was blessed.

516
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,720
Being in that group made a difference for me.

517
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:26,720
Yeah.

518
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:28,120
But it was so good, man.

519
00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:29,120
Being in Jalapenos.

520
00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:31,480
And I think we had somebody there who didn't even like Jalapenos.

521
00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:32,760
And they're like, this is good.

522
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:33,760
Yeah.

523
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:34,760
Right.

524
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:35,760
And so what's the point of that?

525
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:37,440
I'm not to embarrass the person or anything like that.

526
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:42,760
The point is that they didn't come materially.

527
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,800
They blessed us with something they were good at.

528
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:45,800
Yeah.

529
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:47,160
Oh my goodness.

530
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,880
Guys, you can do that.

531
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:51,480
Right?

532
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:52,760
Yeah.

533
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:59,480
We're called to use the gifts that we have to bless those around us.

534
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,680
Right.

535
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:02,880
Not the money we have.

536
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,840
Now if you do have money, you can be a blessing.

537
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:05,960
Don't get me wrong.

538
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:10,840
We're called to use the gifts that we have to bless those around us.

539
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:12,360
Yeah.

540
00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,280
All right.

541
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,080
So rant over.

542
00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,280
Ben didn't talk as much as he thought he was going to.

543
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,960
He was able to move on from it.

544
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,480
So God says, I'm going to bless you.

545
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,280
And everybody that blesses you is going to be blessed.

546
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,640
And I also did think that it's interesting that it's the first time that God says if

547
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,840
somebody curses you, I'm going to place a curse on them too.

548
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,080
This is actually one of the first places I see God actually talking about a curse.

549
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:38,080
Right?

550
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,840
And it's a direct result as if you're cursing somebody who's supposed to be a blessing.

551
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:42,840
Right?

552
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,960
Boy, maybe hear that.

553
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,280
OK.

554
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,200
Be real careful who you curse, guys.

555
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,200
Mm-hmm.

556
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:53,400
So moving on in chapter 12.

557
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,360
So Abram, let's just kind of talk through the story, right?

558
00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:57,720
Because I think people are kind of familiar with this.

559
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,400
And we'll kind of pull some high level things.

560
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,120
Once again, great material on the Bible project in Baamah.

561
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:04,120
Check those out.

562
00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:05,120
They got some great material here.

563
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:06,120
Yeah.

564
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,240
So there's a famine.

565
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,560
And Abram goes down to Egypt.

566
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:15,120
Totally makes sense because Egypt has a ton of fertile land.

567
00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:18,720
So there's always food in Egypt unless it's the end of Genesis, in which case there's

568
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,080
not because there's a severe famine.

569
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:27,520
And also, just to note there, if Egypt is having a famine, it's a serious famine, guys.

570
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,760
You might say it's biblical proportions.

571
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:34,040
Yeah, I had to say it.

572
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,920
I'm sitting across from him and I saw his eyes squint.

573
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,200
I was like, oh no, oh no, something's coming.

574
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,400
So he goes down into Egypt, right?

575
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,320
And so we've heard this story before.

576
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:51,440
And Abram is like, hey, you know what, Sarah, why don't you just say you're my sister?

577
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,680
And while it's technically not inaccurate, it's definitely misleading.

578
00:23:54,680 --> 00:24:00,480
And that's all fine and dandy, except that Pharaoh is like, oh, this woman looks nice.

579
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:01,480
Yeah.

580
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,360
And like kudos to Sarah because she's like 60 at this point.

581
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:09,920
So then so Pharaoh, they have like disease breakout and all this stuff.

582
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,440
And he's like, why didn't you just tell me she was your wife and not your sister?

583
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,880
He's like, well, I thought you might kill me.

584
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:15,880
Right.

585
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:22,720
I, by the way, I think there's a lot of like, we can identify with that is like, we think

586
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,320
people are going to get mad and strike us.

587
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:31,200
And so we kind of, we don't lie, but we, yeah, we kind of, we kind of fudge the truth a little

588
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:32,720
bit, right?

589
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:38,520
Almost every time that that happens, there's an element of self preservation, right?

590
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:39,520
Self preservation.

591
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,480
Yeah, no kidding.

592
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:49,960
So but this leads to a problem because the Pharaoh and the other suitors gave, gave Abraham

593
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,480
a lot of animals, right?

594
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,320
And so God doesn't actually chastise Abraham, right?

595
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:03,880
Like this is all just part of learning, learning how to follow after God.

596
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:08,600
But what does happen is the natural consequence of the wealth that is generated through animals

597
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:13,720
causes division between him and lot, right?

598
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,240
It's almost like if you generate your wealth the wrong way, it's going to cause problems

599
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,720
in your family.

600
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:19,720
Right?

601
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:20,720
Yeah.

602
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,920
And while God may not stop you from doing that, there is a natural consequence to it.

603
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:26,920
Yeah.

604
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:27,920
Right.

605
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:33,720
And so now lot and Abraham, they're, they're herdsmen are fighting and they're not getting

606
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:35,600
along.

607
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:42,680
And there's two, you might call them brothers in a field fighting.

608
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,840
Well we've seen this story before.

609
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,000
Spoiler alert, last time it didn't end so well.

610
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:49,540
Yeah.

611
00:25:49,540 --> 00:25:51,160
So what does Abraham do?

612
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,900
Abraham here, he does something really interesting.

613
00:25:54,900 --> 00:26:01,720
He gets together a lot and he says, hey, you look whichever way you want and you go that

614
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:02,720
way.

615
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:03,720
I'll go the opposite.

616
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,060
Right?

617
00:26:05,060 --> 00:26:12,480
This is very fascinating because in this society, the, whoever the elder was in the community

618
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,080
or the family would be the one who get to make that decision.

619
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,240
That would have been Abraham at this time.

620
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,240
Okay.

621
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,680
But he tells lot, he says, no, no, you get to decide and I'll go the other way.

622
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:23,680
Yeah.

623
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:25,520
He's absolutely the one with power and the authority.

624
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:26,520
Right?

625
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:27,520
Yeah.

626
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,160
In his power and authority, he's saying you get to choose.

627
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:32,720
Yeah.

628
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,440
And I think we see, we see echoes of Jesus here.

629
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:36,440
Right?

630
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:37,440
Yeah.

631
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:38,440
At the height of his power.

632
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:39,440
Right?

633
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,760
Gets down and washes feet.

634
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,000
But I also think we see echoes of humanity in lot because it actually says that he looks

635
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:53,400
up and he sees the, the plants and you know, what they're, what they're useful for.

636
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:54,400
Right?

637
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,720
And it's the same word there that is used for Eve when she looks upon the fruit.

638
00:26:58,720 --> 00:26:59,720
Right?

639
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:03,040
And she's like, how can I turn this for my favor?

640
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,960
And so lot doesn't learn the lesson of Abraham and he says, well, I'm going to take the better

641
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:08,240
part for myself.

642
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:09,240
Yeah.

643
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,060
Lot hadn't had an ability here, had a chance here, right?

644
00:27:13,060 --> 00:27:15,760
To follow the example of Abraham.

645
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:25,100
Is an interestingly enough after this story, interestingly enough in the story after lot

646
00:27:25,100 --> 00:27:29,000
separates from Abraham, he goes and does what?

647
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:30,000
He settles.

648
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,000
Yeah.

649
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,000
In a place where we're familiar with is not going to end well.

650
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,000
Sodom, Sodom.

651
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,000
Right?

652
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,560
A lot goes and he settles.

653
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,000
Abraham goes and keeps wandering.

654
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:42,000
Yeah.

655
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,000
Yeah.

656
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:48,160
No, it's, it's, it's, there's biblical themes that are happening over and over again.

657
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,440
And we're pointing these out because we want you guys to see them because I think there

658
00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:57,360
are a tendency in Christian life is also to settle rather than realize we're actually

659
00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:59,280
meant to scatter.

660
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,920
Man, churches, how often do we settle?

661
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,680
Oh, so often.

662
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,320
Like we think, oh, ministry is what happens on Sunday morning.

663
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,080
No, no, no.

664
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:09,720
Commission is what happens on Sunday morning.

665
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:10,720
Yeah.

666
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,600
The commission is Sunday.

667
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:14,320
We celebrate and we get sent.

668
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:15,320
Yeah.

669
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,600
Sunday should be a small part of your church ministry.

670
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:18,600
Yeah.

671
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:19,600
Hear that again.

672
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,840
Sunday should be a small part of your church ministry.

673
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:22,840
Yeah.

674
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:27,640
I want to, I want to brag on, on a church that I came from a while ago because I think

675
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,000
that they really got some things right.

676
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:34,040
So when I was in college, there was a church called Real Life on the Blues, right?

677
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,440
They were a plant from a church up in Post Falls, Idaho, right?

678
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:44,440
One of the things I really love about that church is they invested in small group life,

679
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:45,840
right?

680
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:51,560
To the point that there was a point where people were overvaluing Sunday and undervaluing

681
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,360
care groups and they said, listen, if we can't get this right, Sunday morning is going to

682
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:59,920
get shut down because our lifeblood is relationship.

683
00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,320
It's meant to be lived together because that's where they invited people in who were the

684
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:04,320
disenfranchised.

685
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:08,800
They invited people in who were curious about God because typically we think, oh, well,

686
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:13,080
let's invite people who don't know God to church because it's really intimidating.

687
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,180
As I, you know, you think about like the song was like, we're worshiping God with fervor

688
00:29:17,180 --> 00:29:20,720
and let's just say you go to like a Pentecostal church, right?

689
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:25,320
And it's going to be potentially pretty wild.

690
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:26,400
And I love that expression.

691
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,140
I also love the liturgical expression, right?

692
00:29:29,140 --> 00:29:32,200
But it's going to be real uncomfortable for somebody who's just trying to understand God

693
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:33,200
on a very real level.

694
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,800
Like they're not relationally there.

695
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,960
And I'm not saying they can't come, but I'm saying it's going to be more difficult for

696
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:39,960
them.

697
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,020
But if you invite them to a group inside your home or you're eating food and you have a

698
00:29:43,020 --> 00:29:47,080
relationship and you're building and you're talking about God, like that's a place where

699
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:48,720
they can actually start to connect.

700
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:49,720
Yeah.

701
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,560
Think of it, think of it this way.

702
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:57,440
You invite someone to church, they're nervous and kind of reluctantly agree.

703
00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,640
We're going to, we're going to run a hypothetical here.

704
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:00,640
Okay.

705
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:01,640
They're nervous.

706
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:02,920
They kind of reluctantly agree.

707
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:03,920
Okay.

708
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:08,400
They come into church all of a sudden, greeters swarm them saying hi.

709
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:09,400
Right?

710
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:10,400
Yeah.

711
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:11,400
Okay.

712
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:12,400
The greeters say, go, I'm doing my job.

713
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:13,400
I'm greeting the newcomer, right?

714
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,160
And the newcomer is like, get away from me.

715
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,120
Well, and then they get to 10 feet past the greeter and nobody talks to them.

716
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:20,120
Yeah.

717
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,200
Then you get 10 feet past the greeter and then people are turning their backs towards

718
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:23,200
them.

719
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:24,200
Yeah.

720
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:25,200
Right?

721
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:26,200
Okay.

722
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,760
They, they go and, and then in this hypothetical, let's say you, let's say you sit three rows

723
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,240
back from the front.

724
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:32,240
Yeah.

725
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,040
Do you think that's where they're going to want to sit?

726
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,160
Probably not, but they'll go sit with you because they're, you're the one person they

727
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:40,160
know.

728
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,160
Right?

729
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:42,160
Right.

730
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:43,160
Okay.

731
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:44,520
And then meanwhile, the pastor will be like, Oh, there's a new person up front and he'll

732
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,960
continually make eye contact with them while he's preaching because pastors do that.

733
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:48,960
Right.

734
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:49,960
Because you want to connect.

735
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:50,960
Right.

736
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:52,680
And then they're sitting there and they're like, this is creepy.

737
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:53,680
Yeah.

738
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:58,160
When you have no context for that, the church can be absolutely overwhelming.

739
00:30:58,160 --> 00:30:59,160
Terrifying even.

740
00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:03,320
Now, now, now I don't, I don't suffer from social anxiety.

741
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:04,320
Yeah.

742
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:05,320
But there are people who absolutely do.

743
00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:06,320
Oh, totally do.

744
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,560
Like they can't, they can't, that's not, man, that's a nightmare for them.

745
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:10,560
Yeah.

746
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:11,560
Yeah.

747
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,840
And so now contrast that with you being like, Hey, let's go get coffee.

748
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,560
That was way less intimidating.

749
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:18,560
Right.

750
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:19,560
Let's go get lunch.

751
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:20,560
Way less intimidating.

752
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:25,840
Hey, there's a group of people we get together at my house this day of the week at this time.

753
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:29,400
We eat food, we talk a little bit of Jesus and just have a good time.

754
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:30,400
Yeah.

755
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:31,960
Way less intimidating.

756
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:33,600
Right.

757
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:38,060
If you were talking and like the problem, I think one of the problems with Sunday morning

758
00:31:38,060 --> 00:31:41,520
church is it's geared towards extroverted people.

759
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,500
Come be loud together.

760
00:31:44,500 --> 00:31:45,800
My wife's an introvert.

761
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:46,800
Right.

762
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:51,840
She goes to church because she knows that she's called to be there.

763
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:53,720
Right.

764
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:57,520
There's actually very little that she likes about church on Sunday.

765
00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:58,520
Right.

766
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:03,080
And somebody's going to listen to this and be like, I know our pastor's going to listen

767
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:08,400
to this and be like, Oh, but anyways, there's very little that she likes about church on

768
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:09,480
Sunday.

769
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,080
She goes because she knows she's called to be there.

770
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:13,080
Right.

771
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:14,080
Right.

772
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,760
So she would much rather just stay home, read a book, not have anybody bugger the whole

773
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:19,760
day.

774
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:20,760
Right.

775
00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:27,640
And so like, I want to come back to Lot because I don't want to like just trash on Lot because

776
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,600
I think we are Lot in a lot of ways.

777
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:31,600
Right.

778
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,640
We see the thing that's better for ourselves when we go and take it and we don't really

779
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,280
learn how to lay ourselves down.

780
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,920
But one of the things that really strikes me as Abram learns this lesson here with God,

781
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:41,920
right?

782
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:48,480
It's about letting God make your name great because right after this Sodom is actually

783
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:49,480
going to be attacked.

784
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:50,480
Yeah.

785
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,560
And all the people are going to be taken captive and they let Abram knows and he's like, he's

786
00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:55,560
like, Oh, okay.

787
00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:56,760
Well, that's not great.

788
00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:01,000
So he goes with a with a tix bunch of guys and he goes and defeats the people who took

789
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,200
them and he brings them back.

790
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:06,700
And I love this statement here.

791
00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:17,120
So the king of Sodom comes to Abram and he says, sorry, we are in chapter 14 verse 21.

792
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,160
And the king of Sodom says to Abram, he says, give me the people and keep the goods for

793
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,720
yourself, which by the way, first of all, kudos to that king.

794
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:24,720
Yeah.

795
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,920
And I don't know what happens between this king and what comes ends up happening with

796
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,080
Sodom, but this king has his perspective, right?

797
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:32,080
Yeah.

798
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:33,080
I don't care about my stuff.

799
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,360
I care about my people.

800
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:41,120
But Abram says, uh, with raised hand, I have sworn an oath to the Lord God most high creator

801
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:45,680
of heaven and earth that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or a strap

802
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,720
of a sandal so that you will never be able to say I made Abram rich.

803
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:54,200
I will accept nothing but what belong, but what my men have eaten and the share that

804
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,320
belongs to the men who went with me.

805
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:57,320
Okay.

806
00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,800
So Abram, first of all, makes a choice for himself and doesn't impose it on other people,

807
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,400
which I think is great.

808
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:03,400
Right.

809
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:04,400
Conviction, not a commandment.

810
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:05,400
Yeah.

811
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:06,400
Right.

812
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:10,280
But he says, I'm not going to put myself in a position where you can say I made Abram

813
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:11,280
great.

814
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:12,280
You see that?

815
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:13,280
See that great nation that came out of him.

816
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,640
That's because he took our wealth when he saved our people.

817
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:19,200
And now he's a great nation because of what happened here.

818
00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,800
It's like, Nope, that's not going to happen.

819
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:27,800
What is going to happen is I'm going to lay this down again and I saved your people.

820
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:28,800
I saved your stuff.

821
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,960
You're going to bless these other guys who came with me because they did their part and

822
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,080
they don't have the same conviction, but you're not going to be able to say it.

823
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:40,120
We're going to know that in all the world is going to be known that this nation became

824
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,320
great because of God, not because of Abram.

825
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:50,600
And by the way, guys, like that's huge for us as Christians.

826
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:55,000
We really need to absorb this mentality and walk with it.

827
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,280
Right.

828
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:02,240
And I love Abram because he does some things that are just dynamite.

829
00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:06,600
But he also has some things where he just like, man, he really struggles to follow what

830
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:07,600
God is doing.

831
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:09,600
And it's not that he doesn't have doubt.

832
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,920
And we see that even in the next story, right?

833
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,920
Because he's like, God comes and he's like, and a lot of ways, I think this story where

834
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:19,920
God's like, man, Abram, this is awesome.

835
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:20,920
Yeah.

836
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:23,240
Because twice in a row, he's learned the lesson.

837
00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:26,920
Like he's starting to put God on display and God's like, this is really cool.

838
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:32,160
Abram's like, yeah, okay, God, but I don't have an heir.

839
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:33,600
Like you said, I was going to.

840
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:40,520
So my servants going to inherit this, this land and God says nothing.

841
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,960
This is another one of those double Hebrew things.

842
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:51,120
And then he says, again, he goes, okay, God, but seriously, like everybody who's going

843
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,040
to inherit my stuff now doesn't even belong to my line.

844
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:55,040
Yeah.

845
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,480
And God's like, okay, I'll deal with this.

846
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:58,480
Okay.

847
00:35:58,480 --> 00:35:59,480
Yeah.

848
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:04,080
Tell you what, let's have a conversation about that, but it's a weird conversation.

849
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:09,160
I'm going to direct you guys to an episode of Baymott's called the blood path covenant,

850
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:10,360
right?

851
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,560
Because God asked him to do some weird stuff here.

852
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:17,040
He's like, go get these animals and, and bring them here.

853
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:18,640
And then Abram's like, okay.

854
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:22,560
And then the next thing it says is this.

855
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:26,360
Abram brought all these to him, cut them into and arrange the house opposite of each other.

856
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:28,280
The bird tower, he did not cut in half.

857
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:29,280
Okay.

858
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,300
That's weird because God didn't tell him to do that.

859
00:36:31,300 --> 00:36:33,720
So clearly Abram knows something we don't.

860
00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:37,240
And he's setting up this thing called a blood path covenant.

861
00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:40,720
And I don't really want to get too deep into this because I think you should check out

862
00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:41,720
the Baymott episode.

863
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:46,040
It's a great episode, right?

864
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:50,160
But Abram asked for God for a sign.

865
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:54,840
And then God says, okay, well, I'll do a sign with you, I'll do a covenant.

866
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:55,840
Right.

867
00:36:55,840 --> 00:37:01,680
And then Abram like sets up the covenant and then doesn't walk it.

868
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:02,680
Right.

869
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:06,400
Like he sets it up and he's like, well, maybe not.

870
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:07,400
Right.

871
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:08,400
And, and you know why?

872
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:09,400
Yeah.

873
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:14,280
Cause Abram's on the hook if he does, like if he walks this, he has to take responsibility.

874
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:15,540
Right.

875
00:37:15,540 --> 00:37:19,440
This blessing that the Lord put on Abraham that he's promised to Abraham, like you'll

876
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,400
be a blessing to all nations.

877
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:25,120
And I'm going to give you, and at this point it's, I'm going to give you an air, we're

878
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:29,880
going to walk a covenant to make sure that you know that that happens.

879
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:32,520
Side note, Abram's old at this point.

880
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:33,520
Yep.

881
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:34,600
Like at least 75.

882
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:35,600
At least 75.

883
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:36,600
Okay.

884
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,600
I have a four year old and I am far from 75 and I'm tired.

885
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:41,600
Yeah.

886
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:43,760
So I can't imagine doing that at 75.

887
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:48,440
But so Abram's on the hook if he does this, right?

888
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,840
So he sets it up and he's like, well, wait a second, kind of on the fence because this

889
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,060
is a big commitment.

890
00:37:55,060 --> 00:37:58,200
And if I screw it up, it's my blood on the line.

891
00:37:58,200 --> 00:37:59,200
Yeah.

892
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:00,200
Yeah.

893
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:01,200
Okay.

894
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,100
So this isn't like, let's, let's back this up a little bit more.

895
00:38:04,100 --> 00:38:09,400
This isn't like if you mess up with your finances in the U S and you have the option to, to

896
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,240
declare bankruptcy and start over.

897
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:12,240
Right.

898
00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:13,360
That's not how a covenant works.

899
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:18,160
No, this is like your physical blood is on the line.

900
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:19,720
Right.

901
00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:27,160
This is actually a ceremony, a covenant that's used with husbands marrying into a family.

902
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:28,160
Yeah.

903
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:29,160
Right.

904
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:32,800
Then, and the husband says, you know, if I don't fulfill all the terms of the obligation,

905
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:36,080
you can do this in my blood, father-in-law.

906
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:42,480
And likewise, the father-in-law, if I don't deliver a daughter who is a virgin, you can

907
00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,400
do this in my blood.

908
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:49,640
Now, please don't misunderstand, like you need to contextualize this thing.

909
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:50,640
Right.

910
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:55,320
This, this is, this is more of a, like historically where it was.

911
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:56,320
Right.

912
00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:59,360
And I think Baymott does a really good job of helping us walk through that and navigate

913
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:00,360
that.

914
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:05,320
But this is a serious thing because if you don't fulfill your obligation, it's your blood

915
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:06,320
that they're walking in.

916
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:07,320
Yeah.

917
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:08,320
Right.

918
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:13,960
And so, I mean, I, I, not surprisingly, Abram doesn't want to walk through it.

919
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:14,960
No.

920
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,760
But he does go into a deep sleep and then God talks to him about his future, which I

921
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:19,760
love.

922
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:20,760
I love.

923
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,520
By the way, guys, we really need to like understand, like God likes to talk to us when we sleep

924
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,840
because we finally shut up long enough to listen.

925
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:27,840
Yeah.

926
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:28,840
You know?

927
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:29,840
Yeah.

928
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:31,160
I think he talks to me that way more than most.

929
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:32,160
Yeah.

930
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:33,160
I get that.

931
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:34,160
Yeah.

932
00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:35,160
You're like, I get it.

933
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:36,160
He definitely need to be quiet.

934
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:40,080
How many times on the podcast were we like, we're like, okay, Ben talks too much.

935
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:41,080
Yes.

936
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,480
Um, but I love, I love this thing because we talk about the mercy of God a lot, right?

937
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:53,280
And we're, we're, and so God says to Abram, he says, you're going to go to a land that's

938
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:56,040
not your own and you're going to be there for 400 years.

939
00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:58,600
Obviously not him, but like his descendants.

940
00:39:58,600 --> 00:39:59,600
Yeah.

941
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:00,600
But you're going to come back to this land.

942
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:06,240
You're going to take position, possession, but you can't come back now because the sin

943
00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:08,880
of the Amorites hasn't reached its full measure.

944
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:09,880
Okay.

945
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:14,920
So if you knew what the Amorites were doing that during that time, because we talked about

946
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,920
like worship of Malek and some different things like that, but there's a lot of like child

947
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,960
sacrifice and then some crazy stuff that's going on, right?

948
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:25,360
In those, in that time period, the Amorites are not great people, right?

949
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,720
Uh, Abram's learning how to lay himself down.

950
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:29,280
The Amorites were not doing that.

951
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:30,280
Right.

952
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,840
And God, who is apparently this judgmental guy, right?

953
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,320
Because that's what I hear about the God of the Old Testament, fire and brimstone, right?

954
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,280
I mean, Sodom and Gomorrah, it's coming up, right?

955
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,320
But God makes a statement.

956
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:49,640
He says, you're going to come back in 400 years because their sin hasn't reached the

957
00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:54,760
point where I can't redeem it.

958
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,440
I love that man.

959
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,040
Like that talks about the grace of God.

960
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,000
Because I guarantee you for 400 years, he's having a conversation.

961
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:06,000
He's sending people and he's like, Hey guys, come out of this, come out of this, come out

962
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:07,000
of this.

963
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,360
But just like in Genesis one, God says a story is good, even though he knows Genesis three

964
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:13,360
is coming.

965
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:14,360
Yeah.

966
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:19,280
God says, I'm going to do everything I can to try to bring them back.

967
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,800
Even though I know they're not going to do it.

968
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,360
Man, that's crazy to me.

969
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:29,140
Like think about God knows this is about to happen for 400 years.

970
00:41:29,140 --> 00:41:32,120
And we'd be like, Oh no, you need to just knock them out.

971
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:33,120
Right.

972
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:34,120
Just get rid of it.

973
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:35,700
You know, it's not going to take place anyways.

974
00:41:35,700 --> 00:41:39,200
But God is a God of justice and he's raising sons and daughters.

975
00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:41,880
He's not building a fence like we think he is.

976
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:42,880
Yeah.

977
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:43,880
Right.

978
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,320
It's a role that I don't want to step into because I don't understand it.

979
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:48,960
Yeah.

980
00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:50,120
So good.

981
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:59,160
And you got, you kind of have to talk about the power of choice at this point.

982
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,540
Because you have a couple of things happening.

983
00:42:01,540 --> 00:42:06,080
So one, there's this idea, okay, if God knew all this was going to happen, why didn't he

984
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,120
just make it so he stayed in the garden with him?

985
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:13,760
Well, if we didn't have the choice to choose God, would we actually love him?

986
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:14,760
Right.

987
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:15,840
So that's, that's one thing.

988
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:17,800
And I've heard that argument said before yet.

989
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,960
And I think we could even step it like, let's make it more personal.

990
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,080
Yeah.

991
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:27,080
Would your child's love mean anything if they couldn't not love you?

992
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:28,120
Yeah.

993
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:29,440
What?

994
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:30,440
It mean anything?

995
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:35,120
Like if your kid could only love you, they don't have a choice.

996
00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:36,120
Right?

997
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:39,400
Anything, like it doesn't matter what you do.

998
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:40,960
Like they have to love you.

999
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:41,960
Yeah.

1000
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,080
They have to obey you all the time.

1001
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:45,080
Like I got news for you.

1002
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,120
I got something that does that most of the time.

1003
00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,960
It's called an iPhone and I don't love it.

1004
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:51,400
And it doesn't love me.

1005
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:55,360
No, but it does everything you ask it to.

1006
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:56,360
Exactly.

1007
00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:57,360
It does everything I ask it to.

1008
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,600
And if it doesn't, I throw it away and I get a new one.

1009
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:00,600
Right?

1010
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:04,600
That is not a relationship I want to have with my kids.

1011
00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:06,760
And oftentimes that's how we view God.

1012
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:11,600
Of like, okay, well, when we fail too much, he'll just toss it out and we'll start over.

1013
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:12,600
Right.

1014
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:14,640
But that's not what's going on here.

1015
00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:16,960
God is saying, hey, I'm going to wait patiently.

1016
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:22,440
I'm going to send people to redeem, so that you can be redeemed, so that you can come

1017
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,240
back, so you can return.

1018
00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:33,000
And so you have to talk about choice a little bit because could God have done things differently?

1019
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:34,160
Absolutely.

1020
00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:35,160
Did he?

1021
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:37,120
No.

1022
00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:41,600
And so, and I've heard people ask like, okay, well, what about sin coming into the world?

1023
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:45,040
Well, okay, so what about it?

1024
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,800
The reality is, is I don't know the full extent of God's plan.

1025
00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:56,360
Like in Isaiah, Isaiah talks about how the wisdom of man doesn't even measure up to the

1026
00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,240
foolishness of God.

1027
00:43:58,240 --> 00:43:59,240
Right?

1028
00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:01,800
So I don't know the full extent of his plan.

1029
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:10,560
What I have to do is I have to trust that it's good and he knows what he's doing.

1030
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:14,880
You said something a few episodes ago where you said, are we looking at God, at the Old

1031
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:19,000
Testament and the Bible through a God who loves us?

1032
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:23,800
Or are we looking through the Bible as a God who's angry?

1033
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:28,120
And the way we live really determines that.

1034
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:31,860
And one of the things I love about God is he always gives us a choice.

1035
00:44:31,860 --> 00:44:32,860
He does.

1036
00:44:32,860 --> 00:44:35,840
He sets it out in front of us and it's an invitation.

1037
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,240
And please hear me today, okay?

1038
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:43,600
There's an invitation in front of you when you are done with this episode, right?

1039
00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:46,320
Are you going to live into the identity that God calls you to?

1040
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:50,120
Are you going to lay yourself down or are you going to let him make your name great?

1041
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:54,780
Are you going to trust him to bless you and bless all nations?

1042
00:44:54,780 --> 00:44:58,980
Or are you going to try to find the fertile plain for yourself?

1043
00:44:58,980 --> 00:45:02,600
Are you going to accumulate wealth for yourself?

1044
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:08,280
Are you going to give some omissions in order to accumulate for yourself?

1045
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:13,880
Or are you going to trust that God's identity is good and that he's going to actually redeem

1046
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:14,880
a lost world?

1047
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:15,880
Yeah.

1048
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:17,400
And that's super hard.

1049
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:18,400
Yeah.

1050
00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:19,400
It's so difficult.

1051
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:24,760
Now, I think the best place to close in this story is actually understanding what happens.

1052
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:28,480
So God tells Abram what's going to happen.

1053
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:37,500
And then when the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing

1054
00:45:37,500 --> 00:45:42,640
torch appeared and it passed between the pieces.

1055
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:47,920
And what happens there?

1056
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:54,800
The Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, I have given you this land to your

1057
00:45:54,800 --> 00:46:00,960
descendants all the way from the borders of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.

1058
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:07,120
The land is now occupied by a bunch of Aites.

1059
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:09,480
And he's like, that's where the land is now occupied.

1060
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:12,200
But he's saying, I'm giving that to you.

1061
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:13,640
Right.

1062
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:15,840
On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram.

1063
00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:16,840
But here's the deal.

1064
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:18,360
Abram never walked the covenant.

1065
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:19,360
No.

1066
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,560
God walked it twice.

1067
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:25,600
It sounds a lot like a guy I know from the New Testament.

1068
00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:26,600
Yeah.

1069
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:28,660
Who wrapped himself in flesh.

1070
00:46:28,660 --> 00:46:30,120
Was the word made flesh?

1071
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:33,800
And Torah made flesh, by the way.

1072
00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:35,120
Yeah.

1073
00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:40,240
And he goes and he takes on both ends of the covenant to redeem a lost and dying world.

1074
00:46:40,240 --> 00:46:41,240
Yeah.

1075
00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:44,200
To change our nature and bring us back to the nature of who we're supposed to be.

1076
00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:45,200
Yeah, absolutely.

1077
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:54,840
And one of the interesting things, just to kind of point this out, is in verse 12, or

1078
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:59,840
sorry, verse 17, or chapter 15, verse 17, right?

1079
00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:02,720
It actually says Abram saw this happen.

1080
00:47:02,720 --> 00:47:05,080
Okay.

1081
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:14,360
So Abram saw the Lord make a covenant with himself, promising this to Abram.

1082
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:15,820
Right.

1083
00:47:15,820 --> 00:47:18,720
So Abram sees the God who takes on both sides.

1084
00:47:18,720 --> 00:47:19,720
Yeah.

1085
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:20,720
Okay.

1086
00:47:20,720 --> 00:47:24,440
What we're going to see, and we're going to talk about some of this next week too, is

1087
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:30,000
God, or Abram is going to continue to see who God is and how he interacts with this

1088
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:31,000
family.

1089
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:36,040
So when he's talking to his kids, Isaac, Jacob, and down to Joseph, they are not going to

1090
00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:37,520
be perfect.

1091
00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:39,560
They're going to struggle hard.

1092
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:40,800
Yeah.

1093
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:45,320
But God is going to teach them truths about him in the middle of it.

1094
00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:48,520
Truths that are really important for us to understand, because if you don't understand

1095
00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:54,200
God and his initial family, and then as we get into the Exodus and Leviticus, if you

1096
00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:57,400
don't understand this, you're going to come to the wrong conclusions when you get to the

1097
00:47:57,400 --> 00:47:58,400
Gospels.

1098
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:00,200
Yeah.

1099
00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:07,240
I think we're in danger as a church of looking more like the Pharisees than Jesus.

1100
00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:10,500
And that's not to throw the Pharisees under the bus, because I think they get a bad rap.

1101
00:48:10,500 --> 00:48:16,640
But they were so focused on what to do that they forgot what they're supposed to be.

1102
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:20,120
And when Jesus showed up and he says, no, it's not about what you do, it's about who

1103
00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:23,720
you are and how you love well.

1104
00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:30,160
But you add that to what you do, man, that flips the world out of its head.

1105
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:31,160
So good.

1106
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:33,000
That's the invitation, guys.

1107
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:37,560
But like God says, you get a choice.

1108
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:40,480
Well thanks for joining us today.

1109
00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:46,080
If you want to contact us, loveandcontexts at gmail.com, follow us on Instagram.

1110
00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:50,240
Our podcast is on Apple and Spotify.

1111
00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:54,520
So those are the places where you can find us.

1112
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:56,360
Thank you so much for listening today.

1113
00:48:56,360 --> 00:49:02,400
We hope you enjoyed this podcast and we hope that you got something out of it.

1114
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:08,840
If you have any questions, please contact us at loveandcontexts at gmail.com.

1115
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:12,720
You can also follow us on Instagram and message us through there.

1116
00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:15,520
Instagram is love and context.

1117
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:21,520
Again, loveandcontexts at gmail.com or Instagram are the two ways to get ahold of us if you

1118
00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:22,520
would like.

1119
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:23,840
Thank you once again.

1120
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:26,000
We really appreciate you being here.

1121
00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:26,640
God bless.