Sermon
Genesis - Part 46 | Pastor Paul McGee
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Dear Jesus, oh, let's thank him right now for the love that he
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has shown to each one of us. God, I thank you for your love,
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for loving me. Oh, I don't deserve it.
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I don't deserve it, Lord, but you did.
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But you did, and you do Hallelujah.
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He is a loving God, Amen. We're thankful tonight.
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Amen for him. I know you're expecting Brother
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Mason and myself, right? That was the plan.
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But Brother Mason is still on his concussion protocol.
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And after seeing the doctor and such on Monday and them
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reviewing the markers there in his life and stuff, they even
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told him to go home from work. And so he's just not supposed to
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be laying low right now. And so that is rescheduled for
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the month of November. All right, later in the month of
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November. So guess what?
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You'll never believe where we're headed tonight.
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We're going to go to the Book of Genesis as you're turning there.
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Tonight's so good to see Hunter and Mackenzie and Soren and Zoe
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and Coulson. Coulson's going to be dedicated
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this coming Sunday, all right? We'll be dedicated to the Lord.
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And so we're going to do that on Sunday also starting Sunday's
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revival, Sunday through Wednesday, revival 10:00 and
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6:00 on Sunday, then seven night, Tuesday or Monday,
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Tuesday and Wednesday. Saturday is the annual chili
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supper and hayride. Okay, Cornhole tournament begins
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at 2:00 if you signed up for that.
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Cornhole tournament starts at 2. Bounce house for younger
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children and the slide will be here already functioning AT2.
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All right, four O clock will be supper like with this.
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We'll have a schedule out for you folks, but between like 4
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and 7, there'll be volleyball going on and our first hayride
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will begin at 5:45. All right, to get them all in,
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we're going to run 2 trailers this year.
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Yeah. What do you think about that?
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Amen. Hallelujah, exciting things.
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Amen. Genesis Chapter 25.
Genesis 25 chapter mention
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Also, if you all don't know this, today is Bishop and Sister
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Mcgee's 60th wedding anniversary.
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Statistics tell me, and I've looked them up, only 1% of
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Americans make it to their 60th wedding anniversary.
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And I, I hate to say it, I dare to say as we go on, we're
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probably going to see less 60th wedding anniversaries.
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And it's not going to because of longevity of life, because
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that's getting better. All right, Amen.
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So there's a rare treasure right here for us today.
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We're thankful for their leadership over the years, Amen.
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They're working dedication to the Kingdom of God.
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And I'll tell you this, their pre marriage isn't perfect,
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never has been. They just thought that when they
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got married that meant they had to go to work.
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And so they've been working ever since.
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And it does. Amen.
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Genesis 25 and verse #22 starting.
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I'll read a few verses and allow you to be seated.
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Genesis 25, verse 22. Remember, Isaac has prayed to
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the Lord for a child, Rebecca's conceived member.
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There's a 20 year period of time from the moment of marriage to
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the time of the birth of their children.
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So the Lord has answered verse 22.
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She conceived in verse 21, the Bible says, and the children
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struggled together within her. She said, if it be so, why am I
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thus? And she went to inquire the
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Lord. And the Lord said to her, Two
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nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
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separated from thy bowels. The one people shall be stronger
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than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger.
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And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled,
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behold, there were twins in her womb.
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And the first came out red all over like a hairy garment.
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They called his name Esau. And after that came his brother
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out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his name was
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called Jacob. And Isaac was 3 score years old
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when she bare them. And the boys grew.
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And Esau was a cunning hunter, the man of the field.
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And Jacob was a playing man, dwelling in tents.
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And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, but
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Rebecca loved Jacob. A little while tonight.
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We'll get through chapter 25 here tonight.
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When we're done tonight, we'll have been halfway through
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Genesis. You may want to talk about
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nature's nations and the birthright.
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Nothing fancy about the title, but it's just a place to hang
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your hat. Nations, nature's nations, and
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the birthright, Amen. We'll pray and I'll allow you to
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be seated. Father, I thank you Jesus today,
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God, for another opportunity to be here.
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God, as we Lord, center our lives around your word, I pray,
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O God, that you have to help us in the next few moments, open
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our minds and understanding God. Your word, Lord, are the words
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of life and they speak of you. God, we're going to take them as
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such tonight. In the name of Jesus Christ that
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I pray, Hallelujah, Amen. You may be seated in Jesus name,
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nature's nations and the birthright. 20 years of
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marriage, 20 years of marriage. I'm not talking about Bishop
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them now, I'm talking about Rebecca and Isaac.
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All right, 20 years of 20 years of marriage and Rebecca
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eventually conceives and the Lord has answered their prayer
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that they have prayed unto him. But there's something going on
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within her womb during pregnancy that kind of tips her off
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brother Fred, as though this is not something that typically
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happens within the womb of a pregnant woman.
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For all those that she had known that had been pregnant before,
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she has never known anyone to be contending with what she is
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contending with right now. And as she will soon find out,
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and they will soon find out, she is carrying twins.
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And the Bible says the Lord speaks to Rebecca in her request
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and her inquiry about what's going on.
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She understands that there is a struggle that's going on inside
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of her womb, A literal pressing of one against the other, A
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matter of fact, the word can even mean crush.
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There's a crushing, I mean, there's some, there's some
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wicked wrestling going on, you know, match inside of of
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Rebecca's womb. And she's a little confused
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because she's thinking that she and her husband wanted this
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pregnancy so badly and they waited for 20 years in order to
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be able to conceive. And now if she's pregnant, if
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this is not the Lord's intervention, then if this is of
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the Lord, then why is this so painful?
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What about all this turmoil that's going on inside of my
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womb? Well, what was happening inside
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of of Rebecca's womb was, was more than just indications of
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sibling rivalry that that that would take place outside of the
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room. But what was taking place inside
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the womb was actually foreshadowing some conflict,
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conflict of desires, namely #1 between the two sons that would
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come from the womb, but also basically almost 2 natures that
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was going to be showcased through these two sons of Jacob
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and Esau. They would not both desire the
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same things. They would not both have a heart
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that's after certain things identically, but there would be
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some differences between them. And so whenever God, though
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speaks to Rebecca about what is going on, he more plainly talks
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to her though about nations and about manner of people.
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All right, that that's going to develop from the sons that she's
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going to give birth to happening inside of this womb.
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We'll find come find out in Scripture and we'll see Esau
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referred to this a little later whenever he's talking about the
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the pottage or the red pottage talking about he's not just
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called Esau, but he's also called Edom in Scripture.
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And it's where we get the nation of the Edomites in the word of
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God. And so Esau would be the father
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of the Edomites, but Jacob would become the father of the
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Israelites, as we would know. And Jacob and Esau have their
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their differences for #1 let's just look at it very, very just
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practically. Esau comes forth like some red
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all over Harry child. And the Bible doesn't describe
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Jacob as that. And just kind of a side note
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with this, some even then tend to believe as a result of that,
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that that perhaps they weren't even identical twins, but
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fraternal, fraternal twins as a result of that.
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I don't know. We, we, I, I don't know if I can
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give a, a definite sound bite on whether they were, whether they
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weren't, but nonetheless, Esau as far as in some of their
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practices, Esau, the Bible says is a hunter.
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He's a man of the field according to verse 27.
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And then Jacob is a man that dwells in tents.
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The Bible says he's a plain man, which to go a little deeper on
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that, in the Hebrew, it's actually he is a ishtam, which
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means a wholesome man. He's a wholesome man.
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He saw, as we see in Scripture and even in the story that we'll
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read tonight, is impulsive. It's illustrated right here in
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the verses of Scripture that we'll read.
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He's impulsive. We see that he even has a a
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tendency more towards the earthly mindedness or the carnal
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mindedness concerning the things of life.
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As a matter of fact, Speaking of him as being a hunter, there's
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only one other individual in Scripture that is plainly called
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a hunter. Only one other individual that's
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plainly called 100%, just like direct contact, a hunter.
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And that was Nimrod from Genesis chapter #10 he was called a
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mighty hunter. And if you'll remember, I know
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you can't think back that many weeks, but Nimrod was the one
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who had the 1st Kingdom up on the earth, and his Kingdom was
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Babel, where that tower was built to reach into heaven.
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All right? He's the one that that is
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Speaking of. And this is what the Scripture
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said in that moment. I'm just going back to Genesis
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10, just for a moment, just we're just going to touch it.
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Genesis, Tennate and Kush begat Nimrod, and he began to be a
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mighty one in the earth, and he was a mighty hunter before the
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Lord. Wherefore he said, even as
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Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, and the beginning of
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his Kingdom was Babel and a wreck and a cod and Kalnae and
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the land of Shinar. So note also that Nimrod is the
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son of Kush, who was the son of Ham, who was the son whenever
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his father was naked in his own tent.
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Unlike the other two that went in backwards and put a garment
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on their father, he's the son that went in both facely and
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make some type of gesture and begins to spread the news about
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the nakedness of his father in the tent.
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And so we have Nimrod coming from that line.
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So this, this hunter connection in scripture between Nimrod and
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Esau, it's more than just, you know, their profession.
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It carries A moral and a spiritual symbolism as well as
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well. Because those that are hunters
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like Nimrod and like Esau was they depended on their, their,
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their physical, their physical power, right?
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And, and the material world that they would get, you know, food
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and stuff for themselves. And so that's the type of nature
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are you saying. And then, Brother McGee, every
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hunter is just carnal. And no, I'm not saying that at
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all. I'm just saying for the basis of
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Scripture here of Nimrod and Esau, that they chose those
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things rather than spiritual pursuits.
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All right. And so additionally, though,
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even with that said, they'll say in the very last verse of this
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chapter, Speaking of Esau concerning the birthright, the
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Bible tells us plainly that he despised his birthright and the
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birthright of the family that encompassed more than like when
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dad died. Having the, the family authority
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has more more to do than just that.
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It has more to do than just, you know, getting portions of land
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as being the, the the the first born or having that birthright
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has more more to do than just that.
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It also has everything to do with encompassing, having
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leadership concerning the covenant promises that has
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already been given to Abraham and to Isaac.
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And so I think it's significant then whenever Esau sells, as the
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Bible describes it sells his birthright, that he doesn't just
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do that, but he even despises, despises his birthright.
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So, so he's embodying then Bishop a, a worldly man here,
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that by doing so, he's not just rejecting material goods,
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leadership of household, he's rejecting leadership in the
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covenant, right, which raises that to a whole nother land as
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well. But then on the other hand, you
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have Jacob, right, Jacob. Jacob seems to be very
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attentive. He's very observant.
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And I know someone's going to have a hard time swallowing
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this, but he he's spiritual and covenant minded.
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I know the way in which he went about that was not already
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wasn't always good, right? The deception, the cunningness,
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but he wanted the birthright. He he wanted, he wanted to keep
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intact the covenant promises. He wanted to do that.
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That was a desire of his. So he might not always handled
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it right, but he had a hunger at hunger for those that that thing
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of promises that's been handed down from father to father to
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father to keep those things intact.
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And so the Lord speaks to Rebecca in verse 23.
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Everybody say Amen. The reason why we're going to
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get just a little heavy here for a moment, OK?
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I know it's the middle of the week and everything.
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We're going to get just a little heavy here for a moment, OK?
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The Lord speaks to Rebecca verse 23 and what he's sharing with
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her. It being the Lord, it's not just
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prophetic, but He is sharing with her foreknowledge that He
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has. He knows something about the
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future. Scripture tells.
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He knows the end from the beginning.
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He knows something about the future whenever he tells her
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that these two nations or these two manner of people will come
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forward and one nation is going to be stronger than the other
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nation and that the elder nation which would be related to Esau
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would serve the younger one. As pertaining to Jacob, he had
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foreknowledge of this. This is what is going to happen
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and this is what's going to take that take place for that matter.
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And you're going to follow me here tonight.
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The reason why I'm bringing this up is because in our world,
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there's idea in the concept for some that there's a doctrine of
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election. That means God from the very
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beginning has already chose who's going to be saved and
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who's going to be lost, and their choice is no play in the
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matter. I want to talk about this for a
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little bit because number one, that's not biblical #1 and
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secondly, we do not subscribe to that.
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Let me make just a few opening statements.
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Just because God has the foreknowledge of something
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doesn't mean that He predetermines it.
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All right. I, I oftimes use the the little
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illustration as I'm coming up on a a stop light and it is yellow.
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I have a foreknowledge that it's going to turn red.
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But me knowing that doesn't make it turn red, right?
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Is everybody doing OK? So whenever God is speaking to
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her about something that he knows beforehand, this isn't God
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predestining either Jacob or Esau to salvation or not to have
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salvation. What he's talking about here
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even isn't concerning salvation, all right, but God foresees the
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path of both Jacob and Esau and what they will choose and the
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choices they will make and what they will take.
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And so as he's sharing this information, this prophecy, this
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foreknowledge as it as it is, it primarily again applies.
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He's talking to her about nations and men are people.
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He's talking to them about the descendants, the groupings of
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people that will come from these two sons.
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For that matter, we never find really in Scripture totally
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where as a individual, Esau actually as an individual serves
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Jacob as an individual. But we do see where the Edomites
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as a grouping of people did serve and give obeyance into the
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Israelites as a people, a man in Scripture.
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And so again, what we are, we are not supporting
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predestination as far as individuals.
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I'm trying to really not get in the grass today, but let me tell
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you, you can read the book of Ephesians and you can read also
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the book of Romans. When you read the book of
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Ephesians and the Apostle Paul speaking to the church at
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Ephesus, he speaks about whom Christ did foreknow.
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He did predestinate for a purpose.
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Foreknowledge had to do with a grouping of individuals and
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predestination had to do with a plan.
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What are you saying in Ephesians?
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It always speaks about the US in Him, the US in Him, the Him
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being referred to as Christ. the US in Him is the church.
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He said the book of Ephesians even tells us that he had the
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idea and the concept of the church from the very beginning.
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Not only that, He had a plan for the church from the very
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beginning. God predestinates His church,
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but as individuals, we have choice whether to be a part of
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or not a part of the church. If you're a part of the church,
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he has a predestined plan for the church, and that's glory.
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If you're not a part of the church, there's another plan.
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So he don't predestinate individuals, but he does have a
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plan that he is predestinated, namely for the church.
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And he had a plan that he had for the descendants of Jacob and
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the descendants of Esau. Let's just get into this just
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just a little bit, a little bit further.
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Amen. And so through God's
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sovereignty, He chose the Israelite nation, those that
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would come from Jacob for a historical purpose and plan that
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they would be the facilitators of the lineage of the Lord Jesus
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Christ. Yep.
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You can trace the genealogy of Jesus Christ and you're going to
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trace it back through those that are in the lineage of Jacob.
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He did that for them. That's what the plan was.
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The plan wasn't their salvation. He wasn't determining their
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salvation or or Esol's damnation.
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No no no no. All of the person salvation is a
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based upon their faith, Amen. It's based upon their faith.
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And so God had a choice of a nation, Amen.
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Of Jacob, he says, you know what, they're going to be a a
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spiritual heir of the covenant of promise and they're going to
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safeguard the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I choose the descendants of Jacob for that.
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They're going to help facilitate the Abraham covenant and they're
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going to provide a line for the Messiah.
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But just because God chose his descendants does not mean then
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he. Ensured that Jacob was going to
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have salvation. That was a choice Jacob had to
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make. And it would be a choice that
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Esau would have to make. It wasn't.
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He was just automatically damned from the beginning.
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It was a choice that Esau was going to have to make.
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God, in doing this was not tampering with Esau or Jacob's
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free will. He just saw.
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He saw their choices. He didn't determine them, but he
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saw them. He had knowledge of them, Amen.
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And so he wasn't infringing on their free will as a human
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being. They would still choose as they
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did, and God allowed for that. But God saw in the distance a
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Jacob who was valuing as a wholesome man the covenant
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things, the birthright things. And he seen a man then that was
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despising with contempt the same things, Amen.
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Because, listen, was not Jacob a little deceitful and we might
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even call sinful early on? Again, it wasn't about his
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salvation. It was about the plan he had for
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the descendants, about preserving the covenant.
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Amen. The Bible says.
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And again, I don't want to get too deep, but I don't want to
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not be deep and talk about it enough because listen, we have
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people today that are living life just however they want to
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live it because they're like, it's already been charted out
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for me. I don't have a choice in the
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matter. Anyway.
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You do have a choice. And I guess that's the reason
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why I'm, I'm kind of ringing the bell tonight for all those that
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just have their head in the sand and they've been lied to and
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tell them that this thing's already planned out.
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Live your life. It's already planned.
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No, you have a choice. Romans 9 and verse 10.
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And not only this, that this is referring to the promise that
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was given to Sarah that she would have a son, but when
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Rebecca also this is Roman 9's 10 when Rebecca also had
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conceived by 1 even by father Isaac.
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Verse 11 for the children being not yet born, neither have done
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anything good or evil right at the moment be in the womb.
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They had not done anything good or bad.
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They're in the womb but the Lord for Saul, he said that the
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purpose of God according to election might stand not of
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works, but of him that calleth so this is God's sovereignty
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from the standpoint of being in the womb.
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They weren't chosen by their works because they're kids in a
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womb, but according to God's sovereignty.
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He makes a choice and it was said unto her.
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The elder verse 12 shall serve the younger as it is written,
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Jacob have Here's another thing this people have a hard time
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processing this Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated
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because when we hear the word hated, we're thinking about
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emotions, we're thinking about disgust, we're thinking about
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all those type of things, but it's not the way that we think.
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It's not God having hatred toward Esau or detesting Esau.
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It's an expression him loving 1 and hating another is an
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expression of God choosing in heaven preference.
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God chose Jacob, more particularly the nation of
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Israel, his descendants, and he didn't choose Esau or the nation
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of the Edomites. Just to go to show you the
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similarity in that language. If you go to the Gospel of Luke
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and chapter #14 and verse 26, that similar hate expression is
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there. This is Jesus speaking and he
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says, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother
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and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yay in his
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own life also he cannot be my disciples.
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So let's look at it. So she's telling his disciples,
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if you don't hate your mom and dad, forget it.
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And some of us are like, right? But that's the way our minds
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works. Jesus is not requiring his
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disciples to hate or loathe their families.
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He's asking them to make a choice of him first.
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All of the loves and all of the relationships they have in their
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life must spell in comparison to that relationship.
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That's what he's conveying. This is primary, this is
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prominent, this is important. Amen.
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So again, what Romans speak of as God's election, it's not God
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electing that individual to be saved or unsaved.
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It's God has an elected plan for the Israelites, Amen.
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To facilitate the covenant of Abraham and to be able to bring
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and preserve a line for the Messiah, Amen.
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God did not choose based upon Jacob and Esau's current works.
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They've not been born, but God does foreknow everything.
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But again, his foreknowledge doesn't determine it.
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I'd say like this, His foreknowledge kind of allows the
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interpretation of it. Jacob and Esau are still at
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freedom to accept or reject God's will in their lives.
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He just foresaw what they would do.
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He needed though his covenant. He wanted his covenant would be
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facilitated in the hands of somebody that was hungry for it,
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not that would be cavalier with it.
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Folks, we really see the same thing with Ishmael and Isaac.
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One was per SE and those were chosen over the other.
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And no, both of them, Ishmael and Isaac were biological
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descendants of Abraham, but that didn't mean that they would be
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heirs of the promise of God. New Testament bears it out.
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Sister Sheila, again, the Gospel of Luke chapter 3 and verse #8
Luke 3 chapter mention
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I'm about done with the heavy OK, and we'll get OK.
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But John chapter 3, verse 8, this is John the Baptist
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speaking. He says bring forth therefore
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fruits worthy of repentance and begin not to say within
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yourselves we have Abraham to our father for I saying to you
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that God is able to be stones to raise up children to Abraham.
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You know what he's saying He's saying biological connection to
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Abraham doesn't mean that you're one of his No, no, no, no.
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He says you got to bring forth some fruits worthy of
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repentance. You beyond your physical
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descendancy. You you need some faith is need
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some fruits worthy of repentance indices that there's obedience
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that's taken place in your life. All right, everybody good.
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We OK? I know that's like, you know,
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going to physics when you're a freshman.
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OK, let's just go. So Esau was the first to come
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out according to the Scripture or was born, maybe come out a
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little rude. He was the first to be birthed.
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It was red all over like a hairy garment.
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Jacob followed him, The Bible says, holding on to Esau's heel.
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And Esau, whenever you look at this, then their names Esau, all
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right, which means red Jacob, Hill, all right.
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It's almost as though one is named for his appearance and the
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other one is named for his activity.
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But something that we don't talk a lot about is the root of
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Jacob's name. That name that means hill or a
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Kev in Hebrew. Again, it does refer to that
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future supplanting and deceiving that he will do, but it also
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pertains to this idea. Same word pertains to the idea
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of a rear ward or a rear guard in Hebrew thought, which a rear
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guard or a rear ward is something or someone that
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follows to guard. We usually don't talk about that
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aspect. We just talk about the
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supplanting aspect, the deceiver aspect, but there's another
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aspect to Jacob as well, that aspect that desired the
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birthright to guard what the other one despised, to safeguard
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what the other despised. We're always introduced as a
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plane to deception. We don't think about the aspect,
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but he was also going after something that was very prize
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worthy in his eyes and also in the eyes of God.
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Verse 28 shows a little parental favoritism.
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I know we say we all love our kids the same.
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Something went awry here. Genesis 25, verse 28 and Isaac
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loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, but Rebecca loved
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Jacob, Isaac loved Esau, Rebecca loves Jacob, and Isaac loves
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Esau. The Bible says because of his
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venison taste that oh, that tastes good.
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But let's look at it in this way.
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He loves Esau because of what he can get, what he can taste, that
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self gratification he gets for meeting venison, which is
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interesting because it's that same self gratification that
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gets that son that he loves. Esau in trouble right here of
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wanting the pottage in the moment rather than the
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birthright. Amen.
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And then we read in Scripture, of course, we know, you know,
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Jacob exploits Esau's passions and desires for that self
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gratification in this story. But then then that that that
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Rebecca would love Jacob. There's nothing really said
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about the why. All that I know, and this is
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total supposition on my part, all right?
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All that we know is that from her inquiry of the Lord about
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what was going on, she was informed about the two nations
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and the two people. I'm not saying that influenced
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her love for Jacob. I'm saying could have it
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influenced her love for Jacob? We don't know for sure.
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Going on with verse #29 is everybody doing OK?
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All right, this don't sound like an interview.
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I know, I'm sorry, we're interviewing Scripture.
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Scripture. What do you think about Jacob
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and verse #29? And Jacob sawed pottage, and
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Esau came from the field, and he was faint.
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And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
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pottage, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called
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Edom, or he mentioned that earlier.
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And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
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And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die, what profit
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shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this
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day, and he's swearing to him. And he sold his birthright unto
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Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and
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pottage of lentils, And he did eat and drink, and rose up, and
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went his way. Thus Esau despised his
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birthright. Before we get in this last
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section, I think it's important to do a little explanation.
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And we talked about this on surface before, that not
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everything in the book of Genesis is recorded
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chronologically in order, OK? And we've seen this before
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already in the Book of Genesis, for instance, for our purposes
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right here and what we've been studying in this chapter, it is
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recorded. And verses 7 through 11, the
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Abraham dies, all right. And then later it tells us that
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Esau and Jacob are born to Isaac and Rebecca, all right.
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But verse 26 tells us that Isaac was 3 score years when she bared
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them. Isaac was 60 years old whenever
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she had them. If you go back to Genesis 21
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verse 5, you read that Abraham was 100 years old whenever Isaac
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was born. That means if Isaac is 60 when
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his sons are born that his dad is 160 years old.
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He didn't die till he was 175. That means Jacob and Esau we're
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at least 15 years old whenever Abraham died.
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See, the story of Scripture is if we just read it just like
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it's laid out, it's like Abraham dies and then sometime later
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Isaac and Jacob is born. But when you look at the
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numbers, Isaac and Jacob are born with Abraham having 15
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years of his life left. And let me tell you why I
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believe this is important, because in verse 29, the Bible
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is talking about Jacob is sodding or sodding pottage.
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His walk with me for a little bit, He's sodding pottage #1
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again, in a patriarchal society where it's driven by the men,
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they they dispersed their rows of responsibility.
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Cooking was not typically one of them among the men in that type
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of society. So it's a little outside of the
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ordinary. According to ancient Hebrew
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culture, for a man to be sodden, pottage a man, if they went out
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on a hunt away from home, they would cook them because nobody
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else around that they had to do it.
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But whenever you're talking about being at home, that was
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not typically his role or his responsibility.
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Many, most of even Jewish sages are nearly unanimous telling us
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that Jacob cooking here indicates that someone's died in
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the family. Possibly, I'm just saying,
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Possibly Abraham. The boys are 15 years old when
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he dies. Possibly Abraham.
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There is and, and, and I I just say this gingerly.
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There is a a more modern practice among the Jews.
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When I say more modern, I'm talking like 2nd century.
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That's still thousands of years ago that when a person died,
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they did what was called sitting Shiva, did mourn for seven days.
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It's not as though all the way back in the time of Jacob and
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Esau, there was this practice because it was, it was codified,
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it was placed in their law in the 2nd century.
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But there were a lot of things in the times of Jacob and Esau
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that compares with sitting Shiva even today.
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For instance, all the way back in Jacob and Esau's day, they
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still tore their clothes many times.
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Whenever someone died for mourning, they would mourn for a
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particular period of time. They would literally vocalize
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and and then visibly show their grief.
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It was an involvement of the whole community whenever one
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died and their focus was primarily up on the deceased.
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Listen to me now. During this time of mourning, it
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was not appropriate for immediate family members to
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cook. And to under score what
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immediate family members means, it means one's mother, father,
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sister, brother, son, daughter, or spouse.
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They were not supposed to cook. But you know who cooked Cooked
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since those couldn't? Grandkids.
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Oh God, Jacob's sodding pottage. I don't know this for sure
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concerning Bible scripture. I know this according to Jewish
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custom esod in pottage. So we say, well the Jews might
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be reading into the story looking back, or are they
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reading from the story and coming forward?
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We may never know, but nonetheless, at the very least,
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at the very least, Abraham died. 2 grandsons involved in the
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activity here and it starts to bring, I think to light.
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Then why the birthright at this particular moment comes well
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into view? Because Abraham has died, right?
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And so there's something that Isaac for sure has that now one
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of the sons are going to have whenever Isaac dies.
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And what does Esau do? The Bible says he's, he's going
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out hunting. You know, I'm saying these
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terms. Esau's just doing what pleases
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Esau. He's just doing his thing.
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He's not staying around the morning.
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He's just going out to hunt. And it almost brings a toe.
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Trevor. And this helps me understand my
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16 year old. I told Trevor that this week we
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was going to talk about dark humor in Scripture.
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This helps me understand my 16 year old because whenever Esau
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comes into the situation, there's pottage there.
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What does he tell to Jacob? He says I'm at the point of
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death. He says I'm at the, I mean,
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someone's evidently just died. And he said, well, I'm at the
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point of death myself. You know, exaggeration yet?
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And then maybe a touch of dark humor.
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All the way back in Genesis. Grandpa thinks he's dead.
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I'm about to die, you know, and he says if I'm dying, basically
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what good is the birthright? But again, that is Esau self
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gratifying reasoning because the only thing he's focusing on the
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birthright is what good is all the possessions I would get if I
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die. What good is the leadership of a
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household if I die? What good is covenant promises
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if I die? It's all about me self
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gratifying. But if you die and you do have
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the birthright, it's not just what that will do for you.
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What will it do for your offspring?
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But see, a self absorbed man can only think in his generation
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what's going on with him. He can't think any further than
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himself or beyond himself. Having the birthright make
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covenant promises would pass on to your children and their
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children. It does matter.
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Someone say Amen. I know that you wouldn't have
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nothing to do if your material inheritance or leadership and
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family and all that, but it does matter.
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And so whenever Esau exchanges his birthright for pottage, he
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in essence also sowed every blessing then that accompanied
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that birthright. I'll state this tonight whenever
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we see that Jacob goes in, and we'll see this in chapters in
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the beginning. Further on that whenever Jacob
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goes in with, with, with the hair of the animals upon his
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neck and stuff, and he feigns to be Esau to get the blessing, he
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was really getting something that already belonged to him at
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this point. Because when the birthright was
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sold, the blessing is attached to the birthright.
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The blessing is attached to the responsibility.
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You don't get blessing without having to be responsible.
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The blessing is attached to responsibility.
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And so there's another layer here though then he's just not
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selling it. He's despising it, which means
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that he treated it as though it was worthless.
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He held it in contempt. It was more than just don't want
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to have anything to do with it. He he just thought it was
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worthless. And so you see this in the verbs
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of the very last of the very last verse when it describes the
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actions of Esau. Look at the verbs he Speaking
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of. Esau did eat and drink and rose
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up and went his way. He despised his birthright.
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It's like no big deal. I'm just going to turn down on
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this cleaning off my face and get out of here.
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No consciousness, no bearing upon him what he's doing right
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there in the moment. And ladies and gentlemen, that's
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the reason why God with his foreknowledge says, I want
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somebody that's hungry for it. I want somebody that desires it.
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I want somebody that's going to be mindful of it.
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So I'm going to make sure my line comes through here in the
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covenant promises are safeguarded in that because I
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don't want to. I don't want it to be with so
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much so self absorbed, they'll forget about it.
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I want them to be mindful that there's a bigger picture than
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me. There's a bigger picture than I.
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That's them closing. Stay with me.
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Let's wrap it up. Right, Reveal, who's even
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looking back up on Esau calls him a profane man or an ungodly
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man. Why?
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Because due to this little flippant choice here with the
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birthright and the promises in the Covenant and pottage, I
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didn't come on. Seriously, Abby, I kind of bring
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something up over here, you know, would you like to have
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this or, you know, it's this or your family?
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Uncle Paul, that red pottage. That's awesome.
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Here you go. Seriously.
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I mean, we'll look all that and we're kind of just, I mean,
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seriously, yes, gratification for a moment compared to
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something that would impact family for lifetimes.
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Alan P Ross says this, and I'm closing.
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He says profane people are willing to relinquish things of
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lasting spiritual value because they live to satisfy their basic
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appetites. Just a moment at the moment.
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But there's something bigger than the moment, right?
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The whole eons of time are made-up of moments, so every
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moment counts. Nature's nations and the
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birthright. Amen.
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Someone say Amen, Amen. I know he's a little heavy there
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tonight. Might need to go back to listen
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that again. We could do a whole just one
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lesson on this concept of predestination and election and
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so on and so forth. Next Wednesday, we'll be here in
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revival. OK?
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So we'll be in revival. And then after that, I think we
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have about 3 more weeks, I think about three more weeks of
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Genesis. And then there'll be a week in
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the white. My wife and I will be on an
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anniversary trip and then we'll do the interview and then
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there'll be National Youth Convention.
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And then it'll be December. I hate to sum it up like that.
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In December, we'll be going to connect groups, men connect
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groups, women connect groups, youth connect groups.
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And we'll do that for the winter season of January or December,
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January and February. OK, All right.
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And then we'll get back to Genesis.
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We will finish Genesis eventually if we don't, as
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again, I've splattered with some other things because I know some
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people are like, oh, Genesis. Here's the thing though.
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I have people asking me about things from Genesis all the
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time. And then you do a series on
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Genesis and then it's like, next time you ask me something about
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Genesis, I will say we got a podcast with, you know, 52
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lessons. Great catalog.
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Amen. Honestly though, side note,
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before I close, we do have, we have our live stream that on
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Facebook. They only stay there for so long
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and then Facebook does away with them, YouTube keeps them.
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But the thing that we have the longest catalog of is podcast go
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all the way back to 2011 if my memory is correct.
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We have thousands folk, thousands of podcasts, and among
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them are I don't know how many series I've done, but I have
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done bunches on books of the Bible, characters, the Bible,
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topics of the Bible. So it is a resource.
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Use it as a resource. You can search on their things
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and you can find 30 some odd weeks for the Book of
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Revelation, 20 some odd weeks for the book of Daniel.
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You understand what I'm saying? Use it as a resource, Amen.
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Let's pray tonight. Father, we love you God, we
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thank you, Lord Jesus, God, for your spirit.
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I pray, O God, today, help us, O Lord, help us to have a
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propensity, Lord Jesus, a desire, a leaning, Lord God,
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toward those things, God, that are righteous and holy and godly
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and Lord noteworthy. Lord Jesus, in your sight.
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I pray, Oh Lord, we do have choices in our life, God, and
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every day we live, we're making choices, Lord, whether they be
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for good or whether they not be for good.
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Help us, O Lord, to live in an appropriation and in step God,
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with your purpose and your will, I pray, O God, today be with
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your people, the rest of the sweet God, empower them,
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strengthen them, keep their bodies safe, Lord, physically,
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God, spiritually and emotionally and will not fail to thank you
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for it. In the name of Jesus Christ that
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I pray and the church say Amen, Amen.
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Also, there is still sign up for food, bringing food for
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Saturday. There's still sign up for
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helping clean up and tear down on the bulletin board.
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There's places there where you can sign your name next to
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certain jobs. All right, that is there.
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This is Wednesday. So this probably your last time
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having access to those things. All right, so God bless you.
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Night, Jesus.