A group of religions that claim worship of the God of Abraham
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In this week's episode, I speak with Hank Smith, the co-host of the followHIM podcast and a beloved religious educator. I wanted to chat with him about the insights he has gained while teaching the history and theology of the Abrahamic covenant. Hank shares how shifting our perspective toward being children of the covenant transforms our understanding of the Restoration by moving it away from a focus on an organizational church structure and toward the gathering of a people, the house of Israel, designed to bless every family of the earth.This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about doctrine that can sometimes seem too distant to have relevance for us individually. The way Hank discusses this topic can help us deepen our faith and come away feeling uplifted and ready to serve with greater conviction.Some highlights from this episode include:A Welcome Guest: One of the favourite voices in the Latter-day Saint community joins the show, discussing a mutual excitement for finally getting to sit down for this long-overdue interview.The Blueprint of the Covenant: Hank breaks down the covenant, detailing why Genesis slows down to focus so tightly on Abraham and Sarah's family because it is the family through which all the families of the earth will be blessed.The Overlooked Focus of the Book of Mormon: A deep dive into why Nephi and Jacob were so uniquely passionate about Isaiah's prophecies, revealing how reading the Book of Mormon acts as a literal detector for finding those who are willing to let God prevail. The "One-by-One" Ministry: A powerful exploration of why the Savior works through individual, micro-level relationships rather than grand macro-scales, mirroring the individual nature of the temple veil and the sacrament.The Purpose of the Scattering: An insightful look into the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5, showing how the Lord's scattering of Israel was a deliberate act of love designed to save and preserve His tree.A One-by-One Invitation: A special invitation for listeners to actively participate in the gathering of Israel by focusing on individuals, stepping up to help those around them make and keep sacred covenants.You can find Hank's work and connect with him at the following links:Referenced article mentioned in the episode:https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-27-no-1-2026/covenant-identity-work-gathering-israelBYU Religious Studies Center, Hank R. Smith Articles:https://rsc.byu.edu/author/smith-hank-r#:~:text=RSC%20Books%20Edited%20by%20This%20Author.%20Give,Educator%20Vol.%2027%20No.%201%20%C2%B7%202026.hanksmith.comfollowHim Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelFollow For All The Saints on social media for updates and inspiring content:www.instagram.com/forallthesaintspodhttps://www.facebook.com/forallthesaintspod/For All The Saints episodes are released every Monday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVDUQg_qZIU&list=UULFFf7vzrJ2LNWmp1Kl-c6K9Qhttps://open.spotify.com/show/3j64txm9qbGVVZOM48P4HS?si=bb31d048e05141f2https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/for-all-the-saints/id1703815271If you have feedback or any suggestions for topics or guests, connect with Ben & Sean via hello@forallthesaints.org or DM on InstagramConversations to Refresh Your Faith.
This sermon focused on "God's Covenant Faithfulness," tracing the story of Israel and the Jewish people from biblical times to AD 135. The discussion explored five foundational biblical covenants—creation, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and the New Covenant—highlighting how each one reveals aspects of God's character and advances His redemptive plan, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. A key theme that emerged was humanity's repeated failure and God's unwavering commitment to His promises. The conversation noted that even during times of judgment and exile, such as the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish diaspora, God's covenants remained secure, discipline was not rejection, and restoration was always part of His plan. The sermon concluded by emphasizing that the survival and future restoration of the Jewish people serve as a testament to God's enduring faithfulness. Believers were encouraged to place their confidence not in human efforts, but in God's promises, which remain irrevocable and sure.
A @Christadelphians Video: [Inspiring] Pleased to present in collaboration with the Bible Unlocked team, this thought-provoking presentation from the sixth season of Bible Unlocked Live, A foundational series, “Why You Should Believe the Bible,” revealing how faith is built on a rock-solid foundation of evidence and reason. They hold a webinar each week....Find out more @ https://www.bibleunlocked.com/Why is the tiny nation of Israel perpetually in the global spotlight? In this thought-provoking and revealing presentation, we explore the Bible's answer to this modern-day phenomenon. This outstanding study delves into the origins of Israel with God's covenant with Abraham, and the subsequent warnings given in Deuteronomy that foretold a history of scattering and persecution. We provide an insightful exposition on the prophecy of antisemitism, examining how the rejection of the Messiah led to centuries of suffering, yet how God's purpose with His people remains unbroken. Discover the wonderful hope that is still bound up with the promises to the fathers, and how, through Christ, we can become heirs to that same Abrahamic promise. This is an insightful and encouraging study for anyone seeking to understand Bible prophecy and God's unwavering faithfulness.**Chapters:**00:00 - Introduction: Why is Israel Always in the News?01:50 - The Covenant with Abraham: The Foundation04:15 - The Promise of Land and a Great Nation05:30 - What is Antisemitism?06:45 - The Warning of Deuteronomy: Scattering and Persecution08:00 - The Ultimate Act of Disobedience: Rejecting the Messiah09:30 - A History of Fulfilled Prophecy: Persecution Through the Ages10:30 - God's Perspective: Not Pleased, but Not Finished11:30 - Beloved for the Fathers' Sake: The Unbreakable Bond13:15 - The Promise of a New Covenant14:05 - Jerusalem: A Burdensome Stone in Last Days Prophecy16:05 - The Hope of the Gospel is a Jewish Hope17:10 - Q&A: Has God Rejected His People? (Romans 11)20:55 - Q&A: How Can Gentiles Share in the Promise? (Galatians 3)26:00 - Q&A: Is God Pleased with Israel Today?28:30 - Conclusion & Next Week's Topic**Bible Verses Referenced:**
Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love
In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb bring their extended series on the parables of Matthew to a powerful climax with the passage most listeners have been waiting for: the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31–46). Far from a checklist of works required for salvation, this text is unpacked as the master parable of Christ's entire parabolic ministry — a sovereign declaration of divine election, not a merit-based audit of individual performance. Tony and Jesse explore why this passage has been chronically misread as a call to works righteousness, why the language of inheritance and predestination is front and center, and how a Reformed reading liberates rather than burdens the conscience. Along the way, they weigh in on Herman Bavinck's prescient warning about media distraction, and Jesse recommends a Puritan gem on anxiety worth picking up immediately. Key Takeaways The Sheep and Goats is best understood as a parable, or at minimum parable-adjacent. The Greek construction in verse 31 mirrors the same comparative language Christ uses throughout his parabolic ministry, placing this text firmly within that tradition rather than outside it. The kingdom was prepared before any works were done — this is election language. The phrase "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (v. 34) is not a reward for performance; it is the language of sovereign predestination preceding all human action. The works of the sheep are diagnostic, not causative. What the righteous did reveals who they already were — sheep — rather than being the mechanism by which they became sheep. The beak doesn't make the bird. Both groups are surprised, and that surprise is the parabolic punchline. Neither the sheep nor the goats anticipated the verdict they received, which undermines any reading that frames this text as an encouragement to accumulate saving merit. This passage is a recapitulation of the wheat and tares parable. Sheep and goats co-mingled until the moment of final separation, just as wheat and tares grow together until the harvest — the judgment reveals what was always true. Any theology that requires a human contribution to activate or complete salvation misreads this text.Whether Roman Catholic, Arminian, or Mormon in flavor, every view that makes God's preparation of the kingdom contingent on foreseen human merit fundamentally inverts the logic of the passage. The scope of judgment — "all nations" (ta ethnos) — would have been scandalous to first-century Jewish ears. This language deliberately expands the kingdom beyond ethnic Israel, fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant promise and confounding the assumptions of the religious elite. Key Concepts The Kingdom Prepared Before Your Works: Sovereign Election, Not Merit When the King says to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34), the theological weight of that single sentence is staggering. The kingdom was not prepared in response to anything the sheep did. It was prepared before time, before works, before choice — which means the works that follow in the passage cannot be the grounds of that inheritance. Only a Calvinistic understanding of election can sustain this logic without remainder. Arminian views require God to foresee a qualifying human response; Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox views require some degree of meritorious participation; even certain Lutheran frameworks lean on non-resistance to grace. Reformed theology alone places the entire cause within God's sovereign, unconditional decree — and this passage, read plainly, says exactly that. Works as Evidence, Not Ground: The Diagnostic Function of This Parable The great pastoral error in preaching this passage is treating it as a performance rubric — a list of charitable acts that, if completed, qualify a person for eternal life. But Christ does not separate the sheep from the goats because of what they did or failed to do. He separates them, and then describes the activity that characterized each group. The works are revelatory. They surface what was already true of each person's nature, just as a bird's beak reveals its species rather than constituting it. This reframing is liberating precisely because it means assurance does not rest on tallying acts of charity. It rests on the sovereign act of a Father who prepared a kingdom and the regenerating work of the Spirit who produces, in those He has claimed, a life that looks like the one described here. "All Nations": The Scandal of an Ethnically Inclusive Kingdom The Greek phrase ta ethnē — translated "all nations" in most English Bibles — would have landed very differently on first-century Jewish ears, particularly those of the Pharisees and Sadducees who comprised a significant portion of Christ's audience throughout Matthew 24–25. To them, ta ethnē meant the Gentiles, the peoples out there, those outside the covenant. The implicit effect of Christ's language is to place every people group — including Israel — within a single undifferentiated mass standing before his throne, with no ethnic group receiving preferential standing at the bar of judgment. This is entirely consistent with the Abrahamic promise of blessing to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:3), the vision of Psalm 2, and the missionary thrust of the Great Commission. The scandal is not incidental — it is the point. The kingdom Christ is ushering in is not the ethnic-nationalist kingdom the religious establishment expected. Memorable Quotes The kingdom of heaven was prepared for those whom Christ has elected before the foundation of the world, and it was the preparation of that kingdom that brought you through this such that you did the good works that you did... That is caused by the fact that God prepared a kingdom for you in advance, not that you somehow caused this kingdom to be prepared for you. - Tony It's not the beak that makes it the sparrow, it's the sparrow that makes it the kind of beak it is. That's the kind of classification we're talking about in this parable. - Tony The best freedom is the one that turns over all things to God and takes him at his word when he says, 'In love you were predestined to inherit this as sons and daughters of the kingdom,' so that he does all the work, because we do not want to have any of that work our own. - Jesse Full Transcript [00:01:11] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 498 of the Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse [00:01:19] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony, and this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey, brother. [00:01:24] Jesse Schwamb: Hey, brother. They said it couldn't be done. They said we couldn't come back. We wouldn't come back and continue in Matthew 25. But here we are, and we're ending this chapter in this whole section about sheep and goats. Everybody was clamoring for it. Everybody wanted to know, what about the sheep and the goats? And I think the last time we all chatted together, we prefaced it by saying it's parable adjacent. Or let's just say- Yes ... we just stacked up these three other parables, lots of things going on, and then Jesus resolves this or brings all these parables to a culmination by speaking about the end times, the end of all things, and the sheep and the goats. Yeah. And so we gotta go there [00:02:06] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, I'm stoked. [00:02:07] What Counts Parable [00:02:07] Tony Arsenal: And y- you know, I, I was talking with a brother at, um, at church yesterday on the Lord's day, and he was asking how the podcast's going and what we're doing. And, you know, I was kind of thinking, like, I was talking about the parables and how we're kind of moving forward, and we were gonna do some of the I am sayings in John. And, and I was thinking, like, what is a parable anyways? And who decides what a parable is and what a parable isn't? Right. Um, some of the parables Christ calls a parable, others he doesn't. Uh, we'll probably talk a little bit about that when we get to, uh, some of the back half of Luke. But this, this episode I think is gonna be really, really the payoff and really the culmination of not just these, like, this trio of or trilogy of parables that we've talked about, but I think really, like, the payout of all of the parables in Matthew. It's really, like, the summary of all of Christ's parabolic teachings. So it's, it's a good place for us to round out Matthew, and then we'll, we'll dip into the parables in the other gospels, probably have a couple more months of, of, uh, parable talk before we move on to the next thing. But, uh, it's been great, and I'm super, super stoked for this. This is one of my favorite passages, actually, and there's so much to dig into. I, I, I'm just gonna say now, we probably won't make it through the whole thing- Right ... uh, because there's a lot there. But we'll see. We'll see how we do. Maybe Jesse and I will be super efficient tonight, uh, but we usually aren't, so. [00:03:27] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's never happened. We, we take it low and slow. Not only that- ... it was reminding me as you spoke about that kind of proverb generally of if you wanna go build a wall, you assess what you need, how many stones, and then you go gather those stones. Yeah. You should double it, or if you're gonna go out and fight an army, take stock of that army. That's basically what we do, but in reverse. Anytime, like, you just... I just heard you say- ... like, "It'll probably take us a couple more months," you should double that. That's probably how long- Yeah ... it's actually gonna take us. [00:03:50] Faith Works Assurance [00:03:50] Jesse Schwamb: Even in this- Yeah ... conversation, I think we're gonna get stuck in the best way possible speaking about things like faith, works, and assurance because there's a lot of language here- Yeah that could seem on the surface to sit in this tension with justification by faith alone. And I think the key to resolving all that tension, as I hopefully think we'll see, lies in the readings of works as the evidence of living faith rather than its ground, and I think that's what- Yes ... Christ is leading us through all of these parables, actually, whether it goes back. And you should listen to all those episodes. In fact, I gotta ask. Th- I mean, this brother you were talking to, it just strikes me as that question had already be answered for him if you were listening to the podcast. So- [00:04:29] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I don't think he does. No, I don't think he does- ... listen to the podcast. Uh, he knows that I do the podcast, and he's very gracious to ask me about it. Tom. And I think he's probably listened to the podcast before. Got it. Um, and he's, he's just a very kind, gracious brother who, who is concerned and wants to know what I'm doing. And, um, he has, he has his own sort of, like, production stuff that he does that he enjoys that I'm, I'm not super keyed into. But, uh, it was just nice. But, but it did get me thinking, like, I was trying to explain to him where we were in the progress of the parables, and I was like, "I can't really... I don't really know," because, like, it's hard to even understand and fully... There's no, like, full comprehensive universal list of what is a parable- Right ... and what's not. And I think what we've found as we've been going through this is sometimes, sometimes you come up against a portion of a text that is often taught sort of separate from the, the rest of it. Parables get taught discreet from other parables. But then you have these sort of, like, intervening texts, or this one's kind of a summary text, that's so integrated to what the parable means you really can't do a series on these parables without also treating this text. Which is gonna be interesting, 'cause I've never, I've never encountered somebody who really roots this teaching here of Christ in the context of the parables, despite its proximity. So it'll be fun. We're gonna figure it out in real time, and, and it'll be good. [00:05:47] Jesse Schwamb: No, it's gonna be fun. [00:05:48] Deny Doomscrolling Bavinck [00:05:48] Jesse Schwamb: And speaking of fun, we're so glad that you're listening, and we know that you're waiting with bated breath to hear about affirmations or denials. It's of course that part of the conversation where we either affirm with something that we think is fantastic, maybe by way of recommendation, or conversely, we deny against something that isn't that great. So Tony, as is our custom in the liturgy of the Reformed Brotherhood podcast, I ask you once again, are you affirming with or deny against? [00:06:15] Tony Arsenal: I am denying against something, and I'm gonna do that by affirming a Herman Bavinck quote. Uh, so I'm gonna read it for you. This, uh... Some of the guys in the Facebook group have put... or the Facebook group, the Telegram chat, have put together a, uh, like, a reading group to work through Bavinck's, uh, Wonderful Works of God, which is great, and I'm loving it. I haven't been able to participate in the conversation as much as I would like to, but just being part of a reading group, uh, sort of keeps you on schedule, which is great. So I've been reading through Wonderful Works of God, and on the Kindle edition, on page 34, uh, which I think is still the, I think is still the, uh, introduction, he says, quote, "The reading of daily and weekly newspapers, of magazines and brochures, devours our every blink. There's a lack of desire and opportunity for the investigation of scripture and the study of old theological works," end quote. And when I read that, it just really struck me as like- If that was true like 70 years ago, 80 years ago when Bavinck was writing this, right? And all there was was hard, hard copy media. There was no, uh, there was no digital media. There was radio, but there wasn't a lot of programming. Uh, I don't think that there was much in the way of television broadcasting. If there was, it was, it was very, very limited and very rudimentary. Um, even then he was saying the daily news cycle and all of this extra stuff that is out there is consuming our, quote, "Every blink," which I thought was a really interesting phrase. Um, it's basically like it's so ingrained in us, we're so invested and obsessed with the news cycle. Uh, or you might translate that to like to our Twitter feed or our Facebook feed or our Instagram reels or whatever it might be, and dare I say it, the podcasts we listen to. [00:08:05] Jesse Schwamb: Right. [00:08:05] Tony Arsenal: Um, that we don't save time for scripture and other theological works. And I think it's funny too is that the, the eternal, uh, the eternal contemporary statement of the Reformed world is like we don't read enough old theological works. Even Bavinck, who I'm reading as one of the old... I mean, not like super old, but like one of the old theological works, is saying, "Hey, we don't read enough old theological works." So I'm denying this sort of like obsession we have with the daily news cycle and with constantly being up to date and like constantly consuming all of that. Um, we've talked about how like our modern global news cycle sort of, uh, is built around the deception that we can be sort of pseudo omnipotent and know all things about everything. And, um- There's a lot of work that's been done to show that, like, the world's not really that much, not that much more of a violent place than it was 100 years ago. We just know a lot more about what's going on- Right ... in other parts of the world. And there's pros and cons to that. But I think the main con is, like, we, we feel suddenly that we have to be, you know, deeply involved in the goings on of a church on the other side of the country that we never would've even known existed otherwise. It- there's just a, there's a sense of omnipotence and omnipresence that's just not becoming for the creature that I think we try to take on. So Bavinck knew it. Uh, we've talked about it. Lots and lots of people have talked about it. This isn't new. I'm not, I'm not e- engineering anything new on this. But that quote really struck me when I was reading. I was like, "Dang, man, he, he got it right 100 years ago or, or 80 years ago, and we're still struggling with it." And I think probably, like, if you go back and you look at the, I don't know, more occasional writings of people like Martin Luther and John Calvin, um, as they're interacting with, like, people in the Reformed community or the Protestant community, I bet you would find statements like this too about how, like, we really spend a lot of time reading, like, silly things and not spending- Right our time studying the scripture or studying, um, theological works. So that's my denial. I'm sticking to it, and if that means you feel like you need to turn this podcast off and go read some John Calvin or some Herman Bavinck, then by all means. Uh, I think you're probably going to be edified by what we have to talk about. But, uh, th- the Bible's better, so if you gotta go do it, if you only got- That's true ... an hour today to study scripture or listen to this podcast, please go study scripture. Yeah. Uh, hopefully we can do a little bit of both with this podcast. But Herman Bavinck said it best. Our every blink is consumed with pamphlets and newspapers and it just is- It's true it's pretty silly. [00:10:41] Jesse Schwamb: It's true. [00:10:42] Meme Detour Reading Groups [00:10:42] Jesse Schwamb: I gotta take us all the way back to where you started there, and I'm going to betray, to nobody's surprise, my really strong naivete when it comes- ... to social media, and memes in particular. But this is what occurred to me, and I'm gonna try it. This is, like, what classically makes really good podcasting. Let me try to describe a meme to you that I'm not even sure I actually understand or know. So this will be great. I think, you tell me, Tony, 'cause you may have seen this. It's an old meme too, so I'm not even, like, on the cutting edge here. I think it's a meme of two panels showing, like, two pictures of Drake. In know one he's kinda, like, pushing away as if to say, like, "Get that outta here," and the other one's like, "Oh yeah, that's the stuff." Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Is that accurate? [00:11:21] Tony Arsenal: I do. I think you're gonna use it wrong, but yeah. [00:11:23] Jesse Schwamb: Is that Drake? Okay, all [00:11:24] Tony Arsenal: right. Yeah, that's, that's the meme. [00:11:25] Jesse Schwamb: Okay, okay. And usually, if I understand it correctly, it's kind of like a faux juxtaposition of two things, right? Like, okay. So like here, let me try it. Uh, uh, let me just try it on everybody. Here we go. I'm gonna describe to you how I just interpret this based on what you said, 'cause something cracked me up that you said, Tony. If I were gonna make this meme just based on how you opened that up, the first panel would be like Drake pushing away the idea or being like, "That's no good," book club. The second one would be reading group, as in like, like the reading group is like the new cool way of like just kind of... Did I use it properly? Am I close? [00:11:59] Tony Arsenal: I think the problem with this is that there's like a, there's like an ironic way to use it, and then there's like a more direct way to use it. Mm. Yeah. The direct way would be like some- like Drake's pushing away something that's bad, and he's- Yeah ... like accepting something that's good. That'd be like the direct way. Yes. The more ironic one is where like Drake is pushing away something that's actually pretty, actually pretty good, and he's- Yeah ... accepting the one that's pretty silly. Oh, okay. Um, there's a lot of memes that have that basic format. Never mind. There's one with like Jordi LaForge. I think there's a Michael Scott one. I tried. I tried. But yeah, no, I, I think yours is valid, it's just, I think it's an older usage of the meme. That's like the, that's like the middle English version of that meme. The Shakespearean use of that meme. [00:12:36] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. I'll take that. It's the old English style. I love a good book club or a reading group. A, a reading group just, it does have that sound like maybe somebody in the group has a monocle, or you guys have tea. Either way- Yeah ... I absolutely love it. And yes, what are our beautiful quotes. You kind of hear that general conception recapitulated among like theologians almost in every era. But it does make you think, what would Bavinck say about, like doom scrolling on the smartphone? Like- Yeah ... he's beside himself, right? It would just be beside himself. So I'm with you. I, it, there's gonna be a condemnation in every generation. Maybe I say this with some degree of like chronological snobbery, especially in ours, when it comes to not, like you said, I think kind of like not carving out or not prioritizing time in the scriptures. Yeah. There's not gonna be any excuse of like, "Well, I just didn't have time." Right. Or, "There were too many things to read." It's just, it's not gonna cut it. So I'm with you. I think you and I have talked about this at length, even just like the news media like you and I consume, like just s- set aside social media for a second. Just like how i- how much value is there in a lot of like what we cons- used to consider to be like well-informed reporting? How valuable is that to us? Yeah. And I'm certainly not saying like that everybody should be like unconcerned and uninterested in the world, but I think it's to what degree and what fascination we have with that, and how it fits into our priority as we consume information each day. That's the thing that's tricky, and there's no really- [00:14:02] Tony Arsenal: Yeah ... [00:14:02] Jesse Schwamb: good answer except to weigh out with the spiritual discernment- Yeah ... how we ought to consume that stuff. But certainly I think, without question, we need to be prioritizing time in prayer, time in the scriptures. I imagine if we were all doing that with a great deal of attention, that all of the other things would kind of find their way into the right place. Or let's say they would just find their way out of our lives in a significant way- Yeah ... that would remove us from distraction and anxiety, instead bring us back into the providence of God. [00:14:31] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I'm not, I'm not gonna be the guy that tells you you can never s- you can never scroll Instagram or TikTok or whatever. Um, I, I think that's a decision that's between you and the Holy Spirit as far as how you spend your time. But I, I do think, um, I think you're right- We are accountable for the decisions we make and how- Right ... we choose to divide up our time. And I- God, I mean, God is the inventor of fun. He's the inventor of leisure, and he is, uh, I think he's pleased and honored when we, we make good use of our time f- for things that are restful and rejuvenating. Um, he doesn't expect us to just slavishly read scripture all day, every day, like every minute. That's not, that's not the biblical expectation. Um, and so I think it's fine if you wanna sit down and watch a fun show, or if you wanna watch some YouTube videos, or listen to a silly podcast, or listen to a serious podcast. Um, but I do, I agree. Like, we, we really need to be thoughtful. And I think where, where Bavinck's quote, uh, is strong is it's not so much about, "Don't read these things." Right. He, he's talking about these things consume our every blink. Like, m- he's treating blink... He's using the word blink as sort of a fill-in for like our, our finite resource of time and attention, and these things have consumed all of them. There's a very strong use of that word consume. Uh, and I, I think that's really the, the point that I'm trying to make is we often allow, either intentionally or unintentionally, we, we just let our time get all sucked up, uh, on things that maybe are good but are not pr- properly proportioned. Um- Like I said, it's, it's fine to spend some time on Twitter and to get into a debate once in a while, or to check in on your friends on Facebook, your old high school, college buddies or whatever, but we can definitely take it too far. So I think it's a good corrective for all of us to at least make a stop and think about how we're spending our time, and whether we are affording the appropriate amount of time to things like scripture, theological study, catechesis of our children, um, family worship, all of those good things. So we don't have to go much more into that. I think the point has been made. Uh, so Jesse, what are you affirming and/or denying tonight? [00:16:43] Affirm Puritan Anxiety Cure [00:16:43] Jesse Schwamb: Perfect segue, because speaking of reading old things, you know me, I've always got some kind of Puritan work in the rotation, and the one I just finished is the one I'm affirming, which is called Special Providence for Anxious Souls by Obadiah Sedgwick, who I think is kinda... Like, people are sleeping on Sedgwick, you know? Mm-hmm. He's, he's kinda like, he's there in the wings, but we need to take him off the bench. And I came across this book and I thought, "Who doesn't want a title like that in their lives?" Like, we got some anxiety in all of our souls. And I'm affirming this because, uh, hi- his definitions, his writing is, are on point. But here's what I thought. I was embarrassed that I picked this up expecting one thing, and then in typical puritanical fashion, was delivered something else that was far better. And I was thinking about this title as you might see it, like, in your modern bookstore today, whether it's, like, in Barnes & Nobles or at any of the periodicals we were just kind of mentioning or implying that are out there. And I was expecting to get some kind of, I don't know, six or seven things, I mean, that's Puritan style, but six or seven things that would really help you diagnose the psychology, and then going back to the scripture in ways, all, all the ways we'd expect about how God loves us and cares for us, and all those things are true. And yet the only way I could describe how this book ministered to me is, like, how you might go to a physical therapist for some kind of ailment, which I have many as I get older, and have recently been to one. And the ailment I had was, um, basically like tarsal tunnel, which is like carpal tunnel for your foot. And so there was some nerves that were inflamed and causing some pain and some weirdness in my feet. And here's what I do know about physical therapy now that I think the Puritans also do for our souls, and that is the physical therapist gave me this full workup. They prodded me and poked me and rubbed things and made things hurt- And in the course of doing that, they clearly could figure out what was wrong with my foot. And so when he gave me the diagnosis, after, again, rubbing that part and, like, doing one of those things where he's like, you know, they tap on your hard and they're like, "Does that hurt?" I'm like, "Yes, it does hurt." And I presume that's because you know anatomy. And, you know, he's, he's ta- tapping on my ankle and it's causing my foot underneath to hurt. And after all that, you know, I run on a treadmill. He d- takes all this video, and this is what he says to me. He goes, "Yeah, so this is actually pretty straightforward." And I was like, "Great, so what are we talking about? Like exercises, uh, splints, like massage?" He's like, "You have a weak butt." And I was like- "I'm sorry, let's talk about that for a second." And this is what I've learned about physical therapy, is it's rarely about the thing that's actually bothering you or the thing that's hurt, right? It's something- Yeah ... far different. It's something almost seemingly, like, disjointed or removed or divorced from the very thing, maybe even non-contiguous, if only in our minds, maybe even logically. And so what I love about this is the first half of the book is just speaking about the province of God before it even gets into this idea of anxiety. And then the treatment on anxiety and worry is, he goes through, like, six or seven things in particular, are just absolutely glorious. So good that I want you to read it. I don't even want to talk about it. Uh, that, that's my admonishment to you, is that you should just go pick it up. So I'm affirming again that the Puritans in particular do this thing where there's, there's no cheap advice here. It's not even hide advice. It's really good advice, but it's the kind that says, "You have a weak butt" when you're concerned that your ankle- is messed up. Yeah. And that's sometimes what you need to hear. And in my case, after... Let's make this super weirdly spiritual. After doing a bunch of squats, I don't know what the spiritual equivalent is of that. After doing a bunch of squats, my ankle and my foot was so much better. And it, because I had somebody who cared enough for me to go through and actually diagnose the root of it, that was the reason that inevitably there was healing. So I've, this has given me so much to think about, this tiny little treatise. So much to put into practice. It's so rich, so good, so practical, and yet I think you'll find in many ways joyfully unexpected. So I highly affirm to everybody listening, and even those who aren't, Special Providence for Anxious Souls, Obadiah Sedgwick. You'll, you'll love it [00:20:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:20:49] Physical Therapy Spiritual Practice [00:20:49] Tony Arsenal: So two thoughts. Uh, one, uh, I can confirm Jesse has a weak butt, um, flat as a board. So it's probably, probably better after, after doing some squats. Wow. Uh, two- Wow. ... uh, I can say I also am in some physical therapy right now, and I've been a little bit of a slacker. And what I will contribute to the conversation is just like in physical therapy, they can give you all of the exercises- Yeah uh, that you want. If you don't do the work, you're not going to get better. Yeah. And so whether it's Jesse doing squats or me not finding time to stretch and to do some, like, arm exercises with a, with a s- uh, like a TheraBand, uh, the same holds true. And, and maybe to unify our, uh, affir- our denials/affirmations into one mega, mega recommendation, um, the same holds true in that, one, we can take a book like this from, uh, Sedgwick, and we can turn it into the same thing we do with media where we're just... it's just devouring our blinks. Right. And we're just using it as a way to sort of, like, feed our eye hole Get better. You won't improve. Um, and that's actually the same with scripture. Like y-you can- Right ... turn scripture into, uh, into a snack food that you, you don't actually use to be nutritious. Um, I think there's probably more benefit to reading scripture sort of rote and, and almost mechanically than there is to reading anything else. But, um, but at the end of the day, you can also consume your blinks with scripture and not get a lot out of it if all you're doing is passing your eyes over text. So get in there. I think that's great. I haven't read that one. I mean, I think there's... I think there are probably many, I can't think of one off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are many, many Puritan treaties that- treatises that are similar in theme and tone and have the same kind of like spiritual antidote or spiritual medicine, um, prescribed by these guys that is good and wholesome. And again, like, like you're saying, like it's not that complicated. It's not that hard. Right. It just takes- Right ... you just actually have to do the work. Um, it's funny, my physical therapy thing is my, my shoulder has been really ba- really messed up, and I went in, I expected him to give me all these, all these shoulder exercises, and he's like, "Uh Really what you need to do is you fix your neck, uh, 'cause your shoulder is, is being in- injured because you're sleeping- Okay on that side because you're trying to stay off the other side. So, like, you really gotta fix your neck so you can sleep on the other side of your body. And I was like, "So I'm just, like, sleeping wrong?" Like, it's funny, there's a joke, it's like in your 20s you can do anything you want, in your 30s, like, you gotta be a little bit careful, and in your 40s, like, you hurt yourself just sleeping. Right. Just getting out of bed is dangerous. [00:23:46] Jesse Schwamb: It's [00:23:46] Tony Arsenal: true. [00:23:47] Jesse Schwamb: It's true. So. It's a tough world. But [00:23:48] Tony Arsenal: it's true. I feel like a really old man saying that. [00:23:51] Read Matthew 25 Aloud [00:23:51] Jesse Schwamb: You know, it strikes me that you're right, of course, that there's so much here we always have to put into practice. There's so much here that we have to trust with God. There's a faith that works. And so I think actually that is the most lovely inroad into this final passage of Matthew, because there's a lot here for us to talk about with all of those things, and to understand it in this proper context. So as you've already set us up, Tony, the best part of our podcast is the scripture, for sure, 100%. So let's go there. So we're in Matthew 25 in case you're just joining us. And for some reason I went into, like, a full radio mode, as if this, like, this is being broadcast live, and you just came into the program. We're in Matthew 25, uh, starting in verse 31, and I'm gonna read until the end of the chapter. There's so much here that of course we're not gonna get to all of it, but in the spirit of literally having the full context of the scripture in front of us, and to hear it all, I think it's important. It w- b- better yet, you should go back and read the entire chapter and then tune in right now. But let me start at verse 31. "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in, naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. [00:25:32] Judgment Scene Read [00:25:32] Jesse Schwamb: I was in prison, and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?" And the King will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me." Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angers-- angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." Then they will themselves also answer saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?" Then he will answer them saying, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life [00:26:47] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:26:49] Parable Not Fear [00:26:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, it's, it's, um, it's a sobering passage. And just as I think we've seen in a lot of the other parables, um These eschatological parables and these eschatological sayings of Christ, uh, as you kind of alluded to earlier, I, I think they are really, really, um... They are not prone to being misinterpreted. Right. The church has been prone to misinterpreting and misapplying these, um, in a, in a way that's used to make, make the Christian fearful and to, uh, undermine their assurance rather than to call them to action or to accountability. [00:27:33] Why It's A Parable [00:27:33] Tony Arsenal: Um, and I think a- as I've been reading through this and I've been sort of glancing at the Greek as we're reading, I actually think I'm on... I, I stumbled on much more better ground to treat this as a parable than I even originally thought I did. You know, I, I had this whole lead-up that this isn't technically a parable, but when you read here, when it says, in verse 31, it says, "When the Son of Man comes in glory and the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates- Right ... the sheep from the goats." If you go back to verse 14, when it says, "For it will be like a man," uh, that, that first word of verse 14 in the Greek is the same word as is used when it says, um, uh, "He separates people one from another as a shepherd." That same word is used as there, it's just translated differently because of where it comes in the, um, in the text. So Christ is still making this comparison, so it would be as though he said, um, you know, like the common, most common, at least so far, most common kind of parabolic introduction is like, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like." Um, this is the same basic language he's using here to introduce what the eschaton will be like. Right? The ga- the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them. It says people in the ESV, but will separate them one from another. You could also say the, the nations or the peoples will be gathered before him. Right. He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep. So the parable here is the s- the shepherd separating the sheep from the goats, this whole process of the separation and this, this, um, frankly, like it's, it feels and smells like a parable, right? It does. This, this, um, figure, this shepherd in the parable or the shepherd in the saying is saying these sort of like parabolic statements. He's using this language that's kind of like shocking punchline statement. Like we've talked about how in parables there's often this sort of unexpected turn of events, or there's this unexpected kind of shocking language, and this whole like twist at the end in both, sort of both s- chunks here, where like the sheep don't really understand, like they didn't really recognize that they were doing sheepy things, and the goats didn't really understand that they were being goats. That's like the parabolic twist or the parabolic punchline here. So the, the kingdom of heaven is like, basically it's like the Son of Man will come in his glory and it will be like this. It will be like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. That's the parabolic connection here. Mm-hmm. So I actually think that, that linguistically we're on, we're on pretty solid ground not just to treat this as a summary of all the parables, um- I think of for sure these three parables, but it, it really is like the master parable, and I think probably the master parable that kinda governs and constrains and explains all of the parabolic ministry of Christ. So I'm, I'm stoked for us to really dig into the details a little bit, but I think linguistically we're on super good ground to, to treat this as a parable. I agree. At the very least, it's stronger than just parable adjacent. [00:30:44] Jesse Schwamb: Right. [00:30:44] Tony Arsenal: It- but even if we aren't saying it's a parable proper, it's stronger than that. It still is using this kinda comparative ministry, comparative language that Christ has used throughout the parabolic, um, sayings of Christ. [00:30:57] Jesse Schwamb: The construction seems a little bit less veiled because here we have Jesus implanting himself directly into the account. [00:31:03] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm. [00:31:04] Shepherd Imagery Stakes [00:31:04] Jesse Schwamb: At the same time, though, he's drawing on all the things you just said he does, especially with this allusion to shepherding, which would've been, of course, common throughout. So it seems to me a lovely bridge to all of the overt parables he's just told, but now he's bringing them all together and placing himself clearly as, like, the interpreter, as the identifier of all the things, as the one to seal up all of the edges, as it were. So it's clear that this is about the end times. All of these were all about the end times and about Jesus' role in them. And so of course here he identifies himself as the eschatological judge just to make it clear. He's the one who sits on his glorious throne, and that's significant, and that's why I think we sometimes feel like, well, this is not a parable because he's, he's being very, like, Christologically certain and direct here. You know, throughout scripture the final judgment is God's prerogative alone, but the Father has committed all that judgment to the Son, and here's Jesus affirming that. And so again, like Reformed theology, in all our conversations we've consistently emphasized that this text is in many ways, like, proof of Christ's full deity and his role as mediatorial king, and he's exercising his office as the judge at his return in glory. And though, like you said, at the same time, here's the cool parable kind of scent or flavor is you get all these nations, every person who has ever lived, not merely Israel or merely the church. And how does Jesus describe this? He goes back into parabolic language. And we got the shepherd imagery that- Yeah is, like, similar to Ezekiel 34 where God himself is judging between the sheep of his flock. And that separation, the shockingness of it, it's immediate, it's binary. There's no third category. There's only two eternal destinies. There's no purgatory, no middle ground, no post-mortem opportunity for repentance. So all that's at stake. And then again, the beauty of the language itself or the setup of the construction of the story as it unfolds is that both groups- Get the same speech with a change in do or do not, but they both ask the same question from, like, wildly different perspectives and standings. And that's the beautiful- Yeah thing to make reconciliation over is what does all this mean then? How is all this established and how is this final judgment come to be such that there are sheep and goats if, in fact, they're both doing the same things theoretically, or they're at least both asking the same questions of, well, when did this ever actually occur? That, that's what's for us to unpack either way. [00:33:29] All Nations Gathered [00:33:29] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and b- before we jump into, um, into the parable itself and start to unpack that, the other element that I think is worth, uh, and this just came to me so hopefully I'm not on too far of a, of a limb here. But the other element that I think is worth at least commenting on, um, we've, we've remarked, especially in these last three eschatological, um, parables, how much these are directed at the religious leaders, right? Right. The, the, the people are, um, the, the- the parables are told, um, in the context and sort of following up on these, this real directed, um, assault against the religious leaders who thought they were the ones, right? They're the ones that have a claim to the Kingdom of Heaven, they're the ones that, um, are the, you know, they're the ones that think they're doing the right thing, they're the ones that are ushering in God's kingdom. This little phrase here, "gathered all the nations," would also have really stuck in the craw of the religious leaders, right? Because the word for nations that's translated here is the same word that would el- elsewhere get translated as Gentiles, right? And the word people, when it says, "He will separate the people," that, that word people doesn't actually exist in the Greek. So if you translate this very literally, it'd say, "Before him will, will be gathered all nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Now, I don't wanna go the route of saying, like, this is a parable about, like, which pe- people group will be brought into the kingdom and which won't, and I've read some that go that direction. I don't wanna go there. But this idea that, like, even in the final judgment, the people who are in view here are the Gentiles, right? Right. I think most Jewish, particularly the, the Pharisees and the Sadducees hearing this, would've, would've read this and would've read ta ethnos, and would not have thought nations the way we do. Certainly would not have thought of, like, modern nation states. They might have been thinking maybe, like, people groups in general, but they would be thinking more along the lines of, like, Psalm, Psalm 2, like, "Why do the nations rage?" kind of nations. Why do the Gentiles rage? Why do the peoples plot in vain? They would've been thinking th- this, this, uh, judgment almost, at least on the face of it, almost excludes the Jews entirely when you think about it this way. It's really now sort of, like, zooming out where at the very least, at the minimal least, the Jews are just another people group within this broader judgment of the people group. Right. So again, like, we've seen this theme that Christ is continually expanding the scope of what is considered to be the Kingdom of Heaven to include not just the Jewish people, um, but all nations, all people groups, all Gentiles and Jews alike. And in a very real sense, um, and I wanna be careful how I've said this, I know I've commented this in the past, there's a very real sense of anti-Semitism that is prominent in- reform, quote-unquote reformed circles right now that is just vile and disgusting and sinful, and has no place in any sort of Biblical Christianity. But there is a reality that the Jewish people, broadly speaking, um, rejected the Messiah, at least while he was here on Earth. Um, relatively speaking, very few Jewish people, especially in the Jewish elite, like the leadership class, accepted Christ for who he was while he was here. Many Jews came to faith through the ministry of Peter, uh, and, and even through the ministry of Paul, even though he was an apostle to the Gentiles. So it's not as though it remained the case, but at this point in Christ's ministry, the Jewish people were by and large were rejecting him as Messiah. And so this idea and, and sort of this like final culmination now saying like he gathered all the, all the Gentiles, all of the peoples, all of the nations. In Jewish, in Jewish language and, and when you look in the Old Testament, and even in some of the New Testament literature, the nations were those people out there. So even if we don't translate this as Gentiles, we don't, we don't take that more like restrictive sense, even then it still implies that Christ is talking about people out there, the non-Jewish nations- Right are being gathered before his throne. And so that's not to say, absolutely not to say that the Jewish people, that, that the Jewish people of his day or the, the... This is where it gets tricky too, 'cause like we think about modern Israel and we, we import our understandings of like nation states. That's not what was in view here. The, the idea of a modern nation state was not a concept that existed in the first century. Um, you might have something like city states, but even that is kind of like a little bit ethereal. The idea here is that all people groups, and maybe, maybe we conceptualize Israel now as one of these people groups, the Israeli Jewish people as one of these people groups. All of those people groups, Jews, Gentiles, Scythians, Athenians, Spartans, like, uh, Ethiopians, you know, all of these different people- Right ... groups that are mentioned in the, the New Testament, all of those peoples, all of those nations are gathered before the throne, and then he will separate them one from another in the same way that a shepherd sep- separates the goats. [00:38:35] Group Judgment Assurance [00:38:35] Tony Arsenal: And yes, I think there is an individualistic, um, judgment element, and this is where I think, um... And, and then I'll, I'll pause for a second. This is where I think we can go wrong reading this as a parable about the individual judgment of individuals in the future That's not really what the language here is supporting. This is supporting sort of a broader group-based judgment, and the grouping is there are those who are sheep and there are those who are goats. But it doesn't appear as though Christ is saying like, "I'm evaluating each individual person, and this person is a sheep, this person is a goat." It's, it's a broader picture that, yes, has some implications for individual personal judgment, but when we read too much of that individual personal judgment into this parable that doesn't seem to be there, that's where we start to, like, rob individual Christians of their assurance. We start to say, like, "Did you do enough? Did you feed enough poor people or did you not?" That's not really, not really what's at stake here, I don't think. [00:39:40] Jesse Schwamb: No, it's definitely not. It's, it's important to remember just the beauty of, like, the consistent theological thread that runs all the way through the Old Testament, and then that we might expect, of course, to be manifest in Christ's teachings, which happen exactly here. So he is going all the way back to that covenantal promise seed through Abraham, single seed, many people groups, many ethnicities. In this way, the gospel is ethnic inclusive. And so it is, why wouldn't he say that in this way to express that this is exactly from all time what God wanted to do is gather all people groups to himself? Which means then by the time we get to the end of this chapter in verse 46, and there is this righteousness that... or the righteous that lead or go into eternal life, then of course we're led to believe here either directly or implicitly that that means that there would be some for whom the Pharisees would find it's, like, anathema to receive that kind of righteousness and eternal life are the ones in fact who are getting it. And so even that is scandalous. So the, the whole thing is very much a setup, and I think it's the confusion again of this is Jesus saying again to the Sadducees, like, "You are confused. You do not know the power of God. You, you search for it everywhere else but do not find it in front of you. It, it's he who speak to you. I am he. You think you search the scriptures, but you do not know." Everywhere it feels like he's saying that, and here also he's saying that again, but it's in the setup. And I'm with you. I think that there would've been a lot here that would've, like, just come right off his lips that would've been like, "Say what?" Uh, that would've been, like, offensive right off- Yeah ... the top. [00:41:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:41:17] Sovereign Separation [00:41:17] Tony Arsenal: And the other, the other theme that plays out really loud and clear here, um, as we start to dig into this is, um, there's a sovereignty to this separation that is baked into, um, the king's right to decide who to keep and who to cast away. Right. So I think we, we, um, understandably read into this an assessment of the productivity or the profitability or somehow the, like, merit or worth of the sheep as contrasted to the worth of the goats. Um, and we read into it like the sheep have utility and the goats don't, so the goats get cast into the- Right outer darkness. That's not really, that's not really what's going on here, right? In a, in an agrarian society, like sheep and goats both have utility. It's not as though, like, sheep are worthless and goats aren't. There's a reason people have goats. Um, th- the, the issue here is that the king has decided that there are those on his right and there are those on his left, and the ones on his right he's gonna keep, and the ones on his left he's gonna cast away. And, and so, um, there's this sovereign election and determination that precedes the rest of this, right? It's not as though he's ... And this is where the personal, sort of personal assessment part comes in. He doesn't look at a person and go, "All right, you did a g- enough good works to qualify as a sheep, so you go ahead and go over-" Right and be a sheep. And you didn't do quite enough, so you're actually a goat, so you go over and you be a goat." He looks at, he says, "Y- sheep, goat. Goat, sheep." You know, he, he's separating them out, and then he describes what sheep do versus what goats do. And I, I, like I'm even drawing some of this language out. The sheep goats part of this is actually only, like, a verse and a half. He then flips out of this parabolic language to now go back to the sort of strictly predictive eschatological ex- like explanatory language. So this is what it's like when the Son of Man is on, on his kingdom. He separates sheep and goats. We read into, and maybe with some good reason, but we read into Uh, we read into the fact that the sheeps go to one side, the goats go to another. Then we sort of like attribute the characteristics of those who go to his right to sheep, and we attribute the characteristics... And I think we do this the wrong way. How many sermons have you heard where the whole sermon is about how sheep are obedient, and they're, they're affable, and they listen, and they, they, they are sweet and kind, and goats are stubborn, and they, they just wreck everything, and they don't listen, right? And how many s- how many sermons have you heard where they talk about, like, well, sheep and goats really look the same in the Middle Eastern context, and the only way you can tell them apart is what, by what they do? I think there's probably some, uh, benefit to thinking through those elements, but Christ does not make that point in this parable- Mm ... at least not directly, right? He said, "This is the activity. Imagine a man who has sheep and he has goats. He takes the sheep, he puts them on one side. He takes the goats on another side." That's what the separation at the end of the time, at the end of time will be like. Then he goes straight back out of the parable language into saying, "This is how the king will actually make the distinction. [00:44:29] Predestination Before Works [00:44:29] Tony Arsenal: The ones on his left, or on his right, he will say, 'Come, you're blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" Right? This is predestination language, not eschatological judgment language. The sheep were guaranteed a kingdom from before the foundation of the world. Before they did anything bad or didn't do anything good, they were guaranteed a kingdom from before the foundation of the world. Then he says, he explains to them, like the context that, as you said before, that reveals that they were sheep all along. [00:45:02] Jesse Schwamb: Right. [00:45:02] Tony Arsenal: It shows them that they were already... Man, I just, just made this connection in my head. This is the parable of the wheat and of the tares- Yep ... coming to fruition- Exactly ... at the end of time. Right. Right? The sheep and the goats were allowed to mingle until the time came when they would be separated, just as the wheat and the tares were allowed to grow up until the time when they would be reaped and separated. This is what's going on. The sheep did things that sheep do. Those on the right did the things that the people on the right would do because they were part of God's blessed kingdom all along. [00:45:34] Jesse Schwamb: Right. [00:45:35] Tony Arsenal: And then he goes on to explain what the people on the left did not do, not because now they've been put on the left because they didn't do it, but they were shown to have always been a part of that, part of that population. They were always goats because of these things. This shows that they were goats all along, and they did these things or failed to do these things because they were goats all along. [00:45:58] Jesse Schwamb: That's right. [00:45:59] Works Righteousness Trap [00:45:59] Jesse Schwamb: Let me read another verse. "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children and also our brethren to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God. For we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do." My guess is everybody was with me- ... sounded kind of okay until that last part. And if you had that, like, as we say, like, that theological muscle memory that just made you flex or bristle there, or you had the Spidey Sense, as you say, Tony, good, because that's from 2 Nephi 25:23 from the Book of Mormon. And here's what I wanna say that's shocking, is if we read this passage of scripture that we're talking about as if there's something there that we need to do that proves that we've done enough and that somehow God will be pleased with that, even at the end of time in some small way, some modicum, then we're actually acting way more like Mormons than we are like Christians. That's just the bottom line. Yeah. Because Mormons, if you ask about this verse, rather than try to qualify that last statement by saying, "Well, that's misunderstood," or, "It's really not after all you can do," because of course it begs the question how do you know that you've done enough? How you don't- you've done all the things and that you're, you're exhausted. Their explanation of this is to double down on it and say, "Well, the context of that verse is following verse 23 actually does emphasize salvation only coming through Christ, but it also encourages continued observance of the law of Moses in order to be reconciled to God." Because that's all they could do until Christ fulfilled the law through his atonement. Even that is nonsense. So all of this to say, we have to be careful with this because I, I think you're right. We're aligning, we're running right up on this, and that is I would submit to you that we just get distracted because we always, of course, want to bring something to the party here. The, the salvation cake. We wanna, I don't know, we wanna make it, we wanna do. But God is doing all the things on our behalf. And so as a result of that, I think this parable is actually, it's about the divine prerogative and the agency of Christ in judgment at the end which belongs to him and him alone, and not about these actions. But we get caught up in the actions and we're missing this thri- divine prerogative. I also think that Christ gives this to us to reverse it on us and to show us that he sets about all things. It is in fact his foreordination and his providence. By grace we have been saved through faith, and that in providence being predestined is an act of his great love. And so this shows the extent of that love because those whom he has chosen himself are asking in disbelief as if to say, "When did I do the good works that you required?" And he said, "Well, you didn't because you could never do them apart from me." [00:48:38] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:48:38] Jesse Schwamb: And so really that's the whole point. It's just so easy for us to get it twisted and say, "Well, doesn't it make sense that there are two groups?" Well, certainly there are in this passage. And doesn't it make good sense that because he said they did things or they didn't do things, then I just need to be about doing those things. And I think that is unfortunately the adventure in missing the point in this passage. [00:48:58] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, I, I agree 100%. And it's funny 'cause you were reading that and I was like What translation of J- of First John is it? It sound, I mean, it sounds like, it sounds like something you'd read in First John It sounds okay [00:49:09] Jesse Schwamb: until [00:49:10] Tony Arsenal: the end. Yeah. No, I mean, like, it literally sounds like First John until- Yeah ... you get to that last part. [00:49:14] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:49:15] Tony Arsenal: And, and I think you're right that, um, we'll, we'll explore this more next week, but what has always struck me about this passage is that the, the p- the, the people on His right, I've gotta stop saying sheep, because that's... I just made the point that that's not really what's going on. The people on His right who are called into the kingdom because it was prepared for them before the foundation, because they were elected unto that kingdom. The people on His right, they're surprised at the fact that they did these things. And it, I, I think the works righteousness way of reading this is like, "You better earn your salvation. You better get at it because if you haven't fed Jesus in disguise, then you just aren't gonna make it. At the end of the day- Mm ... He's gonna say, 'I never knew you.'" And it, whether intentionally or unintentionally, sometimes I think intentionally, it implies that we, uh, that Jesus comes to know us because we've done good works, right? When we say, "If you don't do these things, then Jesus will say, 'I never knew you,'" then what you're saying is Jesus doesn't know you apart from your good works. Right. And what the Bible says, what this passage says, just right on the face of it, is that the Kingdom of Heaven was prepared for those whom Christ has elected before the foundation of the world, or who the Father has elected, who are blessed by the Father before the foundation of the world. Now, obviously the Father had to know those people in some sense- [00:50:43] Jesse Schwamb: That's [00:50:43] Tony Arsenal: right ... before the foundation of the world in order for them to be blessed by Him and for Him to prepare a kingdom. So then to come back to the end of it and say, "Well, there are some of those, uh, who the Father never knew because they didn't do enough work," well, the problem is that those who did the good work, the Father knew before they did the good works. They didn't merit the good works. I mean- Right ... it's funny you, you bring up the, the Mormons, and that's certainly true, but, like, you could substitute in, at least on this regard, right? There are meaningful, important differences between the groups I'm about to say and Mormons, that would be the dividing line between those who are possibly saved and those who are y- definitely not saved, right? You could substitute Arminians, who wanna say God looks down the corridor of time, and the reason He prepared a kingdom in advance for them from the foundation of the world is 'cause He saw that they would do these things that would merit salvation, or He saw that they would make the proper decision to receive His grace, right? Or Roman Catholics or Eastern Orthodoxes in a different sense, but similarly who would say like, "Well, yeah, God knows in advance that you're gonna merit salvation, so He prepared- Right ... this kingdom anticipating your merit that you would contribute or your participation or, or whatever." I think in a certain sense, um, you could even apply this to some Lutheran theology, right? Which would say, like, "Well, God prepared this kingdom for you from the foundation of the world because he looked down the corridor of time and he understood that you were not going to resist the grace he gave," right? You were not gonna reject his grace. Um, it really truly only is Reformed theology that can say, "No, God prepared this kingdom in advance for you, and it was the preparation of that kingdom that brought you through this such that you did the good works that you did, such that you made the wise decision to follow Christ that you did. That is caused by the fact that God prepared a kingdom for you in advance, not that you somehow caused this kingdom to be prepared for you." A- and aga- again, again, like, this is dicey. It gets into, like, logical ordering, but fundamentally, a- as far as I can understand it, every competing view besides sort of a Calvinistic understanding of predestination election has to say that in some sense God prepares the kingdom for you as a response to something you have done, or chose- Right to do or chose not to do. The reality is that this passage is saying, "No To those who are on the right. He didn't separate them based on the fact that they did these things. He just said, "You are on the right, and now to those who are on the right, I say to you, come into the kingdom that is blessed. You're blessed by my Father. Come into this kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world." So I think, you know, we're c
In this special Reasoning Through the Bible discussion, we step away from the normal verse-by-verse format for an informal conversation on eschatology and end-times systems. This session compares views such as premillennialism, amillennialism, covenant theology, preterism, and postmillennialism, while asking a central question: Does God still have a future plan for Israel?The discussion focuses on the sequence found in the Old Testament prophets: Israel's sin, God's judgment, the nations gathering against Jerusalem, Israel crying out to the Lord, and God restoring His people. We examine passages and themes from Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel, Daniel, Romans 11, Acts 1, and Revelation 20, showing why we believe the biblical pattern points to a future restoration of Israel and a future kingdom ruled by Christ.A major emphasis in this episode is that there is only one way of salvation. Israel is not saved apart from Christ. Gentiles are not saved apart from Christ. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. At the same time, God's national promises to Israel, the Abrahamic covenant, and the future kingdom should not be erased or replaced by the church.Topics in this episode include:eschatology and end timespremillennialismamillennialismcovenant theologypreterismpostmillennialismIsrael and the churchAbrahamic covenantRomans 11 and IsraelEzekiel 36 and restorationZechariah and the pierced MessiahRevelation 20 and the millenniumJesus reigning from Jerusalemone salvation through ChristReasoning Through the Bible is a verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry committed to careful exposition, biblical context, and faithful application.Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the BiblePlease prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Send us Fan MailGod tells Abram, “I will,” four times and it changes the direction of human history. We slow down in Genesis 12:2–3 and let those promises land with their full weight: nationhood for a 75-year-old man with a barren wife, divine favor that God himself sustains, a great name that lasts beyond cultures and centuries, and a universal blessing that reaches “all the families of the earth.”We also get honest about why this matters for everyday faith. God's covenant grace is never just a private gift. We talk about being chosen by sovereign grace, not merit, and why God's pattern is to bless people so they become a conduit of blessing to others. Then we hold Genesis 12 next to Genesis 11 at Babel, where people try to make a name for themselves, and we ask what modern self-exaltation looks like when it sneaks into spiritual life.Finally, we tackle the question many listeners carry: do God's promises to Abraham apply to ethnic Jews today, to Christians by faith, or in some sense to both? We distinguish the unconditional Abrahamic covenant from the conditional Mosaic covenant, then walk through key New Testament passages often raised in the debate, including Galatians 3 and Romans 9–11, with an emphasis on God's faithfulness and humility where Christians disagree.If you want a clear, Bible-centered guide to the Abrahamic covenant, God's redemptive plan, and how Jesus fulfills the promise to bless the nations, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or your question for a future devotion.Support the showhttps://www.jacksonfamilyministry.comhttps://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/
Audio Transcript Elders here and I get the privilege of preaching for you guys this morning. So quick announcement before we get too far. It is a holiday weekend, so we don't have our full kids ministry as usual. So we have, we'll get all the kids in here today. So we got snacks and activities over there kind of where you walk in and then if, if, you know, I got four boys, we only got two here today. So I get it. If they get a little antsy and we need some more room to run, you can go through this back door here, you know, kind of turn back around this way. But we have a meeting room down there where I think the service is projected and just, just some space for the kids to move and you can still follow along with the service. So, yeah, like I said, my name is Rob Fisher, one of the elders here, privileged to. Privilege to preach for you guys today. And so every summer we try to give Aaron, our main teaching pastor, the at least eight weeks off or so out of the pulpit. We think it's important for a couple reasons we want, you know, the Bible says that elders should be, should be able to teach. So we try to get all the elders in here and we also elevate. We elevate preaching, not the preacher. You know, we think it's important not to. We love Aaron. We love the faithful week. He does faithful work. He does week in, week out. But we think it's important to, to be developing other voices and not just be only receiving the word from, from one guy. Now I will say Aaron is preaching his campground this weekend. So they've done a lot of faithful ministry there and we're excited they can do that. So just an overview today we're continuing our series through the book of Exodus. So we're in Exodus chapter 6 today. So we'll start out by reading the text. We'll pray together. Then we're going to work through the text together really line by line. And Lord willing, after we're done working through it, we'll put some main points to it and some themes and we'll see how God is going to use the life and the story of Moses to inform us how we should live in the here and now. Right? So again, we're in Exodus chapter 6 today. We can go ahead and turn there. Continue, continue to the book of Exodus. We're doing this summer. We're going to follow the life of Moses. God has been calling him to be a, to be a part of delivering the Israelites out of Egypt. And we're going to we're going to pick up here in chapter six. So this is the word of the Lord. But the Lord said to Moses, now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand, he will send them out. With a strong hand, he will drive them out of his land. God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty. But by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians sold as slaves. And I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord. And I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. With great acts of judgment, I will take you to be my people. And I will be your God. And you shall know that I am the Lord, your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you for possession. I am the Lord. Moses. Thus. Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel. They did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. So the Lord said to Moses, go in. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel go out of his land. Moses said to the Lord, behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me? For I am of uncircumcised lips. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. To bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Now these are the heads of their fathers houses. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. Hanak, Palu, Hezron and Carmi. These are the clans of Reuben. The sons of Simeon, Jamil, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohor and Sha'. Ul. The sons of the Canaanite woman. These are the clans of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generation. Gershon, Kohath and Merari. The years of the life of Levi being 137 years. The sons of Gershon, Libni and Shimei. By their clans, the sons of Kohath, Amram, Ishar, Hebron and Uziel. The years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. The sons of Merari, Mahil and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. Amram took as his wife Jochebed, his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram being 137 years. The sons of Izar, Korah, Nepheg and Zikri. Don't know about that one. Sons of Uzziel, Mishael, Elsaphan and Sitri. Aaron took as his wife El Shaba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. And she bore him Nadab, Abuhu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah, Asir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites. Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Phutiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers, houses of the Levites by their cleans. And these are the Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their host. It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt. This Moses and this Aaron. And on this day, when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you. But Moses said to the Lord, behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me? Let's pray. Lord, you're grateful for your word. Grateful that we get to learn from it and study it. We're grateful that your word, it studies and examines us as we study and examine it. Grateful for the life of Moses and the story of Moses. We pray that we would be faithful learners of it. We're grateful that you've sustained this church. And we ask that you would. I ask that you would help me speak your truth. Clearly. We don't come here just out of. Simply out of practice. We want it to be beneficial for the building up of your church, beneficial for the equipping of your saints. And. Yeah, we just pray that it's for your glory and for the. For the good of. For the good of those who know you. And it would be a means of evangelism for those who don't. So it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So Exodus 6 is just a. It's just one chapter in the larger Moses narrative, right? So before we can focus on the, on the details of this passage, we have to remember where it sits within the larger story. So if we come to chapter six, without considering the setting of Moses life and his calling and the recent events, we're going to miss a lot of the weight of what God says here. So the Bible, right, is first and foremost a book about God and God's work to bring redemption, restoration to a fallen and rebellious and sinful people. And in this section of Exodus, though, God is in the process of bringing his people out of slavery in Egypt, and he's using Moses as his church chosen instrument. And because of that, we get this kind of like mini biography of Moses. So chapter six should be read as a chapter within a larger story. It is an isolated scene, but we can't. We can't really understand that isolated scene without the broader context, right? So before we work through chapter six, we need to. Just briefly, I want to look back briefly at Moses life and just see what's brought him to this moment. So, so Moses was an Israelite boy. He was born into an Israelite family while the Israelite nation is enslaved in Egypt, right? And when he was born, there's an Egyptian decree that says, you know, all the Israelite boys need to be killed. The Israelite nation is becoming too strong. Moses, however, was miraculously saved by his mother. He's eventually adopted by the Egyptian royal family, and he grows up in the Egyptian royal household. He's 40 years old. He's an adult. And Moses, he's somehow knowing that he's actually an Israelite, and he's seeing the slavery and the oppression of the Israelites, his true people. He stops an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite by murdering the Egyptian, right? And the day after his murder, Moses realizes he's like, I am in trouble. So he flees, he settles in a foreign land. He lives out. And he lives out 40 years, the next 40 years, right, as a shepherd in Midian. So he has a Midian wife, he has a Midian family, he has an occupation, and he's made a life for himself in this. This foreign land. Now, while Moses is being a shepherd, he has an encounter with God. God charges him to be the means by which God takes the nation of Israel out of Egypt. And in that encounter, Moses raises a lot of objections about his own shortcomings for the tasks. We're going to get into more. We're going to get into more of those shortcomings as we continue. But just know that Moses had a lot of questions and concerns about the task that God is giving him. And in response to Moses concerns and questions, God gives Moses powerful signs and miracles to demonstrate his power. And God also gives Moses the help of his brother Aaron to act as Moses spokesman, since Moses is always expressing his concern over his inability to speak well. Right? So that initial exchange between God and Moses is like all of chapter three and half of chapter four. Then at the end of chapter four and through most of chapter five, Moses then is acting on God's command to go back to the people of Israel who are enslaved in Egypt, and then to Pharaoh and to tell them that, you know, God is going to bring them out of Egypt, right? So Moses and Aaron, initially, they go to the elders of Israel. They tell them, God is going to deliver you from Egypt. And obviously this is well received, as we can imagine. And the Bible says the people believed and bowed their heads and they worshiped. But next, in chapter five, the end of chapter five, Moses and Aaron take their message to Pharaoh. And it goes about as well as we can imagine. So we covered last week. It was. It was far from well received by Pharaoh. Pharaoh does not let the Israelites go. And instead of letting them go, he increases their workload. So the Israelite work leaders take their complaints to Pharaoh. Pharaoh receives them without a shred of sympathy. And the Israelite slaves, then they turn their frustration towards Moses and Aaron. And that's seen at the last, at the end of chapter five. Here. This is the last scene that we have before we go into where we're starting today, into chapter six. So I'm going to read you these verses that lead up to where we're going to start from today, so we can get a grasp on the setting here. So Exodus 5, 20, 23 says they met Moses and Aaron. This is the. They say the Israelite foreman who are waiting for them as they came out from Pharaoh. I just can imagine the scene. Moses and Aaron are outside the meeting room. They're just like, oh my gosh, this is not going good, right? And they say to them, the Lord look on you and judge you because you have made a stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. You've put a sword in their hand to kill us. Moses turned to the Lord and said, lord, why have you done this evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? Since I came to Pharaoh to speak your name, he's done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all. So again, the background matters here, because chapter six Begins with Moses discouraged. The people are downcast and Pharaoh is unmoved. So when God replies to Moses, he's replying to, you know, he's replying to his chosen instrument. Moses is still chosen, but the chosen instrument is once again, he's questioning God's plan. He's questioning God's timing, he's questioning his own calling. So we enter chapter six. Keep this God's. Chapter six is God responding to this mood in Moses. And he's answering Moses's frustrations and fears. So in response to Moses complaints, God is gonna, he's gonna reply to Moses questions, not directly, but rather he's gonna call. He's gonna call back to his previously stated purposes. So God is, there's, there's kind of a short answer in verse one, and then there's the long answer in verses two through eight. So verse one says, the Lord said to Moses, now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. With a strong hand, he will send them out. With a strong hand, he will drive them out of his land. So the short answer is that God is going to use his strong hand. And this verse, right, the verse is a good reminder to be a good and thorough student of the Bible, right? If we read this over too quickly in this translation of the Bible, it's like it's not clear who the strong hand belongs to, if it's God or Pharaoh. But if you look in the commentaries or the translation, it says the first and second strong hand, it's God. This is all God's work. And this is similar language to the initial conversation between God and Moses at the burning bush about this, how this interaction would go. So like Moses first encounter with God at the burning bush, it lays out how the deliverance process is going to go. And we don't see all the details of the narrative laid out in the in the burning bush conversation, but we see, we can see most of the narrative cover. So Exodus 3, verses 19 and 20. We also, God is using the similar language to convey, to lay out the extraction process of how it's going to go. He says, I know the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand, my hand again, and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it. And after that, he will let you go. So this, this repeated language matters, right? The strong hand, the mighty hand, the outstretched arm, it all points us to the same truth. Israel's deliverance is only going to come by God's power, right? Israel's deliverance is only going to come by God's power. So when we think about verse one, it's just important to see that God is clearly stating that the deliverance of his people will be by his power, his mighty, strong and active outstretched hand. It's important to note that it's not from the willpower of Moses over Pharaoh, and it's not from the generosity of Pharaoh either. Right? The Israelite people can only be on. They're only going to be delivered by the workings of a strong and all powerful God. And the people will be led by Moses, he says, but only because Moses is the man that God chose to be the messenger. So the people would be freed by Pharaoh, but only because of the more powerful and strong mighty hand of God that he showed over the stubbornness of Pharaoh. Right? So God's short answer to Moses is that my promise is not wavered. Moses says, why me? Why is this so hard? Why can't we make any progress, right? God essentially says this. He says, keep watching what I will do. So the current difficulty Moses finds himself in, it's not evidence that God's plan has failed. It's actually evidence that things are going to according to plan. Like Pharaoh will not be easily moved. This was laid out at the burning bush, right? So in God's short answer to Moses in verse one, that's, that's the short answer in verse one. But now let's look at the longer answer, verses two through eight. So as I was reading and I was meditating on this task, being prepared for this, I was just struck again at how God's lengthier reply to Moses groaning again. It's a repetition of something that's already been laid out in the Moses narrative, right? It's been laid out in God's conversation with Moses at the burning bush. So looking at verses four and five, it says, I established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan. And I heard people's groanings as slaves. And I remembered my covenant. I remembered my covenant. The same language that Moses uses. So Moses wrote all this when he writes the end of chapter two. At the end of chapter two, just this huge turning point in the narrative, you know, Moses has established himself in the land of Midian. Meanwhile, business as usual, we can say, continues in Egypt. And the rest of the nation of Israel is still under the oppression of Egyptian slavery, right? Chapter 2, verse 23 and 24 says, the people of Israel are crying to God for help to be freed from slavery. And God hears their Cries the key words here. God remembers his covenant with his people. God remembers his covenant with his people. After that, the narrative turns and God calls Moses at the burning bush. Right then, in the burning bush encounter between God and Moses, God twice recalls his covenant to give the land of Canaan to the offspring of Abraham. And that covenant is going to pull us way back to Genesis 12, the Abrahamic covenant in which God promises. Abraham says, your offspring will inhabit the land of canaan. So Genesis 12 is really the basis of the Exodus narrative because it's setting, it's establishing the promise that God's people will have a home where they can live and prosper and worship the true God. Now, keep working forward through verses 6, 7, and 8, God is gonna. He's gonna drive the details of this promised home even further. It's his promise to his people to remember the covenant, right? So verse six says, I, God, I'm going to free you from Egyptian slavery. And we see the imagery of God again here says, I'm reaching out and pulling his people out of slavery with an outstretched arm. In chapter four, God says, I'm going to use a mighty hand. In the beginning of chapter six, he says, I'm going to use a strong hand. And now here in chapter six, verse six, God says, it's worth an outstretched arm with great acts of judgment, right? In verse seven, it says, you will be my people, I will be your God, and you will know that I brought Israel out of slavery. And finally, verse 8 reminds us of the covenant that God made with Abraham. Says God, the promise that God would give the land of Canaan to the Israelites. Okay, so that's our first eight verses of this chapter. And this narrative is going to continue in verse nine. And Moses is going to start taking action on these commands next. But before we get into that, let me just look it back on these eight verses. I want to summarize as best I can here. So verses one through eight, they're. They're God's reply to Moses's grumblings, really, at the end of chapter five. And so if this were like. So I was thinking about this. This is a TV show. It's divided into episodes, right? Chapter 5 ends with. With Moses in the depths. He's standing outside of the meeting place if the Israelite foreman had just brought their failed appeal to Pharaoh. And so, like, right before the credits roll, Moses is just discouraged. He's frustrating. He's wondering why his obedience to God's commands have only made things worse. And I was thinking about this, the Bible doesn't tell us. We don't get any physical demonstrations from Moses in this moment. So I can only imagine it from my own experience. But I'll just say this, if you don't know me, I've worked in construction management for the last. Trying to remember now, 6, 7, 8 years now 9 out of 10 days wear work boots, jeans, a butt down shirt and a hat. When I need to look more presentable, I just don't wear the hat. Okay? Right. But when something goes wrong on a job site, which believe it or not, sometimes happens, right, the person responsible, usually me, you have to figure out what happened, we have to figure out how to fix it. You have to figure out how long it's going to take and then you have to explain it to everybody involved. Right. And then sometimes when multiple things go wrong at once, like my hat comes off, it's a good thing to throw when you're frustrated, right. And your hands go through, your hands go through my hair like this, right. And you're just going, I don't know anything, I don't know anything about anything. Right. But this is like, this is the kind of human frustration that I, that we see Moses in here. Like, we obviously don't know what he was wearing. We don't know if he wears a hat, if he throws it, we don't know if he turned around and kicked the sand or punched the wall. But, but because, but the, his words here, they're a man overwhelmed by a mission that seems to be collapsing in front of him. And we see this frustration mounting in Moses right here. So that, so Moses again, just keep this in mind before this whole conversation happens. Moses is rejected by Pharaoh, he's blamed by the Israelite foreman. And then he's just kind of like, he's like, this is all going backwards. Like nothing is going right here. So his questions at the end of chapter five, they're not like calm theological observations. They're the words of a desperate man. And he's like, he's like, I'm trying to be obedient, but all I'm doing is leading to more suffering here. So that's the first thing to remember in these first eight verses, right. God's answer is replying to a moment of great frustration. Okay, the second thing to remember here is that God never told Moses it was going to be easy. He was like, like at no point was he like, you're just going to waltz in there and it's going to, you know, it's one conversation. It's over, right? It's not how it's laid out. From the burning bush onward God. He's already told Moses that Pharaoh would resist, that the deliverance would require God's mighty hand. So God's reply isn't a change of plan. It's more of a reminder of the plan that he's already revealed. And it's a reminder that Moses, he's like, you should have expected some hardship here, right? And the third thing to remember about these first eight verses, it's God presenting himself as the covenant maker and the covenant keeper. And God is delivering Israel from slavery by delivering Israel from slavery and bringing them one step closer to the land of Canaan. It's more than Moses assignment. It's actually. It's God fulfilling the promise he made to Abraham. So Moses has to trust in this difficult obedience. He says, I have to trust that this is a part of God's larger plan. Okay, okay, we'll keep working through it here. Let's look at verses 9 through 13. I'll read these for us. Just to refresh it here. Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses because their broken spirit and harsh slavery. So the Lord said to Moses, go in, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But Moses said to the Lord, behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me? For I am of uncircumcised lips. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about a people of Israel, about the people of Israel, and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Egypt. So. So first of all, here, I think we got to give Moses a little bit of credit here. He has some. We have obedience without grumbling in this case, right? He does what God commands. He's delivering the covenant reminder message to the people. But he hits another setback here. The message falls on deaf ears, right? Verse nine says that they don't. They wouldn't listen because their broken spirit and the harsh slavery. So, like going back to chapter five, Pharaoh's strategy has worked, at least for the moment. And the burden on the Israelites has become so heavy that, like, the mental occupation of survival has crowded out any glimmer of hope. And it's just one of the painful realities of this passage is like, when people are. When you're just crushed by the weight of the present moment, it's hard to see any promise of the future. So the Israelites, I don't think they're rejecting God's promise because it's untrue. I think they're just too burdened to receive it right now. So then moving forward in verses 10 through 13, the focus is going to shift from, from the people's inability to hear God's promise to Moses ongoing struggle to trust God's calling. So, so God tells Moses, he says, go back to Pharaoh and command to let Israel go. But immediately, Moses immediately goes back to his familiar objections. And Moses argues that, he says, if the people of Israel won't listen to me, Pharaoh certainly won't, right? He's like, these are the people. I'm these people who are going to benefit from this, right? Why is Pharaoh gets nothing out of this? Why would he listen? He says, he says, I have uncircumcised lips. And other translations say I have faltering lips, I have poor, poor speech. So in other words, Moses is saying the people who should most want to hear this message are not listening one, and then two. So why should Pharaoh? And lastly, third, I'm still not a good communicator. So God answers, he answers both objections. He gives a charge to Moses and Aaron. And Aaron's present presence is an answer to Moses concerned about speaking, right? Like we go back to chapter to the burning bush encounter. God says, I'll give you Aaron to help you speak, right? So just having Aaron there is an answer to one of the objections. Then the charge itself to Moses and Aaron, it just keeps it mission focused, right? He says, you gotta speak to both Israel and Pharaoh because God me, I am still intending to bring the nation of Israel out of Egypt. So, so neither Pharaoh's resistance, nor Israel's discouragement, nor Moses insecurity can overturn God's command. Okay, so that's, so we're through verse 13 now. Now at this point the narrative is going to pause for a genealogy and like, rather than skipping over it, we need to, we need to, we need to look through this and see how this serves the, the flow of chapter six and how it fits within larger narrative of the Old Testament. This is by no means the, the longest or the most, the most thorough genealogy of the Old Testament. But this one, the purpose of this genealogy, it's going to anchor Moses and Aaron and the family line of Israel. And it reminds us that this rescue mission that we're on here is, is tied to God's long standing covenant promise. So we see the genealogy start with Reuben and Israel, and Israel is another Name for Jacob. And Jacob, right, is the grandson of Abraham, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And so we see again that Moses, he's just God's tool to fulfill the covenant between God and Abraham. Okay. And secondly the text self identifies its purpose in verse 26 to 27 says these are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their host. It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, about bringing the people of Israel from Egypt. This Moses and this Aaron. So by including this family history, Moses connects the deliverance of Egypt back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He's not just, he's not stepping into this random moment in history. He's being placed place within the covenant story of God that God has been working on for generations. So this genealogy reminds us that God's promise has a history and his faithfulness is not interrupted by Moses weakness or by Pharaoh's resistance. Okay, final section of text here, verse 28:30. It's going to return us back to the main narrative, right? God is again going to direct Moses to speak to Pharaoh. And that's going to set us up for the events in chapter seven, right? There's a slight, there's a slight difference here. It says, tell Pharaoh, King of Egypt, all that I say to you. So we're kind of setting up for what's going to be happening next here. But this genealogy has reminded us that God's covenant purposes are still moving forward. And now the narrative is going to remind us that Moses has to continue forward as God's messenger. Right? But Moses again is going to repeat his old objection. He says, I'm not a strong speaker. How will Pharaoh listen? And the chapter is going to end with this kind of unresolved, unresolved tension in Moses mind. But not, not an unresolved, but nothing unresolved in God's plan. Right? The tension is with Moses. So that's our, that's our, that's our text, that's our passage. So Lord willing, let me just try to wrap this up for us here. It's not, it's not hard to see the repeated patterns here, right? As I, when I start writing a sermon, I have the Bible and I have a blank piece of a yellow legal pad. And I just, I make notes verse by verse, verse by verse. And as I'm doing this, I'm like, Moses complains about inability. God reminds him of God reminds Moses of God's greater purpose. Moses complains again. God reminds Moses again. Moses complains. I mean I Mean, it's like, it's not, it's not a. We don't have to be scholars here to see this repeated pattern, right? But that's like the power of the narrative, though. Like God is giving Moses this clear command. It's grounded in his power, it's grounded in covenant faithfulness. But Moses just keeps going back to his own weakness. Then God keeps pointing Moses, think beyond yourself. He's like, he's pointing Moses away, away from himself. He's pointing Moses back towards God who can accomplish the deliverance, right? And as we think about applying this passage, we have to be careful that we don't turn this into like the hero's journey of Moses and needing to believe in himself, right? The main point is not that Moses finally finds enough courage within himself. And that's the risk. These well known Old Testament narratives like Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, Jonah, to name a few, that's the risk of these passages. The main point of these is that God is faithful, God is powerful, and God is using weak messengers to carry out his saving work. And that the danger in reading these like famous biblical narratives as if their deepest lesson was merely like, follow the healer's good traits and avoid his bad traits. Like, there's just a we can learn from Moses. But the shortfalling of that is that these characters and Moses, he's not the central figure of the passage, right? The strong arm of God, the mighty hand of God the mighty. The strong hand of God is the force that keeps the story moving forward. So when Moses is just repeatedly questioning his ability to do the work that God has called him to do, in one sense he's right. He's not wrong in his assessment of his own abilities, like Moses did not. He doesn't have the power to change Pharaoh's heart. He doesn't have the power to break the Egyptian oppression. He doesn't have the power to fulfill God's covenant promise. But Moses, still, he just keeps missing the point. It's like God is never asking him to be the deliverer. He's. God is asking him to be the messenger of the deliverer, right? Exodus chapter 3, verses 19 and 20 establish this. They say, I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand, this is God speaking, and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it. And after that he will let you go. So again, God is never asking Moses to be the mighty hand. He's just asking Moses to be the messenger. God is never commanding Moses to fulfill the covenant by his own strength. He's just commanding Moses to be an obedient participant in, in God's plan of keeping the covenant. So guys, if we can, this is like, if we can get this through our brains, we can save ourselves so much worry and hanry and consternation. Like, we are not the Saviors, we are not the Saviors. Moses cannot deliver Israel, deliver Israel by his own strength. And we can't deliver ourselves from the consequences of our own sin. Right? We can't save ourselves. Moses couldn't do it. We can't do it. Salvation belongs to the Lord and our calling is just faithful obedience in that. Now back to thinking about, thinking about this narrative as a whole. Like when we read narratives and especially these biographical narratives, it's easy to be the critic. So I say this next part with some hesitation because I don't, I'm confident I would not have done much better than Moses if I were in this situation. So with that trepidation, I, I, if we can glean one like kind of follow Moses lesson out of this or maybe don't follow Moses lesson. The, the lesson we need to learn is we need to be better at speaking the truth to ourselves, right? Moses has some moments of faithful obedience, but, but he's, more often than not he's, he's just plagued by his own self doubts. So when we think about this in the real world, I think about the phrase, I don't know where I heard it first. It's like you don't rise to the occasion, you drop to the level of your training, right? So I've just gotten done this summer. It's the seventh summer I've coached Demetrius, our oldest in baseball. And the past two summers I've been the first base coach. So I get a little bit of like mid at bat coaching time. And it takes me about half the season to remember that like you're not significantly moving the needle in like player development and talent in the middle of the game, in the middle of the at bat, right? Like you got a player with a bad swing at the beginning of that bat. Nothing you can say is really going to make a significant adjustment in the middle of the at bat. So like in the middle of the, in the middle of the game, in the middle of the moment. Most people, we don't rise to the occasion, we just stoop to the level of the training. Like the game moves so fast, the next moment comes so fast and the next moment is so overwhelming that like you stoop to the level of your training, right? So what we can learn from Moses Bad example here is that we have to be faithful and consistent and diligent in consuming what is right and true and what is from God. And we have to be faithful and consistent and diligent in reminding ourselves that like God is the strong and mighty hand and we are not. Right. And again, in full honesty, I don't think I would stack up much better than Moses. Again, it's easy to be the critic. Our life isn't canonized, Right. The main application is not be better than Moses. The main application is this. Like, we have to be mindful of how highly we view our own abilities and we have to be mindful of how low or not we view God's abilities. Right? We have to be mindful of how highly we view our own abilities. And we have to be mindful of how low or how high we view God's abilities. Right? One of my dear friends and mentors in construction and just life is a man named Travis. He's been doing construction management for over 30 years. He's a wonderful man of God, father of three faithful kids, grandfather, he's in construction terms. He's forgotten more work than I've ever managed and he's forgotten more lessons than I've ever learned yet. Right. If you've been to Lucille Downtown, he managed the renovation. It turned the bank vault into this wonderful event space. He's managed like a 500,000 square foot manufacturing plant. He has the experience and the credentials to be respected. And when I first met Travis, I'd been managing projects for like two years. I was like the most stressed out I had ever been. I had more responsibility than I ever had. Like deadlines in 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks. Coming up, Rachel's eight months pregnant with Chris. I'm like overwhelmed. And I meet Travis. I can remember it's like the Panera in Fitchburg. I'm like, Travis, how do you manage this? And he didn't. I can still remember this conversation. He says he didn't give me any. Do this every day. This is my project management checklist. He goes, you know, Rob, you do everything you can. Sometimes you just have to pray those projects over the finish line. Like that was it. It's like, it's, it's hopefully simple, but. But painfully simple, right? It's like you do all we can, but we have to. We have to. We have to show up, but we have to. We have to show up and do the work that God has called us to. Do diligently. But we have to realize that there are responsibilities and goals that seem impossible for man to shoulder. So we have to have to appeal to the all powerful God for help. So when we think about Moses and our narrative today, like Moses repeated objections, they just reveal we're seeing a man who felt the weight of his own weakness, but he struggled to rest in the strength of God. So church just wrapping this up. As we continue to think about Moses and we continue to think about God using Moses to carry out his work, my prayer is that we would learn to be faithful and obedient voices for God in the world. And not because we're strong enough to accomplish his purposes, but because we serve a God who is. So that's all we got for today. Let me pray for us today and then we'll do Lord supper after that. Lord, what a, What a joy and a burden it is. To be able to. Just take time to go into Moses's life in detail and take time to see, to see his shortcomings and to see, to see your strength and your promises and to see how you're using a flawed and sinful man to fulfill your promises, to fulfill your plan to redeem the world. Like. Pray for us, pray for our church that we would, we would diligently serve, we would diligently show up, we'd be faithful, obedient servants. But we would ultimately remember that it is not, it's not on our own strength. We serve an all powerful God who has a strong hand and a mighty arm. Even thinking of this sermon today, you're using a flawed and sinful man to bring, to deliver a divine and holy word here. So pray these words will not return empty and that they would be faithful for the good of your church, the evangelism of the world, and for the building up of the saints. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. The post God Promises Deliverance – Exodus 6: 1-30 appeared first on Red Village Church.
In this sermon podcast the speaker reflects on the 250th anniversary of American independence and asks what might happen if Americans returned to a foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. Drawing on the Bible and the influence of the nation's founders, the message explores the spiritual roots of freedom. The sermon outlines seven biblical principles—dignity of human life, the traditional family, a national work ethic, God-centered education, the Abrahamic covenant of righteousness, common decency, and personal accountability—and calls listeners to remembrance, repentance, and renewal in their personal and national life. ---- “Blessed Is the Nation Whose God Is the Lord” Psalm 33:12; Hebrews 9:27 Big Idea: A nation grounded in God stands on solid ground. Introduction: Our Freedom Has Roots What would happen if every American returned to the foundations of faith in Jesus? The Seven Biblical Foundations of American Freedom Dignity of Human Life – Ex. 20:13; Mt. 22:39 The Traditional Family – Gen. 2:21–24 A National Work Ethic – 2 Thess. 3:10 God‑Centered Education – Deut. 6:7; Eph. 6:4; Prov. 1:7 Covenant of Righteousness – Gen. 12:1–4; Gal. 3:7; Prov. 14:34 Common Decency – Mt. 22:39 Personal Accountability to God – Heb. 9:27 Conclusion & Response Remembrance - gratitude for God's blessings on our nation. Repentance - for where we, as a people and as individuals, have drifted from these seven principles. Renewal - asking God to raise up families, workers, teachers, leaders, and churches who live out these truths. Find other Podcasts, Sermon Notes and the Bulletin here. https://www.mvcnaz.org/live Stay in touch with our Church Center App at https://www.mvcnaz.org/churchcenter Contact us through our CONNECT form at https://www.mvcnaz.org/connect With Pastor Mike Curry.
This sermon examines the biblical doctrine of Christ's literal thousand-year earthly reign as described in Revelation 20. The speaker refutes postmillennialism and amillennialism by highlighting the progressive moral decline predicted in Scripture, affirming premillennialism as the only view consistent with a literal interpretation of prophecy. Key theological themes include the purpose of this kingdom to reward believers, redeem creation from the curse of sin, and fulfill the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants with Israel. The message emphasizes that current global conditions validate the need for Christ's future intervention rather than gradual human improvement. Ultimately, the sermon calls listeners to trust in the new covenant through faith in Jesus Christ while anticipating His glorious return.
What happens when a covenant-keeping God makes an absolute, irrevocable promise? In this broadcast, host Shelley Volk continues an in-depth study of the covenants of God, tracing their progression from the foundational agreements of the Old Testament straight into the profound reality of the New Covenant. Shelley reviews the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants before turning a bright spotlight onto the New Covenant outlined in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This episode explores how the Gospel has opened up the commonwealth of Israel to the nations, challenges the common misconceptions of replacement theology, and takes a look at the prophetic future when the eyes of all Israel will be opened to their Messiah. Key Takeaways from this Episode: The Lineage of Promise: A review of the unconditional covenants passed firmly from Abraham to Isaac and Jacob, permanently securing both a people and a physical land inheritance. The Greater David: Looking at the royal decree in 2 Samuel 7 to see how its final, eternal realization points directly past Solomon to Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Unpacking the New Covenant: Exploring Jeremiah 31 to understand a promise written directly on the heart, offering total forgiveness of sins. As Certain as Day and Night: Why the physical order of creation—the sun, moon, and stars—stands as God's absolute guarantee that He will never discard the nation of Israel. A New Heart and Spirit: Diving into Ezekiel 36 to see how the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) removes a heart of stone and provides the internal power to walk in God's statutes. Confronting Replacement Theology: A scriptural refutation of the idea that the Church replaces Israel, appealing to believers to stand on the immutable faithfulness of God's Word. Scripture References & Study Links: The Abrahamic Foundation: Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:8, and Genesis 17:1-8 — The foundational unconditional covenants. Passed Down the Line: Genesis 26:1-4 (Isaac) and Genesis 35:9-12 (Jacob) The Generational Summary: Psalm 105:6-11 — A thousand generations of inheritance. The Throne Established: 2 Samuel 7:10-16 — The eternal kingdom promised through David's line. The New Covenant Declared: Jeremiah 31:31-34 — Law written on the heart. The Fixed Order of Creation: Jeremiah 31:35-37 — God’s cosmic signature guaranteeing Israel's future. A New Spirit Transferred: Ezekiel 36:22-28 — Gathering from the nations and transforming the heart. The Ultimate Salvation: Romans 11:26 — The apostolic promise that all Israel shall be saved. Support the show: https://shellyandjunevolk.com/product/partner-with-us-psalm-127-fund/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If no one could keep the Mosaic covenant, why did God make it? How do we learn to trust God? Rabbi Schneider shares in this episode of Discovering the Jewish Jesus that God wanted to prepare man to receive a savior. Because of our sinful nature, it is impossible to keep the Law. Learn today how the three biblical covenants compare, what they mean to you, and how traditions of men interfere with God's plan. **** BECOME A MONTHLY PARTNER - https://djj.show/YTAPartner **** DONATE - https://djj.show/YTADonate **** TEACHING NOTES - https://djj.show/qdo TITLE: Set Free From Sin and Death (The Relationship Between the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants) Visit our website at DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com
Following their introductory look at the profound nature of covenants, hosts Shelley and June Volk zero in on the foundational promise that sets the stage for all of biblical history: The Abrahamic Covenant. Walking listeners directly through the pages of Genesis, Shelley breaks down the staggering "I will" statements spoken by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This episode highlights why this foundational covenant is entirely unconditional—resting solely on the immutable faithfulness of the Creator rather than human perfection. From the specific boundaries of the Promised Land to the lineage that birthed the twelve tribes of Israel and ultimately the Messiah, discover why this eternal agreement remains fully alive and operational in our world today. Key Takeaways from this Episode: The Sovereignty of "I Will": Understanding why the Abrahamic covenant is completely unconditional based on God taking the entire burden of performance upon Himself. Lineage & Territory: Tracking the specific line of inheritance through Isaac and Jacob—explicitly omitting Ishmael—and the permanent geographical boundaries attached to it. A Change of Identity: Looking at the deep prophetic weight behind God renaming Abram to Abraham, and Jacob to Israel. The Root of "Jew": June traces the etymology from Jacob's twelve sons down to the tribe of Judah, meaning "a worshiper of God." To a Thousand Generations: A deep dive into Psalm 105, illustrating that when God says a covenant is "forever," it means it carries absolutely no expiration date. Scripture References & Study Links: The Initial Call: Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB) — Go forth from your country... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Geographical Boundaries: Genesis 15:18 (NASB) — From the river of Egypt as far as the great river Euphrates. An Everlasting Bond: Genesis 17:1-8 (NASB) — Establishing the covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Passed to Isaac: Genesis 26:1-5 (NASB) — The oath established with the son of Abraham. Confirmed to Jacob (Israel): Genesis 35:9-12 (NASB) The Eternal Summary: Psalm 105:6-11 (NASB) — He has remembered His covenant forever. Support the show: https://shellyandjunevolk.com/product/partner-with-us-psalm-127-fund/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We invite you to join Jacob and study this weekend to explore the depth of possible deception bringing up false Peace Plan. Originally recorded for RTN TV, Word for the Weekend.You can connect with Moriel in more locations than just YouTube!Check out all our official links on the About page: https://www.youtube.com/c/MorielTVministries/about.The U.S. Copyright Office protects this video and its contents under section 107 of the Fair Use Copyright Act 1976 which can be found here: can be found here:https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107.While we do encourage comments, all are held for review before posting. We ask that you please focus your posts on the video and it's topic. Keep it relevant to the message; and of course showering us with love is always welcome. We do appreciate you and thank you for caring enough to speak up and speak out.Please note: Posts that are longer than a short paragraph, contains hate, or disrespectful comments, or links to websites or other videos will be deleted. Comments determined to be inappropriate, obscene, disrespectful or with links to pornographic material, will get you banned.All decisions on comments are at our discretion.
Are modern-day Jews still God's chosen people if they don't believe Jesus is the Messiah? In this episode, Dr. E tackles one of the most common—and often misunderstood—questions in Christian theology. Looking carefully at Romans 9–11 and the Abrahamic covenant, he explains how God's covenant promises to Israel relate to salvation through Jesus Christ. Dr. Easley discusses the biblical origins of the terms Hebrew, Israel, and Jew, the difference between ethnic identity and saving faith, and why Christians can affirm both God's ongoing faithfulness to Israel and the necessity of trusting Christ for salvation. Whether you've wondered about replacement theology, the modern nation of Israel, or how to understand God's promises in Scripture, this episode offers a thoughtful, biblically grounded perspective. Chapters 00:00 Can Israel still be God's chosen people? 00:44 The listener's question 01:07 Hebrew, Israel, and Jew: What's the difference? 03:28 Romans 9 and God's covenant promises 05:12 The modern nation of Israel and 1948 06:46 Chosen people vs. personal salvation 07:50 Why rejecting Jesus matters 09:24 Jewish identity, faith, and culture 11:12 Pray for the peace of Israel Key Topics -Are the Jewish people still God's chosen people? -Romans 9–11 explained -God's covenant with Abraham -Salvation through Jesus Christ alone -Replacement theology -Modern Israel and biblical prophecy -Hebrew vs. Israel vs. Jew -God's faithfulness to His promises -The Messiah in Scripture -Praying for the peace of Israel Links Mentioned: Dr. Michael Rydelnik on inContext How Should Christians Think About Israel by Dr. Michael Rydelnik If you've got a question for Dr. Easley, call or text us your question at 615-281-9694 or email at question@michaelincontext.com.
What does it mean for a civilisation to turn against itself? In this episode, Quillette's Zoe Sankey speaks with philosopher and author Benedict Beckeld — whose 2019 Quillette essay on oikophobia remains one of our site's most popular pieces — about the recurring historical phenomenon he has spent his career documenting: the tendency of successful Western societies to denigrate their own culture, institutions, and inheritance. Drawing on his book Oikophobia: Our Western Self-Hatred, published by Cornell University Press, Beckeld traces the pattern from ancient Athens and Imperial Rome to contemporary Europe and the Anglosphere, arguing that cultural self-repudiation is not a modern aberration but a predictable feature of prosperous, secure civilisations. The conversation ranges widely: the assimilability of Islam, the distinction between monoethnicity and monoculturalism, the demographic significance of Israel, the theological differences between the three Abrahamic religions, and the question of whether the West can recover its civilisational confidence before external pressures force the issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us Fan MailBaha'i religions are often misrepresented or misunderstood. In this interview, I am joined by Joshua Hall to discuss Baha'i history, philosophy and theology. I discuss the startling similarities between Baha'i and other Abrahamic traditions, their understanding of God, belief in revelation and more! I hope you enjoy this introduction to the Baha'i religion!Support the show--------------------------If you would want to support the channel and what I am doing, please follow me on Patreon:www.patreon.com/christianityforallWhere else to find Josh Yen:Philosophy YT: https://bit.ly/philforallEducation: https://bit.ly/joshyenBuisness: https://bit.ly/logoseduMy Website: https://joshuajwyen.com/
In Genesis 24 we find a shift from Abraham as the main character to Isaac. Of all three of the patriarchs, we know the least about Isaac. Nevertheless, he was the bridge from Abraham to Jacob, and the conduit through which passed the Abrahamic blessing.
What if the real win this summer isn't building something new… but learning to actually enjoy what God has already given you? So many Christian fathers spend their lives grinding, building, planning, and striving that they forget to stop and receive the gifts sitting right in front of them: their current stage of life, meaningful friendships, simple meals, time in God's Word, and quiet moments of peace. Don't fall into the “performance trap” and lose your ability to savor life. Scripture teaches that enjoyment itself is a gift from God—and an Abrahamic father is called not only to build faithfully, but to receive God's goodness with gratitude and pass that joy down to his children. If your soul feels tired even while your life looks productive, this episode might be the reset you need. Links in this Episode AW Bootcamp: Aug 21-23 Please partner with us in inspiring and equipping multi-gen families at https://abrahamswallet.com/support AW website Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Chapters (00:00:00) - Abraham's Wallet(00:08:00) - What They Need to Know About Receiving(00:09:02) - What Kind of Work Does God Require of Us?(00:11:21) - The wisest man ever lived: Ecclesiastes(00:13:39) - 5 Things a Rich Man Enjoys(00:15:27) - I Wonder What the Poor Folks Are Doing(00:22:17) - Enjoying the Simple Things(00:25:33) - Rich Man: Friendships(00:30:10) - Amazed by the Bible(00:34:36) - A Taste of God's Goodness for Dads
00:00 - Why is Vickrum Digwa in the news? 02:10 - What is a Kirpan? 03:56 - Are you covered under the law if you're not Amritdhari (baptised)?06:15 - Defence vs Exemption examples07:25 - Did Vickrum Digwa use a Kirpan or a Shastar, and what's the difference?10:22 - Why should we carry multiple Shastars living outside of India? 12:46 - How do we know if someone's responsible enough to carry a Kirpan? 14:45 - The Sikh Community are being collectively punished 17:06 - Wearing the Kirpan as an 'act of resistance' within the youth 18:59 - Introducing mental health checks when taking Amrit (being baptised)?21:54 - Are there any preventative checks the Sikh community can make?24:03 - How would the community feel if the Kirpan was changed to necklace form?26:05 - Legally, a Kirpan cannot be used for self-defence 28:40 - Is carrying a Kirpan on your wedding day covered under the law? 30:21 - Could we standardise the Kirpan to be blunt in the UK? 32:47 - There is no link between carrying the Kirpan and knife crime34:39 - A Kirpan stops being a Kirpan when you draw it 38:14 - Banning the Kirpan will not stop knife crime 40:07 - Why doesn't the UK follow the same laws as other European countries? 43:58 - Why did the UK accommodate carrying the Kirpan?47:22 - How do we respond to people saying carrying the Kirpan is now redundant?50:31 - If it's just a symbol, is it still needed?51:43 - The difference between Sikhi and Abrahamic beliefs53:38 - What was Vickrum Digwa's motive to attack Henry Nowak?57:36 - Vickrum admitted he had no defence if there were cameras 59:22 - Was Vickrum Digwa's Dastaar actually knocked off? 01:06:53 - Where did the incident take place? 01:09:08 - Was Vickrum kicked out of his local Gurdwara for stealing Shastars?01:10:46 - Will this have an effect on Nagar Kirtans, Gatka displays etc? 01:13:18 - Where do Sikh Tommy Robinson supporters stand now?01:16:16 - What does the future look like for the Sikh Community? 01:18:41 - Could there be a mass exodus of Amritdhari Sikhs from the UK? 01:20:38 - There might be further accommodations rather than restrictions 01:22:02 - Potential outcomes for future Kirpan laws in the UK 01:23:57 - Has the Sikh community represented themselves well to justify why we should carry the Kirpan?01:28:33 - Who would have been best to educate on behalf of the Sikh community? 01:32:39 - This is a historic turning point in history Follow Ramblings Of A Sikh on:Substack - https://ramblingsofasikh.substack.com/YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/ramblingsofaSikh/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ramblingsofasikh/Twitter/X - https://x.com/RamblingSingh/Follow Us On:TikTok - https://bit.ly/indy-and-dr-tik-tokInstagram - http://bit.ly/indy-and-dr-instaFacebook - http://bit.ly/indy-and-dr-facebookSpotify - http://bit.ly/indy-and-drAlso available at all podcasting outlets.#kirpan #vickrumdigwa #henrynowak #sikh #sikhism
Orlando R. Kelm is a retired professor from the University of Texas at Austin. He served in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the McCombs School of Business for over 37 years, teaching courses in Portuguese and Spanish language and linguistics. His research and publications focused on the cultural aspects of cross-cultural communication and the creative use of technology in language learning. Orlando was born in Calgary, Alberta, raised in Taylorsville, Utah, and educated at Brigham Young University and the University of California at Berkeley. He served in the São Paulo Norte Brazil mission, and his three favorite hobbies are studying foreign languages, acoustic guitar, and astrophotography and nature photography. Orlando recently published the book It's a Patriarchal Blessing!. Links It’s a Patriarchal Blessing Email Before a Patriarchal Blessing (Microsoft Word format) Email Before a Patriarchal Blessing (PDF format) Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community Highlights Orlando discusses his experiences as a patriarch and the significance of patriarchal blessings. He emphasizes the importance of viewing these blessings as affirmations of identity and divine potential rather than as mere checklists or warnings. 00:02:28 – Orlando’s Calling as a Patriarch 00:03:52 – Challenges of Starting as a Patriarch 00:04:48 – Training and Preparation for Patriarchs 00:05:41 – The Pressure of Giving a Blessing 00:06:29 – Communicating First-Time Blessings 00:07:06 – Orlando’s Role as the Only Patriarch 00:07:55 – Impact on Gospel Study and Preparation 00:08:34 – Revelation and Inspiration in Preparation 00:09:40 – The Importance of Compassion 00:10:37 – Note-Taking for Blessings 00:12:00 – Reviewing and Editing Blessings 00:13:27 – The Nature of Patriarchal Blessings 00:14:35 – Preparing Candidates for Blessings 00:17:30 – Helping Candidates Feel Comfortable 00:19:06 – The Role of Patriarchs in the Church 00:20:10 – The Blessing Aspect of Patriarchal Blessings 00:21:09 – Avoiding a Checklist Mentality 00:22:32 – The Role of Personal Agency 00:23:36 – Orlando’s List of Recommended Talks 00:24:45 – Reducing Anxiety for Candidates 00:26:07 – The Experience of Giving Blessings 00:27:30 – The Importance of Seeing Potential 00:28:59 – Understanding Lineage in Blessings 00:30:33 – The Significance of Covenant and Gathering 00:31:47 – Contributions of Different Tribes 00:33:44 – The Role of Personal Revelation 00:35:58 – Flexibility in Interpreting Blessings 00:37:09 – The Lifelong Relevance of Blessings Key Insights The Nature of Patriarchal Blessings: These blessings should be viewed fundamentally as a positive source of love and divine identity. Orlando emphasizes that they are not patriarchal warnings, admonitions, or “chewing outs,” but rather tools to help individuals understand their divine worth. Preparation as a Patriarch: The process involves intense, ongoing spiritual preparation. Orlando explains that he often feels like a “faucet that cannot be turned off” in the days leading up to a blessing, as he studies scriptures and topics prompted by the Holy Ghost to prepare his mind to receive impressions. Mortal Delivery of Revelation: Patriarchs receive inspiration, but they must articulate it using their own mortal capacity, vocabulary, and understanding. Consequently, a patriarchal blessing is a collaboration between the Spirit and the patriarch’s mortal expression. The Fallacy of the “Checklist”: Recipients should avoid viewing their blessings as a list of required events (e.g., marriage, missions, children) to be checked off. Instead, they should see the blessing as a resource to be applied to all of life’s decisions, challenges, and experiences. Understanding Lineage: The declaration of lineage is not a DNA test but an invitation to participate in the Abrahamic covenant and the gathering of Israel. Each tribe's unique description provides a different “skill set” for how an individual can contribute to the Lord’s work. Leadership Applications Alleviate Anxiety: Leaders can help reduce the nervousness people feel about visiting a patriarch by fostering opportunities for the patriarch to interact with ward members (e.g., firesides, sacrament meetings, or activities) beforehand, making him a familiar figure rather than a stranger. Foster a Broad Interpretation: Bishops and leaders should encourage members to interpret their patriarchal blessings with flexibility. When members feel confused by their blessing, leaders can help them understand that the meanings may evolve and deepen as they face different stages and challenges in life. The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.
Anila Ali, founder of the American Muslim Multi-Faith Women's Empowerment Council, joins Shai to share her journey as a Pakistani-American Muslim woman fighting extremism from within. From growing up in Pakistan's Sufi-influenced culture, to witnessing radical ideology infiltrate American mosques after 9/11, to speaking at the March for Israel in front of 300,000 people post-October 7th, Anila has faced death threats, lost family, and received an Iranian fatwa against her. She discusses why 80% of the world's Muslims are non-Arab, how the Muslim Brotherhood hijacked mainstream Islam, and why building authentic interfaith Abrahamic partnerships is the path forward.Guest: Pakistani Muslim Activist Anila AliConsider DONATING to help us continue and expand our media efforts. If you cannot at this time, please share this video with someone who might benefit from it. We thank you for your support!https://gofund.me/30c00151c BUY MERCH!https://hereiam.threadless.com/SUPPORT SHAI ON PATREON!https://www.patreon.com/shaidavidai/about?utm_source=campaign-search-results
Peter Goeman examines Galatians 3:16 and Paul's claim that the promises were made to Abraham and to his singular “offspring,” who is Christ. By tracing the argument back to Genesis 22:17–18, comparing translation differences, and interacting with C. John Collins and Andrew E. Steinmann, he explains why Paul's reading is rooted in the Old Testament context and why Christ as the seed of Abraham does not erase Israel's identity or future promises.Timestamps00:00 — Introduction 00:36 — Why Galatians 3 matters for Israel and the church02:13 — The exegetical issue: singular offspring vs. plural descendants04:05 — Genesis 22:17–18 and the Abrahamic promise05:22 — Translation differences: ESV, NASB, and “his/their enemies”07:01 — The Hebrew word zeraʿ: seed, offspring, descendant09:11 — John Collins, pronouns, verbs, and singular indicators12:31 — Four biblical categories for the “seed of Abraham”18:32 — Why Genesis 22 points to a singular victorious offspring21:15 — Steinmann's argument against a purely collective reading25:38 — Connecting Genesis 22 with Galatians 326:15 — Paul's use of composite Old Testament allusions28:24 — Steinmann and Collins on Galatians 3:8, 3:16, and Genesis 22:1832:02 — Why Paul's argument fits the grammar of Genesis 2233:31 — Christ as the seed does not erase Israel's role38:06 — Jesus as true Israel and the future of national Israel38:53 — Conclusion: Christ as the center of Abrahamic blessingArticles ReferencedSteinmann, Andrew E. “Jesus and Possessing the Enemies' Gate (Genesis 22:17–18; 24:60).” Bibliotheca Sacra 174, no. 693 (January–March 2017): 13–21. https://www.academia.edu/26154981/Jesus_and_Possessing_the_Enemies_Gate_Genesis_22_17_18_Genesis_24_60_Collins, C. John. “Galatians 3:16: What Kind of Exegete Was Paul?” Tyndale Bulletin 54, no. 1 (2003): 75–86.https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/article/30224-galatians-3-16-what-kind-of-exegete-was-paul.pdfAre Gentiles the True Israel in Galatians 3?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXPZJV2c0lAIf you have found the podcast helpful, consider leaving a review on Itunes or rating it on Spotify. You can also find The Bible Sojourner on Youtube. Consider passing any episodes you have found helpful to a friend.Visit petergoeman.com for more information on the podcast or blog.Visit shepherds.edu for more on Shepherds Theological Seminary where Dr. Goeman teaches.
Send us Fan MailEpisode 108 of 'The Open Forum' where Religious or Non-Religious are invited to join the discussion. Guests will be invited on a first come first serve basis. Please note we can only have a maximum of 10 panelists (including efdawah panelists) at any one time.Link to join the panel: TEARS OF GAZA Donation Link: https://givebrite.com/gazacrisis© 2026 EFDawah All Rights ReservedDonate to Ijaz's medical expenses: https://buymeacoffee.com/ijazthetriniWebsite : https://efdawah.com/https://www.patreon.com/EFDawahhttps://gofund.me/7cb27d17https://www.paypal.me/EFDawahhttps://www.facebook.com/efdawah/Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:05 - EF Dawah Panel join: Format of the Stream02:50 - Evaluation of the Modern Dawah Scene 05:21 - Advice about giving Dawah08:55 - Reminder to Muslims about Intention12:45 - Dealing with Islamophobes vs Non-Muslims 19:13 - Message to Muslims about Dawah 22:55 - Nonoah (Theist) joins: shares his beliefs24:12 - Obstacles to fully accepting Islam27:38 - Exploring the Unreliability of the Bible38:08 - Examining the beliefs of Nonoah46:40 - Inconsistencies in Nonoah's beliefs52:33 - Uplift (Ex-Muslim) joins: shares his views54:16 - Advice for dealing with faith struggles59:10 - Recognising the Signs of Allah ﷻ 1:02:26 - Understanding the Prophet's character1:05:48 - Importance of Gratitude in Islam1:08:32 - The Prophet's character: free will or destiny 1:16:02 - Free Will vs Predestination in Islam1:18:47 - Kaum (Muslim) joins1:20:46 - Responding to Christian Apologetics 1:22:36 - Refuting claims about the end of times 1:27:16 - Issues with the claims of Islamophobes1:29:12 - Exposing the Hypocrisy of Christians1:34:04 - Age of Marriage in the Abrahamic religions1:39:38 - Problems with the Far Right movements1:46:24 - Uncovering the Corruption in the UK1:49:47 - Insights into the Unreliability of the Bible2:00:10 - Analysing the Bible's errors & corruption2:07:08 - Inconsistencies in Christian theology2:08:52 - Message to Christians2:15:38 - Praying after taking ADHD medication 2:22:36 - Roy (Christian) joins2:23:01 - Arguments for the Bible's reliability 2:26:03 - Debunking Roy's arguments for the Bible 2:35:40 - Debate on the authenticity of the Bible2:54:27 - Who was Jesus pbuh sent for?3:03:11 - 1000 H (Christian) joins3:04:26 - Claim about the Qur'an's preservation3:06:35 - Establishing the Qur'an's preservation3:10:52 - Mechanism of the Qur'an's preservation3:14:56 - Dawah to 1000 H: The Message of Islam3:22:17 - Refutation of the claim of Jesus' divinity3:25:15 - Message to the Viewers3:31:27 - Closing Remarks & Wrapping UpSupport the show
On this episode I have Drew Briney on as we talk about some interesting topics. We start by talking about some new projects Drew is working on. From there I ask a question about D&C 132 that leads to some fascinating insights on one part of the revelation as we talk about Mormon history and the concept of Abrahamic tests. From there I ask Drew about some new meeting minutes that were released a few weeks back that sheds some additional light on the Adam-GodDoctrine, along with that Drew then dives into two more topics contained in the meeting minutes that are kind of controversial. We then wrap it all up by diving into two new books that Drew is working on about the Adam-God doctrine that leads to some amazing insights and ideas. If any of these topics fascinate you, I can't recommend highly enough that you scope out some of Drew's other books. Link To Drew Briney's Amazon PageAmazon.com : drew brineyFacebook Group Link For Mormon Fundamentalists In Virginia:Mormon Fundamentalists in Virginia | FacebookJeff Aldredge Project In South DakotaHomesteading Opportunity in South DakotaJeff Alldredge Email: oldpathsnew@gmail.com
This episode of Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad explores the theological connection between God's historical covenant with Israel and His ultimate, universal desire to offer salvation to all nations. God's purpose for Israel was never isolated but rooted in His universal desire to reveal Himself to all nations. From the beginning, humanity's fall into sin and idolatry left the world in spiritual darkness, yet God chose Abram not for Israel's sake alone, but to bless all the families of the earth through him. Through the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants, God established a people who would embody His character, foreshadow the Messiah, and ultimately prepare the way for Jesus Christ—the true Israelite and Savior of the world. The entire biblical narrative unfolds as God's redemptive plan to gather a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and language, who now worship the Lamb and the Father in eternal glory. This global fulfillment of covenant promises is being realized today through the gospel, as God calls people from every corner of the earth to know Him through His Son.
Watch the FULL debate here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYIdYfZJxXU Olin Giles challenged C.L. Edwards and ALL Muslims to deal with these four points. Based on these references, Islam is not an Abrahamic belief system. Abraham worshipped Yahweh 1. Yahweh Reveals Himself to Abraham as a man (Gen. 18:1). 2. He is a multi-personal God (Gen. 19:24). 3. He has a divine Word or Memra (Gen. 15:1). 4. And then finally, He offers His righteousness through faith, not works (Gen. 15:6). Website: https://RadicalTruth.net Donate: https://RadicalTruth.net/Donate ** ALL Donations are Tax-Deductible **
In the Coffee House, John-Mark is joined by Brandon Adams and Benedict Allmand-Smith to discuss Covenant Theology, the Sinai/Mosaic covenant, Paul's argument in Galatians 3, the Abrahamic Covenant and its relationship to the New Covenant, and the different views on Abraham and Moses, particularly expressed in the majority Reformed view and the arguments of Meredith Kline. Swim deep in the questions of Reformed Covenant Theology at the Coffee House.Brandon begins by defining the historic “subservient covenant” view: Sinai is distinct from the covenant of grace and serves it by functioning as a typological covenant of works tied to temporal life and blessing in Canaan, conditioned on obedience. They contrast this with the majority historic Reformed view that post-fall covenants are one covenant of grace, and explain competing readings of Galatians 3:10–12 and 3:15–18 (including the “ad hominem” reading). Adams relates Kline's works-principle approach, critiques attempts to separate the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants, and argues Paul's “promise” centers on Christ blessing the nations, distinguishing the historia salutis from the ordo salutis. Delve deep into Covenant Theology with this episode at the Coffee House.Links and Resources Mentioned:Covenant Theology: From Adam to Christ (Nehemiah Coxe & John Owen) “Same but Different: The Meaning and (Mis)Use of a Reformed Formula” D. Patrick Ramsey. Mid-America Journal of Theology, volume 36 (2025).Reformation21 Summary VersionT.D. Alexander on the Seed[ttps://contrast2.wordpress.com/2024/09/20/the-dichotomous-abrahamic-covenant-of-circumcision-quotes/JIRBS Review Article JIRBS 2020 Paper Editionhttps://contrast2.wordpress.com/2016/09/03/gal-318-generic-law-and-promise-or-sinai-and-messiah/ (elaborated more carefully/fully in JIRBSAbraham not Moses?Lee Irons on works aspect of the ceremonial law, starting at 12:15Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 7: R. Scott Clark Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 6: 1689 Federalism Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 5: Glory Cloud Podcast Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 4: Contradiction Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 3: Royal Grant Proposal Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 2: Typological Merit Kline's Abrahamic Covenant of Works 1: Murray and Shepherd Some Disagreement with Coxe on Galatians 3:1700:00 The Coffee House00:50 Sinai as Subservient03:31 Majority Reformed View08:10 Galatians 3 Key Text09:36 Ad Hominem Reading 13:41 Baptist Reading Explained 21:19 Kline and Works Principle 26:17 What Promise Means 28:16 Historia vs Ordo Salutis 30:56 Offspring Argument in Galatians 32:07 Seed Singular or Plural 32:22 Genesis Clues for One Seed 33:03 Genesis 22 Offspring Shift 34:57 Paul Versus Judaizers 36:48 Law and Promise Timing 39:46 Why Then the Law 41:25 Covenant Redemption Question 44:10 Views on Mosaic Covenant 50:53 Land Promise and Obedience 53:38 Assessing Klinean Appeal 01:00:57 Luke and Nations Blessing 01:03:44 Closing Thanks and ResourcesSupport the showContact Broken WharfeTweet us @Brokenwharfe Find us on Facebook at BrokenWharfeFollow us on Instagram at BrokenWharfeEmail us at info@brokenwharfe.comThanks for listening!
The Daily Quiz - Entertainment, Society and Culture Today's Questions: Question 1: Name the movie that matches the following plot summary: 'A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment.' Question 2: Which actor received 3 Oscar nominations in one year, winning for his supporting role in "Syriana"? Question 3: What is the name of the Japanese art of flower arranging? Question 4: In The Matrix, which pill would have returned Neo to the fabricated reality of the Matrix with no memory of what happened? Question 5: The language 'Maithili' belongs to which language family? Question 6: Which philosopher famously said 'We are too weak to discover the truth by reason alone'? Question 7: In the Abrahamic scriptures, who asked Pharaoh to let his people go? Question 8: What is the most traded currency in the world? Question 9: What is the name of the religious group with the print magazine "The Watchtower"? This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support the show by listening on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/posts/christian-101-157002324?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkMy altar tour on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KjRZ3_sDtQSupport the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/thejesuswitchpodcast Son & Moon Jesus Witchery Shop for Bible based spells, Astrology and Tarot readings - https://www.etsy.com/shop/SonMoonJesusWitchery Follow Lina on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@linathejesuswitchFollow Lina on Instagram - https://instagram.com/linathejesuswitchFollow Lina on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587349583776Follow Lina on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@linathejesuswitch Join Lina's Discord community - https://discord.gg/cdARMuYA7nDonate to the show - https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thejesuswitchpodcast or Cash App $thejesuswitchpodcast Lina's Amazon Wishlist - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3G2WLKHQR16HH?ref_=wl_share Follow The Ministry of Divine Order of Christian Mysticism on YouTube! - https://m.youtube.com/@orderofdivinemysticism?si=d69CV2kPhanDpJJjJoin the Ministry of Christ Under The Order of Divine Mysticism's Discord community! - https://discord.gg/w7JmcbeGaV
Books and movies after religion! We've taken a listener-suggested-topic and run with it. Instead of pointing out individual pieces of media that are useful after religion, we talk about how various religions deal with information control. From banned-books lists to devil's music, various Abrahamic religions have varying levels of prohibition against non-religious material. We go through a bunch of them and discuss how information control in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes place. After that we review the movie The Wave (Die Welle), an independent German film about how easy it is for fascism to take root, set as a high-school project-week experiment. Then we end with happy news from the Salt Lake Tribune about them going non-paywalled to preserve journalistic integrity. Show Notes: Chris Shelton Speaking of Cults, Episode on "Scientology and the Arts": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZVixzVMwks MOGP: The Wave (Die Welle): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1063669/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-GHXeYlgdY The Third Wave Experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave_(experiment) Ron Jones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Jones_(teacher) Happy News: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/05/15/why-salt-lake-tribune-dropped-its/ Show Links: Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod Patreon page for documentary: https://www.patreon.com/SeerStonedProductions BlueSky: @glassboxpodcast.bsky.social Other BlueSky: @bryceblankenagel.bsky.social and @shannongrover.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glassboxpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassboxpodcast/ Merch store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/exmoapparel/shop Or find the merch store by clicking on "Store" here: https://glassboxpodcast.com/index.html One time Paypal donation: bryceblankenagel@gmail.com Venmo: @Shannon-Grover-10
April 24, 2026 - Equipped 2026 - Day 2 - 1:30 PM Session In this episode Lori at the Eclipse workshop offers a fast-paced, deeply pastoral study connecting the book of Genesis with the Psalms and what those connections mean for Christian women today. Opening with a memorable historical anecdote—Buzz Aldrin quoting Psalm 8 after the moon landing—the talk centers on an exegesis of Psalm 8 (a Psalm of David), highlighting its chiastic structure, its language for God (Yahweh and Adonai), and the surprising theological details woven into the short poem: praise from babes, God's glory "above the heavens," humanity made a little lower than the angels, and dominion over creation. The presenter then broadens the view to show how many Psalms echo Genesis themes rather than retell Genesis narratives: creation, the fall, God's covenant promises, providence, and God's desire for relationship with humanity. She outlines Genesis (chapters 1–11 as primeval history; chapters 12–50 as the patriarchal promise that culminates in the line of Abraham) and emphasizes five recurring motifs in Genesis—God's power, plan, promise, presence, and provision—and how the Psalms reflect and respond to those motifs in praise, lament, and prophecy. Key scriptural touchpoints and cross-references discussed include Psalm 8; Matthew 21:16 where Jesus cites the Psalm; Genesis 1–3 and Genesis 12 (the Abrahamic promise); Hebrews and 1 Corinthians 1:27; and Psalm 51 and other Psalms that show Israel's covenant memory, worship practices, and longing for the Messiah. The talk also notes editorial and literary features of the Psalter (its fivefold division, psalms of praise versus lament, and how individual psalms function as worship, prayer, and theological reflection). The episode ends with practical application for listeners: why Genesis matters for personal faith, how the Psalms teach us to pray in joy and distress, and concrete responses—seek God in Scripture, worship corporately and in nature, trust him through lament, and obey as a response of love. The message closes with a pastoral prayer asking God's blessing on the attendees and their families and pointing forward to the ultimate hope of redemption in Christ. Duration 41:38
In this episode of Capital for Good, we speak with Angela Buchdahl, the senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City and the first woman to lead that congregation in its 185-year history. Born in Korea to a Jewish American father and a Korean Buddhist mother, Buchdahl is the first Asian American to be ordained as a cantor or rabbi in North America. She is also well known for her innovations in leading worship, reaching millions across 100 countries via livestream and cable broadcast. Her New York Times best-selling memoir, Heart of a Stranger, roots her unlikely story and experience as an outsider and boundary crosser in both ancient Jewish traditions and in the universal longing for belonging. Heart of a Stranger, Buchdahl explains, is both a particular and shared narrative. She tells us that, as a child, she often felt she was an outsider: Korean in America, American when she returned to Korea, and an unusual mixed-race family in the Jewish community. She connects this experience to her family's — starting with her mother who was born in Japan, where her family had been displaced, before returning to Korea and eventually immigrating to the United States — and to ancient Jewish narratives, from the biblical story of Abraham, a stranger in a foreign land, to millennia as diaspora outsiders around the world. Buchdahl also speaks of crossing boundaries to find home. "Home is where your people are," her mother told her, and then demonstrated how welcoming others (as an ESL teacher in Tacoma, Washington and a founder of an organization to assist new immigrants to the US — in Buchdahl's words, a "serial welcomer") could be transformative for everyone, creating community in the place of strangeness. This too, Buchdahl reminds us — the act of welcoming, with compassion and empathy — has roots in Abrahamic and other spiritual traditions and can be a powerful antidote to the isolation and polarization dividing us today. Agency and intentionality are central themes of the book, and of our conversation. We discuss what this means in the Jewish context — Buchdahl's decision and acts to define her own identity and path –— and its more universal applications: the spiritual imperative we all have to be boundary crossers. For Buchdahl, much of her early calling and connection to faith came through music, what she calls "my natural spiritual language." We explore how music has shaped her identity, her roles as cantor and rabbi, and the way she leads the congregation at Central Synagogue. Music is about beauty, she notes, but even more so about the "energy and electricity that comes when we're making it together." Buchdahl believes that much of her responsibility is to feel and modulate that energy. We end with a broader discussion of leadership and what it means to have the "appropriate" amount of humility (in Hebrew, "anavah") to lead. Sometimes, Buchdahl says, even if it is uncomfortable, "you have to step in to fill that space," and all the more so in moments of destabilization. "You have to speak to people's fear, to then move forward and beyond." While there is no shortage of challenges — Buchdahl cites anti-Semitism, climate and technological change, isolation and polarization, to name a few — she also believes "there are ways to mine each crisis for the opportunity it provides us." We conclude with a return to agency — and exhortation. "Every day," Buchdahl says, "we can take one step towards building the world we want to live in." Mentioned in this episode: Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity and Belonging, (Angela Buchdahl, 2025)
Yesterday, we celebrated on the Washington Mall 250 years of “one nation under God” by rededicating the American experiment to the Judeo-Christian values and beliefs not only central to its beginnings and history to date, but to its prospects for the future. Critics are determined to obscure, if not completely deny, the role the Scriptures and the hand of God played in inspiring the authors of our founding documents. “Rededicate 250” featured prayers, Biblical citations and statements from America's get-go to underscore that, in our time, we must prize that spiritual genealogy and eschew efforts to alter it. In particular, we cannot persist – in the name of religious freedom and “interfaith dialogue” – in according to Islam's anti-constitutional sharia death-cult the status of a “great Abrahamic faith,” allowing it seditiously to undermine our nation and freedoms through unwarranted First Amendment protections.
Were you ever cut off from God's promises? In this episode of Words From The Word, Pastor Roderick Webster opens Ephesians 2:12 (KJV) and reveals five ways the Gentiles were separated from God before Christ came — without a savior, without citizenship, and without covenant. You will learn how spiritual alienation blinds the heart, why the Abrahamic covenant matters to believers today, and how those who were once far off have been reconciled through Jesus Christ. This devotion will deepen your gratitude for what you now have in Him. Subscribe to Words From The Word wherever you listen to podcasts.
The story of the Abrahamic covenant is your family story. Kerry Muhlestein says, “We don't often think of it in that manner.” But our grandfather Abraham grew up in a turbulent time, where “his own father was steeped in idolatry. He saw his immediate family involved in horrible practices, including human sacrifice, but he knew there was a better way. Records had come down from his forefathers and foremothers, from Adam and Eve, Seth and Enoch, and Abraham reached for the heavens hoping to join his answers in the covenant. “Then one starry night, God came to him, putting His hand over him, opening his eyes, and pouring out the power and blessings of the covenant upon him, welcoming Abraham and Sarah into the community of God and those who were bound to him. They had sought God and now they had found him.” These are the covenants offered to you.
Episode 230Series: On the Mission Field - 28On this episode of the Removing Barriers podcast, we sit down with Benjamin Reimer, missionary to the west African country of Liberia. The percentage of people in the country with a testimony of genuine salvation is significantly less than the percentage that would claim they are Christians, but this is true of almost every nation that we've explored on this podcast series. Muslims make up about 12% of the population, and the remaining 3% are a mixture of various non-Abrahamic religions. God is at work in the country, however, building His church as He promised. Listen in as Brother Reimer shares his salvation testimony and the manner in which God called him to the mission field. You will also hear about the nature, challenges, and needs of the gospel work that has yet to be done in Liberia, and what we can do to help and support his work there.Listen to the Removing Barriers Podcast here:Spotify: https://cutt.ly/Ega8YeIApple Podcast: https://cutt.ly/Vga2SVdEdifi: https://cutt.ly/Meec7nsvYouTube: https://cutt.ly/mga8A77Podnews: https://podnews.net/podcast/i4jxoSee all our platforms: https://removingbarriers.netContact us:Email us: https://removingbarriers.net/contactFinancially support the show: https://removingbarriers.net/donateAffiliates:Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/shop/removingbarriersChristian Books.com: https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/home?event=AFF&p=1236574Fastmail: https://join.fastmail.com/8e23c12bSee all our affiliates: https://removingbarriers.net/affiliatesNotes:Website: https://www.reimers2liberia.com/
No Children for Joseph Smith? Joseph Smith’s plural wives One of the most frequent arguments raised by skeptics of Joseph Smith’s polygamy is the “fertility paradox.” While Joseph Smith fathered several biological children with his first wife, Emma, there are zero verified offspring from his estimated 30 to 40 plural marriages. DNA testing on suspected plural children has continuously ruled out Joseph as the father in every known case. Does this lack of physical evidence prove his plural marriages were non-sexual? According to a statistical analysis by Rick Bennett and a research team, the absence of children is not a biological impossibility, but rather a predictable outcome of history, biology, and law. https://youtu.be/Zz6BpX2wZd0 Statistical Models of Probability Bennett, alongside a team that included OBGYN Dr. Joseph Stanford, built four statistical models to determine the mathematical probability of Joseph Smith having zero children with his plural wives. These models factored in female ovulation cycles and historical documentation of Smith’s whereabouts, assuming no birth control was used: Restricted & Low Models: Assuming very infrequent relations and excluding teenagers and already-married women, the probability of zero children sits between 22% and 47%. Bennett equates this to a coin flip or rolling a double in Monopoly, making zero children a statistically unsurprising outcome. Medium (Consensus) Model: Assuming one or two encounters around the time of the sealing for a broader group of wives, the probability of zero children drops to roughly 9% to 13%. High Model: Only when assuming large possible historical encounters across 37 women does the probability of zero children become statistically microscopic (around 0.03%). Biological Factors and 19th-Century Demographics A significant reason for the lack of children stems from the demographic makeup of Joseph’s plural wives. At least five women were post-menopausal (over age 47) and 11 were “polyandrous” wives already married to other men. Furthermore, several brides were teenagers. Interestingly, poorer nutrition and rigorous physical labor in the 19th century delayed a woman’s first period (menarche) until an average age of 17, meaning many of the youngest wives were likely prepubescent and physically infertile at the time of their sealings (See Dan Vogel’s presentation.) Contraception and the Concept of “Quickening” If the High Model is accurate and sexual relations were frequent, Bennett notes that the Nauvoo community had widespread access to birth control. Popular texts from the 1830s heavily circulated knowledge about methods like the sponge, withdrawal, and highly acidic douching to prevent pregnancies. Additionally, 19th-century medical and Mormon theological consensus believed that a soul did not enter a fetus until “quickening” (around 20 weeks.) Because of this, early herbal interventions used to “restore the menses” were viewed simply as regulating the female body, rather than as abortion or sin. Legal and Theological Survival Ultimately, concealing pregnancies was an absolute necessity for survival. In Illinois, bigamy and adultery were felonies heavily penalized by fines, whipping, and imprisonment. Under the law, a child would serve as incontrovertible physical proof of illicit cohabitation, inviting immediate legal prosecution and mob violence. To avoid exposure, the theology of plural marriage subtly shifted. While originally grounded in an “Abrahamic” mandate to multiply and raise up seed on earth, the practice pivoted to a “Melchizedek” order. This new paradigm was focused on creating secret, dynastic priestly linkages for eternal salvation in the afterlife, entirely bypassing the legal dangers of earthly procreation. In short, the absence of children in Nauvoo polygamy is not a historical impossibility, but a reality forcefully shaped by 19th-century logistics, biology, and the heavy anvil of American law. Don’t miss my previous presentation! 0:00 Introduction to Rick 7:01 Fertility Paradox 8:34 Plural Wives History 15:18 Biology of Pregnancy 17:35 Grouping the Wives 22:17 Pregnancy Results 25:09 Knowledge of Birth Control/Abortion in 19th Century 30:31 Types of Contraception in Nauvoo 34:08 Quickening 36:20 Life Begins at Conception? 37:37 Mormon Market for Abortifacients 39:24 Theology Behind Lack of Children 40:23 Legal Reasons to Avoid Pregnancy 47:10 Theological Pivot 50:35 Conclusion Why 0 Children Not Unusual 51:58 Q&A Why Not Accept Joseph Wasn’t Polygamist? 53:19 Is Eliza Manwaring a Plural Wife? 58:43 Pushing Back on Certain Claims 1:01:27 RLDS Missions to Utah 1:03:58 Temple Implications for Rejecting Polygamy 1:06:24 Can temple sealings be non-sexual? 1:07:44 Is there anything wrong with Ugo Perego’s DNA Tests? 1:10:28 Is it reasonably possible Joseph had no children? 1:14:58 Don Bradley’s Theory on Legalizing Polygamy? 1:17:18 Dynastic Sealings to Create Ethnic Group 1:19:50 Why are both polygamy and temple ceremonies secret? 1:33:51 Sheep & Goat condoms 1:35:01 Older Male Fertility/Young & Old Female Fertility 1:38:49 Multi-Purpose Temples 1:44:19 Why Menarche Later in 19th century 1:47:43 Jacob 2:30-Why no children is Plausible
In this episode, this series on “covenant” is being brought full circle by tracing a single, unified thread running from Abraham to Messiah. Rather than presenting Scripture as a story of replaced covenants, what I am attempting to emphasize is continuity—revealing that Yah's redemptive plan has always been rooted in ONE unbreakable promise.At the center of it all is the distinction between the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant. The promise given to Abraham in Genesis 12, and the covenant confirmation in Genesis 15 is shown to be unilateral, irrevocable, and grounded in faith, securing inheritance through the promised Seed, identified as Messiah. In contrast, the covenant at Sinai establishes a conditional, national framework for how Israel was to live as a kingdom of priests within that promise. These covenants are not in opposition to anything, but complementary parts of a larger design and plan. Promise precedes law, and inheritance is rooted in Yahuah's oath. This is where understanding Paul is so important, yet so widely misunderstood today. My hope is that this series has brought some clarity to this topic. This episode highlights a critical turning point at the golden calf incident, where Israel's failure led to a shift from a kingdom of priests to a nation with priests, introducing the Levitical system as a mediated and temporary structure. This system—though holy and beautiful and purposeful—is presented as preparatory, pointing forward to something greater (this is something that will be discussed through the prophets in coming episodes). That “something greater” is the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood through Messiah. He becomes the perfect sacrifice, bears the covenant curses, and inaugurates a new administration of access to the Most High. This “New Covenant,” prophesied in Jeremiah 31, does not discard the law but internalizes it—writing it on the hearts of believers and enabling true covenant faithfulness from within.A key theme of understanding covenant is understanding access: what was lost through covenant breach is restored through Messiah. The Levitical system regulated access through repeated sacrifices and external mediation, but under the Melchizedek order, believers are invited to “draw near” with confidence through a once-for-all sacrifice and an eternal High Priest.Ultimately, this episode reframes the conversation around Torah, covenant, and obedience. It is meant to challenge the idea of lawlessness while also rejecting a return to shadow systems, and instead calling us into the fullness of what those shadows pointed toward. Fulfillment is not abolition—it is completion.“Recovering the Melchizedek line” means rediscovering our identity as a restored kingdom of priests, living in the reality of Yah's promise to Abraham (and his SeedMessiah) through a transformed heart. This episode serves as both a conclusion and a launching point, setting the stage for deeper exploration into the meaning and implications of the Melchizedek priesthood in the episodes to come.I can't wait. Visit my website: www.promise-perspective.comFollow on Instagram: @the_promise_perspective Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/promiseperspective Donate on Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/stephanie-green0611Donate on PayPal: http://paypal.me/stephaniegreentppDonate on Patreon: http://patreon.com/thepromiseperspective Your support is greatly appreciated ❤️Contact me: stephanie@promise-perspective.comSupport the show
In this episode, I welcome back prolific author, scholar, and returning guest Tobias Churton to discuss his latest book, Celestial Realms: A History of Heaven since before the Dawn of Time. Together, we explore one of the oldest and most universal questions humanity has ever asked: what is Heaven? Is it a place we go after death, a reward for spiritual virtue, the realm of the gods, a dimension of consciousness, or something already present within us? Drawing from Tobias's vast historical and esoteric research, we travel through the heavenly visions of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, the Abrahamic traditions, Eastern mysticism, Indigenous cultures, Polynesian and Aboriginal cosmologies, Renaissance alchemy, spiritualism, psychedelics, art, music, and modern philosophy.This conversation moves far beyond the simple idea of Heaven as a distant paradise. We look at Heaven as a living symbol, a spiritual need, a map of the soul, and perhaps even a state of being that humanity has been trying to remember since the beginning of time. Tobias brings his signature depth, humor, and poetic scholarship to a subject that touches every culture, every religion, and every person who has ever wondered what lies beyond this life; or what might be waiting within it. Drop in!www.tobiaschurton.comTobias Churton Bio:Tobias Churton is Britain's leading scholar of Western Esotericism and a world authority on Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and Rosicrucianism. Holding a master's degree in theology from Brasenose College, Oxford, he was appointed honorary fellow of Exeter University in 2005. Author of many books, including Gnostic Philosophy, TheInvisible History of the Rosicrucians, The Books of Enoch Revealed, and Aleister Crowley in America, he lives in England. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Although religion is an inescapable element in conflicts around the world and a polarizing topic here at home, one place of worship in Pasadena, California, is defying religious labels. Amid the crosses and stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ, the First United Methodist Church shifts from Friday through Sunday to accommodate the three Abrahamic faiths. LAist reporter Yusra Farzan takes us through a weekend of Muslims' Friday prayers, a Jewish Shabbat service, and a Christian Easter celebration -- all coexisting under one roof. Read Yusra’s full report at LAist.com. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.
Although religion is an inescapable element in conflicts around the world and a polarizing topic here at home, one place of worship in Pasadena, California, is defying religious labels. Amid the crosses and stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ, the First United Methodist Church shifts from Friday through Sunday to accommodate the three Abrahamic faiths. LAist reporter Yusra Farzan takes us through a weekend of Muslims' Friday prayers, a Jewish Shabbat service, and a Christian Easter celebration -- all coexisting under one roof. Read Yusra’s full report at LAist.com. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.
Although religion is an inescapable element in conflicts around the world and a polarizing topic here at home, one place of worship in Pasadena, California, is defying religious labels. Amid the crosses and stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ, the First United Methodist Church shifts from Friday through Sunday to accommodate the three Abrahamic faiths. LAist reporter Yusra Farzan takes us through a weekend of Muslims' Friday prayers, a Jewish Shabbat service, and a Christian Easter celebration -- all coexisting under one roof. Read Yusra’s full report at LAist.com. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.
Although religion is an inescapable element in conflicts around the world and a polarizing topic here at home, one place of worship in Pasadena, California, is defying religious labels. Amid the crosses and stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ, the First United Methodist Church shifts from Friday through Sunday to accommodate the three Abrahamic faiths. LAist reporter Yusra Farzan takes us through a weekend of Muslims' Friday prayers, a Jewish Shabbat service, and a Christian Easter celebration -- all coexisting under one roof. Read Yusra’s full report at LAist.com. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.Support LAist Today: https://laist.com/join
Although religion is an inescapable element in conflicts around the world and a polarizing topic here at home, one place of worship in Pasadena, California, is defying religious labels. Amid the crosses and stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ, the First United Methodist Church shifts from Friday through Sunday to accommodate the three Abrahamic faiths. LAist reporter Yusra Farzan takes us through a weekend of Muslims' Friday prayers, a Jewish Shabbat service, and a Christian Easter celebration -- all coexisting under one roof. Read Yusra’s full report at LAist.com. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.
Although religion is an inescapable element in conflicts around the world and a polarizing topic here at home, one place of worship in Pasadena, California, is defying religious labels. Amid the crosses and stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ, the First United Methodist Church shifts from Friday through Sunday to accommodate the three Abrahamic faiths. LAist reporter Yusra Farzan takes us through a weekend of Muslims' Friday prayers, a Jewish Shabbat service, and a Christian Easter celebration -- all coexisting under one roof. Read Yusra’s full report at LAist.com. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.
Welcome to Day 2846 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – The Covenant and the Messiah: How Israel and the Nations Find Salvation in Yahweh. Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2846 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2846 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Our current series of Theology Thursday lessons is written by theologian and teacher John Daniels. I have found that his lessons are short, easy to understand, doctrinally sound, and applicable to all who desire to learn more of God's Word. John's lessons can be found on his website theologyinfive.com. Today's lesson is titled: The Covenant and the Messiah: How Israel and the Nations Find Salvation in Yahweh. The God who spoke to Abraham is the same God who walked among men as Jesus of Nazareth. There has never been a shift in divine identity. From Genesis to Revelation, Yahweh is the name revealed to Israel, and Jesus is shown to be Yahweh incarnate. This continuity is critical. If Jesus is not Yahweh in the flesh, then His claims have no weight, and the cross is powerless. But if He is, then the covenants He made before His incarnation still hold, and the standard for faithfulness has not changed. The first segment is: The Abrahamic Covenant Still Stands God's promise to Abraham was everlasting. That covenant included a land, a people, and a mission to bless the nations. It was not conditioned on perfect obedience but on God's own faithfulness. While Israel at times fell under judgment due to breaking the later Mosaic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant was never revoked. Paul reaffirms this in Romans and Galatians, explaining that the promise to Abraham came first and was fulfilled in Christ, who is both the seed of Abraham and the true Israelite. That means Israel still has a place in God's plan, not by ethnicity alone, but through covenant loyalty to Yahweh, now fully revealed in Christ. The Sinai covenant, given after Israel's redemption from Egypt, was never a means of salvation. Yahweh had already saved His people. The Law was given to shape them into a holy nation, to guard them from corruption, and to point forward to the Messiah. Paul makes clear that the Law, which came centuries after Abraham, did not annul the promise. Salvation was always grounded in believing loyalty to Yahweh, not in legal observance, but the Law served as a guardian until Christ came. The second segment is: Jesus Is Yahweh in the Flesh Jesus was not a new deity or a created being sent by another god. He was and is the visible image of the invisible God. When He spoke, He used phrases that only Yahweh had used. When He forgave sins, calmed seas, and raised the dead, He did so with divine authority. His role was not to replace the God of the Old Testament, but to make Him known fully. This is what Israel had been waiting for, even if many could not recognize it at the time. The third segment is: Covenant Loyalty Before Full Revelation Before Christ came in the flesh, salvation was still possible. Those who followed Yahweh in faithful loyalty, trusting in His mercy and living in obedience to what had been revealed, were counted as righteous. This is why Abraham, Moses, and David are not outside of salvation even though they lived before the Incarnation. They were not saved by their works, but by their loyalty to the God who would ultimately fulfill the covenant through the Messiah. The fourth segment is: God's Justice Toward the Unevangelized Gentile The Bible acknowledges the reality that not every Gentile hears the good news in their lifetime. Yet it also shows that Yahweh is perfectly just in dealing with them. His judgment is not limited to external circumstances, but penetrates the heart and its inclinations. Jesus said that if His miracles had been performed in Tyre, Sidon, or even Sodom, those cities would have repented. This shows that God knows not only what people actually did but what they would have done under different circumstances. Likewise, when David asked God about Saul's pursuit at Keilah, God revealed what would happen if David stayed, even though David's choice altered the outcome. These passages reveal that Yahweh's knowledge includes both actual history and potential history. Gentiles who never heard the name of Christ are not outside this justice. Paul explained that their consciences bear witness to the law written on their hearts, and that God will judge the secrets of all through Christ Jesus (Romans 2:14–16). This means Yahweh knows the full posture of a person's heart toward Him, even in the absence of explicit revelation. God does not strip anyone of free will. But He knows perfectly how each person leans, what possibilities they considered, and what their response would have been if given more light. No one who would have been loyal is condemned unfairly. Whether through providence, as with Cornelius who was sent Peter, or through His perfect judgment at the end of the age, Yahweh ensures His justice is true. These examples also remind us that Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom were not completely ignorant of Yahweh. Through Israel's presence in the land, trade, conflict, and even alliances, His name was known. The difference was that they never experienced Yahweh physically walking among them, healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom. Jesus's comparison drives home the weight of rejecting greater revelation: the outsiders with limited knowledge would have repented if given more, while those with full access to God's presence in Christ still turned away. The fifth segment is: Jews and Gentiles Are Both Accountable Once the Messiah came, the truth was revealed to all, Jew and Gentile alike. This did not erase Israel's story or uniqueness, but it clarified the path of salvation. The same Jesus who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets also opened the door for Gentiles to be grafted in. However, that same door still swings on the hinge of loyalty to Yahweh, who is now revealed as Jesus. Salvation was never about merely belonging to a group. Many Israelites perished in the wilderness despite being covenant members by birth, because their hearts were not loyal. The prophets consistently warned that outward signs like circumcision meant nothing without inner faithfulness. In the same way, Gentiles cannot assume that church membership or moral standing alone secures salvation. What God has always required is believing loyalty, faith expressed in trust, obedience, and allegiance to Him. For Israelites, covenant loyalty to Yahweh has always been the basis of salvation. Now that Yahweh has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus, rejecting Christ is no different from rejecting Yahweh. Yet the prophets also foresaw a day when Israel would recognize Him at last. Zechariah declared that they will look on the one they pierced and mourn for Him, and Revelation affirms that this moment will come on the day of the Lord. This shows that God has not abandoned His people. Many who do not yet see clearly will one day weep in repentance when their Messiah is revealed. The sixth segment is: There Are Not Two Paths, But One Fulfillment This is not about supersessionism, which teaches that the Church replaced Israel. It is also not pluralism, which claims that all faiths lead to God. Nor is it Marcionism, which pits the God of the Old Testament against the God of the New. Instead, it is a biblical unity that affirms Jesus as the fulfillment of what God always promised. Salvation has always come through faithful trust in Yahweh. Now that He has come in the flesh, that faith must include recognition of Jesus as Lord. The seventh segment is: The Danger of Getting This Wrong To deny that Jesus is Yahweh is to reject the gospel. To claim that Jews can be saved apart from Christ is to invent a second way of salvation. To pretend that the Church has replaced Israel is to ignore the promises of God. Each of these errors leads to a distortion of the gospel, whether it's by undermining the covenants, corrupting the character of God, or redefining salvation. The goal is not to create separate categories of who is in and who is out, but to proclaim the one true God, revealed in Christ, to all people. The eighth segment is: A Difficult and Divisive Topic The relationship between Israel, the Church, and salvation is one of the most debated subjects in Christian theology. Over the centuries, believers have held different perspectives, with some stressing replacement, others continuity, and still others proposing parallel covenants. At times these debates have been clouded by political concerns or even...
In today's episode of Truth Wanted, Godless Engineer and Robotgoat launch an educational battle against ancient myths! They tackle the logical hurdles of deism, the supposed precognition of prophets, and the foundational myths of intelligent design. Can critical thinking dismantle a God-shaped void, or are we destined to fall for the same old supernatural traps.Jim claims deism will fill the void left by declining Abrahamic faiths. The hosts challenge the utility of a creator that cannot be defined or proven, emphasizing critical thinking over vague platitudes. Is a vague God better than no God at all.Marcus-New Zealand argues that prophet Ellen White possessed precognition by predicting a magazine meeting. The hosts identify this as planning rather than a supernatural event, given her son's involvement. Why would a deity prioritize magazine edits over peace.AA asserts that the human eye and purpose in nature prove a designer. The hosts dismantle his misconceptions about evolution and explain chromosomal fusion as evidence of common ancestry. Can logical fallacies ever stand up to the fossil record.Thank you for joining us today! We will see you next week and don't forget to add your answer to this week's We Want The Truth question name one thing that would be better if God was a woman.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-wanted--3195473/support.
The name Ba'al is feared by Abrahamic religious types, and that aversion has concealed a linguistic key that connects systems of power, priesthood, and rulership across time and history, worldwide.Video Episode: https://youtu.be/h3oTnjSC2Uc
In this episode, we engage in a deep conversation with Richard the Fourth, a traditionalist thinker and content creator, about the spiritual, cultural, and civilizational challenges facing the Western world today. We discuss the role of religion, the importance of hierarchy, and the cyclical nature of civilizations. Offerings for people looking for meaning and direction in the malady of modernity. I tend to take a traditionalist perspective on most things. https://www.youtube.com/@RichardTheFourth32 https://www.youtube.com/@TheSacredWayRT4 https://richardthefourth.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@bylamplightyt Key topics: Richard's journey from spirituality to political commentary based on traditionalist and mystical principles The decline of sacredness and the loss of the transcendent in Western societies The impact of materialism and hedonism on civilization's moral fabric How Christianity, Islam, and Judaism influence societal structures and cultural identities The role of strong leadership and the archetype of the "great man" in times of societal crisis Demographic shifts, immigration patterns, and their implications for national identity The engineered nature of globalist systems and potential collapse scenarios The importance of spiritual awareness and traditional values for societal renewal Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction and guest background (02:00) Richard's perspective on Western civilization and traditional spirituality (04:17) Personal red-pilling experiences and spiritual journey (11:27) The decline of sacred space and sacred objects in the West (15:09) Materialism replacing transcendence & cultural loss (19:22) Civilizational cycles and the influence of religion (26:27) The intertwining of religion and cultural identity in Europe and North America (32:45) The breakdown of hierarchy, trust, and societal order (37:42) The potential for collapse, the role of strong leaders, and societal re-awakening (42:00) Christian love, forgiveness, and the loss of soul in modern society (44:50) The different Abrahamic religions and their civilizational impact (52:00) Demographic trends, immigration, and cultural transformation (66:39) The systemic manipulation, media control, and possible futures (69:53) Perspectives on Donald Trump and national sovereignty (73:49) The engineered system, global control, and collapse scenarios (89:36) The role of key figures and traditional values in societal revival To gain access to the second half of show and our Plus feed for audio and podcast please clink the link http://www.grimericaoutlawed.ca/support. For second half of video (when applicable and audio) go to our Substack and Subscribe. https://grimericaoutlawed.substack.com/ or to our Locals https://grimericaoutlawed.locals.com/ or Rokfin www.Rokfin.com/Grimerica Patreon https://www.patreon.com/grimericaoutlawed Support the show directly: https://open.spotify.com/show/2punSyd9Cw76ZtvHxMKenI?si=ImKxfMHgQZ-oshl499O4dQ&nd=1&dlsi=4c25fa9c78674de3 Watch or Listen on Spotify https://grimericacbd.com/ CBD / THC Tinctures and Gummies https://grimerica.ca/support-2/ Our Adultbrain Audiobook Podcast and Website: www.adultbrain.ca Our Audiobook Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@adultbrainaudiobookpublishing/videos Check out our next trip/conference/meetup - Contact at the Cabin www.contactatthecabin.com Other affiliated shows: www.grimerica.ca The OG Grimerica Show Join the chat / hangout with a bunch of fellow Grimericans Https://t.me.grimerica grimerica.ca/chats Discord Chats Darren's book www.acanadianshame.ca Eh-List Podcast and site: https://eh-list.ca/ Eh-List YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEh-List www.Rokfin.com/Grimerica Our channel on free speech Rokfin Leave a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/grimerica-outlawed http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/grimerica-outlawed Sign up for our newsletter http://www.grimerica.ca/news SPAM Graham = and send him your synchronicities, feedback, strange experiences and psychedelic trip reports!! graham@grimerica.com InstaGRAM https://www.instagram.com/the_grimerica_show_podcast/ Purchase swag, with partial proceeds donated to the show www.grimerica.ca/swag Send us a postcard or letter http://www.grimerica.ca/contact/ ART - Napolean Duheme's site http://www.lostbreadcomic.com/ MUSIC Tru Northperception, Felix's Site sirfelix.bandcamp.com