Podcasts about midianites

The Israelites would prepare for battle against the Midianites. Sending only 12,000 soldiers, the priest, and a few items from the Tabernacle into the field. Some would say that this would be considered a Holy War, waged by the Israelites against the tribes of Midian, the people that sought to destroy Israel from the inside out.   Our show was edited and produced by Nikao Productions. To check out other shows just search Nikao Productions wherever you listen to podcasts!   Follow them on Instagram @Nikaoproductions

Key #1 - Be ResponsiblePsalm 119:29 NLTKeep me from lying to myself;Judges 6:14-16 NLTThen the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” Key #2 - GIVE what you GOTActs 3:1-3 NLTPeter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.Acts 3:4-6 NLTPeter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don't have any silver or gold for you. But I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Key #3 - Partner with PeopleActs 3:7 NLTThen Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.Deut 32:30 NLTHow could one person chase a thousand of them, and two people put ten thousand to flight

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how those outside the Christian faith often perceive the God of the Bible - particularly the Old Testament - as a moral monster. Largely this is due to the (sometimes) bloody violence found in its pages including holy wars, ethnic cleansing and even child sacrifice. Frankly, even those who consider themselves Christ followers find themselves grappling with the same questions as non-believers. Episode Links If today's conversation proved to be a good primer for you, but you'd like to go deeper on this topic, we suggest that you get a series that Dr. White delivered at Meck called “The Bloody Bible.” The series installments explore whether God is the same God in both testaments of the Bible, punishments, sacrifices and slaughters found in Scripture, and finally the differences between Christianity and Islam. If you're new to the Christian faith, and aren't even sure what is meant by “two testaments,” you may want to also check out a series called “How to Bible” which reviews the basics of reading and understanding the Bible. Another resource that Dr. White mentioned that is very helpful is a book he wrote called Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians: Common Answers to Uncommon Questions. If you're engaging in conversations about the Christian faith with unchurched friends, family members, coworkers, etc., this would be great to have on hand to give to them so that they can explore more questions about the Bible like these. Finally, there were several stories from the Bible that were discussed in today's conversation. We would encourage you to read: Genesis 22 (for the story of Abraham and Isaac), Exodus 12 (on the Passover), Deuteronomy 7 (on the slaughter of the Canaanites), Numbers 31 (on the conquest of the Midianites), Matthew 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount) and Matthew 26 (the Last Supper). For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

Well hey there, welcome to this episode of the podcast. As always, I am so thankful you are listening and we are continuing our look at promises in every book of the Bible. Today we are in the Old Testament book of Judges, and what we are going to find in this book is suitable to apply to our everyday lives, here and now, even though the events in the book of Judges happened thousands of years ago. Isn't it great that God's Word is helpful for us today, and isn't dusty and crusty and inapplicable for us?  Psalm 91 - Pray It & Believe Audio Course w/ bonus content just $7 You're listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, which now plays in the Edifi app. This is episode number 157.  So first off, before I start on today's promises from the book of Judges, I have to make a correction to the last episode on the book of Joshua. I misspoke and was wrong when I mentioned aspects of Biblical womanhood that could be found in Joshua. The references I was thinking of are actually found in the book of Judges, not Joshua, and so sort of like a newspaper when they run a misprint, this is a correction of my misprint or mis-speak, I guess. Totally my mistake, I was thinking the story of Jael was one book earlier than it actually is. And I certainly never want to share anything unbiblical, so the corrected info is that you can read about her in the book of Judges, specifically chapter 4.    In this episode, we are going to look at a few verses from chapter 6, Judges 6:14 first of all, then 24a and 34.   In the NLT, Judges 6:14 reads this way: Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”   This is the true story of Gideon being called to a huge task, a bigger than him assignment, by the Lord. The Lord told Gideon to go in the strength he had and to rescue Israel from their oppressors. God ends this verse by saying, “I am sending you!”  Ever have a moment like this? Where you feel like the thing God is telling you to do is just so big, how can you be the one to do it? How can you get this thing across the starting line, let alone across the finish line? And you may want Him to tell you He is sending you all sorts of folks to help you out, or to give you some kind of power or ability to do this work, or to maybe do something different than just tell you to go in the strength that you have (cuz man, I know at times my strength can seem like it's so minimal, so miniscule, so minute…how can I do anything for the Lord?) God says go in the strength you have and firmly tells Gideon, “I am sending you.” The go is kind of reiterated here.    When God tells us to go, do we go? Or do we delay? Just for your own personal thought, do you go or do you sort of hang tight, hold off for a bit, maybe even be slow about going when you know the Lord means for you to go right away and to obey Him immediately.    In my life, I have found that when I obey the Lord and go when He says to get moving on something, He takes my small strength and He blesses me and my work, giving me what I need to accomplish His will. But I have had to get started in order to find out that He will supply what I need as I need it. Not sure if that is encouraging at all to you, but it has been true for me at times.   Verse 24 part a, the first part of this verse, says: And Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the LORD is peace”).    So between verse 14 and verse 24, what happened exactly? In verse 16 God promised to be with Gideon, in verse 22 Gideon realized he was not talking with any angel, but with the Lord (there was an offering Gideon made and verse 21 says the angel of the LORD touched the meat and bread with the tip of His staff and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed it - an angel cannot accept a sacrifice, so in this passage the angel of the LORD seems to indicate a preincarnate Christ appearance. Gideon cried out, “Oh, Sovereign LORD, I am doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”) The Lord told him that he would not die and then Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it Yahweh-Shalom, the Lord is peace.    Is the Lord peace for you today? Do you have the peace that Jesus promised in John 14:27? If so, praise God! What a gift! We can face so much and not be moved or shaken, our cages don't get rattled and our stress is just right around nil when we are living with the Lord's peace in and on our lives. But when we aren't peaceful because we aren't peace filled, I guess you could say, we can get rattled and stressed and live under life's circumstances instead of being more than conquerors through Him who loved us, as it says in Romans 8.  God is today, this very day, Yahweh-Shalom. It is one of the names of God we find in the Bible, and it really is who He is. The Lord is peace. If you need peace today, peace of mind, peace in your heart, peace in your workplace, peace regarding a prodigal or a health diagnosis or peace in a relationship, peace at all, then God has what you need. You know one thing that I really love about podcasts is the ability to hit the little pause button right there on my phone and take a moment if I need to. Sometimes to jot down something, make a note in my phone, or to hit pause so I can literally pause and pray. This may be a good time to pause and pray and ask God to give you the full amount of the peace that Jesus promised to you in the book of John. Ask Him for what you need, do that regularly, and if you need peace, this is a really great time, the perfect time, to ask for it. I do believe He will give it to you, because it was promised by Jesus and God keeps all of His promises. Peace be unto you, and as I say that, I really do mean it and I have prayed for that to be your reality. Peace be unto you today, in Jesus name, my friend.   Judges 6:34 NLT - Then the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon with power. He blew a ram's horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.  Now we see Gideon sort of stepping up and stepping out boldly. He's done some very brave things just prior to this verse, tearing down the altar of the pagan god Baal and earning the disdain of a lot of people, his own people, those who were Israelites and were said to belong to the Lord, but were upset when their altar to their false god was torn down…if God calls you to be a dismantler or idols in your culture, in your family, and remember Gideon had to dismantle idols among his own people in his own town, so if God calls you to be a dismantler of idols in your ahem maybe your church, you may not be voted “Most Popular Church Member”. Just saying! Gideon was not the popular guy at this point. But he was the obedient guy, and what comes in the next few chapter of Judges reveals that God did a great work on behalf of all Israel via Gideon and his army (but it ended up being a pretty small army…also good to note, you may not have a ton of people in your corner. Maybe that's uncomfortable, but not abnormal when doing Kingdom work at the Lord's bidding.) And if you think it is offensive for me to even dare to hint that there could be idols among church people, well of course there can be! Money? Success? Family? Favorite sports team? Love of some kind of pleasure, maybe it's Netflix binging and when you can't do your binge you get really hacked off…might have an idol there. A litmus test for me, and I'm just speaking for me, not at all speaking to or about anyone else, hear me on that…I am not pulling a teeny tiny sliver out of your eye while I've got a 2x4 sticking out of my own eye. My litmus test for me, for my life, is if I can't set it aside with total ease, just set it down and walk away, no matter what it is, then I have to take that to the Lord in prayer and ask Him what is going on, is this an idol or on its way to becoming one? The only thing I want to not be able to walk away from is the Lord. And anything that pushes in and starts to try and take over the spot that only God can have, Jesus' place, the Holy Spirit's place in my life, well that just has to be dealt with. Jesus said to cut off your right hand if it causes you to sin and so, yeah, He was pretty serious about dealing with things that hinder and hamper us. Anything that is moving into His place in my life, moving the One True God out and trying to move itself in as an idol for me to focus on, spend time and money and attention and give too much of myself to, an idol, well I need to be willing to cut that right out of my life, to deal with it so severely, with such a willingness to die to self and to have less of me and more of Jesus, that's my own personal litmus test. And the severity with which I deal a death blow to the idols in my life is far faster and far more thorough and complete each time I do it. And the reference I gave of Jesus saying to cut off your hand can be found in Matthew 18 and in Mark 9, I believe.    In the remaining few verses of Judges chapter 6, we have the well known story of the fleece. Or fleeces, since Gideon prayed and asked for a specific answer regarding the fleece two times. Once he asked that God would prove to him that He was going to rescue Israel via Gideon by making a piece of fleece wet in the morning, even though Gideon placed it on the dry threshing floor. Sure enough, it was wet. The second fleece was Gideon praying and asking God to let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it was wet with dew, so likely he placed it on the ground this time and it was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew. I've heard different viewpoints on this many times, and I'm not going to get into a this is right kind of a lecture here, that's for sure not my place, but I will share that there have been times in my life when I have had to make really big decisions, things that could impact me and others in serious ways for the long term, and I have asked God to give me the courage and the ability to do what He was calling me to do, and not to give in to fear or panic or peer pressure or anything that was not His will. But Lord, please show me clearly and make me brave and bold and I'm asking not to avoid doing what You've said to do, but I'm asking to make sure I am in the center of Your will. If this isn't You, please tell me. And if this is from You, please confirm it. My own thoughts are not what I want to depend on, my heart is, as Jeremiah said, deceitful above all things. So Lord, show me plainly and clearly and I'll obey You. When other people could be harmed by what I do, if it isn't of the Lord and His hand of favor and protection isn't on me and on them…well, I've at times asked Him to let me know for sure if this is the right way or the wrong way. And Gideon's two fleeces sort of reminds me of those times in my own life. And if you feel that you have an assurance about something, the kind of assurance that only God can give…cuz Gideon didn't need man's approval or assurance, he needed it from God Almighty. If you need that, pray and ask for it. God loves His people so very much, we can go to Him when we need that assurance that only He is able to provide.    Thanks so much for joining me today as we continue discovering what God has promised to us in the Bible, and if you're interested, I'll share a link in the show notes to grab the Psalm 91 audio course with some bonus material that goes beyond just the audio sessions, it's just seven bucks right now. And next week we are going to look at the book of Ruth. Such a powerful true story that holds for us so much hope, it's nearly too good to be true. Nearly…because our God will truly overwhelm us with His love and His goodness if we are willing to receive it. Next time, Ruth will be our focus and I'd be so honored if you'd join me for that. Hope to meet with ya then! Bye bye.

Today, we're going to look at the moment of truth in Gideon's life: Judges 6:12-16 NLT The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn't they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt'? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you! “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” The Lord said to him, “I will be with you.” Gideon had the opposite mindset of David, our Bible story from yesterday. But while two different men had two different perspectives of what they could accomplish, one factor was same: God had called them. Gideon even named himself the least man, in the weakest clan, of all the people. In today's language, he would say: “Lord, I'm the last guy you want to pick for this job.” But the Lord said, “I will be with you.” That truth is exactly what gave David and Gideon the courage and the confidence they needed to face their enemies. Do you feel like David today, ready for your big moment, or more like Gideon, “I'm the last person you want to pick, God.” Listen again to what the Lord said to Gideon this time from the Message Bible: ““God is with you, O mighty warrior!” … “God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven't I just sent you?” … God said to him, “I'll be with you. Believe me, you'll defeat Midian as one man.” (Judges 6:12, 14, 16 ). What if God appeared to you right now and called you a hero? How do you know He isn't? Maybe he looks upon you and what you are pushing through right now in your life and sees your courage? Regardless of how you may feel or see your life, this much is true: He is telling you to go at your life with the strength you have because He is with you. And He is most definitely saying today: “I will be with you.” Declare this after me: “Lord, I know You are with me.” Let's pray: “Dear Lord, thank You for examples like David but also those like Gideon, so we can see that the Source of our courage and victories are You. Help me live today knowing, believing, that You are with me. As above, so below.”

Author Lindsay Hausch, interviews Michelle in this episode about the 6th chapter in her book, Promised Rest. We look at how God is our peace.   In this episode, we delve into the story of Gideon, a man who found himself hiding in a wine vat, trying to thresh wheat due to the oppressive Midianites. We explored how Gideon's encounter with an angel of the Lord, who is Jesus Himself. As we reflected on Gideon's story, we couldn't help but be reminded of how God looks at us with love and compassion, even when we may struggle with fear and anxiety. Just as Gideon questioned God and asked for a sign, we, too, can bring our concerns and doubts before Him. The story of Gideon reassures us that God addresses our worries lovingly and compassionately, providing us with the peace that surpasses all understanding. In these uncertain and unsettling times, trust in God's strength and peace is more important than ever. Instead of figuring out the circumstances around us, let us rest in who God is and rely on His guidance. It's a humbling experience when we realize that, like Gideon, we are called to accomplish things that may seem impossible, but God equips us with His strength.   One passage that resonates deeply with us is 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, which talks about being hard-pressed, crushed, perplexed, and persecuted, yet not despairing, abandoned, or destroyed. We find peace in knowing that even in our difficult circumstances, God's light shines in our hearts, revealing His glory. As followers of Christ, we are like treasures in jars of clay, displaying His power. Resting in God's power and surrendering our worries to Him allows us to walk into seemingly impossible situations with His peace. It's a journey we must take together, finding solace and strength in His presence every step of the way.   As we continue to explore God's promises and find Rest in His presence, let us rebel against the chaos of the world by choosing peace. We may feel a little crazy at times, but by remembering who God is, we can find the rest and peace our souls yearn for. One simple way to rest is to immerse ourselves in the beauty of God's creation. Watch the sunrise and sunset, and marvel at the wonders He has made. Surround yourself with His Word, which is powerful even in small doses. Reflect on who God is and who you are as His beloved child, and let His peace wash over you.   Key Takeaways: Fear makes us forget who we are as God's children. Our thoughts race with the limitations we have to solve our problems. We face the unfixable and feel shaken. Jesus steps into our brokenness, and His faithfulness toward us is unshakable. Jesus gives us His peace and strength. We can rest in His capable hands. He holds all things together. God's power and strength are not limited to our understanding. We don't need to look to our abilities to solve and fix our problems; we can rest in God's ability and faithfulness. We can rest in His unfailing promises. If you want to read the first chapter of my book for free, you can go to cph.org/rest. If you want to connect with Michelle outside of the podcast, you can go here. If you want to learn more about Lindsay, you can go here. Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/will-you-marry-me License code: 1VYEPUIH4UMCZLFG

Do you want to be remembered as a person of great faith?  Do you desire to have faith that is greater than your fear?  In this podcast, the men from Fearless Faith Ministries discuss how we can live our lives with fearless faith every day.Terry, Brian and Dan point out the difference between faith and trust.  They will help you discover the enemies of faith and how to overcome them.  Finally, they study three great stories of faith from the Bible and show you how to apply the same principles in your own life.You can defeat worry, fear and anxiety by acting on God's promises.  So, Finish Strong by living a life of “Fearless Faith!”Support the showFearless Faith Websiteffaith.orgTo leave a review - Open Finish Strong on the Apple Podcast app and scroll down until you see "Ratings & Reviews". There will be a link to click so that you can "Write A Review"FacebookYouTubeInstagram

Morning: Isaiah 54:7–8; Isaiah 54:10–11; Jeremiah 46:28; Lamentations 3:31–32; Micah 7:9 For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion. “Fear not,… declares the Lord, for I am with you…. Of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure.”—“For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer…. “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.” I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Isaiah 54:7–8 (Listen) 7   For a brief moment I deserted you,    but with great compassion I will gather you.8   In overflowing anger for a moment    I hid my face from you,  but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”    says the LORD, your Redeemer. (ESV) Isaiah 54:10–11 (Listen) 10   For the mountains may depart    and the hills be removed,  but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”    says the LORD, who has compassion on you. 11   “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,    behold, I will set your stones in antimony,    and lay your foundations with sapphires.1 Footnotes [1] 54:11 Or lapis lazuli (ESV) Jeremiah 46:28 (Listen) 28   Fear not, O Jacob my servant,      declares the LORD,    for I am with you.  I will make a full end of all the nations    to which I have driven you,    but of you I will not make a full end.  I will discipline you in just measure,    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.” (ESV) Lamentations 3:31–32 (Listen) 31   For the Lord will not    cast off forever,32   but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion    according to the abundance of his steadfast love; (ESV) Micah 7:9 (Listen) 9   I will bear the indignation of the LORD    because I have sinned against him,  until he pleads my cause    and executes judgment for me.  He will bring me out to the light;    I shall look upon his vindication. (ESV) Evening: Judges 3:15; Judges 3:31; Judges 6:14–15; Judges 7:2; Zechariah 4:6; 1 Corinthians 1:27; Ephesians 6:10 God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. The people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud,… a left-handed man…. After him was Shamgar,… who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours;… do not I send you?” And he said to him, “ Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me,… lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.'” “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”—Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Judges 3:15 (Listen) 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. (ESV) Judges 3:31 (Listen) Shamgar 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. (ESV) Judges 6:14–15 (Listen) 14 And the LORD1 turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” Footnotes [1] 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the Lord; also verse 16 (ESV) Judges 7:2 (Listen) 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.' (ESV) Zechariah 4:6 (Listen) 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. (ESV) 1 Corinthians 1:27 (Listen) 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; (ESV) Ephesians 6:10 (Listen) The Whole Armor of God 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (ESV)

Is The CIA Why We Have A Covid Wall Of Silence?In today's show, we discuss the case RFK Jr. makes concerning the CIA, stating that it is more insidious today than it was in the days of Operation Mockingbird, and how this very same media sabotage continues today! We observe this scenario unfolding in Australia, as the Mockingbird media remains silent on a massive class action lawsuit against Pfizer. The Australian people are demanding accountability and answers, yet where is the media coverage of these hearings?What does God's Word say? Joshua 6:15-2115 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted[a] to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.Judges 7:5-7 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”1 Samuel 17:50-53 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[a] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.Episode 1,003 Links:Meet Jeanne Marrazzo — Anthony Fauci's replacement at NIH. This ‘expert' was wrong [nope: she lied] every step of the way during COVID — just like Fauci.“An undercover investigation into Planned Parenthood posing as a pimp & prostitute who are looking for help running their child sex trafficking ring. 8 different staffers at 7 different locations showed a willingness aid and abet sex traffickers”Hospitals made record profits thanks to the deadly, medically useless, politically motivated Covid protocols and targeted lockdowns.UK Government Ignored The Lockdown Child Suicides.Have a listen to Pfizer's answer to my question about whether any Australians were forced to choose between the jab or their job. I suspect many Australians will disagree with their answer.BOMBSHELL: Pfizer employees were given a *special batch*… different from what was forced into the general populationA tough day for Pfizer Australia in Senate hearings today. Senator Gerard Rennick on fire as he forced them to admit they didn't understand the mechanism by which the vaccine causes myocarditis/ pericarditis. So much for trusting the science. They have no ideaPfizer lawyer refuses to admit if their contract with Australia voids criminal penalties for fraudulent dataRFK, Jr. says the CIA is the biggest funder of so-called “journalism.”4Patriots https://4patriots.com Protect your family with Food kits, solar generators and more at 4Patriots. Use code TODD for 10% off your first purchase. Alan's Soaps https://alanssoaps.com/TODD Use coupon code ‘TODD' to save an additional 10% off the bundle price. BiOptimizers https://magbreakthrough.com/todd Use promo code TODD for 10% off your order. 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God uses Gideon's internal weakness of character and external weakness of circumstance to bring glory to Himself by miraculously defeating the Midianites with only 300 men. This reminds us that Christ's power is made perfect in weakness, whether that weakness comes from our own lack of faith or from the difficulties in our lives. Readings from this service:Judges 7: 1-231 Corinthians 1: 27-31Psalm 8: 1-4John 16: 32-33Thanks for listening! CONNECT with CCFC:Visit us on FacebookVisit our websiteDownload our app!

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 5:10–6:3 Song of Solomon 5:10–6:3 (Listen) The Bride Praises Her Beloved She 10   My beloved is radiant and ruddy,    distinguished among ten thousand.11   His head is the finest gold;    his locks are wavy,    black as a raven.12   His eyes are like doves    beside streams of water,  bathed in milk,    sitting beside a full pool.113   His cheeks are like beds of spices,    mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.  His lips are lilies,    dripping liquid myrrh.14   His arms are rods of gold,    set with jewels.  His body is polished ivory,2    bedecked with sapphires.315   His legs are alabaster columns,    set on bases of gold.  His appearance is like Lebanon,    choice as the cedars.16   His mouth4 is most sweet,    and he is altogether desirable.  This is my beloved and this is my friend,    O daughters of Jerusalem. Others 6   Where has your beloved gone,    O most beautiful among women?  Where has your beloved turned,    that we may seek him with you? Together in the Garden of Love She 2   My beloved has gone down to his garden    to the beds of spices,  to graze5 in the gardens    and to gather lilies.3   I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;    he grazes among the lilies. Footnotes [1] 5:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [2] 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 5:14 Hebrew lapis lazuli [4] 5:16 Hebrew palate [5] 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3 (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 7 Judges 7 (Listen) Gideon's Three Hundred Men 7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.' 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. 4 And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,' shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,' shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7 And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8 So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9 That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. 11 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. 13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” 15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.'” Gideon Defeats Midian 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22 When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,1 as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 25 And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan. Footnotes [1] 7:22 Some Hebrew manuscripts Zeredah (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 23:9–40 Jeremiah 23:9–40 (Listen) Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,1 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up2 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” Footnotes [1] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [2] 23:39 Or surely forget you (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 5:11–6:20 Hebrews 5:11–6:20 (Listen) Warning Against Apostasy 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 6 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings,1 the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. The Certainty of God's Promise 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,2 having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Footnotes [1] 6:2 Or baptisms (that is, cleansing rites) [2] 6:15 Greek he (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 5:2–9 Song of Solomon 5:2–9 (Listen) The Bride Searches for Her Beloved She 2   I slept, but my heart was awake.  A sound! My beloved is knocking.  “Open to me, my sister, my love,    my dove, my perfect one,  for my head is wet with dew,    my locks with the drops of the night.”3   I had put off my garment;    how could I put it on?  I had bathed my feet;    how could I soil them?4   My beloved put his hand to the latch,    and my heart was thrilled within me.5   I arose to open to my beloved,    and my hands dripped with myrrh,  my fingers with liquid myrrh,    on the handles of the bolt.6   I opened to my beloved,    but my beloved had turned and gone.  My soul failed me when he spoke.  I sought him, but found him not;    I called him, but he gave no answer.7   The watchmen found me    as they went about in the city;  they beat me, they bruised me,    they took away my veil,    those watchmen of the walls.8   I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,    if you find my beloved,  that you tell him    I am sick with love. Others 9   What is your beloved more than another beloved,    O most beautiful among women?  What is your beloved more than another beloved,    that you thus adjure us? (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 6 Judges 6 (Listen) Midian Oppresses Israel 6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD. 7 When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, 8 the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed my voice.” The Call of Gideon 11 Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the LORD1 turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” 19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah2 of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. 25 That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal 28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon3 was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar. 33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. The Sign of the Fleece 36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. Footnotes [1] 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the Lord; also verse 16 [2] 6:19 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [3] 6:32 Hebrew he (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 22–23:8 Jeremiah 22–23:8 (Listen) 22 Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah:   “‘You are like Gilead to me,    like the summit of Lebanon,  yet surely I will make you a desert,    an uninhabited city.17   I will prepare destroyers against you,    each with his weapons,  and they shall cut down your choicest cedars    and cast them into the fire. 8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”'” 10   Weep not for him who is dead,    nor grieve for him,  but weep bitterly for him who goes away,    for he shall return no more    to see his native land. Message to the Sons of Josiah 11 For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.” 13   “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,    and his upper rooms by injustice,  who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing    and does not give him his wages,14   who says, ‘I will build myself a great house    with spacious upper rooms,'  who cuts out windows for it,    paneling it with cedar    and painting it with vermilion.15   Do you think you are a king    because you compete in cedar?  Did not your father eat and drink    and do justice and righteousness?    Then it was well with him.16   He judged the cause of the poor and needy;    then it was well.  Is not this to know me?    declares the LORD.17   But you have eyes and heart    only for your dishonest gain,  for shedding innocent blood,    and for practicing oppression and violence.” 18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:   “They shall not lament for him, saying,    ‘Ah, my brother!' or ‘Ah, sister!'  They shall not lament for him, saying,    ‘Ah, lord!' or ‘Ah, his majesty!'19   With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,    dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” 20   “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,    and lift up your voice in Bashan;  cry out from Abarim,    for all your lovers are destroyed.21   I spoke to you in your prosperity,    but you said, ‘I will not listen.'  This has been your way from your youth,    that you have not obeyed my voice.22   The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,    and your lovers shall go into captivity;  then you will be ashamed and confounded    because of all your evil.23   O inhabitant of Lebanon,    nested among the cedars,  how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,    pain as of a woman in labor!” 24 “As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.” 28   Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,    a vessel no one cares for?  Why are he and his children hurled and cast    into a land that they do not know?29   O land, land, land,    hear the word of the LORD!30   Thus says the LORD:  “Write this man down as childless,    a man who shall not succeed in his days,  for none of his offspring shall succeed    in sitting on the throne of David    and ruling again in Judah.” The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he2 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Footnotes [1] 22:6 Hebrew cities [2] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 4:14–5:10 Hebrews 4:14–5:10 (Listen) Jesus the Great High Priest 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 5 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,   “You are my Son,    today I have begotten you”; 6 as he says also in another place,   “You are a priest forever,    after the order of Melchizedek.” 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus1 offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Footnotes [1] 5:7 Greek he (ESV)

Sermon: Gideon and the Midianites, Series: The Bible's Greatest Hits, Rev. Ben Winkler, Judges 7:1–22

With family: Judges 7; Acts 11 Judges 7 (Listen) Gideon's Three Hundred Men 7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.' 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. 4 And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,' shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,' shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7 And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8 So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9 That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. 11 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. 13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” 15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.'” Gideon Defeats Midian 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22 When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,1 as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 25 And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan. Footnotes [1] 7:22 Some Hebrew manuscripts Zeredah (ESV) Acts 11 (Listen) Peter Reports to the Church 11 Now the apostles and the brothers1 who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party2 criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.' 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.' 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” The Church in Antioch 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists3 also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. 27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers4 living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Footnotes [1] 11:1 Or brothers and sisters [2] 11:2 Or Jerusalem, those of the circumcision [3] 11:20 Or Greeks (that is, Greek-speaking non-Jews) [4] 11:29 Or brothers and sisters (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 20; Mark 6 Jeremiah 20 (Listen) Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur 20 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.” 7   O LORD, you have deceived me,    and I was deceived;  you are stronger than I,    and you have prevailed.  I have become a laughingstock all the day;    everyone mocks me.8   For whenever I speak, I cry out,    I shout, “Violence and destruction!”  For the word of the LORD has become for me    a reproach and derision all day long.9   If I say, “I will not mention him,    or speak any more in his name,”  there is in my heart as it were a burning fire    shut up in my bones,  and I am weary with holding it in,    and I cannot.10   For I hear many whispering.    Terror is on every side!  “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”    say all my close friends,    watching for my fall.  “Perhaps he will be deceived;    then we can overcome him    and take our revenge on him.”11   But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;    therefore my persecutors will stumble;    they will not overcome me.  They will be greatly shamed,    for they will not succeed.  Their eternal dishonor    will never be forgotten.12   O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,    who sees the heart and the mind,1  let me see your vengeance upon them,    for to you have I committed my cause. 13   Sing to the LORD;    praise the LORD!  For he has delivered the life of the needy    from the hand of evildoers. 14   Cursed be the day    on which I was born!  The day when my mother bore me,    let it not be blessed!15   Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,  “A son is born to you,”    making him very glad.16   Let that man be like the cities    that the LORD overthrew without pity;  let him hear a cry in the morning    and an alarm at noon,17   because he did not kill me in the womb;    so my mother would have been my grave,    and her womb forever great.18   Why did I come out from the womb    to see toil and sorrow,    and spend my days in shame? Footnotes [1] 20:12 Hebrew kidneys (ESV) Mark 6 (Listen) Jesus Rejected at Nazareth 6 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles 7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.1 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. The Death of John the Baptist 14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'2 name had become known. Some3 said, “John the Baptist4 has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's5 head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand 30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii6 worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. Jesus Walks on the Water 45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night7 he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret 53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. Footnotes [1] 6:9 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin [2] 6:14 Greek his [3] 6:14 Some manuscripts He [4] 6:14 Greek baptizer; also verse 24 [5] 6:27 Greek his [6] 6:37 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer [7] 6:48 That is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. (ESV)

Pastors Robert Baltodano and Dr. Jay Falzarano  Question Timestamps: Mary Jo, NJ (1:56) - What does “spirit” mean in 1 Peter 3:18? Was there a bodily resurrection or just a spiritual resurrection? Florencia, email (9:40) - My friend doesn't believe in hell, how can I question her in a way that is loving and brings truth? Avery, NJ (12:45) - Why does God allow Satan to do things to his followers? Linda, NJ (15:32) - Are the Midianites mentioned in Numbers 25 the same Midianites that Moses's father-in-law and wife are a part of? Vivian, NY (21:21) - I saw a winged devil, what does that mean? Ellen, NY (24:25) - Why did Jesus say “only God is good?” Is that Jesus saying that he isn't God? Lisa, NY (27:04) - Why did God punish Miriam for criticizing Moses's Midianite wife, but then punished the men of Israel when they were with Midianite women? Joe, TX (34:17) - Where is the limit to obeying our governing authorities? Nancy, NJ (41:56) - Is my husband in heaven? Tara, NY (46:16) - Why was Saul commanded to kill all of the men, women, and livestock by God? Why not just the men? Glen, UT (51:06) - Is there a direct reference in the Bible that Satan can appear as an angel of light? Steve, NY (54:48) - Can you explain why God punished Nadab and Abihu? Questions? 888-712-7434 Questions@bbtlive.org  

“So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.'” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream. The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.” So Gideon collected the provisions and rams' horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him. The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon. That night the Lord said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!” ‭‭Judges‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ "Absolutely makes sense… You just have to keep leading. Through prayer and study. Spiritually God may be giving you a Gideon moment… Judges 7:2… there are just too many to do what He is wanting to do. He wants you to conquer with few and occupy with many. Grow deep now and then wide. More people bring more distractions and divisions.  You can doubt yourself but that's not who is doing the work here… allow yourself to be a vessel to be used and let God do the work."  Grow with less before you grow with more.

With family: Judges 6; Acts 10 Judges 6 (Listen) Midian Oppresses Israel 6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD. 7 When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, 8 the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed my voice.” The Call of Gideon 11 Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the LORD1 turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” 19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah2 of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. 25 That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal 28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon3 was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar. 33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. The Sign of the Fleece 36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. Footnotes [1] 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the Lord; also verse 16 [2] 6:19 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [3] 6:32 Hebrew he (ESV) Acts 10 (Listen) Peter and Cornelius 10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth hour of the day1 he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. Peter's Vision 9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour2 to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation,3 for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.” 30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour,4 and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.' 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” Gentiles Hear the Good News 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles 44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. Footnotes [1] 10:3 That is, 3 p.m. [2] 10:9 That is, noon [3] 10:20 Or accompany them, making no distinction [4] 10:30 That is, 3 p.m. (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 19; Mark 5 Jeremiah 19 (Listen) The Broken Flask 19 Thus says the LORD, “Go, buy a potter's earthenware flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests, 2 and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—6 therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.' 10 “Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the LORD, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—all the houses on whose roofs offerings have been offered to all the host of heaven, and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled like the place of Topheth.'” 14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD's house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words.” (ESV) Mark 5 (Listen) Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon 5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.1 2 And when Jesus2 had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed3 man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus4 to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter 21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?'” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing5 what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus6 saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. Footnotes [1] 5:1 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gadarenes [2] 5:2 Greek he; also verse 9 [3] 5:15 Greek daimonizomai (demonized); also verses 16, 18; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons [4] 5:17 Greek him [5] 5:36 Or ignoring; some manuscripts hearing [6] 5:38 Greek he (ESV)

Parshat Matot-Masay:  Koshering Midianite Pots and Pans  -  English only. After fighting the battle against the Midianites, the Children of Israel take spoils including metal containers.  What can be done with these containers?  The answer is critical for everyone to know!  Recorded July 15, 2023.

Bulletin for Wednesday, July 12, 2023Service Time: 2:00 p.m.Bible Study: 2:30 p.m.There is no evening service during the summerAll are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relativeVisit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”Archive of BULLETINSJudges 7:1-23 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.' Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,' shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,' shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.” And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.'” So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian. Galatians 1:1-24 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me. The Sacrament of the Altar What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? These words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things? Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sins.”

We haven't seen Moses this angry since the spies' evil report 40 years earlier. How was that earlier event similar to what takes place here in Numbers 32? And why was God so relentless and unmerciful to the Midianites? What is it about them that demanded such a violent and wrathful response? Even more, what lessons does Midian have to teach us today? We also discuss the symbolism of the number 40 in the Scriptures and what the 42 encampments (Numbers 33) have to teach us. Then we touch on the gracious significance of the cities of refuge scattered throughout the Promised Land. For more teachings by Grant Luton (and to print the notes), visit our website: https://www.TorahTodayMinistries.org And when you visit, be sure to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter, which will keep you up to date with news, photos, and upcoming events at Torah Today Ministries.

*WARNING - There is some not-so-peaceful violence described in tonight's episode. Welcome to Bible Bedtime. Tonight I will read Number 31-32, in which the Israelites take vengeance on the Midianites. After that, I will read from Proverbs and finish with the Lord's Prayer.You can send a small donation to us on Venmo @Biblebedtime. Our email is BibleBedtimePodcast@gmail.com, or you can join us on Facebook! Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/biblebedtime. While there is no expectation of your support, if you feel led to bless me with a small contribution in any amount, it would mean the world to me. Your gift will help offset the costs of producing and distributing Bible Bedtime worldwide. You can leave a love offering at https://plus.acast.com/s/biblebedtime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 As Gideon prepares for his showdown with the Midianites, God intervenes to show Gideon his limits, redirect his fears, and show him an unconventional battle plan. In this second week of Gideon's story, we will walk together through these topics and see how Gideon's preparations for battle can be applied to our lives here and now. Do you have prayer requests? Get in touch directly with the team at WACC using this link: https://wacconline.org/prayer-requestWe look forward to hearing from you!Want to take the next step in getting involved at Washington Avenue Christian Church? Fill out this connect card and someone will reach out to you! https://www.wacconline.org/connectcardStay in touch by signing up for our weekly newsletter!https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/RHyLGXQFind messages from WACC here: https://wacconline.org/mediaIf you would like to find out more about our church, visit us at our website: https://www.wacconline.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wacc.atx/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wacc.atx/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WashingtonAvenueChristianChurchPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/washington-avenue-christian-church/id1502459358Everything WACC: linktr.ee/wacc.atxUsed with Permission through our CCLI Copyright License Number 1046610 and Streaming License Number CSPL109160

Judges 7:2 King James Version 2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

Hey friend, Are you facing challenges that make you question God's presence and wonder if He truly has a plan for you? Join us as we explore the gripping story of Gideon . Discover how Gideon, trapped in the bondage to the Midianites, grappled with doubts about God's goodness and his own worth as a mighty warrior. In a world where it's easy to feel overwhelmed and uncertain, Gideon's story serves as a powerful reminder. Despite his inability to perceive it, God was present throughout Gideon's journey, orchestrating a divine plan of liberation and empowerment. In this podcast, we confront the problem head-on and address the very questions that may be weighing on your heart. We explore how to take hold of God's precious promises that have been freely given to us. Will you, as a listener, dare to seize these life-transforming promises? Join us as we navigate the practical steps to unlock God's promises and step into the fullness of our destiny. Discover the importance of aligning with God's plan, boldly declaring His promises over our lives and circumstances, and trusting that He is working everything out for our good and His glory. It's time to embrace the truth that you are called, chosen, loved, and equipped for battle. You are protected and able to accomplish everything God has called you to do. Through this podcast, we will inspire and empower you to believe in God's presence, find His promises, and embark on a journey of faith, purpose, and the fulfillment of your unique destiny. Don't let doubt hold you back any longer. It's time to take possession of God's powerful promises and step into the abundant life He has prepared for you. Tune in and let this podcast be the catalyst that propels you toward a life marked by divine purpose, unwavering faith, and the realization of your God-given potential. Happy 4th - where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM! Keep praying for one another and keep me posted!  Love,  Sheri 

The seventh chapter of Judges records a great victory given by the Lord against the Midianites with only 300 men. The Midianites are set to flight. Gideon calls for other tribes to help capture some of the princes who were escaping. This should be the end of the account. We expect to read that the […] The post REWIND: How Godly People Fall (Judges 8) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Heavenly Father, we thank you that you, the great God of the universe, holy, perfect, you demand absolute perfection and holiness from us. And Lord, we thank you that you offer us grace to do that which you command us to do. You call us to repentance and we can't repent apart from your grace. You call us to faith in Christ, we can't do that either apart from your grace. You call us to live a life of love toward God and toward people from the heart, and Lord, we can't do that apart from you. Lord, today convict us of sin. Reveal any guilt that we are still carrying from our sin. And I pray, Lord, don't just relieve us of that guilt, but remove it from us. Eradicate it from us so we as your children can live lives of good conscience.Lord, bless our time in the holy scriptures today. Holy Spirit, we pray, minister to us, reveal the words to us, reveal the words that you would have for each of us individually. And Lord, magnify your son Jesus Christ through the preaching of your word. Jesus, we thank you that you provided a way for us to be reconciled with the Father, for that sin to be removed, for that guilt to be assuaged. And we thank you that for those who are in Christ now today, there is no condemnation. Zero whatsoever. We believe that. We love that and we receive that word. Bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.We're continuing our study through Genesis 37 through 50. We've entitled it Graduate Level Grace: A Study in the Life of Joseph. Today, we're in Genesis 42 and the title is Grace for the Guilty. Why do we call it Graduate Level Grace? Well, we need grace as much today as we did the very first day that we trusted in Jesus Christ. We need grace to be justified of our sin, but we also need grace to be sanctified then also shaped by God to be ever more useful. In his confessions, Augustine wrote around the year 400 AD, he said, "God, give me the grace to do as you command and command me to do what you will." What he's saying is, God, you can command whatever you want, but unless you give me the power to do it, unless you give me the grace to do it, I can't do it. But if you give me grace, you can command whatever you will of me. Meaning we're incapable of obeying God's commands, of doing God's will unless He grants us the ability to do so.Jesus commanded us, repent and believe. How? By God's grace. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. How? By God's grace. Marry this person, raise these children. Do your job as unto the Lord. How? By God's grace. God's grace is God's unmerited favor, but it's also fuel. Grace saves us and it sanctifies us. It trains us, it hones us, it strengthens, it grows us, and grace graduates us. And we see the same grace, it's on every single page of this narrative of the story of Joseph. This is the supreme lesson which meets us and impresses us at every stage of his history. He was a man of God and he walked in the presence of God knowing that he needed the grace of God. Everything he did, he did under the conscious realization that he's living under the watchful eye of God who loves him and will carry him through no matter what. In seasons of adversity, 13 years in prison, sold by his brothers into slavery, doesn't know a person in Egypt. In adversity, he trusted his God and waited for God's timing.And then last week, we learned that God raised him up. By God's grace, now he's second in command to only Pharaoh. And in prosperity, Joseph did not forget his God. No, he leaned upon his God and found his grace sufficient. His heart wasn't tried by humiliation nor his head turned by exaltation. He didn't let the disappointments of life break his heart, nor did he allow the victories of life go to his head. He's even-keeled, composed knowing that God is sovereign. So before the Lord exalts Joseph to this position of importance, He prepared him with discipline. And this discipline did not feel like grace. But then again, what does grace feel like? If you think about what does grace feel like?Well, what did it take for grace to be procured by God, for grace to be offered to us? Well, grace took a bloody cross, a crucifixion. That's how grace was procured. So sometimes, yes, grace comes as soothing balm to our soul, but sometimes grace comes as surgical tool slicing us open to cut out the rot. In moments which might feed human pride and self-sufficiency, what do we need? We need grace, God's grace to humble us, to keep us simple, to keep us faithful. Because Joseph walked with God in the darkness of prison, he's ready for the spotlight of the palace and that's where we find ourselves. And what kind of man is he when his brothers who sold him into captivity stand before him, bowing down before him. He holds all the power to do whatever he wants with them. What does he do? Well, we see a tender heart. How does his heart remain tender despite the hardness of the obstacles around him? Well, it was God's grace. So God's grace to Joseph made him a gracious leader, ready to forgive those who wanted harm for him.As we walk through the text together in Genesis 42, four points to frame up our time. First, your sin will find you out. Second, the slow burn of a guilty conscience. Third, now there comes a reckoning. And for fourth, the Father who won't sacrifice His beloved son. First, your sin will find you out. It's a biblical principle. Numbers 32:23. "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out." We worship a holy God and God is omniscient. He sees anything and everything and it's against His holy character to allow sin to go unpunished. Your sin will find you out.Luke 8:17, the words of Christ. "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light", either in this life or when we stand in the judgment before Christ. So this is exactly what happens. Joseph's brothers, 10 of them, they sold him to captivity and in their minds they already think he's dead. That's the lie they told their father, Jacob, that your son was eaten, torn apart by wild animals. And for two decades, they lived with this guilt that they had murdered their brother. Later on, in the same text, twice they say the brother who was no longer with us, the brother who was no more, they thought Joseph was dead. And here, God reveals their sin and makes them reckon with it on a glorious stage. And thanks be to God that He included this narrative in scripture for us to see, for the world to see for time immemorial.Remember, Joseph is out of prison. He's appointed to second in command only to Pharaoh. God has given him incredible wisdom for not just to interpret Pharaoh's dreams but also put a plan in place to capitalize on the abundance of seven years. So he's second in command, he's shaved dressed, married, he's got two sons and he's been busy capitalizing on seven years of bountiful harvest in preparation for the seven years of debilitating famine. So that brings us to Genesis 42. We begin with verses one through five."When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?' And he said, 'Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.' So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan."The famine had engulfed all the earth in including Canaan. So God sends of famine in order to awaken the brothers, in order to get them to act and to do something with the guilt that is upon them. Their father looks at them and says, "Why do you look at one another?" And he sounds exactly like my dad, my dad's Slavic. This is exactly how he parented us. Very direct. "Why you look at one another?" That's what Jacob is doing. And what is he saying? He's not just saying, you guys are lazy bums. He's saying, we got to protect our household. We got to provide for our household. You have children and you have wives, you have cattle, you have to provide. Now go and do something or else we're all going to die.Jacob heard that there was grain for sale in Egypt and he has no idea, absolutely no idea how that grain came to be. He has no idea that God had been working behind the scenes for over two decades, 13 years that Joseph was in prison, the seven years of abundance, that's 20. And time has passed with the famine. So God has been using this, overriding the sinful intentions of the brothers, the slave traders, Potiphar and Mrs. Potiphar, the forgetful butler. God was busy turning their evil into good and to shape Joseph and place him in the number two spot. Why were the brothers just sitting around? They too must have heard that there was grain for sale. Everyone heard. No one was prepared for this famine, not one of the countries. How could you be prepared? You'd have to know the future in order to build the infrastructure to farm, to gather, to store, to distribute all the grain and mountains and mountains of grain it was. And in famine that grain was as good as gold.Why were they sitting around knowing this, that if they went to Egypt they could solve all their problems? Well, because even the word of Egypt, the thought of Egypt sent a shutter down their spine and sent a cold sweat down their back. Every time they thought of Egypt, they couldn't but remember the anguished cry of their brother, Joseph, right before they sold him to the Midianites and he was sent to Egypt. Now, imagine their trip to Egypt. Imagine the silence, the deafening silence as they're all thinking the same thing, recalling the events of 20 plus years ago. Now, they're traveling the same path as Joseph did except he was in chains. Jacob, we see, hasn't changed much. His favoritism has only grown as he poured out his love on Benjamin, his youngest son, perhaps overcompensating for having lost Joseph.He wants to protect him and fear that harm might happen to him, perhaps because he never trusted the brothers, perhaps because he didn't believe their lies and the story that they told him. And later in the text we see that he did blame them for the death of Joseph. The fact that he kept Benjamin behind must have stung their consciences. It had to have. And we don't know much about Benjamin's character just yet, but Joseph's brother, we know a lot about. They were sinful. They were wicked, violent, lust-driven men. Sons two and three, that's Simeon and Levi, were guilty of premeditated genocide in the slaughter of the unsuspecting Shechemites. Son number one, Rubin, committed incest with his father's concubine in an attempt to secure ascendancy over his father. And next, all 10 of the brothers beat Joseph, stripped him, threw him into a pit with violent rage and then sold him into slavery.Son number four, we read in Genesis 38, was Judah, who impregnated his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who had disguised herself as a Canaanite prostitute. The family was not just dysfunctional, this is a family of egregious sinners and these were the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is supposed to be the family of God, the chosen people of God. God was going to bless all the families of the world through this one family. The Messiah, the promised conquerer of Satan, he was supposed to come from this family. And as you read this narrative, you're like, "What? These people, these wicked sinners?" Well, yes, all of that will come true, but God first has to do spiritual surgery upon them.These men, who are guilty of sin and had attempted to hide it for 20 years, just imagine doing that, all 10 of them maintaining the same story for two decades. These men were guilty and the time of reckoning has come and it's time that they were confronted with their sin, deal with their guilt, repent and seek forgiveness from God, from Joseph, and also from their father, Jacob. They did everything they could to forget their sin, but they couldn't. They tried to live as if nothing had happened, thereby searing their consciences all the more. And now it's time, by God's grace, their consciences are awakened by the light of God's providence.Point two is the slow burn of a guilty conscience. God has given every single one of us a conscience. This is great proof of the existence of God. And the conscience is given to us to guide us between choosing good and evil. The conscience serves as a witness to what we already know about God's law that's written upon our hearts. It's like an independent witness within, examining and passing judgment on one's conduct. Sometimes the conscience is seared through sinful living licentiousness. Sometimes the conscience is seared through legalism where we bring in manmade rules that then inform our conscience, that then sears our conscience from what is true according to God's work. Therefore, it's important, friends, to educate your conscious, to inform your conscious, to make sure your conscious is calibrated to the law of God, the word of God and nothing else.First Timothy 4:1 through five, for example. "Now the spirit expressly says in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer." Romans 2:14 through 16 testifies to the fact that God's law, his commandments are written on our hearts. Verse 14, "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they're a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."So the conscious is like an internal sensor that goes off when it senses that we're moving away from God's will. It beeps and then it beeps again. It's like when you're not wearing a seatbelt in your car and it beeps and it beeps and it beeps. After a while, it just stops beeping. And that's how the conscience works. That's the searing of the conscious, burnt to the point where it's not effective anymore. And at that point, the conscience needs to be awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's only the Holy Spirit that can bring a person to a realization that we have sinned. Our conscience is defiled. We need a cleansing. We need the guilt removed. Titus 1:15 through 16, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They're detestable, disobedient and unfit for any good work."Joseph's brothers grew up in a Christian family, so to speak, a family of believers. They're supposed to know God, they're supposed to represent God to the world. And maybe that's how they even presented themselves, but their works, their life denied the fact. With their mouth they espouse that they love God, but their hearts are far from him. So Genesis 42, verse three. "So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt." And it's fascinating that the text does not call them Jacob's sons. The text calls him Joseph's brothers. Why? Because the relationship between Joseph and his brothers is in focus in this chapter. So the brothers make the trek across the Sinai and down to the Nile Valley.Verse six, it says, "Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him and their faces to the ground." Never in their wildest dreams or in their worst nightmares, would they imagine that they would meet Joseph again. They thought, and just in all probability, that he was dead. And if he was alive, most likely is just an obscure slave. But meet Joseph, they certainly did. And when they met him, they didn't recognize him. He was virtually unrecognizable, beardless, clean-shaven, likely dressed in flowing white linen, decorated with gold, speaking Egyptian. And so they did what all the foreigners were doing. They bowed themselves before this man, to the ground, faces to the ground. It was a sign of subordination, of course, and the only means of surviving the famine.I think this is a scene that Joseph had visualized in his mind a thousand times plus over the course of the last 20 years. Why? Because he had been given a prophetic dream years before that he had shared with them and with their father. This is the dream that kicked off the narrative in Genesis 37:5. "Now, Joseph had a dream and when he told it his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, 'Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.' His brothers said to him, 'Are you indeed to reign over us or are you indeed to rule over us?' So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words."So the first dream had come to pass and Joseph knew it was from God the whole time, that dream actually sustained him through his darkest years. Now, the prophetic dream was happening in reality in real time. His brothers come here looking for grain and they, like the sheaves of grain in the dream, bow down before Joseph's sheaf. He is indeed reigning and ruling over them however much they hated him for it. Genesis 42:7. "Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. 'Where do you come from?' he said. They said, 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.' And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him."He recognized them immediately. How could he not? He had seen their faces emblazoned on his mind and his heart and nightmares for years. He remembers them. And then there's 10 bearded brothers speaking Hebrew. How often do you see that? Time had left its mark on them as on him, but he still recognized them. Joseph didn't show any outward emotion, goes about his job with stoic precision and all the power is absolutely in his hands. He has all the leverage to do whatever he wants. If he says, "Dance", they're going to dance. If he says, "Jump", they say, "How high, sir?" Not only does he have the power to withhold grain from them, he has the power to take their freedom and even their very lives. So he begins to interrogate them, speaking roughly as the strangers, verse nine."And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, 'You are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land.' They said to him, 'No, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.'" It says that Joseph remembered the dreams, plural. There was a first dream, but there was also a second dream. And in the second dream, his dad was included, meaning that his whole family would come down, bow down before him. So he knows that this isn't the full revelation of God just yet. In Genesis 37:9 through 11, the second dream, "Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, 'Behold, I've dreamed another dream. Behold the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me.' But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, 'What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?' And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind."So this part of the interrogation, Joseph knows the whole story, it has not been completed. He interrogates them, accuses them of espionage, on mission to find weak points in the defense in Egypt. And by the way, this was a legitimate concern. Egypt had all the grain in the world of that time. Obviously, there were threats to them. So he accuses them of this. They try to remove doubt and in doing so they divulge more information than they should have. In Genesis 42:11, they say, "We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies." And the irony, of course, isn't lost on us. These men were not honest, although they claim to be so. And here you got to pause and say, what is Joseph doing here? Why is he testing? Why is he speaking to them as strangers harshly? Why this tone, Joseph?Well, it's because he's testing them to see if they have changed, to see if their hearts have been awakened by the spirit of God. Were they the same lying, conniving, callous, jealous, murdering sinners that they still hate him? And he's wise in doing this because of his position of influence and also he's figuring out how much am I going to help this family? He could have just said, okay, I don't trust you guys. I'm going to send grain to you and to your households and that's it. That could have been the end of the story, but it's not. He understands there's more. Genesis 42:12, "He said to them, 'No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.' And they said, 'We, your servants, are 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day with our father and one is no more.' But Joseph said to them, 'It is as I said to you, you are spies.'"I think here Joseph's cool, icy persona, complexion, projection I think here begins to melt a little bit. They don't just say there's 10 of us. They don't just say there's 11 of us, 10 living and one still at home, Benjamin. No, they say 12. And I wonder how Joseph felt when he heard the number 12, that they considered that the family was still intact, not withstanding their brother's death. Perhaps it's a hint here of an improvement in their spiritual condition. And then they say one is no more. Are their consciences becoming awake, unseared, coming back to life? They give Joseph more information about their family to establish credibility. And Joseph continues to accuse them like a seasoned interrogator. When the accusation doesn't stick, he just progressively repeats it louder and more emphatically till the person cracks. It is as I said, you are spies.And I think Joseph here is having a little fun because he remembers back in the day, the brothers, what do they accuse him of? What do they call him? They called him a spy. "'Did you come here again to spy on us, to bring a bad report of us to our father?" And here Joseph turns the tables. Genesis 42:15. "By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there's truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.' And he put them all together in custody for three days." He puts them in prison, in the pit, in the dungeon. I wonder if it's the same prison that he was in just to give them a taste of their medicine. He does enslave them for three days, but he's not doing it to enslave them. He's giving them time to think. He's giving them time to think about their guilt, to experience the guilty conscience.And three days in an Egyptian prison would've been plenty of time to come to their senses, think things through and talk things over. What were they talking over? Which of us is going back home to Canaan to tell dad that we had lied for two decades? Who's going to go back and tell him that, no, Joseph is actually alive, he wasn't torn by wild animals. He was sold into captivity by wild animals, the brothers themselves. And not only that, they would have to convince Jacob to let Benjamin go to Joseph. Who's doing that? They would've probably all preferred to stay in prison to the thought of that task.And this is point three. Now there comes a reckoning. Verse 18. "On the third day, Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households and bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you shall not die.' And they did." So Joseph proposes a new plan, probably because he understood how emotionally daunting and painful the first one would be. Plus, Joseph did care for them. And here we see Joseph's heart toward them, his real heart toward them.He knew that if one of them goes back with a sack of grain or as much as he could carry, that's not going to hold the family over for much time. So he comes up with a new plan, leave one brother here, the nine of you can go back. Just make sure you come back here with Benjamin. Though they don't deserve this grace, Joseph says, "I fear God." This Egyptian standing before them proclaims the name of God and that he doesn't just worship God, he fears God. God had extended grace toward Joseph. Now Joseph is extending grace toward the brothers.The way in which God is associated with the life of Joseph is paramount to the narrative. At every single most important juncture in Joseph's life, he brings in the name of God. Why? It shows us that he was a God-centered man and that he knew that everything in this world is controlled by God. And if he is to make the right decision, he has to lean upon God. For example, when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, he said, "How can I do this great wickedness?" Against whom? Not Potiphar, God. "Do not interpretations belong to God?", he said to the cup bearer and to the baker in prison. When he stands before Pharaoh, he says the same. And he says, "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. God will shortly bring it to pass." And when he has a son and he remembers God and he remembers the pain of his past, he says, "God has made me forget the pain of my father's household."Everything in Joseph's life was guided and controlled by the thought of God. Not one of the brothers has thus far mentioned God, but this Egyptian seemingly is talking about God. One brother was supposed to remain and here's the big test. Was the talk of the 12 brothers just that? Was it talk, or would they really come back for their brother, Simeon? The thought of their brother remaining in prison breaks their heart. They understand the pain and anguish that their father would feel hearing that Simeon was left in prison. And hear these words that erupts from a broken heart, these anguished words pouring from a guilty conscience beginning in verse 21."Then they said to one another, 'In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.' And Reuben answered them, 'Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen, so now there comes a reckoning for his blood." In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, they say. Not the dreamer, not Joseph. No, this is our brother. Time does not blot out the guilt of sin, nor does time have any power over the conscience. And God, in His great providence, brings these men face to face with their sin and its due punishment. And isn't it fascinating how God does this, how God forces them to face the reality, to reckon with their sin?God brings them to Egypt on the same path that the Midianite merchants walked with Joseph. They were together in a strange land. They were in the power of a stranger whose force was infinitely greater than their own, which in turn may have had the effect of reminding them. Oh, remember that time when Joseph was defenseless, when we had all the power over him? And how do we use that power, used that power to harm him even though we heard the anguish of his soul. We see the elements of true repentance here. They say, "In truth, we are guilty." We are guilty. There's no question that we're guilty. Guilty for what? Guilty for the sin of attempting to murder our brother. We saw the distress of his soul. They remember that moment and they say, "This is why this distress has come upon us."Joseph learned here that Reuben had not consented to the sale and Joseph also learned that they had been haunted for years by his cries. And they knew that they were guilty, deserving of death. God had written this law on their hearts, on each of our hearts. Thou shall not murder. That's written on every single one of our hearts. We can all agree upon that. If you murder, an image bearer of God, you deserve the condemnation of God. We all know that. Thankfully, not many of us are murderers here in the room, but Jesus did say in Matthew five, in the Sermon on the Mount, "Whoever hates a brother in his heart, whoever hates another human being in his heart has already committed murder." Hatred in our hearts toward another human being is commensurate to murder. Genesis 9:6, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." So God has them reckoned with their guilt in this moment of honesty and true guilt is grace when it brings us to repentance.And Joseph's brothers here are wracked with guilt and they are now prepared for repentance. In verse 23, "They did not know that Joseph understood them for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. He returned to them and spoke to them and he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes." Joseph sees that they've been anguished by their guilt, they've acknowledged their sin. "Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy?" They've sinned against him. He hears their acknowledgement that he hears that they know they deserve a reckoning. They know they deserve to pay for their sins. And Joseph's so moved by this confession, this is all he wanted to see. He's been begging for this moment where these brothers finally understand the egregious sin that they committed against him.He's so moved by their confession that he goes into a side room and he weeps. He couldn't contain his emotion anymore. He weeps. Although they did not weep the moment that they sold him, they sold him to captivity. They put him in that pit before they sold him to captivity. And as he's crying out in that pit, "Brothers, don't do this to me, don't kill me." They sat down for a meal. They sat down to enjoy a meal that he had brought them from Jacob. Incredible callousness, just indifference. At that moment, they were dead to God. God was dead to them. God's law to not murder my ... No, no. Their jealousy and their hatred were God at that moment. And now, these same men, two decades later, are repenting, seemingly remorseful. Joseph weeps here and there would be more tears when he first saw Benjamin in chapter 43. And when Judah offers to take Benjamin's place, in chapter 45, and finally when he meets his father in chapter 46, he weeps on his father's neck.The first great revelation of his tears here was that Joseph knew that these brothers were changing. The last thing that they see, what they see before they leave, they see Simeon bound before them probably in chains. Why? This is all part of the test. Is their repentance over having sold Joseph into slavery true? Will they come back for Simeon? Will they come back for their brother? Will they show him sympathy? Genesis 42:25. "And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to replace every man's money in his sack and gave them provisions for the journey. And this was done for them." And this here is an indication of his true feelings toward them. He had all the reason the world to bring down vengeance upon them, to have revenge upon them, just like he could have brought revenge upon Potiphar or Mrs. Potiphar or even the cup bearer for forgetting Joseph.But you see none of that, you see no desire for vengeance or revenge in his actions in his heart. And yet he still does probe them. He does test. He puts the money in their sacks. Why? Because he wants to know, will they be happy with the money instead of Simeon? Not only did he return one of them individually, but he returned all of their money. Will they be fine keeping the money and leaving their brother? Verse 26, "Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed as one of them opened his sack and gave his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of the sack. Then he said to his brothers, 'My money has been put back. Here it is in the mouth of the sack.' At this, their hearts failed them. They turned trembling to one another saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?'" Not what is this that the second in command in Egypt has done? No, they understand that it's God in control of every single detail that has transpired in this narrative.They understand that God's arresting hand is upon them. For the first time in the narrative, they mention God. Their guilt leads them to God. That's the goal. Their awareness of God and their awareness of his holiness, their awareness that they've sinned against the holy God, that is what is awakened in them. They have a terrifying awareness of the divine and they're reading providence correctly. Yes, we are guilty before God. Initially, they realized they had sinned against Joseph. Now, they realize they've sinned against the living holy God of the universe.If you fear God over the penalty that your sin deserves, which you should, well, friend, the very second you begin to feel that fear of God, that I am guilty, not just guilt, I'm guilty because I've transgressed the law of God. I've sinned against God. The very moment you begin to feel that, that is God's grace. God does not give that to every single human being. To awaken you from your spiritual death, to give you spiritual life, and we were dead in our sins and trespasses, He made us alive. That's a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Godly fear and godly grief over our sin should lead us to repentance before God.Second Corinthians 7:8 through 13. St. Paul writes, "For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. At every point, you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it's not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore, we are comforted."Friends, perhaps you're in a situation, circumstances in your life where you clearly feel the arresting hand of God's spirit convicting you of sin, where things begin to happen in your life where you say, yes, I deserve this. I deserve this for the sins I have committed. Well friend, that's God's gift. And let this awesome awareness lead you to repentance. That's the whole goal. God wants to you to come to Him in contrition of heart, beg for forgiveness, and ask for grace. Fear alone, like guilt alone is of little use. In fact, it can be debilitating. But godly fear is a fear that God blesses, for He comes to those who fear Him. To understand that you deserve eternal condemnation for your sins, for having transgressed the perfect law of a holy God. And when you feel that fear, friend, that's grace.We sing this in the great hymn, Amazing Grace by John Newton. It goes like this, "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed." Look, Joseph Joseph could have forgiven his brothers the very second they showed up. He could have said, "Fellas, it's been too long. Come on in. Let's enjoy, party, grain. Forget the grain. We're going to have cows, fat, sumptuous, pleasant looking cows." No, he allows them to feel to awaken their consciences so that they repent. It's God's gift. A lot of people, they want the grace to relieve the guilt before you've actually experienced the grace that leads us to fear God and tremble at His holiness. Grace teaches us to fear and grace relieves that guilt.Point four is the Father who won't sacrifice His beloved son. Genesis 42:29, "When they came to Jacob, their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them saying, 'The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, 'We are honest men. We have never been spies. We are 12 brothers, sons of our father. One is no more and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. Then the man, the lord of the land said to us, 'By this, I shall know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households and go your way and bring your youngest brother to me then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men and I will deliver your brother to you and you shall trade in the land.'.As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob, their father, said to them, 'You have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more. And now, you would take Benjamin, all this has come against me.' Then Reuben said to his father, 'Kill my sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands and I will bring him back to you.' But he said, 'My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he's the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'"The gray hairs are an indication of the toll that Jacob's grief and sorrow had taken upon him at the loss of Joseph. And he says that if Benjamin dies, that's it. I'm dead. And here we also see that Jacob has blamed the brothers for the death of Joseph. "You have bereaved me of my children. You are responsible for Joseph's death as much as Simeon's imprisonment." Did he believe their story over these decades? No, he did not. He watched them. He listened to them. No, he knew exactly what happened. You did it. You sinful, wicked men. You killed my son. And here, the oldest, Reuben, felt his father's pain and made an absurd promise. "Kill my sons if I don't bring your son back." But nothing could lessen the pain of losing a son. Jacob says, 'All this has come against me." Jacob is wracked with sorrow and he's so wracked with sorrow, he's become self-centered.He suffers from main character syndrome, as it's known, where everything that's happening around him, he says, how is it impacting me? And everything going wrong in the world is going wrong against me. He's stuck in his selfish pity party. And he couldn't even imagine that, God, yes, despite the suffering, he has been working behind the scenes to provide salvation for the family. And finally he says, "My son shall not go down with you." Jacob had loved his son, Joseph, above all the others. And then with Joseph gone, most likely he just poured out all of that love on his son, Benjamin. Would he risk the life of his beloved son, Benjamin, in order to save Simeon, in order to save the other nine? Would he give up his son to save the family? For whom? Who's asking this? The wicked, sinful brothers, selfish, proud, self-absorbed, violent murderer, sexually deviant.You want me to give up Benjamin for one of you? Of course, he wouldn't. As he looked at them, "Judah, would I give up my son, Benjamin, for you? Reuben, would I give up my son, Benjamin, for you? No, of course not. I love him more than I love any of you." Of course, he wouldn't. They don't deserve it. They're sinners. They're wicked sinners. And then, friends, this is what makes the gospel so powerful. It makes the gospel so awesome, so amazing, so shocking, so provocative, so scandalous that the God of the universe, the perfect loving Father, there's never been a greater father than Him. He gave up His perfect son, beloved son, who had never sinned. He said, "You go, I'm not just going to protect you from them, I'm going give you up." And that's what happened on the cross. On the cross, whose wrath is Jesus Christ bearing? The son of God, in whom the Father delights.Well, at that moment, Jesus Christ was bearing our sin, our guilt, our condemnation was upon Him. That's all the Father saw as He was pouring out His wrath upon the son. Romans 8:31 through 32. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He now also with Him graciously give us all things?" Not only did God the Father, not spare God the Son, but it says that He gave him up for us all. God the Father gave up God the Son, to save us from our sins and to cleanse our guilty conscience. So this is why grace is to teach us to fear. Because when you see the cross and you say, "Oh, this is what it takes for my sin to be forgiven, this is what it takes for my guilty conscience to be cleansed." It takes the death of the beloved Son of the Father. And the Father did that for us.So friends, this is the great news. If you're not a believer, if you're new to the faith, you don't know where you stand before God, this is the great news. Whatever guilt you feel right now, that's God's grace. Whatever conviction you feel, that's God's grace for whatever sins you've ever committed. And if you are a believer and you're still carrying around your guilt of past sins, today, receive grace. Let that grace not just relieve you of the guilt, but let that grace completely remove it. Look to the cross of Jesus Christ today. See the love of God the Father for you, and see the hatred, the wrath of God for sin. And thank God that He had made a way for us to be saved.A lot of people ask, well, how do I pray? How do I receive Christ? How do I become a Christian? And usually, people come up with some kind of manmade prayer, pray this. Jesus, I repent of my sins, forgive me, et cetera, et cetera. I think one of the greatest prayers of repentance in all of scripture is Psalm 51. In Psalm 51, we see the psalm of a man who knew God's will. It was a man after God's own heart. It was a man who actually committed murder to cover up the adultery that he had committed. And then he was brought to reckon with his sin when the prophet Nathan comes to him and calls him out. And by God's grace, David does repent. He bears the consequences of his sin, but he does repent. And this is his prayer of repentance. And if you're not a believer, even if you are, meditate on this text and pray often.And I'll close with this Psalm 51. "To the choir master: a Psalm of David. When Nathan, the prophet, went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly for my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgments. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken, rejoice.Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. And take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgresses your way and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken heart, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise. Do good in Zion in your good pleasure build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered up on your altar."Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you that you, a holy God, a just God are also a merciful God. We thank you for your long suffering and your loving kindness. Lord, we thank you that you have provided a way for each one of us to be reconciled with you. And Lord, we thank you for the grace that you offer us the very moment that we repent. And we thank you for the grace you offer us on a daily basis as you tell us to follow you. Lord, if there's anyone here who is not yet reconciled with you, I pray, Lord, convict their hearts and draw them to yourself. And I pray for us as believers, I pray, continue to make us people who are sensitive to your spirit and sensitive to your guidance. Continue to inform our consciences with your word and continue to make us a people who serve you from a good conscience. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name, amen.

The story of Gideon is a tale of bravery, perseverance, and divine intervention. Gideon was an ordinary man chosen by God to lead the Israelites against their oppressors, the Midianites. Initially filled with doubts and fears, Gideon was visited by an angel who told him that he was chosen to deliver his people from their enemies. Gideon's faith was tested when God asked him to reduce his army to a mere 300 men, but he obeyed and trusted in God's plan. With his small army, Gideon led a surprise attack on the Midianites, using torches and trumpets to create confusion and fear. The Midianites were defeated, and the Israelites were free from their oppression. Gideon's story teaches us that even the most unlikely person can be chosen by God to achieve great things, and that faith and trust in God can overcome even the greatest obstacles.

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute Yahweh's vengeance on Midian. - Numbers 31:1-3 This Episode's Links: (All timestamps offset by 24-seconds) 00:00 – Numbers 31 06:42  – Thoughts on the Reading 41:49 - I regret to inform you that Joe Biden is trying to talk about AR-15s again. His level of ignorance is astounding. – AnnieOakley, NTB 50:31 - An unearthed bronze sword more than 3,000 years old is in such great condition it 'almost still shines' – Natalie Musumeci, INSIDER 1:00:07 - THE CONTINUING RELEVANCE OF THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY – Gilbert Meilaender, First Things 1:38:05 - Karl Barth - Wikipedia 1:48:12 - Why did God allow polygamy / bigamy in the Bible? – GotQuestions.org 2:00:51 - Judeo-Christian Values Have Been Replaced In The West By New ‘Cultish' Religion, Ben Shapiro Says – Daily Wire --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/garrett-ashley-mullet/message

Gideon was found hiding in the winepress from the Midianites when the Lord called him a mighty man of valor. By way of humility, he rose to the call of God to lead 300 men in a miraculous, victorious battle against the enemies of the Lord.

We are fighting a spiritual battle, but our weapon is the Gospel instead of the sword.God command Moses to wage war against the Midianites in this chapter, but what is God's purpose for this? Previously, the Midianites successfully turned many of the Israelites to worship Baal (demons) instead of God. What God is commanding them to do in these battles is not for land, but for the spiritual battle between God and Satan. The battle is intense and severe as a result. Everyone is supposed to be destroyed, for this is not a normal war. This is a situation where it is as simple as good versus evil. This spiritual battle continues today but has transitioned from the desert of the Middle East to our homes, jobs, and other places where we are influenced by evil. Our battle tactics have also changed. We have gone from violence to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We are to love a world without God and teach them how they can have salvation.The whole crew is back together to talk about Connor's latest message in the Numbers series. Oh, and, Teresa quizzes Jason on Trivial Pursuit for the upcoming Trivia Night to help fundraise the Student Ministry mission trip.If you would like to watch the video podcast, find us on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMhDfGn0zfzi6XjcKkSVcFAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/discovertbcInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/topekabiblechurchWebsite: https://www.discovertbc.com/

When you’re up against an enemy, most people will agree there is strength in numbers. The more people on your side, the more likely you are to win. But in Judges 7, we learn that numbers are meaningless when God is involved. The Lord tasked Gideon with leading the Israelites into battle against the Midianites who had oppressed them for seven years (Judges 6:1). Their power was “oppressive” (6:2). In the valley, their warriors were as “thick as locusts”, and their camels like “the sand on the seashore” (7:12). The odds were clearly stacked against Gideon and his army. His army consisted of 32,000 soldiers. However, God knew that even with this many people, they would boast about their strength (vv. 2–3). So, Gideon eliminated 22,000 soldiers who were too fearful to fight. With 10,000 remaining, God decided there were still too many. Like a master gardener pruning shrubs, God continued to remove men from Gideon’s army. After drinking from the river, only the ones who kept alert by lapping the water from their hands were allowed to stay (vv. 5–8). This reduced the army to a measly 300. God wanted only the alert and courageous to fight for Him. Despite the small size of his army, Gideon received confirmation through a Midianite’s dream that the Lord was in control (vv. 13–15). That night, he gathered his men and concocted a plan that most likely baffled his seasoned warriors. Perhaps they thought it was a result of his inexperience, but they trusted him and God. Leadership can be frightening because you are taking people where they have never been before. Here we see God teach Gideon that our strength is not in numbers; our strength must come only from God. >> Despite what you might think, leaders often experience fear. What fears (failure, rejection, inadequacy, conflict, loneliness, etc.) are most likely to prevent you from facing a difficult situation? What does today’s reading teach us about fear?

Defeat the Midianites and dividing the plunder. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leapoffaithpodcast/support

God Hates A CowardI'll start today's message with a joke. Sunday school teachers asked, "Now, children, do you know where people go when they're afraid?" "To the toilet?" a child asked.Fear can take us surprising places. "God Hates a Coward" is today's topic. Our key verse is 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."God hates cowardice—not cowards. God loves us unconditionally but challenges us to overcome our fears and courageously speak for what is good.Judges 6 describes Gideon. Fearing the Midianites, he was threshing wheat in secret when God called him to deliver Israel. Being from the weakest clan and the least in his family, he felt weak. God named him a strong warrior. God saw Gideon's courage with God's help, not his fear."Fear not," said Charles Spurgeon. Don't worry—He's your God. He will strengthen, help, and uphold you with His righteousness."God seeks regular people who trust Him in their fear. Trusting Him helps us conquer our fears, turning timidity into courage.In Matthew 14:28-31, Peter walks on water. After seeing the wind, Peter grew scared and sank. Jesus grabbed him then. Jesus used Peter's fear to teach him—and us—faith and courage.In Joshua 1:9, God says, "Have I not ordered you? Be brave. Do not be afraid or dismayed; the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.""Courage is contagious," declared Billy Graham. Bravery stiffens others." We must be brave like Joshua for ourselves and others.God hates cowardice because it keeps us from His magnificent intentions. He wants us to be brave, go out in faith, and trust Him even when we're terrified.Let's remain faithful. Remember that God gave us power, love, and a sound mind, not fear. Let's be courageous and trust God to inspire others.Father, thank You for Your Word today. Help us overcome our fears. Give us bravery, faith, and trust in You. In Jesus' name, Amen."God supports you. Be strong. Be brave. The Lord your God is with you. Church, happy week!

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 145 Psalm 145 (Listen) Great Is the Lord 1 A Song of Praise. Of David. 145   I will extol you, my God and King,    and bless your name forever and ever.2   Every day I will bless you    and praise your name forever and ever.3   Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,    and his greatness is unsearchable. 4   One generation shall commend your works to another,    and shall declare your mighty acts.5   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.6   They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,    and I will declare your greatness.7   They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8   The LORD is gracious and merciful,    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.9   The LORD is good to all,    and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10   All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,    and all your saints shall bless you!11   They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom    and tell of your power,12   to make known to the children of man your2 mighty deeds,    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.13   Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.   [The LORD is faithful in all his words    and kind in all his works.]314   The LORD upholds all who are falling    and raises up all who are bowed down.15   The eyes of all look to you,    and you give them their food in due season.16   You open your hand;    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.17   The LORD is righteous in all his ways    and kind in all his works.18   The LORD is near to all who call on him,    to all who call on him in truth.19   He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;    he also hears their cry and saves them.20   The LORD preserves all who love him,    but all the wicked he will destroy. 21   My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Footnotes [1] 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet [2] 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line [3] 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll) (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Numbers 31 Numbers 31 (Listen) Vengeance on Midian 31 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD's vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.” 21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.” 25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the LORD's tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. 42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army—43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons—47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. 48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 And we have brought the LORD's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.1 53 (The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD. Footnotes [1] 31:52 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Obadiah 15–21 Obadiah 15–21 (Listen) The Day of the Lord Is Near 15   For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.  As you have done, it shall be done to you;    your deeds shall return on your own head.16   For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,    so all the nations shall drink continually;  they shall drink and swallow,    and shall be as though they had never been.17   But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,    and it shall be holy,  and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.18   The house of Jacob shall be a fire,    and the house of Joseph a flame,    and the house of Esau stubble;  they shall burn them and consume them,    and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,      for the LORD has spoken. The Kingdom of the Lord 19   Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,    and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;  they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,    and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.20   The exiles of this host of the people of Israel    shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,  and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad    shall possess the cities of the Negeb.21   Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion    to rule Mount Esau,    and the kingdom shall be the LORD's. (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 1 Timothy 2 1 Timothy 2 (Listen) Pray for All People 2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man1 Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. Footnotes [1] 2:5 men and man render the same Greek word that is translated people in verses 1 and 4 (ESV)

With family: Numbers 31; Psalms 75–76 Numbers 31 (Listen) Vengeance on Midian 31 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD's vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.” 21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.” 25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the LORD's tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. 42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army—43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons—47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. 48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 And we have brought the LORD's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.1 53 (The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD. Footnotes [1] 31:52 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams (ESV) Psalms 75–76 (Listen) God Will Judge with Equity To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. 75   We give thanks to you, O God;    we give thanks, for your name is near.  We1 recount your wondrous deeds. 2   “At the set time that I appoint    I will judge with equity.3   When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,    it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah4   I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,'    and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;5   do not lift up your horn on high,    or speak with haughty neck.'” 6   For not from the east or from the west    and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,7   but it is God who executes judgment,    putting down one and lifting up another.8   For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup    with foaming wine, well mixed,  and he pours out from it,    and all the wicked of the earth    shall drain it down to the dregs. 9   But I will declare it forever;    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.10   All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,    but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up. Who Can Stand Before You? To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. 76   In Judah God is known;    his name is great in Israel.2   His abode has been established in Salem,    his dwelling place in Zion.3   There he broke the flashing arrows,    the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah 4   Glorious are you, more majestic    than the mountains full of prey.5   The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;    they sank into sleep;  all the men of war    were unable to use their hands.6   At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,    both rider and horse lay stunned. 7   But you, you are to be feared!    Who can stand before you    when once your anger is roused?8   From the heavens you uttered judgment;    the earth feared and was still,9   when God arose to establish judgment,    to save all the humble of the earth. Selah 10   Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;    the remnant2 of wrath you will put on like a belt.11   Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;    let all around him bring gifts    to him who is to be feared,12   who cuts off the spirit of princes,    who is to be feared by the kings of the earth. Footnotes [1] 75:1 Hebrew They [2] 76:10 Or extremity (ESV) In private: Isaiah 23; 1 John 1 Isaiah 23 (Listen) An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon 23 The oracle concerning Tyre.   Wail, O ships of Tarshish,    for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!  From the land of Cyprus1    it is revealed to them.2   Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;    the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.3   And on many waters  your revenue was the grain of Shihor,    the harvest of the Nile;    you were the merchant of the nations.4   Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,    the stronghold of the sea, saying:  “I have neither labored nor given birth,    I have neither reared young men    nor brought up young women.”5   When the report comes to Egypt,    they will be in anguish2 over the report about Tyre.6   Cross over to Tarshish;    wail, O inhabitants of the coast!7   Is this your exultant city    whose origin is from days of old,  whose feet carried her    to settle far away?8   Who has purposed this    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,  whose merchants were princes,    whose traders were the honored of the earth?9   The LORD of hosts has purposed it,    to defile the pompous pride of all glory,3    to dishonor all the honored of the earth.10   Cross over your land like the Nile,    O daughter of Tarshish;    there is no restraint anymore.11   He has stretched out his hand over the sea;    he has shaken the kingdoms;  the LORD has given command concerning Canaan    to destroy its strongholds.12   And he said:  “You will no more exult,    O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;  arise, cross over to Cyprus,    even there you will have no rest.” 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. 14   Wail, O ships of Tarshish,    for your stronghold is laid waste. 15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days5 of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 16   “Take a harp;    go about the city,    O forgotten prostitute!  Make sweet melody;    sing many songs,    that you may be remembered.” 17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD. Footnotes [1] 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12 [2] 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains [3] 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike [4] 23:13 Or that has become nothing [5] 23:15 Or lifetime (ESV) 1 John 1 (Listen) The Word of Life 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you th