1 00:00:05,605 --> 00:00:06,439 Second Chronicles 2 00:00:06,439 --> 00:00:09,442 36, verses 17 through 23. 3 00:00:09,876 --> 00:00:11,411 Therefore he brought up against them 4 00:00:11,411 --> 00:00:13,013 the king of the Chaldeans, 5 00:00:13,013 --> 00:00:14,914 who killed their young men with a sword 6 00:00:14,914 --> 00:00:16,850 in the house of their sanctuary, 7 00:00:16,850 --> 00:00:18,118 and had no compassion, 8 00:00:18,118 --> 00:00:20,453 a young man or virgin, 9 00:00:20,453 --> 00:00:22,856 old man, or aged. 10 00:00:22,856 --> 00:00:24,858 He gave them all into his hand, 11 00:00:24,858 --> 00:00:27,060 and all the vessels of the house of God 12 00:00:27,060 --> 00:00:28,194 great and small, 13 00:00:28,194 --> 00:00:28,995 and the treasures 14 00:00:28,995 --> 00:00:31,264 of the house of the Lord, 15 00:00:31,264 --> 00:00:32,766 and the treasures of the king, 16 00:00:32,766 --> 00:00:34,501 and of his princes. 17 00:00:34,501 --> 00:00:37,270 All these he brought to Babylon. 18 00:00:37,270 --> 00:00:39,172 And they burned the house of God, 19 00:00:39,172 --> 00:00:41,741 and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, 20 00:00:41,741 --> 00:00:44,577 and burned all its palaces with fire, 21 00:00:44,577 --> 00:00:47,580 and destroyed all its precious vessels. 22 00:00:47,881 --> 00:00:49,749 He took and exile in Babylon 23 00:00:49,749 --> 00:00:52,152 those who had escaped from the sword, 24 00:00:52,152 --> 00:00:54,220 and they became servants to him 25 00:00:54,220 --> 00:00:55,021 and his sons, 26 00:00:55,021 --> 00:00:56,322 until the establishment 27 00:00:56,322 --> 00:00:58,358 of the kingdom of Persia. 28 00:00:58,358 --> 00:01:00,393 To fulfill the word of the Lord 29 00:01:00,393 --> 00:01:02,495 by the mouth of Jeremiah, 30 00:01:02,495 --> 00:01:05,098 until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths 31 00:01:06,166 --> 00:01:07,200 all the days that it 32 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:08,101 laid desolate, 33 00:01:08,101 --> 00:01:11,071 it kept Sabbath to fulfill 70 years. 34 00:01:11,137 --> 00:01:12,872 Now in the first year of Cyrus, 35 00:01:12,872 --> 00:01:14,340 king of Persia, 36 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:15,542 that the word of the Lord 37 00:01:15,542 --> 00:01:16,943 by the mouth of Jeremiah 38 00:01:16,943 --> 00:01:18,545 might be fulfilled. 39 00:01:18,545 --> 00:01:19,612 The Lord stirred up 40 00:01:19,612 --> 00:01:22,382 the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, 41 00:01:22,382 --> 00:01:24,117 so that he made proclamation 42 00:01:24,117 --> 00:01:26,186 throughout all his kingdom. 43 00:01:26,186 --> 00:01:28,388 It also put it in writing. 44 00:01:28,388 --> 00:01:31,224 Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, 45 00:01:31,224 --> 00:01:33,526 the Lord, the God of heaven, 46 00:01:33,526 --> 00:01:34,194 has given me 47 00:01:34,194 --> 00:01:36,296 all the kingdoms of the earth, 48 00:01:36,296 --> 00:01:37,297 and he has charged me 49 00:01:37,297 --> 00:01:40,033 to build him a house at Jerusalem 50 00:01:40,033 --> 00:01:41,868 which is in Judah. 51 00:01:41,868 --> 00:01:44,637 Whoever is among you of all his people, 52 00:01:44,637 --> 00:01:47,440 may the Lord his God be with him. 53 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,443 Let him go up. 54 00:01:53,279 --> 00:01:53,746 Hey, everybody. 55 00:01:53,746 --> 00:01:54,614 Welcome. 56 00:01:54,614 --> 00:01:56,549 Great to have you here at Christ 57 00:01:56,549 --> 00:01:58,785 Community Chapel. Glad that you, 58 00:01:59,853 --> 00:02:01,721 But you guys are the hardy ones. 59 00:02:01,721 --> 00:02:03,690 Good job coming out. 60 00:02:03,690 --> 00:02:05,758 Love that you're here. 61 00:02:05,758 --> 00:02:07,460 This is the second week of advent. 62 00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:10,663 And advent implies anticipation. 63 00:02:11,831 --> 00:02:12,899 Waiting. 64 00:02:12,899 --> 00:02:15,201 And that's why we have this little set 65 00:02:15,201 --> 00:02:18,104 up, like a like a waiting room. 66 00:02:18,104 --> 00:02:19,772 By the way, this was Zach's idea. 67 00:02:19,772 --> 00:02:23,076 He is entering into the realm of props, 68 00:02:23,076 --> 00:02:24,944 which I'm really excited about 69 00:02:24,944 --> 00:02:27,413 because I want to see where this goes. 70 00:02:27,413 --> 00:02:29,482 But we wanted to do it like this 71 00:02:29,482 --> 00:02:31,484 because waiting is hard. 72 00:02:31,484 --> 00:02:32,852 And there are, 73 00:02:32,852 --> 00:02:34,821 different ways of waiting. 74 00:02:34,821 --> 00:02:35,989 Of course. 75 00:02:35,989 --> 00:02:37,891 I mean, it's one thing to wait. 76 00:02:37,891 --> 00:02:38,591 When you know 77 00:02:38,591 --> 00:02:39,759 there's going to be an end 78 00:02:39,759 --> 00:02:41,661 to your waiting, like, 79 00:02:41,661 --> 00:02:42,495 if you're pregnant, 80 00:02:42,495 --> 00:02:45,064 you know that it's going to end 81 00:02:45,064 --> 00:02:46,065 in about nine months. 82 00:02:46,065 --> 00:02:47,634 You might go two weeks, 83 00:02:47,634 --> 00:02:49,769 be two weeks past due date, 84 00:02:49,769 --> 00:02:52,138 which would be a very hard two weeks. 85 00:02:52,138 --> 00:02:54,440 But you're not going to go two years 86 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:55,275 past due date. 87 00:02:56,442 --> 00:02:57,544 It's a different kind of 88 00:02:57,544 --> 00:02:59,712 waiting when you're waiting for, 89 00:02:59,712 --> 00:03:01,548 let's say, a job, 90 00:03:01,548 --> 00:03:02,282 and you're wondering 91 00:03:02,282 --> 00:03:05,685 when and if you will ever get that job. 92 00:03:06,486 --> 00:03:09,489 It's a different kind of waiting. 93 00:03:09,589 --> 00:03:12,592 We chose this, theme 94 00:03:12,692 --> 00:03:15,195 because at Advent, 95 00:03:15,195 --> 00:03:16,496 Christmas, 96 00:03:16,496 --> 00:03:18,798 the entire world was waiting. 97 00:03:18,798 --> 00:03:21,935 And what we now call the first century, 98 00:03:22,902 --> 00:03:24,337 we call it the first century. 99 00:03:24,337 --> 00:03:27,240 Because Jesus finally came. 100 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,876 Jesus was born Emmanuel, God with us. 101 00:03:29,876 --> 00:03:32,879 And we changed the way we keep time 102 00:03:33,179 --> 00:03:34,247 because of Jesus. 103 00:03:34,247 --> 00:03:35,582 But back then, 104 00:03:35,582 --> 00:03:37,650 it wasn't the first century. 105 00:03:37,650 --> 00:03:39,319 It was just another century, 106 00:03:39,319 --> 00:03:40,620 another hundred years 107 00:03:40,620 --> 00:03:43,623 of what seemed like waiting. 108 00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:45,391 This passage 109 00:03:45,391 --> 00:03:46,759 that we're going to look at, 110 00:03:46,759 --> 00:03:49,762 tonight is a very unusual passage 111 00:03:49,829 --> 00:03:51,464 for Christmas series. 112 00:03:51,464 --> 00:03:51,998 I don't know if you're 113 00:03:51,998 --> 00:03:53,433 paying attention. 114 00:03:53,433 --> 00:03:54,601 Well, it was being read. 115 00:03:55,535 --> 00:03:57,003 The reason we chose this 116 00:03:57,003 --> 00:04:00,006 passage is because God loves patterns. 117 00:04:00,807 --> 00:04:02,375 God loves patterns. 118 00:04:02,375 --> 00:04:04,744 And I say that for a couple of reasons. 119 00:04:04,744 --> 00:04:07,747 One is the way that Jesus taught. 120 00:04:08,348 --> 00:04:08,881 When you read 121 00:04:08,881 --> 00:04:09,482 the Gospels, 122 00:04:09,482 --> 00:04:11,351 Jesus is constantly pointing 123 00:04:11,351 --> 00:04:13,086 to different things around him 124 00:04:13,086 --> 00:04:14,020 that show 125 00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:15,421 the pattern of what 126 00:04:15,421 --> 00:04:17,056 he's trying to communicate. 127 00:04:17,056 --> 00:04:18,992 In John chapter 12, 128 00:04:18,992 --> 00:04:19,592 right after 129 00:04:19,592 --> 00:04:22,562 Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey 130 00:04:22,595 --> 00:04:23,896 and what we call the triumphal 131 00:04:23,896 --> 00:04:25,932 entry Palm Sunday. 132 00:04:25,932 --> 00:04:27,634 He knows that by Friday 133 00:04:27,634 --> 00:04:29,802 he'll be hanging on the cross. 134 00:04:29,802 --> 00:04:30,870 He gathers people 135 00:04:30,870 --> 00:04:32,505 and he begins to teach them. 136 00:04:32,505 --> 00:04:33,439 And he says this 137 00:04:33,439 --> 00:04:34,140 unless a grain 138 00:04:34,140 --> 00:04:37,143 of wheat falls in the ground and dies, 139 00:04:37,343 --> 00:04:38,311 it remains alone. 140 00:04:38,311 --> 00:04:41,748 But if it dies, it bears much fruit. 141 00:04:42,849 --> 00:04:44,317 What he was saying is that wheat, 142 00:04:45,451 --> 00:04:48,121 every grain, every seed, 143 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:51,457 is a pattern of death and resurrection 144 00:04:52,158 --> 00:04:54,327 that points to him. 145 00:04:54,327 --> 00:04:55,662 In Luke chapter 15, 146 00:04:55,662 --> 00:04:57,997 when Jesus is trying to describe 147 00:04:57,997 --> 00:05:00,366 to people the heart of God, 148 00:05:00,366 --> 00:05:02,769 he says to them, 149 00:05:02,769 --> 00:05:04,137 listen, 150 00:05:04,137 --> 00:05:05,938 if a shepherd had 100 sheep 151 00:05:05,938 --> 00:05:07,073 and one wandered off, 152 00:05:07,073 --> 00:05:07,407 will he 153 00:05:07,407 --> 00:05:10,576 not leave the 99 and go after the one? 154 00:05:11,344 --> 00:05:12,679 And what Jesus is saying is, 155 00:05:12,679 --> 00:05:14,314 if you want to know the heart of God, 156 00:05:14,314 --> 00:05:14,881 if you want to know 157 00:05:14,881 --> 00:05:17,850 how God feels about you, just look 158 00:05:17,984 --> 00:05:18,718 at a shepherd. 159 00:05:18,718 --> 00:05:20,086 The way a good shepherd 160 00:05:20,086 --> 00:05:23,089 treats his sheep. 161 00:05:23,222 --> 00:05:24,157 You know, 162 00:05:24,157 --> 00:05:26,592 I think about the seasons here 163 00:05:26,592 --> 00:05:27,894 in Northeast Ohio. 164 00:05:27,894 --> 00:05:30,029 We've just been catapulted 165 00:05:30,029 --> 00:05:32,432 into winter, right? 166 00:05:32,432 --> 00:05:33,399 And winter is a time 167 00:05:33,399 --> 00:05:35,101 where everything seems like it dies. 168 00:05:35,101 --> 00:05:37,170 The trees become sticks and the 169 00:05:37,170 --> 00:05:38,504 the grass turns brown 170 00:05:38,504 --> 00:05:41,474 and the flowers all die and go away. 171 00:05:41,474 --> 00:05:43,443 And then in spring, right around 172 00:05:43,443 --> 00:05:46,412 when we will celebrate Easter, 173 00:05:46,412 --> 00:05:47,347 all of Northeast 174 00:05:47,347 --> 00:05:49,982 Ohio will come back to life. 175 00:05:49,982 --> 00:05:50,983 It will resurrect 176 00:05:52,118 --> 00:05:55,021 because God loves patterns. 177 00:05:55,021 --> 00:05:58,324 Second Chronicles 36 is a pattern. 178 00:05:59,192 --> 00:06:01,594 Let me tell you the story, 179 00:06:01,594 --> 00:06:04,497 and then I'll show you the pattern. 180 00:06:04,497 --> 00:06:05,865 In the three points 181 00:06:05,865 --> 00:06:07,934 that I'll have for you. But, 182 00:06:07,934 --> 00:06:08,901 if you have your Bibles, 183 00:06:08,901 --> 00:06:09,202 go ahead and 184 00:06:09,202 --> 00:06:11,137 turn to Second Chronicles 36. 185 00:06:11,137 --> 00:06:12,372 If you don't know where it is, 186 00:06:12,372 --> 00:06:13,906 then, join the crowd. 187 00:06:13,906 --> 00:06:15,842 This is a hard one to find. 188 00:06:15,842 --> 00:06:16,642 If you're going to use, 189 00:06:16,642 --> 00:06:17,810 you can do it the easy way. 190 00:06:17,810 --> 00:06:18,611 You can just wait for it 191 00:06:18,611 --> 00:06:20,179 to come up on the screen. 192 00:06:20,179 --> 00:06:20,880 If you're going to use 193 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:22,215 one of our pew Bibles, 194 00:06:22,215 --> 00:06:25,218 I can tell you it's on page 361. 195 00:06:25,451 --> 00:06:27,153 Page 361. 196 00:06:27,153 --> 00:06:27,320 All right. 197 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:28,921 I'm going to read it for us again. 198 00:06:28,921 --> 00:06:31,023 So it's fresh in your mind, 199 00:06:31,023 --> 00:06:33,059 and then I'll explain the story. 200 00:06:33,059 --> 00:06:34,360 This is what it says 201 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,596 beginning in verse 17. 202 00:06:36,596 --> 00:06:38,731 Therefore, he brought up against them 203 00:06:38,731 --> 00:06:40,767 the king of the Chaldeans, 204 00:06:40,767 --> 00:06:41,968 who killed their young men 205 00:06:41,968 --> 00:06:42,635 with the sword 206 00:06:42,635 --> 00:06:44,771 in the house of their sanctuary. 207 00:06:44,771 --> 00:06:46,172 Had no compassion 208 00:06:46,172 --> 00:06:48,241 on young man or virgin, 209 00:06:48,241 --> 00:06:50,476 old man, or aged. 210 00:06:50,476 --> 00:06:52,078 He gave them all into his hand, 211 00:06:53,312 --> 00:06:53,846 and all the 212 00:06:53,846 --> 00:06:55,648 vessels of the house of God 213 00:06:55,648 --> 00:06:57,350 great and small, 214 00:06:57,350 --> 00:06:58,217 and the treasures 215 00:06:58,217 --> 00:07:00,153 of the house of the Lord, 216 00:07:00,153 --> 00:07:02,121 and the treasures of the king, 217 00:07:02,121 --> 00:07:03,623 and of his princes. 218 00:07:03,623 --> 00:07:06,392 All these he brought to Babylon. 219 00:07:06,392 --> 00:07:07,994 And they burned the house of God, 220 00:07:07,994 --> 00:07:10,797 and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, 221 00:07:10,797 --> 00:07:12,432 and burned all its palaces 222 00:07:12,432 --> 00:07:13,633 with fire, and destroyed 223 00:07:13,633 --> 00:07:16,202 all its precious vessels. 224 00:07:16,202 --> 00:07:17,970 He took him to exile in Babylon. 225 00:07:17,970 --> 00:07:20,640 Those who had escaped from the sword, 226 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,675 and they became servants to him 227 00:07:22,675 --> 00:07:23,576 and to his sons, 228 00:07:23,576 --> 00:07:25,144 until the establishment 229 00:07:25,144 --> 00:07:27,380 of the kingdom of Persia. 230 00:07:27,380 --> 00:07:28,014 To fulfill 231 00:07:28,014 --> 00:07:29,115 the word of the Lord 232 00:07:29,115 --> 00:07:31,083 by the mouth of Jeremiah, 233 00:07:31,083 --> 00:07:34,086 until the land had enjoyed its Sabbath 234 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,456 all the days that it laid desolate, 235 00:07:36,456 --> 00:07:38,891 it kept Sabbath to fulfill 70 years. 236 00:07:39,892 --> 00:07:40,793 Now, in the first year 237 00:07:40,793 --> 00:07:42,829 of Cyrus, king of Persia, 238 00:07:42,829 --> 00:07:43,963 that the word of the Lord 239 00:07:43,963 --> 00:07:45,298 by the mouth of Jeremiah 240 00:07:45,298 --> 00:07:46,232 might be fulfilled. 241 00:07:46,232 --> 00:07:46,999 The Lord 242 00:07:46,999 --> 00:07:48,201 stirred up the spirit 243 00:07:48,201 --> 00:07:50,403 of Cyrus, king of Persia, 244 00:07:50,403 --> 00:07:52,071 so that he made a proclamation 245 00:07:52,071 --> 00:07:53,573 throughout all his kingdom, 246 00:07:53,573 --> 00:07:55,775 and also put it in writing. 247 00:07:55,775 --> 00:07:58,177 Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, 248 00:07:58,177 --> 00:07:59,212 the Lord, 249 00:07:59,212 --> 00:08:01,314 the God of heaven, has given me 250 00:08:01,314 --> 00:08:03,182 all the kingdoms of the earth, 251 00:08:03,182 --> 00:08:04,450 and he has charged me 252 00:08:04,450 --> 00:08:07,053 to build him a house in Jerusalem 253 00:08:07,053 --> 00:08:09,121 which is due in Judah. 254 00:08:09,121 --> 00:08:11,357 Whoever is among you of all his people, 255 00:08:11,357 --> 00:08:13,326 may the Lord his God be with him. 256 00:08:13,326 --> 00:08:16,329 Let him go up. 257 00:08:16,496 --> 00:08:17,930 All right. 258 00:08:17,930 --> 00:08:19,532 So 259 00:08:19,532 --> 00:08:20,867 there's a pattern here. 260 00:08:20,867 --> 00:08:21,601 And, 261 00:08:21,601 --> 00:08:25,071 this passage is a very brief summary 262 00:08:25,071 --> 00:08:27,240 of one of the darkest times 263 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,275 in Israel's history. 264 00:08:29,275 --> 00:08:33,112 And I'm calling, this particular sermon 265 00:08:33,713 --> 00:08:36,282 awaiting in defeat 266 00:08:36,282 --> 00:08:39,285 because Israel was decimated 267 00:08:39,452 --> 00:08:41,187 by Babylon. 268 00:08:41,187 --> 00:08:42,822 And the reason that, 269 00:08:44,023 --> 00:08:46,826 that Israel was decimated 270 00:08:46,826 --> 00:08:48,027 is given in verse 21. 271 00:08:48,027 --> 00:08:49,529 And this is what it says 272 00:08:49,529 --> 00:08:51,063 to fulfill the word of the Lord 273 00:08:51,063 --> 00:08:53,032 by the mouth of Jeremiah, 274 00:08:53,032 --> 00:08:55,701 until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths 275 00:08:55,701 --> 00:08:58,271 all the days that it laid desolate, it 276 00:08:58,271 --> 00:09:00,806 kept Sabbath to fulfill 70 years. 277 00:09:00,806 --> 00:09:03,342 I'll explain that. 278 00:09:03,342 --> 00:09:04,744 So when God brought Israel 279 00:09:04,744 --> 00:09:05,745 into the Promised Land, 280 00:09:05,745 --> 00:09:08,314 he set them up for success. 281 00:09:08,314 --> 00:09:11,317 He wanted, Israel to be, 282 00:09:12,351 --> 00:09:14,820 the the very best place 283 00:09:14,820 --> 00:09:16,422 the world had ever seen. 284 00:09:16,422 --> 00:09:17,857 So he gave them instructions 285 00:09:17,857 --> 00:09:20,726 on how to create such a place. 286 00:09:20,726 --> 00:09:23,162 And the people of Israel, for whatever 287 00:09:23,162 --> 00:09:26,198 reason, decided to treat God's 288 00:09:26,198 --> 00:09:29,235 instructions as God's suggestions. 289 00:09:29,702 --> 00:09:30,903 And I say that, like, 290 00:09:30,903 --> 00:09:33,172 for whatever reason, I know the reason. 291 00:09:33,172 --> 00:09:35,007 It's the same reason that you do it. 292 00:09:35,007 --> 00:09:37,710 It's the same reason that I do it. 293 00:09:37,710 --> 00:09:39,545 I mean, there are certain instructions 294 00:09:39,545 --> 00:09:41,180 that God gives that make sense 295 00:09:41,180 --> 00:09:42,782 and there are certain instructions 296 00:09:42,782 --> 00:09:43,616 that God gives 297 00:09:43,616 --> 00:09:46,619 that don't seem like they make sense. 298 00:09:46,752 --> 00:09:48,487 And for Israel, 299 00:09:48,487 --> 00:09:49,822 one of the instructions 300 00:09:49,822 --> 00:09:52,158 was that every seven years, 301 00:09:52,158 --> 00:09:55,294 God wanted them to let the land rest. 302 00:09:55,895 --> 00:09:58,898 He called it giving the land a Sabbath. 303 00:09:59,332 --> 00:10:02,335 They were to let it lay fallow right. 304 00:10:02,935 --> 00:10:03,402 And that, 305 00:10:03,402 --> 00:10:03,636 you know, 306 00:10:03,636 --> 00:10:06,405 now we know from agricultural sciences, 307 00:10:06,405 --> 00:10:08,274 that's a very good thing to do, 308 00:10:08,274 --> 00:10:10,977 that when land is allowed 309 00:10:10,977 --> 00:10:12,044 to lay fallow, 310 00:10:12,044 --> 00:10:14,246 that the nutrients are replenished 311 00:10:14,246 --> 00:10:15,181 and actually the crops 312 00:10:15,181 --> 00:10:18,050 become more nutritious. 313 00:10:18,050 --> 00:10:21,187 Later years after it has laid fallow. 314 00:10:21,187 --> 00:10:23,923 But they didn't know that at the time. 315 00:10:23,923 --> 00:10:26,792 So it didn't make sense to them. 316 00:10:26,792 --> 00:10:29,061 So they didn't want to do it. 317 00:10:29,061 --> 00:10:31,497 And we still do that. 318 00:10:31,497 --> 00:10:33,666 I just recently read an article. 319 00:10:33,666 --> 00:10:36,302 It's one of many articles I've written. 320 00:10:36,302 --> 00:10:40,072 I've read, from non-religious 321 00:10:40,072 --> 00:10:43,075 sociologists about cohabitation, 322 00:10:43,209 --> 00:10:44,310 because now they're finding 323 00:10:44,310 --> 00:10:46,545 that couples that cohabitate 324 00:10:46,545 --> 00:10:48,347 have a much lower success 325 00:10:48,347 --> 00:10:49,849 rate in marriage 326 00:10:49,849 --> 00:10:52,385 than those who do cohabitate, 327 00:10:52,385 --> 00:10:55,855 because it made popular sense to people 328 00:10:55,855 --> 00:10:58,858 that you you test drive before you buy. 329 00:10:58,858 --> 00:11:00,993 That's was the kind of the terminology. 330 00:11:00,993 --> 00:11:02,528 But now we find out that 331 00:11:02,528 --> 00:11:03,629 God's instructions 332 00:11:03,629 --> 00:11:05,398 really did make sense. 333 00:11:05,398 --> 00:11:07,266 But so we still do it. 334 00:11:08,234 --> 00:11:09,235 But the Israelites had 335 00:11:09,235 --> 00:11:12,238 trouble with the idea of a Sabbath 336 00:11:12,271 --> 00:11:15,107 year, of letting the land lay fallow. 337 00:11:15,107 --> 00:11:16,475 And if they had done that, it 338 00:11:16,475 --> 00:11:17,877 not only would have replenished 339 00:11:17,877 --> 00:11:19,812 the nutrients in the soil, 340 00:11:19,812 --> 00:11:21,380 it also would have reminded them 341 00:11:21,380 --> 00:11:23,349 that the land wasn't theirs. 342 00:11:23,349 --> 00:11:25,718 That land was God's land. 343 00:11:25,718 --> 00:11:28,320 And that's also a hard concept 344 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,756 to really buy into that 345 00:11:30,756 --> 00:11:32,958 my car's not my car. 346 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:35,961 My house is not really my house. 347 00:11:35,961 --> 00:11:37,697 It's God's house. 348 00:11:37,697 --> 00:11:38,731 Can you imagine 349 00:11:38,731 --> 00:11:40,399 having to move out of your house 350 00:11:40,399 --> 00:11:43,202 every seven years just to be reminded 351 00:11:43,202 --> 00:11:44,970 that it's not your house, 352 00:11:44,970 --> 00:11:46,539 it's God's house, 353 00:11:46,539 --> 00:11:48,441 or giving 10% of your paycheck 354 00:11:48,441 --> 00:11:49,642 every paycheck 355 00:11:49,642 --> 00:11:51,510 to remind yourself it's not your money. 356 00:11:51,510 --> 00:11:52,578 It's God's money. 357 00:11:52,578 --> 00:11:54,613 You see, it's still hard 358 00:11:54,613 --> 00:11:57,149 not to take God's instructions 359 00:11:57,149 --> 00:11:59,518 as God's suggestions. 360 00:11:59,518 --> 00:12:01,687 So it didn't make sense to the people 361 00:12:01,687 --> 00:12:03,689 because the land still 362 00:12:03,689 --> 00:12:05,791 could have could produce crops 363 00:12:05,791 --> 00:12:06,392 so that 364 00:12:06,392 --> 00:12:08,160 when the seventh year rolled around, 365 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,563 they went ahead and spread seed 366 00:12:10,563 --> 00:12:11,731 and they wanted to see 367 00:12:11,731 --> 00:12:13,165 maybe if God really 368 00:12:13,165 --> 00:12:15,000 wants the land to rest, 369 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,036 God won't allow it to sprout up. 370 00:12:17,036 --> 00:12:18,037 You know, that's the way we think. 371 00:12:18,037 --> 00:12:19,338 Sometimes we think, 372 00:12:19,338 --> 00:12:19,505 you know, 373 00:12:19,505 --> 00:12:21,073 I know God doesn't want me to do this, 374 00:12:21,073 --> 00:12:22,174 but if he really doesn't 375 00:12:22,174 --> 00:12:23,342 want me to do this, 376 00:12:23,342 --> 00:12:26,112 somehow I won't be able to do it. 377 00:12:26,112 --> 00:12:28,380 And they don't make obedience easy. 378 00:12:28,380 --> 00:12:30,449 But that's not the way it works. 379 00:12:30,449 --> 00:12:31,917 If you want to disobey God, 380 00:12:31,917 --> 00:12:34,920 you can always disobey God. 381 00:12:35,221 --> 00:12:36,722 That's a pattern. 382 00:12:36,722 --> 00:12:37,323 So they go ahead 383 00:12:37,323 --> 00:12:38,958 and throw the seed out, and sure 384 00:12:38,958 --> 00:12:40,559 enough, it begins to sprout 385 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,629 and when it was harvest time, 386 00:12:43,629 --> 00:12:46,632 they went ahead and harvested 387 00:12:46,799 --> 00:12:48,768 that seventh year. 388 00:12:48,768 --> 00:12:49,502 And when they did it, 389 00:12:49,502 --> 00:12:51,303 they probably felt a little bit guilty. 390 00:12:51,303 --> 00:12:52,638 But there were 12% richer. 391 00:12:52,638 --> 00:12:55,508 So they got over their guilt. 392 00:12:55,508 --> 00:12:57,777 And then when the next seven years 393 00:12:57,777 --> 00:13:01,280 rolled around, the next Sabbath year, 394 00:13:02,248 --> 00:13:03,482 they did it again. 395 00:13:03,482 --> 00:13:05,017 Because it's always easier 396 00:13:05,017 --> 00:13:07,319 to sin the second time 397 00:13:07,319 --> 00:13:09,155 than it was the first time. 398 00:13:09,155 --> 00:13:09,889 And it's easier 399 00:13:09,889 --> 00:13:11,557 still the third time 400 00:13:11,557 --> 00:13:13,626 than it was the second time. 401 00:13:13,626 --> 00:13:16,495 And that's the way it went. 402 00:13:16,495 --> 00:13:17,963 And there was another rule 403 00:13:17,963 --> 00:13:19,532 that was even harder for them 404 00:13:19,532 --> 00:13:22,768 that every seventh Sabbath year. 405 00:13:22,902 --> 00:13:26,739 So after 49 years, the 50th year 406 00:13:26,772 --> 00:13:27,640 God said was 407 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:28,774 was what he would call 408 00:13:28,774 --> 00:13:30,543 the year of Jubilee. 409 00:13:30,543 --> 00:13:32,311 In the year of Jubilee, 410 00:13:32,311 --> 00:13:33,879 every debt was canceled, 411 00:13:33,879 --> 00:13:35,447 every slave was set free, 412 00:13:35,447 --> 00:13:36,949 and all the land went back 413 00:13:36,949 --> 00:13:38,651 to the original families 414 00:13:38,651 --> 00:13:40,352 that owned the land. 415 00:13:40,352 --> 00:13:41,453 So in Israel, 416 00:13:41,453 --> 00:13:42,421 if they had followed that, 417 00:13:42,421 --> 00:13:42,955 there would have been 418 00:13:42,955 --> 00:13:45,624 no generational poverty 419 00:13:45,624 --> 00:13:48,127 and no trust fund babies. 420 00:13:48,127 --> 00:13:49,495 Everyone would have had to work 421 00:13:49,495 --> 00:13:50,963 the same amount 422 00:13:50,963 --> 00:13:52,398 like their grandparents 423 00:13:52,398 --> 00:13:53,365 and their parents. 424 00:13:53,365 --> 00:13:54,934 But that really didn't 425 00:13:54,934 --> 00:13:56,202 make sense to them. 426 00:13:56,202 --> 00:13:58,404 So they never did that either. 427 00:13:59,605 --> 00:14:01,140 So what happened with them? 428 00:14:01,140 --> 00:14:02,775 Oh, by the way, the 429 00:14:02,775 --> 00:14:03,642 the year of Jubilee 430 00:14:03,642 --> 00:14:05,077 would have been easier 431 00:14:05,077 --> 00:14:06,812 had they been doing 432 00:14:06,812 --> 00:14:08,280 the Sabbath year 433 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:09,315 every seven years, 434 00:14:09,315 --> 00:14:11,250 because big obedience 435 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:14,286 is always easier after small obedience. 436 00:14:14,820 --> 00:14:16,822 If you ever want to be a person 437 00:14:16,822 --> 00:14:19,124 who is able to obey big, 438 00:14:19,124 --> 00:14:20,960 you have to be a person 439 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,963 that does a lot of small obeying 440 00:14:24,296 --> 00:14:24,630 anyway. 441 00:14:24,630 --> 00:14:25,431 So they decide 442 00:14:25,431 --> 00:14:26,532 they're going to disobey. 443 00:14:26,532 --> 00:14:27,900 They're not going to 444 00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:30,135 trust God and do the Sabbath years. 445 00:14:30,135 --> 00:14:31,103 And they never 446 00:14:31,103 --> 00:14:31,770 they don't do it, 447 00:14:31,770 --> 00:14:33,272 and they don't do it for a long time 448 00:14:33,272 --> 00:14:33,639 in the course. 449 00:14:33,639 --> 00:14:35,341 They never do the year of Jubilee 450 00:14:35,341 --> 00:14:35,941 either. 451 00:14:35,941 --> 00:14:39,111 They don't do it for 490 years, 452 00:14:39,712 --> 00:14:40,980 for that's 453 00:14:40,980 --> 00:14:41,780 almost twice 454 00:14:41,780 --> 00:14:43,849 as long as the United States of America 455 00:14:43,849 --> 00:14:45,251 has existed. 456 00:14:45,251 --> 00:14:48,320 So for 40 or 90 years, 70 Sabbath 457 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,522 years, they skipped. 458 00:14:51,557 --> 00:14:54,059 And that's what verse 21 is about. 459 00:14:54,059 --> 00:14:55,828 Let me read it again and you'll see. 460 00:14:55,828 --> 00:14:57,897 This is what verse 21 says 461 00:14:57,897 --> 00:14:58,530 to fulfill 462 00:14:58,530 --> 00:14:59,798 the word of the Lord 463 00:14:59,798 --> 00:15:01,767 by the mouth of Jeremiah. 464 00:15:01,767 --> 00:15:03,736 Until the land had enjoyed its Sabbath 465 00:15:03,736 --> 00:15:04,303 sake, 466 00:15:04,303 --> 00:15:06,372 God saved up all the Sabbath 467 00:15:06,372 --> 00:15:08,307 they had not done. 468 00:15:08,307 --> 00:15:09,842 And he did it all at once. 469 00:15:09,842 --> 00:15:11,176 All the days that it laid 470 00:15:11,176 --> 00:15:14,179 desolate, it kept Sabbath to fulfill 471 00:15:14,747 --> 00:15:17,016 70 years, 70 years. 472 00:15:17,016 --> 00:15:18,684 So it happened all at once. 473 00:15:18,684 --> 00:15:19,685 And the way it happened 474 00:15:19,685 --> 00:15:21,353 all at once, as they lost 475 00:15:21,353 --> 00:15:22,321 the promised Land, 476 00:15:22,321 --> 00:15:23,055 the way they lost 477 00:15:23,055 --> 00:15:25,724 the Promised Land were the Babylonians. 478 00:15:25,724 --> 00:15:27,226 And that is summarized 479 00:15:27,226 --> 00:15:29,328 very briefly, just four verses, 480 00:15:29,328 --> 00:15:29,929 where it says, 481 00:15:29,929 --> 00:15:31,530 therefore he brought up against them 482 00:15:31,530 --> 00:15:33,399 the king of the Chaldeans, 483 00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:34,533 who killed their young men 484 00:15:34,533 --> 00:15:35,200 with the sword 485 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,036 in the house of their sanctuary, 486 00:15:37,036 --> 00:15:38,070 had no compassion, 487 00:15:38,070 --> 00:15:38,671 and young man 488 00:15:38,671 --> 00:15:40,906 or virgin, old man or aged, 489 00:15:40,906 --> 00:15:42,808 he gave them all into his hand 490 00:15:42,808 --> 00:15:44,643 in all the vessels of the house of God 491 00:15:44,643 --> 00:15:46,412 great and small, and the treasures 492 00:15:46,412 --> 00:15:47,713 of the house of the Lord, 493 00:15:47,713 --> 00:15:49,014 and the treasures of the King 494 00:15:49,014 --> 00:15:50,015 and his princes. 495 00:15:50,015 --> 00:15:51,750 And all these he brought to Babylon. 496 00:15:51,750 --> 00:15:53,152 And they burned the house of God, 497 00:15:53,152 --> 00:15:54,954 broke down the wall of Jerusalem, 498 00:15:54,954 --> 00:15:56,155 burned all his palaces 499 00:15:56,155 --> 00:15:57,189 with fire, and destroyed 500 00:15:57,189 --> 00:15:58,724 all his precious vessels. 501 00:15:58,724 --> 00:16:00,225 He took and exile Babylon. 502 00:16:00,225 --> 00:16:02,194 Those who had escaped from the sword, 503 00:16:02,194 --> 00:16:03,963 and they became servants to him 504 00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:04,897 and to his sons, 505 00:16:04,897 --> 00:16:06,265 until the establishment 506 00:16:06,265 --> 00:16:08,734 of the kingdom of Persia. Okay, 507 00:16:09,868 --> 00:16:11,003 here are my three points. 508 00:16:11,003 --> 00:16:13,038 This is the pattern of God 509 00:16:13,038 --> 00:16:15,641 waiting in defeat. 510 00:16:15,641 --> 00:16:16,842 When? 511 00:16:16,842 --> 00:16:19,845 What? Why? 512 00:16:19,845 --> 00:16:22,848 When it's your fault, you're waiting. 513 00:16:23,315 --> 00:16:26,318 What God does while you're waiting 514 00:16:26,885 --> 00:16:29,288 and why God does it 515 00:16:29,288 --> 00:16:32,291 first when it's your fault, 516 00:16:32,858 --> 00:16:35,027 you are waiting. 517 00:16:35,027 --> 00:16:37,963 You know it's one thing to be waiting, 518 00:16:37,963 --> 00:16:39,164 or to be suffering, 519 00:16:39,164 --> 00:16:41,734 or to have your life rocked 520 00:16:41,734 --> 00:16:42,501 by something 521 00:16:42,501 --> 00:16:45,504 that you didn't really have a hand in. 522 00:16:46,171 --> 00:16:49,141 I talked to a woman three weeks ago 523 00:16:49,475 --> 00:16:51,310 who was just diagnosed with stage 524 00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:52,745 three lung cancer. 525 00:16:52,745 --> 00:16:55,147 She's never smoked. 526 00:16:55,147 --> 00:16:57,383 That's one type of suffering, 527 00:16:57,383 --> 00:16:59,518 and it brings its own questions. 528 00:16:59,518 --> 00:17:00,352 But I always think 529 00:17:00,352 --> 00:17:02,021 with that kind of suffering, 530 00:17:02,021 --> 00:17:03,689 if you're sitting in a waiting room, 531 00:17:03,689 --> 00:17:04,390 it's easy 532 00:17:04,390 --> 00:17:04,990 to imagine 533 00:17:04,990 --> 00:17:07,593 that Jesus can be right next to you. 534 00:17:07,593 --> 00:17:09,194 And you may have questions for Jesus. 535 00:17:09,194 --> 00:17:09,361 Like, 536 00:17:09,361 --> 00:17:09,962 I don't understand 537 00:17:09,962 --> 00:17:11,597 why this is happening, 538 00:17:11,597 --> 00:17:12,931 but will you sit with me? 539 00:17:12,931 --> 00:17:13,999 Will you stay with me? 540 00:17:13,999 --> 00:17:15,067 Will you walk with me? 541 00:17:15,067 --> 00:17:16,902 Will you help me? 542 00:17:16,902 --> 00:17:19,838 Those seem like all reasonable things. 543 00:17:22,374 --> 00:17:25,377 But if your life is a wreck 544 00:17:25,544 --> 00:17:27,780 and it's your fault, 545 00:17:27,780 --> 00:17:30,015 and there's a direct line 546 00:17:30,015 --> 00:17:31,383 with your decisions 547 00:17:31,383 --> 00:17:34,286 and your sin and your disobedience 548 00:17:34,286 --> 00:17:37,289 and the chaos in your life, 549 00:17:37,589 --> 00:17:40,092 it feels different. 550 00:17:40,092 --> 00:17:40,859 It feels like it. 551 00:17:40,859 --> 00:17:43,529 It's harder to go to God. 552 00:17:43,529 --> 00:17:45,397 It's like the difference between 553 00:17:45,397 --> 00:17:47,366 going to a friend for help 554 00:17:47,366 --> 00:17:48,300 when you need it, 555 00:17:48,300 --> 00:17:50,669 and going to a former friend 556 00:17:50,669 --> 00:17:52,171 who you've had a falling out with, 557 00:17:52,171 --> 00:17:53,172 and it was your fault 558 00:17:53,172 --> 00:17:54,540 you had the falling out with them. 559 00:17:54,540 --> 00:17:55,808 You knock on their door, 560 00:17:55,808 --> 00:17:56,375 they open the door 561 00:17:56,375 --> 00:17:58,710 and they say you have some nerve 562 00:17:58,710 --> 00:18:01,713 showing up here. 563 00:18:01,747 --> 00:18:04,750 I have talked to countless people 564 00:18:04,850 --> 00:18:07,953 over the 40 years I've been in ministry 565 00:18:08,454 --> 00:18:10,856 who fall into this category 566 00:18:10,856 --> 00:18:13,025 where there's a direct line 567 00:18:13,025 --> 00:18:16,128 into the destruction and chaos and pain 568 00:18:16,628 --> 00:18:19,731 in their lives and their decisions 569 00:18:20,265 --> 00:18:21,100 and their sin. 570 00:18:22,167 --> 00:18:22,601 And when that 571 00:18:22,601 --> 00:18:23,535 happens that 572 00:18:23,535 --> 00:18:24,870 it's it's easy to think, 573 00:18:24,870 --> 00:18:27,039 it doesn't matter if you try to obey. 574 00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:28,740 Now 575 00:18:28,740 --> 00:18:29,575 and it 576 00:18:29,575 --> 00:18:30,142 there's nothing 577 00:18:30,142 --> 00:18:33,112 you can do to undo the mess 578 00:18:33,112 --> 00:18:35,447 that your life has become. 579 00:18:35,447 --> 00:18:35,948 And God's 580 00:18:35,948 --> 00:18:37,616 not even someone you can turn to 581 00:18:37,616 --> 00:18:38,317 because it seems like 582 00:18:38,317 --> 00:18:40,919 God is not for you, 583 00:18:40,919 --> 00:18:43,188 but he's against you. 584 00:18:43,188 --> 00:18:43,555 And that's 585 00:18:43,555 --> 00:18:46,558 when it's important to know patterns, 586 00:18:47,326 --> 00:18:49,528 to know your Bible, 587 00:18:49,528 --> 00:18:51,997 to be able to see a story 588 00:18:51,997 --> 00:18:55,000 like in Second Chronicles chapter 36 589 00:18:56,001 --> 00:18:57,102 and see the pattern. 590 00:18:57,102 --> 00:19:00,105 Because when it seems like God 591 00:19:00,105 --> 00:19:03,108 is done with you, he's not. 592 00:19:04,109 --> 00:19:07,112 And that brings me to my second point 593 00:19:07,112 --> 00:19:10,115 what God does while you're waiting. 594 00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:12,151 One of the worst things 595 00:19:12,151 --> 00:19:13,819 about being in a waiting room, 596 00:19:13,819 --> 00:19:15,154 I think, is 597 00:19:15,154 --> 00:19:16,922 when you're just waiting for someone 598 00:19:16,922 --> 00:19:19,291 to tell you something, right? 599 00:19:19,291 --> 00:19:20,192 I've been in waiting rooms, 600 00:19:20,192 --> 00:19:22,227 and every time the door opens where 601 00:19:22,227 --> 00:19:24,029 whatever's happening is back there 602 00:19:24,029 --> 00:19:25,063 and the doctors are all back 603 00:19:25,063 --> 00:19:26,131 there, I'm looking to see 604 00:19:26,131 --> 00:19:27,366 maybe they're going to come over to me 605 00:19:27,366 --> 00:19:28,934 and give me an update. 606 00:19:28,934 --> 00:19:30,235 Maybe this will be the time 607 00:19:30,235 --> 00:19:31,470 I'll get some information. 608 00:19:33,205 --> 00:19:33,705 But it's 609 00:19:33,705 --> 00:19:35,073 different 610 00:19:35,073 --> 00:19:37,042 when you're waiting in defeat. 611 00:19:37,042 --> 00:19:39,077 It was different for the Israelites. 612 00:19:39,077 --> 00:19:39,511 It's different 613 00:19:39,511 --> 00:19:40,245 when you feel like 614 00:19:40,245 --> 00:19:41,513 you've already 615 00:19:41,513 --> 00:19:44,449 gotten the news that you dreaded. 616 00:19:44,449 --> 00:19:45,384 It's already happened. 617 00:19:45,384 --> 00:19:47,286 You're not in a waiting room anymore. 618 00:19:47,286 --> 00:19:50,088 You're in rubble of your life. 619 00:19:50,088 --> 00:19:51,690 But this is important. 620 00:19:51,690 --> 00:19:54,526 Don't miss this. 621 00:19:54,526 --> 00:19:55,827 When it comes to God, 622 00:19:55,827 --> 00:19:58,931 you are always in the waiting room. 623 00:19:59,531 --> 00:20:00,599 You're not in trouble. 624 00:20:00,599 --> 00:20:01,800 God never leaves you 625 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,403 in complete defeat. 626 00:20:04,403 --> 00:20:05,270 Right? 627 00:20:05,270 --> 00:20:06,171 And I say that 628 00:20:06,171 --> 00:20:08,073 because of what happens here 629 00:20:08,073 --> 00:20:08,941 in Second Chronicles 630 00:20:08,941 --> 00:20:10,042 36, in this 631 00:20:10,042 --> 00:20:12,244 dark time in Israel's history, 632 00:20:12,244 --> 00:20:13,378 when they think God 633 00:20:13,378 --> 00:20:16,114 has completely given up on them 634 00:20:16,114 --> 00:20:18,250 and it's their own fault 635 00:20:18,250 --> 00:20:21,386 that God is at that moment moving 636 00:20:21,386 --> 00:20:23,422 kings and kingdoms 637 00:20:23,422 --> 00:20:26,425 like there's so many chess pieces. 638 00:20:26,458 --> 00:20:27,893 Nebuchadnezzar, 639 00:20:27,893 --> 00:20:29,328 the king of Babylon 640 00:20:29,328 --> 00:20:32,097 who destroys Israel, he dies and he 641 00:20:32,097 --> 00:20:33,465 he leaves the kingdom, 642 00:20:33,465 --> 00:20:34,499 the kingdom of Babylon, 643 00:20:34,499 --> 00:20:36,501 to a series of his sons, 644 00:20:36,501 --> 00:20:38,537 the last of which is a son 645 00:20:38,537 --> 00:20:40,272 named Belshazzar. 646 00:20:40,272 --> 00:20:41,940 Belshazzar weakens 647 00:20:41,940 --> 00:20:43,575 the kingdom of Babylon to the point 648 00:20:43,575 --> 00:20:46,578 where Darius the Mede conquers Babylon. 649 00:20:46,578 --> 00:20:46,979 Darius 650 00:20:46,979 --> 00:20:48,347 the Mede is famous 651 00:20:48,347 --> 00:20:50,916 for throwing Daniel in the lion's den. 652 00:20:50,916 --> 00:20:53,952 Daniel gives way, or Darius 653 00:20:53,952 --> 00:20:55,988 the Mede gives way to Cyrus 654 00:20:55,988 --> 00:20:57,689 the Persian, and Cyrus 655 00:20:57,689 --> 00:21:00,058 the Persian wakes up one morning 656 00:21:00,058 --> 00:21:02,794 and says, I know what I'll do. 657 00:21:02,794 --> 00:21:05,230 The God of the universe wants me 658 00:21:05,230 --> 00:21:08,233 to rebuild his house in Jerusalem, 659 00:21:08,634 --> 00:21:10,402 and to tell every Jew, 660 00:21:10,402 --> 00:21:12,571 if you want to go back, 661 00:21:12,571 --> 00:21:14,673 you can go back. 662 00:21:14,673 --> 00:21:17,643 But when I say that God was moving 663 00:21:17,709 --> 00:21:20,712 kingdoms and kings like chess pieces, 664 00:21:20,912 --> 00:21:22,180 what I mean is that 665 00:21:22,180 --> 00:21:25,117 there was no one in all of Israel 666 00:21:25,117 --> 00:21:26,318 who even thought this 667 00:21:26,318 --> 00:21:27,419 was a possibility. 668 00:21:28,420 --> 00:21:31,056 E no one could have ever dreamed 669 00:21:31,056 --> 00:21:34,059 that Cyrus would make this proclamation 670 00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:35,661 in his first year. 671 00:21:35,661 --> 00:21:36,061 There weren't 672 00:21:36,061 --> 00:21:36,561 there weren't 673 00:21:36,561 --> 00:21:38,630 a group of wealthy, 674 00:21:38,630 --> 00:21:41,133 successful Jewish businessmen 675 00:21:41,133 --> 00:21:44,102 who went to Cyrus with the proposal. 676 00:21:44,102 --> 00:21:47,005 They had nothing to offer Cyrus. 677 00:21:47,005 --> 00:21:50,008 They had no cards to play. 678 00:21:50,108 --> 00:21:51,310 And this is the other thing. 679 00:21:51,310 --> 00:21:54,313 When you have run out of cards to play, 680 00:21:54,946 --> 00:21:57,949 God still has a card to play for you. 681 00:21:58,550 --> 00:22:02,487 God always has a card to play for you, 682 00:22:03,121 --> 00:22:06,124 and that's what he does with Cyrus. 683 00:22:06,925 --> 00:22:09,928 But that brings me to the last point, 684 00:22:10,295 --> 00:22:12,931 which is why. 685 00:22:12,931 --> 00:22:15,934 Why does God do what he does? 686 00:22:16,668 --> 00:22:18,103 Hey, 687 00:22:18,103 --> 00:22:20,839 I think it's it's really interesting 688 00:22:20,839 --> 00:22:22,741 how specific look at verse. 689 00:22:22,741 --> 00:22:25,711 This is verse 23. 690 00:22:25,711 --> 00:22:27,446 This is the proclamation that he makes. 691 00:22:27,446 --> 00:22:29,948 Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, 692 00:22:29,948 --> 00:22:30,482 the Lord, 693 00:22:30,482 --> 00:22:32,250 the God of heaven, 694 00:22:32,250 --> 00:22:32,884 has given me 695 00:22:32,884 --> 00:22:34,486 all the kingdoms of the earth, and he's 696 00:22:34,486 --> 00:22:36,788 charged me to build him a house 697 00:22:36,788 --> 00:22:39,725 at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 698 00:22:39,725 --> 00:22:39,991 Okay. 699 00:22:41,593 --> 00:22:42,761 The reason that hits me is, you know, 700 00:22:42,761 --> 00:22:44,529 sometimes it helps me 701 00:22:44,529 --> 00:22:45,597 to try to see 702 00:22:45,597 --> 00:22:46,998 what the Bible doesn't say, 703 00:22:46,998 --> 00:22:50,001 so I can appreciate what it does say. 704 00:22:50,068 --> 00:22:53,572 What Cyrus doesn't say is that, 705 00:22:54,072 --> 00:22:56,942 he he has not developed 706 00:22:56,942 --> 00:22:59,044 a compassion for Israel. 707 00:22:59,044 --> 00:23:00,512 It's not like he met 708 00:23:00,512 --> 00:23:02,314 some Jewish people and he felt bad 709 00:23:02,314 --> 00:23:04,082 they no longer had a country, 710 00:23:04,082 --> 00:23:05,083 so he wanted them 711 00:23:05,083 --> 00:23:06,218 to have their country back. 712 00:23:06,218 --> 00:23:07,652 That's not it. 713 00:23:07,652 --> 00:23:09,488 He wasn't into nation 714 00:23:09,488 --> 00:23:10,822 building like we did 715 00:23:10,822 --> 00:23:11,456 at the end of World 716 00:23:11,456 --> 00:23:14,359 War Two with Japan and Germany. 717 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,396 He didn't send the Jews back with seed 718 00:23:17,396 --> 00:23:18,363 and plows 719 00:23:18,363 --> 00:23:20,732 in order to make it fertile again. 720 00:23:20,732 --> 00:23:23,402 He was very, very specific. 721 00:23:23,402 --> 00:23:23,702 He said, 722 00:23:23,702 --> 00:23:25,971 The God of the universe wants me to do 723 00:23:25,971 --> 00:23:28,940 one thing is to rebuild his house 724 00:23:30,008 --> 00:23:32,244 in Jerusalem. 725 00:23:32,244 --> 00:23:32,878 The house of 726 00:23:32,878 --> 00:23:35,680 God in Jerusalem was called the temple. 727 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:37,516 Solomon built the temple. 728 00:23:37,516 --> 00:23:40,118 Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple. 729 00:23:40,118 --> 00:23:43,155 Cyrus rebuilt the temple. 730 00:23:43,155 --> 00:23:46,291 The temple was the place of sacrifice. 731 00:23:47,492 --> 00:23:48,960 The temple was a place 732 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,930 where you made atonement for your sin. 733 00:23:53,465 --> 00:23:56,468 The temple was a place you went 734 00:23:56,902 --> 00:23:59,905 to come home to God 735 00:23:59,971 --> 00:24:02,941 to be reconciled to him. 736 00:24:03,041 --> 00:24:05,977 That's what the temple was for. 737 00:24:05,977 --> 00:24:08,647 Do you see what God was doing 738 00:24:08,647 --> 00:24:11,650 and why God was doing it? 739 00:24:12,350 --> 00:24:14,252 That Israel, 740 00:24:14,252 --> 00:24:16,721 even though they were waiting 741 00:24:16,721 --> 00:24:19,691 and it was their fault, 742 00:24:19,691 --> 00:24:21,326 even though it was their sin 743 00:24:21,326 --> 00:24:23,929 that had brought judgment. 744 00:24:23,929 --> 00:24:25,063 God was working. 745 00:24:25,063 --> 00:24:27,966 And the reason he was working 746 00:24:27,966 --> 00:24:30,969 was he was inviting them home. 747 00:24:31,336 --> 00:24:34,339 You know, I mentioned Luke chapter 15. 748 00:24:34,773 --> 00:24:37,442 Luke chapter 15 is one of my all time 749 00:24:37,442 --> 00:24:38,944 favorite chapters in the Gospels. 750 00:24:38,944 --> 00:24:40,846 Because Jesus tells three 751 00:24:40,846 --> 00:24:42,714 back to back to back stories. 752 00:24:43,682 --> 00:24:45,617 About the same thing. 753 00:24:45,617 --> 00:24:46,618 There's the story of the lost 754 00:24:46,618 --> 00:24:49,788 sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. 755 00:24:50,822 --> 00:24:52,858 And the point of each story is 756 00:24:52,858 --> 00:24:55,861 God's relentless 757 00:24:55,927 --> 00:24:57,762 love. 758 00:24:57,762 --> 00:24:59,564 For no matter how far 759 00:24:59,564 --> 00:25:01,132 someone is away from, 760 00:25:01,132 --> 00:25:02,434 no matter what decisions 761 00:25:02,434 --> 00:25:04,803 they have made, 762 00:25:04,803 --> 00:25:07,038 God never gives up. 763 00:25:07,038 --> 00:25:09,107 God is always working to provide 764 00:25:09,107 --> 00:25:13,211 a way back home to himself. 765 00:25:14,613 --> 00:25:15,447 I think I 766 00:25:15,447 --> 00:25:16,481 I started by saying 767 00:25:16,481 --> 00:25:19,818 advent is a time when all the world 768 00:25:20,352 --> 00:25:22,988 was waiting, 769 00:25:22,988 --> 00:25:25,924 and whether they realize that or not, 770 00:25:25,924 --> 00:25:27,993 all the world was waiting 771 00:25:27,993 --> 00:25:30,996 for an opportunity to come home to God 772 00:25:31,429 --> 00:25:34,332 because we were all estranged 773 00:25:34,332 --> 00:25:37,502 and God sent Jesus as a way home. 774 00:25:38,503 --> 00:25:40,472 Listen, whoever you are, 775 00:25:40,472 --> 00:25:43,608 wherever you are, whatever your life is 776 00:25:43,608 --> 00:25:45,610 like and whatever reason 777 00:25:45,610 --> 00:25:47,012 your life is like that, 778 00:25:48,313 --> 00:25:49,981 the invitation from God is 779 00:25:49,981 --> 00:25:53,318 the same because Jesus is the same, 780 00:25:54,452 --> 00:25:57,956 and Jesus is God's way of saying, 781 00:25:58,823 --> 00:26:01,760 you come home 782 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,295 and be connected to me again. 783 00:26:03,295 --> 00:26:05,830 Be reconciled, be forgiven 784 00:26:05,830 --> 00:26:08,600 through my Son Jesus. 785 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,503 That's advent, that's Christmas. 786 00:26:11,503 --> 00:26:14,506 Would you pray with me? 787 00:26:14,539 --> 00:26:15,974 Father in heaven, 788 00:26:15,974 --> 00:26:18,443 thank you for, your grace, 789 00:26:18,443 --> 00:26:21,446 which is so, so great. 790 00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:24,215 And, 791 00:26:24,215 --> 00:26:25,216 when I was preparing 792 00:26:25,216 --> 00:26:26,451 for this message, 793 00:26:26,451 --> 00:26:29,287 I know there are so many times that, 794 00:26:29,287 --> 00:26:30,689 my life has been messed up 795 00:26:30,689 --> 00:26:33,191 and it's been my fault, 796 00:26:33,191 --> 00:26:36,194 but you have never given up. 797 00:26:36,628 --> 00:26:39,331 And I'm so grateful for that. 798 00:26:39,331 --> 00:26:42,300 I pray for, all of us here 799 00:26:42,367 --> 00:26:43,001 that you would, 800 00:26:43,001 --> 00:26:45,170 give us a heart to obey, 801 00:26:45,170 --> 00:26:46,471 that we wouldn't, 802 00:26:46,471 --> 00:26:47,405 take your instructions, 803 00:26:47,405 --> 00:26:50,442 like, suggestions and ignore them. 804 00:26:52,110 --> 00:26:55,013 But I also pray that when we do that, 805 00:26:55,013 --> 00:26:56,581 we be reminded that you're a 806 00:26:56,581 --> 00:26:58,016 God who loves patterns. 807 00:26:59,217 --> 00:26:59,517 And your 808 00:26:59,517 --> 00:27:00,185 pattern is to 809 00:27:00,185 --> 00:27:03,188 provide a way back to yourself 810 00:27:03,421 --> 00:27:05,457 because of your love. 811 00:27:05,457 --> 00:27:06,925 Thanks for Jesus. 812 00:27:06,925 --> 00:27:09,361 We pray this in his name. Amen.