WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.680 You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.440 couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in 3 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:13.519 practical ways. So we are back. I'm in the studio 4 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.559 with Wesley Woods, and since Chris isn't here, Wesley's gonna 5 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:17.679 sing good morning to. 6 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:21.960 Us, good morning, goodnight. I can't do it like this. 7 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.120 Hey, that's how we need to rate there, Chris. Chris 8 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:27.879 loves to sink good morning, and I feel like people 9 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:30.879 are going to be grieving over not having that one part. 10 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:36.039 So that's fantastic, Wesley, thank you so much for that. Well. Hey, uh, 11 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:39.159 we are in Ezra chapter nine, and this one hits 12 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:43.520 hard because the temple is humming along, the sacrifices have 13 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.000 been you know, and the worship is brought back. But 14 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:49.880 now Ezra is devastated because in just such a short time, 15 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.159 the people have begun to allow compromise to creep into 16 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:57.759 their lives. And so you see Ezra, he's he doesn't 17 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.520 blow up, he just kind of breaks down before and 18 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:03.280 just yeah, he gets really honest. And so it's not 19 00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:06.560 about legalism, it's about purity and holiness, and so that's 20 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.480 what this chapter is all about. But before we jump 21 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:14.280 into that. Uh, the we have a special segment okay, 22 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:16.480 and it's mail Bags. Did you know Mailbags has its 23 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:20.719 own theme song. Yeah, it's mail Bags. That's the same song. 24 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:24.400 So here's what it is, Wesley, and this is for you. 25 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:28.840 It's from Alisha p Okay. So, Alisha, thank you for 26 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:32.239 sending this into us. If you have a question or 27 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:34.879 a comment or something like that, so you can send 28 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:38.640 an email to info at the Bible guides dot com. Yeah, 29 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.439 and Desiree goes through all those for us and she'd 30 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.959 be able to help us out. But Alicia p asks 31 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.480 if you had to give a Ted talk was zero prep? 32 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:53.000 What would it be about? Oh, so that's a good 33 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:54.719 one here. I like Ted talk. Do you like that talk? 34 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.560 Yeah? So it should probably be about something biblical. 35 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:00.560 Yeah, if I. 36 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:03.560 Had to give one, it's gonna be a brickoven pizza 37 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:08.599 or waffles and some kind of guy was in some 38 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.919 kind of way. There's gonna be like a like a 39 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.199 life revelation in that like some kind of way. But ye, 40 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:16.960 brick oven pizza or waffles. 41 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:19.520 Because you are a world class expert on. 42 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:21.479 It's got to be a brick oven. I'm a brick 43 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:22.159 oven snob. 44 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:23.560 Do you have a brick oven at home? 45 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:24.319 I do not. 46 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:26.280 You don't. Do you do any cooking? Do you do 47 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:27.759 a little cooking or so? 48 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:30.759 When I was younger, I used to make pizzas all 49 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:34.080 the time. But now that I've had like brick oven, 50 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:36.120 there's not like. If I'm going to do it, it's 51 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:38.919 going to be a full fledged brick oven, you know. 52 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:40.120 In the backyard I. 53 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.800 Am am working on and maybe next summer I want 54 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:47.879 to build an outdoor kitchen. I cook all the time. 55 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.960 I love it, and especially the outdoor stuff, so the 56 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.800 built in griddle, the built in grills and smokers. But 57 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:56.159 one of the things I want to do is a 58 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:56.759 brick oven. 59 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:57.039 Yeah. 60 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.680 No, I like making pizzas too. I'll make pizzas on 61 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:01.599 my grip now and those are really good. But brick 62 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:02.400 of in his next level? 63 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.599 Yeah, okay, a couple of minutes. Spin it around. 64 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:06.680 So for our listeners who don't know what a TED 65 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:12.039 talk is usually so TED is a platform where they 66 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.719 will host conferences, especially for leadership people or forward thinkers mostly, 67 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.759 and they'll bring in cutting edge, forward thinking people to 68 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.759 give like a fifteen minute talk. They're world class experts 69 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.159 often and they have to distill all this down to 70 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.319 a fifteen minute talk, and usually they have this really punchy, 71 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.199 powerful delivery. It's really great. Right, there's kind of a 72 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:35.680 formula to the Ted talk thing. I love it. If 73 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.199 and so I like to I have the Ted app 74 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.280 on my phone and if I have some free time 75 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:42.840 or whatever, I'll filter through and find something that looks interesting, 76 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.120 and you know, it helps expand your mind, kind of 77 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:48.080 that Renaissance man kind of an idea of knowing a 78 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:50.199 little bit about a lot of things. Yeah, just value 79 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:51.439 and that and that's what you get. 80 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:53.400 Yeah right, Yeah, I love those Ted talks. 81 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:55.840 Yeah, yeah, man alive. What would I do? What would 82 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:57.240 I do for a Ted talk if I didn't have 83 00:03:57.319 --> 00:03:59.520 any prep? If I didn't have any prep, it might 84 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:05.680 be uh the idea of disciples making disciples. Look so 85 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:07.120 Secon tifty two to two. So if I was going 86 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.280 to do a Bible one, yeah, I'd probably do something 87 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:11.800 like that. Or the purposes of the Church. I think 88 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:14.000 you do those two things together, yep, you know, worship 89 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:14.599 and evangelism. 90 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:16.839 You can keep it tighter in like fifteen minutes. 91 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.079 Yeah, yeah, the five purposes, I think you do those two. 92 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:22.680 If it was just a normal, you know, casual thing. 93 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:26.160 I probably would talk something about travel, the power of 94 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:29.720 international travel. I would have thought hunting, Yeah yeah, hunting, hunting, 95 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:31.680 yeah yeah, yeah yeah, So those are those be my 96 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:32.360 my things. 97 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:32.959 So that's good. 98 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:37.399 That was a really good question. So thank you for that. 99 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:40.000 And it wasn't too brutally difficult. Sometimes these things are hard, 100 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:41.879 but that one was zero prep. 101 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:44.279 Yeah. I could talk pizza all day. Yeah. 102 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:46.480 Yeah, Well the zero prep things means you have to 103 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.560 be an expert in your field at that. Yeah, you 104 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:49.839 are world class pizza guy. 105 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:52.319 Yeah. We found a new place, did you really in 106 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:53.600 Birmingham on the forward? 107 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:53.879 Yeah? 108 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:55.240 Yeah, brand new place. 109 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.079 All right, well that sounds like you need to take 110 00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:01.600 me there. Yeah, talking about out, I don't know a 111 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:03.399 new place. There's a new temple in Jerusalem. 112 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:06.240 Yeah, there you go. 113 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.279 So we're always trying to figure out the worst possible 114 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:12.480 transition into out of the second the opening segment into 115 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:15.639 these passages we're reading. But uh, there is a new 116 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:19.759 temple in Jerusalem, and there's this crisis that Ezra sies 117 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:23.399 because the people, as it as is the habit of 118 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.480 almost all people. You have these amazing moments where God 119 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:28.560 does it an amazing thing, and then we kind of 120 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.199 will slip back into our old habits, yep. And so 121 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.920 the worship is back in all those things. But Ezra 122 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.959 gets this gut punch because the people are already compromising, 123 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.959 and what's happening is they're marrying into pagan nations and 124 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.680 they're dragging their leaders down with them. So it says 125 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.439 this after the temple was built, and it spells all 126 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:52.279 that out in chapter seven and eight. In chapter eight 127 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:55.600 and verse nine says, when these things had been done, 128 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:58.279 the Jewish leaders came to me and said, many of 129 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:00.600 the people of Israel, even some of the priests and Levites, 130 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.439 have not kept themselves separate from the other people living 131 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:06.480 in a land. They've taken up the detestable practices of 132 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:10.439 the Canaanites and Hittites, and Parasites, and Jebuzites, and Ammonites 133 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.639 and Moabites and Egyptians and Amorites. For the men of 134 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.680 Israel have married women from these people and have taken 135 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.199 them as wives for their sons. So the Holy race 136 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:21.319 has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the 137 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:25.079 leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage. 138 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:27.560 When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, 139 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:29.680 pulled my hair from my head and beard, and sat 140 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:33.160 down utterly shocked. Then all who trembled at the words 141 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:35.399 of the God of Israel came and sat with me 142 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:39.319 because this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I 143 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:43.079 sat there utterly appalled, until the time of the evening sacrifice. 144 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.040 At the time the sacrifice, I stood up from where 145 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.560 I had sat in the morning, in morning, with my 146 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.160 clothes torn, and I fell to my knees and lifted 147 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:52.720 my hands to the Lord, my God, and I prayed, Oh, 148 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:55.959 my God, I am utterly ashamed. I blushed to lift 149 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.319 up my face to you, For our sins are piled 150 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:00.240 higher than our heads, and our guilt as real to 151 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.839 the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, 152 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.720 we've been steeped in sin. That is why we and 153 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:07.800 our kings and our priests have been at the mercy 154 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.319 of the pagan kings of the land. We've been killed 155 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:13.319 and captured and robbed and disgraced, just as we are today. 156 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.959 But now we've been given a brief moment of grace, 157 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:18.560 for the Lord, our God, has allowed a few of 158 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:21.319 us to survive as a remnant. He's given us security 159 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.879 in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes 160 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:27.199 and granted us some relief from our slavery. For we were slaves. 161 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.120 But in his unfailing love, our God did not abandon 162 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.399 us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of 163 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.160 Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we 164 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.160 could rebuild the temple of our God and repair its ruins. 165 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.480 And he's given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. 166 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:45.639 And now, oh, our God, what can we say after 167 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.399 all of this? For once again we've abandoned your commands, 168 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:54.120 your servants. The prophets warned us, your servants. The prophets 169 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:56.680 warned us when they said, the land you are entering 170 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:59.519 to possess is totally defiled by the detestable practices of 171 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.360 the people there. From one end to the other, the 172 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:05.720 land is filled with corruption. Don't let your daughters marry 173 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:09.240 your sons. Don't take their daughters as wives for your sons. 174 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.000 Don't ever promote the peace and prosperity of those nations. 175 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.439 If you follow these instructions, you will be strong and 176 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:17.519 will enjoy the good things The land produces, and you 177 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.759 will leave this prosperity to your children forever. Now we 178 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.399 are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt, 179 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.000 but we have actually been punished far less than we deserve. 180 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.279 For you, our God, have allowed some of us to 181 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:31.480 survive as a remnant. But even so we are again 182 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.039 breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these 183 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:37.320 detestable things. Won't your anger be enough to destroy us 184 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:40.960 so that even this little remnant no longer survives. Oh Lord, 185 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:44.039 God of Israel, you are just we come before you 186 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:47.159 and our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant. Though 187 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.080 in such a condition none of us can stand in 188 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:54.200 your presence. Wow. Yeah, is that where I end? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, 189 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:55.000 that's read the old chapter. 190 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:58.639 Yeah. What jumps out to me is a couple of verses. 191 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:01.919 But verse thirteen. Now we're being punished because of our 192 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.120 wickedness and our great guilt. So we kind of got 193 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:09.720 that picture, but we have actually been punished far less 194 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:12.960 than we deserve. For you, our God, have allowed some 195 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.120 of us to survive as a remnant. So even though 196 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:20.200 they did wrong, God didn't. Earlier up in the verse, 197 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.159 it talks about how God didn't abandon them in verse nine. 198 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.120 So the fact that they messed up but God still 199 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:28.519 preserves some of them. 200 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.000 You know, there's something to that. The humility of saying, hey, 201 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.720 we're in a rough situation, but you're still good to 202 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:38.879 us because you could be punishing us and we deserve it. 203 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:42.799 There's a tremendous amount of humility in that. Yeah, yeah, 204 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:45.559 I love that. Well, it's heartbreaking. Let's deal with this 205 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.399 because it's kind of surprising. It sounds like this is 206 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:52.679 a racial issue, right, but it's not a racial issue. 207 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:58.480 It's not about ethnicity. It's not about race. It's about idolatry. Yeah, right, 208 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:07.159 So it's about the behaviors. Remember it says it says 209 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:12.799 in verse what was it two, maybe one have not 210 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.120 kept themselves separate from the other peoples. They've taken up 211 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:18.720 the detestable practices of the Canaanites and Hittites. And then 212 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:20.320 it said the reason they did is because they married. 213 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:22.840 So this is one of the reasons why we always 214 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.240 caution young people. The Bible says, don't be unequally yoked, 215 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.639 you know with unbelievers. We're not supposed to marry unbelievers. 216 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.000 And it's not that God hates them and loves us. Right, 217 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.240 that's not it. It's not some kind of a racial 218 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:36.639 or social thing. It's that God says, listen, when you marry, 219 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:38.720 you wind up wanting to please the one you marry, 220 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:42.200 and so then you start making compromises. It's not one 221 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:45.840 person making choices, it's two. And so compromises are are 222 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.879 very important in a marriage. And what happens is oftentimes 223 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:53.360 you begin compromising your beliefs and your morals when you 224 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.440 have somebody who has different beliefs in different morals, and 225 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:58.799 they're not centered on God and on God's things and 226 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.039 on God's laws. So what's going to happen is you're 227 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:03.399 going to compromise down to their level. Rarely do they 228 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.879 ever come up to God's level. And so in this situation, 229 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:13.000 that's what's happening. Is the marriages wound up causing the compromise. 230 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:15.799 But God was mad about the compromise. He had warned 231 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.240 them don't marry. But it was because he was afraid 232 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:20.240 they would take up all the detestable acts. And let's 233 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.480 be honest, the Canaanites were known for sacrificing children, right, 234 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:27.960 some of them. It was sexual practices in the temples 235 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:30.720 of their worship, of worshiping their gods. Right, it was 236 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:36.320 temple prostitution. You had really crazy, detestable. 237 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.440 Acts worshiping other gods, and. 238 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.080 Yes, and God said, these are detestable to me, But 239 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:44.039 if you wind up worshiping, if you wind up marrying them, 240 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.960 you're going to wind up worshiping their gods. And that's 241 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:49.000 what happened. And as a foum, So it wasn't about ethnicity, 242 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.000 it was about loyalty to God. They weren't just blending families. 243 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.759 They were blending their religious systems and their gods. And 244 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.360 that God will not share with other gods. 245 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:00.360 Yeah. Right, So this brings up an interesting point, Jeff, 246 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:06.039 So can you blend? Can you walk on both sides 247 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.960 of the fence? No, is what I'm getting at? 248 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:10.200 Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. 249 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.240 Now, now what if you're eighty percent on one side 250 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:15.759 of the fence and just twenty on the other side, 251 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.000 so I'm mostly on this side. 252 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:19.919 Well, what you're asking, what you're asking God to do 253 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.759 is share his throne. Yeah, God, I'm going to give 254 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:24.120 you eighty percent of the throne and then I'm going 255 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:28.320 to give this other god money. Yeah. Work, you know, 256 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.720 my partner, whatever, I'm going to give them twenty percent 257 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.279 of the throne. So spit over over yeah, and just 258 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:37.679 a little room ye yeah, exactly to deal. Here's he's 259 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.159 all God or not the God in your life, right, 260 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:42.639 and that that's that's the big one. Yes, I think 261 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.240 it's it's a difficult thing. So if sometimes in people say, well, 262 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:49.000 I'm in a blended marriage, you know, Paul says, if 263 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.039 you find yourself in a blended marriage the first Corinthian seven, 264 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:55.360 he said, stay that way because maybe your walk with God, 265 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:59.360 maybe your gentle Peter says, maybe your gentle spirit, maybe 266 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:01.879 the change God's doing, and you will win over your spouse. 267 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:05.159 So God doesn't say leave the relationship you're in, but 268 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:07.200 God does say don't get into one if you're not 269 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:11.000 in one now. And most of my friends I know 270 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:13.639 that are in a blended marriage. Maybe they became Christians 271 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.559 after they got married or whatever. Most of them say, boy, 272 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:20.200 it's difficult because our values aren't exactly the same. I 273 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:21.080 love my spouse. 274 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:24.720 And when you say blended as in Christian and non. 275 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.519 Christian, non Christian, yeah, yeah, I love my spouse, but 276 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:32.279 our values aren't the same. And so there's a struggle 277 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:36.759 there sometimes in difficulty. So be humble, be gentle. You 278 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:39.399 don't have to preach, let your life preach. 279 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.679 Not yet. That's a good point versus like, don't beat 280 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.360 them over the head with the Bible, but just let 281 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:49.039 your light and the God in you. The more you 282 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:50.480 see to transform. 283 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.399 You should come like Jesus. The more they're going to notice. 284 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.600 So there's that. So then the other thing I love 285 00:13:55.639 --> 00:14:01.720 about this is Ezra's response is grief, not rage. Ezra 286 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.679 doesn't go blame the people, Shame on you, You're ruining everything 287 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:08.879 I'm trying to create. Right, he doesn't do that. He 288 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:10.840 takes responsibility as a leader. 289 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:13.799 And he doesn't blame God, which sometimes happens. 290 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:15.960 We were in a meeting recently with some of our 291 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:19.440 top leaders and there's some things we need volunteers to 292 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:24.279 start focusing on. And it's been a mild frustration for 293 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.480 a while. We've talked about it a little bit among 294 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:30.120 our leaders, but we haven't really built a good system 295 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.679 to fix it. And so at the beginning in this 296 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:35.759 meeting there was some say, ah, well, they just won't 297 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:38.039 do it. And I spoke up and I said, I 298 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:40.919 don't think we should blame it on our followers. We 299 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.360 have not yet led them effectively in that area need 300 00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:47.440 them to do. So let us take responsibility to create 301 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:51.120 the systems to effectively lead our people. So instead of blaming, 302 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.879 we accept responsibility. And it's kind of the same thing. 303 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.120 This is what he said. He comes with grief, and 304 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:00.000 he comes with repentance on behalf of the people than 305 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.240 and blaming him. God, I want you to know I'm 306 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:04.519 a good guy, but these idiots are doing the wrong thing. 307 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:07.960 As he said, he comes and says, God, we don't collectively, 308 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.879 we don't deserve your blessing. And I love that real 309 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:15.399 leaders don't just yell about sin. They own it and 310 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.919 they weep over it, and they lead repentance from the front. 311 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.480 Yeah, and I like the verbit he used. And I 312 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.120 like the fact that he's just open and blunt. He says, 313 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.879 for our sins are piled higher than our his. 314 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:30.919 So he doesn't even try to drowning. You're drowning in 315 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:31.559 our say, He. 316 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.799 Doesn't even try to sugarcoat it, like God, we messed 317 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.519 up a God, we are just a train wreck. It's 318 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:37.279 essentially what. 319 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.480 He says, right, And I think this is what repentance 320 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:44.559 really looks. Like, so we talk sometimes about this. God 321 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.159 is not about the guilt. God is about you seeing 322 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:50.759 your sin like he sees your sin. Yeah, right, Yeah, 323 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:53.399 that's what we want. So it's not like, oh, I'm 324 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:55.639 a horrible human and I don't deserve to live kind 325 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:58.960 of thing. It's it's it's agreeing with God. What I've 326 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:03.080 done is is is not right. And my sins pile 327 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:04.919 up over my head. I'm drowning in them without you. 328 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.840 That's really what he's saying there. And he's not making excuses, 329 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.159 he's not making comparisons. Well at least I'm not as 330 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:14.399 bad as so and so. Right, He's just really being 331 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:18.720 honest before a holy God. And when you get honest 332 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:20.960 about your sin, what you're saying is, my desire is 333 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.360 to be holy like your holy God says, be holy 334 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.200 even as I am holy. Right, And so when we 335 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.840 start to be honest about our sin, like Ezra is 336 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:33.039 Ezra saying, listen, my behavior sometimes or the behavior my people, 337 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.720 has not lived up to our desire, our desires. We 338 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.440 want to be holy like your holy We want to 339 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.120 do what you would do. We want to follow you, 340 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:45.960 but our behavior has not. So we change our mind 341 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.440 about our behavior. That's repentance. I change my mind. What 342 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:50.519 I was doing is wrong, and I want to come 343 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:54.080 back to your way. And when he does that, God 344 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:56.200 gives grace. Yeah. 345 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.759 Yeah, I love that fact that how we can turn 346 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:02.399 from our ways. We can repent, which just means to 347 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:05.720 turn one hundred and eighty degrees from where you were 348 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.839 just going. We can repent and it doesn't matter what 349 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.000 we've done that God will still forgive. God will still 350 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:14.960 welcome us back. There's no such thing as the sin 351 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.759 that God won't forgive. Well, I've been to jail. Well, 352 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.039 God can forgive you. Well I told a lie. Well 353 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.359 God can forgive you for that. Well I'm messed up here. 354 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:27.160 He can still forgive you. Don't let the sin keep 355 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:31.599 you from running back to God in embarrassment or shame. Yeah, 356 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.160 he was ashamed and was it actually says that in 357 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.039 verse Oh my God, I am utterly ashamed. But he 358 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:42.319 didn't let that stop him from running to God in 359 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:43.359 the midst of the issue. 360 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:48.359 Well, I think when he has this understanding that hey, 361 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.519 you could have punished this way worse. Yeah, right, boy. 362 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:54.680 A lot of us we get grumpy, we get bitter 363 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.759 when we feel God's heavy hand on us. Yeah, right, 364 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:01.440 and we blame him, he's just being me us whatever. 365 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.039 And Ezra saw it the other way. Hey, the exile 366 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:06.839 could have been the end of us. You didn't have 367 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:08.880 to give us back our land. Yeah, you didn't have 368 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:11.359 to restore a remnant back to Jerusalem. It could have 369 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.839 been way worse. And when he began to realize it 370 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.240 could have been way worse, I think that gave him 371 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:19.720 the confidence that God's shown mercy. So even though I'm 372 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:22.920 ashamed of my sin, God's already extended mercy, so I 373 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:25.519 can complete on that mercy and come back and ask 374 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:29.839 for God's grace again. There and so he's acknowledging, Hey, 375 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.680 God opened the door for us to return back. And 376 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:37.240 what we did we brought mud back in. We tracked 377 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:39.279 the mud back in through the door again. Why why 378 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.000 do we keep doing this? 379 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:41.039 Right? And he's worried. 380 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:43.200 Are we not going to learn from our past? He 381 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.039 literally says, he ends it, Shall we break your commands again? Right? 382 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.440 Is this what we're gonna do? We're just gonna keep 383 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:50.960 breaking commands. God, I don't want to just keep repeating 384 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:53.920 these patterns over and over and over again. Help us, 385 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:55.920 help us move past these bad patterns. 386 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.359 Yeah, it reminds me of that. The video with the 387 00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:01.279 sheet that stuck in the ditch. The guy gets the 388 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.079 sheep out of the ditch, he trots along and then 389 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:05.880 jumps right back in the ditch again. 390 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.240 Yeah, we played that video during we did the financial 391 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.039 deth of it. And there's this video of this this sheep, 392 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.119 he's running down the side of this ditch and then 393 00:19:14.119 --> 00:19:15.880 he just jumps like he's gonna jump over the ditch. 394 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:17.599 He's too fat, and he lands and gets stuck in 395 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:19.759 the ditch. And so this farmer goes down. He gets 396 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:22.400 in this water and his mud, and he just worked 397 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:24.319 so hard. He lifts that sheep right out of the 398 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.079 ditch and the ditch runs about. The sheep runs about 399 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:28.720 five or six more steps down the thing. It falls 400 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:29.519 right back in the ditch. 401 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.240