AI and Joshua 3

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone. It is Friday, January the twenty fourth, twenty twenty five. It is currently ten twelve am Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. So question, all right, Yesterday we talked about hard questions, right, we talked about difficult questions. This one is a pretty simple question. All right. If you were getting ready to listen to a sermon on Joshua chapter three. Let's say that this coming Sunday, you're going to church and you've been told your pastor is going to be preaching on Joshua chapter three. Or you sat down, you opened up the sermon's two point oh app and you're like, oh, here's a sermon on Joshua chapter three. If you were to take a piece of paper and a pencil and write down five possible ways in which the pastor is going to missupply, mishandle misinterpret Joshua chapter three, what five things would you write down?

1:22 What would be five ways you. Think a pastor may misinterpret, misapply, mishandle Joshua Chapter three. What would they be go? Right? Now? If I was like at church and I had a live audience, I probably would literally just say okay, no, write them down. Then we would go around and see everyone's predictions. Then I would then talk about a particular sermon or if I could, I would I would play it for everyone and see if if their predictions were accurate. Well, I want you to make your predictions, Joshua, chap to three. How do you think of pastor may misapply, misinterpret, mishandle Joshua Chapter three. I mean it's a pretty simple, straightforward chapter by all means open your Bible and look if you don't know what's there, right, if you want, I'll just I've got a Bible open right here. I'll just give you the kind of little section headings right preparing to cross the Jordan the art passes before Israel passage over Jordan.

2:29 That seems pretty I mean, how can you mess that up? Right? I mean, how can you mess this up? It's pretty simple, it's pretty straightforward. Using the artificial intelligence for the Bible memory app it tells me this. Joshua Chapter three, Verse one introduces a pivotal moment in the history of Israel, as they prepare to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. This verse sets the stage for God's miraculous intervention and the exercise of faith by the israel Lites. So let me let's look for some clues there. Joshua three to one introduces a pivotal moment in the history of Come on, say it with me, class Israel as they who is that they? Israel prepares to cross the Jordan River that's an actual physical river into the Promised land, actual physical land that was promised by God to Israel.

3:31 Ok. This verse sets the states for God's miraculous intervention and the exercise of faith by the israel Lights. I think I think you can see what I'm stressing. So which is going to give you kind of a clue of where I think pastors are going to mess up? But there you have it. I mean, I think I think it's pretty simple. It's pretty straightforward. Correct. Now, the argument would be, well, what is applicable? What is it applicable? But before you ask the question of what is applicable, what you would want to do is just study the text and find out what happened in its historical context. What actually occurred before you start trying to apply it. But what do you do?

4:12 So if you were to make your predictions about five ways you think a pastor will mishandle, misapply, misinterpret Joshua chapter three, I've already kind of give you a little bit of hint right there. What I think. I'm stressing that this text is not about us. So you can already tell that. I know, based on everything we've been talking about for a long time in our sermon reviews, pastors constantly take passages. Not about us and make it about us. Well, just a few minutes ago, I was looking at the sermon's two point Oh app I saw a new sermon added and the name of the new sermon are you ready facing your biggest challenges? Facing your biggest challenges? Now, if it was just a sermon on facing your biggest challenges, that would be one thing.

5:03 But when I. Noticed that the text for the sermon entitled facing your Biggest Challenges was Joshua chapter three. I was like, oh boy, here we go. We haven't even started the sermon and you and I have already been included. Joshua chapter three is not about you facing your biggest challenges. It has literally. Nothing to do with you. So already I know it's about them. It's about they, but them they becomes about you, me, us. We know it's I. Don't understand why this is such a problem in Christianity.

5:46 So because we've been talking about artificial intelligence, this is what I did. I went to artificial intelligence. I'm gonna scroll all the way up here because it's a long. Conversation, and I simply asked Ai to do the follow up. Are you ready? I asked, Ai, predict. All the ways a pastor may mishandle, misinterpret and misupply Joshua chapter three in a sermon. AI responded, here are potential ways pastors might mishandle, misinterpret or misupply Joshua Chapter three, And sermons AI gives me, are you ready for this? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen different predictions on how a pastor may mishandle, misinterpret and misapply Joshua Chapter three, And it did in five seconds and five seconds, like, hey, here are fifteen things you should be looking out for now. If you really think about this, this could really be a problem for pastors.

7:02 I don't think pastors are yet prepared for the fact that the people sitting in the pew have these tools. But just think about how this could work. Are you ready? I don't know if you know what your pastor's preaching on Sunday, I don't know if you know. You may want to make a phone call, just find hey, what's the text for the sermon on Sunday? You can go ahead and ask AI, do my pastor is going to be preaching on this text? What are all the possible ways he may mishandle misinterpret and misapply. Then you can go to church on Sunday and sit there and go, well, how many many how many of the predictions did AI get right? And how many did they get wrong? Now, I'm not saying you should do that.

7:45 You could do that, and pastors need to be prepared that the people now can show up already with a predictive model on what you're going to do wrong. And so far, every time I've asked AI to predict how a pastor may mishandle misapply or misinterpret a passage, and almost I think I don't think I've yet had a case where it was wrong. In some cases, it was so dead on right that it was somewhat shocking that Ais like, oh, a person, a human being is going to be preaching, Well, we know what they're going to do. It can predict, So we're gonna I'm gonna go through these now, I don't have time to Like Ai writes a small book here, Basically, it gives me fifteen different ways a pastor may mishandled, misapply, misinterpret Joshua chapter three, and it also explains each one in some detail. So this is like a small book AI put together in about five seconds.

8:45 Let me just go through. I want you to write these down, because what we're going to do is we're gonna look at AI's prediction and then we're gonna listen to the sermon. Now, now I did not give Ai the title of the sermon. I want to make it very clear. I didn't even tell them the title of the sermon. Point now, after this I do give I went ahead and gave Ai the title of the sermon, and then it kind of modified its predictions a little bit because immediately when Ai saw the title of the sermon, it was like, well, it's obviously what this sermon is going to do wrong. It's obvious what it's going to do wrong. And I feel the same way. Now, Ai could be wrong. I could be wrong. That's why we're gonna listen to the sermon and figure it out. But here are the fifteen things Ai is predicting that a pastor may do and mishandling, misapplying, and misinterpreting Joshua chapter three, Are you ready? Number one, pastors, So there's a possibility now Ai uses the term pastor's plural.

9:42 Pastors might mishandle, misinterpret or misapply sermons on Joshua chapter three, and the following ways. Number one, over spiritualizing the crossing of the Jordan River. They're gonna over spiritualize it. They're gonna make it to some big spirit treading the crossing of the Jordan River as purely spiritual metaphor, such as crossing into your personal promise land, okay, without recognizing the historical and covenantal context of the event. So, hey, crossing the river of Jordan, this applies to us. This is a spiritual picture for us. It has nothing to do with us. They cross over the Jordan because God had made a specific covenant with Israel.

10:25 It's not about you. Okay, I'm gonna get mad just even trying to talk about this. AI's like, don't over spiritualize it. So we're gonna be listening to see are they gonna over spiritualize the crossing? Number two ignoring the Covenant context, failing to emphasize that this event fulfills God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and instead potentially and instead presenting it as an isolated story about faith or leadership. That's mishandling. Misapplying, misinterpreting the text. Number three misapplying following the art, treating the Israelites instruction to follow the arc of the Covenant as a direct analogy to following the Holy Spirit or following your pastor that's not what the text is about.

11:10 Number four misusing the miraculous event, equitting the miraculous stopping of the Jordan's water with promises of modern day miracles such as guaranteed physical healing or overcoming insurmountable obstacles. Now did you hear that? Misusing the miraculous the event, This miraculous event somehow teaches us how we can overcome our insurmountable obstacles. What is the name of this sermon? Facing your biggest challenges. You can already see where AI is. Ai at this point did not even know the name of the sermon. But Ai is getting really close to already kind of figuring out where this sermon is going, at least based on the title. AI could be wrong and I could be wrong. Number five over emphasizing over emphasis on leader principles, using Joshua's leadership as the primary focus, turning the passage into how to be a good leader sermon without recognizing God as the main actor. Number six misinterpreting consecrate yourselves, treating the call to consecration as a demand for moral perfection or self sanctification through personal effort, without the emphasis of God's role in sanctification or the unique context of the text. Number seven missupplying the dry ground using the phrase the israel Lites crossed on dry ground as a metaphor for life's obstacles being completely removed if.

12:34 One has enough faith. So I mean AI obviously knows how we typically mishandle this passage, ignoring the role of the priest, overlooking the significance of the priests carrying the arc and stepping into the water first as mediators between. God and Israel. Number nine allegorizing the Jordan River, treating the Jordan River as a symbol of death and the promised land is Heaven, thereby turning the text into an allegory disconnected from its historical and philological significance. Number ten forcing a personal application, insisting that every listener identify their Jordan River or next step step of faith, without acknowledging that this was a specific event for Israel under specific circumstances. Number eleven failing to address God's sovereignty, focusing entirely on Israel's faith and obedience while neglecting to emphasized God's power and sovereignty and stopping the waters and leading his people. Number twelve confusing promise and fulfillment, treating the crossing of the Jordan as symbolic of promises made to New Testament believers without clarifying that these were specific promises to Israel and a specific context.

13:49 Number twelve neglecting the corporate nature of the event, treating the passage as an individual faith journey, ignoring the corporate experience of Israel as God's covenant people. Number fourteen, using the text as a springboard, reading the text briefly and then using it as a jumping off point for unrelated topics like New Year's resolutions are success in ministry. Number fifteen misrepresenting God's presence, suggesting that God is only present when there is visible evidence of miracles, like the stopping of the Jordan River. So those are the fifteen ways in which Ai predicts pastors mishandle misinterpret and misapply Joshua chapter three. Let me go through those one more time.

14:33 I'm just going to just read the title of each one. Over spiritualizing the crossing of the Jordan number two, ignoring the covenant context. Number three, misapplying the following of the arc. Number four, misusing the miraculous event. Number five over emphasizing leadership principles. Number six, misinterpreting consecrate yourself. Number seven, misapplying the dry ground. Number eight, ignoring the role of the priest. Number nine, allegorizing the Jordan River. Number ten, forcing personal application.

15:15 Number eleven, falling to address God's sovereignty. Number twelve confusing promise and fulfillment. Number thirteen, neglecting the corporate nature of the event. Number fourteen, using the tech simply as a springboard at number fifteen, misrepresenting God's presence. Those are the fifteen ways AI predicts a pastor will possibly mishandle, misinterpret, and misapply Joshua Chapter three. Now that took us fifteen minutes. I had to go through that as fast as I could, And I apologize if I was reading way too fast, but that's the only thing I could do. I want you to at least hear the predictions. Now, are you ready? Now we go to this sermon.

16:00 Now, just remember I have not heard the sermon. AI was not given this sermon at this point. AI was not even given. The title of the sermon. It was just given. Hey, what are some ways pastors may mishandle, misinterpret, misapply Joshua Chapter three gave me fifteen specific predictive ways in which it thinks pastors can mishandle the text. We have the sermon in front of us. The sermon's title seems to give it away. But we're going to jump in. Are we gonna find out? Right now? You guys ready, Yeah, let's do this. Let's pray and seek the Lord together.

16:44 Father, we. Come into this ruin tonight, Lord God, asking you to move in this place, or God, Lord, do you know everything that we're wrestling with with every struggle, every temptation, every hardship. Lord God, there is nothing hidden from your eyes. And so Lord, we just pray that you would move and have your way. In this place. Lord God, as we. Look at Joshua and the life of Joshua and we talk about being penned and Israel being penned for all the things in which. You had planned for them. Lord God, we are your church and you have things pen for us and places for us to go.

17:26 And so Lord, pray that you would just have your way. Before we ask it all to your glory, King Jesus. Amen. Notice in the prayer, Hey, we're looking at Joshua, but immediately he starts talking about us us us. We are here with our problems, our struggles, our temptations. Wee wee us us, wee weei us us. Me me aye. That's all we can ever do with the text. It seems. I don't get it, okay, but all right, so we're gonna start with already in the prayer adding us, I mean, look, it's in pot.

18:09 M Okay, let's see what happens. I know, I'm already going into it with just just this feeling that it's. Going to go bad. And I know I shouldn't, right, I know I shouldn't. But the title and already the prayer, it's already inserting us. So let's see what now the sermon's actually going to begin. How long does it take before we get inserted into a text? There's nothing to do with us, But let's let's find out. Are you ready? Here we go. So I'm an Android user. I don't know if anyone else in the room is an Android user. Anybody else Android?

18:50 Okay, Well, we're gonna stop listening to the sermon because we don't listen to sermons from heretics. And if you're an Android user, we know you're unspiritual, you're unregenerate, you are apostate, you are a pagan, you are a satanic, you're demon possessed, you are. Wrong and every way pop. If you're an Android user, your interpretation of scripture can never be right, just on the basis that you're an Android user. Okay, all right, all right. I'm well there's a little bit of seriousness there, just just a little. Bit just Okay, there's a lot of serious Okay. Okay, all right now trying to trying to add a little humor. It's okay, no one's being injured.

19:30 By this joke. Okay, everyone's okay. Android users are not real people, so if they're injured by the joke, we don't care, right, okay, because only US Apple users, we are superior and every way, okay. All right, all right, all right, here we go. All right, Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Christian knew I liked you for a reason. Man, no anyway, but like, so my wife is an iPhone user, and like she's going to be getting me an iPhone because she's the one that's in control of all that stuff ladies, you know, goes, and so she's gonna be getting me an iPhone when my phone comes back up. So I don't, I can't. I don't think you can pin anybody with an Android, can you? You can?

20:11 Someone's got to show me. I'll do that then later because I don't think. I don't think I could do that, But I knew you could pin people. With an iPhone, right, And so when you pin somebody, like what does it mean to pin someone? Right? When you pin someone, you. Are saying, hey, where I am? I want you to be there? Right, So like, here's where I am. You're trying to find me. Let me pin myself so you know where I am at right, and so so you can get to where I am. And there are moments in our life in which God pins for us. Not that God isn't always with you, not that he's not everywhere present, not that he's not in every moment, not that he's not working on you in every second of every day, not that he doesn't have you know what I mean. But there are moments and there are places that He wants to go, and in order for you to get there, you gotta trust him.

20:53 And ladies and gentlemen, you already see where the sermon is going. There's times God pens us because there's some place he wants us to go. Wait, what is in it? Where does that have to do with Joshua three? It has literally nothing to do with Joshua chapter three, because Joshua chapter three is not about us. Oh, for crying out loud, I just don't get it. I don't understand this is it's an epidemic. It's a pandemic. It's a cancer in preaching. So how long did it take for us to get inserted into a sermon about Joshua? Chapter three? Immediately?

21:45 Immediately, man, So he sends you a pen. He goes, I'm here. Are you going to meet me there? God sends you a pen saying I'm here. I want you to come here? Do you want to come where I am? Is that? How does God send you a pen? He pins you? And then you you go to be to where God? Does God come to you? Or do you have to go to God? Does God say I'm here? And then you've got to get to where God is? Is that how it works? Oh? Oh, we're already stumbling upon issues, but I keep interrupting.

22:28 I gotta let this play out a little bit longer. But sometimes in ormy God the place is where he pins us. There's things we got to give up, and we don't deal well with that. Because we all right. Sometimes to get to God, there's things we have to give up. So is God like, hey, you can't get to me unless you give something up. I thought the way we got to God was through faith in Jesus Christ. By putting faith in Jesus Christ, I am brought to God. I am, I'm brought nigh to God. I've made a child of God. I'm adapted into the family of God by faith alone, apart from works.

23:08 Are you saying that that what you can be saved? So you're with God? But you're not really with God because because in life, God pens you, because God moves to a different location, like I want you to come here, and then you've got to give something up to get to God. Because God's not going to come to you to bring you to him. You've got to get to God by you giving something up. So it's all basic. This is a very law based, works based system, is the way it seems to appears. I've got about a million. Pilological member of the hard questions I said we have to ask. I've got some theological questions in regards to this sermon has. Literally nothing to do with this text. But that's okay. I'd like to hold on to our stuff and our things and our emotions. For some of you, God might be pinning you to forgive somebody.

24:00 God may be penning you to forgive someone. Does God have to pen you to forgive someone? Are we just not told in scripture? That we must forgive as we have been forgiven? Do you need to be penned? Does God just oh? Oh, pen pen pen? And now what do you feel? Isn't a feeling? Oh? I think I need to forgive someone? Do you need to be penned to forgive someone? Are you just know the scripture tells you to forgive? Like? I don't even understand this illustration. This illustration raises more theological problems, and it seems that this is quickly going into the direction that God communicates with us somehow outside of the Bible, with some kind of internal voice or some kind of emotion or feeling, which then destroys really the concept of sol the scripture in any meaningful way. And it basically is very charismatic.

24:51 So I don't know if this is a direction it's going, but that's the direction I'm getting. And again, this is all about. Us us us us us us us us has not to do. With the people in Joshuach chapter three. But I'm assuming we're gonna get to Joshua chapter three, and I have a feeling that everything Ai predicted is about to come true. I'm hoping I'm wrong, and I'm hoping AI was wrong, Amen, right, and. You're like not them, And God's going in. Order for you to get to where I want you to go, there's gonna be in some things that you have to let go of.

25:31 So God says, in order for you to get to where I want you to go, you have to give up things. God wants you to go somewhere, but you can't get there unless you do something. So what happens if I don't get to where God is at? Does it mean I don't go to heaven? Hey? God, God wants me to go here, but I can't get there unless I give something up. So it's all based upon me. Ow. I mean, there's so many issues here. There are so many theological issues here. Amen. And that might be. Mean forgiving this person who may not deserve to be forgiven, but nor for you to be free, you gotta let it go. So Israel, right, we know the story. God pins literally pins Egypt. Are sorry, pens Israel in Abraham. Remember, God goes to Abraham says, I'm gonna make you a mighty nation, right, Abraham.

26:30 As good as dead. His wife Sarah's like ninety one hundred. You know, she's old Ryan and she's gonna have a child, and like he's the promised child. And Abraham, and God tells Abraham. Listen, I'm pinning you to go to this place that I'm gonna prepare for you, and prepare for your people. You're gonna be a mighty nation. All the nations were. Blessed through you. Like all the promises that Abraham told. All the promises that God told Abraham is happening. In Joshua's day. Right, those things are coming to fruition, and they ultimately are fulfilled in Jesus. Amen. So God pins Israel way back then, and Israel's got to go through a journey to get to where they are. And if you remember, there are some people, so Moses, who are you guys with me?

27:16 So far? All right? So Moses, who represents the law, never enters the promised land. Right, all right? So God penned Israel and Abraham. All right, I'm not gonna get to nitpicky here. All right, We'll go with this concept, Dad, and go through a journey. Okay, all right? You see, He's gonna try to. Make this a parallel to us, and which is this is where this whole thing falls apart, right, Moses represents the law. Moses represents the law. Okay, we're gonna use a little typology here. Okay, I'll go I'll play along. Okay, obviously Moses is can to the law, so I'll go along with it. All right, Moses doesn't go into the promised Land. So are you going to say, then the law doesn't go into the promised lands, and they get into the promise Land, they're not to operate on.

28:10 The basis of law. Is that like? How once you start doing the analogy or typology, you see, where do there's that's it always opens the door? And where do you stop it? Where? Where are the guidelines? Where are the rules? Because you can just go crazy with it. Well, let's just let him. Let's let him go where he wants to go, and then we'll try to address it. I'm not going to try to break apart every little thing. You can have your own questions and your predictions about how pastors may mishandle Joshua. Chapter three. Are your predictions coming? Were they pretty close or no? Paul said this, by the law, no flesh will be justified.

28:51 So by the law, no flesh. None of us can make it into the promised land in which God has for us. Right, Moses, who. Represents that law, he himself does not enter the promised land, right Cana, He doesn't enter it. Right, But God, Joshua Yesua, which is Jus's name in Hebrew, leads God's people into the promised Land. Interesting, is. Okay? So he's spiritualizing all of this, allegorizing all of this. All right, someone in the congregation is greatly impressed by this. They're like hmmm hmm, so they think this is really good stuff. Okay, all right, this is typical allegorizing typeology.

29:40 All right, we'll let it play out now. When he said we don't get into our promised land by the law, what does he mean? Because wait a minute, he already said. This is where I get confused, because earlier in the sermon, did he not say God wants you to go somewhere, but you can't get there until you give something up? Was that not law? But now he's say no, no, no, no, no, we. Don't get into our And what does he mean our promise land? Is he making promise land? So is he's taking promise land not making it a picture of heaven? Because that would make sense. Right if you want to say, well, we don't get into heaven by the law, we get into heaven by Christ. But now is he taking the promise land, not making it a picture of heaven. But it's just our promise land, like we all have our own individual promise land that we don't get in by law.

30:29 But earlier he said we can't get to where God is or to where God wants us to go until we give something up. Well, if I am told to have to give. Something up and there's something I must do by philological definition, that is law. So already I'm getting very convoluted and confused messaging here. But let's let him, you know, clean this up so we have a good understanding. Isn't it awesome that the Gospel can be found in the Old test something like that? So isn't it awesome that we can read whatever we want to in any text that we find.

31:16 I mean, you can read anything into any text. You can say, well, this represents this, and this represents this, and you, if you're the one guiding what this represents and this represents, you can make it represent whatever you. Oh, I found the gospel because you just said this represents this and this represents this, and this represents this. Say it's the gospel, because you're imposing what these things represent. Now, do you have New Testament scripture that says this represents this and this represents this. If you do, then okay. If not, you're just making it work. I can go to anything and say, well, this represents this, this represents this. Isn't that amazing? Yeah, it's amazing because. I of course it's amazing, because I just told you what it represented.

32:00 I'm the one controlling the picture. Now. The issue is does the text give you that picture? Are you? Are you turning the text into a picture that it was never designed to do. That's the question. If you remember, the people of Israel are grumbling, complaining, right, they don't trust there's They're sent out to say, hey, go see if we can overtake this land, if God's giving. It to us. Two people come back, Joshua and Caleb, remember, and Joshua and Claib. Are like, God is giving it into our hands. The rest of them are like. I don't know, man, there's some big people up in there, Like I don't think we can take them. You know what I'm saying, Which.

32:44 Sorry, Philistine's nine feet tall. Bro, Like, I like, I'm five to six. I couldn't even imagine going up with my shoes on them five six. I'm like five a half, right, Like I claim five six because my shoes are usually on but like five five, like I couldn't even imagine that. So, like the fear that's going on in Israel, maybe there's some real fear there. But like God just parted the Red Sea and you walked across on dry land. He drowned the whole Egyptian army, Like do you not think that he can take care. Of those stupid Philistines. There are places that God wants you to go, and in order for you get there, there are gonna be people.

33:26 There are gonna be things. There are gonna be giants that God wants you to go up against because He's already given you the victory. Oh, here we go. So now we're gonna take this story. There's places God wants you to go, but there's gonna be giants in the land. There's gonna be but God's already given you the victory. God's already given me the victory of the giants. And the things in my life that I'm going to face God already gave me the victory over being abused as a child. What God already gave you victory? Hey, in your life to get where you want to go, you're gonna have to face maybe sexual assault, sexual abuse, maybe being molested, being beaten, maybe cancer, maybe being mugged, maybe your child being murdered. But hey, it's all good. God's given you the victory, given me the victory. Meaning what see?

34:15 Those are the These are the kinds of questions I said yesterday that Christians have to ask when. We hear these. This is all motivational. That's right. God wants me to go here, and there may be challenges, But are hell the victory? So what does that mean? All the challenges are gonna go away. You're gonna overcome every challenge. You're gonna overcome cancer, You're gonna overcome this, You're gonna overcome What. Does that even mean? Oh? It sounds good. And everyone in the. Pew will be like, hey, man, that was so encouraging pastor, and they will leave feeling better and so they will love church. That's great. I don't know what that happens when you you know, when life hits you. You know when you when all of a sudden you wake up and you realize, wait a minute, life just punched me in the face.

35:00 Let me go back to that sermon. Okay, So God has a promised land for me, and I can get into that promise line even though there's going to be challenges and there's gonna be giants, because I have. The victory now. Of course, Joshua three has nothing to do with any of that, and it's not teaching that at all. And AI predicted that that's exactly what could possibly happen. And Sermons on Joshua chapter three, the predictions AI gave are coming to pass almost just as it described. Amen, but those people doubted that God was going to give them the land, so they have to wander in the wilderness for forty years. But those people have died.

35:48 Moses has just died, and Joshua's got the whole Israeli Israelie people with him, and God is and God says to Joshua, just like I was with Moses, I'm going to be with you, bro. Right, And Joshua's like, let's go. So here we go, you guys ready, Joshua chapter three, Let's do it then Joshua or then Joshua rose early in the morning, and he had all the sons of Israel set out from Shidham and came. To the Jordan. We're gonna pass over that word, and they they lodged there before they crossed. At the end of three days, the officers went through the midst of the camp, and they commanded the people, saying, when you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, with the lybical theories carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about two thousand cubits by measure, that's like three fourths of a mile, so pretty good distance. Do not come near it that you may know that the way, may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before. Then Joshua said to the people, consecrate yourselves.

36:59 That were consecration means sanctify, set yourself apart, like what God's getting ready to do. You got to be set apart for the journey in which He has for you. Right, So that's what he's saying. Is that you got to consecrate your stuff. There can be no other journey before your eyes. There could be no other. Thing in which this is it. This is it. Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Do you ever think that possibly the reason why? Look a lot of you in this room maybe see God move a lot, But some of this room haven't seen God move in a long time. Is it possible you haven't seen God move because you haven't consecrated yourselves onto him.

37:42 Oh, my goodness, gracious, Hey, you haven't seen God move because you haven't consecrated yourself. Hey, maybe you haven't seen God move in that cancer situation because you haven't consecrat yourself. Maybe you haven't seen God move in that situation because you have a consecration self. Maybe it's your fault, that's the reason God hasn't moved. Remember what Ai said, misinterpreting consecrate yourself, treating the call to consecrate as a demand for moral perfection or self sanctification through personal effort. So God only moves, Or maybe the reason God is not moving is because you haven't synctified yourself.

38:34 Taking that from Joshua three. Has literally nothing to do with you, has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with you, It has nothing to do with it. I'm knocking everything off the table. It's descriptive, it's not prescriptive. And just note how, hey, the law doesn't go into the land. Jesus takes us into the promised land apart from the law. Remember how he said that it's not wonderful.

39:15 But now all of a. Sudden, God's not going to move unless you consecrate yourself. Hmm. If I have to consecrate myself, that's law. So this sounds like I've got to obey the law if you really go with the way this, Now the sermon is working. I've got to consecrate myself. I've got to make myself clean before God will move or before I get into the Promised Land. You now just took the gospel picture, you gave destroyed the gospel picture, and you've replaced it with law. And you've just told everything one in the congregation that maybe the reason God is not moving in their life is because they haven't consecrated themselves. But I guess the other people who God is moving in their life, I guess they're consecrated enough.

39:58 Now exactly how much consecration do you. Need to get God to move? Do you need fifty percent, seventy percent? Because no one in that congregation is one hundred percent. And if no one's one hundred percent consecrated, that means they're in a perpetual state of sin. So God will move if someone is in a perpetual state of sin simply because they have a certain level of consecration. Oh, man, the whole thing. And you haven't prepared yourself to walk into the places in which he's calling you. Because this one thing I know about God is that he wants you to know him more than you want to God wants you to know him more than you want to know him. Look, God is never, He's always calling to you. We're the one that's always, like, I don't have time for that.

40:55 And Joshua spoke to the priest, saying, take up the arc of the Covenant and cross over ahead of the people. So they took up the ark of the Covenant and went ahead of the people. Now the Lord said to Joshua, this day will begin to exalt you. This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will. Be with you. You shall moreover command the priests who are carrying the ark of the Covenant, saying, when you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Then, Joshua said to the sons of Israel, come here and hear the word of the words of the Lord your God. Joshua said, by this you shall know that the Living God is among you, and that he will surely dispossess from before you the Cannonite, the Hittite, the Hiveite, the Purzait, the Gergashite, the Amorit, and the Jebusite, and the Mosquito bites, I'm shooking. It's a lot of heights in that passage. Behold the arka of the Covenant. Behold the ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. Now, then take for your cells twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. It shall come about when the souls of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the Earth, rests in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap. So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the Ark of the

42:27 Covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were just dipped in the edge of the water. For the Jordan overflows all its banks, all the days of harvest, the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Yeah, sorry, they skip that word. And those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Araba, the salt sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho said it, and the priests who carried the ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

43:14 I think that's it, okay. I think it's interesting that. God doesn't stop the river from flowing until the priest's feet hit the water, right, because look, we like to think we we're like good with doing what God wants us to do, as long as he just starts doing it before we do anything. Oh for crying out loud, ladies and gentlemen. Now this is where I just start losing it. Okay, all right, So first of all, he goes to them and then immediately comes back to us because he's just simply using the picture. He's just using the text to insert us, insert us, insert us in sort us. The text has nothing to do with us.

43:59 But okay, if you're even going to use this picture, then let's use this picture. Remember AI predicted that the sermon would go this direction. Everything AI has said has been perfectly to the letter. Exactly what's went wrong? It's crazy AI knows. How pastors are going to mishandle the text before we even listen to the sermon. That's that's insane. Like why I haven't listened to sermons anymore? Just go to AI. He can tell me this. Hey, well, that church is preaching on this, this text, This is all the ways they're going to. Do it wrong. Okay, so let me let's just make this clear. Right In fact, let me pull up what Ai said about this whole principle here, all right, Ai said, they're going to overlook the significance of the priest carrying the arc and stepping into the water first as mediators between God and Israel. Now he immediately makes it about us, right now, this is about.

44:51 The priest stepped in first. He turns it about us being willing to step into whatever we want God to do it first, it's not about us. If you want to draw a spiritual picture, listen, I cannot. I cannot stress this enough. This would be you would miss the opportunity. This is what Ai says. Pastors missed the opportunity to connect this priestly role to the ultimate mediator, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who steps into the water. Jesus Christ is our mediator between God and man. He's the one who brings us into the Remember he acknowledged this picture, at least briefly at the beginning. If you want to make it a picture, Jesus is the one who steps into the water for us and separates the waters.

45:43 Now you could say wait, wait now again. If you want to go typology, you could just go crazy here but if you're going to if you're going to even try to offer typology, it's about the pra stepping into the water, not the people. The people step didn't step into the water first. The pra stepped into the water first, the priest, not the people. The priest stepped into the water first. Then the waters parted the priest did. Well, if you're going to draw typology, who's our priest? Either you could go with a Catholic idea that we have priests who are kind of our mediator. Right, we go to the priest for confession, and all right if you want to go to a Catholic system, But if you're going to remove it from a Catholic system, we have a priest. His name is Jesus Christ. He stepped into the water for us.

46:33 He parted the water, and now we can go through. He kept the law for us. He was a propitiation and satisfied the wrath of God. So now the wrath of God has parted so that we can enter into heaven. It's through Christ, it's through his priestly work. If you want to draw typology, you. Know what I mean. Like God, you just start doing what you do and then once I see you doing it that, then I'll act. And God is going, no, we're acting in tandem. When you step in the water, that's showing that your faith is willing and ready to go into the land in which I've given to you. Amen, or or conquer the situation in which you're going. When what you're in or doing like you have to take the step amen, And people in.

47:22 The congregation are amening that. What are you amenning? It's a complete destruction of the entire text. It's the priest who stepped in. It wasn't the people. And I look, when I was young, I made the same mistake. I preached it the same stinking way, because that's how I was taught to preach the text. Over spiritualizing, allegorizing, all of the nonsense that's happening here. It's not about you stepping in, it's about the priest. Well, if you're gonna use typology, you either have to connect that to religious leaders, pastors priest, or you have to say well, in the New Testament, Christ is literally identified as our priest, our high priest.

48:11 Hmm. Therefore, then it only makes sense to say that's Christ stepping into the water. He parts the waters. So that's the way he gives us access to God. It is through Christ we have access to Heaven. It's through Christ we have access to the Father. It is through Christ. He is the way the truth of life. No one comes to the Father except through him. Nobody gets through the water except through Christ. Christ stepped into the water through for us. If you're gonna use typology, at least go that direction at least makes more sense. But no, no, no, no, it turns into you gotta go step into the water. No. If I go step into the water, I'm going to drown.

48:53 I was a new Christian. This is only happened to me one time. And this is gonna be like crazy sounding and insane and like all that stuff. But like I had this inclination in my soul, so I was I was going to a college. And I'll never forget this because it's never happened again. It's never happened again. But there was this person who was blind sitting on this bench far off and I saw them sitting at this bench, and I just felt in my soul that God wanted me to go pray for their sight. Now that's crazy.

49:34 Well, this is on this is on the sermon's two point. Oh, app. I'm getting I'm getting charismatic vibes all over this. I'm getting charismatic vibes all over this. I really am, I'm really, I really am here. Okay, let's see. Maybe I'm wrong here. Let's see. So he gets a so God is guiding, directing with some internal feeling. Okay, so this is not scripture alone. All right, let's see what happens. I don't know what this has to do with Joshua chapter three, has literally nothing to do with Joshua chapter three. But let's see here, all right, let's see here. Leading up to that, though I had prayed o her vehicles and they had started, I'd done like other like God was showing me that he would that he would prevail. Right, he had been shown you ever done that before? Listen, that happened to me recently. But we're in the car and my car won't start, and my son sitting next to me, and I was just like, I was like, we're gonna pray all and he's like okay, and so I'm like, dear Lord, please let my car start, and then boom, sorry right up.

50:32 My son Liuly was like yo, And I was like, I all right, yeah, my God's anyway. I'm so like, all right, so you can pray over your car to start. Man, Well, if you can pray over cars to start and they will, maybe you could get in that car, drive to Nashville and raised the girl who got shot and killed in her school, who's dead from you could raise her to life. Maybe you could stop buy some children's hospitals and she'll hill some children who are I don't know, dying of terminal diseases.

51:17 I mean, if God's gonna if you can pray and start a car, what has this got to do with Joshua Chapter three? I do not know, Ladies and gentlemen. In fact, Ai Ai gets everything right about this predictable it appears about this sermon other than AI didn't go far enough. It appears all right, let's hear the rest of the story. So but like, but but you know, praying for someone's sight is different than praying for my car to starts. You amen, So like, I'm I'm so I did what you probably we've done this before. So I did the thing where I'm like, okay, God, if they're still there when I walk around and come back, I'll pray for them, you know.

52:10 So I walked around and came back and they're still there. So I was like, God, I really will know it's you if I walk around the second time and they're still there. So I walked up the steps. And around and I took like a really long time, and I came back around. There's still sitting there. So I was like, Lord, if it's really you, let me do it one more time. I did that until they weren't there anymore, and I've never been asked again.

52:52 Okay, Now the story did take a unique turn. I thought he was going to go pray for the person they were going to see, so this takes a unique turn. But now you see he's never been asked again. So God was like, Hey, I want to heal this blind man, but I want you to go pray to do it. But because you didn't do it, I'm never going to ask you to do it again. And why wouldn't God just heal the blind man? But okay, I. Get I guess. I guess that guy's just out of luck. Said there's some man walking around blind because this pastor wouldn't just heed the supposed call coming from God. To you, Okay, the whole thing just oh, this is so this is so charismatic. It's not even fun. Don't tell me it's not charis it's this is stinking charismatic.

53:33 That's what it is. Okay. I thought I thought it wouldn't supposed to be charismatic stuff on the sermon's two point. Oh, app I thought that's what part of the statement of faith. I'm going to look here. I really thought that it wasn't supposed to be there. I'm gonna just look here, I'm gonna look here. Give me a second. Here, I'm looking all right, So to become a broadcaster here, where's the where's the statement of faith? Right? So become a broadcaster? Here we go, articles of faith?

54:17 All right, here's the articles of faith? A right, uh, here we go. All right. Yeah, sermon audio is not open to the dissemination of such distinctive charismatic and Pentecostal views as extra spiritual revelation. It's extra spiritual revelation. If God's telling you to go do something tongues, healing women, pastors, preachers, elders, that seems like this is right in line. I I don't know, all right, but let's see what he's so. He didn't heal the man, but he's never been asked again because and he guess where he's gonna go because he didn't step into the water first. But guess what Joshash chapter three is. It's not about us stepping in the water.

55:02 Okay. Now, I'm not saying that God won't ever ask me again, but I am saying in that moment, I was disobedient because faith takes you and I making a step before God does. God's going on, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. I'm giving you the promised land. I mean, he tells, He literally tells Israel, I'm giving it to you, right, but you have to take possession of it. I'm gonna I'm gonna fight everybody that's there. I'm gonna I'm gonna destroy the people there before you. I'm gonna move them out so you can come in, like I'm giving you this land. But Priest, you gotta step in the water otherwise it ain't going nowhere.

55:51 At least there, he did say, Priest. At least there he did say, Priest, he identifies the right people there. In his application, he makes it about everybody. I guess you could argue, well, in Christ the royal priesthood of all believers, I guess you could go that direction if you want to try to extend the typology. But okay, I don't know what it is that you listen. Your unbelief, My unbelief can keep us from the things in which God has for us. It's just true, you. And I when we walk in unbelief is keeping us from the thing in which God has for us.

56:36 So there are things that God wants to do in you. There are things that God wants. To do with you and through you, but our unbelief is keeping us from that. God wants to do things. But God can't get those things done because of our unbelief. All right, that's a whole concept that we could expand, obviously, But the main thing you're seeing is there's nothing, literally, none of this. This sermon has not a thing to do with Joshua chapter three. It has nothing to do with Joshua chapter three. Joshua chapter three is simply. Being used as Plato.

57:16 It's just being molded and making it about whatever he wants to make it about, which is us. Let me prove it to you. Remember when Jesus is going into a city in town and says he wasn't able to do certain miracles because of their unbelief. It wasn't that God couldn't do it. It wasn't that he was unwilling to do it. It was that they didn't want him to do it. And how many of that is us? Listen, your fit, you have to operate and look for. Some of you in this room.

57:56 This is like a message you've heard a thousand, bajillion gajillion times. Maybe you've heard maybe you've heard it here. Maybe I don't know right, you've heard it a lot, maybe, But you know what, there's a lot of things in the Bible. You hear over and over and over and over again. Amen, I don't think we ever moved past this, because every moment in my life is a moment for me to have faith or of unbelief, to believe or not to believe. And there is something in your life right now that God is asking you to believe that you're going. I don't know if I can. I don't know if I can trust you there. Lord, I trusted you here.

58:38 I trusted you here. But I don't know if I can trust you there. Because you know what's going on through my mind. When he wanted me to pray for that blind. Girl, it was like, what if it doesn't work? Right? Because then you're like, look if someone's car doesn't start, So what if I pray for someone's eyes to see and it doesn't happen, I look like an idiot, and I don't know if I'm okay with it. Look like an idiot, Lord. And God's like, bro, sometimes, look you look like an idiot. Anyway, you might as well look like an idiot for me.

59:22 Maybe you can relate. What's amazing about these two people that exist for a little while, because remember was thirty eight years, forty years for it, before those people died off and God able to get God was able. To get them into the Promised Land. They were going right amen. So for thirty eight years, for thirty eight years, two people existed. The unfaithful and the faithful. Right the unfaithful constantly, we're going God. We are hungry. God gives them bread mana from heaven, manna right by the way, just a little caveat here. They don't once they enter the Promised Land.

1:00:10 Bread stops. Why because they can eat the food of the field. And God's like, you're welcome, right, no more bread from heaven, susan answer land, God's like, eat it man, lambflow and milk and honey. Eat it up right. So God's providing for them in the wilderness for thirty eight to forty years, right, bread coming down from heaven. Then they get sick of the bread. Remember, They're like, oh, this stupid bread, which is crazy eating itself. Listen, if I walked up in the morning, God was like, Hey, I'm gonna provide bread for your family. When you go outside, there's gonna be something on the ground. Pick up and eat it. Right. I'm grateful for that every. Day, you know what I'm saying, Especially when I'm starving to death. I say that maybe I wouldn't be you know what I'm saying, because I probably wouldn't be anyway.

1:01:02 Let me I can relate to them maybe in fair way of saying that. But like then they're like, hey, give me some qua, give us meat. We want some meat. God sends some question. Birds are flying? Birds are falling from the sky. Now listen, if birds are falling from the sky around me, I'm not eating the bird, right because I'm. Sorry, I'm spitting this way. I'm sorry, my mother. I thought, I thought, is what happened to this bird? That it just fell from the sky, because that's not normal. Birds are supposed to fly, right, But they're eating the quail and they're living, which is good. There's two people that exist in this in this passage, all right through those thirty eight years, the believing in the unbelieving to the unbelieving, complete constant grumbling and complaining.

1:01:52 Listen, there are. Things that God is doing in your life, but because of your unbelief, you can't sit. Your eyes aren't open to. You're not seeing all the things that God. Is doing before you. You don't even. Know how good you have it, right, But because of your unbelief, it's hindering your vision of God. It's hindering your it's hindering. Everything that God's wanting to give to you, everything that God has given to you, right, and you get caught up in the grumbling and complaining why. Because of unbelief? Now he does set up this. Distinction, this contrast that for thirty eight years. So for thirty thirty eight years, that's the number he keeps throwing out.

1:02:36 Thirty eight years. There was. Those, there there was unbelievers and believers. Belief is required for God to work. That seems to be the idea. Now we will have to take this apart. Now the main thing we wanted to do is everything AI said that the sermon would do wrong. It basically has done. Every single one of those are pretty much.

1:03:24 All of them to some level. Now I did. What I did do is after AI gave me all those fifteen predictions. Right, this is what I said. I said the name of the sermon, and this is what I said to Ai. The name of the sermon in question is facing your Biggest Challenges? Does that information impact your prediction or change any of them? The sermon title Facing your Biggest Challenges does impact the predictions slightly, as it suggests a specific emphasis on using Joshua three as a motivational or practical guide for overcoming difficulties in life. This focus could lead to particular time types of mishandling or misapplication, including the following adjusted additional points Number one.

1:04:06 Over emphasis on personal application, the sermon is likely to focus on identifying the Jordan River as a metaphor for each listener's biggest challenges, health, issues, career obstacles, relational conflicts. This risk reducing the text to an overly individualistic application while neglecting the corporate and covenantal significance of the crossing for Israel as God's people number two, treating the Jordan Crossing as some formula for success. Number three, promoting the idea of guaranteed victory. Number four, neglecting the context of God's redemptive plan. Number five, the risk of overemphasizing human agency number six, turning this text and to a self help manual. Number seven ignoring the role of divine sovereignty.

1:04:48 Number eight flatter flattening the typology the sermon might attempt to connect the Jordan River directly to modern Christian challenges without exploring typology of the art, the crossing of God, the crossing, or God's presence. For example, the art could be flattened into a generic symbol of God helping you in hard times, rather than representing maybe his holy presence or his covenant. So it's just basically going to destroy that misusing consecrate yourselves Number ten, glossing over God's purpose. So basically AI was like, Hey, the title goes in this direction and Basically, the sermon has done every single thing AI said it was going to do. And this is what I love is. I didn't tell AI what the mishandling was or misapplication was. I asked it to tell me how this text could be mishandled and misapplied.

1:05:36 AI itself believes that the way the text is being handled is misapplied, misinterpreted, and mishandled without even knowing what it was going to do. So, in other words, AI sees, if you do that stuff to the text, it's wrong. AI is already just starting with the idea that that is wrong to handle the text that way, not by me guiding it to to think it's wrong. It's declaring it wrong without me saying anything, because AI knows that's not how you handle the text of scripture. How come AI knows this but pastors don't. So there's Joshua chapter three. Now, we may need to return back to this to some point and do some work on this, but you know, well we're already over an hour, so we won't do it now, but maybe we'll come back to this. You know, how does unbelief stop God? And if God is the one who gives faith, Oh, there's so many theological issues to get into play here. But yeah, it's just it's kind of bizarre. It's very it's hard not to hear the charismatic part in it. It basically is God could do miracles, you just have to believe.

1:06:52 Almost God wants to do the miracles. The reason God doesn't is because we don't believe. So it means we're really in charge, not God. I mean, this raises all kinds of theological issues. I just kind of shocked that it's. Very charismatic, very charismatic. I mean, I mean, there's but way if it's not charismatic, it's charismatic light, it's charismatic influenced. It just seems odd on a site where you have to sign a statement saying you're not going to promote charismatic ideas. I don't know, that's my own feelings. I was a little surprised. That's usually the one thing I don't I don't expect to hear because I know you have to sign a statement saying you're not going to promote that idea, So I always expect that what I'm going to hear sermons that are as far from charismatic theology as you can possibly get.

1:07:44 But it's what's. Weird is what's now. What used to be charismatic is now now no longer really viewed as charismatic. It's just viewed as normal because charismatic theology had such has been so influential that even non people will say, well, I'm not a charismatic, but you've got charismatic ideas and ideology and concepts all over your theology. You just may not be going full blown speaking in tongues, or you may not be going full blown charismatic, but it's still there. So I don't know. I think charismatic is far more than just speaking in tongues. I mean, but there we go. That was Joshua three. Now, if you listen to that sermon, you know what you would walk away with not understanding Joshua chapter three. But you know what, that's how Joshua three is always handled because it's about us. It's about us, it's about us, it's about us, it's about us. We make a descriptive, passage prescriptive, and we insert ourselves into a text has nothing to do with us, and we forget that Joshua chapter three is about what God promised. Israel, and he's doing exactly He's fulfilling his promise to Israel.

1:08:58 But it turns into almost it's like, hey, hey, if we have faith, God will do this for us and do this for them. Just remember Israel's supposed supposedly great faith here to get them across the Jordan. They demonstrate unbelief in, the lack of faith and weak faith. Constantly, even into the Promised Land. So I mean, what we could get into a whole discussion about, like the whole thing. Just all right, we didn't finish the sermon. I have no desire to finish the sermon. If you want to, you can. I mean listen to it on my own as I'm uploading, but yeah, and if I hear something else, we'll talk about it. But the goal was just to see could Ai predict the problems in a sermon, and once again AI did flawlessly.

1:09:46 That's troubling. All right, thanks for listening. I give up. God bless