Psalm 83 Pt 10

0:01 All right, our number two Saw eighty three, Our number two Saw eighty three. I'm not going to review everything we did in the first hour. I'm just gonna set this up with what kind of where we kind of ended the first hour. I think this is important. So if you want, if you've already written this out, great, let's just remind ourselves that in Saw eighty three, starting in verse two to like five, it gives the characteristics and attributes of the enemies in which Israel was facing at that time. Those characteristics and attributes fit perfectly the characteristics and attributes of all the enemies we as Christians face, all right, And so I reminded everyone in the first hour that when you think about the Christian life, it really is an unsettling picture, and it should probably change our expectations of how Christians should behave not excusing it, but it should change our perception at least slightly. Because all believers, we have inside of us a sinful nature, right, so we are constantly going to be in sin in some way, shape or form because that sinful nature. We because of that sinful nature, we can never keep God's law. Period. There's not even a debate because God's law demands perfection externally internally, and it demands it perpetually. If you violate one law,

1:32 guilty of all. We are in a constant state. I can take one scripture, be holy as He is holy. You're never going to accomplish that in this life. You will not. You're in a perpetual state of sin because of your sin nature. Right, But not only do we have a sin nature, what is outside of us? We have Satan, all right, that's a spiritual a fallen angel, spiritual being seeking to destroy attackers, who maintains all all of those attributes of these enemies, prideful hates God, a tumult creates chaos, all those things, all those crafty, subtle, all of those characteristics. Then he has working with him, demonic spirits, demons, other fallen angels, all conspiring and working together to go after believers, go to go against everything God would love or God's purpose in God's will.

2:24 Very frustrating, isn't it? Yes? Because that's a lot to go against you. You're you're you are just a human being fighting not only a sinful nature, but spiritual beings that are outside of you. That puts you. I think I think everyone can say that would put us in what a massive disadvantage. I don't even think. I don't even think there would be wrong to say it puts us enough helpless, hopeless situation. Oh bo, wait, not only do we have the sinful nature, Not only do we have satan, Not only do we have demons, ladies and gentlemen. What else do we have? We have false teachers that comes to confuse, confound could just make it all difficult and trying to even figure out what truth is?

3:15 All right, So we got false teachers, and then what else do we have? The world system or the world which is all around us, and that involves what everything, our family, our culture, education, entertainment, politics, all of it, and all of it is contrary to God's word, God's ways, God's purpose, and it maintains those same characteristics. It hates God, it's prideful, it's crafty, subtle, deceitful, it creates chaos, all of those things those enemies did in Psalm eighty three. And then what else do we have? We have our own We can call this our emotional and mental health, which is massively profound, and we don't even know all the ways it impacts us because it impacts the way you see things, It impacts your desires, your feelings. We don't eed we're still you mean, we're all the years of study that's been done, we still don't quite understand how the brain works. We still don't understand mental health.

4:19 It has a brain, All of that's working what against us? So what in the world are we going to do? What is our solution? Well, what we're doing is we wanted to identify all of our enemies and demonstrate that they meet those say they fulfill and meet and have the same attributes and characteristics as the enemies that Israel was facing in Saw eighty three. And those enemies made them cry out to God and they said, what where are you? Why have you not done anything? And when you look at all of our enemies, do you not feel just a little bit like saying, where are you? Why are you not doing anything? Right? Where are you?

5:05 Why are you're not doing anything? Because after all of human history, right, what still exists our sinful nature, satan demons, the world system, and our physical and mental makeup? After all of this time, what has God chosen not to do to get rid of any of that? That is profoundly disturbing to me, and why I can understand the lament. I can understand. I can feel the lament again. Read that lament in verse one. Do not keep silent, Oh God, do not hold your peace, and do not be still, Oh God, behold your enemies make a toll. I want to scream, God, do you not understand all of the things I'm facing? Get rid of one of them? Help me out?

6:06 Could you just get rid of Satan? Could you get rid of demons? Here's the thing, No, actually leave the demons, leave Satan. Just get rid of my sinful nature, and I'll be I'll at least have an advance, I'll have a I'll be in a better place than I am now because everything outside of me appeals to everything inside of me. Those things outside have no power if I don't have a sinful nature. So I understand the lament. I can scream out, just like Asaph and the people are, and we all can scream out because we know that's our Christian life. It's fighting these things which we constantly do. What fail? Now again?

6:48 What have we been saying about Saw eighty three? Saw eighty three constantly reminds us that we are people who believe in the God in whom we cannot see, while we live in the midst of circumstances, and we face all of these difficulties and problems that constantly call into question the existence and the involvement of the God in whom we cannot see. Right, and as believers, we live in a world where we're surrounded by things that come against us that we can see. In many cases, it causes us to forget the enemies in which we cannot see. All right. So we talked about this seeing and not seeing, all right? So those are the enemies. Those are the things we face now and saw maybe three after these attributes have been listed, after the enemies have been clearly identified by name, does he not identify all of them? Yes? He does. He then offers up, We're gonna call them two possible solutions to their problems. All right, there are two.

7:54 I'm gonna I gave one in the first hour. I'm gonna give both right now, back to back, everybody ready. The first one is found in verse nine and verse ten and verse eleven. Yeah, basically nine through eleven. What is the first solution that, asaf in a sense offers to God or implores God to institute, to put into action to help them with their current situation. All right. His first solution is, God, I need you in the present to intervene as you have in the past. That's their solution. We're going to be looking at that. What is the second solution? It starts in verse thirteen, all right, thirteen fourteen fifteen.

8:52 He offers up, and we'll call this this section an imprecatory prayer, at least almost in a precatory prayer. All right, it's prayer light. It doesn't quite fit the definition, but he gets close, all right, he offers, and everybody know what on precaratory prayer is. Its simply a prayer where you're asking God to destroy your enemies. All right, Okay, it doesn't quite reach that level because he doesn't seem to want him completely destroyed, because he wants them to seek God and know God. You can't seek and know if you're dead, right, okay. But so his basically his two solutions are this, God, do in the present what you've done in the past. And God, please fight against these enemies in a real, tangible way. We need you to act in a powerful way. And a very visible way. Basically, what they're saying is, God, we can't see you, but we can see these enemies, and we need the invisible God to intervene in this world and a way in which we can see, so that the enemies which we can see will be defeated by the God in whom we cannot see. Right. Sounds like a great solution, does it not?

10:09 All? Right? Now here is where the philosophical problem comes in. Right, So I'm gonna mention this in every church and Christianity in general. If you take the majority of people, I will probably say ninety five percent of the people, you can say, Hey, we need to cry out to God to do in the present as he has done in the past. And we can cry out to God and we can be assured that God will intervene, and God will protect us, and God will all the things that typically will be said in every church. Right, most people will sit there and go Amen, that was so encouraging, pastor praise God, okay, and then we'll do all of that. There's always just a few people, and I tend to be in this camp, which is why you know, it's been nothing but detrimental to my Christian life and detrimental to ministry and detrimental to everything. Probably my Christian life would be so much different if I could just go along with the majority. But I've never been able to because if I was alive at this time, I would have raised my hand and say, asaff got a question, you want God to do in the past, what you want God to do in the present? What he's done in the past. But here's the problem. His past involvement didn't stop the present situation.

11:26 So if we ask God to intervene in the present as he's done in the past, there's only at best tipperary because we know that the same problem is going to emerge in the future. And guess what, I don't even have to be that smart. I know that whatever God did in this situation, it did not fix the problems. Because if this happened during the time of David Well, Solomon comes along, there's a lot of killing. There's a lot of enemies that are still facing right, so the enemies didn't go away, And then why happened? Oh the kingdom splits and then just what you have enemies, war conflict, enemies war conflict, Babylonian captivity, the Assyrians come out of Babylonian captivity? Did all of their enemies go away when they come out of Babylonian captivity? No, we open up our New Testament, where do we find them under the Hill of Rome? And then that lasts until seventy eight and they're wiped off the face of the earth. Then the six million Jews are exterminated under Nazis. Under the Nazis, then they become a nation in nineteen forty eight, and what has it been since nineteen forty eight? Are their enemies gone? So God's past intervention in the present during the time of Asaf did not fix anything. Now that puts us in a very difficult situation because we're using Psaw eighty three going we can agree that all of those enemies, they describe all of our enemies to the t.

12:58 That's pretty awesome. Some ways, you're like, WHOA, that's really good that you took those characteristics and applied them to all of our spiritual enemies. I've never seen that before. That's an amazing sermon. Well maybe someone would say that until I do the next part, which everyone's going to hate. And the next part is I don't understand what The solution is because if God's intervention and their real situation didn't fix the problem, guess what I know about our spiritual situation. Here's what I know. After all of this time, whatever time we say, well, God intervened here, and God intervened here, and God intervened here, here are the things that still exist everyone ready, Satan, demons, sinful nature, and a world system that opposes and hates God. No matter how many times God is intervened, he is and on all of his intervention, he has not done what removed those things.

13:58 So this puts a and I knew you may want to write this one down because this is important. Israel were given promises by a God and whom they cannot see, and they were given promises and which they could not see. Those promises was that at some point in a future which they never experienced, what was going to happen, Israel would be in the land and all of their enemies would be defeated, subdued, destroyed, and there would be peace and there would be rest. The lamb would lay down with the lion. Everything would be wonderful, everything would be great. But in the meantime, while they were giving promises by a God in whom they cannot see. There were given promises in which they cannot see. They were living in the midst of circumstances which go against all of those promises. And guess what they are still experienced seeing the exact same thing. They have promises they cannot see from a God and whom they cannot see. But all of the realities around them are nothing like. All those realities which they can see are completely contradictory to the promises which they cannot see. And guess what, ladies and gentlemen, As that was true of Israel and Psaw eighty III, that is true of you today? Do you do you believe in a God and whom you cannot see, as that God whom you cannot see, giving you promises which you

15:31 cannot see. Yes, what are those promises? That we will one day be an eternity and there will be no more satan, no more sin, no more death, no more pain. Everything will be wonderful. But guess what we live in a world right now that is completely opposite to all of those promises. Now, I want to drive that point home because now what we're going to attempt to do you'll probably only get to one. We're going to look at how God intervened, and I think after the first one you may be as discouraged and as despondent as I am. All right, are you ready? Okay? So there was two solutions given. One, God do in the present as you've done in the past, and two intervene in a visible way against these enemies so that we can see You're invisible, the invisible God doing something that we can see. All right, all right, are you ready? Look at the very first one and Psalm eighty three nine through twelve. The Psalmist calls upon God to deal with the present enemies and a manner similar to how he has dealt with those past enemies. Here are some scriptures that provide details about God's past dealings with the enemies and some eighty three nine through twelve. That's from a commentary. All right, So that's great. And the reason I read that word for word is to show you that they see the same thing I see. Here at least someone agrees with me at this point. Okay, Now here's what we want to do.

17:00 As we're going to go through this first one, I want you to look carefully at what God did. I want you to look carefully at what God did, how he acted, and then I want us to see the consequences of it. And then I want us to ask ourselves and what way is that possible for us? In what way could this even apply to us? All right? Are you ready? The first one is in verse nine, Asaf cries out to God, deal with them? Who is the them? The enemy is listed in verse six, seven and eight. Everybody got that deal with them? As with Midian or Midianites. All right, here we go the Midianites, where one of the enemies mentioned in Psalm eighty three.

17:49 Can we all agree to that? All right, here's a little bit about the Midianites. Are you ready? We're going to go a crash course on the Midianites. Here we go. The Midianites were descendants of Midian, who was the son of Abraham through his wife. Her name is Katurah k E T k E T. You are ah right? The Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was the son of Abraham through his wife Katurah, meaning again, what is that that he had more than one life? Okay, all right, now she may be well, we'll call her a wife. I think some may say, well, we can get into an argument about that, all right. So they were related to the Israelites through their patriarchical lineage, so there's some relationship there, right. However, even though there's a relation, guess what. The Midianites were frequently in conflict with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. One significant event involving the Midianites was their alliance with the moa Bites and hiring someone to curse the Israelites. Does everyone remember who they hired? Balim? All right? Balem right, that's in numbers twenty two through twenty four. All right, So there's a history here, and guests not notice what they did. They made an alliance with the Moabites.

19:18 You see how the even their past enemies followed those same characteristics, right, conspiring together, working together to destroy Israel. So these enemies always follow the same attributes and characteristics. Okay, but wait what happens? Right? And Judges six through seven keep that in mind because we're gonna be looking at that. The Minianites along with other neighboring peoples. Did you hear that they conspired together? Do you see how the attributes are always the same, oppressed the Israelites for seven years. They would invade the land during harvest time, destroying crops in livestock. The oppression led to the right of Gideon as judge and deliver. Please note that that lasted for how long? Seven years? Now?

20:04 Please note we're already going all the way back to numbers and what has happened over and over and over again. The Midianites meaning God never did what in his past dealings with them, got rid of them. And even if he got rid of them, there would have been another nation to step in, right, which again is going to be very depressing as we move on right now throughout Through divine intervention, Gideon leads basically an army of Israelites to defeat the Midianite army. Right, and we're going to talk about that all right. The Midianites were often associated with idolatry and spiritual corruption, following the same attributes as we've talked about, right. They enticed the Israelites to worship foreign gods and engage and in moral practices, leading to the Vine judgment.

21:02 According to one commentary, by understanding these key points, readers of Saw maybe three can appreciate the historical context and significance of the Midianites in the Biblical narrative, which we just now have a better understanding. So the Midianites have been a constant problem, but God has dealt with them, at least in the past. So now Asaf is asking for what God to do in the present against the enemies listed in those verses before as he has done with the Midianites. All right, so far, so good. Now, if you take your Bibles and go to Judges chapter six, there's all kinds of names in all of this, So I'm not going to try to read. Like when I was trying to put this together, I kept debating with myself, right, because there's a part of me is like, well, do we just go through Judges six, chapter seven, and chapter eight? Well, then if I reading in this and trying to take it all apart, we'll finish this and you know I'll be dead. Okay. So so I'm gonna have to kind of if I may read parts of something, skip things, because I'm just trying to give us the basic overview. Is everyone okay with that?

22:12 All right? Start in Judges chapter six, Verse one. Then the children of Israel did evil and the side of the Lord. Now, let's stop right here. Okay, that's where all the issues begin. Now, if we're going to compare this to our spiritual problems, why did Israel continue to do evil in the side of the Lord. They have a sin nature. Oh, that's so good to hear. Don't blame it on the Egyptians. Don't blame it on the Midianites. Don't blame it on the weather, the food. Blame it on them. Because we have a sinful nature. Right, that's the problem. And please note that all now, has God been dealing with man sinful nature since Genesis three, or we'll say Genesis four, yes, up to now Judge six, What has God not done?

23:02 And all of that time not eliminated the sinful nature? And as a result of not eliminating the sinful nature, and guess what he's given law? Has that stopped man's sinful nature? No, because it was never intended to chay fix man's sinful nature. I cannot stray stress that enough. The law was never given to fix man's sinful nature. It was simply done to do what reveal it and condemn it, not to fix it. And the problem is not being fixed. Keep that in mind. This is going to be very important to this story. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian. In this case, God's actually using the Midianites, all right, Okay, all right? But and for how long? Seven years? And against prevailed, and the hand of Median prevailed against Israel because of the Midianites.

23:52 That should have Issrael made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up. Also Malakites now codasaw eighty three Amelek, same same enemies, or even showing up again right in night. Interesting all right, and the people of the east, so they're conspiring together following the exact same attributes. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox nor donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming as a numerous as locusts. Both they and their camels were without number, and they would enter the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried on to the Lord. They cried out to God. They probably offer some form of a lament. Yes. And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord said a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, thus says the Lord, God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage. And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and I gave you their land. Also, I said to you, I am the Lord, your God. Do not fear the gods of the Emirits and whose land you dwell.

25:22 But you have not obeyed my voice, which is a never ending problem. They never obey his voice. So we get the basic idea, all right. And then the Angel of the Lord come and set under a terbinith tree, which was an ophra, which belonged to joe Ash the Abbi Israite, which is the son of Gideon. He threshed wheat and the wine press. Okay, this is the call of Gideon. Everybody got that. We all know that story. The Angel of the Lord appears to a man named Gideon, calling him to deliver the Israelites from the Midianite If you look at Judges six, I think thirty three, we know Gideon has some questions here, in some doubts, right, He questions his ability to lead, but eventually accepts. Remember, he kind of goes through this thing trying to prove that God is actually there, that God's going to actually do something, because he's having some doubts. Right As far as Gideon, what is he?

26:22 He a man that may believe in a God in whom he cannot see. But God is making promises about doing something that he can see, and he's questioning whether God will do something. So in a sense, he ultimately we know ultimately how the story plays out. He tests God, does he not? And by having God do something that he can see? Does that make sense? Then look at verse thirty three. Right then all the Midianites and the Almalekites, the people of the East, gathered together, and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Then he blew the trumpet and the abbiezrites behind him, and he sent messengers throughout all Manassa, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to assure a zebulun Neptali, and they came to me up to meet them. Right, So guess what they all come now? They're all coming against them, and they're coming against them to do what wipe off Israel from the face of the earth. Does that and that sound like psaw maybe three? Yes? It does, all right? Now, so they're facing in a sense in psaw maybe three, they're facing a very similar situation, just with more enemies, all right. So then what happens here in this story, Well, if you look here verse thirty six O, Gideon said to God, if you will save Israel by my hand as you have said, look, I shall put a fleece of wool. So then what does he starts asking God to do? Here? He kind of tests God

27:52 to see if God will actually by doing something that he can see so he can believe in the promises which he cannot see. Does that mean make sense? We all know that story with the wool the fleece, do we? Okay? Every one you know that story if you don't, but it's all right there, okay, all right. So then in chapter seven, Gideon gathers an army to fight against the Minianites, and we start seeing this starting in chapter seven. Then Jeribal, that is Gideon. So if you ever wanted to pass Bible trivia, Jeribl is Gideon. Okay. So if someone asks you what's Gideon's other name, it is Jeribl, all right, okay.

28:33 And all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Herod, so that the camp of the Pidianites was on the north side of them, by the hill of Mora in the valley. And the Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands. Let Israel claim glory for itself against me, saying my own hand has saved me. Now, therefore, proclaim the hearing of the people, saying, whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead. And twenty two thousand of the people return, and ten thousand remain. That's a bad situation, okay, that's bad for an army. Hey, if anybody is afraid go home? And how many left twenty two thousand? I think is that the way that I think the New King James translates it that way? Has the NIV translated twenty two thousand? They go home? Now at this point, what are you thinking at this point? If you're just looking at this, this is a weird way for God to intervene. The one thing we do know here about God's intervention is when God intervenes, what does he at least according to this story, what does he not want to occur? According to this story, when God intervenes, what does he not want to occur?

30:00 He doesn't want Israel to take any credit. He doesn't want them to get any credit. He doesn't want them to get any glory, He doesn't want them to get any honor. Right now, that's that's an interesting concept we can put down when God intervenes, God does not want intervene in a way in which we get credit or anything for it. At the same time, that's gonna be very difficult, right because how does that translate to us? Well, that's gonna that's gonna lead to some I don't have any good answers here, right I don't have any good answers. Gideon gathers an army to fight against the Midianites, but he's instructed by God to reduce the number of men to demonstrate God's power and victory. He reduces the number. Does anybody know how many? You can look in the text, See if you can find it. Find the verse where it tells you how many is left.

30:53 What does it say with only three hundred men? Three hundred? What does he tell them to arm themselves with? See if you can find the verse. It's in Judge of seven. See if you can find what he tells them to arm themselves with? Okay, Verse sixteen? Does everybody see it?

31:34 Trumpets, pictures, and torches are lamps? Right? So three hundred men armed with what three things? Trumpets, pictures, right, and torches are lamps. Everybody see that? Verse sixteen seventeen? That's chapter seven, right, Sarah? Okay, yeah, yeah, seven, sixteen and seventeen. I'm just trying not to all of this for time's sake, right, because then you'll start pre I'll start trying to retell the story. Next thing you know, it turns into two hours. Okay, all right, So now at this point what do we do here? What do we do here? What do we do here? What do we do here? What do we do here? Right now? For them and their situation, they're having to believe in a God in whom they cannot see, who's telling them to do things they can see that absolutely seems to tell you they're about to be destroyed by the enemy in which they can see. So they're gonna have to believe that God's promised that He's gonna take care of this even though they can't see it, because they're being put in a situation that cause them to question everything. Can everone agree with that? All? Right? So how does this apply to us? This is a very difficult thing to consider right now.

32:51 We face enemies of all kinds. But we've named all of our enemies, right Okay. Now, on one hand, he's putting them in a situation where they are absolutely dependent upon God. Now we struggle with this, right and and a lot as Christians we struggle with this. So let's just steal first with the physical enemies and whom we can see. Let's deal with our physical enemies. When we take a story like this, it goes against everything that we typically the way we typically act right, I know. And when we're sitting in church, everyone will say God is my rock, He's my refuge, he's my shield, he is my protector. Nothing can happen to me apart from God's sovereign control. And everybody in church will say amen.

33:38 And then you go home and you do what, lock your door, you may have gun to protect yourself. You do this, you do that, you do this, you do that. Sounds like even though you're trusting in God, you're doing a lot of relying on what self. I mean, it's a big news. I mean, it's been in the news since twenty It's been going on throughout the I feel like the two thousands, but it's been going on for a long time. More and more churches have what now, armed guards with guns while we're singing God is my Rock, my protector, in my shield. No God, no enemy formed against me can prosper. But we all have guns. Well, what I don't understand, like, do you see how the world could look at this and go, you don't really trust God that much? You really don't. You don't because if you really trusted God, you would do what you would trust God.

34:31 So we immediately know we have a problem. Why because we believe in a god in whom we cannot see. But what can I see? Someone walk in with a gun. I can see that. And am I going to wait on a promise in which I cannot see? No, I'm gonna forget that praise song I just sung five minutes ago. I want someone to take that person out. No, we don't have guns here, we don't own guns here. But I've said a million times if that happened. Look, I'm not gonna sit there and say I trust God. I'm gonna be looking for every opportunity to get to that person as fast as I can, and I'm gonna utilize everything that I've ever been taught in martial arts to try to eliminate that threat, no matter how bloody and violent it may get. And I'm just gonna be honest with you. And I'm not gonna be thinking love my enemy. I'm not gonna be thinking turn the other cheek. I'm gonna be trying to break an arm, disarmed, snap a neck, or whatever else I need to do, and I'm not gonna be nice about it.

35:22 I'm just gonna be honest. In fact, someone probably would have to pull me off, right, Not because I'm tough, because I may get killed even attempting it, But it's just because that's how I would react, and probably many other people in here would react a very similar way. Right, And I can't say I'm not gonna sit term pretent I'm trusting God, so we always try to well, you can trust God, but you have to use common sense. I hear that all the time, right, Well, is this using common sense? This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in life. I mean, there's people in here been in the military.

36:04 Hey, guys, we're being deployed to this location. Here is the enemy we are facing. Here's why you're gonna take with you a torch, a picture, and a trumpet, and you're gonna march towards the enemy. I'd be like, hey, Levenworth, sounds really good. Right now, I will go to military prison. Just go ahead and send me there now, because I'm not doing this. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. We would be complaining and calling the commander, what come on, an idiot? So obviously we can't say, well, you have to do I hear that all the time. If I preach on the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, turn the other cheek, love your enemy, resist not evil. I've even had it here in this church. People say, well, you know that doesn't work in a real situation. You know, I'm gonna have a gut. Wait, I didn't write it. Why are you coming to me? Why are you come to me after a sermon to tell me, well, that's not what itdmitt. Tell God, I didn't do it. Okay, And if we're gonna and then it funny that I can change that command to turn the other cheek and resist not evil to something more accepting to me. But I can't go to other verses and do that.

37:22 Well, that thing about lust, I mean, come on, I mean that's not very realistic. Why can't I change that verse? Why can't a teenager change verses about premarital sex? Why can't homosexuals change verses about homicex? And it weird that we can always make the verse work for us? No, that versus maddening. I don't understand Jesus wanted me to turn the other cheek and love my enemy. I don't want to love my enemy. What do I want to do? To my enemy, destroy them. But here's here's the situation. And is this not like what is happening? Now we know what's happening. Why is God putting them in this situation? He's already established it. He doesn't want them to have any credit. He wants all the glory, and obviously he's God, he can demand that. All right.

38:15 So then what happens? Are they defeated? Is it right there in the text? They what is it verse? What? Nineteen? They blew the trumpet, broke the picture. They were in their hands. That I think that's that's nineteen in my Bible. So Gideon and the hundred men and the one hundred man who was with him, did he lower it to even one hundred? Oh? Drovided him into groups? Okay, great, okay, thank you. I was like, wait a minute, all right, three companies. Very good. So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch, and they blew the trumpet, broke the picture. Sure were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pictures that held the torches in their hands, and the trumpets in their right hand for blowing. And they cried the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, and every man stood in his place all around the camp, and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpet, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp, and the army fled. And then it tells you all the different places they fled towards. Right, okay, right, And the men of Israel gathered together named Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephriam, seeing come down against the Midianites, and sees from them the wiring places as far as Beth Barrah and the Jordan. Then all the

39:45 men of Ephrium gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barrah and the Jordan. And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Orb, and Zeb they killed at the wine press of zeb Zud Midian and brought the heads of Orb and Zeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan. There's victory. The enemies are defeated, and so what Ediseph is asking God, we want you to intervene in the same way in the present. Now, in some ways you're saying you want God to intervene in a way that may contradict all logic and reason. But the ultimate thing, what does he want? He wants God to defeat the enemies. Sounds great, sounds wonderful. Right. Now, here's where things get weird. Chapter eight. After the victory, Gideon pursues the king's of Midian and defeats them. Look at Judges Chapter eight, verse twenty two. Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, rule over us, both you and your son and your grandson also, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. All right. They want him to basically become ruler, become king. All right? Sounds good, makes sense?

41:12 Right? What's the next? Very much a human persuasive which in a roundabout way, that's Stephen just brought up a good point. I wasn't even thinking. This kind of reflects something, right, when they want Gideon to rule over them and their minds? Who were they? Who they are giving credit for the victory Gideon, which is the whole point was they weren't supposed to get any of the glory of the honor, so maybe they missed the entire point. Maybe that's the first sign what happens in the next verse things start getting really weird. The Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall rule over you. That's sounds very spiritual, right, You're like, wait to go, Gideon. Then Gideon said to them, I would like to make a request of you that Ivechivu would give me the ear rings from his plunder, for they had gold ear rings because they were ishmaelites. So they answered, we will gladly give them. And they spared out, and they spread out a garment, and each man threw in to it the ear rings from his plunder. Now, the weight of the gold earnings that he requested was one thousand, seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent or ornaments, pendants and purple robes which were on the king's of Midian, and besides the chains they're around their camel's necks. Then Gideon made it into an e fod.

42:49 Okay, what is happening here? All right? So Gideon's like, hey, guys, I don't want any I don't want to rule, but I will take a lot of material possessions here. And he makes what an ephod? Why is he making an ephod? What is going down here? What's happening here? Right? Okay? And he set it up in the city of Ophrah, and all Israel played the the harlot or how does the king James puts it? They went a whoring with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house. What is going on with this ephod? What is Gideon doing? God just delivered them in a powerful, miraculous way, and his first thought is I need to make an ephod.

43:45 Gideon is held as a hero, but he makes an ephod, an idolatrous object out of the gold plundered from the Midianites and judges ate. It has mentioned that Gideon made an ephod from the gold he had taken as a plunder and ephod was a garment worn by priest or high priest in ancient Israel, particular in the context of the tabernacle and a letter in the temple. The ephod was a significant sacred investment associated with religious rituals and seeking of divine guidance. The epod was typically made of fine linen and embroidered with gold thread, adorned with precious gemstones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. It had two shoulder pieces with onyx stones engraved with the names of the six tribes on each.

44:34 The ephod also contained a breastplate called the Breastplate of Judgment that held the urim and the thummen, objects used for seeking God's will throughout divine communication through divine communication. In this case, it seems that he made an ephod using the gold plundered from their enemies. The act is seen as problematic because the ephod was meant to be a say great object for religious purposes and not to be missued for personal gain. Are idolatrous practices. It is likely that Gideon's actions led to negative consequences among the Israelites, as the epha odd became associated with idolatry and deviated from its intended purpose in worshiping the true God. What in the world is Gideon doing? What is he doing? Yeah, he's he's all. This whole thing becomes false worship and idolatry. I mean the text says, after he sets it up, what do the people do the King James, They go ahoorring. They are committing spiritual adultery. They are becoming idolatrous. Now immediately, when I'm reading this story, you know what I'm thinking, Well, so I'm glad you got rid of the media, and I God, I'm glad you got rid of the Midianites. But guess what he didn't get rid of. The story started with what would be the problem

46:10 Israel and their sin nature, and the story now ends with guess what's still on display? The send nature. Oh but wait, there's more. Gideon's not done yet. Okay, all right, so they played the harlot. They look at verse twenty eight. Thus Midian was subdued before the children of visual so that they lifted their heads no more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon. Now that's good, right, because now there's that temporary peace. Now the question is, okay, great, Now do we know that that's the end of the problems. We know there's going to be more enemy enemies. Then Jerebel, the son of Joe Ash went and dwelt in his own house. Gideon had seventy sons, who was his own offspring, for he had many wives, and his verse thirty one, his concubine, who was in Shechem, also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. Now Gideon, the son of joe Ash, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of joe Ash, his father in Ophrah of the abbey Israels, right, And so please note how does the story end, Gideon? How does it end?

47:32 He ends as an idolatr, a polygamist, an adulterer. Does that change your perception of the defeat? Hey? Hey, God intervene in the past like you. I intervened in the president, like you did in the past. But that past victory, how do you kind of rate that past victory? Well, look, immediately, what happens in the next verse, everybody, look at the next verse. What happens in the next verse. Not only have they already been in idolatry, because that's in verse twenty seven, right, they already start playing the whore in twenty seven. Now look what happens. So as soon as the Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the balls on the bells and made be all beareth their God. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord, their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side, nor did they show kindness to the house of cherubaal Gideon and accordance with the good he had done for Israel. Then, in fact, they forget him. They don't even remember him, and they forget God.

48:59 So now, so let's look at it from two perspectives. Okay, we're not gonna be able to get to the next one in Saw eighty three. You can go back to Psamti three. The next one is whom is cesera? All right? Our cesa? Okay, we will. We can't get to that one right now, but we get to this one all right. So here, what can we What can we draw from God's intervention in the past. Well, God intervened in the past in a way that first did what made no sense from a human perspective, can we agree? Two, it was designed that the people got no credit and that God got all the credit. And number three, it did not change anything inside the people.

49:46 And number four, even though it eliminated the Midianites for a period of time. Just look at judges. See we won't take long. I see here, if you just start immediately looking in chapter nine, there's gonna be what enemies to deal with. There's gonna be enemies to deal with starting in chapter nine. Do you see that? And there's gonna be enemies where in chapter ten, And there's gonna be what enemies in chapter eleven, and there's gonna be enemies in chapter twelve. Okay, do you get the point. There's gonna be enemies throughout. So it does not defeat the enemies. It does not ultimately eliminate the enemies. So here again, let's just take these basic elements. When God intervenes in the past, right, and they're asking for God to do the same thing in the present. God's actions in the past one made no sense from a human perspective. Agreed two was designed that the people got no credit, but God got all the credit. Number three did not change the internal sinful nature of the people, and number four did not eliminate all the threads. Now, if we're going to say, okay, the enemies we face maintained the same attributes and characteristics as they do in PSAUW

51:17 eighty three, and we can say amen to that. We've demonstrated that countless times. Can we look to this possible solution to us? Well, if we look to this possible solution for us, what would we be asking God intervene like you've done in the past and the present. But then first we would have to ask ourselves, does God intervene that way in twenty twenty four? Well? If God intervened that way in twenty twenty four, well then we would have armies fighting with pictures trumps. So I don't think we can make that what prescriptive. I think we can just make it descriptive. Right, But if we say, well, God intervene, God intervene, even if was God was to intervene in some supernatural way, what are we absolutely guaranteed of Number One? It wouldn't make any sense to our minds. Number two, it's not gonna change our nature. Number three, it's not going to eliminate all the enemies. So then we have to what do we do with this? What do I do with this? I can try to formulate some great spiritual picture. Let me once again just drive this point home.

52:28 You and I are constantly going to live our lives where we are facing these enemies. And this is what you can know about the enemies we face them. We've already outlined them. Right, what can you know about the enemies? God is not going to remove them until eternity. They're going to continue to exist. They're going to continue to fight against you. So guess where what your dilemma is. You're gonna have to face these enemies believing in a God in whom you cannot see, while facing enemies which you can see. And you're going to struggle with doubting the God whom you cannot see. But your only hope is holding onto promises which you can not see. I cannot see these promises in any tangible way, can I? I can read about the promises that there'll be a new heven and new Earth, no more pain, no more sin, no more death, and I can say amen to that. But can have you ever experienced that? No? Haven't ever experienced that. So in the meantime, I've got to show and in a roundabout way, this is that not Israel's existence. Did they believe in a God in whom they cannot see? Or are they facing enemies which they could see?

53:40 Now? God gave them promises. In some cases those promises showed up in a way which they could see, but it never did, what ever, eliminate the problem. They kept falling into the same problem with the same enemies. So ultimately, and in fact, God was doing these things because he was keeping a promise which they ultimately never could see, which is one day they'll be in the land and all their enemies will be destroyed. In fact, in some ways Israel's existence is parallel to what ours. I wish I could be. The way most people would preach this, they would go to Psalm. This is how most people would preach this. They would go to Judges six through eight. You've probably if you don't believe me, get on the sermons two point zero app today and look up sermons on Judge seven right about how Gideon defeats the Midianites. Just look for sermons on there, and you report back to me what you hear. I can pretty much predict how it goes. God intervene in a powerful way. Yet it went against man's reason at once against this. And so if we believe God by faith, God will intervene in our situation, and it may go against her, and it will be all these promises of how God's going to step in and fix your problem, take care of all your situation, and He's gonna do it well. The only problem with that is, first, it's not going to eliminate whatever the problem you think it is. And even if it does, it's only temporary because already demonstrated all the problems are going to continue.

55:01 And not only that, you're taking a passage. I don't think has anything prescribing how God's going to act for me. He's only describing how he acted then. And why did God act certain ways with Israel? Why did God act certain ways with Israel that we cannot take those promises for us? What is the main difference. He made a covenant with them, and that covenant guaranteed that what would happen, that Israel would have to continue to exist because from Israel came the Messiah. And not only that, he made promises that Israel would one day be and a land and receive all of those promises.

55:43 So he had to intervene in some cases to keep them alive. That's different than us, But we love to run to those promises and try to tell everyone at church, Hey, whenever you're facing an army of problems. You trust in God, and it may God may tell you to do something that makes no sense. It may be like buying a trumpet and a picture and a lamp, and you do you do whatever God. Well, first, then that has God talking to you outside of scripture. Problem again, all right. And the second it almost sounds like God's going to intervene in every one of your problems and fix it. Well, God doesn't intervene in every one of your problems and fix them. And I cannot stress it enough.

56:24 We even see here, especially with our spiritual enemies, any intervention is what let's just be blunt, how can we say this? Any intervention on God's part with our spiritual enemies is what ultimately temporary at best, and I hate to say it from an earthly perspective, somewhat meaningless because it's not gonna change anything. God stops Satan today, Satan's going to be right back tomorrow. If God stops demons today, they're gonna be right back tomorrow. If he stops the world's system today, is gonna be right back tomorrow. And he never truly stops my sinful nature, cause if he stopped my sinful nature.

57:07 That would be a day without sin. And I don't know what I would do if I experienced a day without sin. What would you do? I don't know. I would be like, something is wrong. I'd like, I'm gonna kill myself now, right, I just made it twenty four hours without sin. D n Okay, I'm going out on top, all right, because I made it. Now, you said, but that would be a sin. Okay, well I know, so then I would kind of mess up my streak. Okay, but I'm gonna mess up the streak anyway, So why don't just go out with that sin? All right? Okay? Then then, okay, that'll be the best, right is that that's not the solution? Okay, Okay, I don't think that's probably a good idea. But you get the frustration with the whole thing, right, It's always like God will intervene, God will do this, God will do that, God will do this, and then but then we turn around and go But the reality is, and even preachers who preach that almost inevitably will contradict themselves sometimes in the same sermon. You know, well, God will do this and do this, but we're gonna based problems and difficult. Well, then that means God's not doing what getting rid of this situation. So we can we can. We're gonna leave here depressed, but we will leave here knowing this. Our promise is an eternal promise, and that guarantee of that promise is not what you do or what I do. It's what Christ did.

58:21 That's good news. It's not dependent on me. I man, I can relax now, Okay, good right, I get that. No matter what I do or don't. I know, people are gonna lose their mind when they hear me say that, But I get that no matter what I do, because no matter what I do can't change what Christ did because it's not based on what I do. And if it's based on what I do, then what Christ did was useless. All right, Okay, so we're not going there, all right, So we're already reject that. So I'm glad I got that. But in the meantime, here's what I know. I've got a list of enemies that are just like the Enemies's role was facing in Psalm eighty three, And just as God intervened on their behalf, the Midianites, it did not ultimately get rid of their enemies, and it did not change anything. And we're gonna leave here today, and no matter how much God may intervene, here's what's going to continue to exist until you die.

59:10 Satan, demons, sin nature, and a world system that hates God. And until he comes back, that's your life. Yay, church is great? Come on, how come I don't get the applause and all the stuff that other the pastors gety okay, all right, well, because well nobody else wants to preach it that way. But that's that's the when I looked at the when I get to the end of that thing with Midian, I'm like, this story ends like trash, Like what this ends horribly?

59:51 The people go ahooring, Gideon's making any fought, He's hanging out with his multiple wives and concubine. I'm like, what is going on? And then yeah, there's no happy ending to everybody wants to stop before that. Oh, God's victory. Well, God's victory didn't change the real problem. So then does that that leaves us a question? Why then does God not just get rid of all of our enemies? Why does he not get rid of our sinful nature? And the only thing I can say somehow sin and failure is a part of God's and that sounds like I'm making an excuse. I'm not trying to make an excuse. I don't want anyone to perceive that I'm making an excuse. Any sin that I've ever committed was wrong, and he sin that I'm committing is wrong. And he sin that I commit tomorrow or today will be wrong. It will always be wrong. But at the same time, I cannot deny God could intervene and could could stop a lot of problems, right. I mean, even when you take Abraham when he's like, hey, Sarah, hey, look you go, you're you're my sister.

1:01:00 You know, whatever happens happens, right, God could have intervened. You know why I know he could intervene because right before that story happens, he intervenes and speaks to Abraham two times, two times in Genesis twelve twice. Then a famine happens in the land, and guess what God does silent, And so Abram's like, I got all these people with me, We're gonna die. Anybody know where food is. Egypt's got a McDonald's open, let's go. So they start heading to Egypt man, He's like, well, wait a minute, we're gonna does God intervene? Now silent? So Sarah's Sarah's taking Abram's kicking back eating. I don't know what he's doing, Like he doesn't seem too worried about the situation, right, And then guess what, God finally intervenes. What my question, why didn't he intervene before they even went down to Egypt? You gonna stop the whole thing? And then not only that, and and then God does not say anything negative about what Abram did. There's no condemnation, there is no rebuke. And then Abram does the exact same thing again and God intervenes, but there and there's other situations in Therebody be like God could have intervened and stopped what murder?

1:02:20 I mean, you don't think God could have found a way to stop David from having Bashiba's husband killed, Like, you don't think you could have just done like he would. It wouldn't even take the parting of the Red Sea, would it? And is that always bizarre about how God acts? Like I don't understand, Like this is a thing Christian struggled with. And I'll end with this. Everyone knows the horrible thing that happened yesterday with someone attempting to assassinate Donald Trump. Everyone saw that, right, and almost instantaneously there were things going around the internet, and there's these pictures of there's Donald Trump and this guy like Jesus behind him or Jesus got his arms and thank you God for protecting our president, Thank you for preserving Donald Trump. But I wanted to raise my hand and go so he could preserve Trump who was up on the platform. But the person who was in the audience who died, God was just like, sorry, peace out. That's hard to reconcile, is it not. He could be preserved, but the person in the audience who was just there and I saw the interview with the doctor who tried to give you know, chest compressions, and the person was gone. You know, the person died. They just went to a political rally and they're dead.

1:03:36 Now, if you're gonna say God preserved one, then you got to what do you have to say, he did not preserve the other. And if he could intervene for one, then he could intervene for the other. Now nobody wants to say that because that sounds horrible, but that's the reality of our life, right God, thank you? Yeah, yeah, he could have stopped it from the gun, could have just not worked. It wouldn't even have been a big miracle right click click it won't work, or just allow someone to see him when he was climbing up the little platform that was about four hundred feet away and platform. There's a million things that we wouldn't even looked like what a miracle, But God doesn't. And that's the thing we have to struggle with. We know these enemies, and I know God can intervene at any time, but he doesn't intervene to stop our enemies in any meaningful way. So just as Israel continued to face enemies and continue to fail and continue to send their promise, is where in the future and can they see that promise? Go talk to people in Israel. They can't see a promise. They see people bombing them. They don't even control the temple mound. They're like, what is this? But those promises are still in our Bible, right and I see all these promises that there's going to be a new heaven and a new Earth and there's going to be no more pain. And you know what, sometimes I feel like, give me a

1:05:06 break, Give me a break, because what do I want? I want that now. No more sin, no more pain, no more death, no more assassinations, no more assassination in attempts, no more people being killed, no more children being molested, nobody dying of cancer. That's what I would like, and I guess where I want it now. And too many times, as Christians, we try to take the promises which we cannot see and bring them into the present and claim that they're active. But guess what, Everyone who makes those claims end up looking foolish because you can claim all day that we basically can be sinless, and guess what we're not going to be other than I can convince myself that I'm sinning less by focusing on the external things which I stay away from, but that doesn't do a thing in here or in here right, I can be the most righteous man in the world standing here. What you see, You have no idea what's going on?

1:06:10 And here, guess what the same thing. Don't look at me all shocked. I don't know what's going on inside of you except you want me to shut up because you're ready to go home, all right, So we'll stop there because I can feel that. All right, right, let's pray, Lord God, we come before you this afternoon. Lord. The one thing we as human beings are is if we're honest with ourselves, confused and sometimes bothered by what you do and what you don't do. And to deny that, Lord, we would be liars. We struggle with it. But as we struggle, we hold on to a faith in You whom we cannot see, hoping and trusting and promises that have yet to be fulfilled that one day they will and everything will be different. Forgive us for me be our doubt. Forgive me for maybe my discouragement, despair and cynicism. But Lord, all I can do is cling that somehow you exist, and somehow there's a plan and purpose that I may never understand. And we asked this in Jesus name, and God's people said