The Torah Revolution in Faith and Ethics #1

Morning. Book your tools for most of you.

Yes, we go way back. It's amazing. I've been here many times and so some of you are very old friends of mine, I guess you haven't aged, I have but it's wonderful. The year, Sarah blessing, it's a blessing to be agent in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament and so I don't have a problem with a Old Testament cuz old is better anyhow. But and so honestly this it that's the people you are on earth. The Lord says honor your your your Saucony, your agent, your elders. And so it turns 55, so I guess now I can get the discount. I haven't found a discount yet but I'm so we go way back, I guess here. I'm going to take a sip and now I feel like a weight. If I stand with a bottle in my hand I'll be like tonight.

How many years do you know, who were talking about Joy, prior, how many of you are? Not sure if we were talking about that is great to have new. How many people are new to this place? Okay good. So we have some visitors and some Prince and Prince wonderful. How many if you listen to the Bible project? Okay, wonderful. Yes you can say, it's interesting to see what your background is and where you're coming from. For some of you that don't really realize, they were talking about the Bible project has been, they've been reading through the Torah this past year. That's a wonderful thing and we're going to attack you about the Torah.

Well, I'll guess I'll talk about a little bit later. I want to get started on her because we have many things for spring many slides and too much to talk about but don't want to bless you with what we're going to discuss this morning. I will start with a C. The simplest question, why the Torah? And for most of you here you're already tuned and I come from ozren background and the lutherans Are the first ones to say hogali. We're so glad to be done with the law and so I had serious issues with this whole thing of which require some I'm doing. And I realized even as I'm speaking to you folks. I'm also we're going to record this and other people be listening. And like, why are you talking about this? So I need to explain to people why I should say. I am. I am not a Messianic Jew. I am a Christian who loves to understand the jewishness of Jesus. I want more people to stay in their churches and be eager to learn rather than moving away into another fellowship. Because why is the church lost its roots. Do decades ago is like we haven't heard anything but not a lot of people have heard. They have to keep sharing it with their friends and so I feel pretty strongly that I need to affirm being part of a traditional church so I don't want to step on toes. I know a place where passions are high but he's a firm you in your walk and yet I want Christians to love their scriptures and know their lord much better through the scripture. So I also give you my other caveat. I use more standard terms like Jesus and Old Testament Hebrew Bible. And I can say yes you are, but I'm not strong on there are certain words that are to die for and I will speak so that I can reach an audience of newcomers that one, no, understand more instead of shoot over their heads and talking Language that they don't understand. So that's it, you're white. Why does she do that? She has a purpose. She has a reason. I really if we are calling is to be disciples, make disciples and to share the knowledge that we have been blessed with with others. And you have to be able to speak their language and respect and not be angry with people were in a push, back on them before they even start, I'm sorry. I'll just give you a little perspective to where I come from. So please be patient. If I don't use the words that you're used to it if I say Christ and Old Testament and Jesus and all of those traditional Christian words that are very, they are so precious and important, incredible words to us, even if other people have changed their vocabulary and always speak about Torah and apostles and scripture. Okay, thanks for listening.

Why? The Torah.

Even though. I am a traditional Christian I and I am not tour observant and I have not gone down the path of aiming to. We are not cold. After X-15 the church said, Gentiles are not they're not required to observe the whole Torah and I said, okay and yet but yet we can learn Greek wisdom and the prophet Isaiah as But in the end, it shall come to pass in the latter days. Many peoples will come. And they will say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the god of Jacob that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his path. So that's why we care. We love to learn for out of Zion shall go forth book, turn off the light in the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And so I am one of the many years. Like okay, yay. Let's hear more of the ways of the Lord. Okay. and, I will also.

One more thing. I was given some mints, can somebody bring my mints forever if you see mints there or you have your own mints and want to donate them, Okay.

Yeah, cough. Drops that be good. There we go. There we go. This is cough. Drop donations. I'm good to go now. I'll be good.

Will edit this out.

I hope.

another basic, but important thing is that the word Pariah in Hebrew, in the Septuagint, they translated it as no most Greek law, but it is a bigger, wider word actually means instruction is, when you shoot an arrow, It means you you died and you Eames and you instruct try and it's more like teaching that it is the rules in angry sings. The teaching of the Lord is his delight and he studies that teaching day and night that's someone Another the song is and that's the Jewish translation and that the Anar translation, it says, the law of the Lord, is his studies at law day and night. And he knows my Lutheran background. We're like, we want to be done with that. No, this is why would it be your Delight? What what about the ways of the Lord? Don't you want to learn the ways of the Lord? So yes, that's right. I realize I'm speaking to the preaching to the choir here and we find in Proverbs 31. She opens her mouth with wisdom and the turoff of kind of store is on her tongue. So even though the noble wife, she speaks her own Toronto, she teaches for children, and and so if she's it's teaching when God teaches he wants it done and so in that sense it has the force of law. I think I already have convinced you folks that are sitting here at least so, but I need to start with some very good news, that is going to come from a very strange Source, you think. I'm just going straight to the Bible, I'm going to be one of this very surprising place. From a popular book that came out. Call Scott Dominion by Tom Holland, anybody heard of him, okay? Yes he is a very liberal secular guy and he went to Oxford to you loves to write ancient history of the Romans and the Greeks in when he was a kid. He grew up in the church in England, but he boy, he's like, much of the world is a, do you know, the Greeks and the Romans? They were the ones that built Society. They're so wonderful. I love them so much. And so he read all of these biographies of these Big fat books about Roman history but then he started noticing as he dug deeper and deeper into Greeks and Romans. that as much as he idolized him as a kid, he really was horrified at the way they lived and he objected to it and he said a quote from him these peoples, He found them fascinated by their complete other nurse in the power of the Greco-Roman world.

Yep, they were also terrifying. The Eugenics of the Spartans, the slavery of the Romans the routine Slaughter of gladiatorial games, the exposure of unwanted, infants, especially girls the rapacious subjection of women the public crucifixions and the torture of criminals like a horror movie. It was all unsettling it, even if it was fascinating. And he said, they're saying. Why is it that? I'm so horrified by these people who were so influential, why is it that our society thinks so differently than they do? Where's the Roman world? Brutalized and oppress the weak. The Contemporary Western World defer, to, and cared for the week hospitals, and nursing homes. And you name it. We have all sorts of Institutions not perfectly, but in ideal course, no one in ancient Rome played the victim card or, you know, that's you hear that. A lot has to accept so lost, right? Because in Rome victims were not, honorable, they were despised. That might made, right? And that was just the way the work. And so remember the me-too movement, you know women who said, yeah, but My boss. Give me a number that. Then I'm a victim. We, we understood that even those men men were sympathetic with assaulted women and they understood that that this is horrifying and we need to put a stamp it out nuts. That was just, it was just the way the world worked back then. And that was just, how life was, why is it so different? And he came to the shocking conclusion? That it was Christianity. Change the way the whole world thinks so and this is what he said is that, you know, when the this image of Christ died on the cross, this horrible torture and boy in his books. Honestly, I'm not keen on reading his writing cuz he loves the graphic imagery of torture and things like that and crucifixion. But that that punishment was reserved for the slaves and slaves were the dregs of society. They were amazed. That's what they were considered and you brutalize them and you made it as horrifying and awful as possible and the image of

Christ dying. The death of a Slave. And being utterly defeated yet him being the very image of God and being the Supreme king of the world was. So earth-shattering, I just like a bomb dropped in their world. Wow. And that changed the whole world. Wow. Wasn't that wonderful. Okay. And then he said, because of Christianity. We do care about the sanctity of human life. You're going to hear about the old fashioned. You know, we talked about abortion is a big issue right now. Back in the olden days, infanticide was what you did, that's how it was done. It's still done in some places in the world so that was their problem. And so sanctity of human life is a Christian issue, wasn't really an issue and it still isn't too. Some people even today, respect for women, of course. Racial equality. You know we're not perfect but we at least care about these things right here for the poor. We realize that's what we're supposed to do and liberation of victims of Oppression. Of course these are and his claim is Christianity, brought all of this. That's great. But what I found so ironic is there are there's a whole nother set of Scholars ratings, a very interesting parallel their Jewish colors completely. They've been writing for about the past 30 years who been saying You know, it's the Torah that changed the world or at least change the juice. And so, I probably can't read this details on there. This is a book called Justice for All in the father is Jeremiah unterman and he says, modern ethics have been transformed by the Jewish Bible. And so I actually wanted think about that. With your, here's another one it's called created equal by Joshua. Behrmann. I love Joshua boy, put him down at your list. You see, Doug is vehement Lee nodding his head there? Yes, I love Joshua. Behrmann, he he loves the Lord, wonderful, but that, when you read the Torah closely, you see it pushing back on how they thought and lived in a way that was transformational. That's what I want to talk about with you today, okay? And see how I don't want to make it into a competition between Christianity and Torah. I want to understand how was the Lord using this book and changing people from within, I think the Lord Was preparing the god-fearers that will and we'll talk about that. So what was unique that we find in the About, you know, its teachings on God and slavery equality, women and the sanctity of life, so, you can see. There's a few things to talk about. So bitter talk faster, so so but first Part of our problem. What's really interesting is that we have been so transformed that we can't imagine living in the world. That Tom Holland was reading about this world that brutalized, the poor and the women. And if you were a Slave You had no rights even over your body and people you know, and I heard them Middleton when he was speaking and people talk about. But what am I hate that they used Hager and told her to sleep with Abraham? Yes, she's a Slave. Why would you think that would not be a thing that they would do? You know, we are, we are sensibilities Adventures. Those shaped by our thinking that we have a hard time, imagining what people like before now. It's so let's look at the world that the Torah was looking into. What was the ancient world? Like I know you cannot read The Little Prince on these. It it this is actually a all these little bars here are the this is the data that comes from when they were studying prehistoric. Digs the archaeological world, Took a look at it while I'm there.

In, not too many decades ago, the overall thinking of of the anthropology and history was that, you know, the indigenous peoples around the world. We're living in peacekeeping. They have wonderful cultures until the Western imperialist came and turn them into warlike people. Until they started actually doing the history and digging up their bones and discovering that what you can't see is the Griff. The grass goes over to about 60% and this is the fraction of the skeletons that when they dug them up, they found arrowheads and chat marks in them died. These are men who died violent deaths in. The top one, is the crow Creek massacre in Missouri. There is where people are absolutely decimated by violence. And you can see that in just about every ancient burial ground that they have found the incredible amount of violence. But you can see everybody died while the men, especially a big fraction of men die, violent deaths, there was a lack of or okay? How much are pure this? These are modern societies. And this is the same grid. So you can see the 13th to go to the bars, on the top here. And I'm very one way up there, right there. You can't even see it. That's the amount of people who die violent deaths. No. See this right here. You can't even see it. Compared to hear, we're half of your half of the men are killed versus meaning of fraction. So we are very peace-loving person even though we still have worse and you know right now with the Russia and Ukraine and we're just outraged, how dare you invade another country. Yeah we just do that. That's what you just did that. That's what they did back then. So here's a quote from the book War before civilization. What I discovered as they were studying as they said peaceful pre-state societies were very rare and War be good between them was very frequent and most A Min Suk repeatedly in our lifetime. So I mean what I say, what we shouldn't be saying is they're all horrible, and they were, there were wonderful cultures and wonderful people's and delightful. Many of them had delightful traditions and got wiped out. And certainly we have, sometimes we have not been so good in their ways of interacting coming in as imperialists and Colonial, listen wiping out the indigenous peoples. And yet there was an awful lot of violence.

So frequent battles and that those battles, you know, it was just you and I were in the book of when they're talking about David and Bathsheba, it was in the springtime. When kings go up for it was part of their yearly. Budget was how much they would pillage from other country store Kings. That's just how they did. You and one week they see why didn't they just set them free after the battle? I don't know. Know know, all the men would be the Waverly PL raped and then you'd use the women as slaves and the children is slave to That's how you do. That's how wars were done back then. And In the ancient near East, you know, how do you reign in violence and you keep people from from attacking you. When you're just a little tribe, you don't have a big government. You don't have police officers, you don't have 911 that you can call on your cell phone. You just have to keep people. Restrained pencil. I think it made sense at the time is that you said. If you were a woman out there in a walking along, you say, don't touch me. I got this big brother, he's going to kill you, I just stay away from me. Go away and you need to have a kinsman. Redeemer, who would would have been any violence against you. That's just how it was. Of course, and you spend the most important person who maintained order and I'm sure it was loving and wonderful was the patriarch. You know, Abraham picture. That's good, that's fine. They had, they had other Especially in the Greco-Roman world. Had an utter control over their family and they both owns the life of their family members. I have an African friend, you're going to hear about it, probably will talk about that in a few minutes but keep going for right now. If you can see this, this is a this is a ancient carving of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh. Anybody have heard of the Epic of Gilgamesh? Yes.

And it reminds me of all the Epic of Gilgamesh tells it's got its own flood story. What your member in our flood story. The reason why God sent the flood is because the Lord saw that, the wickedness of man was great. In that, every intention of the thoughts of his, heart was only evil continually in the Lord regretted that he had made, man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart right now, after I've given you more data and really good data and not just 50 years ago. When people think, everybody know the real beta says, no, and you can see why God was grieved, that's what we're talking about. It to me, that makes much more sense. What's interesting is what God, the Bible has the knowledge of the cultures around and it often takes those things and pushes back on them and wash them and teaches a new thing. And even the Gilgamesh epic has a story of a flood which is that some of you might know about that. And if you might be worried, wait, it's just kind of parallel to ours that the God sent a flood but these gods Human beings aren't the sleeves of the Gods. That's all the humans are or miserable laughable terrible. Little peons that are worthless except for feeding them because they don't want to have to prepare food. So if you prepare sacrifices, they don't have to do that. So

And then he got tired of listening to too much noise, coming from humans. and so, The gods said.

We think we're going to send a flood to just destroy all of those awful humans because they're just too loud. Doesn't sound like they're grieved by our violence. It just sounds like they're bothered by our loudness. You can see the difference here. Okay. And but then they say, you know, after the flood then they decide never to send the flood again, which is, of course, what we have in our Bible. But the reason why is because they miss eating the sacrifices, and they said, boy, we get hungry if they don't prepare your meals. So so they said the way will restrain them and keep their numbers down, as we will have will make the women struggle with fertility and will keep their numbers down that way. But you can feel that you feel that there is absolutely no. Comparison her love for Humanity here. It's just very were the brutal dictators and we will keep them in control. Whereas in the biblical flood account godson's floods, to destroy the corruption of human evil, which is so horrifying. It's destroying the planet. End. But when it's over, he says. He savors their worship. and he says, I'm going to find a different way to

Redeem Humanity, then to just wipe them out. Yes. Human beings can be terrible. Just incredible. There's as it sets up from the very beginning. This is an answer to the feel ojans questions that people keep asking. Like the Bible doesn't have an answer within the first few chapters of, how can a good God. Tolerate the sinfulness of the world. Boy, everybody says that does that mean he's impotent, does it mean that he doesn't care? I don't believe in God cuz he didn't. He didn't wave his magic wand and make it go away. It's Ruth.

The answer is. Is not a magical Force floating around. Sam is you rebelling against God says, don't do that. Y'all are do it anyhow. And the way God deals with that is he Brings an end to the center. That's what he did. He said, well we can wipe out the Sinners that will clean up the Earth. Oh no. It is deep within the human heart. I need to find a different way and

Jewish some Christian theologians who said in some way that difficult Paradox of the preciousness of humanity that God created humans and they're very good. and then on the other hand, the evil that's so horrible and it's it grieved him to his heart that God is saying I will suffer along with Humanity. In their own suffering because he cares. So deeply about those who suffer. He resigned himself to suffer along with us as he finds a different way to redeem us. When we all know that punchline, you can see how it's pointing straight towards Christ. It's a much more elegant. Beautiful answer to a difficult theological problem and it's right there in Genesis, wow.

He he does. And in a few new rules, he says, okay, you can eat animal flesh. I think he said well, I guess you guys are good at killing. I guess I'll put the fear into animals and then you can eat some of them. But then he says, but for your this is in Genesis 9, 5 and 6, for your lifeblood, I will require a reckoning for every Beast. I will requirement in from man, from the, from a fellow man. I will requiring the Reckoning for the life of man who ever sheds. The blood of Man, by man, shall his blood? Be shed for God, made man, in his own image. Humans are precious and you will be held Accountable, for those who take the lives of others, men and women, right? I should say. you know, we course We talked often about judgment and Destin when we will see God and Christ. And this is really where he's laying. He's pronouncing. There will be a judgment at the end and I will judge at the end, what we have done. I think that's where it's for starting. It's like our first mention which is often important. So And obviously, as you have figured out the supreme, god the creator of the universe. Unlike the pantheon of deities, who just care about their sacrifices, their food, the supreme god for finally deeply cares for human beings.

That's a big deal.

When we're reading her Bible, we need to read it with knowing the context of all of these, these societies that it is speaking into. Not just indigenous tribes, but even big states that are, they all can do have the same thing going on. They, of course, are polytheistic. They honor, many gods, and they have Society set up in a very rigid hierarchy of the noble people. Bradley noble man and you have, you have your federal freemen and you have slaves, and that this is the way God planned things. If you were born a slave, you are a slave. And that's why you were here on this planet and we will write our myths accordingly to reaffirm how glorious the king is and worthless the slaves are its that's the whole mindset of it. And The way that you stop crimes, from occurring is through fear. You know, we talked about the kinsman-redeemer kind of puts the fear into don't touch me. My big brother will come after you.

Know when you find Locker Codes, they're mainly set up for the Nobles. And you say, if you touch my stuff, if you take anything, I'm going to have you killed in a PG-13. For some of you young people here, I'm sorry. Oh my, it was back then after I meant Norwegian, we say hasta and we actually you guys don't know what that means. Okay. So this is

Really, it was like that and so if you can, can you see that? This is Gilgamesh about that epic? He was incredibly brutal King. Can you see that around him? These little tiny surf, think he's physically about five times bigger than these little surf that are being driven with his big whip there. I thought that was ironic the Lord and Google help me find this image to show. This is what the world was like, okay. And so you keep hearing it's God keep speaking into what the world was saying, and one of the things that kept talking about Kings, Would Proclaim how they had been chosen by the gods to speak. The guns will to know if you can see that. That's his huge Speedway. Is a huge basket was in a big tall carved out Stone turned even see it there. And at the very top there's this little curved this is The King and I think you speaking to shamash the God of Justice, she doesn't care to administer anything with you and some stuff. But he says to Hammurabi Hammurabi, you write the laws so that you will establish justice and righteousness in the land. The kings are commissioned by the gods to bring me spot would Seneca, they won't say it in different languages. The kings bring Justice and righteousness on Earth. So wonderful. You can see why people want that, right?

The Kindle loan confer with the Gods.

They're working together here. People do not confer with God's people are terrified, the king speak to the gods and then the Kings go back and tell the people. This is what they want you to do. And what not want you to do. There are often called the sons of God, banana Elohim. Think we've had Michael Heiser hear. You heard him. Talk about that kind of thing because they had all these old myths about their divine origins, even when they weren't very Divine case and Kings right laws for Their Kingdoms. But, you know, in the Code of Hammurabi is. So what, Robbie says to show his exalted, the gods of tools and me and down here to Justice, to Prevail in the land. Destroy the wicked in the evil and prevent the spread from repressing the week to Enlighten the land and for the welfare of the people, people understood the great need to have somebody who would do this and he should be the king. What? Hammurabi said the gods have chosen me. You know what, there is not one law that actually protects the poor in the Code of Hammurabi. He knows that's what he's supposed to do but none of the laws in the they are all. If a poor person touches the stuff of a rich person, hears, the horrible cruel punishment, and in Israel, here's one of our Earth shattering differences about the Torah is Enya's real God. Is the one who writes the laws. It's not a human King. You never hear, David? David doesn't write laws no Kings, right laws, God, writes the laws and Many, many laws are for the protection of the poor, and for the foreigners, the deer right, the visitors that is absolutely unheard of there are only the rarest exceptions, couple places where it says, if a foreigner wants to buy beer, he can pay the same price as other people. That's the one place where it there, otherwise foreigners had no protection. They could be exploited in any way and it was a dangerous thing to be a foreigner, back in the ancient world. Keep that in mind when you're reading the story of Abraham. And another shocking thing in the Torah when we're hearing about the Israel coming to Mount Sinai and then God speaking to the people, you remember how God starts speaking in their kind of terrified. They like, this is true scary. Moses you you intercede. I think so. When you guys are listening, the Bible project right now and they had this discussion about, should they have this good or bad? I don't think that's the point. I think the point is that God is not speaking to some to Moses as like a kind of King were here you go through, Moses to me, God speaks directly to view his loss. They are for you, and he's actually elevating the people to kingly status there. Like you're not supposed to be talking to you. Oh yes. So that's how got it he's directly communicating with people.

And in some sense because Kings always write the laws. It's almost that's how God becomes king of Israel. God, this is from Deuteronomy 33 at the end, it says condensed. It says the Lord came from Sinai and Don from Europe honest, when Moses commanded us a law as a position for the Assembly of Jacob. That's the Lord became king in the issue ruined. When the heads of the people were gathered in the tribes of Israel together, he made a covenant with Israel to be their King that you want. Another Puzzler for newbies, reading the Bible, is they open it after the heat keep hearing Jesus talk about the kingdom of God? Like where did this come from? Actually, it's all through the Bible. That's what he's talking about and it's back here. And now I'm giving you a sense of this is where it's starting. Is when God himself says enough of these stupid humans brutalize others and Proclaim themselves Kings and if they are speaking my words, when they themselves have their own words that they're trying to Crush people with instead, it's all I'm going to Shepherd of people myself and I'm going to give them my laws and we're skipping the king in the middle. I just going to do it myself and he starts seeing incredible things, more things that are undermining. This hierarchy of King is everything noble people credible. They are what the world was made for, but these lousy miserable slaves, peons, they're not worth the flesh that they have it. No, no, no, no, no, no. So, the words of God are just shacking when he starts saying, oh no, no. He says, God created Man In His Image in the image of God, he created him male and female he created them. He's pushing back. because,

To be the image of God. That was one of the things. The king said, I am the very image of God on Earth and got this. No.

Every human being is made in my image. He's just elevated. Every single human to the status of king and queen. Wow. That every human should be thought of as precious and Royal and important to me, that's me that's a credible. The kings were the image of a guy.

I think you're so many of you might of heard that before back when I was a few years ago.

Scholars didn't know that, that was a thing until when they read the humans were made in the image of God, they tell all these discussions because of a rationality it's because of this. How do we resemble God? That's not the point, not the point. The point is, that we are representatives of God on Earth and we are supposed to be raining, over the Earth in his loving way. Of course, people are kind of horrified because

We seem to be good at being brutal Tyrant, and humans, who are supposed to subdue. The Earth, sometimes are very horrible and damaging and so we're good at brutal Tyrant and so it says fill the Earth and master it and rule over the fish of the sea. You say yeah we're good at overfishing. We're good at being cruel.

What I say? have to say, Is this is more of a pronouncement of what we're like is that because of the wonderful minds and brains and thinking power, we really do rule over creation. We can destroy pretty quickly if we want to. We're going to rule over it. No matter what, whether we're good kings are bad kings or Queens. Sorry, I don't mind. I don't need to put the feminine in for myself but you guys understand. So, but So we have crazy comes to teachers how to be a loving and self giving ruler.

and you noticed that both men and women are To Reign Over the Earth. See how radical these things are. It's using these ancient ideas and it's speaking a completely new word into them. Just one line. It has radically upset their whole understanding of God Humanity. The preciousness of each person credible Theology and then the idea of stand is so destructive and horrible. Incredible changes in theology that are just heard of. That's what you meant Aura. That's why it's a great source of wisdom and why we want to go up to Jerusalem. And that he may teaches his way. That's what we need to learn this incredible difference in their how the real God thinks about right and wrong. Okay. So now this is some of the theology. This is some of the twirl Revolution. I said this change in Theology and and

God has a plan somehow to put it into a fact, his plan. post-flood post Babel is To take one man. Abraham I make a covenant with Abraham, right? and he says, and She wants to do something different, then. These Kings who keep saying, I have come to establish righteousness and Justice on Earth. He says, This Abraham, he loves and is faithful to me even to the point of sacrificing his own son, this man will obey me like every King comes up with them stuff and says, God told me that know, he is obedient, he will do what I ask, that's what God wants. But to me that way, I know Richard Middleton came and talked about the hockey. The Binding of Isaac. How many of you heard this? Some of you made me, do you know the story of the near sacrifice of Isaac? And his thing was about that should have protested more Ono. The point is There have been many many kings in the world who have floated the commands of God and and argued with God. And then they said no I'll do it my own way. No God once a king who is the very image of him? And he will do exactly what God says and that's Christ, of course and that's Abraham. And he says, Abraham's a picture of Patriarchs, they own the lives of their family, meaning they will discipline their children. And if any says, I have chosen him that he may command his children in his household, after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and Justice, he will transform his people, they will do what the kings are supposed to be doing but hurt. And he's going to start with a family, he's going to grow a family to do, his will a very different way of doing things. Okay.

This will just kind of confirm what we've been hearing from everywhere else. You know, about the violence in the world that we kind of forget this. As we're reading our first few stories, you read about when Abraham, he's wandering the land. you know, he has no rights as a foreigner and there are out there kings that probably are just like little probably one little city in the king is of probably a few hundred people, not huge, but they're in their own battles and he gets sucked into them Tribal wars, and Do you notice next time when you reading and you're going to start reading the Torah through again? Very soon that every single place they go, they anticipate there's going to be some kind of horrifying. Assault, sexual assault in. Sodom is the most obvious one. Is that, you know, what happens there. And then, of course, Abraham and Sarah go down to Egypt. And we all poopoo, silly Abraham. He prostituted, his wife and told him to he feared, for his life, he knew they'll kill you. If they will kill you and take her. And so he knew this was going to happen. He lives in a brutal world. And this is what happens, and then there's this other story about Gerard. Believe it's Abraham, maybe Isaac and Probably both. Yeah, we've got it like several places and then there is and then they go to check on things and then Dina Dina so foolish that she wants to go into town and old princess T. Patiently in love with her. Oh no, he has decided he wants her once everywhere. They go everywhere, they go. They are they are assaulted and brutally and sexually often. Okay? And then of course, the story of Joseph, even though with a first wife is like, if you don't sleep with me, all accuse you You know everywhere, this is the ethics of the world, they lived in. Okay. And of course, even Abraham has fleas when it says, Evan Evan candee servant can be slave and probably has more of a business relationship. Then you know right. You know restrung contract you must serve me but doesn't necessarily mean that they were brutally treated like slaves in America. That's its own discussion. We'll talk about that later. But anyhow, okay. So I found some really interesting because of course, one of the major reasons why people struggle with though, he were Bible Old. Testament is all the violence and then the God has so much violence, you come. It's so much violence and this is a pacifistic website that I didn't go with him. But they pointed out that the violence you hear from God is always to put out the violence of humans. And so you know, the flood, we just talked about trying to destroy the wickedness in the world. The bottom this city is so fine, but the weary traveler that comes up here hoping to buy some food and instead they brutalize them awful. Can you imagine the outcry outcry against them is great? When you hear that, God gets very angry when he hears the outcry. He must respond that the outcry against Ida was great. And so that's when you hear Dwayne violence is to push back anti-violence. And so, You know, when we are talking about Canaanites, it's that's kind of, so when, when we read the Torah and we read about the cop, in the conquest of Canaan, it's interesting how we kind of take her own guilt over. Being most of us, are the Europeans who came to America, who kind of Either in nice ways are not so nice ways had her on conquest of the native peoples of America, that was not good. And then we project that onto our Bible says, we're reading this saying see it's the same way it's horrifying. Remember it is kind of the way of the world and that was what they were doing. Every year they're going to go battle somebody else and take their land but yet Look at what God does. He doesn't you know, if he wants to just Packer the land, why wouldn't he just get a big? Big brutal people with strong man and come in and stop them on out. If he just wants to get rid of the people in the land, you could do that. But instead he gets this scraggly little wimpy band of ex-slaves and then he, this is a quote from this article. He is so small week. Militaristic Lee recently, Liberation liberated nation of Israel to evict a domineering Canaanite. Anti-violence, it's an uprising of the poor people who have been oppressed. And so God plan is to destroy oppressors in the landlord proof providing the Israelites Place free of a person to live in. Free interesting.

what's interesting is how, you know, got even senses back, when he even told Abraham,

Right after. He says, I will make a great nation of him. You, he says, but they will spend 400 years in captivity. It's like, I have to have to build a whole new family. I'm not going to take any Nations at all. I'm going to take one person. I'm going to build a whole new people that have never oppressed anybody. They are the only nation on Earth that have never had slaves cuz they had been slaves. The whole darn time that you bring him handsome but gay and they were probably the only nation on Earth and never waged War. I just find that interesting is like God has to start with whole new people and keep them in a certain place just to have one single people. That was not just as horrifying as the rest of the brutal world. And of course, Really, we do know that are Israelite friends. The sons of Abraham were not such great people, we know that and we all know that the, their ways of doing things were barely what God wanted, but he knew he had to start from scratch and patiently work with them over the years. So, but

God promises them. And he still working on this. He says if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant, you should be my treasured possession among all peoples for all the Earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation and of course we know in the New Testament is going to be pointing a head to bring in Believers Gentiles as his holy nation that's going to teach the whole world. Love and live in much better ways.

And we're going to talk about that in our next. Meeting after break. Okay, so we'll wait with that. Okay, that's the end of this prison.