WWUTT 2345 Q&A Animals Fear of Man, Demons Cast into Pigs, Wheaton College Controversy

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Responding to questions from listeners about what Genesis 9:2 means when it says that animals would fear man, why did demons called Legion want to be cast into pigs, and what was up with the recent Wheaton College Controversy. We also thank listeners for their recent kindness. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

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When Genesis 9 -2 says that God put the fear of man in animals, what does that mean?
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Why did Jesus cast demons into a herd of pigs? And what can we learn from a recent debacle at Wheaton College?
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The answer is when we understand the text. This is
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When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word, that we may have the mind of Christ.
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Tell all your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com. Here once again is
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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. How does it smell in here? Terrible. It smells like something got damp and it hasn't dried all the way.
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It smells like this was formerly wet carpet. Or something.
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It's not necessarily the carpet. It's got to be something that's unique to this room because it doesn't smell like that elsewhere.
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You're right. It doesn't. And so I'm wondering if it's like the furniture or if it's one of the boxes or the books because there's tons of books.
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It could be wet paper that I haven't yet taken care of. Yeah, could be. I don't know what it is, but it's distinct.
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Emphasis on the stink. Distinct. It puts the stink in distinct. Well in case you haven't heard, we had a little bit of water damage in this room.
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I lost a laptop and some of my recording equipment. That was in the update that we put out on Monday.
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That's why there was a lapse in uploading the podcast episodes. Yes. But we're back up and rolling here.
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And we're going to get to your questions because it is the Friday episode of the broadcast and you can submit those questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com
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or go to www .utt .com. Click on that voicemail tab there in the top right corner of the page and record us a voicemail.
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Takes about 90 seconds. Yeah. I think that's the limit that it gives you. A minute and a half.
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Proverbs 8, verses 12 and 13, I wisdom dwell with prudence, meaning you're thoughtful, you're mindful of the decisions that you make.
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And I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil, pride and arrogance, and the way of evil and perverted speech
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I hate. So how can we glean wisdom from the word of God today as we come into the scriptures in responding to some of your questions?
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We want to learn prudence. We want to be thoughtful about our actions. We also want to hate our sin.
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Yes. And desire the way of righteousness, that which is pleasing to the Lord. And not just in the way that we live, but even the words that we speak, perverted speech
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I hate. So let even the words that come from our mouths be honoring and acceptable to God.
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Speaking of words. Yes. This first message, here's a voicemail that we got here from Michael.
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Okay. And he wants to know something about the songs that we play in the Sunday sermons that air on Sunday.
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Oh, yeah. Those that sound really good. Here's this message from Michael. Pastor Gabe and Becky, my name is
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Michael. And I've been listening to your podcast for several years now. I especially enjoy your
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Sunday sermons, particularly when you guys worship at the end. Your congregation sounds amazing.
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And the songs that you sing that you choose to sing are beautiful.
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I was just wondering if there is a possibility that you can gather up those ending sessions of worship and place them on Spotify so I can download it and continuously listen to it in my travels.
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I thank you. I wish you the best. God bless both of you. Thank you so much for that message,
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Michael. That is indeed fantastic singing. Oh, yes. And our congregation does sound amazing on a
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Sunday morning. They do. They really do. It's amazing. They do the different...
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We sing parts. Parts. Yeah. Yes. And melody and back up and all that.
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It's awesome. And the songs that you hear on Sunday are usually a song that we sang that Sunday.
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However, that's not us. No. I wish I could say that those recordings were us, but it's not.
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I think it would be a little difficult to get that quality. Yeah, because that... And you can definitely tell if you listen to it in headphones.
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It's very surround. So they had some well -positioned microphones to get that choir sound to it.
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Yeah, that congregational singing sounds like you're there. That's how amazing it sounds. So I wish
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I could say those are our recordings. I have had some recordings in there that have been us and not just our church, but even other churches that we've attended in the past.
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I've taken that congregational singing and I have included those in the podcast before. But usually the ones that you're hearing and most likely the ones that you're complimenting are
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Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC. Right. Now, where do you get those songs?
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You can find them right on their website. Go to CapitolHillBaptist, let me make sure
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I'm getting it right, .org, CapitolHillBaptist .org. And on their page,
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I'll bring it up right now so I can navigate it for you. When you bring their page up, you'll have the green menu bar there at the top.
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And there is an option that says resources. Hover your mouse over resources.
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Almost said mouth. Don't put your mouth on it. Okay. That's awkward. Hover your mouse over resources and a dropdown menu will automatically pop up.
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Scroll down to music, click on that, and you'll see 50 plus hymns right there on the page that you can right click on, download the
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MP3 file, save it to your phone or your computer or whatever else. There you go. That's where you can get those songs.
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They're all free. So, that's Mark Dever's church, if you're familiar with Mark Dever, he's the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist.
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Like I said, we sound great too. We do. But we sound like 70 people. Yes. They sound like 700 people.
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Yes. So, it is a little bit bigger group that you hear singing those songs.
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One day, God willing, maybe we'll be able to record our own from our congregational singing too.
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That would be amazing. I'll start using those. I thought you were going to go for the 700. I'm like, that's too big.
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So, I've shared that we're building a building right now and our max seating capacity in this new building will be 300.
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And that's what we've decided would be a cutoff. Yeah. So, once we get that big, we just plan another church.
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Yes. Amen. And God willing, that would be the direction that we end up going with all of that.
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I'm not interested in having a mega church. I don't want to... I've been in big. I didn't like big. This next question comes from Keith.
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He says, hey, Gabe and Becky, I hope she's there and y 'all are doing well. Oh, thank you.
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My name is Keith. I'm from Detroit, Michigan. I'm a longtime listener, first time emailer.
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I've enjoyed listening to you over the years. It's been a huge blessing having your podcast as a supplemental resource to go with my own study of God's word and the preaching from my own church.
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Amen. Yeah. We strongly encourage you to be involved, attending and involved in your own church.
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And then, hey, it's a joy for us that you would listen to this and even share it with others.
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So, Keith says, I had a question regarding Genesis 9 -2. When God says that he has put the fear and the dread of us in every animal, what is that fear or dread?
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When there are animals like alligators, bears, and lions, it often seems like they are not scared of us at all.
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Or even the Leviathan, described in Job 41, in verse 33, it says that Leviathan doesn't have a fear of man.
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Is the Leviathan an exception or do all creatures have fear? It's just different than how we think of it.
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So, let's go to Genesis 9 here. We'll read at the beginning of the chapter. Remember, this is after the great flood.
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Noah's Ark has landed. Everybody has disembarked. And then God makes a covenant with Noah.
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Noah offers a sacrifice. God makes a covenant. And in part of that covenant, it says in Genesis 9 -1,
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God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
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We've heard that before. That was also what God said to Adam and Eve. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand, they are delivered.
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Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you, as I gave you the green plants.
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I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
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And for your lifeblood, I will require a reckoning. From every beast, I will require it.
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And from man, from his fellow man, I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
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Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. For God made man in his own image.
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And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.
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Which is the bookends on that particular statement that God gives to Noah.
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Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Now the interesting thing about this statement is it does mirror what
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God said to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1, 28 to 30. But there's a couple of changes.
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So first of all, there's the positive instruction in Genesis 1 to exercise dominion over all the earth.
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But that is replaced here with a negative comment. That the animals instead will be in fear and dread of you.
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So more like the animals and humans like lived...
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Harmoniously? Yes. Yeah. That's a good word. It was like a Disney movie. Yeah. You could sing songs and animals would come and you know, smile at you while you were singing.
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And then now it's because there's like that separation between us and animals.
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You got it. Okay. That's exactly it. Okay. So they were easier to subdue and tame in the
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Genesis 1 mandate. But here in the Genesis 9 mandate, it's almost as if man and animal are enemy.
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So animal looks at man as an enemy now. That's the fear and dread.
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Well, before we didn't have to eat them either. Right. Correct. We weren't. So, but now we do.
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Now we do. Because of the falls. And by the way, it says every creeping thing that lives shall be food for you.
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So remember that when you have those guys that'll pop up and will say, oh, we're still not supposed to eat pork.
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Oh, okay. That's an everlasting law. If God has said it in his word, it's a law. And it was a law before he gave it in Leviticus 11.
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And it's a law still to this day. You can't eat pork. Uh -huh. Right. You ever heard anybody say that before?
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No, actually. I've just heard people refer to people that they've heard say that.
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You know what I mean? Oh, I encounter them all the time. Me personally, I have not heard anybody say that. At our previous church, there was a
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Sunday school teacher, very, very dedicated to that. Oh, really? I'll tell you who it was. Yeah.
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Yeah. He didn't make it a soapbox issue. Yeah. But yeah, he was very hardcore on, no, the dietary laws still apply.
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Oh, that's interesting. They still apply. Yeah, no, I haven't ever encountered anybody saying that to me.
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Yeah. Yeah. But that was specifically ceremonially linked. And it was the separation between Israel from Gentiles.
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Then you have other instructions, Paul gives in Romans 14, or what he said to Timothy, nothing is unclean if one thinks it is clean.
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And anyway, all of these food laws, very clearly, when you read the whole
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New Testament, very clearly the food laws have been done away with, because the reason for them no longer exists.
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Right. As it says in Ephesians, God has broken down the dividing wall of hostility that separated
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Jew and Gentile. The food laws were one of those things. Jews could not eat with Gentiles, because they ate different foods, food, they had different dietary laws that made them unclean.
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But because of that, because Jesus has died now and reconciled Jew and Gentile to himself, the food laws have been fulfilled in Christ.
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Right. So in Genesis 9, the statement of, you can eat anything, any animal
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I give to you for food, it's very clear that God intended that from the
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Noahic covenant on, until you get to the dietary laws in Leviticus 11, and then
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God has another intention for that. That was a specific law given to Israel to make them distinct from Gentiles.
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And now that God has torn down that dividing wall of hostility, there's not the need for the dietary laws anymore.
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Right. So that's generally where I go in Genesis 9, whenever I'm having those conversations. Because when the people who will say that the dietary laws still apply, they'll say, no, whenever Paul talks about food in Romans 14, or with Timothy, or in Acts 10, or anywhere else, the only things that are food are the clean animals.
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So food is only the clean animals. The unclean animals are not food. So when it said, this is food for you, it's only the clean animals.
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That's how they try to qualify it. Sure. But I can go to Genesis 9 and say, it was clearly not a law before Leviticus 11.
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So anyway. Yes. I think we've answered the question in there, didn't we?
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And then some. Yeah. And then some. So with Leviticus, as it pertains to Leviticus, Leviticus, sorry,
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Leviathan. Leviathan. I mentioned Leviticus. Yes. Leviathan, it says in Job 41, 33.
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Let me bring that up. I had it in front of me here. There it is. On earth, there is not his like, talking about the great sea creature,
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Leviathan. He is a creature without fear. He sees everything that is high.
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He is king over all the sons of pride. So does that make Leviathan an exception? No, because there's still.
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The separation. The separation between man and beast. Yeah. So Leviathan sees man as an enemy.
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And you had the descriptions in there too, in Job 41 of like, you know, fill him with harpoons. Yes.
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That's not even going to matter to him. Right. He's just big enough and aggressive enough that it doesn't matter.
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Like, you're his enemy, so he's going to attack you. Right. Try to tame him. You won't. You won't try that again. Right. Or can you put a leash on him and make him a pet for your girls?
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Yeah. I love that line. That's fantastic. So yeah, simply saying that there is a fear and dread in every animal is to say there's a separation between man and beast.
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And it's more difficult for us to train beast than it used to be. And so even when it comes to lions and tigers and bears, oh my, yeah, they do still see us as enemies.
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That's the fear and the dread concept that's been put in every animal. And I mean, there are certain special cases, but that's what makes them special and unique.
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And that's why we know about them is because when people have raised bears or the lions, they raised them from cubs and rescued them and stuff like that.
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So there are situations where that has come about where they're tame.
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Yeah. In a sense. Yeah. I would still say that - In a sense. I didn't say they were completely domesticated.
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Right. But they are tamer than in the wild. There's a big asterisk on that. Yes. Yes.
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Not that they won't try to kill you at some point, especially the cats, because they're just moody. However -
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I mean, they're still - However, it's unique. And so it's not a common thing. And that's why we know about those circumstances because -
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That's why, yeah, right. It gets our attention because it's unusual. Right. Exactly. But like I said, an asterisk on that, because these are apex predators we're talking about.
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Yes. So no matter how friendly they are - It takes one second of them being in a bad mood.
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Yep. And just, you're done. Or they just see you as a toy. Yeah, that's true.
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They may be playful, but they could still bite your head off. Or like the boa constrictors that are like, you know, they're about to eat you.
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Yeah, there's no such thing as a loving snake, though. They're suspicious.
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I bet. They're not going to look at you affectionately. They look at you as dinner. Some of those situations give me the heebie -jeebies because I'm just like, oh, man,
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I just, oh. There's that one - I would not be comfortable in that situation at all.
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There's that one video, I wish I could think of it and I could pull it up, but I probably wouldn't be able to type in enough keywords to find it.
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But anyway, there's a guy that's in the water. He's in like swampy water and he's holding an alligator, like a full -size alligator.
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Okay. And he says, and he's like nuzzling up to the alligator. He's like, oh yeah, you're so sweet, so cute and everything.
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And then he looks at the camera and he says, now you probably think this alligator loves me, but he does not.
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He has no love or affection for me whatsoever. He will snap off my hand in a heartbeat.
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Why is it that I can so cuddle him and pet him like this and not be in fear of him?
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And he said, it's because I know how to handle this animal. Oh yeah. But there's nothing about this animal here that has any love for me whatsoever.
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Watch this. And he touches the alligator in one spot that makes him like immediately snap. Yeah. And even watching the video, it'll make you jump because you're like, oh man, that guy just about lost his hand.
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And he said, see, that's how quick it goes. But I know how to hold the animal, where to touch him, where to position myself in which
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I'm safest with the animal. You should not ever think of these animals like this, that you can win their affections or tame them.
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Right. Because they're apex predators. And so even on those occasions where you'll hear about a lion tamer that, you know, he loves these lions or these tigers and he's taken care of them for so long.
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And then suddenly you're reading a story a year or two later that he was mauled by one of those animals in their pen.
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Yeah. It is not for us to be friends with beasts. Anymore.
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Anymore. Not anymore. That's part of the Noahic Covenant. Yes. That's the way that goes. Well, let's stay on the subject of animals here.
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Okay. We're going to go to this question from Dan and he says, Gabe and Becky, I have been a dedicated
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What? listener for about four plus years and greatly appreciate your excellent teaching and faithful exposition of the scripture.
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I've grown tremendously with this teaching and greatly appreciate this resource. I understand the sacrifice and time your family has given in support of What?
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and your pastoral leadership at Providence. Thank you. Without Becky's help and support, I know this would not be possible.
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I know that too. Well, that's very kind. In Luke 8, 33,
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Jesus casts out demons from the man at the garrisons.
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Okay. The man that was among the tombs that was possessed by legion. Oh, okay. Yeah. In one of the accounts, it's two men.
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But anyway, the man or men with legion and Jesus allows them by their request to enter into the swine, enter into a herd of pigs.
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Right. After they enter the swine, they immediately rushed down a steep bank and were drowned.
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I realize the focal point is a demonstration that Jesus has power over the spiritual realm and has full authority.
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But what is the purpose of Jesus granting the demons request to enter the swine, especially since they immediately killed the swine?
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If they were seeking another body to inhabit, it sure didn't last long. I understand this is not the focal point of the teaching, but I'm really perplexed as to the purpose of this event, blessings.
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So why pigs? Why is it that the demons enter the pigs and then they rush down the bank and they're drowned in the lake?
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I've often wondered that too. It just doesn't make sense to me.
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What part of it doesn't make sense? Just why they would choose pigs, number one. And why did they go kill themselves right away?
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Well, Jesus is casting Legion, who's a multitude of demons, possessing two men, according to Matthew's account.
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I think Matthew's the one that has this as two men. Legion is possessing these two men.
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Jesus is casting them out of the men. Right. So the demons are gonna go... So you're saving the men. You're saving the men.
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They can't... Totally get that. They can't go into another person. Okay. Well, of course, because then Jesus would cast them out again.
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Right. Sure. That's what he's doing. That's what he's demonstrating there is he's cleansing these men of these unclean spirits, as they're called.
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And so the demons ask, Legion asks, can we go into these swine?
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Don't cast us out of the region, is what Legion says. Right. And of course, too, there's the whole thing of Legion running up and saying, are you here to judge us before the appointed time?
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So here it is, according to Luke's gospel. Luke 8, when they sailed to the country of the
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Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee, Jesus had stepped out on land and met a man from the city who had demons.
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For a long time, he had worn no clothes and he had not lived in a house, but among the tombs. And when he saw
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Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, what have you to do with me,
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Jesus, son of the most high God? I beg you do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.
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For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.
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Jesus then asked him, what is your name? And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.
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So there's the begging of the demons. Don't cast us out into the abyss or into the pit.
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There's another account that has the demons asking, are you here to judge us before the appointed time?
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Right. So they're asking Jesus not to cast them into the abyss.
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And so in verse 32, there's a large herd of pigs feeding there on the hillside and they begged him to let them enter these.
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So he gave them permission. So the likelihood here is the demons are looking for another creature to enter into, can't go into another person, but cast us into these pigs over here because that's the next living thing that's around.
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Sure. Now, the fact that they are at the garrisons indicates they're in Gentile territory, which is why there's pigs.
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Right. That makes sense. Among the Jews, there wouldn't be, but nobody would be raising pigs. Unclean. Right. It's an unclean animal, as we just talked about.
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Right. So the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank and into the lake and were drowned.
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Okay. So they didn't want to be cast into the abyss, but it's okay for them to be in a body that gets drowned.
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Yeah. So where do the demons go after that? Well, why did they have to get into another body if they were just going to be?
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The demons don't control the pigs to go into the lake and are drowned. Okay. Jesus did that.
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Fair enough. So hence why in verse 34, when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told the city and in the country and the people went out to see what had happened.
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And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at the feet of Jesus clothes and in his right mind.
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And they were terrified. And those who had seen it told them how the demon possessed man had been healed.
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Then all the people of the surrounding country, the garrisons asked him to depart from them. For they were seized with great fear and he got into the boat and returned.
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So Jesus cast the demons into these pigs who go running down the hillside and into the lake and are drowned.
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And what that shows is that these demons will eventually be judged in the lake of fire.
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So as they were cast into pigs and ran into the lake and were drowned, so eventually a day will come in which they will face that final judgment as we read about in Revelation.
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In which God will cast the devil and his angels and all those who followed after them. Right. Into the lake of fire and be consumed.
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Right. So that's kind of a picture of that. Okay. Now, why the swine? Well, it's just because that was the living creature that was there.
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Sure. But also the saving of a soul, which is what Jesus is doing here, saving this man's soul, saving a human soul is far greater a prize than this whole herd of animals.
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Right. And so it's more important that this man be saved than it is that these animals be saved.
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So Jesus casts the demons. Of course, it's into an unclean animal, but I don't think that's necessary to like -
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Read into. Yeah, read into that, into the story. Because again, it's just because they were among the
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Gentiles. That's why there was a herd of pigs. Sure. Or it could symbolize these were unclean spirits.
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They go into unclean animals. That's where my mind went. Yeah. But I mean, it doesn't mean that's what it meant.
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Right. Probably about as far as it goes. Yeah. But what we do see in this, not only as you said,
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Dan, that Jesus has power and authority even over the spiritual realm, but we see his love and care and attention for a human soul and how much more valuable this man's soul is to the thousand or so pigs.
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So Jesus - 2 ,000 pigs. Sorry. According to Mark 5, there's 2 ,000 pigs. Gotcha.
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Yeah. So Jesus had destroyed these, the legion.
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Yeah. I don't know how to say it. Yeah. So I don't know where legion goes after that. Okay. If he does get sent into the abyss.
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Yeah. Well, that's what I'm wondering. Or they, rather. Yeah, they. Because it was just, that part was confusing to me.
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Like, what just happened? You know what I mean? Well, yeah, they're asking Jesus, don't judge us before the appointed time.
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Right. Don't cast us out of the region. And then it sounds like he accepted that request, but then all of a sudden.
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Probably not. They go die. Yeah, right. He probably didn't. Yeah. It's like why, you know, he gives them permission to go out of the man and into the pigs.
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Right. But not to escape judgment. They still face judgment anyway. Where did any of the demons go that Jesus cast out?
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Yeah, I don't know. That might be a discussion for another time. Ooh. Because we're at the end of this half hour.
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To be continued. That's right. If you have any other questions to send to us, email is when we understand the text at gmail .com
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or send us a voicemail when you go to www .utt .com. Click on that voicemail tab. Folks, as we talked about, we had some water damage in our house last week.
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We asked for some financial assistance and y 'all were amazing to bless us.
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Absolutely amazing. Again, just incredible that y 'all would want to go out of your way to assist us like that and even on short notice in the way that we put that request out.
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And even our church stepped up and helped out so much. Oh my goodness. The church, I did say that in my
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Monday update that the church gave me a new laptop. Yes, it was so awesome. So that took care of that, praise the
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Lord. But we do want to issue some thanks to a few people, which we're going to do in this next segment.
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If you're listening on the radio, you're just getting half an hour here. You can listen to the longer broadcast when you go to our website www .utt
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.com or just look for www .utt on whatever podcast app you like to use.
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Subscribe. Amen. Thank you so much for listening. God bless. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then
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God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, just like he did for the first disciples. What kind of wonderful plan?
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Well, Peter was crucified upside down. Andrew, his brother, was also crucified. James was executed by the sword.
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John, his brother, was exiled and died of old age. Philip was tortured and then crucified upside down.
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Bartholomew was skinned alive and he too crucified upside down. Thomas was speared to death while praying. Matthew was also killed by the spear.
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Thaddeus and Simon and the other James all crucified. God's wonderful plan for you is to preach the gospel and make disciples just like these men did.
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It's why they were killed. The same Jesus who personally called these men has called us to do the same, even if it hurts.
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In Acts 5, the disciples were arrested and beaten for preaching the gospel. When they were let go, they left rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.
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And every day they continued to share the gospel. Jesus said that you are blessed when others revile and persecute you and speak evil against you falsely on account of him.
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Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. So God indeed has a wonderful plan for those who follow
30:35
Jesus. For those who don't, his plan is to destroy all evildoers who do not believe in his son.
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Even in this, God will be glorified. So you shouldn't tell an unbeliever that God has a wonderful plan for their life.
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You should tell them to turn from their sin and follow Jesus. Only his disciples are forgiven their sins, saved from death, and know his ways are wonderful when we understand the text.
30:58
Well, like we said, we had such wonderful assistance from folks that had stepped up and donated to us on short notice after we announced that we had an accident.
31:12
Yes. I mean, it was an accident. It was. We had a sink that got left on and then it floods the upstairs.
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And everybody left, like right after. Everyone left the house. Yes. And so because I didn't unclog the drain when
31:28
I should have, when the kids told me about it. It was just a slow drain. So I mean, it wasn't like it was completely clogged.
31:35
But yes, it was a slow drain. Very slow drain. Yes. Unfortunately.
31:41
And so there were several contributing factors to this that ended up becoming what it was.
31:48
Thankfully, there was not any serious damage to the house and had somebody come and look at it. And I'm still going to have somebody else follow up with that, too.
31:55
So it wasn't just somebody told me, no, you're good. Okay, great. Then. Yeah, right. I mean, there could be some problems that show up over time.
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Yes. So we're going to come back and revisit that. But as far as the damage went, the immediate damage was concerned, it was like all my recording equipment.
32:13
Yep. And some papers and some books. But my laptop took a shower.
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I mean, it was pouring down from this vent right here. Yeah. Right on top of it, which I don't leave my laptop on my desk anymore.
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I have noticed that. I'm turning it off at night and I'm putting it on the shelf up there.
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That's funny. Or in my bag and I take it with me upstairs. I've done that, too. The recorder that I had sitting right here got wet.
32:41
So I lost quite a bit, probably. I mean, including the price of the laptop, it was easily $2 ,000 worth of equipment.
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Yeah. It was that much. Um, cables and all different kinds of things I had to replace. There were some things that were recoverable.
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Praise the Lord. Amen. Let them dry out. And they did work. I have actually have two laptops sitting on this desk.
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I have my old laptop from like 10 years ago. Right. Because I still have some files on that drive that I don't even have backed up to a cloud or anything.
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They're not like dire, you know, I have to have these files or I'll die. Yeah. But it's just, you know,
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I have those files on there. So I still keep that laptop. And it was off to the side on my desk.
33:24
Amazingly, did not get wet at all. What? So we didn't get touched. That's crazy. I had, let's see, this
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Bible right here. So my newest one. Yep. Not even a drop on this
33:37
Bible. Praise the Lord. But I did have my very first legacy standard
33:43
Bible on this desk. Oh, no. And while it is dried out, it's still very obviously wet.
33:51
Yes. Formerly wet. Formerly wet. Oh. My R .C.
33:56
Sproul commentary in Romans, because that's what I'm teaching through right now. Yeah. That's that was on my desk.
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It got wet. I put it outside and it dried out. But yeah, it still has the look of a book that's been wet. So there were some things very precious.
34:12
I ended up losing a bunch of paperwork that I lost that I don't care that I had it. I probably needed to throw it out of the way anyway.
34:19
It was pretty interesting what got wet and what didn't. Yeah. But my recording equipment specifically was what got hit.
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Did not lose either one of our microphones. No. Praise the Lord. They were pushed out of the way. Yeah.
34:33
And one of these mics, I don't know which one it is, if it's the one you're talking in or if it's mine, but one of these
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I've had for over 15 years. For longer than you and I have been married. Yeah. I've had that mic for that long.
34:47
And then when you started joining me on the podcast, which was around episode 500 or whatever that was. Yeah. Then I bought another one.
34:54
Uh -huh. And yeah, but we've had these two microphones have been with me the entire time.
34:59
Yeah. Through the whole broadcast. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. Probably not the same mic cables.
35:05
I think we've changed those out. Oh, yeah. But in addition to wanting to replace this equipment, I said that if you could donate to help me create a duplicate system so that I can have that over at the church and I can record there too, because I go over there several hours in a day, about four days a week.
35:24
And so while I'm there, I could do some recording if I had an extra system. And if something happens to this one or something happens to that one, then
35:31
I have a backup. Right. And so anyway, I put that out on Monday and I said, if we get overhead at all, like a bunch of extra money that is beyond what
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I need to be able to replace that equipment, then we're going to put that toward the building project that we're doing as a church.
35:47
Yeah. And I did not expect, I really didn't expect all of it to be covered, but man, you guys have been amazingly generous.
35:58
Yeah. This was such a blessing. Absolutely. We so appreciate it. I'm not going to be able to recognize everybody because I didn't compile a list right here.
36:08
I'm just looking at my email inbox at the present. So let me give a couple of shout outs here.
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Brad, who gave some money and he just put the note, equipment or however it can help.
36:21
Aww. Also to our good friend Jessica, who sent us some money and put equipment slash needs.
36:29
Yes. Jessica, so wonderful to hear from you. She was in our church in Kansas and sent us some money and we sure appreciate that,
36:38
Jessica. We miss you. We do. We miss you guys greatly. I wish we could come back.
36:44
I've had people all over Kansas that have contacted me and said, hey, next time you're in the state, let us know.
36:50
All right. We'd love to have you either come to our church or come to our house for dinner or something like that.
36:56
I need to keep a list of everybody that said something. This one here.
37:03
So this was from John and Jen. So I was going to read this letter from John.
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He says, Pastor Gabe and Becky, I wanted to submit this as a voicemail, but I wasn't sure that I could fit it into 90 seconds.
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I understand that. Understandable. Yes. My wife and I wanted to send you our tax check tithe via Venmo.
37:25
Your ministry has been such a blessing to us over the past 18 months, and after last week's update, we both felt individually led to do this.
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Today, I listened to your latest update and texted Jen saying, this is what I want to do with our refund.
37:41
Our only request is that you use it to spoil the Hughes family in some way. Do something fun to bless your marriage, your kids and yourselves, your faithfulness in the daily submissions of Hear the
37:54
Word of the Lord and the What Podcast has been vital to us, especially over the last three months.
38:00
I lost my job in November, and I spent 72 days swimming in the pool of uncertainty, channeling my inner
38:08
John Bunyan. During that time, keeping a steady routine was important, and one of my daily constants was time in the word with Pastor Gabe.
38:19
Thank you for that. Just to kind of relate to you a little bit here, John, when
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I moved here to Arizona, I didn't really let a lot of people in on this, but I was really struggling with some kind of depression.
38:35
I don't know what to call it, but I was really struggling with understanding what was going on.
38:41
And it wasn't like I lost my job and I was settling into this one reluctantly or anything like that.
38:50
Just it could have just been all the pressure of a move from one change to the next, and then we can't sell the house and we had that extra financial burden and everything else that was just weighing on me.
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So I understand that. I get this expression of swimming in a pool of uncertainty.
39:08
Yes. Because I was wondering that. I'm not in that mindset anymore. We're very comfortable here.
39:14
Praise the Lord. And very, very thankful to be here. But sometimes my conversations with Becky in those first few months that we were here,
39:23
I would tell her, I don't want to hurt these people. Talking about this church that we had just moved to and were taking care of us.
39:32
And if something bad happened, I didn't want anybody to be burned over this. Yeah. And it was just kind of these things that were on my mind.
39:40
I didn't know what was going to happen. There was just so much uncertainty. Yeah. I didn't have a reason to feel that way.
39:47
You didn't feel that way. Nope, not at all. So Becky was a rock for me in that, because I don't know why
39:54
I was so unstable during that period, but it really was difficult for me to settle my mind here, to settle my spirit here.
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So I get that. I understand what you were feeling with losing your job and still and wondering what to do, especially the pressures as a man on how to take care of your family and things like that.
40:13
So John goes on to say, today marks day four of my new job.
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And I had a quick minute during lunch to write this. And I wish I had time to share all the ways the
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Lord has worked in our lives these past three months. Maybe someday. Would love to hear it. Yes, that would be awesome.
40:33
Because I've been there. I know what you mean. You go back and you look at all the little details.
40:39
It's like, this was so God. Yes. God was the one that did this. And yeah, these things...
40:46
It couldn't have been anything else. Exactly. Right. Yeah. I mean, and that's also how the name of our church has so ministered to us over the last even longer than the year plus that we've been here.
41:00
Providence, God's providence to make all of this happen and everything. Yeah. It's just amazing. You know, as Paul says in 2
41:09
Corinthians 1, I think it's either verse eight or nine, we thought we had received a sentence of death, but this was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God.
41:20
Amen. Who raises the dead. So we go through these trials to make us rely on God.
41:27
Yeah. And we know he raises the dead, which is the worst thing we will ever face.
41:33
Yeah. Death is the worst thing. Yeah. We can't do anything about it. Nope. You can't get a new life and oh,
41:41
I've been delivered from death. Yeah. Like you can get a new job. You can't just get a new life.
41:47
Right. And escape death. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ who died for us, who rose for us, lived for us.
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And only in him are we saved from death. So we would rely on God.
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We would trust in him because we know he raises the dead. So he will deliver us through whatever trial or circumstance that we're going through.
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And so, yeah, like you're talking about, I wish I could share all the ways. I want to hear that. I would love to hear that story.
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The way he orchestrated everything from the timing to the opportunity I now have is a powerful testament to his sovereignty and goodness.
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May the Lord continue to bless your ministry and your family. And then quoting Ephesians 3, 20 to 21.
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Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.
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To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.
42:48
Amen. Amen. Grace and peace, John and Jen. We thank you guys so much. Yes. I read that email to Becky earlier.
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Yes. And I said, hey, I was only able to get her for that first half hour guaranteed.
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And I said, you got to hang on for the beginning of the second half hour so that we can read this. We can read this from John and Jen.
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Yes. And anyway, so we're so appreciative of you guys. Now you sent the email.
43:16
So I read the long email, but to everybody who donated something.
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Everyone. Yes. We appreciate every dime, every cent that was sent in means a lot to us because you didn't have to do that.
43:31
Yeah. You just did. And it's been so wonderful to us, not just this year, but even last, of course, with the people that stepped up and helped us when we were going through our trial with the house and everything else.
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Just a reminder that you're there and you're listening. It makes me wanna work hard for you. Yeah. And keep these things going here.
43:52
The word of the Lord, the daily Bible reading and the Bible lessons and things like that. The church loves it.
44:00
I have conversations during the week with, hey, I listened to your episode today. When you taught on this,
44:05
I have some questions. Yeah. So, of course, our church gets priority. Of course. We're gonna give them priority on these things.
44:13
Which is why, too, when the water damage and stuff happened, I mean, there were other things that I had to focus on. I probably could have replaced the equipment immediately and gotten back on, but it would have been...
44:23
Would have sacrificed something personal in order to do that. Yeah. So I had to focus on those things, get carpet dried out and stuff like that first.
44:30
And we've had a lot of our church congregation that have been very, very sick. Yeah, we have.
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Just so ill in the hospital. I've had hospital visits and...
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And doctor's appointments telling them they have bronchitis and pneumonia. Oh, so many things.
44:50
And then you'll think that everybody's been through everything. Something new will pop up. Every time.
44:55
It never fails. The weird one for us in our household was in December and January.
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In those two months, all the males in the house got sick with the same thing.
45:08
Yes. And you females did not get it. Right. That was bizarre. Yep. I don't know that I'd ever seen that before.
45:15
Yeah. Well, we got something, but it... You guys got something different. It affected us different,
45:21
I think. Yeah. It was totally different. It really was, yeah. And I think you girls may have been sicker longer.
45:27
Yeah, we were. But what us guys got was... Was awful. Was terrible. Oh, my goodness.
45:33
It was so bad. Oh, it was bad. But yeah, it only affected the males.
45:39
So it had me... Once January came around and the same thing happened again. The males got it, but the girls did not.
45:46
Yep. It made me go, okay, what weird thing is China doing now? Somebody weaponizing, somebody trying to go after the males.
45:58
We weaken their males. I got real conspiracy theory. I think it might be because you guys are not as good about taking your vitamins as us girls are.
46:08
Well... Hashtag just saying. I just know that when I'm laying on the bathroom floor,
46:15
I get real conspiracy theory minded there at that point. Okay. I can't go anywhere. I'm laying here.
46:21
Somebody did this to me. Oh, funny.
46:28
Anyway, I got a couple of other things that I'm gonna answer here myself. I'm gonna play a video and then respond to a question about this video.
46:37
Becky, I release you. Well, thank you. You may go to bed. It was a pleasure being on though.
46:45
Yeah. Thank you guys for being patient with us. I don't like doing this without you. So yeah, glad you hung on for a little bit longer.
46:52
So I'll give it about 10 or 15 more minutes. But in the meantime, everybody say bye, Becky. Bye. At the
47:01
National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, there is on display the remains of a
47:06
Pharaoh named Amenhotep II. If you were to walk up to the glass and look into the face of that man, you may be looking into the face of the same
47:15
Pharaoh whom Moses stood before when he said, thus says Yahweh, let my people go.
47:22
Now, what makes us think Amenhotep II may have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Well, we know the Exodus occurred in 1446
47:28
BC. A key verse to calculating this is 1 Kings 6 .1, which says that Solomon began building the temple 480 years after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt.
47:39
This was in the year 966. Plus 480 years gives us 1446 during the 18th dynasty in Egypt.
47:47
The Jewish historian Josephus, writing in the first century, referenced an Egyptian historian named
47:52
Manetho, who said the Pharaoh of the Exodus was named Aminathus. Well, Aminathus happens to be the
47:58
Greek name for Amenhotep. With other details we know about Pharaoh from the book of Exodus, it was more than likely
48:04
Amenhotep II rather than the first or third. For example, as Pharaoh did not die during the 10th plague, he could not have been a firstborn son.
48:13
Indeed, Amenhotep II had an older brother who died before he could assume the throne. And we know
48:19
Amenhotep II's firstborn son did not become Pharaoh, which is expected if Amenhotep II is the
48:25
Pharaoh of the Exodus and his eldest son died in the 10th plague. Now, though these mummified remains are a pretty cool relic from biblical history, if indeed
48:35
Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the fact remains that Pharaoh, who thought he was a god, is a dusty old corpse in a museum.
48:44
Jesus Christ, who is actually God, is risen from the dead and reigns on high.
48:50
All who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life when we understand the text.
48:57
So following that video, I got this email from Peter who said, Pastor Gabe, regarding your what video on Amenhotep II being the
49:07
Pharaoh of the Exodus, how does that fit with Psalm 136 verse 15, which says that Pharaoh and all his hosts were drowned in the
49:15
Red Sea? Fascinating video, interesting take. But that came to mind while I was watching.
49:22
Well, I appreciate that, Peter. So let's go to Psalm 136 and read that. This is that Psalm that contains the line,
49:29
For his steadfast love endures forever, 26 times. I think it's in all 26 verses.
49:37
That line appears in Psalm 136. So let me jump back to verse 13 here, a little bit ahead of the statement of Pharaoh and his host being drowned in the
49:46
Red Sea. Psalm 136, 13 says, To him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever, and made
49:56
Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever, but overthrew
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Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever, to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever.
50:13
So given that statement there in verse 15, that God overthrew Pharaoh and all his host in the
50:19
Red Sea, how could it be that we've got this body of Amenhotep II that can be viewed in Cairo, who is possibly the
50:28
Pharaoh of the Exodus? How could it have been him? And how do we still have his body if he was drowned in the Red Sea, according to Psalm 136?
50:35
There's two possibilities to this. One possibility is that bodies float.
50:40
And so some Egyptians scooped Pharaoh's body out of the
50:46
Red Sea or off the bank of the Red Sea and still took him back to Egypt and gave him a proper burial and buried him along with the king.
50:53
Since, of course, they thought of their kings as gods, as immortal, that he was going to walk with the rest of the kings in their afterlife.
51:01
And so they wanted to give his body a proper burial, which, of course, would be resurrected according to what the
51:06
Egyptians imagine the afterlife is being like. That's one possibility. They simply retrieved his body from the
51:13
Red Sea. The other possibility is that Moses was not included in those who were drowned in the
51:21
Red Sea. And the statement that God overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea is just simply to say that God thwarted
51:28
Pharaoh's attempt to try to recapture Israel, sending his army after the Israelites, who, after they had passed through the
51:36
Red Sea and got to the other side, God brings the divided waters back down upon them and drowns those
51:43
Egyptians and their horses who were at the command of Pharaoh. But it doesn't necessarily have to mean that Pharaoh himself was with those chariots as they ran in pursuit of Israel.
51:55
Now, Pharaoh did go along with them. When we read about this in Exodus chapter 14,
52:01
Pharaoh made ready his chariot. This is Exodus 14 .6. He made ready his chariot and took his army with him and took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
52:16
So Pharaoh led them all to go after Israel. But when it came to pursuing them through the
52:23
Red Sea, there's actually nothing in Exodus 14 that says specifically Pharaoh went down into the
52:29
Red Sea with everybody else. But he may have simply commanded his chariots to go in pursuit of them.
52:35
So what is said when the waters return back to their place and drown the
52:42
Egyptians and their horses in the sea, it says in Exodus 14 .28, the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea.
52:56
Not one remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
53:03
Thus, the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the
53:09
Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the
53:15
Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant
53:21
Moses. So you have the statement there. It doesn't say that Pharaoh was with those chariots that pursued the
53:27
Israelites through the Red Sea. So it could be that he remained on the land and he was not among those who were drowned in the sea.
53:35
But then, like I said, it could also be that his body was retrieved and still given a proper burial. And you have the statement there in verse 30 that Israel saw the
53:43
Egyptians dead on the seashore. Those bodies float and they ended up right back on the land.
53:51
And so there's your two possibilities. Either it's in reference to the fact that just Pharaoh's army was drowned.
53:57
And so that is the way in which it is said that Pharaoh was overthrown or it could be that Pharaoh himself was drowned in the
54:04
Red Sea and his body was recovered and was given the burial that the
54:11
Egyptians gave him. Thank you for your question, Peter. This next one, last one that I'm going to do here. This comes from Pam.
54:17
Let me play her question here. Can you address John Mark Comer's book,
54:23
Preparing the Way? Thanks. And then Pam sent a follow -up to that question.
54:29
I believe my earlier recording said Preparing the Way and I meant
54:35
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer. Really curious as to your thoughts if he is a false teacher.
54:43
Thank you. I appreciate it, Pam. I've actually not read his book. I've not read anything from him in particular.
54:50
So I wouldn't be able to speak about that book specifically. But I have listened to some of his teaching and I know of an ad that pops up in front of me all the time.
55:00
If ever I'm on Instagram, there is an ad with John Mark Comer and then some other preachers alongside him that include
55:07
Jenny Allen, who founded the IF Conference, Christine Kane. She's of certain notoriety.
55:13
Often preaches along with Hillsong and also Charlie Dates, who is a very woke preacher and a false teacher from the
55:22
Chicago area. These ministers and others partner with John Mark Comer and he's got like this preaching class that he's advertising on social media.
55:32
Learn how to preach the most effectively. And I'm drawing from some of these experts and those other names that I mentioned among the experts that he draws from.
55:40
Well, all of these teachers are false. And so following John Mark Comer is going to introduce you to false teaching.
55:47
Even if I don't know much about that guy and his particular teaching, I can see through his associations and those that he's trying to push upon people, those other teachers
55:57
I'm a lot more familiar with, that I know that what you're going to get is egalitarian because he believes that women can preach, they can be preachers, which is why he uses women preachers in his class and in his seminar.
56:07
I know that he's interested in diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI or critical race theory, wokeness, because that's
56:15
Charlie Dates and he has been a huge spokesperson for those kinds of distinctions, that kind of racism that comes through the wokeness movement.
56:25
These are the kinds of teachers that John Mark Comer relies upon. And so he is not a teacher to be trusted.
56:32
So while I've not read the book and I don't know what's in it, can't give a review of that particular book,
56:38
I would say by all means, stay away from John Mark Comer. There are much better books and resources out there that you can draw from.
56:47
Now, while I don't know Comer's book specifically, Practicing the Way, I can tell you what it's about, just reading the blurb on Amazon or something like that.
56:57
So it says here, whether you're looking to strengthen your faith, serve others more effectively, or cultivate deeper moments of connection with God, this book provides practical steps and tools for spiritual growth.
57:08
Well, there are all kinds of great books about that in particular. A couple of classics that I could recommend to you from Thomas Brooks.
57:15
You want to go back to Puritans? Here you go. And Brooks is generally pretty easy to read. He's got a book called
57:21
Holiness, The Only Way to Happiness. There's also The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, which is a book that I read last year.
57:29
That one's also very good. There's also one from Thomas Wilcox. So those two books were from Thomas Brooks, Holiness, The Only Way to Happiness, and The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.
57:40
This one is Thomas Wilcox, and it's called A Choice Drop of Honey from the
57:46
Rock of Christ. Great book. Little book. Short book. Easy read. I think you can get it from Free Grace Press, which is the publishing company that was founded by Jeff Johnson.
57:58
So go to freegracepress .com and you can get that little book, A Choice Drop of Honey from the
58:04
Rock of Christ. I read it on an airplane ride one time, and it was a wonderful read. Unfortunately, even though I read the whole book on my plane ride,
58:12
I left the book on the plane. So I hope it blessed somebody. I have yet to grab another copy since then as well.
58:20
There's also a great book I read a couple of years ago, and a friend of mine taught a class through from Donald Whitney on spiritual disciplines.
58:28
That one's really great also. So these books, I think all of which will help you and deepen your relationship with Christ and understanding how you can serve him more effectively.
58:37
There's some great books out there that talk about those things. You don't have to turn to a false teacher like Comer, especially somebody that keeps company with false teachers.
58:47
Incidentally, those couple of books that I mentioned from Thomas Brooks, you can read those for free. You don't even have to pay for those.
58:55
Download the Monergism ebook library. So you're going to be looking on your podcast app or a podcast app, your
59:03
App Store app. The App Store app? Yeah. So whatever smartphone you have, and if you have an
59:10
App Store, look for the Monergism ebook library. Monergism is spelled
59:15
M -O -N -E -R -G -I -S -M. And there's over a thousand books in that library for free.
59:23
Those two books from Thomas Brooks. That was how I read that one, by the way. So the
59:28
Unsearchable Riches of Christ, I read through the Monergism ebook library. And again, you got a whole library of like a thousand books right there.
59:36
Totally for free. And I hope that blesses you. OK, one more to get to here. This is from Ryan.
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Hang on. Let me see if I can find. Shut my window down. But anyway, Ryan had sent me an email about what had happened with Wheaton College this past week.
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I don't know if you heard about this, but at one point, they issued a congratulations to Russell Vogt.
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I think it's how you pronounce his last name, V -O -U -G -H -T. Because he was appointed by the
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Senate to the Office of Management and Budget, serving in the Trump administration.
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He's a graduate of Wheaton College. And I think Vogt had done something with Trump before in his last administration as well.
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2016 to 2020 may have been the same office. But anyway, Vogt was appointed to that office.
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Wheaton originally issued a congratulations. But then when people started criticizing
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Wheaton for saying congratulations to one of their alumnus for being appointed to the
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Trump administration, well, Wheaton then got they turned coward and they took back their congratulations and apologized for it.
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Instead of adding my own commentary to this, there's a great article that was written for First Things magazine, and it was written by Daniel Davis.
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The title of this article is God and Man at Wheaton. And I wanna read just the beginning of this here because it'll catch you up on the story.
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And I think some good insights here also from Davis. Wheaton College once produced some of the boldest
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Christian voices in America. With graduates like Billy Graham, Jim and Elizabeth Elliott, John Piper and William Lane Craig, and with deep roots in the abolitionist movement,
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Wheaton earned a reputation for intelligent rigor, spiritual depth, and above all, courageous witness for Christ.
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Unfortunately, that reputation is no longer deserved. Years of failed leadership have enabled leftward drift at this flagship evangelical institution to the great sadness of many alumni who, like me, can no longer wish to see our children attend.
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Wheaton's leadership deficit was on full display this past weekend In a social media post,
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Wheaton offered congratulations and prayers to one of its alumni, Russell Vogt, on his
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Senate confirmation to lead the Office of Management and Budget, one of the most prestigious posts in Washington.
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Apparently, this was beyond the pale. Hostile alumni flooded the comments section castigating
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Wheaton for congratulating a quote -unquote fascist and demanding that the post be taken down.
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Astonishingly, Wheaton complied. The post was quickly removed and replaced with a tepid apology.
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It was not our intention to embroil the college in a political discussion or dispute. Wheaton College's focus is on Christ and his kingdom, unquote.
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From a pure public relations standpoint, this was malpractice. The message to alumni in conservative politics could not have been more alienating.
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It also backfired. Within hours, U .S. Senators and even
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Elon Musk were weighing in on X expressing dismay at the school's moral cowardice.
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Indeed, Wheaton's actions revealed a moral sickness at the heart of how it makes decisions.
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Faced with a mob, Wheaton showed that it will quickly bow the knee and take the path of least resistance.
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As Molly Hemingway aptly put it, If Wheaton folds this easily, you have to wonder how well they're preparing students for a hostile world that hates the gospel.
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Really well put there. And so you can find the rest of that article from Daniel Davis at First Things Magazine.
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Again, the title of it is God and Man at Wheaton. Yes, indeed, that is a college that I think you should avoid and not send your children there because they will not be preparing your children to stand boldly for the gospel and on Christian principles in a world that hates the gospel message.
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By the way, the president of Wheaton College is Philip Ryken. And that's really astonishing.
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This whole behavior from Wheaton College over this whole thing is just incredible considering that their president is
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Philip Ryken. I can't remember the name of his radio show, but it is one of the most played
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Bible teaching radio shows that's still on the air. I know that Bot Radio plays it.
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And unless I'm mistaken, I think it still airs on the Reformation Network as well, on RefNet.
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They also play Philip Ryken's radio program, I believe, on Sunday morning. And Ryken has showed himself to be a coward in the position that he has held as president of Wheaton College.
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He had fired a chaplain by the name of Timothy Blackmon because Blackmon was accused of making inappropriate jokes and nothing was ever investigated to see if that accusation was true.
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Blackmon was just fired over it. And it was through this whole drama with the congratulating
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Russell Vote and then taking it down, I found out, I did not know this, I found out that in 2021,
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Ryken, the president of Wheaton College, had took down a plaque at the college that honored
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Jim Elliott, you know, Jim and Elizabeth Elliott, right? Jim Elliott, who was the missionary who was killed in South America back in the 50s, when he was, he and his missionary brethren were attempting to evangelize the
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Haurani people there in Ecuador. And Ryken had a plaque that honored
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Elliott removed because it referred to the people that Elliott ministered to as savage.
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He was killed by savages. And so Ryken had the plaque removed because of complaints from the students who were offended at referring to this people group, this savage people group as savages.
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And apparently under Ryken as well, and I didn't know this either until this whole controversy had come up.
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But under Ryken, he has instituted many DEI policies to try to increase diversity at Wheaton.
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And there's nothing wrong with doing that. But when you're following a worldview that is actually at its core racist, rather than trying to be truly including and diverse based on, based on not discriminating against anybody, but hiring the most qualified people.
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But instead he's looking at, you know, skin color, nationality, ethnicity, background.
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We want the most diverse people that we can, not the most qualified people, but just the right number of skin tone.
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So in a group picture, it will look like, hey, at least we meet our DEI requirements.
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You know, it's in, it's in first Timothy chapter two that the apostle Paul said to Timothy, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
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Now, at first, Wheaton put out a congratulations to Russell vote and had said that we're praying for you.
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They were, they were obeying that instruction there in first Timothy two, one and two.
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But then they took the post down and apologized for it and basically said, we apologize for following the instruction there in first Timothy two, one and two.
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Avoid such kinds of institutions. Don't send your sons and your daughters there. Don't send your money there.
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And hopefully we will see a change happen at a flagship institution that has been so influential as Wheaton college.
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They are desperately in need of leadership. They're in need of a spine and they're in need of Christ.
01:08:01
Thank you for listening today. We appreciate you so much. Once again, as I had mentioned, oh, hey, wanna, I wanna say here, if you're on X, do you, anybody on the social media network that was formerly known as Twitter, there is a podcast known as the dead men walking podcast,
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Greg Moore and Jason Hamlin, who are behind this particular podcast. And every year in February and March, they do a, like a reformed
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Christian podcast bracket, just like you have your, you know, your
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March madness basketball bracket. Well, they put a bracket together with all of these reform podcasts and there's a lot of them over a hundred.
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So they actually have two brackets going head to head with one another and they'll pit these different podcasts against each other.
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And everybody has to vote on their favorite podcast. And then there's gonna be a final four and all this kind of thing. Whoever ends up winning gets a trophy and they are the, yeah, they're the best reform podcast, according to the dead men walking podcast for that year, but they take votes on X.
01:09:08
I think the only place that this is handled is on X. They don't do it on any other social media site.
01:09:14
So right now, when we understand the text is in the midst of that. Now, I think we're about to come out on top of the apologetic dog.
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That was who we were going up head to head with. So it was the, when we understand the text podcast with the apologetic dog and we might win that one.
01:09:28
I hate to, I hate to beat that one because that's a great podcast. Jeremiah Nortier, who is the host of that one.
01:09:36
Seriously, subscribe to that. You can find them on YouTube. They've got some great debates. They even have some debates that are coming up, which you'll see scheduled on their channel.
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Great podcast to follow. Love Jeremiah. I hate to have to beat him in the first round, but when we understand the text might come out on top of that one, we'll see.
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Because I think the voting ends sometime in the AM on Friday. So whatever we move on to next in the next round, whoever we're going to face against, if you're on X, look that up, the dead men walking podcast, check out their reform podcast bracket, vote for your favorites, and we'll see who comes out on top.
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Whenever, when we understand the text comes up, WWUTT, vote for us. Well, thank you guys.
01:10:19
Once again, tell your friends about our ministry and we will continue plugging away. Hope to be able to bring you great content from one day to the next as we're teaching through scripture.
01:10:29
Of course, don't forget the Hear the Word of the Lord podcast, which is just Bible reading, not commentary, no music or anything, just reading straight through the
01:10:36
Bible and currently in the legacy standard version. Let me pray real quick as we kind of wrap things up.
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Heavenly father, we thank you so much for the kindness that you show to us every day. We receive the mercy of God daily, as said in Lamentations 3, your mercies are new every morning.
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Great is your faithfulness. And as we read just a moment ago from Psalm 136, your steadfast love endures forever.
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And may it be knowing this, the love and grace that we have received through Jesus Christ, our savior, be the thing that sustains us every day, gives us joy, gives us strength and energy to face another day and to do it all to the glory of God who loves us.
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May we be bold in our witness of Christ to this world. Give us courage, give us strength to share the message of the gospel with others for it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that one can be saved from death and have everlasting life.