WWUTT 1555 Q&A Valley of Achan, Isaiah and Zechariah Prophecies, Little Ones in Church

If sons are not to be punished for the sins of their fathers, according to Ezekiel 18 -20, why was

Achan's family punished along with him? Did any who perish in the wilderness go to heaven? And we'll look at some other

End Times passages when we understand the text. This is

When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ. For every word of God proves true.

He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt

.com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. Who is holding the little guy, and he's not asleep this time.

He's not. He's wide awake. He is alert and ready to join the conversation. Hey. Are you going to say something?

What are you going to say, baby Zeke? What are you going to say? It wouldn't necessarily be your debut. You've already cried on the program before.

Are you going to say some good words of wisdom? Perfect.

That was brilliant. Groaning. I'm groaning in these days. We have hope in Christ, in His word.

Today we are giving away books. 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, which is the book

I wrote a couple of years ago. And also, The Dawn of Redeeming Grace, a daily

Advent devotional by Sinclair Ferguson. Which is awesome. If we read your question.

That's right. If we read your question on the program today, you win both of these books. And actually,

I should qualify that. Only three of the persons whose questions that I'm reading today are getting the books.

Because I have a critic's question. Yeah, that doesn't really count. He didn't include his name and address, so yeah, he won't.

He's probably not even aware I'm doing a giveaway. Was it a question though? Yeah, it was. Oh, okay. It is a question.

Never mind. Has to do with one of the what videos. Like an older video. I even had to go back and listen to it to remember what

I said. I couldn't remember that one. Anyway, if we get to a point here where the baby does decide he wants to cry, we're gonna have a video break.

Okay. Sounds good. We'll throw on a what video and do what we need to do to calm the child.

If you have any questions, you can send them to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com, as we had previously said.

I like to start with those questions that have to do with what we just talked about during the week.

So this one comes from Brian in Ontario, Canada. And he says, hi, Pastor Gabe and Becky.

Hello. I just heard today's episode and heard your explanation of Akin's sin and the stoning of his entire family.

So this was on Wednesday when I was reading from 1 Corinthians 10. And it's in verse 6 where Paul says, these things, talking about those

Old Testament examples took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did.

And then he goes through where the Israelites had disobeyed against God and God punished them for their sin.

One of the things I pointed out was take note of the severity of the punishment so that we would recognize the wages of sin is death.

Death came into the world because we sinned against God. And I also pointed out the story of Akin in Joshua chapter 7.

So Brian's asking about that particular story. He says, so I heard your explanation of Akin's sin and the stoning of his entire family and how a father's sins have consequences, which

I do agree. I agree with and see to some extent family debt from gambling, you know, et cetera.

But what about Ezekiel 18, 20, where it says that sons should not be punished for the sins of their fathers?

How would that align with Akin's family being punished severely? Or a less serious question, what's your favorite smell?

Okay. Brian from Canada. I think you missed the Q &A last week where I said. Yeah, I did miss it.

You can send in a question that's a serious theology question or you can just, you know, ask. Send in a random. Hey, Becky, what's your favorite color?

All right. So Brian wants to know what our favorite. That's a complicated answer, by the way. Yeah. We'll get back to that. This is a little different than what's your favorite color.

Yes. What's your favorite smell? That's not what I think about very often. Well, probably pizza. For you.

Yeah. I was going to say, I know that's not yours. No. It could be for me though. We'll come back to that one.

We'll answer these in the order in which Brian has asked them. Yes. So let's go to Joshua chapter 7.

Now, when Brian had asked this question, I had just done this devotional with the kids. So we had just gone through Joshua 7 together.

It wasn't just. It was a couple of weeks ago. But that's why it was kind of fresh on my mind, you know, to even use that as an example.

And I read through it again. I went to Joshua 7. I read through it again. And the intention of reading it again was

I was looking specifically for some indication that Akin's family was complicit in this sin with him.

Okay. So he took of the devoted things. Why would his family be punished for that?

Well, because they were complicit in the sin. It wasn't just because. That they knew about it and they were okay with it. Right. You know, they benefited from the silver and the gold and the cloak.

It's kind of hard to take some of those things that he took and nobody else know about it. True. So the family knew about it, but didn't say anything about it.

Nobody rebuked him. Nobody saw a problem with it. And so if they were going to be punished along with Akin, then it was because they were with him in that sin.

That's what I was looking for was some indication of that. That's not what I came up with when I was reading this story again, though.

So let me. Yeah. Let me come back to, let's see, verse 16. So this is after Israel has attempted to come against Ai and they failed.

And the reason why they failed, the reason why they were defeated at Ai, though Ai was a weaker army than Jericho, was because God said to them, there are devoted things in your midst,

O Israel, you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.

So verse 16, Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe and the tribe of Judah was taken.

So they cast lots and eventually this whittles down to discovering Akin is the guy who's the problem.

Okay. Okay. I'm just kind of summarizing the story here. Verse 20 and Akin answered Joshua, truly

I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. And this is what I did when

I saw among the spoil, a beautiful cloak from Shinar and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels.

I coveted them and took them and see they are hidden in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath.

So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath.

And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel.

And they laid them down before the Lord and Joshua and all Israel with him took

Akin, the son of Zerah and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had.

And they brought them up to the valley of Achor and Joshua said, why did you bring trouble upon us?

The Lord brings trouble on you today. And all Israel stoned him with stones.

All right. So it doesn't say his wife and his kids. Oh, okay. It says took them.

They took them. So they brought them out to the judgment that was going to come upon Akin.

But it doesn't say that they were killed with Akin. So when I read that with the kids,

I wasn't paying attention. I didn't understand the text. And so I had even communicated with the kids that they were that they were killed with their father and was communicating with them the seriousness of sin.

Now, this didn't cause them nightmares or anything. They did have some curious questions about that. Rightfully so.

Right. So all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

That could be in reference to just the donkeys and the sheep and the tents and all that he had. It doesn't necessarily say.

Like what he plundered. Right. Well, no, not what he plundered because what he plundered was the silver and the gold and the cloak. Right. But all that he possessed was destroyed.

But that would be his wife and children raised him over him a great heap. And then verse 26, they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

So they killed the animals with the stones. But the heap of stones was only raised over him.

It doesn't say his wife and his children. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day, the name of that place is called the

Valley of Acre. OK. So the understanding there, then, is probably that they were not killed with Achan.

But if they were, if when we read all Israel stoned him with stones, then they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

If that's in reference to Achan's family, then we would have to draw from that an understanding that they were complicit with Achan in his sin.

Right. So it wasn't that they were being punished just because he sinned, but that they were also guilty of this sin.

And that's why they would have died as well. Beings that they have their own tent, I would assume that they knew about him burying stuff, you know.

Right. Yeah. Kind of hard to bury something in your tent. Especially that much stuff. And everybody living in the tent not know about it.

Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, that would be my answer for you, Brian.

And good job calling my attention to that. Yeah. Forced me to have to go back and make sure

I was reading that again, reading it correctly. So then Brian's next question. What's your favorite smell?

Babies. No. No. You stink most of the time, don't you?

She's talking to me, yeah. I'd say the beach.

Like just the salty air. Oh yeah, that is a great smell. You just get out of your car and you're like, ahh.

Yeah. That's a pretty good one. Yeah. I don't know if I can top that. That might be my favorite.

Another close one to me would be the smell either after the rain.

I'm talking over the kid. Everybody's going to want to hear the baby talk. They're not going to want to hear my talk. Oh, he's giving his opinion, too. Okay. Here's my favorite smell.

You're interrupting Daddy, though. Just wait your turn. Son, we don't want to know your favorite smell right now. Keep that one to yourself.

A close one for me, if the beach is the best one, then a close one to that one would be the smell either right before or after a rain.

Oh yeah. I used to love that, but then I started getting headaches around that time. Well, that's true.

You do. You're like a human barometer. I am. You know when it's about to storm. In Western Kansas in particular, when

I lived in Western Kansas, there was a certain smell that would precede a storm.

So before a big storm came up. Either rain or snow, both.

Yeah. In both ways. And it was only Western Kansas would have that certain kind of fragrance of an oncoming storm.

I don't smell it here or don't sense it here in East Texas. Yeah. I'm still getting used to it.

More allergens in the air, I think. I still get the headache, though, that it's coming. That's true. That's what

I get told. Yeah. That might be one for me. There isn't really a good candle smell.

Becky has a good job of picking some of those candle fragrances. I'm very particular. Yeah. Yeah.

I wouldn't say there's one that just makes me go, oh, this is the best smell ever. They're all artificial. It's a good, you know, you can create a good scent in the room that's better than my own natural scent, which is why

Becky picks out candles to kind of cover over our natural scents. But yeah.

Yeah. It's all still artificial. Like the Seabreeze Car Freshener smells nothing like Seabreeze.

No. No. I would even challenge the one that smells like pine, that it doesn't even really smell like pine.

All right. This next one comes from Christopher in Ohio. He says, Pastor Hughes, we have been in Hebrews and how it talks of all that rebelled in the wilderness.

It calls them corpses. They did not enter the promised land. This was something else that I mentioned on the program this week.

Also out of First Corinthians 10. We know that they did not get into the promised land.

But did any of them share in eternal life in heaven? The reason

I ask is because Moses was not allowed into the promised land, but he is believed to be in heaven as seen in the transfiguration.

I know it's not a salvific issue, but an interesting discussion nonetheless. Yeah, definitely.

So as we have from the book of Numbers, it was said that any of the children of Israel from the age of 20 and upward, they were the ones that were numbered in the census.

They would not receive the promised land because they grumbled against the Lord. But those who were 19 and younger would receive the promised land after the generation of their elders had died, after they had passed away in the wilderness.

And then those children that were born to them would also receive the promised land. So at the end of Deuteronomy, Moses is kind of giving them a final address before they are about to go into the land that they will receive as God had promised to their forefather

Abraham. So the, I'm getting really distracted here with all the faces Becky's making.

I'm trying to keep him from crying. I'm trying to keep my answer focused and I'm like, my family over here is being adorable.

So and I'm somebody that I'm not easily distracted.

No, you're not. When I'm talking. You could talk through and around most anything.

Yeah, pretty much. That was part of the training that I got was to avoid distractions and stay focused. I'm not doing so great right now.

Apparently we're too cute. Did you hear that? So anyway, what was I talking about? So 19 and younger.

You're past that. I'm just kind of going on about that. That's good. We're good. We're past that. Right. Exactly. So the generation of Israelites that perished in the wilderness, did any of them get to heaven?

Yes. Well, we don't know. I assume so. Because I mean, yes, the path is narrow, but there are those saved in every generation.

Well, we can't really know for sure because the text doesn't tell us just to just to say,

I don't know. That's a scary enough answer. Did any of them get to heaven? You know, you're talking a million

Israelites or something like that died in the wilderness. We're not going to receive the promise. I would not say all of them gotten to heaven, but well, certainly not right.

We know that. But did some of them get to heaven? Well, that's not really the point of the story.

So again, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10 6, these things happened as examples for us. So we would not crave evil things as they also craved.

The lesson that we learned from the Israelites who perished in the wilderness is to not oppose

Christ as they did, which Paul goes on to say in verse 9, don't put Christ to the test.

They don't stand as examples of of the disobedient that still might receive mercy.

So we're not looking at the Israelites who perished in the wilderness as, oh, well, they disobeyed, but they still receive mercy.

No, they're examples of the judgment of God that comes upon those who do not honor the

Lord, who go their own way instead of God's way. Right. Now, Moses is an exception, of course, not only because he appeared at the transfiguration with Christ, but also because of how

Deuteronomy concludes. Chapter 34, verse 7, Moses was 120 years old when he died.

His eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated, meaning his vigor for the

Lord. And that's what I was thinking. Now, because Moses entered glory, we might assume there were also some in rebellious

Israel who may have repented and are in heaven as well. My point is simply that the scripture doesn't tell us and it's not the lesson that we're meant to glean.

We are left knowing them as, quote, the generation that had done evil in the sight of the

Lord. Numbers 32, 13. God's mercy toward Israel is shown in that he did not wipe them all out, though he could have been.

Right. Or he could have done so and would have been just in doing so. At the time of the rebellion in Kadesh, numbers 14, only those who were under the age of 20 would receive the promised land, plus all who were born during Israel's wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

The people were unfaithful, but God remained faithful and they received the land that God had promised to Abraham's descendants.

As with the Old Testament faithful, we desire a better country that is a heavenly one,

Hebrews 11, 16. So may the Lord grant us to walk in faithfulness until we enter our promised land.

Amen. All right. I'm distracted. You're distracted, yeah, by a baby as well. Because I'm trying to distract someone.

Distract our other co -host. All right. Next question. This comes from Eric in Indiana. Because he's a critic.

This little guy's a dick. What's he going to criticize? I don't know. He's going to grump about something soon, though, aren't you?

So Eric says, Hi, Pastor Gabe. I've enjoyed listening to the Eschatology series that your church recently did, and I hope that there will be more to come.

One book that I just recently read was Premillennialism, Why There Must Be a Future Earthly Kingdom of Jesus by Michael Vlack.

And I've recommended some of Michael Vlack's books in the past. If you want to get an understanding of dispensational premillennialism,

Michael Vlack has some good books. Often short and, you know, gets you to the point. Right up my alley.

Right. I didn't find many of the arguments in his book compelling, as I felt that he was arguing mostly from a straw man position.

For example, amillennialism denies a future earthly reign of Christ, as the subtitle would suggest.

My understanding is that amillennialism would affirm that Christ will reign on a new earth, as described in Revelation 21.

However, he lists some Old Testament passages that I find interesting, and I would like your thoughts on these from an amillennial perspective.

Isaiah 65, 20. I have heard this passage used before to provide support for a future millennial kingdom, as it describes people still dying, although at an old age.

One observation that I made, which he didn't mention, is that the verse preceding it describes no more weeping, which doesn't seem possible if there is death, even if it's at an old age.

Zechariah 8, 4. This verse also describes old men and old women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem, which doesn't sound like the new earth in Revelation 21, since aging would be inconsistent with our new resurrected bodies.

Zechariah 14, 16 -19. These verses describe sin and punishment of nations, which wouldn't fit the present age or the new earth if this describes conditions after Jesus returns.

Thank you for doing the What Podcasts and videos. I benefit greatly by them, and always look forward to listening.

I'm keeping you and your family in my prayers, as I know that when you don't hold back in proclaiming the truth of God's word, it's going to offend a lot of people.

Yes, that's quite true. And I'm currently awaiting a Twitter ban. I noticed that there was a group of people that were kind of rallying around, hey, target this tweet by Pastor Gabe and report him so that we can get him banned.

That happens on occasion. Again, yes, right. Okay, so Isaiah 65, 20.

Let's go through these one at a time. Isaiah 65, I'm going to read a bigger chunk of so we can keep this in context.

Starting in verse 17 and going through verse 25, this is a great section of the

Old Testament talking about the new heavens and the new earth. So beginning in verse 17, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former thing shall not be remembered or come into mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in that which

I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy and her people to be a gladness.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people. No more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not fill out his days.

For the young man shall die a hundred years old and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. That's right.

For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity. That was his cue.

Since I made a reference. He was trying. Okay. For they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the

Lord and their descendants with them. Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking,

I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, not the lion and the lamb, as is often said.

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox and the dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the

Lord. By the way, I had written a script for a what video pointing out that the lion shall lie down with the lamb is not anywhere in scripture.

I've never done it. I wrote it years ago. I never did that video. That's one I got to dig up.

There was for the longest time, and then I finally realized that there wasn't a video on that.

No. Oh, yeah. The lion and the lamb weren't in the Bible. Yeah. We don't. We. Well, the lion and the lamb is

Christ. He's described in Revelation as both the lion and the lamb, right? The lion laying down with the lamb.

Yeah. But there's not a lion laying with the lamb. It's a very popular painting at your local Christian bookstore, wherever there are still brick and mortar

Christian bookstores. Few and far between. That's right. But that picture is actually not painted in the

Bible. Now, as Eric pointed out here, it says in verse 19, no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

If there are no more tears, there's no more dying. So verse 20. That's right, son.

No more tears. We're not in the new heavens and the new earth yet. Oh, and incidentally, that's the way we start the section.

So verse 17, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. We're not talking about the intermediate kingdom.

This is not a thousand year reign of Christ on the earth. This is the new heavens and the new earth.

This is the eternal state that we're reading about here in Isaiah 65. It says that from the beginning of the passage.

So verse 20, where it says, no more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not fill out his days.

For the young man shall die a hundred years old and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

That's really just a poetic way of saying we'll live forever. Infants won't die.

And if infants won't die, why won't infants die? Because there won't be any more death.

There won't be an old man who does not fill out his days. So even he shall live even older than an old man.

He shall fill out his days. My question is, will there be birth? No, not in the new heavens and the new earth.

Because Jesus said they won't be married or given in marriage, but shall be like angels.

That's what Jesus said. So yeah, there's no more marriage, no more procreation. That's not going on in the new heavens and the new earth.

The reference to the young man shall die a hundred years old. Now that's where the dispensationalist gets hung up because it's like, well, they still live long and they're still death, but they just live a long time.

Well, in the thousand year reign of Christ, if people are still living and dying in the thousand year reign, there are

Christians who will die in the thousand year reign of Christ who is on the earth reigning, right?

Where would they go? So if Christians die, where do they go? Do they go to heaven?

Without Christ? Yeah, where Christ is not there because he's reigning on the earth. I've asked this question of dispensationalists before.

It's a struggle point for you guys. You're going to have to figure that out because that's not what this text is talking about.

It's talking about the eternal state. So the young man shall die a hundred years old. That's just a figurative picture of the fact that when we've been in eternity, like John Newton says in amazing grace, when we've been there 10 ,000 years, that will be like the beginning of eternity.

So here in Isaiah 65, 20, that's the picture as well. A man who is in eternity for a hundred years is still a young man.

And the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. That's speaking of those who have been consigned to eternal punishment, to hell.

And they're there for eternity as well. They continue to be accursed in an eternal fire.

So repent, turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Be warned of the judgment of God that is coming.

So there's my description of Isaiah 65, 20. Let's go on to the next one.

This is Zechariah 8, 4. Let me start reading in verse 3 here. Thus says the

Lord, I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city and the mountain of the

Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of hosts, old men and old women shall sit in the streets, shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age.

Verse 5, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.

This is also talking about the eternal state. Because when we are in the new Jerusalem, talked about in Revelation, no more tears, no more tears in the new

Jerusalem. When we are in the new Jerusalem, that is the eternal kingdom, we are there forever with God in glory.

And whether you've died at an old age or you've died at a young age, there will be those who were old in life and who were young in life who will dwell forever in that kingdom.

So hence you have the reference to old men and old women, again sit in the streets and the streets shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets as well.

This reference to this being the Mount of Zion, consider that in Isaiah 25, verses 6 and 7, on this mountain, the

Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well -aged wine, of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined.

And he will swallow up on this mountain, the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever. That's how this mountain is described.

And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people, he will take away from all the earth for the

Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, behold, this is our

God. We have waited for him that he might save us. This is the

Lord, we have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

So this is the mountain where the people are gathered there in Zechariah chapter 8.

We're talking about the eternal kingdom, not an intermediate thousand year kingdom. Which again, in the amillennial view, we're presently living in that millennial kingdom.

So well, living in the millennial reign of Christ, we'll put it that way. So he, that kingdom, you enter into in eternity when you die and you know, the saints are seated with Christ in glory now, they are reigning with Christ in heaven.

Christ's reign also extends to the earth through his church. So that's the amillennial understanding.

There's not Christ coming back and then a thousand year kingdom on the earth and then we enter into the eternal state.

When Christ returns, that's eternity. That's it. This age is over, we're in the next age.

And Christ spoke of only two ages. There's this age and the next. And the next age, there's not being married and giving in marriage.

And therefore, having children, there's no more death. We are eternal there.

Okay, the last verse that Eric mentioned here was Zechariah 14, 16 to 19.

This is a little bit longer section. So what we're reading about in Zechariah 14, at the beginning of the chapter,

I'm not going to exegete this whole thing. But there is affliction that comes upon the church and it looks like the church is defeated.

But then God attacks or makes war with the enemies of the church and defeats them.

So then after he comes upon the enemies of God, in verses 16 to 19, it says, then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the

King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the

King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain.

There shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths.

This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths.

What are we talking about here? Well, the reference to the feast of booths is a reference to the feast of tabernacles or the feast of tents.

It's a reference to the fact that we are dwelling with God and he is dwelling with us. Where it says in Zechariah 14, 16, that everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the

King. The reference to Jerusalem here is the new Jerusalem. Those that have survived the war that God has made against the nations are the elect that have been chosen from the

Gentiles. If you want to see another picture of this, read Revelation 6 and 7.

Where at the end of Revelation 6, God having brought all of this disaster upon the peoples of the earth, the final question there at the end of Revelation 6 is, the great day of their judgment has come and who can stand?

And then what John sees in Revelation 7 is those who are sealed who will come out standing after the day of judgment.

That's the same picture that we have here in Zechariah 14. So again, not exegeting the whole section, but hopefully that gives you kind of an idea of what's being talked about there.

If any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, then there will be no rain on them.

So this is saying that those who are not part of the new Jerusalem are those who are part of the destruction that's going to come upon the rest of the earth.

Appreciate your question there, Eric. It's good to think through these things and try to digest even some of these difficult apocalyptic passages that we find in the

Old Testament. But we understand the apocalyptic passages that we read in Revelation by what has previously been said in the

Old Testament as well. Since there's multiple references to in fact, the whole apocalypse picture there in Revelation is borrowed heavily from the

Old Testament. Yeah. So you understand the Old Testament passages and it will help you understand the New Testament as well.

There is a paper that was written by G .K. Beale. It's called An Amillennial Response to a

Premillennial View of Isaiah 6520. It's in a PDF form. I'm going to leave it to you to have to look it up for yourself on Google.

But an interesting thing about this paper is we were somewhat witness to the thing that inspired this particular paper.

You probably don't remember this. No. But it was back in 2015. We attended the Gospel Coalition Conference in Orlando.

Do you remember that? Yes. Okay. John Piper talked in that conference and he made a reference to Isaiah 6520.

And because of that reference that John Piper made, a question was asked of G .K.

Beale. Now, what's our amillennial view of that based on what John Piper said, which was a premillennial view.

And so G .K. Beale wrote a paper about that passage in Isaiah 65 and how we understand that from an amillennial perspective because of that statement that John Piper made.

So we were there. We were there at the inspiration of this particular paper. Again, the name of it is an amillennial response to a premillennial view of Isaiah 6520 by G .K.

Beale. It's about 35 pages in a PDF form. You can Google that and read that.

All right. For further exposition that I was able to give here. Yeah. All right. This next question comes from S .J.

Here's the criticism that I mentioned that I was going to get. Hi there. I run and he mentions a website that I'm not going to mention because I've not checked it out.

I have no idea what's on this website. I was thinking about possibly doing a rebuttal video to your video on the topic of Philippians 413, but I was hoping you could clarify something for me in your video.

You say Philippians 413, which is I can do all things through him who strengthens me, right?

I say that Philippians 413 does not mean that faith in God will help you be an athlete or strike it rich or fly.

S .J. Says, can you explain how you know Philippians 413 doesn't mean those things?

No explanation is given in the video. The video is the explanation of why that isn't in Philippians 413.

So this is the video I said I had to go back and listen to because I was like, I don't even remember what I said in that video. So here you go.

Here is the old what video just in case you need the refresher on Philippians 413.

The apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian church while under house arrest in Rome. He had been detained for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Philippians had heard about Paul's imprisonment and also witnessed rival teachers making things harder on Paul. It wasn't popular to associate with prisoners.

Well, the Philippians didn't feel that way. Jesus said that what you've done to my brothers in prison, you've done unto me. So they took up an offering to help

Paul with his ministry, and they sent it to Rome with a paphroditus, a journey that almost killed him. Paul wrote back to thank them for their gift and encourage them to rejoice in everything, even his imprisonment.

At the end of his letter, he said, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly about your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity to show it until now.

Not that I am speaking of being in need for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and how to abound in any and every circumstance.

I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4 .13 does not mean that faith in God will help you be an athlete or strike it rich or fly.

It means that whether things are really good or things are really bad, it is by the power of God that we endure.

Jesus conquered death and rules over all. What can this world do to us? Whether you have money or you don't, you're sick or you're healthy, you're being ridiculed for your faith, you have friends or have been betrayed by the strength of God who is working all things for his glory.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice when we understand the text.

So during the course of that video, the baby changed hands. He's sitting with me now.

My arms needed to breathe. And not nearly as talkative. You gonna say something? What you gonna say?

Hey, he's not even looking at me. What is he? What's he so transfixed on?

I can't tell. Trying to follow his eyes, but I can't tell what he's looking at. And it's on the other side of the desk.

It is. All right. Anyway, so back to Philippians 4 .13. As a popular

T -shirt says, I can do all things through a verse taken out of context. If you're gonna say that that verse does mean that with faith in God you can be a successful athlete or strike it rich or fly, you're gonna have to explain how that's in the text.

The burden is on you to explain how you see that in the text. Right. It's not on me to have to explain how that's not in the text because it's clearly not in the text.

The video was putting it in context so that you can see what Paul was saying from prison, from being under house arrest in Rome.

That he's content. Exactly. Whether he's facing good times or hard times, he's content with Christ.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's what the passage means.

Because we are weak. Yeah. And he is our strength. And Stephen Curry, the basketball player.

I know I was gonna say his position, but I don't remember his position. Anyway, basketball player for the Golden State Warriors. Yeah. He has on his shoes,

I can do all things. You know, just a piece of the verse that he's branded on all of his clothing items.

Okay. And there are people are like, oh, that's great. There's a Bible verse on it. That doesn't, it doesn't say anything. I can do all things that there may as well not be the

Bible reference to it. Because he's taken that out of context and made it into some sort of pithy quote.

Selling clothing items. The gospel's not in it. Right. You know, even if you were to quote the whole verse.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You still don't get the gospel in that either.

Just taking, you know, short little pithy things and branding them on clothing items like that is not sharing the gospel.

Yeah. And unfortunately, Curry is a very worldly man. I love watching him play basketball.

He's a tremendous athlete. And I know that in the past he has expressed faith in God, but he has since united himself with very worldly things, including the

Black Lives Matter movement. And I'm pretty sure LGBTQ ism as well. Just because he's put a fraction of a

Bible verse on his clothing does not mean that he's a godly man. And it's exactly because he does things like that is why

I started doing when we understand the text. Yeah. So you understand those things in context. Yeah.

Not the pithy little quotes and sayings that people will do taking those verses and such out of context.

I have one last question here, and I'm just realizing that I did not put the person's name on it. Oh, dear.

So I'm going to have to go back into my emails and figure out who this was. But anyway, hi, Pastor and Mrs. Hughes.

Similar to y 'all, we have younger children, six and three years old. We have a seven and a four.

This one is two months. Our six year old has a lot of trouble sitting still and being quiet during the sermon.

Well, fancy that. That's also our seven and four year old. Yeah, I was going to say. The 10 and 13 year old now.

Now, Annie, our 13 year old, is really well. She even takes notes during service. Zej, we're still.

Yeah, the 10 year old. He's quiet, at least. He is now quiet. Just not paying attention. Yeah. But the seven and the four year old.

There's a trick there. We don't want to instill bad habits, so we don't allow him toys or other things to distract himself.

We don't let our kids bring toys either. But we recently had an idea to take his love of drawing and use it to help him focus.

Now, we have done that. We have. We have recently begun to allow him to draw during the sermon. But the instruction is that he can only draw things that he hears from the sermon.

That would be a little easier to do during our current sermon series, because we're in Jonah right now.

Right. You just draw big fish every Sunday. As parents and as a pastor,

I would like to get your thoughts on this. My idea is that this will hopefully get him to listen better and eventually learn to take notes, although it's more like hieroglyphics right now.

What do you say? Also, should you choose to read this on the program rather than sending the giveaway books to me?

Oh, OK. Well, here you go. Would you kindly pick anyone that has indicated themselves to be a newer believer and send it to them instead?

I recently bought the Illustrated Baptist Catechism from Reftunes. Nice. Great book.

Yes. Based on your suggestion and love it. Their coloring books are super cool, too.

Good. If you're looking for a good Baptist catechism book, I recommend the Illustrated Baptist Catechism from Reftunes.

Paul Cox. Yes. Who does those and does a fantastic job. Congratulations on that book,

Paul. All right. So what are what are some other suggestions? I mean, what can you do to keep your kids entertained during church?

Well, and I don't know if it's for everybody, but we do a snack during the service.

Yes. Something quiet like goldfish. Yes. And not messy like crackers that they just kind of I don't know.

It just falls apart. Yeah, the crumble. Yes. Crumbles everywhere. Because I'm constantly taking a paper towel afterward and cleaning up the floor.

Not saltines or Ritz. I don't recommend those. But something that's quiet.

Make sure the wrapper is quiet. If it's not, put it in a baggie like a Ziploc bag and take it in.

But I remember that one Sunday. It wasn't that long ago. One of the girls had brought like a

Lay's potato chip bag. Something so noisy. It was spending like two minutes trying to open it.

And I finally just reached over and was like, no, that's enough. It was so loud.

But anyway, so we when after. Okay, so in our service, they always read the

Bible verse first and then pray and then go into the sermon. Yes.

So we wait until he's actually talking in the sermon part.

And then we he's dancing before me to the little baby. Sorry, I didn't realize.

I'm the one being distracting now. I'm dancing the baby. I'm not as talented as you. Keep talking through the distractions.

Anyway, so we wait till this particular time. And then they sit down and they can enjoy their snack.

And then they bring out the drawing. And it's usually always drawing at our church.

They have a handout. Yeah, they hand out pages that talks about like, what's the Bible verses that you're reading?

What's the sermon topic? What's your favorite part? Um, draw a picture of something that was said about in the sermon.

And then if you flip it over, then on the other side, it has a part for notes. And then at the bottom, it has like stars and hearts and stuff clear across the page.

And it says, how many times have you heard them say, God, Jesus, and I don't remember the other one.

And then there's a couple of blanks that have the same like you can fill in. There are also little sermon books that you can buy.

And we've done this before. I've tried those. And they will break up, you know, different categories in the sermon.

So they have to write notes down there. Yeah. But for six year old, that might be a struggle. Could be a little more difficult.

But if you told them what each quadrant represented. Yeah. Like this quadrant says, you know, when the pastor says this, what did he say about this?

So drawing a picture there in that quadrant of the notebook or, you know. And sometimes that's those are good for after.

So that way they're paying attention during and then you can ask them after and help them fill it out.

Now, we've also done like sermon practice. Yes. Now, what does that mean?

Well, the kids sit down on the couch and we watch a sermon from Ligonier or John MacArthur or something like that.

Yeah. And so they'll have to watch the sermon. Now, sometimes I'll pick something shorter. It'll be like 20 to 30 minutes, not quite a full church service.

But we'll get to the end. And then and I'm not interrupting at all. I'm not stopping the audio.

I'm not explaining anything to them. We just watch it straight through and they just have to sit and watch and be quiet. Then we get to the end and talk about it.

So what did you hear? What was the point? What was the passage that he was talking from? You know, things like that.

And then, of course, we have family devotions. That's a lot more interaction. Right. Those things, though, do

I mean, they're big helps in getting kids to sit still and pay attention. Right.

Because even if you're doing family devotions in a section of scripture, that's not what the pastor is going through.

They're going to make connections between, oh, yeah, I've heard the pastor say this. And now dad's teaching me this. Definitely.

Something like that. What's up, guy? What's going on? And sometimes the wording is tough for them to grasp because it's not usually what you talk about day to day.

And a lot of that is over their heads. So you do have to give them grace in that and just understand that there's a lot that they're not going to be able to pick up until you go and talk to them after.

So just to help them understand in a lot of this is before or after.

It depends on if you know what your pastor is going to talk about. You can prep them ahead of time and read the

Bible verse or the section, the passage and explain to them what happened.

And then you listen to the pastor and then you can talk about it after. Yeah. Reading it in advance.

That does also help your kids to pay attention, to hear what's going on.

And to understand. Right. And to understand it because we've talked about this beforehand. Another good idea is to listen to the songs that you know that you're going to sing on Sunday.

Yes. To go through those with the kids beforehand, especially if they can't read the lyrics either from a hymn book or on the overhead.

Well, you've sung them together. So now they're familiar with them and now they feel like they're involved. They feel like they're participating in worship.

Right. I think you're on the right track here, especially to congratulate you on having your kids in the service.

Yes, that is awesome. Such a rare thing. But it is very, very important that we all worship together as families, especially in that main service.

We can break up into different classes during Sunday school or Wednesday night equipping classes or Bible study or anything like that.

But the church service itself is all of the body together, worshiping in family integrated worship.

I think that's the right way to go. Yes. So thank you for doing that. Well done. Encourage others to do so as well.

Even if your church offers a children's church, start working with your kids on sitting with you in big church.

Yeah. All right. Well, that's it. You made it all the way to the end, little guy.

Without too much grumping. Without too much grumping. Yeah, he's getting a little done.

Are you done? He's probably ready for a nap. Are you ready to go home?

I think you're frustrating him. I'm trying to get some kind of sound out of him because he won't talk to me.

So any final words, parting words? It's written all over his face.

You guys just can't see it. All right. Well, can you let me pray?

And then we'll go. We'll finish with prayer. All right. Let's do this. Here's his passie. We'll try the passie.

We'll finish with prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time together. We thank you for the good word that you give to us in scripture that we may know the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That there is a savior who rescues us from our sin and the judgment of God that is coming against all unrighteousness.

I pray that we would be bold in these days to speak your truth, that others who are headed to hell would know about the disaster that is coming upon them, and they would repent and turn to Jesus Christ and be saved.

It is our job as the church to alert the world to the judgment that is coming and the salvation that we have through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

May we be bold to declare it in these days. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.