Blood Water and Stone

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Let's pray Blessed Lord you have caused all scripture to be written for our learning

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We ask that you would grant that we may so hear your word read mark learn inwardly digest it

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So that by patient and comfort of your holy word We may embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life through Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Amen By way of review You've noticed that ever since we got out of Egypt Notice I'm saying we there because you can note this is really our story

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Ever since we got out of Egypt everything in the book of Exodus has in some way really clearly been pointing

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To something in the New Testament So in fact it even begins before we leave

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Egypt, but the children of Israel They have left the land of slavery have been set set free from slavery through these mighty acts of judgment culminating in the death of the

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Passover lamb their baptism in the Red Sea Now they're in their wilderness wanderings and they are being fed bread from heaven

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Does this sound familiar? Hmm. Yes, we too have been set free from slavery to the devil

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We have been baptized in the Red Sea in the in the you know Christ blood and water mixed together in the waters of our baptism

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We are now in our wilderness wanderings as we head toward the promised land And if you heard correctly in the sermon today

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The promised land is not a postage stamp piece of property in the middle of the Middle East the promised land is actually the whole world the earth itself and As we are heading to the promised land then we also heard about the

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Sabbath and how the Sabbath itself points to salvation by grace through faith apart from works

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That Christ is our Sabbath rest and you're gonna see how all of this points to him as we work then through Exodus 22

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I'll back up just a little bit to pick up our context so we can kind of get our bearings we're gonna run back over just a little bit of the

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The Sabbath bits of it and then we're going to move forward and we're going to get to something really strange a rock a

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Really big rock that gets struck and the rock gushes out water

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And we're gonna learn that scripture says in the New Testament that that rock is Jesus which sitting there gone, huh?

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And we'll pick up on one of the motifs because you can talk about how Christ is the rock of stumbling and you know

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The stone that makes men stumble you can talk about it in that sense we're gonna focus in on the living water today at least that motif in Scripture and we're also going to then see

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Moses visibly turn himself into a cross and win a battle and Then we're going to in Exodus 18

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Look at a very interesting passage that I think in type and shadow points us to the pastoral office

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But I'll explain it as we go along So we're in Exodus chapter 16 verse 22 a little bit of review on the sixth day

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Children of Israel gathered twice as much bread two Omer's each it makes you wonder, you know

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How big is an Omer compared to like, you know, those plastic containers we buy at the at the supermarket, you know

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Yeah, right exactly how many pieces how many Chinese food boxes is that I don't I'm not two quarts so no mores two quarts and When all the leaders of the congregation came and told

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Moses he said to them This is what the Lord has commanded tomorrow is a day of solemn rest We talked about this last week a holy

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Sabbath to the Lord and you remember the Sabbath is not a commandment to worship on a certain Day, the Sabbath is a commandment to do nothing

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You do nothing to go nowhere. You do no thing you just Veg, it is some good couch time

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That's the idea Tomorrow's the day of solemn rest a holy Sabbath the Lord bake what you will bake boil what you will boil and all that is

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Leftover lay aside to be kept until the morning So they laid it aside till morning as Moses commanded them and did and it did not stink and there were no worms in it

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Moses said eat it today for today is a Sabbath to the Lord today. You will not find it in the field six days

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You shall gather But on the seventh which is a Sabbath there will be none on the seventh day

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Some of the people went out to gather but they found none There's a shock you ever noticed that that's how we are as human beings and it starts like immediately

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Have you ever noticed that our kids when they come out, you know, it's never

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Go clean your room. Yes, mom. I'll be happy to go do that Let me get on that right away and then they're off cleaning the room or it's bedtime.

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Okay, let's stop what we're doing quick Hop in bed. Let's say our prayers and go to sleep. No, it's And You know, you'd give them a command right something to do and then it's like they wander off and do their own thing and you

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Sit in there going. Didn't I tell you to clean your room? Oh, I forgot

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I don't know how parents survive parenting, you know, if we just makes us crazy just say, you know,

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I have a twitch so So on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather they found none

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Lord said to Moses how long will you Refuse to keep my commandments in my laws. See the

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Lord has given you this given the Sabbath knows the Sabbath is gift

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Therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days remain each of you in his place Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.

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So the people rested on the seventh day Now the house of Israel called its name man, uh, we all know what that means now, right?

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What is it? That's what they named it. What is it? It was like coriander seed white and The taste of it was like wafers made with honey

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Moses said this is what the Lord has commanded let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations

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So that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt this was ultimately put into the

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Ark of the Covenant and Now the Ark is gone and Moses said to Aaron take a jar put an omer of manna in it

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Place it before Yahweh to be kept throughout your generations as the Lord commanded Moses So Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept the people of Israel ate the manna for 40 years so they came to a habitable land they ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan and Omer is a tenth part of an ephah.

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That is very helpful information right there Yeah You know, we're having problems with the metric system here in the

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United States forget this omer system But I mean we continue so all the congregation of the people of Israel They moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages

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According to the commandment of Yahweh they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink

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Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and they said give us water to drink Moses said then why do you quarrel with me?

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Why do you test the Lord and when I would read these stories to our kids growing up? And wet the dinner table bar would always go.

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Oh poor Moses poor Moses Tough job. So the people thirsted there for water and the people grumbled against Moses and said

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Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?

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Moses cried to the Lord. What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me and the

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Lord said to Moses pass on before the people Taking with you some of the elders of Israel Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the

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Nile and go Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb and you shall strike the rock and water

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Shall come out of it and the people will drink Moses did so and inside of the elders of Israel and he called the name of the place

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Massa I think that's grumbling Yep, a testing or quarreling.

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Okay, and Meribah that's gonna be your Quarreling because of the quarreling of the people of Israel because they tested the

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Lord by saying is the Lord not among us so interesting story there and That's kind of that piece of it from Exodus the thirsty they're wandering and there's the rock at Horeb and God says take your staff and Strike it and water will come out of it.

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Now. Let's take a look at the rock itself I think this will help us visually now here this is our

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Mediterranean Sea Israel is over here Cyprus is there so the Nile Delta is here. So and this is the

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Nile itself Here's the the Red Sea and the crossing of the

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Red Sea. We've noted takes place down here at the Gulf of Aqaba Zoom in just a smidge so you can kind of see what's going on here

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So here's where they cross the Red Sea they come down this way end up Here's the the oasis at Aleem over here and where we're going

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They're gonna come up inland just a bit probably to this point and then come on up this way

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They're heading over to Sinai But the place that we're gonna look at let me pull it up this way so that it'll zoom in on its own

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I want the split rock at Horeb. We zoom in now. We're going into Saudi Arabia All right, so here's where we're at It's a little tough to see but this is the rock itself and that's the shadow that it's casting that's a very large monolith and the thing is probably a good four or five stories high and Let me get a photograph of it so you can see it

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This doesn't give a scale. Let me see if I can zoom in just a smidge on that. There it is itself a human being

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Literally if you were standing right here a tall human being would come up to about right here So this is the rock itself and the photographs that I've seen from people who've actually gone to visit the site

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The show that there's a huge amount of water erosion down in this part of it So this is the rock it gets struck it splits in half and then out comes water gushing from that so that's the split rock at Horeb and Let's go back to Google Earth and I want to back out just a little bit from this region

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So you can kind of see how this plays out. You'll notice that this it's on a little bit of a ridge

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You know, there's like a little hump in here Let me see if I can get There. Yeah, you can see the human being.

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There's a human being right there. You kind of get the scale. This thing is ginormous and Let's see if I can get a pull -away picture so we can get a little farther back

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That's the other side of it. Hold on There you can kind of see see how it's up on a hill right there.

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That's the monolith itself It's digging straight up right there. And so the idea then is Moses takes a staff

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He strikes it and out comes water and the water comes out so much.

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Let me back this up That this whole area so here's where the split rock is right here

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This whole area right here around here and up to here This all becomes literally a lake this is a dry lake bed at this point so the water is coming out so profusely that it fills up this basin in there and the children of Israel who

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Number almost a million at this point are able to go and get their water. It's not a small trickle

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It's a it's a gusher that's coming out. And so I think that's rather fascinating But now the question is what does it all mean?

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Let's go back to one of our governing texts and our governing text is going to be 1st

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Corinthians chapter 10 1st Corinthians 10 and note again how it points to the type and shadow and the fulfillment in Christ Here's what he says in verse 1

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I don't want you to be unaware brothers that our fathers were all under the cloud all pass to the sea all

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Were baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea all ate the same spiritual food all

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Drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was

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Christ So, what do we do with this? There's Jesus in rock form and He's struck and out comes water

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Well, let's go with something a little bit obvious and then we'll pick up some of the theology along the way in the gospel of John chapter 19 we have the account of Jesus's crucifixion and John is the only one who records this little bit of data and let me it's near the end here

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Let me pick up the story in verse 23 John 19 23 when the soldiers had crucified

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Jesus They took his garments divided them into four parts one part for each soldier also his tunic

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But the tunic was seamless woven in one piece from top to bottom So they said to one another let us not tear it but cast lots

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For it to see whose it shall be this was to fulfill what the scripture says

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They divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots So the soldiers did these things but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister

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Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby

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He said to his mother woman behold your son Then he said to the disciple behold your mother and from that hour the disciple took her as his

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Took her to his own home After this Jesus knowing that all was now finished said to fulfill the scripture

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I thirst a Jar of sour wine stood there So they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch held it to his mouth

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Then Jesus had received the sour wine. He said it is finished. He bowed his head and gave up his spirit

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Since it was the day of preparation So that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the

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Sabbath for the Sabbath was a high day The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other two who had been crucified and the reason for this

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Is that men die? via crucifixion by Asphyxiation in order the way it works is the way you're pinned and impaled against the cross

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The the way your diaphragm works. You literally can't breathe unless you push up So, you know, so if you're you're hanging down, you can't breathe to breathe.

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You have to push up to take a breath Down and now I can't breathe like this.

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So a fellow who had no ability to use his legs Couldn't continue on the cross because he would literally suffocate and that's the idea

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So that's why they broke their legs now Jesus because he's our Passover lamb Remember a

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Passover lamb cannot have any of its bones broken. So Jesus doesn't have any of his bones broken

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Here's what it says. So the other had been crucified with him But when they had come to Jesus they saw that he was already dead and they did not break his legs

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One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water

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He who saw it has borne witness. This testimony is true, and he knows that he's telling the truth that you may believe

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So one way we can look at and I think it's this is a fine motif we can look at the the rock at Hora being struck by Moses's staff as Prefiguring Christ's death and him being speared by the

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Roman spears now a little bit of a side note I've done a lot of research and on fascism and this is kind of the focus of my doctoral studies and little bit of a weird thing

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Fascists are we're really into the occult The Nazis were really big into witchcraft and the occult and all kinds of crazy things like that They believed in what was called the legend of the spear of destiny

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Have any of you ever heard of this? You have heard about the legend of the spear destiny. So here's how the legend goes so there's the spear it pierces

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Christ lies on the cross and The way the occult legend goes is that Christ hadn't fully died yet and that that spear was the thing

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Responsible for killing the Son of God and it becomes the ultimate occultic thing to possess in all of the earth

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Hitler believed in this thing and one of his the the head of the SS actually had a replica of the spear of destiny on His on his desk and a vial of his blood, but that's kind of disgusting, but that's a whole other story but they actually believed in this spear of destiny that somehow it's been passed down through the

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Generations as some kind of an occult satanic symbol and the way the legend goes and this is really funny in my in my research on this kind of occultic side of fascism

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I was actually contacted by and spoke with a gentleman who claims that his grandfather was part of a special ops team in World War two to capture the spear of destiny from Hitler He had nothing to back this up.

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I thought it was quite the fascinating story and he claims that the spear of destiny is real that he's seen it with his own eyes and that there is a very nefarious group of people who have

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Possession of it and their goal No joke is to bring about the ultimate fuhrer of the world to create this one world fascistic government and Then he will his coronation service would include the slaughtering of a pig

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Via the spear of destiny on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in order to desecrate the thing altogether

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That oh, yeah, this is pagan stuff Yeah, so now he was not able to provide a shred of evidence to support any of the things that he said

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I did this might sound like a conspiracy theory to some of you Yeah, but I bring that all up because well for this for this reason and that is is that Believe me when

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I tell you the devil pays attention to the details of these stories and he always comes up with his own weird narrative and there are people who knowingly

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Willingly want to participate in that kind of a cultic story Now whether this is real or not

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We do know that Hitler did believe in the spear of destiny that the head of the SS did believe in the spear of destiny

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This is most certainly true Oh, and the other part of it is because this occultic symbol was the thing that killed

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Christ at least the way their lore goes whoever possesses the spear of destiny is undefeatable on the battlefield and So part of the lore of the spear of death of the spear of destiny actually makes it its way into The movie the

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Raiders of the Lost Ark Okay in the sense they changed the object from the spear of destiny to the actual

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Ark of the Covenant itself, you know, whoever possesses this thing is Cannot be defeated on the battlefield.

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That was the idea and that was the underlying concept of why this point the guy when he talked to me said that the u .s.

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Had to get a hold of the spear of destiny because Hitler was undefeatable until that moment I crossed my eyes in case you didn't see that Yes, that's correct so already the whole thing just comes crashing down Because they claim that that's the thing that killed

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Christ and he had said he said it is finished and he gave up his spirit And the fact now this is this is the interesting thing the fact that by the time his side is pierced that that you know his

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His blood and stuff like that it's bled into water and blood. Okay shows that he's been dead for a while So, you know your blood doesn't behave in this manner the begin.

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He's so it's beginning to separate and things like that No, they don't they do have blood in them, but they don't bleed

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So that he what this soldier end up doing was piercing the the heart sac The pericardium, you know around the outside and that's where the blood and water came from All right a little more detail than I intended but you kind of get the idea

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Fasten you get these little nerdy things along the way my apologies, but you get the idea so the striking of the rock in some way in Typology points then to Christ being pierced being struck now

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Here's the question I have from you for you. Do you all remember why? Moses doesn't end up being allowed into the promised land

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He struck it twice He struck it twice You see he was told to go the second time and talk

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To the rock speak to the rock. And what did he do? He struck it a second time. Jesus can't be crucified twice

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You see you say you get it, huh Out of well, listen if you're dealing with a million grumblers

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For 40 years in the middle of the wilderness and all you had to eat was manna you'd probably screw up to No, he no

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He he really messed up on that and I think it works out quite fine because the law doesn't bring us into the promised land

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It's the gospel So Moses can't bring us across the Jordan only Jesus can and it just so happens the guy who brought the children of Israel Into the promised land was named

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Joshua, which is Jesus's name in Hebrew That all this kind of stuff the sit there that can't be coincidence because it's not coincidence.

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That's the idea Now there's more to it than just the picture because here we do see a picture that's pointing to Christ because Christ is the rock

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There's more to it than that because what comes out of the rock is water to feed the thirsty And so that's kind of the other piece of all of this if you'll turn with me to John chapter 4

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John chapter 4 we're gonna read this story in its entirety Although we're going to get the piece of it that I want to talk about in relation to the split rock at Horeb Very early in the story.

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I just don't like telling half of the story It's like telling part of a joke and never getting to the punchline I like telling all when you get to tell a joke you tell the whole thing

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So here's what it says Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John That's John the

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Baptist. Although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples He left

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Judea and departed again for Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria So he came to a town of Samaria called

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Sychar Near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph Jacob's well was there

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So Jesus wearied as he was from his journey was sitting beside the well It was about the sixth hour now to kind of help us out here first of all

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Jews and Samaritans Don't have relations with each other They are not on talking terms and if a

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Jew had to travel from Jerusalem up to the northern part of Israel to Galilee They would find a way to go around Samaria rather than go through it and if you remember after Solomon's after Solomon was king his son

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Rehoboam became the king in Israel and his Foolishness led to the ripping apart of Israel it split into two pieces the northern and the southern kingdom the northern kingdom had ten tribes and the

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Levites ended up leaving there and coming down and Staying with Judah and Benjamin down in the lower in Israel so you actually

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Judah and Israel at the top and they the northern kingdom immediately starts going into idolatry like hardcore crazy

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Idolatry and God sends prophets to warn them to turn and they don't turn and then he ends up literally like wiping them off the face

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Of the earth the remnant of Jews that stayed in the northern kingdom, which is where Samaria is

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They ended up interbreeding with Pagans and just became kind of this weird half

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Jewish half pagan People and their religion kind of reflected that too.

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They no longer worshipped in Jerusalem They had their own place of worship and it was just a mess just a mess.

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And so by the time Jesus gets around They aren't talking with each other.

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And if you really want to insult somebody who's Jewish you call him a Samaritan That's like the ultimate insult.

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So here's Jesus he's heading to Galilee and he it said he had to pass through Samaria and Anybody who knows first century

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Judea at this time is going whoa This is gonna be trouble. So he comes to Sychar and if you remember when

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Jacob is dying He gives his son Joseph this well This was part of his inheritance.

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And so the Jacobs well It's in this in this area. And so and it's the sixth hour, which is 12 noon

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Time begins at 6 in the morning first hours at 6 6 hours at noon you kind of get the idea third hours at 9 kind of work it out

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So it's the literally the heat of the day the heat of the day in it. This is just Really hot.

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This is not the time when people go to gather water So and which is important in kind of understanding the story here

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This woman is getting her water because we're gonna talk about this woman here in a second This woman is getting her water at high noon in order to avoid

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Social contact with the people of Sychar and the reason why is because we're gonna find out that she is

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How should we pay say it? Sexually immoral She's a little loose.

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She's got some problems So the woman a woman from Samaria came to draw water Jesus said to her give me a drink

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For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food the Samaritan would Samaritan woman said to him.

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How is it that you a Jew asked for me asked for me a woman of Samaria for a drink

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See me says whoa, this is different the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans So Jesus answered her if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you give me a drink

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You would have asked him and he would have given you living water The woman said to him sir, and you can almost hear her saying it this way

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You have nothing to draw water with and the wells deep. Where do you get that living water?

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It's almost like an air quote, right? Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons in his livestock

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Jesus said to her Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again

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Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life

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So you'll notice then that I'm convinced that the water coming from the rock at Horeb Is not indicative of baptism instead it has to do

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Pointing to the living water that Christ gives us. He is our living water

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So the woman said to him sir, give me this water So I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water

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She's thinking this is some kind of magical water, which would mean she doesn't have to come out at noon anymore to gather her water

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That's not what Jesus is talking about So Jesus said to her and go call your husband and come here

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The woman answered him. I have no husband This is a half -truth

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So Jesus said to her while you're right and saying I have no husband for you have had five Husbands and the one you have now is not your husband what you have said is true

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The woman said to him sir. I perceive that you are a prophet now.

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This is gonna be instrumental in the rest of the story So there's the picture we have a hated

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Samaritan woman Who's been married five times and the chances of all five of her previous husbands dying of natural causes

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Probably zero and She's currently shacking up so What all of us would expect from God because of his law is that Jesus is going to turn on her

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Rebuke her tell her to clean up her act and just come down boom hard on her

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But that's not what's gonna happen This is a picture of Christ our

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Good Shepherd going and finding one of his lost sheep This is a story of mercy and grace and how

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Jesus Goes and literally finds the most lost sinners

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Possible and draws them to himself and to the father So this is a picture of his mercy

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So she says sir, I perceive you're a prophet She continues our fathers worshipped on this mountain

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But you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship because there's a big dispute

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Did you say you worship in Jerusalem? Samaritan say no, here's fine. Jesus said to her woman.

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Believe me The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

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Will you worship the father? You worship what you do not know We worship what we know for salvation is from the

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Jews So notice he corrects her but quite a little firm but not over overcooked here

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And he says the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth

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For the father is seeking such people to worship him God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth

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You think truth is important when it comes to worshiping the father? indeed

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People seem to think nowadays that all is really needed is some good spirited worship and they don't honor

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Or even think that the truth has any value and they hear very little in their church services But the two always go together

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Spirit and in truth and here spirit is not referring to the zeal of the worship

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It's talking to a worship that really is born and created by the

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Spirit himself So they worshiped God and spirit and truth. So the woman said to him I know that the

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Messiah is coming the one who is called the Christ when he comes He will tell us all things now watch this

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Jesus said to her I who speak to you am He now look in all the other

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Gospels and You will not find Jesus ever this clearly identifying who he is

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He is speaking Straight up telling the absolute truth about himself and he reveals himself

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Not to the Sadducees not to the Pharisees not to the Sanhedrin not to Jews in a synagogue

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He reveals who he is without any reservations to an adulterous formal caboodle a ting

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Samaritan woman, it's huge It's absolutely

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Huge now, let me give you a cross -reference that I think helps us here

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If you would like to flip over to Matthew chapter 16, I want to show you something about the

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Apostle Peter We'll come back to John 4. So keep a finger there verse 13

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Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi Caesarea Philippi. This is important geography helps us.

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Caesarea Philippi is north of Israel We are now outside of the border of Israel in a town called

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Caesarea Philippi and the name Caesarea should tell you something it's named after Caesar and in Caesarea Philippi It's fascinating There was a particular spot there

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Where there was a cliff face and in the cliff face They had built these little grottoes where there were that what they put statues of all of the different gods and goddesses into kind of a little mini version of the

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Pantheon and There was a place there called the gates of Hades Which was believed to be the portal into the netherworld itself there in Caesarea Philippi So Jesus literally takes his disciples they're now outside of Israel they're not in it

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That's important and he says to them. Who do people say the Son of Man is? Who?

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They said well Some say John the Baptist John the Baptist is dead by this time. Others say

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Elijah others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets He said to them. All right, who do you say that I am?

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And you can almost hear Jesus saying the words and them just kind of sitting out in outer space for a second and there's

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Peter and he for whatever reason Peter seems to Be the first to either stick his foot in his mouth or do something brilliant.

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I just you never know which it's gonna be So he hangs it out there. He says you're the

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Christ the Son of the Living God And the guys are all look around.

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Did you get right? Did he get it, right? And Jesus says blessed are you Simon bar

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Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you But my father who is in heaven,

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I tell you you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell or Haiti shall not prevail against it

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I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven

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This is talking about the office of the keys itself, which ultimately are not given to Peter But actually given to the whole church in Gospel of John chapter 20, but there it is and Jesus says

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Flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to you. But who? The Father the

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Father has revealed this to you and come now back and take a look at John 4 in John 4 we have

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Jesus saying this verse 23 The hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will worship the

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Father in spirit and in truth For the Father is seeking such people to worship him

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So here we have this woman and what's going on on a spiritual level?

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the father is seeking her and opening her eyes to who Jesus is and she becomes a believer and She confesses

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Christ as Messiah and Savior just like Peter does by a miraculous working of God and so we can see now in the story that God is busy

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Busy going and gathering and finding his lost sheep regardless of whether they are

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Jew or Gentile Samaritan Scythian slave or free and Also, you'll notice that Christ it says in Scripture Christ died for the ungodly

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This woman qualifies. So does Peter? So do I? So do you?

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So the woman said to him. I know the Messiah is coming He was called the Christ when he comes he will tell us all things

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Jesus said to her I who speak to you am he just then the disciples came back

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They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said what do you seek or why are you talking with her?

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So the woman left her water jar just leaves a water jar there and she went away into the town and said to the people come see a man who told me all

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That I ever did can this be the Christ and they went out of the town and were coming to him

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Now a little bit of a note here is This woman engaging in evangelism She is

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She's become an evangelist she believes in Christ and So, what does she do she goes and tells everyone about Him and you'll notice she's not rebuked.

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Well, what we don't let women do that No Women are permitted to go and tell the world about Jesus Women are not permitted to hold the pastoral office and to engage in Word and sacrament ministry in the church

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You see the difference There's a big difference. This is why we do not ordain women

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Nor do we condemn them when they go and tell the world about Christ? They are free to do so.

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In fact, I would even say admonished to do so So notice she's engaging now in peacemaking activity.

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Blessed are the peacemakers. Yes, Janet psychon

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She's in psych So meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus saying rabbi eat He said to them why

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I have food to eat that you don't know about so the disciples said to one another has anyone brought Him something to eat Jesus said to them my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work

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Do not do not say there are yet four months then come the harvest look now watch what he says

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Look, I tell you lift up your eyes and see the fields are white for harvest

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He's talking about look at the Samaritans look at this this whole territory the city of people who are despised

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By the Jews whom we have no dealings with he says lift up your eyes and look The fields are white for the harvest already

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The one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life So that the sower and reaper may rejoice together for here the saying holds true one sows and other reaps

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I sent you to reap what you did not labor for others have labored and you have entered into their label labor

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Meanwhile the Samaritans from that town Believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony.

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He told me all that I ever did so when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them and Jesus stayed there for two days and Many more believe because of his word and they said to the woman

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It is no longer because of what you said that we believe for we have heard for ourselves And we know that this is indeed the

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Savior of the world, huh? Sounds like a bunch of Christians in Samaria believing in Jesus They're all a bunch of idolatrous

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Formal caboodle layers. Yeah, and this shows you the mercy and the grace and the kindness of God Seeking and saving the loss great story

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So all of that was to pick up on the second half of the theology The second half of the theology having to do with the living water and there's another cross -reference and we'll look at this in a second

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So Jesus says everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him

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Will never be thirsty again the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water Welling up to eternal life

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So there's that rock struck gushing water picture of his crucifixion and a picture of that Spring of water welling up to eternal life the one who comes to Jesus and drinks now

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John chapter 7 verses 37 and 38 also give us a little bit of that picture of the theology.

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Let me read the verses 37 and 38 on the last day of the feast

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This is the piece of the path feast of the Passover the great day Jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink

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Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living so this story in Exodus 17 points us right back to Christ Christ the crucified and Christ who gives us the living water.

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I Think that's a great way of understanding What's going on in this text because well,

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I mean after all First Corinthians 10 says the rock is

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Christ and who am I to quibble with the Holy Spirit verse 8

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Exodus 17 We talked about this ever so briefly a couple weeks ago.

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Here's the story itself Watch what happens. It's very fun Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim So Moses said to Joshua choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow

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I will stand up on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand So Joshua did as Moses told him he fought with Amalek while Moses Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill

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Whenever Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed and whenever he his hand lowered

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Amalek prevailed but Moses his hands plural grew weary so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it and and While Aaron and her held up his hands one on one side the other on the other

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So his hands were steady until the going down of the Sun and Joshua overwhelmed

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Amalek and his people with the sword Hmm So there's a battle going on and as long as Moses looks like a crucified one

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They're winning his hands get drew No, not in this case, it doesn't say that but you know, yeah, he's

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Yeah, so he's sitting on the stone and he's doing this Yeah, as long as he looks like he's crucified they win

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Hands go down. We're losing get those hands back up. And so there you got it

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I mean another example of the cross shows right up here in the story of Exodus and None of this is by accident.

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This is all taking place Exactly how God wanted it to take place Exodus 17 14

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Yahweh said to Moses write this as a memorial in a book recited in the years of Joshua that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven and you're going to see here

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Now the beginning of the command to begin to write the scriptures Starting to show up now

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Moses built an altar called it and called the name of it Yahweh is my banner saying a hand upon the throne of the

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Lord. The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation now

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The last thing we'll cover today is Exodus 18 ago, it'll go pretty quick, but let's review where we are

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Set free from slavery through the Passover lamb Baptized in the

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Red Sea in the wilderness heading to the promised land being fed bread from heaven having the

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Sabbath to rest and Being watered from a rock who happens to be

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Jesus So this is a picture of the church You have been set free from slavery to the devil through your

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Passover lamb Jesus washed in the Red Sea when you were baptized you are now in your wilderness

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Wanderings heading to the promised land, which is the new earth You are fed by Christ.

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You are in his Sabbath rest He's your rock. He's giving you living water

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Now the question is as church, how do we organize ourselves? There's a lot of us so you're gonna see that God through Moses's father -in -law gives

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Overseers for the children of Israel and this in type and shadow then points to the pastoral office where God gives his church overseers to care for his

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Wilderness wandering Christians as they're heading to the new earth. I'll explain So here's our story.

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I'm very thankful for Moses that he had a reasonable father -in -law Sometimes that doesn't always work out. But in his case it did here's what it says

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Jethro the priest of Midian Moses's father -in -law heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people

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How the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt now Jethro Moses's father -in -law had taken

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Zipporah Moses's wife After he had sent her home along with her two sons

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The name of the one was Gershom for he said I have been a sojourner in a foreign land the name of the other

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Eliezer for he said the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh Jethro Moses's father -in -law came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the

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Mountain of God And when he sent word to Moses, I your father -in -law

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Jethro am coming who announces like that Yeah, if my father -in -law called me up yeah,

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I'm your father -in -law and I'm coming to see yeah, I know who you are, okay So Moses went out to meet his father -in -law bowed down kissed him and They asked each other other of the year of their welfare and went into the tent

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Moses told his father -in -law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh to the Egyptians for Israel's sake all the hardship that had come upon them in the way and how the

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Lord had delivered them and Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the

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Egyptians Jethro said Blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the

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Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under The hand of the Egyptians now

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I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods because in this affair They dealt arrogantly with the people and Jethro Moses's father -in -law brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses's father -in -law before God the next day

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Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood around Moses from morning until evening

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Apparently he had office hours and the office hours were the whole day So when

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Moses's father -in -law saw that he was doing for the people he said What is this that you're doing for the people?

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Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning until evening and Moses said to his father -in -law?

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Because the people came to me to inquire of God and when they have a dispute They come to me and I decide between one person and another and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws

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Moses's father -in -law said to him what you are doing is not good You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out for the thing is too heavy for you

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You are not able to do it alone Now obey my voice. I will give you advice and God be with you

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You shall represent the people before God and bring their case to God and you shall warn them about the

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Statutes and the laws and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do so you notice

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Moses becomes a disciple er a Disciple er of well the knowledge and the ways of God moreover look for able men

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Notice what says that look for able men from all of the people men who fear God who are trustworthy

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Hate a bribe and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands

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Hundreds of fifties and tens and let them judge the people at all times Every great matter they shall bring to you any small matter

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They shall decide for themselves So it'll be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you

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If you do this God will direct you and you will be able to endure and all this people also will go to their place

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In peace, so Moses listened to the voice of his father -in -law did all that He said Moses chose able men out of Israel made them heads over the people chiefs of thousands of hundreds of fifties of tens

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And they judged the people at all times any hard case they brought to Moses any small matter

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They decided for themselves then Moses let his father -in -law depart and he went away to his own country

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I want to pull this up real quick so Shafat is a judge

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He's a lawgiver a governor one who decides cases so Not influenced by bribes.

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So somebody to kind of be an overseer over the people. That's really the concept here I think here's our cross -reference

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Let's go to Titus chapter 1 Titus chapter 1 will start in verse 5

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Paul is writing to Titus Who he has left in Crete and his job is to organize the church

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Gospel has gone out People have been brought to penitent faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and they need to be cared for This is what it says this is why

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I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained in order and Appoint elders in every town as I directed you if anyone is above reproach husband of one wife

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Children are believers not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination for an overseer notice how it's translated an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach

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He must not be arrogant quick -tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain instead he must be hospitable a lover of the good self -controlled upright holy and disciplined

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Sounds like these able men who don't take a bribe He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught

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So that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and to rebuke those who contradict it interesting so here the church and her wilderness wanderings

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Just like the children of Israel they had judges. We have overseers. That's what a pastor is

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So my job I'm one of these fellows Who has been instructed in the

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Word of God and Have met the character qualities necessary for an overseer and my job is to well

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Teach the trustworthy word is taught give instruction and sound doctrine and here's the thorny part because this is the non -norwegian portion of it

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Rebuke those who contradict it now Note how

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Paul goes about instructing us how to do this because it's so politically incorrect It's rather fascinating and here's what he says the reason why you rebuke those who contradict false doctrine

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For there are many who are insubordinate. That's right. People who teach false doctrine are insubordinate.

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They are empty talkers that's right because their words are empty words and they are deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party and They must be silenced.

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I Wills that those who are teaching false doctrine that they be silenced silenced through pastors since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach now one of the

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Cretans a prophet of their own said Cretans are always liars evil beasts and Lazy gluttons and you go.

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Oh, he did not just do that. Yes. He did. He called them names. Can you believe that? Totally politically incorrect you liar evil beast and lazy glutton

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This testimony is true he says therefore rebuke him sharply so that they may be sound in the faith not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and The commands of people who turn away from the truth to the pure all things are pure But to the defiled and the unbelieving nothing is pure but both their minds and their consciences are defiled

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They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are Detestable disobedient and unfit for any is it popular to talk this way today?

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No Yeah, yeah, I mean everyone's big fear I'm gonna offend somebody

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Paul just kind of just hung it out there. It's like he didn't care. You're offended. So that's your problem. Not mine Yeah Okay, so all of that like I said

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So you notice then Christ's Church this mass of people from every tribe every language every nation as They are in their wilderness wanderings heading to the new earth the real promised land

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God has placed over them pastors overseers Delegated the task and you know, some of them are taking care of hundreds or thousands or fifties or tens

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It doesn't matter they all have the same task they all have the same same responsibilities and the same

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Qualifications they have to be able men of good character not known for a bribe not doing this out of you know

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I've seeking selfish gain and things like that They must know what God's Word is and what his statutes are so that they can help

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Oversee the flock of Christ. Yes, who is?

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When Yes, okay now your notice we haven't arrived at Mount Sinai yet We are almost there.

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I mean we're like in the neighborhood. We're in the same zip code now as Mount Sinai But we're not quite there next week we'll get into 19 and then 20 is

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The actual giving of the Ten Commandments and the revelation of what's going to become the

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Torah and the Mosaic Covenant and so Here we've got

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Moses's father -in -law Offering sacrifices as best as he understands how to Without the

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Mosaic Covenant yet being revealed and you can already tell by the dialogue between Moses and God The Moses is already starting to get some stuff ahead of time

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But it hasn't been disseminated to the water the wider public yet, and that's coming

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Stay tuned Next week in Exodus. We get to Mount Sinai and it's going to be a terrifying bone -rattling