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The Discipline Of Trusting When It Doesn't Make Sense To Our Finite Minds, Hebrews 11:17-22
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Feb 19, 2025
In our last session, we talked extensively about the discipline of waiting patiently on the Lord, the endurance of the saints. Today we’ll discuss the discipline of trusting when it doesn’t make any sense to us. The believers the writer was addressing were probably wondering why God was delaying in rescuing them from their ongoing persecution. And most of us, if we are being honest want to know the “why” behind the trials we’re facing while they are still ongoing. In today’s presentation, the writer will take on the task of teaching us the discipline of trusting when our finite minds can’t understand the ultimate purpose of God in our trials.
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hello and uh welcome back to our study
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of the book of hebrews today uh our
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focus will be chapter 11 again and
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verses 17 to 22.
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now in our last session we talked about
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the discipline of
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waiting on the lord and uh we talked
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about abraham and then we talked about
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isaac and jacob and sarah and how they
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displayed a faith that waited um
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patiently on the lord even when it seems
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as if god wasn't going to act and we
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talked about the fact that these this uh
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these four people the three patriarchs
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and
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on sarah they were looking forward to
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the city of god we talked about
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the fact that they were heavenly minded
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so they didn't allow the things that
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they were going through to consume their
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their uh their thoughts process so they
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were always looking forward to the city
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of god and we talked about that and how
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that is important for us as our
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christians to keep our gaze in heaven to
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keep first the kingdom of god and his
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righteousness because if we don't do
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that and if you look for the the
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temporary benefit of our earthly life we
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will be miserable so the antidote to uh
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being joyful and to be filled and with
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joy is to keep our gaze in heaven and we
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say that that's only possible by the
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spirit of god so today we're going to
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talk about the discipline of
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trusting even when it doesn't make sense
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to us a lot of times we go through on
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trials and we don't understand why uh
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things are are the way they are and we
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don't we don't know and sometimes we
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question the goodness of god so these
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believers were going through persecution
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in the book of hebrews and they were
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probably there were probably times where
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they were like why is god allowing this
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it doesn't even make sense we are
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supposed to be triumphant why are we
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struggling like this and when i say
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trial for a lot of times as believers we
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don't think that um
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part of afflictions and struggling is
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part of the plan of god we think well as
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believers we need to be always um in
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victory and when we when i say victory
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uh we are talking about uh not having to
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struggle like that name it and claim it
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you know there's a there's a certain
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teaching out there
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that that says that uh if you if you're
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a believer in in jesus christ you will
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be prosperous and and that's further
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from the truth because the scripture
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tells us that we we've been appointed
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for suffering we have to share in the
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sufferings of christ in order to also
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share in his glory so in today's session
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we're going to talk about the discipline
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of uh trusting even when he doesn't make
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any sense now again we need to address
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the fact that the believers that the
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writer was addressing were probably
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wondering why god was delaying in
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rescuing them from their ongoing
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persecution
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and most of us if we are honest
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we want to know why uh we have the
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trials that we have we want to know the
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why behind the trials we are facing
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while they are still going so in today's
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presentation uh the writer is going to
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take on the task of teaching or teaching
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us how to walk on by faith in the sense
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that how to trust god even when it
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doesn't make any sense so what i'm going
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to do is i'm going to read hebrews
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chapter 11 verses 17 to 22. so let's go
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to the scripture and i'm reading from
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the esv version now the scripture says
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by faith
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abraham when he was tested
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offered up isaac and he who had the
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promises was in the act of offering up
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his only son of whom he was saved
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through isaac shall you of spring be
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named he considered that god was able
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even to raise him from the dead from
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which
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figuratively speaking he did receive him
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back by faith isaac invoked future
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blessings on jacob and esau and by faith
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jacob when dying blessed each of the
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sons of joseph bowing in worship over
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the head of his staff by faith joseph at
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the end of his life made mention of the
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exodus of the israelites and gave
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directions concerning his bones again
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this is the word of the lord let's take
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it our search and understand what this
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is teaching us today
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so in verses 17 to 19 we're going to
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start with those verses again he says
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by faith abraham when he was tested
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offered up isaac and he
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who had received the promises was in an
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act of offering up his only son of whom
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he was saved through isaac shall you off
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spring be named he considered that god
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was able even to raise him from the dead
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from which figuratively speaking he was
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he did receive him back
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now first it's important for us to read
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the scripture that relates to these
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verses and it's in genesis 22
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verse 1 to 2. now the scripture says
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after these things god tested abraham
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and said to him abraham and he said here
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i am and he said take your son your only
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son isaac whom you love and go to the
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land of moriah and offer him there as a
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burnt offering on one of the mountains
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of which i shall tell you now we need to
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understand that by this time abraham has
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had been tested for many years so his
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knowledge of god his understanding of
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god and his trust in god was also
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growing so he had gotten to a level of
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really trusting god so this was the
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ultimate test of faith for abraham
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but once again we must recall that faith
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comes by hearing and hearing by the word
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of god so it is god again who produces
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the faith in us that pleases him
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according to isaiah 55 verse 10 to 11.
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so it's very important for us to mention
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this at the outset because humans again
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we are not robots and we are not like
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automatons so
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while god is the author of faith in in
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people his word meet resistance our time
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because when we hear the word of god
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sometimes we resist this and i'm sure
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when abraham heard uh the words take
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your son your only son and sacrifice him
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uh in the mountain that i will show you
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he probably thought why this doesn't
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make any sense
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okay but
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god is love we know that so that
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resistance to his will is to overcome
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and they sense eventually triumph in
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faith so a good account that explains uh
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love overcoming our heart of stone is
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that kind of jacob when he wrestled with
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god see jacob eventually realized who he
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was wrestling with and he made the
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following statement he said i won't let
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you go unless until you bless me
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see and the lord answered him what is
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your name at that point jacob had a
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choice right he could pretend again that
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he was esau but he told the truth and
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said his name was jacob the supplanter
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the human engineer because we know that
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jacob always tried to do things in his
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own strength he was always trying to
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like fabricate situations he was always
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trying to be an engineer he was always
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trying to find human solutions to his
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problem but at that moment at that very
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moment he was confronted
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and he said my name is jacob so the
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blessing jacob wanted wasn't material
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possession or prosperity he was already
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rich he had a lot of money he had carols
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he had children he had grown but he
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wanted his identity to change so he
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realized how corrupted his own heart was
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and he wanted god to change his heart so
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the blessing he was begging for was a
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change of his identity and god gave him
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the name what israel
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okay so now you can ask yourself what
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does this have to do with abraham and
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what we are talking about everything see
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the command of the lord was take your
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son
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your only son isaac whom you love
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and and and sacrifice him right so
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abraham probably wrestled with the
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command all night long i don't think he
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just went oh yeah god i'm gonna go and
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do this no he wrestled with it he wasn't
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just something that he was gonna do he
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was wrestling because he goes
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why would god ask me to do this
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but he couldn't conceive why god would
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ask him to do that this is this was the
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child of promise the child through who
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whom god said your or your offspring
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will be named but verse 19 tells us how
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this resistance was overcome the
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scripture says abraham reasoned that god
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could even raise the dead and so in a
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manner of speaking he did receive isaac
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back from the death so that's so
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important to understand see
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i like how the version reads in the niv
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now the niv version is not my favorite
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version to go to but in this particular
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instance i like how they translated that
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portion the scripture says abraham
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reasoned
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he reasoned
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so
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all light while he was thinking about
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this holding that he had heard from the
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lord i'm sure he couldn't go to sleep
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right so the lord granted him the
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ability to reason and to consider the
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power of the god he was serving and
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again the scripture tells us that
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spiritual truths are only discerned by
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those that are filled with the spirit of
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god so i don't think abraham like
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considering that god who raised the dead
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was a thought that came to him through
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human reasoning now it was a
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supernatural revelation a supernatural
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act of god by which god worked in
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abraham both to wield and act according
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to the purpose of god so we need to
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remember that at this time abraham
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didn't have any evidence about a person
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being raised from the dead there was no
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evidence like that so the only way
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abraham could have come to this
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conclusion is only through the spirit of
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god granting him this kind of wisdom so
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again
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faith comes by hearing and hearing by
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the word of god so even when abraham
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didn't know he trusted god
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see he didn't know the outcome but he
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trusted because god granted him the
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ability to reason like that okay so i'm
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saying all this to say that abraham
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couldn't have trusted god without the
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spirit of god working in him so the
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faith that abraham displaced
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displayed was authored by god and god
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was pleased by it and he god said the
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following when abraham went
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and trying to sacrifice asic god stopped
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him and said no do not touch the boy and
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there was a ram that was cut in a
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thicket so abraham used that as a
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substitutionary atonement okay so
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and god said at that moment
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by myself i have sworn declares the lord
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because you have done this and have not
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withheld your son
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your only son i will surely bless you
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and i will surely multiply your
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offspring as the stars out of heaven and
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that's the sand that is on the seashore
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and your offspring shall possess the
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gate of his enemies and in your
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offspring shall all the nations be
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blessed because you have obeyed my voice
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so as a result of abraham's obedience
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you see what happened god makes this
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promise and he tells them because you've
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done this i'll bless you and
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multiply your off spring
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okay and the offspring shall possess the
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gate of his enemies in your offspring
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shall all the nation be blessed
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ultimately christ
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came through this lineage
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and as a result of christ we have been
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blessed today us gentiles have the
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opportunity to be called and to be
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adopted as children of god
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because of this
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because abraham obeyed now again that
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obedience came from the word of god and
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then god is the one that was behind
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everything because faith comes by
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hearing and hearing by the word of god
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now
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again
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i want you to like zero in like on on
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the the phrase because you've obeyed my
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voice because that's so important
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abraham obeyed the voice of god because
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what because god granted him the grace
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to obey and again if you go to isaiah 55
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verse 10 to 11 the scripture says as the
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rain and the snow come down from heaven
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and do not return to it without watering
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the earth and making it burn and
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flourish so that he yields seed for the
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sower and bread for the eater so is my
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word that goes out from my mouth it will
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not return to me empty but will
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accomplish the desire the purpose for
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which i sent it again so it was because
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the word of god went out from the lips
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of god again god doesn't have like hip
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lips it's a figure of speech so the word
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of god went out from the lips of god and
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achieved its desired purpose in abraham
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that is obeying the voice of god and
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carrying the command to offer isaac by
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faith and then again a faith granted by
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god himself
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so the writer in some ways is like
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reassuring his readers in the sense that
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the same way god granted abraham the
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grace of reasoning and trusting god
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the same god who does not change will
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grant them and grant us the ability to
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trust him in the midst of our own trials
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in the midst of their trials and see
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this is a great word of encouragement so
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this is the same god who works we worked
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in abraham that's the same god that's
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available today and these patterns have
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been changed he's the same yesterday
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today and tomorrow the same way he
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granted abraham the ability to resist
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and to trust him he will also grant us
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the ability to resist and to trust in
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the midst of
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our trials when we don't understand
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what's going on so we can trust in him
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we can have faith in him that he's good
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all right
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let's go on to
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verses 20 and 21. the scripture says by
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faith now isaac invoked future blessings
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on jacob and esau and by faith jacob
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when dying blessed each of the sons of
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joseph
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bowing in worship over the head of his
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staff
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your staff
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now we read about these blessings in
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genesis 27
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26-29 and 39-40 so let's let's go and
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read this blessing real quick
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so listen to what isaac says in genesis
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27
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verse 26-29
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then his father isaac said to him come
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near and kiss me my son so he came here
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and kissed him and isaac smelled the
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smell of his garments and blessed him
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and said see the smell of my son is as
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the smell of a field that the lord has
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blessed may god give you of the dew of
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heaven and of the fatness of the earth
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and plenty of grain and wine let people
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serve you and nations bow down to you be
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lord of your over your brothers and may
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your mother sons bow down to you cursed
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be everyone who curses you and blessed
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be everyone who blesses you and then in
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in 39 to 40 we read the following the
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this is how he told what he told esau
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then isaac his father answered and said
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to him behold a whale from the fatness
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of the earth shall your dwelling be and
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away from the dew of heaven on high by
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your sword you shall leave and you shall
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serve your brother but when you grow
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restless you shall break his joke from
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your neck now isaac
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jacob receives a favorable blessing
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while
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esau again receives something not too
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favorable but we need to remember that
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esau was isaac's favorite so isaac he
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didn't order those words in the
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blessings by his own clever mind those
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words were given him by god so he
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trusted the words and passed them on to
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his children so notice that esau didn't
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receive favorable words okay even though
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isaac's our favorite was esau isaac
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couldn't do a thing but obey god's word
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because that was the command so isaac
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trusted that god's judgment on esau was
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righteous even though as a father he was
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hurting
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yet he trusted that god did what was
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right
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so he can change the outcome so he
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trusted even if even though he didn't
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understand he trusted that god is good
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and whatever god does is good
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even though his his heart was probably
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hurting for his son he trusted the word
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of god
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now in the same way we read about
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jacob's blessings to joseph sons in
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genesis 48 on 13-22 let's go to that
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verse
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listen to what the scripture says here
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and joseph took them both that is
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ephraim in his right hand
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toward israel's left hand israel in this
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case is jacob and manasi in his left
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hand toward israel's right hand and
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brought them near him and israel
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stretched out his right hand and laid it
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on the head of ephraim who was the
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younger and his left hand on the head of
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manasseh crossing his hand
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for manasseh was the first firstborn and
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he blessed joseph and said the god
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before whom my fathers abraham and isaac
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worked the god who has been my shepherd
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all my life to this day the angel who
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has redeemed me from all evil bless the
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boys and in them let my name be carried
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on in the name of my fathers abraham and
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isaac and let them grow into a multitude
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in the midst of this the earth when
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joseph saw that his father laid his
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right hand on the head of ephraim it
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displays them and he took his father's
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hand to move it from ephraim's head to
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manasseh's head
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and joseph said to his father not this
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way my father since this one is the
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firstborn but put your right hand on his
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head but his father refused and said i
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know my son i know
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he also shall become a people and he
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also shall be great nevertheless his
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younger brother shall be greater than he
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and his offspring shall be become a
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multitude of nations so he blessed them
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that day saying by you israel
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by you israel pronounced blessings
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saying god make you as ephraim and
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espana say
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thus he put ephraim
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before manasseh then israel said to
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joseph behold i'm about to die but god
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will be with you and will bring you
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again to the land of your fathers
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moreover i've given you i've given to
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you rather than your brothers one
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mountain slope that i took from the hand
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of the amorite with my sword and with my
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bow
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so again we see this happening
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in jacob's um inject with jacob so jacob
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put a frame the younger son ahead of
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manasseh the firstborn so jacob's
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blessings came from the lord and he also
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trusted that god's judgment was good he
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himself was the recipient of such a
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favor as a young man so he understood
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what was going on so joseph tried to
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correct his father but jacob had to tell
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him that the decision came from the lord
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and joseph had to accuse to his father's
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word once again they had to trust god
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even though in their finite minds they
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wanted to put manasseh ahead of ephraim
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he said well god had our friends in mind
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and this account ends with jacob bowing
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in worship over the head of his staff
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so this is again incredible
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after everything that jacob went through
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in his life the last thing we hear is
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that he bowed in worship over the head
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of his staff he finally came to realize
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the goodness the justice the
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righteousness the love of the lord his
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life was was filled with white
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challenges
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yet he ends
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in worship so i want that to be said of
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me that i ended my life in uh ultimate
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uh worship because jacob as we know he
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was he was called a supplanter he went
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through his own engineering trying to do
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things in his own strength but the last
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thing we hear about joseph is he's bowed
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at the head of his staff and worshiped
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that's what happens we go through all
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these things in life and god is building
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our character sometimes we don't
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understand what's going on but
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ultimately we trust him and we trust him
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because he allows us and he grants us
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the faith to trust him so we cannot do
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this on our own it is through the spirit
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strength
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so what do we learn today
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trust even when we don't understand
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now i'm here and i'm saying all these
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things to you because when i go through
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stuff i'm always like why why why
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but one thing that god is trying to
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teach us is listen i am good
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even when it doesn't make sense to you
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trust that my judgment is good
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and what i do is good again god
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ultimately is about his purposes he is
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not here to satisfy me with what i want
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ultimately
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we live for the purposes of god so god's
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ways
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is higher than our ways
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and we he's not here to make us
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happy
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and to make us
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like the i don't even know what to say
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but god is number one to make us holy to
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set us apart
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and ultimately god is here to fulfill
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his purposes not my purposes not your
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purposes but his purposes
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regardless
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of what that may look like in our lives
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it may be hard sometimes but we need to
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trust him because he does what is good
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in his sight we may not think this is
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good
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but ultimately god is sovereign he knows
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what is best for his own purposes
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so we are to trust in the midst of
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our trials and it's it's easier said
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than done and we ask him to grant us the
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strength to trust him all right so today
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we got we we talked about
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the discipline of trusting
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and it's not easy
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it's not easy i'll be the first one to
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admit that
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but i pray that jesus christ through his
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spirit grants us the desire and the
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ability and the strength to trust him in
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the midst of our trials
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have a wonderful evening and i'll see
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you next week thank you