00:00 Introduction and Veggie Tales Confession

01:05 Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 29 and 30

01:33 Jacob and the Lazy Shepherds

03:04 Historical Accuracy of Biblical Events

06:23 Jacob's Love and Labor for Rachel

08:36 Polygamy in the Old Testament

10:51 Hermeneutics and Biblical Interpretation

13:37 Jesus on Marriage and Divorce

14:15 Polygamy in the Bible

14:59 God's Compassion for Leah

16:20 Jacob's Foolishness and God's Faithfulness

18:28 Introduction to Matthew Chapter 10

19:11 The Disciples and Their Mission

21:03 Jesus' Instructions for Evangelism

24:52 Persecution and Trust in God's Provision

28:21 Concluding Thoughts and Prayer

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Welcome back.

2

It's another edition of

the Daily Bible Podcast.

3

We're so glad that you're

faithfully listening with us.

4

Once again, I'm joined by my co-host.

5

I am Lewis and I recently, about

30 seconds ago, lost all of my

6

credibility with Pastor Mark because

I confessed to him that I have never

7

seen an episode of Veggie Tails.

8

I'm in shock still.

9

I'm surprised I could even

do the introduction at all.

10

Why not?

11

Why not?

12

I never watched it.

13

My, my parents, so my

dad wasn't a Christian.

14

I think that was part of it, but

also my mom didn't grow up in the

15

church, so I think just, I missed it.

16

I missed veggie tails.

17

I don't know how that's, I don't

know how you could be Okay.

18

How you can be, how I even

know anything about the Bible.

19

Yeah, that's true.

20

How do you know anything

about the Bible at all?

21

I'm surprised.

22

You know, the creator of Veggie Tails

has kind of gone off the deep end

23

since creating veggie tails all.

24

So maybe you're okay.

25

Maybe you're okay after all.

26

Let's jump in to our daily Bible reading.

27

We are in.

28

Genesis 29 and Genesis 30 today.

29

And this bears a striking resemblance

to veggie tails, apparently,

30

which is how this topic came up.

31

What's the resemblance?

32

See, you somehow knew

something about veggie tails.

33

'cause you were the one

who brought this up.

34

So they turn around veggie

tails and then exposed.

35

You never watched exposed myself.

36

It's confusing to me.

37

But your joke was well at the

beginning of this chapter.

38

Jacob goes to a well, and, Wells are

a big deal in the Bible apparently,

39

because Rebecca was found at a well.

40

And Abraham has, and Isaac, they

have a lot of problems with wells.

41

And then in John four, Jesus

meets the woman at the well.

42

But at this, well, we meet

some very lazy shepherds.

43

And so your joke.

44

Was that they're the pirates

who don't do anything.

45

Yeah.

46

The shepherds who don't do anything.

47

That was that, that,

that's who Jacob ran into.

48

Because even their answers, he's

like, Hey guys, where are you from?

49

And they're like, from Harran.

50

And he asked them another

question, do you know this guy?

51

And they're like, yes.

52

We know him.

53

And they're trying, it's almost like when

you don't wanna talk to someone and you

54

try to keep your answers really short.

55

Or like when someone's texting you and

you're trying to end the conversation

56

that's what these shepherds are doing.

57

They're just trying to get this

Jacob Guy to go away and they're

58

not even supposed to be here.

59

Look at verse seven.

60

It's.

61

Jacob is like, Hey guys,

it's the middle of the day.

62

It's not the time to be doing this.

63

Like, you should be doing something.

64

And they're just sitting here

doing absolutely nothing.

65

Do you think they have a theme song?

66

Um, maybe, maybe even verse eight.

67

Look at verse eight.

68

We, we can't move the thing

until, like, we can't get water

69

until the stones rolled away.

70

They're just sitting here waiting

for someone to move the stone away.

71

They've.

72

And they're just waiting.

73

And then Jacob moves it all by himself.

74

So what do we take away from that?

75

I have no idea.

76

I have no idea, but it's hilarious.

77

Well, at the very least, I think

we can take away from this, that

78

this is a historical record.

79

This is a factual account.

80

There's many people who suggest some

of these things are not true, that

81

they're allegory, that they're some

sort of poetry, but this is a historical

82

count of things that actually happened.

83

And so sometimes we might not know

precisely why these things are included.

84

And maybe there are connections

that God intends that we can't

85

quite see at this moment.

86

And maybe it does have something to do

with Jesus and the woman at the well.

87

Much later on, but at the very

least you should see these things

88

and go, wow, this is an accurate

historical retelling of these events.

89

And Moses is including these

details because this was

90

something that actually happened.

91

And we get to meet the

shepherds who don't do anything.

92

And perhaps they even

have a catchy song to go.

93

I bet they didn't even

make up a theme song.

94

They were too lazy to do that.

95

Okay, I have a theory.

96

Here's my theory.

97

I just pieced this together the last time.

98

This happened.

99

Someone was going to a well in

Laban's country was Abraham's servant.

100

Right?

101

And Abraham's servant we

thought did a really great job.

102

He trusts the Lord, he prays to the

God of his master and he says, God,

103

I need you to show me this person.

104

And he even mentions God's steadfast love.

105

I think maybe this is my hypothesis

is we're supposed to contrast

106

the servant with Jacob because

we just saw in chapter 28.

107

That Jacob is all about his own effort.

108

Him and Rebecca are all about doing things

their way, taking matters into their own

109

hands, and that's what Jacob does here.

110

He moves the stone all by himself.

111

He's really taking initiative

on all these things.

112

And I think maybe what the author of

Genesis is trying to do is help us

113

see, you know, what Jacob is like.

114

We're about to see Jacob.

115

Has a lot of plans, a lot of ideas

about how he wants to do things.

116

He's not trusting the Lord.

117

Just like, or just the

opposite of Abraham's servant

118

who was trusting the Lord.

119

That's my theory.

120

Perhaps, perhaps I don't know.

121

You'd have to do some extra

work to verify that, right?

122

You'd have to look at some of

the linguistic similarities.

123

You'd have to look at

some of those things in.

124

In more depth, perhaps

you're right, but Yeah.

125

But you see what we're doing here, right?

126

We're trying to, we're trying

to piece together some detail.

127

There's eight verses about this, right?

128

Yeah.

129

It's not insignificant.

130

So, and, and to your point,

it's very clear that they are

131

indeed lazy shepherds, right?

132

Not something that we are to miss, right?

133

Whenever the narrative in the Bible

slows down, you always want to ask why.

134

Why is the author doing this?

135

Why is he zooming in on

this portion of the Bible?

136

And then you wanna look is,

does this remind me of anything

137

else that happened in the Bible?

138

So that's what I'm trying to do.

139

I have no idea if that's what Moses had in

mind here, but those are my best attempts

140

at uncovering why we hear so much about

the shepherds who don't do anything.

141

So you're recently married, I mean, not

super recently, but recently married.

142

I thought you were about to like

congratulate me or something.

143

Congratulations on being married.

144

I mean, you can congratulate

anybody on being married right?

145

At any point.

146

Yeah, that's very true.

147

There's nothing about being

recently married that should exclude

148

us from congratulating people.

149

Honestly, being un recently married

is more, I think, commendable.

150

That's true, but you can only do

that at like 10 years, 15 years.

151

You're not allowed to do that.

152

Years, you're not allowed to

do it 14 or 17 or Well, okay.

153

Would you have worked for 14 years

in order to get married to your wife?

154

Absolutely.

155

Good answer.

156

Good answer.

157

Absolutely answer.

158

Good answer that.

159

That's one of the most romantic verses in

the Bible right here, down here at 29 20.

160

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel,

and they seem to him, but a few days

161

because of the love he had for her.

162

Oh, so qui and everyone said.

163

Heart, eyes everywhere.

164

Do you think that was like something

they said at their wedding?

165

Was that like the tagline for their

wedding, their wedding hashtag, yeah.

166

Well, what's going on here?

167

Why does that matter?

168

What's going on here with this account?

169

Well, I think.

170

You're seeing a number of things

that we've already alluded to.

171

We've already talked about one laben

shows up again and is a character

172

who is out to get out to get his own.

173

He wants to get money, he

wants rewards for these things.

174

He wants the labor of Jacob in order

to get his wives, his wives, his

175

daughters married to make them wives.

176

Yeah.

177

There's some trickiness here right

as he swaps out Leah for Rachel, so

178

that he can get another seven years.

179

Mm-hmm.

180

And so that he can get what

the Bible describes as the

181

unfavorable to put it nicely.

182

Mm-hmm.

183

Daughter married off well.

184

So, the other thing you see is.

185

Is Jacob working and being

diligent and having the plans?

186

He's got his intentions, his

plans, and he's setting out

187

to diligently pursue them.

188

He is demonstrating good work ethic,

but also perhaps there's hints here

189

that he is not trusting the Lord for

these things, perhaps as he ought to.

190

And I think it's so interesting that

he's almost met his match in Laben.

191

Yeah, that's true.

192

Like Jacob is.

193

And his, he got this, I

think from his mother.

194

He's a schemer.

195

We talked about the theme maybe being

Jacob schemes, but God redeems Jacob

196

has met an even bigger schemer than

he is someone who's even more shrewd

197

and more opportunist than he is.

198

And so they're gonna have a battle for

these next couple chapters about who can

199

take advantage of each the other more.

200

Yep.

201

Through this, he, Jacob

gets married to two women.

202

This is a big problem.

203

Yes.

204

I mean, in the sense of, if we don't

interpret this correctly many have

205

indeed read accounts like this.

206

Oh, you see this throughout

the Old Testament?

207

Mm-hmm.

208

Of Israelite men, in fact, even faithful

Israelite men marrying multiple women.

209

If we read an account like this,

are we to apply that today?

210

I don't thankfully know anybody

who is married to multiple wives.

211

Mm-hmm.

212

But if these faithful men, these

patriarchs of the people of Israel, right.

213

Are married to multiple women, why

shouldn't we and were they right

214

to do that in the first place?

215

Well, I think we have to

apply good hermeneutics.

216

I think we have to do what

are hermeneutics, pastor

217

Mark, for those of us who.

218

Aren't.

219

Thank you for clarifying.

220

As smart as you are, uh, hermeneutics

is the way in which we read the Bible.

221

Maybe you could think of it as a lens,

maybe you've heard the term, a biblical

222

worldview and maybe you listen to The

Briefing by Albert Moler, for example.

223

You always have to talk about Dr.

224

Moler, don't you?

225

I can't help myself.

226

Is that in your like contract as an

intern for him, I will mention Dr.

227

Moeller and his podcast

as much as possible.

228

No, no.

229

I haven't even mentioned it since

we started doing this together.

230

Have I.

231

Well, when we were testing, you

did introduce us as the briefing.

232

That's true.

233

But no, none of on two separate occasions.

234

None these, none of these people

heard that you also are wearing a

235

suit right now, or at least a jacket.

236

That's, which is something

that an intern of Dr.

237

Mo would also also do, but

it's not a three piece suit.

238

That's true.

239

Dr.

240

Moeller would be wearing, have

you used a fountain pen today?

241

Not today.

242

Not today.

243

Okay.

244

Well, for those of you who have no

idea what we're talking about, when

245

I was at Southern Seminary, I had

the privilege of working for Albert

246

Moler and working for his team, and

that's what Lewis is referencing.

247

So just in case you're totally confused.

248

Mm-hmm.

249

Albert Mueller is the president of

the Southern Baptist Theological

250

Seminary and particularly influential

in Southern Baptist circles.

251

And very much influential in

the conservative resurgence

252

that happened in the nineties.

253

So, anyways, and Pastor Mark's time at

Southern Seminary seemed like just a few

254

days 'cause of his great love for Dr.

255

Moeller.

256

Um, where were we?

257

We were talking about polygamy.

258

Okay.

259

And then we got onto

Southern Seminary . Okay.

260

We have to answer this question though.

261

We do.

262

So how do we read our

Bibles faithfully, right?

263

How do we read these

things and interpret them?

264

With good hermeneutics, right?

265

How do we use, that's how we got here.

266

Yeah.

267

That's how we got here.

268

How do we interpret this situation?

269

Should we go out and marry more wives?

270

Definitely not.

271

That's right.

272

Good answer.

273

Good answer.

274

Yeah.

275

Where would we start when

we're trying to answer?

276

Let's say we have a friend, maybe they're

from the Mormon religion or maybe there.

277

Just having an honest question.

278

Maybe they're just reading the Bible

and they see this happening a lot.

279

How would you start if you were

going to maybe show someone from

280

the Bible that God is for marriage?

281

As only between one man and one woman.

282

Practically, I'm gonna

start in the New Testament.

283

I'm gonna go to the New Testament where

Jesus makes it very clear that marriage

284

is between one man and one woman, or where

Paul makes it very clear where marriage

285

is one between one man and one woman.

286

I think that's a good place

to start because it is just

287

definitively clear in simple words.

288

But that's not gonna alleviate many

people's question about, well then what?

289

What's going on in the Old Testament?

290

Right.

291

Right.

292

It seems, to be a contradiction.

293

Mm-hmm.

294

Well, the Old Testament is different

than Jesus's teaching, right.

295

Jesus, when he says these things,

he is teaching, or when Paul

296

is writing a letter, right.

297

Paul is writing a letter to

instruct and to rebuke and to

298

give specific instructions to

the people he's writing to.

299

In Genesis, we are in a different.

300

Type of writing it is not

intended to work the same way.

301

And what you're gonna have to look at is

the implications and the results of Right.

302

What happens in these stories.

303

There is not a single instance in

the Old Testament where polygamy.

304

Ends up being a good thing, right?

305

Right.

306

Mm-hmm.

307

There's not a single instance of

that, and that may take some work

308

with somebody to, to go through all of

those, but there's not a single instance

309

where it ends up being a good thing.

310

And that is how you faithfully

read the Old Testament.

311

To conclude that.

312

Polygamy is a sin.

313

But you can even go back further.

314

I think you can go back to Genesis

and to the creation account and

315

to how God created Adam and Eve.

316

Mm-hmm.

317

And put them in a marriage.

318

One man, one woman.

319

Right.

320

And you can point to that and say,

this is God's intention before the

321

fall, before the effects of sin.

322

And so there, there's many

ways that you can do it.

323

Right.

324

But that's, that would be my right.

325

Process for addressing that and you

may not have come across that you,

326

maybe you've never had somebody

who's asked you that question.

327

Well, I'm certain that at some point you

will, if you have gospel conversations

328

with people and enough different people,

this is going to be a question that comes.

329

Up.

330

Yeah.

331

And going back to Genesis one and

two is exactly what Jesus does when

332

he talks about marriage, right?

333

He talks about how he quotes Genesis one.

334

He quotes Genesis two.

335

And he even says in that conversation,

I think it's in Mark 10, where he talks

336

about Moses allowed something like divorce

because of their hardness of heart.

337

Mm-hmm.

338

But we see in the Bible that God doesn't.

339

Like divorce, Jesus says

that you shouldn't in, on,

340

on as a general rule, right?

341

There's obviously exceptions to

that that we see, but generally

342

speaking, you shouldn't do that.

343

I'm oversimplifying it for the sake

of time, but he says that God allowed

344

something like divorce because of

their hardness of heart, and so.

345

Also, another way that we could

look at this is when does the

346

first instance of polygamy happen?

347

It happens in the line of cane,

and then there's this guy named

348

Lamek and he took two wives.

349

And even that way he that's put isn't

a positive reflection on polygamy.

350

That's right.

351

And.

352

Again, we've said this before,

but sin begets more sin, right?

353

And you see that as a recurring

theme throughout all of this, right?

354

When you commit sin the follow up to

that is either more and greater sin,

355

or at the very best, it is a stronger.

356

Temptation to sin that has to be overcome.

357

And that is very much the case

through the narrative of Genesis

358

as it relates to polygamy.

359

Yeah.

360

And there's big consequences, right

In this chapter, these two chapters,

361

there's a lot of conflict between Leah

and Rachel and what I love so much about.

362

Seeing this even though it's

such a hard situation, we see

363

so much of God's compassion.

364

Mm-hmm.

365

Even in 29 verse 31, when the Lord saw

that Leah was hated, he opened her womb.

366

Right.

367

The Lord saw exactly what was happening.

368

Mm-hmm.

369

He saw that Leah was being, neglected

or the Bible says hated he saw

370

that her situation, her really

hard situation, he has compassion

371

and he enters into it to use her.

372

She's the unwanted casualty

of Jacob and Laben schemes.

373

So Laben didn't care about her.

374

Mm-hmm.

375

He just wanted to use her to get

more years out of Jacob's work.

376

Jacob didn't want her, he was

working for her sister, not for her.

377

And so she.

378

Stuck in this situation.

379

That's really hard and God has so much

compassion on her, in fact, that he allows

380

her to be in the line of the Messiah.

381

She is the mother of Judah.

382

She gets the privilege of.

383

As you put it earlier,

carrying Jesus's DNA.

384

Yep.

385

Right.

386

Um, well, which is amazing, right?

387

Yep.

388

And God is also continuing to be faithful

to his promise to Abraham and Isaac.

389

Yes.

390

And he continues to allow Jacob

to be prosperous when in some

391

sense he has no right to be.

392

Mm-hmm.

393

This last section of

Chapter 30 as a kid for me.

394

And nobody corrected me on this, and

maybe it was just my own foolishness

395

as a child, but I was actually

convinced that this is how you got

396

different colored sheep, right?

397

This process that Jacob uses of the

fresh sticks of poplar and almond

398

and plain trees, and how he goes

about effectively getting these

399

things onto the sheep and then.

400

I was convinced as a kid and it

took somebody or some revelation to

401

undo that because this was the story

that not growing up on a farm that

402

I heard about how genetics work.

403

I'm sure my mom who is a science

teacher would be disappointed that

404

I was confused about that as a kid.

405

But God demonstrates that he is gonna

continue to fulfill his promise.

406

To his chosen people.

407

Right.

408

And he does it through this way.

409

That makes no sense.

410

Yes.

411

And I think sometimes we can be

confused when we read something like

412

this and think, oh, Jacob is so smart.

413

Look at how successfully he is.

414

What's really happening here.

415

And same with the Mandrakes earlier,

not the mandrakes from Harry

416

Potter, but the actual plant.

417

What's happening here and with

these two schemes, if you will,

418

is the people in the narrative are

trying to use their wits, their.

419

Smarts to effect change and

their powers are useless.

420

The sticks that Jacob uses, the

mandrakes that, 'cause if you notice,

421

Leah gives the mandrakes to Rachel,

but Leah is the one who has the kids.

422

Yeah.

423

It's literally the opposite of what they

were trying to accomplish is what happens.

424

And it makes this plan with

the animals makes no sense.

425

I mean, if you've been to Ireland

or anywhere there's sheep and

426

you see the spray paint on sheep,

that doesn't mean that they're.

427

Baby sheep are blue or red.

428

It's absurd.

429

It's an absurd way of trying

to manipulate the situation.

430

And Jacob's foolishness

is on full display, right?

431

Absolutely.

432

The situation is silly, but God

continues to be faithful to his

433

promises, despite their sin.

434

Alright, let's get over

to Matthew chapter 10.

435

We're gonna look at the first half of it.

436

This is.

437

In these first verses is in response

to what we read yesterday, right?

438

We don't forget just the final verses of.

439

Matthew nine were Jesus calling us to

pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest

440

to send out laborers into his harvest.

441

And what do we see in the very

first verses of Chapter 10?

442

Those first laborers.

443

Mm-hmm.

444

To the glory of God.

445

What is interesting about this list is.

446

There are some at least

seeming discrepancies.

447

What are those discrepancies and

can you help us understand why

448

those might seem to be there.

449

Yeah.

450

If you've ever compared the list of

the disciples in the Bible, you'll

451

notice that there's usually two names.

452

That are different across the list, right?

453

We always have the same first four

usually Simon, Peter, Andrew, James, and

454

John, and then, the second four, we've

got Philip who's usually always there.

455

Um, that was.

456

Usually always is a oxymoron.

457

Philip is always there.

458

And then Bartholomew.

459

Now Bartholomew is not in some of

the other lists in the New Testament

460

of the disciples, and that's because

Bartholomew is So, it's a baker's dozen.

461

No, there's not 14 disciples.

462

What it is, is Baral is a

nickname, so bar means sun.

463

And just like Barnabas means son

of Encouragement or Simon Bar,

464

Jonah is the son of Jonah, or

Barbi just means son of my father.

465

It's a nickname.

466

And Bartholomew a name to

be called Son of my Father.

467

Yeah.

468

Right.

469

So creative, very literal.

470

It might be better than the son of

Solem you but whatever th whoever,

471

or base math, remember base math a

few days ago, base math, that's new.

472

Bartholomew is.

473

Nathaniel, if I'm not mistaken.

474

And then Thomas Matthew.

475

And once again, Matthew,

the tax collector.

476

Matthew is highlighting his

former life to show God's mercy.

477

And then we have James Fatus, Simon

and Judas, the other list of disciples.

478

There's a second.

479

Judas.

480

My favorite is when they

call him Judas, not a scar.

481

That's my favorite part

and I believe that is.

482

Thaddius or James I can look this

up and get back to you real quick

483

on that, but if you've ever been

confused at the list of disciples,

484

just compare them and notice, okay.

485

There's two names.

486

There's a Nathaniel and there's

a Judas that are listed and

487

there's known by a different name,

and that happens all the time.

488

Right.

489

We have Simon, who's also called Peter.

490

We've got a lot of names

like that in the Bible.

491

That's right.

492

Jesus then sends out a 12.

493

So these are the laborers that he's

sending out into the harvest, and he

494

gives them a lot of instructions here.

495

There's a lot of instructions here, and

he says, go nowhere among the Gentiles.

496

And enter no town of the

Samaritans, but rather go to the

497

lost sheep of the House of Israel.

498

So this is a specific missions

trip, as it were to the lost

499

sheep of the people of Israel.

500

Mm-hmm.

501

But at the same time, Jesus is giving

indications throughout this, that

502

they are not going to accept him.

503

They're not gonna accept these

people who are going out to be.

504

Laborers in the harvest.

505

And the first indication of that is,

well, I mean you, there's kind of maybe

506

some suggestions of it at first, but then

he very clearly in verse 15 says, truly

507

I say to you, it will be more bearable

on the day of judgment for the land of

508

Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

509

And what's that town?

510

That's the town that has rejected them.

511

And what town rejects them?

512

They're going to the people of Israel.

513

Yeah.

514

And that's a just chilling statement

right there by Jesus, right?

515

More bearable than the judgment

first Audo and Gomorrah.

516

I think that just shows us the importance

that what God is really after is not

517

outward conformity to his rules like

the Jews had, but a hard heart that

518

opposes and rejects Jesus is worse.

519

Then even if you have the outward

formality of religion, so is this

520

a model that we should follow for

evangelism today or perhaps missions?

521

Is this how we should go

about doing missions today?

522

Right?

523

Jesus gives some very

specific instructions.

524

He says, heal the sick, raise the

dead cleanse lepers, cast out demons.

525

And then he also says things like,

don't take any money with you.

526

Right?

527

And he says, if you go into

a town and they reject you.

528

Get out of there.

529

Right.

530

Is this a model that we should follow

for evangelism or missions today?

531

Well, I think obviously there's some very

specific instructions in there that are

532

specifically for the disciples, right?

533

When we talk about healing the

sick, raising the dead, casting out

534

demons, cleansing, leopards, right?

535

So I think.

536

S with that as the starting point, I

think most of the instructions here are

537

probably very specific for the disciples.

538

And instead, we should look for commands

that maybe are given to different sets

539

of disciples who are sent out that

are closer to our immediate context.

540

So we would look for something maybe

in one of the epistles or something

541

later on in the book of acts to

establish our pattern for evangelism.

542

What do you think about that, pastor Mark?

543

I think that's.

544

That's right on.

545

I think that's right on.

546

I think there's some principles here.

547

I think, there's a clear implication

that they need to trust the

548

Lord for their money, right?

549

They need to trust the

Lord for that provision.

550

And that's certainly

something that we should do.

551

But I think you really have to,

if you're gonna look at this

552

as some sort of model, really.

553

There's gonna be some abstract

principles, but if we're going

554

to send out missionaries, we're

going to send them with money.

555

We're gonna send them with gold

or whatever currency is in the

556

land that they're going to.

557

Right.

558

And when they get rejected we're

not gonna immediately pull them out.

559

Maybe, maybe there's a time

to, to say, let's refocus, or.

560

Tune our attention somewhere else.

561

But we're not gonna have this

sort of immediate rejection

562

that Jesus calls them to here.

563

And we're also not gonna say that

the primary purpose or even a

564

purpose of missions is to heal the

sick or raise the dead or cleanse

565

the lepers or cast out demons.

566

So this is a very specific set

of instructions to the apostles,

567

to the, I say their apostles,

they're not quite yet apostles.

568

Right.

569

But to the 12.

570

And it's also specific because again,

and I said this before, they're going

571

to the people of Israel, they're

going to the Lost People of Israel.

572

And what's fascinating about this

is that starting in verse 16,

573

we start to see him warn them.

574

Of the persecution that they will face.

575

And this is certainly, again, something

that we can pull principles from that

576

I think can be helpful and maybe even

more so from this section when we go

577

about our own evangelism remissions.

578

But again, this is persecution

that is in the form of.

579

The people of Israel.

580

This is akin to the persecution that the

prophets faced from the people of Israel.

581

And so Jesus says, I'm sending you

out as sheep in the midst of wolves.

582

So be wise, as serpent

and innocent as doves.

583

Again, certainly a

principle that we can apply.

584

But that immediate context of this

is the people of Israel and the

585

work that they are called to do.

586

In that context, what

do you think about that?

587

I think that's, it's really important

for us to, to remember that context.

588

Some we're reading even a passage

in the New Testament like this.

589

It does bring you to a question, though.

590

I see in verse 19.

591

There's a promise that Jesus

makes that could be really

592

encouraging for our own evangelism.

593

And I wanna see if that's something that

you think is specific to the 12 disciples

594

or if it's something that we can.

595

Claim as our own.

596

And that's here in verse 19, when

they deliver you over, don't be

597

anxious about how you're gonna

speak or what you're gonna say.

598

Four, what you are to say will

be given to you in that hour.

599

So is that something that I can say, you

know what only the disciples shouldn't be

600

anxious and I should be anxious, or should

I maybe apply that same principle or can

601

I just take that verse and say, Jesus

might as well have been talking to me.

602

'cause that is.

603

Just as true today as it was for them.

604

Yeah.

605

And I think the most immediate

application of that is should you

606

prepare to have gospel conversations.

607

Mm-hmm.

608

And to what extent should you

prepare to have gospel conversations?

609

You could read this and take it

as, I don't have to do anything.

610

I think that's the

dangerous way to read this.

611

I think you'll end up in

deep trouble if you do that.

612

But notice what he says.

613

Right?

614

Do not be.

615

Anxious how you are to speak

or what you are to say.

616

Right?

617

It's not, don't worry about it

and don't ever think about it.

618

It's, don't be anxious, don't

be afraid of those things.

619

And I think we can relate to that

when we have gospel conversations.

620

One of the biggest challenges that we face

is that initial fear, that initial barrier

621

that we have to jump over, that we have to

overcome and we need God's help to do that

622

when we are starting those conversations.

623

And once, once those

start, it's often easier.

624

There's often less anxiety,

but we have to overcome that.

625

Right.

626

The other thing to keep in mind here

is that he says, what you are to say

627

will be given to you in that hour.

628

Does that mean that God is going

to just inject thoughts that

629

you've never had into your mind?

630

I don't think that that's

the right implication of it.

631

It's more, what are you gonna say?

632

You need to, do you need to

trust God in those conversations?

633

Do you trust him?

634

Do you trust the gospel to have the power?

635

Or do you trust yourself?

636

Is it up to your own ingenuity and your

own phrases and your own argumentations?

637

No, it's not.

638

It's not at all.

639

And we can, if it is, then yeah, we

should be anxious, but instead it's not.

640

And we should prepare.

641

We should be faithful Bible readers.

642

Where Apologetics is helpful, we need

to be well versed in apologetics.

643

But yeah, this is a place where, again,

I think we can take a principle that's

644

really helpful and we can apply it to our

645

Alright, we have enjoyed

spending time with you.

646

We have one more day ahead of us

before it gets turned back over.

647

It's gonna be Pastor PJ and myself

going forward for a little bit more.

648

But we've enjoyed being with you and

we hope that you've enjoyed us and,

649

tolerated us to the extent possible.

650

Again, we're thankful for you.

651

We're thankful for this church.

652

Let me pray for us.

653

And then we will wrap up today's

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

654

Lord, you are kind.

655

You are a kind God.

656

Yes.

657

We have sinned.

658

We have broken your law.

659

We have broken creation order.

660

We have, we've hated you, we've hated

your commands, but because of Christ,

661

because of his work on the cross, we can

be people who have the power of God who.

662

Who can go out to the lost, who

can have wisdom and discernment.

663

We're thankful for that.

664

We're thankful for that, and we

pray that you will keep us from sin.

665

We pray that you'll keep

us from foolishness.

666

We pray that you will use us

mightily for your kingdom.

667

In Jesus name I pray, amen.

668

Amen.

669

See y'all tomorrow.

670

Edward: Thank you for listening to another

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

671

We’re grateful you chose to

spend time with us today.

672

This podcast is a ministry of

Compass Bible Church in North Texas.

673

You can learn more about our

church at compassntx.org.

674

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we’d appreciate it if you’d consider

675

leaving a review, rating the show,

or sharing it with someone else.

676

We hope you’ll join us again

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677

of the Daily Bible Podcast.