00:00 Introduction and Greetings

01:08 God's Use of Imperfect People

02:06 Listener Question: Can Satan Hear Our Prayers?

05:26 Old Testament Reading: Genesis 44-45

10:05 New Testament Reading: Matthew 14:1-21

15:26 Conclusion and Prayer

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

To another edition of the

Daily Bible Podcast and Happy

2

Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr.

3

Day.

4

It's a great day.

5

It sure, yeah.

6

He's a interesting figure.

7

I'm gonna just leave it at that.

8

I'm not gonna touch that with a 10 foot

pole anymore than that, but I just, he's

9

a guy that I think history has not been

as kind to you as we found out more and

10

more about his life, his personal life,

his morality, his marriage, even recently,

11

even just within the last 12 months.

12

Yeah.

13

Yeah, so there have been some things that

have been exposed about his character.

14

Now, it doesn't change that, what

he fought for and what he stood for,

15

and the things that he, that his

eye have a dream speech, honorable,

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commendable in a lot of ways, but it's

just a reminder as Pastor Ooff and

17

says, the best of men are men at best.

18

And so yeah, Martin Luther King Jr.

19

Day.

20

Your kids are probably outta

school if they're like mine,

21

but interesting figure for sure.

22

You gonna have a Martin Luther King Jr.

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Cake?

24

We don't actually have one of those.

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No.

26

Oh yeah, yeah.

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But balloons?

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No, not balloons either.

29

Oh, we saw this giant statue in

Washington, DC that's like carved outta

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this enormous block of, I guess, gran.

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And that was right around the

time that a lot of that most

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recent stuff was coming out.

33

I'm like, Hmm, I'm wondering if that's

gonna stand the test of time either.

34

But it's interesting how God

uses people not, and not just

35

him, but how God uses people.

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And I can even think just personally

not big figures necessarily, although

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I think that's also the true how

God uses people who are not saved.

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To work things in people's lives.

39

We've got a great friend who lives in

Nepal now actually, who Julia was friends

40

with, and there was three of them.

41

And this third friend, not the one

in Nepal at the time seemed to be a

42

believer and encouraged this friend

who's in Nepal to go to church.

43

This friend who's Nepalese becomes

a Christian, and then this third

44

friend, not Julia, to be clear.

45

Ends up rejecting God and throwing

away everything that she claimed

46

to believe, but God used her Lord

willing shall be saved in the future.

47

But at the very least, God used

her to save this friend in Nepal.

48

Yeah.

49

It's amazing how God sometimes, how

some God, how he does that sometimes.

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Even if you look at Pharaoh, right?

51

Yeah.

52

Somebody who's not saved that God

uses for the salvation of his people.

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Yep.

54

Yeah.

55

Hey, we've got another question today.

56

This one is not as confusing

as yesterday's question was.

57

I haven't, I haven't heard

it yet, so maybe it is.

58

Maybe it's okay.

59

So this question, it comes from the

idea of language and speaking and

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it, what prompted the question was

the Tower Babel incident, which I

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know is a little bit in our rear view

mirror, but still it comes outta that.

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And so the person wrote in and said,

look I saw an a clickbait article or

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a video or something like that, that

was titled, Hey, stop praying out

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loud so Satan can't hear your prayers.

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And she said, I didn't click

or dig into it at all, but

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what are your thoughts on that?

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Can you speak to what

Satan is able to hear?

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No.

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See versus God's omniscience,

omnipotence in omnipresence.

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So there it is.

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I think that's a really important

initial clarification that Satan

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and the demons are not God.

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They are not all knowing.

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They're not all hearing, they're not

all seeing, they are, they're not God.

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And I think sometimes we can just assume

that they somehow are because they're

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in the spirit realm and we don't fully

understand that we can just be like, oh,

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of course, they know these things well.

78

They don't, they're not God.

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And those characteristics and

attributes of God belong to God alone.

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True.

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Yeah, agree.

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And so can sit and hear your

prayers man, if he's there,

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if he's in the room with you.

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Sure.

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That's what I would say yes.

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Yeah.

87

Yeah.

88

But.

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Here's the thing.

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Satan and his demons can't.

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Man, I said this was not a

confusing question and here

92

I am and here we are again.

93

I guess the short answer to the question

is you shouldn't stop praying out loud.

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Yes.

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You should keep praying.

96

That's right.

97

The Bible does make it clear that our

prayers can be hindered by our sin.

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It doesn't say that our prayers

can be hindered by Satan.

99

Now, the reason I paused is Daniel is

told by an angel that, Hey, the reason

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I was delayed in, in coming to your aid

and coming to help you is because I was

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being opposed by the prince of Persia.

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I was being opposed by this demonic force.

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That's why I paused there, but

you praying to God and even

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you praying out loud to God.

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It's not as though Satan and his

demons are waiting there with nets

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and they can capture words and make

sure that they don't ever get to God.

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Yes.

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Satan does.

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I believe his and his demons do.

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I believe they study us.

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And I believe when we pray, if they

are hearing our prayers then I think

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they're, that's part of what they're

studying to know, what we're anxious

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about, what we're burdened by.

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But I wouldn't let that keep you from

praying because your God is bigger than.

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Than they are take heart for he

has overcome the world, right?

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He who lives in us is greater

than he who is in the world.

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So the God who you pray to is I'd much

rather pray to him and know that the

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impact of him hearing my prayer is

gonna be far greater than the impact

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potentially of a demon hearing my prayer

if there happened to be a demon nearby.

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So I don't know if that helps

with the answer to that question,

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but that's my 2 cents on it.

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Yeah.

123

Satan and his forces are well

practiced and I think sometimes we can

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misinterpret his extensive knowledge

of humans and human inclinations.

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And he's well practiced.

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We can mistake that for him having

really intimate knowledge of us

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that really only God alone has.

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Right.

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'cause he's not omni mission.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, exactly.

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So good question.

134

If that just created

more questions, awesome.

135

Write those in podcast at compass ntx org.

136

But let's get into our

Old Testament reading.

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We're in Genesis chapter 44

through 45, Genesis chapter 44.

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The testing is going to continue and

so Joseph is not done even though

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he sees Benjamin, even though they

brought Benjamin back and they're all

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together and they're enjoying this meal.

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Things are not.

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Yet done.

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And so Joseph's gonna again, have them

load their sacks, he's gonna put their

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money back in their sacks, and then he's

gonna put his cup in the sack of Benjamin.

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And here he's really setting the

stage to find out are they going

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to sacrifice Benjamin for their

own good, just like they did me.

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And that's what he wants to find out.

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And so he lays the trap, he casts

the lure, if you will, and it's

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found then in Benjamin Sack.

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And the brothers say.

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Take us, or Judah says, take me.

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And he says, no, only the one in,

whose possession the cup was.

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And then Judah really is the

one that passes the test.

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Judah goes forward and again, takes

the lead and says, you can't do this.

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You don't understand.

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My father's a man of old age, and if we

go back without him, then my father's

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going to die and take me instead,

let my life be forfeit for his life.

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And that's really.

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Where Joseph sees, man, this is

genuine repentance from these guys.

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They've, at least Judah has,

they've been transformed.

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He's not the same guy that he

was, they're not the same people

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that, that they once were.

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And so this is the moment where Joseph

is going to ultimately break down

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and in chapter 45, reveal himself.

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Say, I am Joseph, and we've

said this before, but.

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When we're reading the Old Testament,

and in particular Genesis and Exodus

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and some of the more narrative

based passages, we need to look for

168

what the characters say and what

happens to them as an interpretation

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of what is good and what is bad.

170

Right?

171

We used the example a number of

days ago that, we shouldn't look

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to the Old Testaments to say, you

should have multiple wives because.

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And there, then there's more

places we can go to prove that.

174

But at the very least in Genesis, it never

goes well when you have multiple wives.

175

Nope.

176

But here you should be seeing

the story Arc of Judah.

177

His introduction and some of the things

that he does are disgusting, are vile.

178

Yeah.

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But.

180

What do you see here?

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You see heart transformation

to your point.

182

Right.

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You see him not just willing

to sacrifice others, right?

184

But now you see him actually willing

to sacrifice himself for others

185

and that's a transformation, right?

186

That's a transformation of his heart.

187

And he's now concerned about

Benjamin, he's concerned about

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his father in a way that he wasn't

concerned about Joseph and he wasn't

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concerned about their father before.

190

Right?

191

Right.

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For sure.

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And so in 45, he reveals himself.

194

He says, I am Joseph.

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And notice it says that they are.

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Heat at his presence.

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Well, understandably so, they're thinking,

wait a minute, this guy, who's the most

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powerful man, say Pharaoh in Egypt.

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This is the guy.

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And what did we do to him?

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And yet there's just a phenomenal

understanding of God's sovereignty

202

from Joseph displayed here in

chapter 45 when he responds to his

203

brothers and says, do not be afraid.

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And he says, over and over again,

God is the one behind this.

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God sent me before you to preserve life.

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Look at verse nine.

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God has made me, Lord of all Egypt.

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And so he is there just saying over and

over again, look, this is God's doing.

209

It's not mine.

210

And he is excited to reveal

himself to his brothers.

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But even more than that, he's

excited to get his father there.

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And so he sends them back and

says, bring my father here.

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And that's what.

214

The rest of the chapter sets up

there is the reuniting of Joseph and

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Jacob that's gonna take place here,

which will be, again, super sweet

216

as you might imagine it would be.

217

But Joseph's understanding

of God's sovereignty was

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notable to me in Chapter 45.

219

Absolutely.

220

I definitely think that is, is

the biggest takeaway, one of the

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most significant things that.

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Should be read and

understand from this passage.

223

I think there's a lot here though.

224

I think one of the other things that's

really interesting is that we see

225

that Israel is going to plunder that

word's not used, but plunder Egypt.

226

It's not the first

time, not the last time.

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Rather that this is gonna be a theme and.

228

It's an interesting thing

that kind of appears here.

229

Granted, they go back, but there's very

much a hint here at what's gonna come.

230

Mm-hmm.

231

Yeah, no, for sure.

232

There is.

233

Yeah.

234

Yeah, I think that kind

of wraps up 44 and 45.

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Can I just point out one

more thing that I find.

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Absolutely.

237

Really kind of funny that

just seems jammed in here a

238

little bit, which is verse 24.

239

He says it says, then he sent his

brothers away and they departed and he

240

said to them, do not quarrel on the way.

241

I just, yeah.

242

Hey, don't fight with each other.

243

I, come on dad.

244

I find that so funny.

245

And I do think perhaps there's a little

bit of skepticism that they're not

246

quite come to terms with everything.

247

Maybe they aren't all

saved like Judah, right.

248

Judah is the one that we see

with true tr transformation.

249

Maybe not.

250

I just find that so funny.

251

It just seems jammed in there,

but I find it very interesting.

252

Yeah.

253

He's like, Hey don't worry about this.

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Don't fight about these things.

255

Just get home.

256

Yeah.

257

Get my dad and get back.

258

Yeah.

259

Alright, let's jump over to our

New Testament reading, which is

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gonna be in Matthew chapter 14.

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Matthew chapter 14 verses

one through 21 here.

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Matthew 14, one through 21.

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It opens with unfortunately, the

account of the death of John the Baptist

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and this is just a tragic scene.

265

But I think what's commendable here, and

Pastor Rod preached on this with the men

266

recently, is just the boldness of John.

267

Mm-hmm.

268

John knew what was right and what

was wrong, and he wasn't going to

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allow his circumstances being in

jail and having his life on the line.

270

He wasn't gonna let that sway him

away from calling out sin as sin.

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And so that's what he does here.

272

And it says that in verse, verse

four there, it says, because John had

273

been saying to him, it's not lawful

for you to have her he's saying,

274

this is wrong what you're doing.

275

And so you need to stop even somebody

who's not a follower of God at this point,

276

John is saying his convictions are so deep

in what is universally true, not just true

277

for Christians, but saying this is morally

apprehensible no matter who you are.

278

And so this is wrong and

you should not have her.

279

And so that makes this woman

less than thrilled with John.

280

And so she sets up to have

her daughter persuade.

281

Herod to get John's head removed

from his body, so to speak, and John

282

is dispatched with at that point.

283

But this is a tragic scene here

in Matthew's gospel for sure.

284

I hold a minority position, and maybe

it's not worth defending here on the

285

podcast, but you've been holding a

lot of minority positions recently.

286

But I'm gonna contend that John the

Baptist is actually the first martyr.

287

So if you want to come and ask

me about that, I'd be happy to

288

have a conversation about that.

289

Maybe you're not interested

in that at all then I guess.

290

Don't worry about it.

291

So you don't like Christoph?

292

He's and John's the first martyr.

293

Okay.

294

Okay.

295

Alright.

296

Well you guys go ask

Pastor Mark about that.

297

Yeah, interesting.

298

I don't know that I could

get there, but Fair enough.

299

It's a minority position.

300

I admit.

301

Yeah.

302

I admit, I think there's fair

reason why most people wouldn't

303

make that same contention.

304

I think he's the connection between

the Old Testament prophets and

305

effectively the New Testament apostles.

306

He's the continuation of that.

307

And I think you see here that he is.

308

Is killed because of his faith.

309

Yes, it is in a political setting, but

I do think that to your observation of

310

what exactly causes him to be killed, I

think is very much connected to faith.

311

And also notice in verse two, right,

they, they're wondering exactly

312

who John the Baptist is, right?

313

They say, this is John the Baptist.

314

He has been raised from the dead.

315

I think there's maybe hints there that

they are wondering whether he's Elijah

316

or perhaps somebody else I can get with

you that he is representative or of

317

similar ilk to the Old Testament prophets.

318

I think where I draw the line though on

the martyrdom is I think that the martyrs

319

are those that are dying for their faith

in their belief in the resurrected Christ.

320

And at this point, John still

doesn't know about the cross, nor

321

does he know about the resurrection.

322

So I don't think John's dying

for his faith in Jesus as.

323

As the savior at this point.

324

I think he's dying for his conviction

of what is morally true and

325

what God honors, what God loves.

326

And I think we see that with

the Old Testament prophets.

327

So I would be more tempted to lump

John as the last prophet, if we wanna

328

say that there's a category of Old

Testament prophets who were martyred.

329

I think there were, and then I think

there were New Testament martyrs.

330

I would still say, I think Stephen is

the first martyr that we know of, at

331

least in the New Testament, who's dying

for his faith in the resurrected Christ.

332

Yep.

333

Again, this is a long discussion,

so I don't wanna just burn

334

our whole podcast with it.

335

Fair enough.

336

But, look at the baptism and what

John specifically does in the baptism.

337

I'm gonna contend that maybe,

maybe, and maybe I'm wrong.

338

Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe there's an

understanding there that John the Baptist

339

understands what is the resurrection,

even though he hasn't seen it yet.

340

So anyways, but I'm gonna, I'll

counter that with him sitting in prison

341

writing or sending his disciples to

Jesus, saying, Hey dude, I'm in jail.

342

You need to start getting after

being this whole Messiah thing.

343

So anyways, we can talk more about

that another time, but hey, the

344

people like it when we disagree.

345

They like it when Pastor

Ron and I disagree.

346

They like it when there's

like, oh, you guys can disagree

347

and still like each other.

348

Yes.

349

So that's, that's okay.

350

After this we see the feeding of the 5,000

which is just an amazing, amazing miracle

351

that just shows up time and time again.

352

And it's one of those that we see so

much, we become so familiar of it.

353

But this is an amazing just act of

power from Jesus demonstrating

354

his power here to provide for the

people that are gathered there.

355

The test that he gives the disciples when

he says you, they don't need to go away.

356

You just give 'em something to eat.

357

And they're looking around at

5,000 men, probably close to

358

15, maybe 20,000 people total.

359

And they're going I'm sorry, what?

360

And then he feeds them.

361

And we know from John's gospel

that this is not so much about.

362

The bread that he's going to

give them, the physical bread

363

that he's gonna give them.

364

But this is about him saying

that he is the bread of life.

365

And there's so much behind this as

well of the Old Testament that John

366

really brings more into bearing,

ironically than Matthew does.

367

'cause John is not writing to a Jewish

audience primarily as Matthew is here.

368

But this is this is an amazing

account that's recorded in, I think

369

all of the gospels record the feeding

of the 5,000 and don't miss this.

370

Amazing, amazing sentence in here, right?

371

When Jesus came ashore and saw the

crowd, it says he had compassion on them.

372

He had compassion on them, right?

373

We've read this, he's gentle and lowly.

374

His burden is light and he's a god.

375

He is a, this.

376

Who has compassion on the lost.

377

What?

378

What an amazing thing.

379

It is an amazing thing, indeed.

380

Well, that brings us to another end of a,

this episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

381

And so let's go ahead and

pray and then we will be done.

382

God, we thank you for your word.

383

And in the sovereignty that Joseph

saw in you ordaining all the things to

384

get him to the place that he was, he

could have been vindictive against his

385

brothers and he could have lashed out.

386

He could have punished them, he

could have judged them, he could

387

have probably had them even executed.

388

And yet.

389

He knew that it wasn't his place to do

so, because even their sinful actions

390

against him were part of your perfect

plan to get him where he needed to be, to

391

preserve life, and ultimately to preserve

the life of his family and the life of

392

the nation of Israel in so many ways.

393

And so we're grateful for the testimony

of Joseph's faith that he had in you.

394

We pray that we would be likewise,

men and women of faith that trust

395

you with a robust confidence that

you are in control of all things.

396

So we pray this all in Jesus name.

397

Amen.

398

Keep reading those Bibles y'all,

and tune in again tomorrow as we

399

continue with the Daily Bible Podcast.

400

Bye y'all.

401

Bye.

402

Edward: Thank you for listening to another

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

403

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spend time with us today.

404

This podcast is a ministry of

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405

You can learn more about our

church at compassntx.org.

406

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we’d appreciate it if you’d consider

407

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408

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409

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