NOTE: These are the notes I use to preach from, if you’d like to follow along with the sermon itself, please watch it on our YouTube channel.

Prayers

Luke 11:1-13

-Anyone have a friend? How do you get to know that friend? Talk!

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PRAY

1. Teach Us to Pray (1-4)

-Doesn’t tell us where Jesus is, just a “certain place” 

-Prayer is a regular/routine part of Jesus’ life

-We see often throughout the Gospel accounts that Jesus would withdraw by Himself to pray

-During His last night on earth, he withdraws with his disciples to pray

-This pattern is supposed to be the same in our lives today: 1 Thess. 5:16 “Pray without ceasing.” Does that verse ever discourage you? I need to work, change diapers, mow the lawn, get dinner ready, do the dishes, how do I “pray without ceasing”? Great question – not going to answer it today, but there will be some tips today that will help you live a life of prayer.

-Secondly, there is the need to be taught how to pray. 

-Ask Jesus to be like his cousin

-These prayers served as the identity markers of this band of brothers

-Each “rabbi” would have a set prayer that he would teach his disciples

-These disciples want that same identity marker for their new group, and Jesus is happy to oblige.

-But one thing we need to note – no matter how long you’ve been a Christian, there are still opportunities for you to continue to be taught in how you pray. How often do you find yourself slipping into the same patterns, phrases, and requests? 

-God is more than “just” 

-“Shoot Christians Say” “I Just pray you give him traveling mercies. Pray for all his unspoken” “Echo to that” “I echo the echo of his echo of my echo.”

-If you haven’t noticed our overseers pray here every week. Each one of them emphasizes different aspects in the life of our church, and each of them serve as a model to the rest of us. Notice Jesus says here “When you pray SAY” written prayers can at times be helpful to give us words to say, but there’s also times where the Spirit will use our silence to intercede on our behalf!

-If you struggle knowing how to pray, find some resources to work through, and even more importantly, find someone to help you! We have a group of dedicated people who meet every Wednesday night during the school year to pray! If you are ever looking for some books or resources that will equip you, let me know! It’s not a sin or embarrassing to ask for help! 

-Think of it like this: all of us have certain tools we can use. My grandpa is with the Lord, but imagine if he were here today, transported from 1987. Do you think he’d be able to figure out how to use my iPhone? Or else think of the skilled trades – they’re called skilled for a reason! But let’s take a plumber as an example. At one of our houses, backup in the basement about every year. The tools the plumber brought in looked awesome! Now imagine you called me and asked me to come to your house and fix your plumbing. First of all, you’d be crazy! But even if I had all those tools at my disposal, I’d be useless to you (and probably break something). Having someone (or using a book) teaches you how to use the tools that God has given you to be more effective in your discipleship journey. 

-“Prayer is not natural. Effective prayer has to be taught and learned.” (Anyabwile, 187)

-1 more illustration (since I’m in the middle of this one right now!) If you’ve ever had kids, it takes time, teaching, and intentional training for them to learn how to function as a human being. Talking, walking, running, throwing a ball, etc. In the process of growth, you don’t yell at them for failing, you celebrate the wins! With prayer, celebrate the little steps. If your step in learning is just praying once a day for 30 sec, and that’s growth, PRAISE GOD! Whatever it is, please don’t become complacent or content with where you’re at, find ways to grow

-So how did Jesus teach us to pray? 

-2 accounts in the Bible about how to pray, Luke’s is a little more concise, but demonstrates all the same themes as Matthew. 

-Jesus would use similar stories multiple times. The Gospel accounts are highlighting major events that took place during a 3 year period – so let’s look at those themes!

1. Begin with God

-This prayer is unlike the other prayers these disciples would have been taught, or that they would have heard other disciples around them praying.

-We so often just assume these things because they’ve become part and parcel of the Christian faith for so long, but Jesus teaches us to approach God with 1 word: father, or in Matt OUR Father

-JI Packer Knowing God “You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God.”

-Tim Keller “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.”

-Think of the way other religions teach their people to approach their “gods” Buddhism you have to empty yourself of everything, Muslims have to face a VERY specific direction laying prostrate, the 1 true God invites us to boldly come into his presence as our loving Father. One thing to note about this prayer is how simple it is, contrary to many of those other religions. 

-In Matt. 6:7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

-“Pagan prayers spend an inordinate amount of time trying to mollify fickle gods who often did more harm than good, while Jesus introduces a God who deeply cares and can be approached directly.” (Osborne, 297) 

-Prophets of Baal vs. Elijah “shout louder! Maybe he’s musing! Relieving himself, sleeping, on a journey”

-We begin with the realization that God is our father and we are his children, means we can come to him as our loving and caring father. Then we see that we are to hallow his name. What is that?

-Honoring, revering, making holy. One way to think about that is to remember that God is God alone and supremely. That He is God, that He alone is worthy of worship. 

-All of the Bible is a story about how God can honored above everything else

-Luther in his Great Catechism “How is it hallowed amongst us? Answer: When our life and doctrine are truly Christian.”

-That is: worshipping God with every area of our lives.

-After acknowledging that God, out Father is supreme, we are to ask for:

• His Rule

-There is a king whose kingdom has not, does not, will not end. We don’t always see this reality and most of the time we miss when these things are taking place around us. Think of how beautiful a rising sun is. Think of how delicious a medium rare steak is. Think of the magnitude of the ocean. The sheer weight of the Rocky Mountains.

-Notice that it’s not the same as Matt’s account. It’s the exact same idea, by asking and inviting his kingdom to come, we are inherently asking for His will to be done, that’s where we’ll get the joy of seeing little glimpses of his kingdom breaking in right here on earth. And here’s one reality: what we’re doing right now is meant to be a glimpse of heaven’s realities. The closest thing we have of what heaven will look like is the church.

-“The hope is in the full realization and culmination of God’s promised rule. Ultimately, it is the eradication of evil and the manifestation of righteousness that is anticipated.” (Bock, 1053)

-We in the church, serve as ambassadors of another kingdom. One where evil no longer holds sway, where earthly enemies become family, where the greatest must become the lowest, where all the things our world emphasizes don’t matter! Each week we gather back together with our family to remind us who we are and whose we are.

-Our world tries to get all these benefits and realities, but they do it by using the wrong tools. Politics, force, legislation, finances. Do you want to know how to get these benefits and realities?

-Tied to Matt. 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 

-Tim Keller (again) has such a good way of putting this: “If you understand what holiness is, you come to see that real happiness is on the far side of holiness, not the near side.” 

-You want a good marriage? Holiness. You want to be content in your job? Holiness. You want to be a better parent? Holiness. 

-Another way of saying this: if you want true, lasting happiness, realize that we are citizens of a kingdom, we find true success/contentment by obeying the king.
-This isn’t what our world offers! Be true to yourself, look inside, find “your truth”

-The biggest thing I want you to take away from the first half of the Lord’s Prayer is the orientation. It begins vertically before it gets horizontal. 

-This is the goal of all of Scripture: vertical before horizontal. 10 commandments, the role of the prophets in the OT, the role of the priests in the OT, the role of Jesus in the NT.

-It’s not until we acknowledge who God is that we talk about us. And this first half should serve to refine/refocus the second half:

• Our Need

-The first thing we ask is for what we need each day. 

-Notice “us” “each day” “daily bread”

-Meant to be communal, all of us praying this together (and individual)

-We should ask for today’s needs

-1^st century people didn’t “stock the pantry” they each day had to figure out where their food would come from, they would feel the weight of this far more than we would (maybe we have too much)

-Grew up (and continue) praying before each meal, this is part of the reason, God doesn’t need to provide the excess that he has for us as He has for most of us for most of our lives

-Daily bread – bread was the lifeblood of this people. No gluten free here! If you didn’t have bread that day you didn’t eat.

-2 things in relation to the bread:

-manna in the wilderness wanderings

-I am the bread of life – if you don’t “eat” Jesus you spiritually die! (this also points us back to last week’s message on communion)

-The second need we have is in relation to our sins

-All have sinned. Sin is an act of rebellion against the sovereign Creator God. Each sin makes us worthy of eternal condemnation, so God sent his one and only Son to bear that penalty in our place 

-Yet we still need to regularly confess our sin (this becomes VERY easy when we’ve spent time praying through the first half of the prayer and we understand who God is)

-Luke connects “sins” to “indebtedness” sinning against someone places us in their debt (just as sinning against God places us in his debt) Since we have been forgiven something of eternal significance, we must forgive people for things that will disappear

-Finally, connected to the sins is the need to not be led into temptation

-God does not tempt us, but he will test us. (tested Abraham, tested Moses, tested David, all failed) thankfully we have someone who was tested/tempted but came out victorious! 

-Asking to not be led into temptation is the same thing as being asked to be delivered from evil.

-Summary: begin with God and who He is, look for ways in which His sovereign rule and reign are being seen around you and pray that continues, then you can ask for your needs of daily provision and repentance. 

-If you’ve ever recited the Lord’s Prayer in the church, you probably see something is missing at the end of both accounts! “For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”

-Pretty early in the church that phrase got added as a doxology, final praise. Kingdom theme in the prayer, He has the power to forgive sins and take care of our needs, and we glory (glorify) Him by hallowing His name.

-Amen isn’t a sign off, it means we are all in agreement, and we believe what we have prayed will happen

• Two Examples (5-13)

-In Luke’s account, Jesus follows this prayer up with 2 examples, ways in which we should think of prayer.

1. A Friend (5-10)

-Hospitality was required in the first century, and if one person wasn’t able to provide what was needed it became an indictment on the whole community. 

-One friend has a friend arriving at midnight (well after bedtime) and doesn’t have any food for him, so he goes to his neighbor

-1^st century houses were 1 room, and everyone slept together in the same bed, so going to knock on the house would wake up everyone. Including the kids

-Think of it like this – you have your phone next to your bed, and a friend calls you at midnight, you ignore it and go back to sleep. Calls again. Ignore again. Phone rings again and keeps going until you finally pick up! 

-The guy’s going to get what he wants! He finally gets the neighbor up and gets the bread he needs.

-Jesus is saying persistence pays off! He tells a similar story of a widow who keeps nagging a judge until the judge finally relents. But here’s where the analogy breaks down: God isn’t a neighbor we can annoy or a heard hearted judge – He’s a Father.

-Because of that, we can ask, seek and knock and God will answer.

• A Father (11-13)

-All of us have father’s – a physical fact that I can guarantee! Some of you had good fathers, some of you had fathers you’d like to forget, but those of us who have been adopted by God have a perfect Father in heaven. Doesn’t take away earthly father wounds, but it does give us hope.

-Jesus uses a couple crazy examples to point out how fathers will do their best to care for their kids: ask for fish give him a poisonous snake, egg give him a scorpion. 

-The point: compared to God even the best earthly father in the world is evil.

-Parallel passage in Matt 7:11 “how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

-The best gift God has given us is the indwelling presence of Himself – the Holy Spirit who leads us in righteousness, reminds us of the truth of God’s Word and works to sanctify us. 

-Jesus is giving a pattern for us to follow for all of our lives. By praying as He taught, it shapes our thinking, our patterns of life, and brings us closer into relationship with our loving heavenly Father.

-Take some time now to pray using the Lord’s prayer as your model! I’ll use the Matthew’s text with the doxology we’re used to, but please take a few minutes now to pray.

Lasting Justice and Righteousness

Amos 5:18-6:14

NOTE: This is the manuscript I use to preach from, which means somethings will not make sense unless you listen to the message itself. If you’d like to listen to that message, please click HERE.

-Looking in depth at justice last week, not going to dive in again. Summary: biblical justice is marked by: radical generosity, complete equality of person, special concern/care for the poor and marginalized, both corporate and individual responsibility.

-So often we think of justice as something we do “out there” and not affecting what we do “in here” We divorce our Sunday mornings from the rest of our week, but what we’re going to see today is the way we pursue justice will directly connect to our worship on Sunday morning

READ
PRAY

1. Let Justice Roll (18-27)

-Woes begin here. That is, sorrow will be coming because judgment is coming

-Think of Jesus “woe to your scribes and Pharisees, you tithe your mint and cumin, but you neglect the weightier matters of the Law”

“Both notions (justice and righteousness) are wrapped up in Yahweh’s character and moral order, which were to be the foundations for the relational ethos, the social behavior, and the political, legal, and socioeconomic structures of the community. The leaders – in particular the king – were to embody these qualities and habits. This is why they are singled out for special judgment in Amos and throughout the prophetic literature.” (Carrol, NIV Study Bible, 307)

1. The Day of the Lord (18-20)

-First woe is reserved for those who desire (crave) the day of the Lord.

-This is a theme throughout Israel’s history. If things get tough, just remember God will judge our enemies!

-There’s an element to that that’s true, right? 

-Think of a place like Deut. 32:36 “For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.”

–Acts 1:6 “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

-I pray regularly, “God please come soon.” Early church prayed “maranatha” 

-So why would God condemn them for their craving of this time when that’s a theme throughout the Bible and history?

-Because their fascination/fixation on the future led them to disregard their holiness in the presence. Does that sound like anyone you might know?

-Story working in college at a church who GUARANTEED Jesus was coming back in the pastor’s lifetime, so take on a bunch of debt.

-Guy from a previous church who “cracked the code” through astrology and was able to tell you the EXACT date Jesus is returning. Didn’t like it when I told him that “secret codes” and “hidden knowledge” is called Gnosticism and was labeled a heresy in the 4^th century.

-There are 2 issues related to eschatology we need to be careful to avoid (define eschatology)

-Get’s tricky quickly, you’ve got historical premil, dispensational premil, amil, postmil, pretrib, postrib, midtrib, then you’ve got the person who say’s they’re panmil, we’ll see how it all pans out. Recommend The Future of Everything or Systematic Theology.

-Millard Erickson, Christian Theology “there is intensive preoccupation with eschatology…eschatomania. The opposite might be called eschatophobia. Somewhere between the two extremes of preococupation with and avoidance of eschatology, we must take our stance. For eschatology is neither in unimportant and optional topic, nor the sole subject of significance and interest to the Christian.” (1058-9)

-Don’t forget 1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

-These people – these leaders of Israel are so preoccupied with the future (eschatomania) they’re neglecting to live holy lives today. Church, let that not be true of us! 

(Erickson, 1059) “after describing the second coming and assuring his readers of its certainty, he councils, “therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). It is sometimes easy to forget that the eschatological truths in God’s word, like the rest of his revelation, our intended to comfort and assure us.” 

-Amos next uses a really funny example of “The day of the Lord” will look like

-Anyone ever watch the 3 stooges, or Mr Bean, or enjoy slapstick humor like that? That’s the exact picture Amos paints here!

-Imagine Larry, Curly, and Moe stumbling across a wild Lion, so they immediately turn and run away, yet in their haste to get away from the lion they’re not paying attention to where they’re running so they run straight into the side of a giant bear! They finally escape from the clutches of the bear, sprint into their house, slam the door, lock it, winded they lean up against the wall to catch their breath and their bitten by a snake! They can’t catch a break!

-And why is it this way? Why is “The day of the Lord” judgment and not celebration?

1. Unacceptable Worship (21-23)

-If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am unbelievably passionate about worship. I think one of the primary ways we should be reading the Bible is through the lens of worship. Gen. 1 is meant to instill worship in all of us for the sovereign creator God, and Rev. 22 ends with the reminder that Jesus is coming soon where we’ll finally worship perfectly, then everything in between is how we worship God acceptably, with TONS of reasons historically and theologically.

-God begins “I hate” look back up at vs. 10. While His people hate those who bring about true/lasting justice, God hates their worship. 

-So why is God rejecting the worship of his people? This is a wholesale rejection of everything his people are trying to do. Look at the senses God uses. 

-Smell in vs. 21

-Sight in vs. 22

-Sound in vs. 23

-What exactly is it that makes God “hate” the worship of his people? Look at the next vs.

1. Justice and Righteousness (24)

-Instead of fixating on the future, or offering up their plentiful acts of worship, God commands them to pursue justice and righteousness. We talked at great length about justice last week, what about righteousness?

-2 aspects to righteousness, God’s righteousness and our righteousness.

-Concept of being in right standing morally, ethically, spiritually, etc. But also has the idea of right living in the here and now.

-Read Rom. 3:21-26 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

-Law pointed to God’s righteousness, part of why the worship was called out is because it wasn’t connected to righteous living. 

-The way we can be righteous today is by putting our faith in Jesus

-That’s where we can connect the dots between justice & righteousness in our daily lives. Paul will go on to say we’re either slaves to sin or to righteousness, but if we’re slaves to righteousness it leads us to pursue biblical/lasting justice in every sphere of life.

-Our world has disconnected these 2 concepts: justice AND righteousness. Our world wants justice APART from righteousness, but you can’t have 1 without the other.

-Kingdom without the king.

-The idea of righteousness & justice is supposed to flow out in every area of our lives in overwhelming abundance, like waters & an ever-flowing stream.

-Compare to a wadi – water comes in small doses then leaves

-We as Christians are so tempted by our world to operate using the world’s ideas/patterns of thought. We’re trained to think in these bipolar/partisan ways where everything is either Republican OR Democrat, but God calls us out of that way of thinking INTO a whole new way of life. His kingdom is NOT of this world, his patterns of life, of growth, of holiness cannot be built on the foundation of what the world offers us. Jesus calls us to a brand new way of operating, and he does it by drawing us into a family. 

-Last week I talked about both the corporate and individual responsibility we have to live out a justice life, but one piece I didn’t bring up was the way the reciprocal is true in salvation. 

-Remember, the primary or strongest responsibility we have before the Lord is individual, we’re not off the hook for corporate sins/issues

-But in salvation we’re saved individually, and only by being a part of the corporate are we then saved through Jesus’ atoning blood and sacrifice

-Remember from 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

-As God’s people, the church, we now have to look to bring about justice & righteousness wherever we find ourselves. That’s why it’s so important to be a part of a local church – we’re not lone ranger Christians, we’re called to a place AND A COMMUNITY for a reason! We need to demonstrate Christ’s love to the watching world, and then see God work in us and through us for his glory. Otherwise: 

1. Exile (25-27)

-Just their worship previously was rejected by God, God brings it up again.

-Some debate here as to what God means. It’s a rhetorical question, but do we answer “no” or “yes”? If no, then what about all the instances where the Israelites DO offer sacrifices? If yes, then what is God’s point? 

-Most likely (and my opinion) is God is connecting it to justice & righteousness. The people’s worship (sacrifices & offerings) WAS connected to their justice & righteousness. AND it shows us that the right rituals were not the primary point. 

-Think of a place like John 4, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and reminds her that a time is coming where worship will not longer be dependent on location – instead God’s people will worship 24/7/365.

-But this isn’t just a NT idea, in 1 Sam. 15:22 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

-But look at what they’re doing with their worship now in vs. 26. These are Mesopotamian gods that the people have assimilated into their worship of Yahweh. So even if their feasts, assemblies, offerings, and songs were accepted by God, they were ALSO worshipping these other gods. 

-Don’t we have a tendency to do the same? We only “worship” if it’s the songs I like, the preacher I like who agrees with all the same things I agree with, the translation of the Bible I like, wearing the clothes I like in the room that is decorated up to my standards.

-I have a friend who is a Pastor at a church where they don’t do any of the songs he likes. Isn’t that a better opportunity to worship than if it’s just the songs you like?

-Because the people are fixating on the future, are worshipping both unacceptably AND the wrong gods, God, the God of hosts, who can defeat all these other tiny little gods, will send them into exile

2. Woes of Complacency (6:1-14)

-Just as the leadership has been previously called out, the leadership is going to be called out once again.

-Remember these people were waiting for the “day of the Lord” to come, they were in the midst of a good economic season, so they felt like everything was going to be just fine

2. Look at the Nations (1-3)

-These people acted as if they were the best people in the world! They were the best nation, they had wealth, they had prosperity, but as we’ve been seeing throughout this section instead of utilizing their wealth to serve others, it was to pack their own houses

-In vs. 2, God basically tells them to look at all the nations from the N to the S, nations that once were prosperous and had tons of land, but had been beaten into submission and now were tiny nations compared to Israel

-Then, vs. 3, weird idea that they are assuming the “day of disaster” is a long time away. Everything’s fine so party hard! But because they assume that it’s far off they can do whatever they want, or in this case “bring near the seat of violence.”

-How many people today live this way? According to a 2019 Experian review, the average American carries $6,194 of credit card debt. That is putting off the day of disaster, discontent to live within the means and times we’ve been given. Now – being in debt is not inherently sinful, so if you need financial help, we’ve got a class for you right now!

-The second half of this verse gets to how these people were not living enacting true and lasting justice in their current context. They were so fixated on the future they neglected to care for those nearby.

2. Woe to the Wealthy (4-7)

-God then moves on to a second woe, this time explicitly focused on the wealthy.

-Look at all these descriptions:

-lie on beds of ivory – yes, that is a 4 post EXPENSIVE bed

-stretch on their couches – spread themselves out lazily

-eat lambs and calves – while the rest of the nation is given to “cleanness of teeth” the wealthy are eating the finest meats

-sing idle/lazy songs – they comparing their lazily written songs to David

-drink wine in bowls – wine isn’t cheap, and they drink it by the bowl full1
-Anoint with finest oils – just as wine isn’t cheap, neither is oils! Ever been to bath & body works? 

-They have all these riches, their excess is clearly demonstrated, but they don’t give a rip about the destruction taking place around them. 2 options for the last line of vs. 6: either ignoring the societal ruin God has brought around them, or they’re ignoring the incoming judgment 

-Yet those who think they’re hot stuff, always tooting their own horns and neglecting to care for those nearby them will be the first ones to be taken away into exile.

-Jer. 9:23-24 “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

2. God’s Judgment (8-14)

-God won’t mess around. He’s willing to deal with his people in a destructive way. Because his people are prideful, God says he hates it, and will therefore destroy the city.

-Vs. 9-10 are a little bit weird. A house has been destroyed, relatives are searching for bodies to deal with. One asks if there’s anyone still in the house, the other says no, then one replies “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord!” A few options:

-First is fear of mentioning God’s name will bring more judgment

-Second is worry that if he uses God’s names as a curse he will be judged

-Another is there’s no reason to cry out to God anymore, they’re all dead. 

-I’ll let you pick whichever one you like best!

-Vs. 11 gives us another description of the destruction, both great houses and little houses will face ruin.

-Then we end up with some more word play and slapstick humor in 12-13. 

-First, do horses run on rocks? Ever seen a horse race? Are there big boulders for them to run through? No! Hooves would be destroyed!

-Second, many scholars break these Hebrew words out a little differently and end up with the phrase “Does one plow the sea with oxen?” Has anyone here been to the beach? Dig a trench and what happens? Yeah, immediately covered. Not to mention if you did find a way to plow then you’re using salt water to try to grow crops. Not a great combo!

-Just as ridiculous to try having horses run on rocks or plow the sea with oxen, is what the people are doing with justice and righteousness. Remember, we saw wormwood pop up last week in 5:7. 

-But these people are so prideful that they continue boasting!

-Lo-debar is a city, but it literally means no-thing! So they rejoice that they have captured “nothing!” Ever been to the Grand Canyon? Or see mountains? Or the northern lights? Some amazing feature God has made. Push ups.

-Then they think they captured Karnaim by themselves. Karnaim is an allusion to horns which stands for strength throughout the OT. But their boasting leads to the last verse:

-As they boast in their strength, God is working behind the scenes to destroy them. The 2 places listed refer to the northernmost part to the southernmost part of Jeroboam’s kingdom. 

-We saw today that we cannot divorce our weekly living from our Sunday morning worship, otherwise God will not be pleased with the way we’re worshipping Him, and we’ll be tempted to think we’ve accomplished what we have in our own strength and ways instead of realizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from a good, holy Sovereign creator!

What I was listening to this week, this song was playing in the background of my mind as I wrote this week’s message, and also played on repeat during the long drive in Indianapolis and back!