WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:06.240 time. So anyway, but anyway, so let's get into this to the story here. So, so yeah, 00:06.240 --> 00:10.800 it's a bad day for Israel. The ark is taken by the Philistines. All their leadership dies 00:10.800 --> 00:17.440 in one day. And basically, this is not looking good for the children of Israel. And we're 00:17.440 --> 00:21.880 at the time of the judges when everybody does right, that which is right in their own eyes. 00:21.880 --> 00:27.080 There are two the two priests sons or reprobates, and they die, God wanted to kill them. And 00:27.080 --> 00:33.200 then Eli, because he would not restrain his sons or fire them when they deserve to be fired. He is 00:33.200 --> 00:39.800 also killed and his family line is cursed because of this. But the full curse doesn't take place 00:39.800 --> 00:47.120 until later on when Solomon is actually the king. But that we will get to that eventually. Let's 00:47.120 --> 00:51.480 see. So verse number one, the Bible says, and the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it 00:51.480 --> 00:57.480 from Ebenezer to Ashdod. So Ashdod is one of the cities of the Philistines. There's five 00:57.480 --> 01:01.320 lords of the Philistines, because there's five cities of the Philistines. And Ashdod is one of 01:01.320 --> 01:06.680 these cities. And three of them, I think, are mentioned in the passage here. Gath is one of 01:06.680 --> 01:13.240 them. And then Ekron is one of them. So you have these, they're five cities. So they had kind of 01:13.240 --> 01:19.440 like city states. I mean, basically, back then, you had to have a city. And then you had to have a 01:19.600 --> 01:23.000 wall around it or you're going to get attacked and killed. So most of the people lived in these 01:23.000 --> 01:28.440 places so that they'd be protected in case there was some kind of army to come take over. But the 01:28.440 --> 01:33.720 Philistines were some pretty nasty fellows. And they obviously didn't like the God of the Bible. 01:33.720 --> 01:43.280 They didn't like the people of the God of the Bible. But God also, sometimes he uses nasty people 01:43.280 --> 01:53.600 to do his will. And when God's people are in sin, then God will take a paddle to you. And he waits. 01:53.600 --> 01:58.440 You know, he's very long-suffering and merciful, but eventually his mercy and long-suffering run 01:58.440 --> 02:05.760 out. And then he punishes his children. So he doesn't have to throw them in hell. So let's see. 02:05.760 --> 02:11.080 So it says in verse two, when the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the 02:11.080 --> 02:20.280 house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. So Dagon was this chief deity and fertility small g god of 02:20.280 --> 02:26.920 the Philistines. So obviously there's no other God but the God of the Bible. And so anything else 02:26.920 --> 02:33.280 that's called a god in this world is really not a god. Okay? They're just false. They're something 02:33.280 --> 02:39.120 that the devil and the devils that fell from heaven have invented, all these other religions, 02:39.160 --> 02:42.480 to confuse people. They're like, well, how do you know your religion is the right one? Well, 02:42.480 --> 02:51.600 because I do. I just know the Bible's true. When I was confused about things, I prayed that if God 02:51.600 --> 02:57.480 was real, that he'd reveal himself to me. And I just, I know that he did. So I know that the 02:57.480 --> 03:04.360 Bible's true. It stands the test of time. It's proved itself over and over to me. And I'm saved. 03:04.440 --> 03:11.880 So I know that there was a change in me, not necessarily in my flesh, but in my spirit, 03:11.880 --> 03:17.280 there was a change. And I didn't, it's not like I just immediately repented of every sin that I 03:17.280 --> 03:24.760 ever did immediately. But there is a desire to want to change, especially if you're in church, 03:24.760 --> 03:30.280 or if you're reading the Bible, and you're praying and these things. And there's just a drive in me 03:30.280 --> 03:35.640 that was not there before. I'm just different. I am different because of God changing me, 03:35.640 --> 03:42.840 not because I changed for God. So obviously you have to want to do that. But if your desires line 03:42.840 --> 03:50.240 up with God's, then God's going to do those things in your life. So, but anyway, so about this Dagon 03:50.240 --> 03:59.000 character, he's the chief God that they believed in, and often represented as a half-man, half-fish 03:59.000 --> 04:07.840 creature, or associated with grain representing agricultural prosperity. In the Bible, Dagon is 04:07.840 --> 04:13.700 depicted as a false God, which he is, and rival to the God of Israel, which he's not. Nobody's 04:13.700 --> 04:20.480 rival to God because they're not even close. So, and again, and actually when I looked this up, 04:20.480 --> 04:25.200 it said, most notably in 1 Samuel 5, where his idol falls and breaks before the Ark of the Covenant, 04:25.200 --> 04:34.640 and Judges 16 when Samson destroys his temple. So Samson is brought about in Judges in order to 04:34.640 --> 04:40.400 destroy the Philistines. And he did kill a lot of them. I mean, he tried. He gave it the old 04:40.400 --> 04:50.200 American try. Well, he wasn't American, but okay. That was added for whatever. But he did try, but 04:50.280 --> 04:55.320 he just, he didn't quite get them all apparently. But he killed thousands of them all, and then he 04:55.320 --> 05:00.560 died with the Philistines. But yeah, so he didn't get them all apparently because they're still 05:00.560 --> 05:09.000 alive. So Dagon is a false God, but he's also represented in an idol. And a lot of the gods of 05:09.000 --> 05:15.400 this world, these false gods, are represented in an idol, which is really strange to me because, 05:15.400 --> 05:22.040 like, who dreamt that up? Well, obviously there's idols in all different sorts of religions, 05:22.040 --> 05:27.040 so it all probably has to have the same author of that. And God is very much against this, 05:27.040 --> 05:34.160 and he's very, he gets very angry about this sin of idolatry, of literal idolatry. We're carving 05:34.160 --> 05:41.600 something out of wood or molting something out of metal to represent your God. And it's weird, 05:41.840 --> 05:50.400 because why would a man have to make his own God? God made man. Man doesn't make God. But they do 05:50.400 --> 05:57.480 that, it's an image to represent the God that they believe in, which is not real. So in reality, 05:57.480 --> 06:02.080 it is a devil, and I'll get to that here in a minute. But let's keep your finger here. Let's go 06:02.080 --> 06:07.440 to Exodus chapter 20. Let's see how God feels about this. He's actually, it's a very serious 06:07.440 --> 06:15.400 matter. In our country, we don't really deal with so much of this, but now that we're letting a lot 06:15.400 --> 06:22.760 of third world country type people in here, it's grown. Hinduism, of course, has a lot of idols, 06:22.760 --> 06:27.920 but the Catholic Church has always been filled with idols. So, I mean, it's just like, could the 06:27.920 --> 06:31.680 Catholic Church be like, what idols? And it's like, if you've ever seen that meme, it's just like, 06:31.680 --> 06:36.520 it's got a picture of this church, and it just says idols, like, all over the place. Statues of 06:36.520 --> 06:41.440 Jesus, statues of Mary, statues of the saints. They still have Jesus hanging on the cross, 06:41.440 --> 06:49.560 and you know, whatever. So, yeah, they're filled with idols. So, Exodus chapter 20, though, it says, 06:49.560 --> 06:55.360 verse number one, the Bible says, And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, 06:55.360 --> 07:00.920 which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no 07:00.920 --> 07:08.360 other gods before me. So, and notice that that's a small G there. Thou shalt not make unto thee any 07:08.360 --> 07:16.680 graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, 07:16.680 --> 07:23.720 or that is in the water under the earth. And it doesn't seem like he's stuttering here. He doesn't 07:23.720 --> 07:28.920 want us to make things. He doesn't want us to have other gods before him, so we're not supposed to 07:28.920 --> 07:35.920 believe in any other gods besides him. Okay, he's a jealous God. He doesn't want us to do this. So, 07:35.920 --> 07:40.400 it's just, and like, it's kind of likened to a husband-wife relationship. We're not supposed to 07:40.400 --> 07:47.520 go outside the marriage. That is adultery. Well, God considers it spiritual adultery and whoredom 07:47.520 --> 07:56.520 to worship another God and worship him at the same time. So, and you can't just add the God of the 07:56.520 --> 08:02.600 Bible to your collection of millions of gods that you already worship, like Hinduism. And ultimately, 08:02.600 --> 08:08.720 Hinduism is kind of, they do really believe in one God, that they're all those millions of gods are 08:08.720 --> 08:14.840 just a manifestation of the one Brahma or whatever it is that they believe in. But, and they believe, 08:14.840 --> 08:19.760 they really do actually believe in oneness, which is really strange because they do believe in all 08:19.760 --> 08:24.280 these millions of gods. But, you know, and Buddhists will say that they don't believe in God, 08:24.280 --> 08:33.200 but they have idols. How does that work? And they also give offerings to these idols. Any Chinese 08:33.200 --> 08:40.040 food restaurant or just Asian food restaurant that you go into, there's going to be either a fat Buddha 08:40.040 --> 08:46.120 or a skinny Buddha with offerings made unto it. Depending on which one you go to, it could get 08:46.120 --> 08:51.600 really wild. And it seems like even the Thai food places like really kind of just put on the 08:51.600 --> 08:57.720 idolatry. You know, they have the elephants and they have a lot of the ones that are a man and 08:57.720 --> 09:03.560 an animal mixed together. Like, you know, and so does Hinduism. But Buddhism and Hinduism are very 09:03.560 --> 09:10.600 closely related. Buddhism came out of Hinduism. So, but if they don't, they said that they don't 09:10.600 --> 09:19.560 worship them though. They, what is the word? They venerate, which is exactly the same thing. 09:19.560 --> 09:27.120 Venerating does mean to worship. Yeah. So, yeah, venerating. And that's what they say about Mary, 09:27.120 --> 09:32.080 too. They say, we don't worship Mary. We just venerate Mary. You worship her. You pray to her. 09:32.080 --> 09:36.720 I mean, you're asking her for things. You know, don't let Jesus be bad at me or whatever. It's 09:36.720 --> 09:44.880 like, she's not the mediator. Jesus is the mediator. So Mary is, was just his mother. So, God, 09:44.880 --> 09:48.920 how does he feel about it? Well, he says, we're not supposed to make them. And he says, we're not 09:48.920 --> 09:56.160 supposed to have other gods. So, you know, things like doves, like molten doves, isn't that in heaven? 09:56.160 --> 10:02.640 Isn't that something that flies in the heavens? Yeah. I mean, or a molten fish, you know, the 10:02.640 --> 10:06.640 fish that people put as a Christian symbol on the back of their car. Isn't that, doesn't that look 10:06.640 --> 10:14.040 molten to you? I mean, but, so the very thing that God says not to do, Christians put as a symbol on 10:14.040 --> 10:19.160 the back of their car. I mean, do you think that God's happy about that? He's not. He's not happy 10:19.160 --> 10:22.880 about it. It's like, it's almost like they just, people just don't read the Bible anymore. Oh, wait, 10:22.880 --> 10:28.680 they don't. Maybe that's taken out. I know that the Catholics also mess with the Ten Commandments, 10:28.680 --> 10:32.840 too, when it comes to, I think that they combine a couple or something like that. I don't, I forget 10:32.840 --> 10:39.520 exactly what they do. But, so what does the word likeness means? Well, what does it mean? It means 10:39.520 --> 10:44.720 resemblance, the quality of being alike or having similar features. We're not supposed to make any 10:44.720 --> 10:51.280 likeness of anything in heaven above or the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. It means 10:51.280 --> 10:59.480 representation, a portrait, image, statue, or copy of a person or object. Semblance, it means outward 10:59.480 --> 11:04.760 appearance or guise of something. So when God made man after his own image, after his own likeness, 11:04.760 --> 11:12.760 how did he make us? To look like him, to be like him, and we are like him. So, I mean, because Jesus 11:12.760 --> 11:20.840 Christ is the Son of God, but he also is man. So, but there's the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, 11:20.840 --> 11:27.120 and these three are one. Well, we have a body, we have a soul, we have a spirit. So, he made us like 11:27.120 --> 11:33.360 him. So, if you say likeness, you mean us in the likeness, well, why? Because we're like him. Now, 11:33.360 --> 11:41.160 we're not God, we're not gods, but we are like him in the sense that he made us like he is. And so, 11:41.160 --> 11:47.840 and so, like when people say, well, what did Jesus, you know, you're saying that God, the Father, has a 11:47.840 --> 11:54.360 body or whatever, and people just, they get all weird about this stuff, but what did Moses see? He 11:54.360 --> 11:59.920 saw the hindered parts of God. He couldn't see his face because no man can see the face of God and live, 11:59.920 --> 12:04.480 the Bible says. So, if he would have just been like, hey, Moses, how's it going? Like, I don't know if 12:04.480 --> 12:08.000 he would have melted like a snail or what would have happened to him. He'd be like, seeing the Ark of the 12:08.000 --> 12:12.720 Covenant in the Indiana Jones or something, like, I don't know. But whatever it was, he would die. He 12:12.720 --> 12:19.560 would not be able to look at God's face. So, when Jacob wrestled with the angel at Penual, which means 12:19.560 --> 12:26.360 the face of God, by the way, he said, I wrestled, you know, that he wrestled with God face to face. He 12:26.360 --> 12:32.160 wrestled with God and lived, basically. He saw God face to face and lived. So, was he telling the truth 12:32.160 --> 12:39.800 about that? Yeah, because that wasn't God the Father, that was a pre-incarnate Son of God, okay? So, 12:39.840 --> 12:46.560 you can see this face of the Son and live. And what did he look like? He looked like a man. Because it 12:46.560 --> 12:52.440 says he wrestled with a man to the breaking of the day, right? So, he looked like a man to him. That's 12:52.440 --> 12:56.880 what he said. But then he knew it was God somehow. I don't know how he knew that. Maybe the fact that 12:56.880 --> 13:02.280 he just popped his hip out of joint with no effort or something. I don't know. You know, he didn't even 13:02.280 --> 13:08.320 tap. He didn't even give him a chance to tap. He just like just, the tap was his hip popping out of socket 13:08.320 --> 13:19.520 or whatever. So, first MMA match ever recorded, God won. So, verse 5, Thou shalt not bow down 13:19.520 --> 13:26.480 thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of 13:26.480 --> 13:33.320 the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing 13:33.320 --> 13:39.320 mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. So, how does God feel about idols? 13:39.320 --> 13:47.600 Well, he doesn't like you bowing down to them or serving them because he's jealous. And if he's your 13:47.600 --> 13:54.080 God and then he catches you bowing down to them, making them, serving them, serving other gods, 13:54.080 --> 13:59.440 he's going to be very angry about that. He doesn't like when people that aren't his children do it 13:59.440 --> 14:04.120 either though. So, obviously he doesn't like the Philistines doing it here because he starts 14:04.120 --> 14:09.960 messing with them too. And it's like you're not, you don't have an excuse. So, people just think 14:09.960 --> 14:15.320 that like, oh, well, what about the Pygmies in Africa if they're worshiping some idol? They got 14:15.320 --> 14:19.840 the same fate coming to them that everybody else does. They don't get saved. They're going to go to 14:19.840 --> 14:27.480 hell just like everybody else. But he will show mercy and he does show and reveal himself. But 14:27.960 --> 14:31.480 that's just like a question that people always ask. What about the Pygmies in Africa? Well, 14:31.480 --> 14:34.920 number one, they have cell phones. So, I'm sure that they can figure it out. 14:34.920 --> 14:42.640 When you think that just nobody has cell phones. I mean, there are some pretty remote people that 14:42.640 --> 14:47.940 have cell phones or satellite phones. You'd be surprised. Just because people portray something 14:47.940 --> 14:51.880 one way doesn't mean that it's actually so. I'm sure there are some pretty remote places where 14:51.880 --> 14:56.320 people don't have phones. I get that. But maybe they're remote and out in the middle of nowhere 14:56.480 --> 15:05.520 for a reason. Maybe these are the third and fourth generation of them that hate him. Because, 15:05.520 --> 15:12.160 you know, I mean, if your parents and their parents hated God, then, you know, God's... 15:12.160 --> 15:19.080 It's not like he's necessarily taking their sin out on you, but he is visiting the iniquities 15:19.080 --> 15:26.080 of the fathers under the children. So, it's like, because you didn't choose God, well, 15:26.080 --> 15:30.920 it's going to be a problem in your succession. Because, I mean, if you're part of the South 15:30.920 --> 15:36.760 Korea revolt or whatever, or not South Korea, but the North Korean revolt, and then you try to destroy 15:36.760 --> 15:42.960 South Korea, and then now it's just this weird place where you have to worship Kim Jong-un 15:42.960 --> 15:49.400 instead of whatever his name is, or ill, or whatever his name is. I don't know what his 15:49.400 --> 15:53.600 name is. But you literally have to worship this guy. And then like, they do all these like, 15:53.600 --> 15:58.760 synchronized dances and stuff like that. Have you guys ever seen that? It's bizarre, but like, 15:58.760 --> 16:03.360 they're little kids that if you mess up, then they beat you. And just, it's just wild. People 16:03.360 --> 16:08.040 want to escape. They're so bad, they're willing to jump into icy cold waters. And, you know, 16:08.040 --> 16:12.120 maybe you're going to get killed in China trying to sneak across the border. But people want to 16:12.120 --> 16:18.160 get out. They're so bad because it's so oppressive. But, and obviously people sneak stuff into there. 16:18.160 --> 16:24.120 If you're even caught just watching an American sitcom or anything like that, it's the death 16:24.120 --> 16:30.760 sentence and they kill you in front of everybody. So it's such a godless, heathen society. Why is 16:30.760 --> 16:34.920 it like that? Well, maybe because that generation rejected the gospel. I don't know. There was a 16:34.920 --> 16:41.400 generation that rejected the gospel and hated God. And then now it's just this successive thing. 16:41.640 --> 16:46.760 Hopefully God will be able to turn that around. I'm sure there's people that are saved there to a 16:46.760 --> 16:53.880 very small percentage. But who knows? Let's turn to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. So 16:53.880 --> 17:00.800 idolatry is like the beginning of the process of becoming a reprobate. That's what I believe. I 17:00.800 --> 17:06.960 think that there's many different things that can start you down that downward spiral. But I think 17:07.960 --> 17:16.240 that God's wrath begins in this process where people just don't, they want to reject God. They 17:16.240 --> 17:22.160 want to make something else be their god besides the god of the Bible. And so God really takes 17:22.160 --> 17:28.400 offense to this. Because if you know who God is and you know the stories of him and then you're 17:28.400 --> 17:35.280 like, I reject that, this is my god now. Because isn't that what Jeroboam did? These be your gods, 17:35.600 --> 17:41.600 Israel? And he makes calves just like the ones that they rebelled against Moses with. It's like, 17:41.600 --> 17:46.800 why would you choose that? Of all the things you could choose, why would you choose two calves? 17:47.440 --> 17:52.880 Because it worked before. And obviously the devil is behind these things. But look at Romans chapter 17:52.880 --> 17:57.840 one verse 18. Why does it always have to do with animals? It says, for the wrath of God is revealed 17:57.840 --> 18:02.880 from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth 18:02.880 --> 18:08.080 and unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has 18:08.080 --> 18:13.280 showed it unto them. So God does show people. It says, for the invisible things of him from the 18:13.280 --> 18:17.760 creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. Hey, 18:17.760 --> 18:22.880 if things are made, you know that somebody made them. They didn't just happen by accident like 18:22.880 --> 18:26.240 the scientists want you. They want you to believe in all the, I believe in science, 18:26.240 --> 18:33.680 but nothing made everything. That's not science, dummy. That is, I'm sorry, but it's retardation. 18:33.680 --> 18:40.960 Anyway, even his eternal power and Godhead. So they're without excuse. So the Bible makes 18:40.960 --> 18:46.960 it very clear. These people are without excuse. They have no excuse for not believing in him. 18:47.680 --> 18:53.840 Because the things that are made shows that there's a maker. It's pretty simple. Because that when they 18:53.840 --> 19:01.040 knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations 19:01.040 --> 19:06.320 and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to become, to be wise, they became 19:06.880 --> 19:12.400 fools. See, they get all intellectual. Think they know everything. They become fools. They become 19:12.400 --> 19:19.280 vain in their imaginations and change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image. See that? 19:20.000 --> 19:27.840 Into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. 19:27.840 --> 19:34.880 So what was Dagon again? Half man, half fish. What were the gods of the Egyptians? 19:35.680 --> 19:41.520 Half frog, half man, half, half, you know, dingo or whatever animal it was. I can't remember what 19:41.520 --> 19:45.920 it kind of, what kind of animal was it? What kind of dogs do they got over there? You know, the dog 19:46.000 --> 19:50.000 looking, okay. But yeah, it was jackal. 19:53.280 --> 19:56.960 But all these different things that God was judging them with are the same things that 19:56.960 --> 20:02.560 were the gods that they worship. That's why he did that. So you want to worship frogs? Well, 20:02.560 --> 20:06.720 how about you just sleep with them at night and they, you know, they'll die and then they all 20:06.720 --> 20:11.040 stink and you know, you want, you want frogs, so they're gonna be jumping out of your cupboards and 20:11.040 --> 20:15.440 jumping into your food and you know, frogs go to the bathroom too, just in case you didn't 20:15.440 --> 20:22.800 realize that. Just that would just be horrific on its own. It says, wherefore God also gave them up 20:22.800 --> 20:28.400 to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, 20:29.600 --> 20:33.920 who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than 20:33.920 --> 20:39.360 the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. And so this process, you know, they, they, they make an 20:39.360 --> 20:44.800 idol and then they start worshiping animals. Well, what do you see in today's world? People 20:44.800 --> 20:49.680 love animals more than they like human beings. They put those stickers on their car. I mean, 20:49.680 --> 20:56.080 I've seen this, I, the one time I saw a sticker and it had like a dog and a human being and it 20:56.080 --> 21:03.280 had the, the greater than sign as the dog. And that's just the type of world we're living in today. 21:03.920 --> 21:07.840 You know, people have those little stickers on their windows that says, you know, for you to 21:07.840 --> 21:11.280 rescue their, whatever animals lives in their house. Well, what about the kids that live in 21:11.280 --> 21:15.520 your house? You don't have stickers for them. I mean, what happened? What about the kids? 21:16.640 --> 21:19.760 I mean, I know people put those stickers like this is my family and it has like, you know, 21:19.760 --> 21:23.200 they get those stickers made and they, you know, it shows how many family members are in their 21:23.200 --> 21:26.800 house and they'll put the cat and the dog and whatever. But some people don't do that at all. 21:26.800 --> 21:33.440 That's just the dog or the cat, you know, and people do like, there's people that are their 21:33.440 --> 21:40.400 grandparents or whatever. And once their kids move out of the house or whatever, then their dogs 21:40.400 --> 21:46.640 become their grandchildren. It's weird. I mean, yeah, they're animals. It's cool. I'm not saying 21:46.640 --> 21:54.880 I don't like animals. I do. But when it gets to this level where you're choosing animals over 21:54.880 --> 22:01.360 human beings, you're wrong. If you think they're even equal, you're wrong. And I said this at the 22:01.360 --> 22:07.120 Red Hot Preaching Conference, which made people leave Pastor Shelley's church that I said this, 22:07.120 --> 22:10.160 which I'm not even the pastor of that church. So I don't know why they leave his church. 22:10.160 --> 22:13.840 I don't know why they leave his church over something I said, but that's just bizarre. But I said, 22:15.120 --> 22:20.960 if I could save one soul or if I had this, you know, this button that I could push 22:21.760 --> 22:25.680 and all dogs would die at the same time, or I could have one person saved, I would 22:26.240 --> 22:32.560 push that button until my finger broke. But people just are horrified to have me say something like 22:32.560 --> 22:38.160 that. But I'd rather have one human being saved because those animals don't have souls where they 22:38.160 --> 22:45.440 go to heaven. Okay. They just go down to the dirt. And that's it. They're not they don't have souls 22:45.440 --> 22:51.040 like that cartoon that says all dogs go to heaven. It's just not true. I'm sorry, kids. But 22:52.320 --> 22:55.600 I'm sure there'll be dogs in heaven. I'm not saying that. Maybe there'll be one that looks 22:55.600 --> 22:59.840 just like the one you had. I don't know. Man, I'm just getting myself into trouble now. Okay. 23:01.600 --> 23:06.080 Sorry. You're gonna have to explain this to them when you get home. But I mean, the truth is the 23:06.080 --> 23:13.600 truth. So I'm gonna get raked over the coals for this. Okay. Don't be mad. Don't leave the church 23:13.600 --> 23:17.600 over this. But people love the pastor tell you church over this. So I'm just saying that like, 23:18.320 --> 23:22.480 people serve and worship the creature more than the creator. And this makes God angry. 23:23.280 --> 23:27.840 It turns it makes him turn people over to a reprobate mind. That's how serious it is. 23:28.560 --> 23:33.360 It's like you have a problem with me and God like gives them over to a reprobate mind. He 23:33.360 --> 23:38.080 actually sends people to hell for this. He actually makes it to where people can't be saved 23:38.080 --> 23:42.800 anymore because of this. And you're mad just because I said I'd push a button and all dogs 23:42.800 --> 23:48.000 would die. Look, there's lots of animals that are extinct in this world. You know, and dogs really, 23:48.000 --> 23:52.960 just as becoming the sole winner over the years, I've liked dogs less and less. I'm not saying I 23:52.960 --> 23:59.840 don't like them. I do. I like them over there. You know, I would like one if I had one and that 23:59.840 --> 24:03.600 like magically somebody came and took care of the dog and cleaned up the poop in the backyard all 24:03.600 --> 24:10.080 the time. But I don't have that. So and I could just guarantee that they never made a mess in the 24:10.080 --> 24:16.160 house or they never dumped over the trash and ate the trash or, you know, ate the other dogs, 24:16.160 --> 24:20.720 turds or whatever they do. They're just disgusting creatures really. And they come people just were 24:20.720 --> 24:30.320 like, Oh, look at my mouth. So disgusting. I just gave you guys. No, nobody's hungry either. 24:30.320 --> 24:35.760 I'm leaving. I'm leaving her church a because you talked about dogs b because you made me lose my 24:35.760 --> 24:45.600 appetite. Okay. But but I mean, it is actually a serious though. Like, I mean, God does not like 24:45.600 --> 24:50.640 this. Like we do have to keep things in perspective. Like God loves human beings way, 24:50.640 --> 24:55.840 way. I mean, you're worth more than many sparrows. It's not to say that God doesn't care about 24:55.840 --> 25:00.080 animals. Of course he does. I don't think he, I don't think he just wants us being cruel to them. 25:00.640 --> 25:04.960 I think that when people are cruel to animals and, and just think that they can treat them however 25:04.960 --> 25:09.760 they want, those usually turn out to be serial killers later on. Okay. So I'm not saying that 25:09.840 --> 25:15.520 you should be like that. Okay. There's let's be somewhere in the middle here. Serial killer. No, 25:16.160 --> 25:21.680 you know, worshiping. No petting them and liking them and having one and caring for it. That's 25:21.680 --> 25:26.400 fine. But like, if you had to choose, like people will be like, you know, there's, there's that, 25:26.400 --> 25:31.440 that beam button where it's like, have to choose, like choosing my dogs or my grandkids. And the 25:31.440 --> 25:36.240 guys like, I don't know which one to choose. It's like, that's weird. It'd be just like easy. 25:36.240 --> 25:45.360 It's a, it's an easy choice. So, because human beings have a way more value than any animal on 25:45.360 --> 25:51.120 this planet. Okay. What happened to the dinosaurs? Well, God didn't allow them to live on. So is he 25:51.120 --> 25:55.840 just some kind of a monster now? Well, maybe he didn't want T-Rex's living with us anymore 25:56.720 --> 26:02.240 or whatever. I don't know. Maybe they didn't, you know, if we had those types of creatures here, 26:03.200 --> 26:06.720 I think that we just killed them and ate them all. That's what I think. We probably had the 26:06.720 --> 26:12.560 brontosaurus burgers, like the Flintstones, you know, and we just haunted them into extinction. 26:13.120 --> 26:17.120 It's probably what happened. Or they just didn't get that big after the flood, whatever. Anyway, 26:17.120 --> 26:23.040 okay. So God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Because why? Because they changed the truth of God 26:23.040 --> 26:28.720 into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who's blessed forever. Amen. 26:28.960 --> 26:36.000 Look, so is it surprising to you that God, if they want to change God and make him into an image, 26:36.000 --> 26:43.040 which he's not, make him look like a fish and a guy at the same time and worship something that 26:43.040 --> 26:47.520 he told you not to worship, does it really surprise you that he'd turn someone into a homo? 26:48.560 --> 26:55.440 Because they change, they change, they actually choose to change, but he doesn't, I mean, he makes 26:55.440 --> 27:01.600 them to where they have that ability to just be that way. Because it says, for this cause, 27:01.600 --> 27:07.920 God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use 27:08.640 --> 27:15.120 unto which is against nature. So they changed, but because God gave them up to these things, 27:15.120 --> 27:20.720 he allowed these things to be able to take place. And likewise, also the men, leaving the natural 27:20.720 --> 27:25.120 use of the woman. They weren't born that way, folks. The Bible does not teach that. 27:26.000 --> 27:31.840 It says, how do you explain like some 40-year-old soccer mom getting a divorce and then becoming a 27:31.840 --> 27:37.040 lesbian? When she had like four kids or whatever. Well, she was just a lesbian the whole time. She 27:37.040 --> 27:42.880 just didn't realize it. No, that's just not true. She got given over to a reprobate mind. That's 27:42.880 --> 27:50.640 what happened. So anyway, so it says, and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman 27:50.640 --> 27:56.000 burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving 27:56.000 --> 28:01.680 in themselves the recompense of their error, which was meat or fitting. And even as they did 28:01.680 --> 28:07.520 not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those 28:07.520 --> 28:12.480 things which are not convenient. So they didn't want to keep God in their knowledge. They wanted 28:12.480 --> 28:16.320 to turn them into a fish god. They wanted to turn them into something else. They wanted to worship 28:16.320 --> 28:21.040 some stump of, you know, because it says in here that he was all that was left was the stump. 28:21.040 --> 28:24.480 Why does it say that? Because they made him out of a stump of wood. 28:28.080 --> 28:31.440 Hey, Stumpy, what's going on? Your God is Stumpy? 28:34.000 --> 28:41.120 How weird. But yet they, you know, when the Ephesians were ranting for hours upon end, 28:41.680 --> 28:47.680 great is Diana of the Ephesians. They're mad because Christianity was overturning their 28:47.680 --> 28:51.520 religion and the people were turning away from idols to the living God. That's what they were 28:51.520 --> 28:55.360 mad about. And that they're really what they're mad about is their money. They're getting punched 28:55.360 --> 29:00.960 in the wallet, right? They didn't like that. And so they caused a big ruckus over that. 29:01.760 --> 29:07.920 But let's go back to first statement chapter five. So God, I mean, to the point, I mean, 29:07.920 --> 29:13.680 it's very clear that once you start going down this road, it can be a long, dark road to travel 29:13.680 --> 29:19.040 on. And a lot of people go, well, I don't believe that God's like that. I don't believe the God of 29:19.040 --> 29:26.560 the Bible. That is a bad road to go down because you can just make up a God in your own mind. 29:26.560 --> 29:31.280 And that's idolatry too. I mean, if you think about it, if you're making up a God, well, 29:31.280 --> 29:36.480 my God doesn't believe, doesn't hate. Yeah, because your God doesn't exist. It's a figment 29:36.480 --> 29:43.600 of your imagination. You're just making a God in your own mind after your image, after your likeness 29:43.600 --> 29:49.680 of what you think is right. Well, you know, sad to say, but the Bible is actually what's right. 29:50.240 --> 29:53.280 It's not sad that it's right. It's sad that you don't believe that it's right. 29:54.560 --> 30:01.360 Verse three says, and when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon 30:01.360 --> 30:06.800 his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 30:07.440 --> 30:12.000 So Stumpy falls over in the middle of the night and they're like, oh, that's kind of weird. And 30:12.000 --> 30:17.280 then they put him back where he goes. Right. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, 30:17.920 --> 30:21.280 behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. 30:22.160 --> 30:28.960 And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only the 30:28.960 --> 30:37.040 stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore, neither the priest of Dagon nor any that come 30:37.040 --> 30:44.160 into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. So at the day of 30:44.160 --> 30:52.640 this writing, they still wouldn't go in there because the ark, you know, the president, 30:52.640 --> 30:57.760 look, the ark represented something. It represented the covenant between God and his people. 30:58.560 --> 31:02.080 And so what was in there? Does anybody remember what's in the ark? It's been a while since we 31:02.080 --> 31:09.280 studied this, but does anybody know what's in it? Aaron's rod, the budded, the Ten Commandments, 31:10.720 --> 31:17.760 the pot of manna. Yeah. So those things are representative of the covenant. And so the Ten 31:17.760 --> 31:24.240 Commandments, the law of the Lord, the bread obviously represents the word of God. And it also 31:24.240 --> 31:33.680 represents the Lord Jesus Christ. So, and then of course, Aaron's rod that budded shows that, 31:33.680 --> 31:40.320 you know, God chose Aaron's priesthood and the rebels were wrong, you know. So, 31:42.400 --> 31:48.640 so the fruit came forth upon that branch. So, and then of course, where did that, 31:48.640 --> 31:54.720 where did that ark set? The normal place that ark set was inside the holiest place 31:55.520 --> 32:00.800 in the tabernacle of the congregation and God's presence when they sacrifice. And then once a year, 32:00.800 --> 32:04.720 the priest was, the high priest was supposed to go in with the blood and make an atonement for the 32:04.720 --> 32:10.960 people for, you know, for, you know, he, I think he went in like multiple times for the people, 32:10.960 --> 32:17.440 for the priest, for, you know, for everybody. And then God's presence also would come into that 32:17.440 --> 32:24.080 place. Why? Because the mercy seat was there. They made, you know, the throne of God right there on 32:24.080 --> 32:31.120 the top of the, the seat is like the lid that fit on the top of it, right? And then the two cherubim's 32:31.120 --> 32:38.400 wings covered over the top covering God's throne. So that represents where God sits in heaven. 32:39.280 --> 32:44.960 So, but his presence would come down from heaven and rest there to show the people that his presence 32:44.960 --> 32:49.440 is there. So they just willy-nilly think that they're just going to walk off with that 32:50.480 --> 32:55.120 and just put it in the house of their God as if their God conquered the God of the Bible. 32:55.120 --> 33:01.200 That's a stupid mistake, folks. That's a dumb mistake. And so this is just the beginning, 33:01.200 --> 33:05.680 Stumpy losing his hands and his head. That's just the beginning. God's just kind of just, 33:06.400 --> 33:12.880 you know, it starts out slow, but he's going to ramp it up big time here. You know, that first 33:12.880 --> 33:19.600 he's just showing them that their God is just a stupid idol and it means nothing. But what is 33:19.600 --> 33:23.760 this idol actually? I mean, there's really no power in it. God's showing them that, 33:24.640 --> 33:34.400 but also there's something more to it though. So let's turn to first Corinthians chapter 10, 33:34.400 --> 33:40.880 first Corinthians 10. The Bible explains to us in the New Testament, what is the deal with these 33:40.880 --> 33:48.240 idols? Why is it such a big deal? And obviously there's really no power in the idol itself. It's 33:48.240 --> 33:53.600 not like if you put that idol in your house, that like the idol itself, the piece of wood itself, 33:53.600 --> 34:01.520 has got some kind of power to it. It doesn't. But what it represents does have power. Okay? 34:02.640 --> 34:07.920 And these are the fallen angels. The devil fell and a third of the angels with him. 34:08.800 --> 34:15.120 And this is millions of demons, millions of devils fell with him and they have access to earth and 34:15.120 --> 34:20.960 they have access to heaven to go before God to accuse the brethren, as shown in the book of Job. 34:21.520 --> 34:25.840 Look at verse number 11. Now all these things happened unto them for in samples, 34:26.880 --> 34:30.720 and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world were come. 34:31.360 --> 34:36.640 Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There is no temptation taking 34:36.640 --> 34:41.760 you such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that 34:41.760 --> 34:47.280 you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear 34:47.280 --> 34:53.840 it. So he's talking about the previous things in this passage where people fell to idolatry. They 34:53.840 --> 35:01.520 fell to fornication. And Balaam could not curse them, so he cursed them in another way. He got 35:01.520 --> 35:07.600 them to fall to whoredoms. He got them to fall to literal whores instead of just these idols. 35:07.600 --> 35:14.240 So, but with that they did worship idols. But it says, wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee 35:14.800 --> 35:22.560 from idolatry. What's that mean? Flee means to run away from it. I speak as to wise men, judge 35:22.560 --> 35:28.960 ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? 35:29.680 --> 35:33.200 The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 35:33.760 --> 35:40.160 For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. 35:40.720 --> 35:46.720 Behold Israel after the flesh, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 35:47.600 --> 35:55.360 What say I then? Is that idol, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered and sacrificed 35:55.360 --> 36:01.520 to idols is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, 36:01.520 --> 36:08.160 they sacrifice to devils and not to God. So are they really gods? No, they're not. They're devils. 36:09.360 --> 36:16.720 And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. So he doesn't want us partaking in 36:16.720 --> 36:22.800 these types of things because they actually, he's telling us something that was not necessarily 36:22.800 --> 36:28.240 fully revealed in the Old Testament, that these are devils. These represent devils. So you shouldn't 36:28.240 --> 36:34.240 be worshipping other gods because they're not gods, they're the devil. How are you going to 36:34.240 --> 36:39.200 worship the devil at the same time? But that just shows you that all these other religions 36:39.920 --> 36:46.240 are devils that they're worshipping. They're following the devil. It's a careful plan that 36:46.240 --> 36:52.000 he's devised and a lot of people are falling into this trap. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and 36:52.000 --> 36:57.600 the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils. Do we 36:57.600 --> 37:02.880 provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful to me, but not all things 37:02.880 --> 37:08.960 are expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, 37:08.960 --> 37:14.960 but every man another's wealth. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for 37:14.960 --> 37:23.520 conscious sake. Don't ask if it's halal. Just don't ask no questions. Just eat it. Shut up. 37:24.400 --> 37:30.560 Don't ask if it's a kosher pickle. Why do I say that? Well, because rabbis bless everything 37:30.560 --> 37:37.840 that's kosher. And rabbis are following the Jews' false religion of the Pharisees. That is not God's 37:37.840 --> 37:44.480 people. And then also the Muslims do the same thing with anything that's halal. And they have 37:44.480 --> 37:49.440 different things that they, so these are blessed by their false priests and their false religion. 37:50.000 --> 37:56.160 So if we know that, then we shouldn't just willingly go along with that. But does it actually 37:56.160 --> 38:00.960 curse those things? I don't think it does. I just think that it's your conscience that's going to be 38:00.960 --> 38:05.520 cursed. And if someone knows that you're just willingly partaking of it, it's going to bother 38:05.520 --> 38:10.960 their conscience, which should bother yours. So anyway, but the point I was trying to make, 38:10.960 --> 38:16.800 though, is that these things that they say are gods are not gods. They're devils. Buddha, 38:16.800 --> 38:22.960 the fat little smiling Buddha in the restaurant, that represents a devil. Buddhism is of the devil. 38:23.600 --> 38:30.080 Hinduism is of the devil. All these different idols and all these, the Catholic Jesus is of the 38:30.080 --> 38:36.640 devil. He didn't wear a dress. He didn't have long hair. That's not my God. That's not my Savior. 38:36.640 --> 38:46.000 He didn't look like that. And his mommy doesn't tell him what to do. Seriously. People think that 38:48.000 --> 38:53.200 she has to pacify angry Jesus or something. That's just not true. Look at 1 Samuel 5, verse 6. It 38:53.200 --> 38:59.280 says, But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them at Ashdod, and he destroyed them and smote them 38:59.280 --> 39:05.360 with emeralds, even Ashdod and the coast thereof. So the first city that they take it to, they're 39:05.360 --> 39:12.000 like, yeah, we're taking it to Ashdod, home team, whatever. And then Dagon gets turned into Stumpy, 39:12.000 --> 39:18.240 and then they start getting destroyed. So then they're smote with emeralds. Now, if you just 39:18.240 --> 39:22.960 put an H in front of that, then you might understand what it is that they're being smitten with. 39:23.600 --> 39:26.960 And if children don't know what that is, you're blessed. 39:30.160 --> 39:35.600 Let's just say this. Don't stay on the toilet for too long. Don't get a job where you're always 39:35.600 --> 39:42.800 sitting. If you are, get up and walk around every once in a while. So that should be a clue. 39:44.160 --> 39:47.280 And then the secret parts of the place is that you don't want other people to see. 39:47.360 --> 39:53.600 So there's a reason why we wear clothes. But yeah, when it's saying the secret places, 39:53.600 --> 39:57.760 that's what it's talking about. That's where they're getting them, and it's uncomfortable, 39:57.760 --> 40:04.720 and it's painful. But people would be like, oh, it's not their fault they didn't know. But that's 40:04.720 --> 40:10.080 not what the Bible says, though, is it? They're accountable for their actions. They were even 40:10.080 --> 40:15.760 afraid. This is the God that destroyed the Egyptians. It's like, bullets, man up here. 40:15.760 --> 40:21.200 Quit you like men. Let's go kill them anyways. That's John Wayne leading the army or whatever. 40:21.200 --> 40:27.680 Let's go kill them, pilgrim. They just do it anyway and just kill 30,000 foot men, 40:27.680 --> 40:34.160 kill the men of God, and take the ark anyway. So verse 7. And when the men of Ashdod saw that 40:34.160 --> 40:39.280 it was so, they said, the ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon 40:39.280 --> 40:46.400 us and upon Dagon, our God. They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines 40:46.400 --> 40:50.960 unto them and said, what shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, 40:50.960 --> 40:57.440 let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of 40:57.440 --> 41:03.840 Israel about Vither. So it's like, let's not keep it in our town. Let's send it to one of the other 41:03.840 --> 41:10.000 towns. We're loving our neighbor as ourselves. We're sharing the love of the ark of the covenant. 41:11.520 --> 41:16.080 That's just the opposite of what they should be doing, obviously. Eventually they come up 41:16.080 --> 41:20.320 with the right idea. Let's just give it back to the children of Israel. But that's going to be 41:20.320 --> 41:28.960 in the next chapter. But how dirty is this? Let's give it to Gath. Yeah. So I don't know why they 41:28.960 --> 41:34.160 thought that was a good idea, but it's just kind of like probably God just allowing the smoking to 41:34.160 --> 41:40.640 happen at Gath also. So I don't know if Goliath's alive at this point, but I'm sure his dad was, 41:40.640 --> 41:50.160 who was also, I think, a giant. So they carried the ark of the God of Israel, Vither. So obviously 41:50.160 --> 41:54.320 they hate their neighbors, who are probably they're related to in some way, shape, or form. 41:54.320 --> 42:01.040 They send it to Gath. This is where Goliath is from. Goliath the Gittite is from Gath, 42:01.040 --> 42:08.960 and his sons are there, his dad, his relatives are there. And then, but the thing is, so there's, 42:09.600 --> 42:13.840 you know, the things that are about to happen at Gath, you know, there's no doubt that God is 42:13.840 --> 42:19.600 doing these things. Like there, I'm sure there's no doubt, but they even admit that God destroyed 42:19.600 --> 42:27.440 Dagon and is smoking them. So let's get this thing out of here. Right. And so when it comes to Gath, 42:27.440 --> 42:31.280 Gath is, you know, Gath is probably the most well-known town to us because we know that 42:31.280 --> 42:35.600 Goliath was from there. And we know that Goliath's brothers and what, and his sons are from there, 42:35.600 --> 42:41.360 whatever. And that, but there's also a couple of famous guys that are saved that are from there. 42:42.160 --> 42:47.280 And so I kind of feel like God allowed Gath to feel some of this so that people probably could 42:47.280 --> 42:53.680 get saved as a result, because sometimes the things of God have an effect one way, 42:53.680 --> 42:58.960 but then sometimes they have an effect for good to people. Because like Rahab the harlot, 42:59.920 --> 43:03.440 she thought things, you know, she was like, well, I'm just going to get saved then, you know. 43:03.440 --> 43:08.160 She ends up getting saved and helping people. And there's other people that were not necessarily 43:08.160 --> 43:13.040 part of the nation of Israel that got to see these things happen. And they're like, they went the 43:13.040 --> 43:17.040 different route. They were like, hey, I'm just going to humble myself and get saved instead. 43:17.600 --> 43:24.800 And I believe that this probably had a super big effect on some people. And this isn't even 43:24.800 --> 43:31.440 probably all the people that got saved, but here's a couple of people. Obed Edom, the ark of, you 43:31.440 --> 43:36.080 know, when the ark gets returned, it goes into the house of Obed Edom and his house is tremendously 43:36.080 --> 43:42.160 blessed for it. And then Obed Edom helps lead the ark into, and he gets put into a position of 43:42.160 --> 43:48.960 prominence because the ark was allowed to stay in his house. And so he is Obed Edom the Getite. 43:49.600 --> 43:57.280 And then you also have later on Itai, Itai the Getite, which is an interesting name. 43:57.280 --> 44:04.320 But Itai the Getite also becomes a captain in David's army. He's one of the captains next to 44:04.320 --> 44:13.040 Joab. And so he's a man of prominence in the army. And so I mean, I guess it doesn't say that they 44:13.040 --> 44:19.120 were saved, but I would guess that they probably are. So when this all happens, I'm sure that it 44:19.120 --> 44:23.920 has, you know, God's power. You know, sometimes we think, well, why did all these people, why are all 44:23.920 --> 44:29.520 these weirdos raging against us in this certain neighborhood that we're in? Probably so that one 44:29.520 --> 44:34.800 person could get saved at the last door that we were at, or so that one person could get saved in 44:34.800 --> 44:39.120 this complex we're at. Because why are they chasing us down so hard? Why are they trying to just rip 44:39.120 --> 44:43.840 all of our stuff off the doors? Why are they acting like this? Because there's someone that's 44:43.840 --> 44:50.560 going to get saved there. That's why. So that's probably why. And so God's power is being 44:51.440 --> 44:55.840 distributed here in Gath. Look at verse 9. It says, And it was so that after that they carried 44:55.840 --> 45:01.440 it about, and the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction. And he 45:01.440 --> 45:07.120 smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emirats in their secret parts. So 45:08.320 --> 45:16.160 he's doing this again. So again, not comfortable. Therefore, they sent the Ark of God to Echron. 45:16.160 --> 45:23.840 It's like, hey, you guys can have it now too. And it came to pass as the Ark of God came to Echron, 45:23.920 --> 45:29.440 that the Echronites cried out saying, They have brought about the Ark of the God of Israel to us 45:29.440 --> 45:34.960 to slay us and our people. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines 45:34.960 --> 45:40.560 and said, Send away the Ark of the God of Israel and let it go again to its own place that it slay 45:40.560 --> 45:48.560 us not and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city, and the 45:48.560 --> 45:55.280 hand of God was very heavy there. So it's just like all these cities, every place it goes, God 45:55.280 --> 45:59.520 is just destroying them and smoking them. And it's like, you think that they would kind of get a clue 46:00.160 --> 46:06.560 that the God of the Bibles, the greater God, I mean, their God didn't say anything, their God 46:06.560 --> 46:16.320 didn't act in their part, their God just rolled over into a stump. And then what did Echron do 46:16.320 --> 46:20.880 to help them? I mean, the God of the God of Echron, what did Dagon, the God of Echron do 46:20.880 --> 46:27.440 to help them? What did what did Dagon do? Well, nothing. Because God's not gonna just let the 46:27.440 --> 46:35.760 devil gain influence over what he's doing. God is judging them hard. And, you know, people say that 46:35.760 --> 46:44.880 profanity is cussing. Why are you using profanity? That's not what profanity is. Profanity is making 46:44.880 --> 46:52.320 unholy things that are holy. And the Ark of God is holy. And the God of that Ark is holy. And yeah, 46:52.320 --> 46:58.880 the Ark means nothing to us today. But then it did mean something. And to just take it around and act 46:58.880 --> 47:05.040 like it's just nothing. That's not that God's super angry about that. He already hates idolatry. 47:05.040 --> 47:10.320 He already hates what's going on. And the fact that they're killing the Israelites, even though 47:10.320 --> 47:16.480 it's judgment, he's not okay with that. I mean, he still destroyed Babylon for destroying the temple, 47:16.480 --> 47:21.920 even though he told him to destroy the temple. So, I mean, because he and then he'll just use 47:21.920 --> 47:27.680 another nation more wicked than them to overthrow them. So it's just how God is. Let's turn to a 47:27.680 --> 47:32.720 couple more passages and then we're gonna be done. Okay. Let's look at Psalm chapter seven, 47:32.720 --> 47:40.960 verse seven, 11, Psalm seven, 11. So God's hand is destroying throughout the city. And 47:43.280 --> 47:48.160 it's just because God is a God of judgment. He's not, you know, he's obviously sending a message to 47:48.160 --> 47:53.920 them. And look, they had a chance here to do the right thing. I mean, I feel like this is the, 47:53.920 --> 48:00.880 this isn't the first time that God's dealt with the Philistines. I mean, Samson did kind of show 48:00.880 --> 48:07.600 God's power to them also. Like they're mocking him. They blinded him. They're making him making 48:07.600 --> 48:13.440 sport of him. And then he just prays to God and he just moves these two pillars and kills everybody. 48:13.440 --> 48:19.120 He kills thousands of people. He killed more in his death than he did in his life. And he slew a 48:19.120 --> 48:25.920 thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Who does that? You know, like John Wick killed all 48:25.920 --> 48:30.080 these men with a pencil. It's like, well, Samson killed a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass. 48:30.080 --> 48:35.920 Try doing that one. And then he drank water out of it to sustain himself. How's that? Where'd the 48:35.920 --> 48:42.720 water come from? I mean, I don't know. I just, I'm not sure about that one, but the Bible says it 48:42.720 --> 48:47.280 happens. So I believe it. So after seven verse 11, the Bible says God judge at the righteous 48:47.280 --> 48:55.280 and God is angry with the wicked every day. So he already is angry and he judges the righteous 48:55.840 --> 49:02.160 also, but he's angry with the wicked every day. If he turned not, he will wet his sword. He hath 49:02.160 --> 49:06.560 bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. 49:07.200 --> 49:12.960 He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity 49:14.320 --> 49:20.240 and hath conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit and digged it and has 49:20.240 --> 49:25.760 fallen into the ditch, which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent 49:25.760 --> 49:32.000 dealing shall come down upon his own pate. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness 49:32.000 --> 49:38.080 and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high. But God is eventually going to turn all these 49:38.080 --> 49:45.280 things against the enemies. And, you know, it took a while. There's a long period of time between the 49:45.280 --> 49:52.320 time of Samson and this time, but God eventually is going to judge. He doesn't just let things go. 49:53.040 --> 49:57.680 Well, by the way, where are the Philistines today? Are they around? 50:00.080 --> 50:04.240 No, they're gone from the face of the earth. There's no more Philistines here. 50:04.880 --> 50:09.520 And because God said he was going to wipe them out. But, you know, they had, it's not like they 50:09.520 --> 50:15.440 didn't have chances to figure things out. It's like, hmm, maybe if God is smoking us, maybe he's 50:15.440 --> 50:20.880 real. Maybe we should worship him instead of this stump. But they didn't get it. They didn't get the 50:20.880 --> 50:25.120 message that, you know, they're skipping the memo didn't get to him or something. I think it did get 50:25.120 --> 50:31.520 to him. And some people did get saved. There always is a remnant. But let's look at John real quick, 50:31.520 --> 50:38.240 John three, and then we'll close. God's just not going to let these things go, though. He's going 50:38.240 --> 50:43.280 to bring things to pass. And he's waking with he's angry with the wicked every day, but he also 50:43.920 --> 50:50.640 allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. He's 50:51.520 --> 50:56.080 merciful to people that aren't saved. I mean, people that are reprobates still get to breathe 50:56.080 --> 51:00.640 air every day. I mean, we probably wouldn't be like that. We'd be like, just die. 51:03.760 --> 51:07.600 That's, that's a good reason why we're not God, right? Because we probably do a lot of things 51:07.600 --> 51:11.360 that we probably shouldn't do or we wouldn't give people as many chances. I have a feeling 51:12.000 --> 51:20.080 like all y'all die, you know, I mean, we probably wouldn't be as nice. John three, verse 18 says, 51:20.080 --> 51:25.120 he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because 51:25.120 --> 51:29.520 he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that 51:29.520 --> 51:34.480 light is coming to the world. And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 51:35.360 --> 51:41.600 And this, this fits with them. I mean, they did have some light. It's not like they didn't know 51:41.600 --> 51:44.960 who God was. It's not like they lived their whole existence and God never did anything in their 51:44.960 --> 51:49.040 lives. Even though he's doing something negative, they still, he still did something in their lives. 51:50.000 --> 51:56.480 I mean, even when David killed Goliath with one shot, I mean, they all witnessed that and turned 51:56.480 --> 52:03.200 and ran and rightly so. But I mean, a little shepherd boy with the sling and five rocks, 52:03.200 --> 52:06.240 and he only took one rock to get him right between the eyes and kill him with one shot. 52:06.240 --> 52:09.760 And then he just runs over there, grabs his giant sword and chops his head off. 52:10.320 --> 52:15.440 And he's walking around with it. I mean, maybe you want to change your gods. Maybe you want to, 52:15.440 --> 52:19.920 I mean, if you're a big champion can't beat a little David, then maybe your, 52:19.920 --> 52:22.640 maybe his God's more powerful than your God. Maybe you should change. 52:23.600 --> 52:29.200 And this is the condemnation. Okay. Verse 20, for everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light, 52:29.760 --> 52:34.480 neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth, 52:35.040 --> 52:38.960 cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they're wrought in God. 52:38.960 --> 52:44.560 Look at verse 36. He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the 52:44.560 --> 52:51.760 Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So like everybody that's not saved, 52:53.040 --> 52:56.400 any kind of wrathful thing could happen to them at any moment in their life. 52:57.280 --> 53:05.440 I know. And then if they just die, you know, from tragic accident, heart attack, whatever it is that 53:05.440 --> 53:10.000 happens to them, they're going to die and go to hell because the wrath of God is already abiding 53:10.000 --> 53:17.760 on them. And the wrath of God was already abiding on the Philistines here. And then God just showed 53:17.760 --> 53:24.320 it in his power because of the situation and to show us in the Bible all these years later, 53:24.320 --> 53:30.400 and many generations in between, that God is not going to put up with idolatry. This is just a 53:30.400 --> 53:36.720 lesson on don't be an idolatrous heathen because you might get smote in the secret parts because 53:36.720 --> 53:43.440 of it. I mean, that doesn't sound like fun, does it? And if you know what the H in the front of it 53:43.440 --> 53:47.440 means, then you know that's just going to be uncomfortable. They didn't even have tux back 53:47.440 --> 53:53.760 then. So I don't know what they did. Now they at least have some relief for stuff like that. But 53:53.760 --> 53:57.520 back then they didn't have that. What's the other brand that they have? Anybody know? 53:58.080 --> 54:02.560 You know, but tux is the only one I know. But anyway, Preparation H. 54:05.760 --> 54:09.600 They didn't have Preparation H back then. Maybe God just made sure they didn't have it. 54:11.280 --> 54:15.760 There's no herbal remedy for this one. Anyway, let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the 54:15.760 --> 54:22.400 Bible and Lord help us to learn lessons from this. Lord help us not to have idols in our hearts 54:22.400 --> 54:29.200 and things and people that we put up above you. Lord help us not to make idols in our lives 54:29.920 --> 54:34.560 and help us to flee from idolatry. Lord, it might not be an object that we're worshipping, 54:34.560 --> 54:41.120 but maybe it's just something in our heart that we maybe worship or serve that we shouldn't. I 54:41.120 --> 54:46.160 pray you'd help us Lord to stomp those things out, grind them into powder and throw them in the book, 54:46.160 --> 54:53.440 book Kidron and Lord help us to be a church that flees from idolatry and Lord that we 54:54.800 --> 54:59.440 put these devils in their proper place out of our lives, out of our hearts. 54:59.440 --> 55:03.120 We thank you Lord for all those that came tonight and we ask that you bless us as we go home and 55:03.120 --> 55:05.360 keep us safe. In Jesus name we pray, amen. 55:05.360 --> 55:17.200 We'll close with a hymn 103 under his wings. 103 in the red or the green. 55:23.840 --> 55:24.880 All together on the first. 56:06.240 --> 56:26.880 nings 56:26.880 --> 56:51.880 safe they abide forever. Under his wings what a refuge in sorrow, how the heart yearningly 56:51.880 --> 57:14.880 turns to his rest. Often with earth as no balm for my healing, there I find comfort and there I am rest. 57:14.880 --> 57:31.880 Under his wings, under his wings, who from his love can sever. 57:31.880 --> 57:48.880 Under his wings, my soul shall abide, safely abide forever on the last. 57:48.880 --> 58:06.880 Under his wings, what precious enjoyment, there will I hide till life's trials are over. 58:06.880 --> 58:25.880 Shelter protected, no evil can harm me, resting in Jesus' arm safe evermore. 58:25.880 --> 58:43.880 Under his wings, under his wings, who from his love can sever. 58:43.880 --> 59:02.880 Under his wings, my soul shall abide, safely abide forever.