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Amen, so in Deuteronomy chapter 10, we'll get right into it here it says in verse 1 at that time the Lord said unto me Hugh of the two tables of stone like unto the first and Come up unto me into the mount and make thee an ark of wood and I will write on the tables The words that were in the first tables which thou breakest and thou shalt put them in the ark And I made an ark of shit and wood and huge two tables of stone like unto the first and went up into the mount Having the two tables in mine hand So, of course, you know, we were called you call the first instance of the tables being made He went up into there the same thing goes up in the mouth He writes them God writes with the finger of God, you know The end of the tables brings the Ten Commandments come back down and we all know the story They find the children of Israel worshipping the golden calf and then you know, Moses and his anger, you know breaks all the commandments He threw me that's kind of a dumb joke. He broke all the commandments at once So I didn't even mean to make that stupid joke But I meant to say is he break broke all he broke both Commandments at once So he throws him down and breaks them in his anger and his fury and of course then he you know breaks the calf He melts it down. He casts the water the the dust of the gold under the water. He makes them to drink it And now, you know God saying well, let's try it again And you know, that's really a theme that and throughout all the Bible that you see God trying again trying again trying again Man's messing it up. He tries again man messes this up. He tries again just over and over and over And this is another instance of it now I tried to I tried to kind of figure this and you know I'm not a hundred percent sure about this but to the best of my recollection and when I when I was studying and reading this I could not see in the first instance the first time he told them to make The the tables of stone to take him up into the mount. He didn't have him make an ark I don't I don't think I probably you know, I probably shouldn't even say because I think I'm probably wrong about that But we know for sure that God specifically is saying this time look and you're gonna put this in the ark And really what we see here is the importance of the ark, you know It wasn't just that these two tables of stone could be set anywhere they had to be put somewhere very specific and he told them to put them in the ark and Really what this does is it shows us a couple things one, you know The tablets in them this in and of themselves show us something very important the tablets, you know Of course are the Ten Commandments, you know, those are the Ten Commandments that God gave to us And of course, that's not the whole law, but those are you know, the main Commandments and you know what those show us is that God is holy in his nature that God is a holy God that God is a just God that God is a righteous God and if you would let's turn back to let's turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 6 Let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 6 And here's the thing, you know if you were able to keep all the commandments, you know, you wouldn't need a Savior You know if you could if you could keep all the commandments and never break them, you know you could go to heaven without meeting Jesus and Bible says in Hebrews our Deuteronomy keep saying Hebrews been Deuteronomy chapter 6 look at verse 22 he said and the Lord showed signs and wonders Great and sore upon Egypt and upon Pharaoh and upon all his household before our eyes And he brought us out from thence that he might bring us in and give us a land which he swear unto our fathers And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the Lord our God for our good always That he might preserve us alive as it is this day and it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God As he hath commanded us, you know, if you get key if you if you kept all these commandments that would be your righteousness You know, you can't get into heaven without being righteous now You could go on your own righteousness if you were able to keep all these commandments or you can go on Christ's righteousness and if you would turn over to Romans chapter 7 And what the tablets are showing us is that That God is holy and we're not Then when we read the commandments we find out that we've come short of the glory of God And that's what you see in Romans chapter 7 If you look at verse 7 or it says what shall we say then is the law sin God forbid nay I'd not know I had not known sin, but by the law, you know And that's a real important concept to keep in mind Especially this day and age when you have so many people who are you know? So-called Christians that are very dismissive about the law those they all that's Old Testament anytime you bring up anything out of the Old Testament Oh, you know, that's that's the Old Testament and it's almost like they have a disdain or at the very least, you know a Disregard for the Old Testament law and it's almost like you want to ask them the same question is the law sin Is there something wrong with the law? The Bible says the law the Lord is perfect converting the soul I mean the law is what brings us to Christ that is our schoolmaster that even teaches us that we even need a Savior That's why he says here nay I had not known sin, but by the law for I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet He said look I don't even know I was a sinner until I read the law and that's the power of the Ten Commandments That's the power of these tablets and that's what you know That's the picture that we're seeing here that when God is giving this these law these commandments He's not just giving them. Hey, this is a good way to live your life What he's showing them is I'm holy and you're not that's what God is showing us That we come short of the glory of God He says in verse 8 but sin taking occasion by the commandment rotten all rotten me all manner of concupiscence For without the law sin was dead. So there was no problem without the law Then what does he say for I was alive without the law once when I didn't know the law Hey, I was alive. But when sin the commandment came sin revived and I died You know the Bible says that he was slain the law slew me Paul said and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death So the problem again, it's not the law the law is holy. The law is just laws good The problem is we come short of the law, you know, we we break we've broken all these commandments You know, if not, and if not outwardly in our flesh at least in our heart, you know, we've committed You know adultery in our heart. We've coveted in our heart. We've blasphemed in our heart And in the law, you know condemns us Okay We'll keep reading here It says wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good was then that which is good Made death unto me God forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good That sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. He said that sin might appear to be sin, you know And that's the problem I think that a lot of people you know Why a lot of people don't get saved because they think they're okay and they can I'm a pretty good person But then you have to wonder well, have you ever read this you've ever have you ever tried to actually look at what God's standard? Is because it's it's perfection. It's complete sinlessness. So I've lived a pretty good life Well, the Bible says all our righteousness are as filthy rags So go ahead and turn over to Galatians chapter 3 You know the what the what the commandment shows us is that we fall short of the glory of God The Bible says in James 2 you're going to Galatians 3 It says whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offended one point. He is guilty of all You know, that's a great that's in James 2 10 That's that's the great that's the verse that you should take them to the the Jehovah Witnesses or anybody else who wants to play the you Know faith without works is dead card Oh James 2. Yeah, let's turn there Well, the Bible says if you keep you offended one point you're guilty of all So good luck working your way to heaven, you know If you brought, you know, if you if you did all the right things and then one time you messed up guilty It's as if you broken them all it's all for not Look there in Galatians chapter 3 and this is just a constant I mean, this is the message of the Bible that we have fallen short He says in verse 10 for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse It's a curse, but it's not the law That's the problem And so we shouldn't have this dismissive attitude about the Old Testament law or say well God was different back Then he was a little bit harsher. No, the law is good. It's holy adjust the it's a curse because of us He says for his written curses everyone that continue with not and all the things which are written in the book of the law to Do them it's not that the law itself is a curse. It's that we don't we don't do them We don't continue in all the things that are written there in we don't perform the law. We fall short. We break the law That's what makes it a curse It says but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God It is evident for the just shall live by faith Of course, you know that we understand that, you know, we're justified by faith But the first part of that verse tells us also that the law is not a faith, but the man Excuse me, but the no man is justified by the law in the sight of God You're not gonna you're you're you're good deeds aren't gonna get you there No one's gonna get there and say well I kept all the commandments. Yeah, but did you offend in one point? So we could see that's what makes the law a curse That's what makes the law a heavy burden to be born and that's what God is showing us First of all in these tablets, you know, it's not just hey live your life this way. It's that we're condemned by the law. I Should add you keeps there. It's something in Romans 7 if you're still there at verse 24 It says, you know, it's pretty heavy news, right when you start to read that You read passages like Galatians and Romans 7 you say man. Is there any hope? I mean the Bible is just condemning us Well, what does it say in verse 24? Oh wretched man that I am You know, that's Paul speaking, you know, and that's that's where that's where people have to get now I don't know that someone has to necessarily You know get saved they have to fall on their knees and declare themselves a wretch You know, but Paul's making a point here that we really if we want to be honest about it. That's what we are We are wretches, you know, we're a worm in his sight Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death I mean I was thinking about that the other day is that when I was traveling through the the airport whenever I get around these Large masses of humanity, you know, I start to think about these things these and just thinking about the fact that you know You think about all the sin that's going on all the time and every time I'm sitting on the airplane I'm just thinking how many people are in here just thinking sinful thoughts How many people are on their plate are some on their way to somewhere or coming from somewhere where they did something sinful? Probably not a lot of people but you know, we're doing necessarily wicked terrible horrible things But I bet there was a lot of sin that went on over the holiday weekend There was probably a lot of drunkenness and when they move right into covetousness I mean and you know, we don't often think about that, but God sees that every day God looks down and sees them the whole of humanity and just the wickedness. He sees a bunch of wretches and That's the you know, that's kind of a heavy thought, you know. Well, is there any hope? Well, what does he say? I thank God verse 25 through Jesus Christ our Lord So with the mind I myself serve the law of sin, but with the flesh the law Excuse me with the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin, you know It's Jesus Christ who's delivered us from all that and now when he God looks down and he sees a blood-washed born-again believer He doesn't see this miserable wretch. He doesn't see the sin and iniquity in our lives You know, he sees his child, you know, he sees somebody who is made righteous in Christ But that takes first of all understanding that Your righteousness are filthy rags firstly a person has to come to place and understand we've fallen short of the glory of God So that's really you know, the importance of the tablets that's what really what they show us there back in Deuteronomy chapter 10 Is that you know, we've all come short, you know That's kind of the picture there in the first instance when when when Moses comes down and they're in the presence of God Worshipping and I know it's like they broke all Ten Commandments at one time and they're doing everything and it's kind of that picture now Now God, you know in this instance, he's saying look you're gonna break you're gonna make these these same tablets I haven't changed, you know, I'm not going to deal differently with this group of people just because they they already messed up We're gonna write down the same laws the same things We're gonna try this again And he tells them to take it down and to put it into the ark and the ark is a really significant concept in the Bible and it wasn't just you know, figurative it was an actual thing, you know, it literally existed and You know, it's a picture of all the things that are in heaven. So there's an ark in heaven as well You know, these are all that's what God told Moses He said make it according to the pattern which I showed thee in the mount and that they are picture of the heavenly things So these are just a shadow of the things that are in heaven. So there is this literal ark on earth and in heaven But what is the significance in the ark here? Well, God's telling to take the Ten Commandments and put it in the ark And what is he what does that do? Well, then he's then he's putting a lid on it, right? It's like he's covering that up and it really what that is The ark is a picture of God's grace and it's a picture of many other things, but it's really a picture of God's grace It's him saying look, I'm not getting rid of the law But we're gonna put these commandments in here and then we're gonna cover it up. Now. What is it that they cover it up with? It's called the mercy seat. That's what that's what that is. It's a picture of God's so inside you have Basically, you have God's wrath Not because he's because God executes vengeance on the wicked and the Commandments show us that we are those people we are the wicked and That we sin and that's so that you know the tablets in a sense are a picture of God's wrath and then you have the mercy seat put on top of that and Again, you know the refer to further that that picture of God's grace in the ark is the fact that you know That's where Christ sprinkled his blood That he literally went into the tabernacle in heaven and sprinkled his blood once for all upon the mercy seat So that's a great picture here that we see when God's telling him, you know, God could have told him to put it anywhere You know go put it under a blanket, you know, go put it keep it with you or you know, put it on display You know there and there wasn't that there that wasn't something they couldn't look upon, you know They were to know that the Ten Commandments they were to write those things upon the tables of their heart They were to have it always before their eyes God had him put it in there for a very specific person Purpose and that was to show us the grace and mercy of God and that he covered the law He put it under the mercy seat under the blood of Christ So that's a great, you know picture just starting out we could spend a lot of time on that, but let's move along here It says there in Deuteronomy chapter 10 We got to verse 3 and he says in verse 4 and he wrote on the tables according the first Commandments the Ten Commandments Which the Lord spake unto you the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly and the Lord gave Them unto me and I turned myself and came down from the mount and put the tables in the ark Which I made and there they be as the Lord commanded me and the children of Israel took their journey from beer beer oath to the children of Jake Jake and to Mosira and there Aaron died and there he was buried and Eliezer his son ministered in the priest office in his stead so I want to take a minute kind of talk about Aaron because You know, this is I mean when Moses is recounting the journey, you know Obviously this was a significant moment in the their history is when Aaron died And of course Aaron was you know, kind of was was Moses number two, you know, it was his brother But he was also the one that God gave to him as Aaron's mouthpiece, you know when he first called him So Aaron is a significant guy, you know, he was the first height like the high priest He's a this is a significant moment and we'll find this this passage that it's referring to over in Numbers chapter 20. So if you would Turn over to Numbers chapter 20 We're gonna look at Numbers chapter 20 and we're gonna look a little bit more because here it's just kind of mentioning it You know on there mo and there Aaron died, but let's actually look at that instance when Aaron died It goes into detail in Numbers chapter 20 in verse 23. It begins for the Bible reads And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount in Mount horror by the coast of the lands of Edom saying Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and that's that's an interesting saying right there That's how you'll often hear that when they're referring to somebody who's saved He's it's not you know, and that's a good way to look at death. By the way, you know if you're saved It's not just you know, we mourn because we're losing somebody that we love but you know Bible puts it quite nicely here, you know, he's dying. But what is he really going on? He's being gathered unto his people You know, he's going to heaven, you know, and that's why we should not mourn as others do with who have no hope So he's saying look he's gonna be gathered unto his people for he shall not enter into the land Which I have given unto the children of Israel because he rebelled against my word at the waters of Maribah take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up unto Mount horror and strip Aaron out of his garments and put them upon Eleazar his son and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and shall die there and Moses did as the Lord commanded and they went up into Mount horror in the sight of all the congregation and Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eleazar his son and Aaron died in the top of the mount and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount and all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead They mourned for Aaron 30 days even all the house of Israel So there's a few things that we can get out of this and one of the first things we need to take note of is The fact that you know, Aaron was a great man of God Aaron wasn't just some schmuck, you know He was he really was and he kind of gets a bad rap sometimes for what he did At the base of the mount and then not justifying of course that was wrong. It was wicked He shouldn't have done that but you know, that's that shouldn't be his defining characteristic, you know, that's not we shouldn't just like oh Yeah, Aaron. He was kind of a loser. No, Aaron was a great man of God. Aaron was mightily used of God he was in a very important person in in that ministry back then and That's the first thing we see I mean look at there at the end it says and Aaron was dead. They mourned for Aaron 30 days even all the house of Israel And I don't think that was just like some ritual that they went through I think there's genuinely sad in these people that they really genuinely felt like they lost somebody important and They were sad for Aaron even all the house of Israel and it wasn't just his immediate family So you can see the influence the impact that Aaron had in his life that all of Israel mourned for his loss It wasn't just his immediate family his friends people that knew him You know, it was people that might never even met Aaron in person They just kind of knew who he was, you know, never got to talk to him But it's still he had such a significant impact in Moses's ministry that when he went that you know, it it They felt it and that should show us that Aaron was a great man of God So before we just go give Aaron a black eye for his mistakes You know, let's recognize the fact that you're talking about a man of God who's probably greater than he of us in this room So that's the truth, you know, but and that's a good concept to have too is you know It's until let people live things down and let them go on to serve God I mean, what if Moses just came down at the mount the first time and saw Aaron worshiping the golden calf and said well That's it. You're done buddy. I Mean we humanly speaking we would have said yeah, you're perfectly just I mean, I was a wicked sin But what does he do? He lets him live that down and go on to serve God with his life to the point where he has Becomes a great man of God has such an influence that when he goes the children of Israel feel it And the other thing I want us to notice in this in this passage is that Aaron was submissive to the will of God Even when it wasn't in his best interests. I mean, I don't know maybe he was like Paul He said it was but you know had he had a desire to depart and be with the Lord, which is far better Maybe he was like, oh it's time to go home. Yeah, let's maybe he was leading the pack up the mount, you know Like come on, what are you waiting for? Eliezer? Let's get up here Maybe not, you know, I in any case he was submissive to the will of God and humanly speaking, you know We often say that oh, I'm ready to go to heaven. But are we really you know, I'm not I don't want to die Go to heaven right away. I mean if I went it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world But you know, I want to raise my kids. I want to you know, see my family grow I want to I want to see my grandkids and you know it Lord willing, you know, if I have the strength and length of days See my great-grandkids and and see this church grow and see families growing. There's a lot I want to do on earth for the Lord. I'm not I'm not ready to go, you know And of course Aaron, you know, he desired to go into the Promised Land So when he went up that Mount I tend to think that you know, he was probably You know not that's not what he preferred, you know He would rather have stuck around and see what God was gonna do. He would rather continued on in this journey with with Israel I mean, he's got a lot invested in these people. He was there through the thick and thin with Moses, you know And and now he's being you know, kind of having cut short here as it were, you know And Moses is going to be next but what we see is that Aaron is is submissive You don't hear anything about Aaron piping up and saying well, wait a second Is this really necessary or you know fighting or resisting or having me drug up the mount? He goes along with it and really again showing us what a great man of God He was and an example to the rest of us that you know, sometimes following God it might not you know be to our You know immediate best interest it might not be what we want for our lives But it's what God wants and we have to learn to be submissive to what the Lord wants You know We'll read something in the Bible that goes against the grain goes against our flesh goes against the culture goes against what we've been taught And say well, I don't know if I really agree with that. I don't know if I want to go along with that Well, you know, I'm sure Aaron didn't want to go up the mountain and die But you know what? That's what he did and that's a good example to us too that we should submit ourselves to the will of God And that you know and allow God to exalt us in due time So Aaron, you know, he was a great man of God. He was submissive to the will of God, you know And it's true that he was a great leader You know, we talked about this a little bit in previous chapters, but I'll bring it up again Is that Aaron, you know was held accountable that he didn't get away with what? He had done and I looked there in verse 24 It says an Aaron shall be gathered under his people for he shall not enter the land Which I have given unto the children of Israel because he rebelled at my against my word So the reason why he had to die it was because God wasn't gonna let him to go into the land And really when you think about it It's kind of a merciful thing that God killed him and took him home and gathered him unto his people Rather than just letting him stand on the other side of Jordan and watch everybody else go over and say well You can just live out the rest of your days over there now Aaron and what we will see in heaven You know have fun with the Moabites and everybody else, you know, it was God was like no I mean, you know rather than just letting you wander in the wilderness. Let's just take you home. We're done with you here and And and that'll be that but what we see primarily is that Aaron was held accountable and probably even more so Because of the fact that he had that great influence that he had The Bible says unto whomsoever much is given shall also much be required You know the more you learn the more you grow the more accountable you become To God and in the less slack. He's probably he's going to be cutting you And and when we talk about he says that he rebelled against them there right in verse Verse 24. He said he rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah What happened there was it was it you know? Aaron didn't get up and tear pages out of the Bible or teach people heresy he didn't but what he what he did is he got up and if you recall it's he was supposed to speak to the rock and and where Moses was and then but they ended up smiting it and and Aaron was we had a part in that and So Aaron is being held accountable for this sin and You know and he was just kind of he was just kind of standing by too He was just kind of there when it happened. It wasn't even necessarily him that did it But you know he didn't of course he didn't step in and help Moses either so Aaron you know he's being held accountable for what happened and That and God calls it. What did he say God didn't say you know you you did wrong God didn't say you know you disappointed me God didn't say you know I wish you hadn't done though. He said he rebelled. That's what he called it He called it rebellion and the Bible says that rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft. It's a wicked sin and That's what he calls it He said look what you did was wicked because it was rebellion and guy had to be punished for it And what is rebellion? Rebellion is doing things other other than the way God has told you to do it You know and not just God rebellion is is doing things other than the way any Authority has told you to do something when Authority says hey You need to do this or stop doing this and you say no and you continue to do it your way that makes you a rebel You know whether it's in the workplace whether it's even in a local church Whether it's in a house with a family you know kids need to think about that when you decide hey I'm gonna talk back to mom and dad and tell them why they're wrong. You're a rebel and You'll be held accountable And God doesn't take that lightly. I mean certainly I'm not saying God's gonna take you up a mountain and take you home You know, but there's gonna be some consequences And God calls it rebellion, and it's wicked and here's the thing we all have the tendency to do it We all have a tendency to say well. It's um you know let's do it my way You know or what do they know? But we need to respect authority and all the forms that it comes in our life, and here's the thing We've all got authority in our life. I don't care who you are You know if you're a dad You know you've got an authority in God if you're a member of the local church you have a Thor you have an authority in The form of the Bible and church leadership if you're in a workplace situation you know You might be the king your castle, but when you go out to work. You know you have a boss that's your authority and you know we certainly wouldn't go into our workplace and Give the boss an attitude and expect to keep our job or to just do things completely opposite of what they instructed us They give us a very clear command and say hey This is you need to do this you need to quit doing this you know you need to fix this you know work on you Know whatever it is, then we just were like well. I'm not gonna do it. Oh Okay, well that's fine. You just continue you think that's what they're gonna. Do they're gonna. They're gonna fire you You know kids would be you know if they have parents worth their salt They're not you know they're not gonna mouth off their parents or disobey their parents and not suffer the consequences of a spanking You know and so it applies in all these areas You know if we think as God's children that we can just go live a life of sin and that you know God's not gonna punish us think again God will chasten his children he chased he scourges every son whom you receive it So in all these areas in the family in the work in with God There is an authority, and you know just to let you know it's the same thing in the church house You know if you came in with that same attitude into the church house. There'll be consequences there, too If you just say well I know that this is the way You know church leadership said this whether it's me or the pastor or it's just a plain teaching the Word of God and you Disregard it and just say well. It doesn't apply to me. I'm not going to change That's not gonna fly because there has to be somebody has to rule in the house of God somebody's got to hold down The fort draw the line in the sand and say this is the way things are gonna be So we have to keep that in mind because it's in every area of our life Why would it be any different here? You know in God's house, so And we see that Aaron Aaron here You know he was held accountable for his actions and God you know called what he did rebellions and So there's some good things and bad things in this passage first of all we see Aaron was a great man of God Right we saw his influence We saw that he was submissive to the will of God We also saw that he was held accountable, and then we also see something else here Is that you know Aaron despite whatever falls the faults he had you know that he managed to raise a godly child? He and it says there in verse 28 le azar came down from the mount You know God didn't look for a whole nother you know individual he's God does that with other people You know you think of Eli with half nine Phineas? You know in the days of Samuel when they were you know committing all those abominations in the tabernacle that God told Eli that he would cut off his seed from the house from from the priesthood God has done that you know in the future, but in this instance. You know obviously it shows us that you know Aaron must have raised le azar to be a godly man Because God God looked down and said okay We're gonna have to you know execute this punishment on Aaron for his rebellion, but let's go ahead and ordain Let's bring his son into his stead. Let's have him follow in his footsteps You know and it shows us to the le azar you know that Aaron was you know despite His fault was a good enough man to have raised a godly child You know he wasn't He wasn't just his complete failure in life or anything like that that he raised le azar Despite his own flaws that le azar saw enough good and his dad and the way he did things that he followed in his footsteps And you know what's else to notice here is that and if you would let's turn over to Leviticus chapter 10 Leviticus chapter 10 is that you know if you're put your an out yourself in Eliezer shoes in this instance You know you're going up the mount And whether or not he knew he obviously I think they knew what was going on I don't think God was you know trying to be stinky about it at all I think they knew they're going up to basically you know Aaron's death And they went willingly both of them and le azar went along with it, and you know what you never hear anything from le azar And le azar you know he didn't get bitter at God for what had happened, and that's something to keep in mind The le azar wasn't mad at God for taking his dad home Sooner than he would have liked You know I'm sure le azar kind of liked having Paul around you know he probably you know enjoyed Aaron And that company they had that relationship as a father and son And he goes up in the mount and God takes him home kills him And you don't hear anything from le azar le azar doesn't get bitter He doesn't you know shake his fist at God. He doesn't get angry with God quite the opposite He takes the garments on he goes down, and he continues the work for God. He goes continues to serve God in a great capacity But here's the thing where did le azar learn that he learned that from Aaron if you'll remember that in Leviticus chapter 10 look at verse 1 and nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron so le azar wasn't the only son that Aaron Had you also have these guys nadab and Abihu well? Why didn't they get to take the position well? Let's read on we'll find out He said nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron took took of either of them his censor and put fire there in and put incense there on and offered strange fire before the Lord which he commanded them not and There went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord so these guys You know they do this this sin. They do something. They're not supposed to do again They do things their own way right kind of like Aaron did a little bit. You know hey, let's let's let's speak to the rock Let's not you know let's strike the rock and not speaker They know just the heat of the moment these guys are a little bit more deliberate in what they did Oh, you know well You know God told us exactly what kind of he wants in that incense and that we weren't supposed to make any other and then We shouldn't offer some strange offering before the Lord They'd already been warned of all this and they do it anyway So they're a little bit more willing in their sin You know and I've heard some people and I really don't have the time I don't know if I should you know breach the subject But I've heard it suggested that they might even been drunk when they did this and there's actually some good teaching behind that that they Were you know the under the influence you know and and again? I don't like to just throw things out there so maybe I'm gonna now that I've said that I'm probably gonna have to come back and clarify that in another sermon, but There's I've heard that preached, and I've heard that you know Argument made and I think they hold some water So in any case drunk or not they did this right and God slays them It says the fire from the Lord came out and devoured them and they died before the Lord now look at verse 3 Then Moses said unto Aaron this is that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified and then that come nigh me and be glorified all and Before all the people will I be glorified and Aaron held his peace So I mean think about Aaron he got two of his sons just taken out like that And what was their what was their sin? They offered the wrong kind of incense no humanly speaking a person could probably say well. What's the big deal? They were trying to do a good thing in their mind. They were thinking. Oh, let's go make an offering before the Lord Yeah, but you didn't do it God's way you did the wrong thing and God's holy and God's just and God's race and God wants things done a certain way and Sometimes, you know again God has to make examples of people especially if they have influence over others Especially if they're in a position where other people are looking to them like these guys like Nadab and Abihu They're the Levites. They're the sons of Aaron. They are influential there. They have the censors to email go and offer this They're obviously in a position where they could even do this people know who they are And God lets them slide God says don't offer strange fire before me and then they go and offer strange fire and then he goes well, you know I Guess I'll let it slide You know, we can't make these little exceptions in life if there's a rule it's there for a reason and it has you know, because here's a lot of times it's not just because You got to hold a line on a rule because it if you start if you give a little bit of room then you have to Give a little bit more and then you have to get a little bit more and he says well, you know Eleazar, you know and What's his name? I'm forgetting already it's right here. I just read it Abihu right nadab and Abihu kept saying Eleazar nadab and Abihu, you know, God says well, I know you know You guys should have you should have offered this, you know, you offered the strangeness and you said no that I'm gonna let it slide You know the what what comes next? What? Now somebody else. Oh nadab and Abihu got away with that. Well wonder what I could get away with Maybe I'll push a little bit further, you know, maybe maybe someone who's not a Levite will say well No, I feel like maybe I could go do that offer whatever I want So it's a slippery slope is what happens That's why God has to draw a hard line with people and say no exceptions And if you violate my law, there's going to be consequences and he makes examples out of people Especially when they're in places of influence such as Aaron nadab by who Moses so on and so forth but what we see in this passage again is that when God executes his vengeance and his righteousness on these people is Aaron held his peace Aaron understood who God was Aaron had a closeness with God and said I Understand this is the way God is this is the way it has to be and he didn't get mad He didn't you know, he didn't he didn't revile God, you know, he didn't he didn't he didn't Blame God or curse God. He didn't get bitter in the spirit and that attitude You know, I believe the Alians are saw that and he probably saw that even beyond just this particular instance I mean, yeah, it's pretty easy to not get bitter right then and there When when fire just devoured your kids and who knows if I say something might come after me next But there was there was a time span that that went on to when Aaron died and all I believe that all that time Alians are probably never heard Aaron one time say Mutter and curse God under his breath for this That Aaron was right in his heart that he had a right heart about this all the days of his life and that had an influence In Eliezer to where when the same thing in a similar thing happened to his dad He doesn't he has the same reaction when his dad his life is cut short and he's gathered unto his people You don't see Eliezer getting mad and because he saw the example of his father and again, it's just showing us What a godly man Aaron was what a great man He was that he he raised a godly child in Eliezer a godly son to come in his stead and it wasn't easy You know, we say that like it's like it's an easy thing to do I mean, well Aaron went through some things Aaron had to suffer some some some hard blows in life I mean to see your kids taken out like that that that's not easy. I mean, I can't imagine I mean it we as parents That's like that's that's a fate worse than death for many of us to think of something terrible happening to our kids death dying early No one wants to say that well Aaron saw it twice in the same day And he never got better and never cursed God and it passed on to his son So that's a great example. I think of Aaron when we look at his death, you know that in the Deuteronomy It's just kind of mentioned but there's a lot there. There's a lot to unpack with Aaron and his death and more importantly in his life Well, let's move on here for sake of time. Let's go to verse back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 Deuteronomy chapter 10 We'll pick it back up here in verse 12 Or we leave off actually Yeah verse let's pick it up in a verse Where were we At four is that all the further we got now he got past four Let's just pick it up in five and I turned myself and came down from out which the tables in the ark which I had Made there by as Lord of command. Oh, we got the Aaron died verse six and then verse seven from thence We journey to Gogoda and from a Gogoda to Jobath a land of rivers of waters at that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to the bear of the Ark of the Covenant and the Lord to Stand before the Lord to minister unto him to bless him and to bless in his name unto this day Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren The Lord is is his inheritance as Lord had thy God promised him and I stayed in the mount according the first time 40 days and 40 nights and a lot of Lord hearken unto me at that time and Lord would not destroy thee So if you remember Moses went up God was ready that we talked about this just recently One of the previous chapters God was ready to wipe out Israel and Moses the influence that he had He was able even to change God's mind He went up there and pleaded on their behalf when God had already offered him the position said hey I'll just start over with you and then just showed me I'm re-preaching it But that's such an amazing thing to me every time I think about it that Moses turned that down and said no God Let's you know for your name's sake. Let's let's keep working with these people That's amazing verse 11 the Lord said unto me arise Take thy journey before the the people that they may go in and possess the land where I which I swear unto them their fathers to give unto them and now Israel what doth the Lord require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God and To walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God With all thy heart and with all thy soul to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes Which I commanding this day for thy good and good and you know I'm gonna be saying this a lot as we go through this book because God lays down a lot of law in The Old Testament a lot of do's and don'ts and you always have to remember that there in verse 19 for thy good You know the preacher the Bible why is the preacher got to get up and ruin my good time for thy good You know, why does why did brother Jacob to come down here and remind us all about not drinking alcohol and how to ruin our life And we're you know, New Year's New Year's is right around the corner it's the holiday season Right. He's just trying to ruin my fun. No, it's for your good So you don't end up, you know a casualty in life And that's just you know, a commercial announcement. That's just a little that was for free as they say so I Want to focus in there in verse 12 though. There's this interesting and what I call this progression of obedience. There's like this multifaceted Concept of obedience here He says there in verse 12 and now Israel what did the Lord thy God require of thee? But to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve him. So There's this progression where you go from fearing the Lord unto serving the Lord with all thy heart and soul now I don't think everybody gets this whole package all at once I don't think we as Christians in our Christian life, you know, we just get all we go from just you know We're you know, we get saved then we're just we just love God with everything in our spirit And we're you know Nothing's gonna stop us from serving and people have to grow to that place And that's why we have to be patient with people and let them grow into these in these into this place Over time but it starts with fear That's the place that it starts with and that's why it's good to come to the come to church and hear preaching And that's why it's important ask preachers to preach the whole counsel of God to put the fear of God in people Because that is the foundation of our Christian life That's what's gonna get you to place where you're gonna serve God with all your heart with all your soul all your might it starts with fear and You know, I'm not talking about, you know, just a godly reverence for God. I'm saying terror Trembling before God being afraid of what God will do to you That's a good thing to have in your life to be afraid of God. It's the fear here. That is the basis You know fearing that you know, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom That says in Proverbs fear is the foundation notice that before walking for all these things says fear the Lord thy God Right and then he moves on You know to the walk, you know, we why do we walk in God's ways? Why do we keep his commandments? Why do we begin to walk down the path that he's he's laid out before us out of fear? Because we don't want to experience the chastening hand of God We don't we wander out of the way God's not just gonna let it God's not just gonna let his child wander out of the way Would any of us do that to our children? you know if my little boy and he's finding that age where he can reach up and grab the handle and He's mom's gone to do the laundry and he's done this opens the door and just I'm gonna go check out, you know the apartment complex Well, we all would just go right ahead a little three-year-old little four-year-old No, tell us what you find, you know, take some bread crumbs with you so you can get your way back You know, no, we're gonna close the door bring him inside We're gonna have we're gonna have a little we're gonna have some sweet fellowship as I like to call it, right? There's gonna be some instruction that takes place And could why because I want him to be afraid of us, you know of disobeying us It's the same way with God, you know, God chastens every son who we receive it There's and if we be without chastisement then we are bastards, you know If you can live your life in sin and open sin And I'm not saying like you mess up and all of a sudden God's gonna rain I'm you know There is grace and mercy we should if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness But if you can just willingly go against the will of God to say I know God disapproves of this I know God doesn't want me to do this and I'm gonna do it I'm gonna keep doing you turn to a stiff-necked person and God doesn't cloud up on rain on you. I Mean, I would wonder about my salvation You know, I would wonder because the Bible says that you know, except you be with the you know There he chases every son who receiveth It's in Hebrews 12 There's not a son who we chaseneth not, you know, you know except you be except you be bastards and not sons What it means to be a bastard to be fatherless He's saying look if you can go through your Christian life and never experience the chasing hand of God Are you even a Christian are you even saved? And that should cause us to fear That's why fear is the basis of this whole thing. We fear the Lord it's the beginning of wisdom the Bible says that says that over and over read the book of Proverbs and Look how many times that phrase comes up the fear of the Lord the fear of the Lord the fear of the Lord the fear Of the Lord, it's all throughout Scripture. God emphasizes it So the fear of chastening is what causes us to walk with the Lord Let's go back to Deuteronomy. I know we're kind of run out of time. Let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 5 real quick We're right there Deuteronomy chapter 5 look at verse 32 it says You shall observe therefore to do you shall observe to do therefore as the Lord God hath commanded you You shall not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you they may live And you may be well with you again. It's for your own good And that you may prolong your days in the land, which you possess God saying look you're gonna obey me Don't turn to left don't turn to the right follow me that it for your own good So that I don't have to chase in you so that I don't have to cloud up and rain on you So we see, you know, we start out with fear, you know, we don't want the chase the hand of God we say, okay I'm gonna be obedient. I'm gonna walk after God. I'm gonna keep his commandments And what you find is when you start to walk with God is that you start to love God You know obeying God out of it fear is a great place to start but that should not be where you end up That's not be that is not a static position in life. That should not be You know, there's it should change You should come a place where you move from I obey out of fear to obeying out of love and That happens as you walk with God That's why it's fear the Lord thy God walk with him and then you will love him and it's in that order for a reason I believe God puts these things in an order for a reason and we have to take the time to meditate upon these things And think about them and to and to apply it He says walk in all those ways and to love him, you know We start to walk with God you start to realize this really is for my own good And you start to see the blessings of God and you start to look back on your life as you've walked with him and See all the good things that he's done for you along the way and it causes you to love him And now you've gone from a place I'm gonna serve God out of fear because I'm afraid of what's going to happen and now you've walked with God and you've come to A place where you say I'm gonna continue to serve God because I loved him I see everything he's done for me as I've walked with him So you move from this place in your life from you from from serving out of fear to serving out of love You have to and it comes as you walk out of obedience Bibles says can to walk together except they be agreed We come to a start to agree with God, you know This is the right way of where and I should walk this I see why God Tells us to do this and not to do that. This makes sense We are you begin to agree with God as you walk with him if you love me Jesus said keep my commandments we get to the place in our life Well now we're gonna keep commandments because we love them not just because we're afraid of them Bible says that perfect love casteth out fear You know when you're when you're when you love God when that is complete when it's perfect There's no need for fear anymore. I mean, it's still there We still understand that God is great and mighty and terrible and we understand what would happen if we went off the rails But we're now that we're not that's not what motivates us to stay right with God now We do it because we actually love them because we want to please him Because here's the thing. Our love of God is proportionate to our obedience. Our love of God is proportionate to our obedience You want to know how much you can tell if you love God how obedient are you to him? People say I love God. Okay, really? How obedient are you? How much do you obey God that will tell you how much you love God So we see that through fear we walk By walking we come to look to know and love God and in loving him we begin to serve him with sincerity out of a loving heart and we serve him with all our soul and with all our heart with All our might and with all our days. I believe a person can get to light I mean, it's always possible. Don't get me wrong, but people mature to a point where there's just no turning back It's like I've they've got so much invested They've seen the goodness of God so much to just cat throw it all away would be nonsense And that but that doesn't happen overnight people grow to that place as their walk with God and again And I've said it several times tonight. That's why we have to be patient with people Because when are people going to quit on God early on in their Christian life? That you a year in two years in three years in that's just the beginning that's just to start you don't measure the Christian life in years measure in decades and When people are first starting out, it's you know, you got to be patient with them because that's when they're most likely to just quit That's when they had the least invested in the Christian life. That's when the world is still fresh in their mind That's when there's you know, it'd be still real easy. Just go back to all those things And we got to give them time. Let them learn to fear the Lord. Let them learn to walk with God Let them learn to love God as they over time as they begin to see how good God is Now I'm saying I'm not saying no don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you can't love God from day one I believe everyone in this room loves God they want to serve God But is that what's always going to keep us in line? You know that's going to keep us from committing certain sins Not it not always at first a lot of times are early on our Christian life The only thing that's keeping us from going off the rails is because we're afraid of what God will do We want to do it. We want to go do that. We're just afraid My little boy wants to go out and explore the parking lot, but he's afraid what dad's gonna do And now, you know, he's gonna get to the point where he's older. He's grown He could throw that door open and be out there and he could outrun the old man, right? He probably could do that already. Just don't let him know that Right, but he's not going to you He's gonna stay in because he loves me because he'd rather spend time with me then go kick rocks in the parking lot Does that make sense that an illustration was off the off the cuffs? Hopefully that made sense But anyway, that's what a great I read that versus today and I just thought man that's a great picture of the Christian life You start out with fear you walk you'll learn to love and then it's just with everything you got eventually But let's go ahead and move on here let's look at verse 18 and 19 we'll wrap this up it's getting late it says in Chapter 18 we'll pick it up in verse 14 behold the heavens and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God The earth also with all that therein is there's a lot there to the heavens of heavens So, you know we could talk about that, you know the cosmology or the layout of creation You know, you have the heavens which is around the earth You know within the ozone layer and then you have the stars and then and then beyond that, you know There's there's the heavens and the heavens of heavens, you know and you know God where God's throne is somewhere beyond the heavens of the heavens So, I don't know if I should have even mentioned that but that's an interesting verse the heavens of heavens, right? They're all gods the Lord is the Lord's thy God keep that in mind You know if you're living in Tucson, you get to see a little bit more of the stars than you do up in Phoenix You know, I was just talking to somebody about this recently that you know How interesting it is that man throughout all of his all of his history has been just fascinated with cosmology with the stars with the study of the night sky You know all the ancient civilizations people throughout sent, you know, just thousands of years all had their constellations They've all looked up at the night sky and just wondered at it You know why because they could probably because that's when they could see it We can't see it for what it is here and you know in Phoenix in Tucson We're a little bit better because we have the observatories there's restriction on the street lamps here they are allowed to only have so many street lamps in the streets for the observatory sake and You know and another thing, you know if you get out, but we got to like get out in the you know Into the wilderness now, we got to get away from the light pollution to even see the stars You know and I and I'm kind of going off on a tangent here But I mean that when I before I got saved that was one of the things that I believe God used in my life to Bring me to a saving knowledge of Christ was the stars themselves Because I was living in the Caribbean with my dad for a while and down there. There's very little light pollution I could see all these constellations and I would just stand outside at night and just Dumbfounded by the majesty of the stars and it just caused me to realize that there is something much bigger than me in life and that I'm a very small person and It's just it's just to even fathom the cosmos. Sometimes it's it's it's amazing And what's but what's the Bible saying here that it's the Lord's that he knows every star by name the Bible says You know what? I love about Genesis when it where it says he and he made the stars also You know, he's like, you know, he made the Sun, you know, he made the Sun he made the earth He made all this and he made the stars also Just that that's it. And then he just moves on and can you and what what is he then? What is the Bible focus on? Man, he goes on to talk about man his relationship with man. Oh and he made the stars also You know, it's just the majesty and the greatness of God, you know, we We look at the the stars and you have to remember that, you know, they're the Lord's the heaven of heaven That's what that's what got that's what Moses is trying to drive in right here Behold the heavens and the heavens of heaven is the Lord's thy God the earth's although also and all that therein is You know, there's nothing you're you're gonna be it, you know, even if you could go. Okay, the earth is the Lord everything It's there. Well, let me go to the moon. Well, that's his too. Let me go over to Mars. That's mine You know, let me get out of the galaxy mine, too There's nothing you're gonna be able to go stake a claim on that is God's that isn't God's And what does he say only the Lord hath the light in thy father's To love them and to choose their seed after them even you above all people as it is as they Circumcised therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff-necked He's saying look consider who your God is and don't be stiff-necked He's trying to get them to understand how great God is so that they'll obey him and and and love him and that's the same Way in our own life, you know if we stop and just you know go out and you know And and ponder the greatness of God that might cause us to be a little bit more appreciative of who that were saved And desire to serve him He doth execute judgment of the fatherless and widow and love at the stranger in giving him food and raiment Love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. This is God's foreign This is now I say foreign policy. This is God's immigration policy right here. Okay, and we're in Tucson So this has a little bit of you know, this has some this meat some meat on the bone, right? You know even in Phoenix because what do we have? We have a lot of immigrants. We have a lot of illegal immigrants Now they're only illegal because the United States government has declared them. So But and you know, you won't see that in the Bible. You won't see a border Patrol, you know checkpoint and and and a visa program and you know these imaginary lines that have to be protected What God has open borders, I'm not saying God doesn't have national sovereign because oh God was all about is You know, he wanted the nation's divided. Yeah, they did and he also had free travel In those nations, he allowed people to come and go freely as they pleased You know and this this is something that you know There's a little bit striking close to home for me because I just did some traveling and I remember you know And and if let me just let me just plug the TSA for a minute All right, this this message was brought to you with the TSA if you can believe that but Get the pre-check who here has pre-check for TSA Nobody, I mean see you were the same boat. I was up until this last trip I got it before this last trip and it was great I walked right up who's traveled where you have to you know Take take the take everything out of the bag Take the toothpaste out take the laptop out take your belt off take your shoes off Take everything out of your pockets and stand there go to the naked body scanner or you have some some stranger grope you Right. That's where we're at Well, I'll tell you what, if you get the TSA pre-check, you know, you spend about 70 bucks, you know You get the five-year program your it's good for five years You do a background check. You have to go down the airport have interview. It's like a couple hours of your time It's so worth it because you just I walked up in Phoenix is like got to take my laptop out Nope, not taking my belt off. Nope. You have to get shoes off. Nope. Just walk this it was like that You know what? It was it was the way it takes it back to the way it was before the Patriot Act before the TSA Right. It's like the old school the way it used to be You just have to empty your pockets and walk through the way it used to be the good old days So, I don't know why I'm going off on this but you know, yeah God's God's Immigration policy, you know, man, we could boy that would be nice if that's what we had right, you know And we say well, what about the terrorists, you know, you know, the TSA hasn't busted one terrorist in the entire existence It's never happened and they failed people have gotten through those things all the time The people who want to test that system and they get through all the time. It's a joke anyway Going off but this is God's you know, he says love you there for the stranger embrace him allow him to come in You know, don't don't build a wall on the border. We're gonna build a wall. It's gonna be a great wall It's me a great wall. I knew all the great walls, you know, they're gonna pay for it. It's gonna be wonderful You know, that's not God's policy. God doesn't say build a great wall. It's gonna be a big wall a little door, you know So I haven't seen too many Trump impressionation. So I'm working on it But is that God's policy build a wall keep everybody out? No, the people say oh national sovereignty God didn't say don't have borders. God didn't say don't have we're the nation of Israel. This is that nation This is that guy didn't say that God's against the one world, you know government all that, you know But here's the thing God allows free travel God's a lot of hey, you want to be a citizen of Israel? You just go there and you convert and you BAM you're citizen But God didn't say if they come to your land and and they don't convert treat them poorly treat them like second-class citizens and and you know look down on them and and and just you know, Disparage them because they're not you know, they didn't go and get You know What is the process? That you have to go through nationalized or whatever it is You know, you have to go through that whole process to become a citizen. So what? It's crazy. God says love them, you know, that should be our attitude Because here's the thing, you know anybody back then can become an Israelite It wasn't just about being born in the land or being a you know, having a bloodline, you know There's there's a multitude of examples that we could think of here's some popular ones Caleb the son of Japheus the kenazite the kenazite Rahab the harlot who's in the lineage of Christ mentioned in Matthew Right, and she was member than Jericho that was not an Israelite and she's she is in the bloodline of Christ is his lineage How about you know, so that's Old Testament. Okay. Well, how about one of the twelve disciples Simon the Canaanite? You know, he is a foreigner and God loved him and brought him into his fold and taught him made him one of the twelve disciples Because God says he loved the stranger. There's no closed borders in God's law Maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe someone can show me and I'm open to being correct that I have never read it I've never seen where God says set up a checkpoint setting a border Don't let them pass through unless they you know, they're only allowed in for so long and then they got to go They can have a visa, you know, it's open. It's open borders and You know that that would that would benefit us a great deal you say well and here's the thing You say well, you're pro illegal immigration. No, I'm not I'm not I believe people if they want to live here They should assimilate they should become citizens. They should learn to speak English And you know, but what I'm not for is building walls, you know And you can say why are you going off this because I've no because this is the mentality that's out there in this Fox News You know conservative world where they would rather shoot people trying to come across the border then love them and say that's crazy I've heard people say that remember that whole thing and about a year and a half two years ago with the Whole this alleged huge group of immigrants that were going to come up from Honduras and cross the border who heard about that You know, I heard about it cuz my boss at back then not the boss I have now that's for sure But the boss I had back then in my previous job, you know He was this Fox News conservative and he just ate that stuff up and he was regurgitating us at work one day He saw endurance are coming up, you know, they're gonna cross our border and these were his words I think they should just put the army on there just when they just open fire when I see him coming And I just shook my head and I just had to walk away I thought really you think they should just open fire on you know, women children. Well, maybe there's no women shown Okay, sons husbands brothers Usually they just slay him because they're trying to cross the border Trying to get into a country that you know It's probably in a large part responsible for why things are so bad in their part of the world So that it's it's that's why it kind of going off on it because you know, it's infuriating You know, it's it's it's stupid to have this policy. I'm not for illegal immigration You want a problem you want to solve the problem of illegal immigration? Stop giving away free stuff? It stops, you know stop, you know ruining the agriculture down in those countries stop, you know subsidizing everything and you know Maybe maybe America could get off drugs and the cartels would dry up and Mexico would be you know A safe place to live once again, you know So who can blame people from wanting to escape a drug war that we're responsible for in large part I mean who can blame them? You know You want to fix the immigration problem? Get off drugs quit giving away free stuff and people will stay there Mexico is a nice place from what I've heard There's some beautiful parts of Mexico. I mean, isn't that where everyone wants to go on vacation Cancun and I know where all the other Favorites, but that's the one I know because in Michigan that's where everybody went Cancun, right? Baja, you know, there's all these beautiful places in Mexico. I mean, it's on it's got ocean on both sides I mean, you know South America all these places So God says look love the stranger, you know, don't look down on him Don't disparage him, you know, love him embrace him, you know, allow him to come come into your country Well, they don't pay taxes. That's stupid. I know I'm getting I'm going off. That's a dumb Statement to say they don't pay taxes think about it. Of course. They maybe they have a fake identity I'm not for that not supporting and they shouldn't do it. It's wrong, you know, maybe they're not paying some kind of income tax Although they probably are but there when they buy gas they're paying tax when they buy food They're paying taxes when they buy anything they're paying taxes to say they don't pay taxes is stupid They do pay taxes just like anybody else Anyway, I'm going off it's going it's getting late, but this is God's law You know God's law is perfect and you know, I and I'm sorry You can make all the the logical arguments you want but there is no closed border policy in the Bible Now God does say, you know, obviously we defend from invading forces You know, we're not going to just let some army march over us, but we're talking about the stranger We're talking about somebody who's wandering somebody's trying to look You know for greener pastures So he says there For the Lord your God in verse 17 is God of God's a Lord of Lords a great God a mighty and a terrible Which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward? You know God you can't change God's foreign policy or God's immigration policy by you know, go bribing some senator You know, he's greater than that. He doesn't take reward He doth execute judgment of the fatherless and the widow and loveth the stranger and giving him food and raiment. Love you therefore the stranger For he were strangers in land of Egypt thou shalt fear the Lord thy God him shalt thou serve and to him shalt thou cleave and Swear by his name He is thy praise and he is thy God he hath done for these these great and terrible things which thy eyes have seen now it says, you know, he is thy praise and You know that we should be if we're not if we find ourselves not praising God Maybe we should focus on the latter half of that verse Maybe if praise isn't something that we find ourselves doing very often Well, you know, you should consider that he hath done for the great and terrible things Thanks. Sometimes, you know, we just meditate on all the great things God has done for us in salvation Praise would probably come a little bit more natural for us. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer