Episode Transcript
Well, good morning.
It's 10 o'clock.
Please turn to Job chapter 5, and we'll begin a new verse today.
Job chapter 5.
It's good to see everybody here in the online presence.
Our tech team had us up and going, so we have a good crowd today.
Our last verse was verse 21, and although we concluded that verse, we did not conclude the lesson about destruction.
We have some more to study.
Earlier this week, a man asked me at work if I considered myself to be a godly man.
And I wasn't expecting that question.
But there it was before me, and the man was having some trouble both on the job and at home.
And when I answered him, I explained that I certainly tried to be a godly man, but it was God who helped me to be one.
And it would mean more to me for someone else to say that about me than for me to go around telling everybody what a godly man I am.
They're watching me just as much as they're listening to me.
And while I meditated on our text from last week and this week, I considered an attribute of a godly man.
That perhaps we don't normally think about.
When you think of a godly man or woman, You might evaluate the lifestyle they live, what you see with your eyes, what you hear with your ears.
You're trying to figure out if they walk with the Lord, and if they appear to, then you may consider them to be godly.
Is their behavior appropriate for a Christian?
Are they honest in their transactions, their workplace behavior, their marriages, and so forth?
But you know we can only see the outside of the man.
And the inside actually reveals a lot more than the outside.
Now the outside ought to depict what is on the inside.
But we hear words people speak, but we don't hear the ones rattling around in their minds.
And I'm glad people can't read my thoughts, and I'm glad I can't read yours either.
Because I've got a filter.
How many of y'all know what a watchman is?
It's a little device they put inside somebody's heart.
It's to keep a clot from forming and going to the brain if that person has an AFib or some other heart condition.
Well, I've got a watchman not in my blood vessels.
But in my inner man.
And it keeps things from coming out as it's supposed to.
Just because I think something doesn't mean I ought to say it.
And I've shared this before with Some people, one of my greatest fears is that if I lose my mind one day, I mean, right now I've lost it, but I found it again.
But I mean, when I lose it for good.
That watchman's going to go away.
And I would be so embarrassed.
And I pray God to give me the grace.
But you know, there are some things that a godly man doesn't fear or shouldn't fear.
And one of the things a godly man should not fear, and that is destruction.
And that's where we land in our text today.
If you recall, the word destruction means desolation.
Robbery.
And the word spoil, as we come across it in the Bible, has to do with destruction, with taking things from someone, some nation whom you've conquered.
And it occurred to me that the earthly destruction of a person involves that person losing everything that he has to a thief.
To destroy someone is to take his wealth, or to take his health, or his family, or perhaps even his life.
And by God's Spirit, Eliphaz taught us that the man God correcteth, now that's all the way back from verse 17, that that man shall not be afraid of destruction.
And as we learned when we looked at destruction, it takes at least two forms.
One of those is earthly, and one of those is spiritual.
Now, everyone will suffer earthly destruction at some point.
He'll either have his prized possessions taken from him. maybe even by others.
Or he'll die and leave those prized possessions here.
And after he dies, he will either be cast into hell and then destroyed in the lake of fire, or He'll go to be with the Lord and never be destroyed.
So the unbeliever dreads the day Even the possibility, even the thought that he will be destroyed in this life.
If you asked a wealthy unbeliever, why, sir, what would you think if somebody were to take everything you had?
Let's say all of your investments tanked.
And you had to sell off your property, you had to come up with a bunch of money just to pay off the debts that you have, what would that do to you?
Well, I don't think anybody would be happy for that to happen, but the unbeliever especially dreads that sort of thing because that's what his hope is in.
He's laid up for himself treasures on earth where moss and rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal.
And that's the idea behind destruction, because it does mean robbery.
But even though the unbeliever dreads that day, the believer in Christ should not.
Because the believer is a godly man on the inside, not just on the outside.
He's Recognized by others as a godly man or a godly woman on the outside, but on the inside he's been made like Jesus.
His flesh awaits the adoption, which is the redemption of the body, but he is in Christ.
The godly man has eternal life, so he doesn't have to fear death.
He doesn't have to fear destruction of any kind, earthly or spiritual.
And though his earthly body will be destroyed by death, his spiritual inner man will never be destroyed.
And his flesh wants to stay alive.
I want to stay alive.
You want to stay alive.
We try to do the things that we can to take care of our bodies.
And all of that to try to stay alive.
We fight for our life.
If you put your hand over somebody's mouth and knows, I promise you, they're not going to lay there and take it.
They're going to fight you because they're trying to live.
But the spiritual man knows that his flesh is not going to live forever.
And therefore, he is not to be afraid of the destruction that comes with death.
The death of his body here is just a continuation of eternal life.
We have eternal life.
It's not something we shall have, even though we shall have it.
We have it right now.
If you're in Christ, it's the continuation of eternal life.
It's not the end of life.
It's just the end of life in a sinful.
Hurting body that just decays and decays.
And about every year, I notice something else.
And it ain't something that got better, it's something that got a little bit worse.
But then I think about my brothers and sisters who suffer far more than I ever have.
And it makes me so glad that one day all that's going to be over with.
We don't have to fear destruction.
And if only a man, a carnal man, would be truthful when he was asked, Are you afraid of destruction?
Perhaps we could find out if he's truly a believer in God's promise of salvation and eternal life.
Listen to what Jesus said about fear.
In Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41.
I hope you brought your pens with you today, or you have a big mental notebook because I've got a lot of scriptures for us today.
Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41.
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Now this is Jesus speaking, let us pass over unto the other side.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship.
And there were also with him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
And they didn't have a bilge pump back then.
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow, and they awake him and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And he said unto them, Here it is, why are ye so fearful?
How is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and sea obey him?
So, going back to the question, why are ye so fearful?
How is it that you have no faith?
I underline the word fearful and the word faith in my notes.
What were they afraid of?
They said, Master, carest thou not that we perish.
In other words, do you not care?
That these winds and waves are about to sink the ship, and we're about to be destroyed.
Because that's what was going to happen.
The ship would be destroyed, their lives would be destroyed as they would die from.
The ravages of this storm.
Jesus said, Why are you afraid?
These were his disciples All but the Judas Iscariot, who was the pretender.
But these were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he said, You're afraid.
You're afraid of destruction.
You shouldn't be.
And it's because you have no faith.
And Jesus could not have been clearer.
So fearful equals no faith.
So fearful equals no faith.
That is, the disciples on the ship with Jesus were afraid he would let them perish in the flesh.
That the storm would cause them to sink and drown, and had they had faith that Jesus would save them from the destruction of that storm.
Then they would have been able to demonstrate they were godly men.
Now, these were believers.
It wasn't that they weren't believers, they trusted in Jesus for their salvation.
But amazingly, when they trusted him with eternal life, they didn't trust him for one of the carnal things in this world.
Have you ever been there?
Somebody asks you, Are you a Christian?
Yes, I am.
How do you know?
Because my trust is in what Jesus did for me.
He put my sins away at Calvary.
He rose again from the dead, and I'm going to live again one day.
And then somebody later on asks you about a particular matter and you just worry and worry and worry about it.
And you don't put that matter in God's hands like you did your own salvation.
Now, every one of us have done that.
Every one of us.
So it was their lack of faith in that moment.
That brought about their fear of destruction.
And had their faith been strong at that moment, Jesus could have said, Why are ye so faithful?
How is it that ye have no fear?
You see?
What a great lesson for those who fear destruction.
Now, another point about this fear of destruction Is that the disciples were overly concerned about earthly destruction and not as concerned about the lesson Jesus was trying to teach them about faith?
Because had they been concerned, had they had faith, Had they been concerned about what Jesus was doing, they would have said, you know, the storms around us are billowing here, and we've got.
Waves coming over the boat, no bilge pump, water's filling up the inside of the boat.
Our Lord's back there sleeping on a pillow.
Let's see what he's going to do.
I have faith, no matter what happens, whether this thing sinks or it doesn't sink, whether the storm gets worse or it calms, that Jesus is going to take care of us.
They should have been able to say, like the Apostle Paul did, no hurt shall come.
But they weren't.
You know, when Daniel was in the den of lions, he demonstrated faith, not fear, in the face of. what looked like imminent destruction.
Nobody would say when he was down in that den of lions that he had a fighting chance of any kind.
He had no weapons.
It was just him down there and the lions.
And whether God delivered him from the lions or God delivered him from this present sinful world through the lions to take him into his presence, the scriptures never indicate that Daniel was in fear.
In fact, he wasn't even mad at the king.
He said, God sent his angels to shut the lion's mouths.
Now what was the difference between Daniel and between the disciples who were on the ship with Jesus?
It was faith over fear.
Now, there is a godly perspective that we are to have concerning our lives in this world that we sometimes get so attached to.
And Jesus tells his disciples about it in the Sermon on the Mount.
You want to have a godly perspective about your life?
Here it is in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25.
Matthew 6, verse 25.
Jesus said, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink.
Nor yet for your body what ye shall put on.
Now, here's the perspective we're supposed to have: is not the life more than meat?
And the body than raiment.
I underscored the question: Is not the life more than meat?
Now, meat is food.
Meat is a carnal need.
It represents not just food there, but all carnal needs.
We won't need earthly food when we go to be with the Lord.
And know there are no French fries in heaven to answer the childish question that you may still have lingering on your mind.
What Jesus was teaching his disciples there was not to hyper-focus on earthly things.
He acknowledged that they needed to eat.
He acknowledged that they needed clothing.
Because when you hyper-focus on earthly things, it causes you to lose sight of spiritual things.
If life were only about meat, about carnal things, then the availability of those things would control our lives.
It would determine our happiness, how long we live, perhaps.
And if we believe that earthly meat by itself determines our quality of life and our length of life Then we may well fear destruction of the body when those things are no longer available to us.
And Jesus said, Life is more than that.
So, Christians who are listening, if you have an unhealthy relationship with the things of this earth, that's weak faith.
If you've put your trust in the things of this earth, even if you're a Christian, I'm not saying you're trusting those things to go to heaven.
You know better than that.
But if you find yourself clinging to those things like the meat, like the raiment Then you'll be fearful of the things Jesus told us not to fear.
Going back to our text in Job 5, let's look at Edelphaz's next statement about how we may respond to destruction.
Not only shall we not be afraid of it, as we've covered last week and this week, but also verse 22: at destruction and famine thou shalt laugh.
Now, laughing at destruction is at the far end of the pendulum when compared with the fear of destruction.
You have laughing at it over here, you have fear of it over here.
And not only does he mention destruction here, but he mentions famine as well, in both of which words we've studied at length the last few weeks.
We've looked at physical famine, we've looked at spiritual famine.
We've looked at physical destruction and spiritual destruction.
So let's turn our attention to this matter of laughing at both of them, at laughing at famine and laughing at destruction.
What does the Hebrew language teach us about laughing?
Well, the word laugh has a broad application.
Kind of like the word fear, which can mean terror or dread, or it can mean the reverence that we have.
The word that means there's a word that means blessing and curse depending on how it's used.
We can laugh when something's funny.
We can laugh when we rejoice.
We can laugh in mockery.
And during their trip back to Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant, the chosen men of the children of Israel were with King David.
And they had the ark in their possession, and they were about to celebrate.
And they were going to celebrate with singing.
2 Samuel 6, verse 5 contains a translation of the Hebrew word we are studying, that word laugh in our text.
See if you can pick out what that word might be.
It's not the word laugh, it's another word.
Here it is: 2 Samuel 6, verse 5.
And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps and on psalteries, and on timbrels and on cornets and on cymbals.
It's the word played.
The word laugh and the word played.
It could have been translated as the word laugh.
And David and all the house of Israel laughed before the Lord.
Now, I think you're going to see right away that the Hebrew word for laugh is a little different than what we think, how we use the word laugh today.
Now, the children of Israel weren't laughing because something was funny.
They certainly weren't laughing in mockery of the ark being brought back to Israel.
They were rejoicing.
That's very clear, I think, in that passage in 2 Samuel 6.
So one meaning of the word translated laugh in our text is that of rejoicing.
So keep that in mind.
Now, in Proverbs chapter 1, wisdom is doing the talking here.
And wisdom is warning those who set aside her counsel And these are fools, as they're described throughout the Proverbs, the fool, the foolish, foolishness.
Now, listen to how wisdom responds when fools are in fear, when they are in calamity, when they meet destruction.
Listen to how wisdom responds to that.
In Proverbs 1, verse 26, wisdom says, I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh.
Now the word laugh is the same one we're studying in Job, but this kind of laughter is not rejoicing, it's mockery.
Wisdom will not respond with pity, but with a mocking laughter toward the fools who have refused wisdom.
And we learn from 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that that wisdom is Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:23 through 24.
Where Paul wrote, But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
So in the Bible, in the Old Testament, studying that use, that Hebrew word for laughter.
We find that there are two basic meanings, and you can lump those other words that are translated from the Hebrew word into one of these two categories, I believe: rejoicing and mockery.
Those two things.
And although there are several English words used to translate this Hebrew word, like the word played that we looked at, they generally fall into those two categories.
Now, interestingly, I didn't find where the word laugh was used when a person told a joke to another person.
I didn't read anything about joking.
Now we you may say, well, there's the word jesting.
Somebody is a jester.
But I didn't read where the word laugh was used when one person told a joke to another.
Joke telling or attempts at what we call humor were not included in this use of the word.
So that's why we have to look at what the The original language says about the word, mockery and rejoicing.
That's what laughter is.
Now, a sense of humor is not necessarily a bad thing.
You happen to have the great privilege of being under the tutelage of two of the most funniest guys you ever met.
And you don't even have to pay to listen to it.
We allow the world to tune in without live streaming for a cost, but a sense of humor is not a bad thing.
In fact, Self-deprecating humor.
That is, when I make fun of myself, that's the best way to do it anyway.
You don't offend anyone.
When I make fun of myself, it reminds me of who I am and what I am.
It's a little bit humbling.
I joke about my age to the young women and men who work with me.
I say things like, I have socks older than you are.
Now some societies have views of humor and laughter that are different than ours.
You may not see them enjoying themselves so much.
But one thing I think all societies and all people groups have in common, and that is mockery and rejoicing.
It happens.
Now, I guess if somebody could say, well, I know of a tribe over in this particular country who does not do mockery.
Okay, well, then maybe I'll change my mind.
But going with what the Bible shows us, you have mockery and rejoicing.
Now before we leave this word laugh, I want to address a question that some may have.
You may have thought, hmm.
Does God really laugh?
Does Jesus really laugh in mockery at the fool, at the unbeliever?
Psalm chapter 2, verses 2 through 5.
Psalm chapter 2, verses 2 through 5.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Now listen to who these people are.
They're heathen.
They're those who imagine vain or useless things.
The kings of the earth set themselves and rulers take counsel together against the Lord, against his anointed.
Saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.
In other words, I don't need God ruling over me.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.
The Lord shall have them in derision.
Now that's the same Hebrew word is for laugh.
Then he shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.
The words laugh and derision are the same as the word laugh in our text.
The same people who believe, well, God will just save everyone, He's a loving God, and He would never send anybody to hell.
Those same people would also believe that God will never laugh in mockery at the ones who take counsel against his anointed.
They have an unscriptural view of God.
They only have half of it.
And if you have half of it, you don't have all of it.
The scripture says he will.
You see, the anointed one in the psalm is David, but it speaks of the anointed one Jesus Christ, as David was a type of Jesus Christ in so many ways.
And those who take counsel against him and refuse to repent will have a day in which the Lord will laugh at them in mockery.
Because they thought their grand schemes and their plans were better than God's.
They imagined vain things, not spiritual things.
They supposed perhaps they would be saved by their own works.
I've got a better plan than God does.
Or by their false gods.
No, no, no, no.
There are many gods, and this one's going to save us.
Some of them said there was no God.
And yet, all of them will meet His Anointed One at the great White Throne Judgment spoken of in Revelation chapter 20 and other places as well.
Now, based on what we've studied, we might conclude reasonably that the believers such as Job, such as Eliphaz.
Will look destruction in the face and laugh.
Not only will we not be in fear.
But we will laugh in mockery at destruction's plan for us.
We'll laugh at the one whose aim is to destroy mankind through sin.
And because I am in Jesus, when he laughs at mockery at those, in mockery at those who took counsel against him, so will I.
They laughed at me.
They tried to destroy me.
They tried to destroy all of God's people.
But because I have God's promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ, I will not fear destruction.
I will laugh at it.
Now back to our text in Job chapter 5, verse 22.
Look at the next part of it.
He said, Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
As soon as I read that, I said, Man, this goes right along with our study in the book of Daniel.
It's wonderful where we studied the four beasts that came out of the sea and Daniel's dream and his vision by night.
And where we learned that these beasts represented the kingdoms that came out of the sea of fallen men.
And these kingdoms and their whole political structures are against God.
Now, if you limited your understanding of beasts to the animals God created in the garden, then you would have a very superficial understanding of what beasts represent in the Bible.
In our text, Eliphaz says, Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Now, on a day-to-day basis, I don't fear Lions, tigers, and bears, leopards.
I don't live near them.
Well, I live near mountain lions, and I thought I was being stalked by one at the lake one day, and that was a little unnerving.
But the lions and the tigers and bears and leopards and all those beasts are for the most part confined to a zoo or wildlife preserve.
And there are some of those in the Metroplex.
And as long as they stay on their side of the fence and I stay on mine, we can get along just fine, right?
The chances of them escaping are slim.
The chances of an escaped lion finding my house and barging in through the window are even slimmer.
So why would Eliphaz make this statement if it were limited to earthly beasts in the form of animals?
He's got a man who's suffering, who's lost his children, whose wife has forsaken him spiritually, that is, told him to curse God and die.
He's lost his.
His animals, and he's got boils from head to toe, and he scraped them, and he's sitting on top of an ash heap.
Don't forget that's who he's talking to.
Why would he bring up not being afraid of certain animals?
If that's what it were limited to.
Well, I believe it's the same reason he mentioned destruction and famine, that there were greater truths there than just the immediate thing that was happening to his body.
And from the earthly realities of those things, we learn the greater spiritual truth.
So, going on from our understanding of animals.
That inhabit the earth as being the beasts represented here.
Let's look at what else the beasts of the earth might mean to Eliphaz, to Job, and therefore to us.
Now, while I have little reason to fear an attack from an African lion, I do have a reason to be concerned about an attack from another beast.
It is that same unregenerate kingdom, the same unbelieving political powers that are in positions of authority right now.
I'm more concerned about Islam than Simba.
I remember the first widely publicized concentration of Muslims in our country.
Being in Dearborn, Michigan.
And I remember when I started reading about that and hearing about it, I thought, wow, that's an interesting place to start the commune there.
Islam is a religion of submission, not of peace.
Muslims, if they're going by their Quran, although the people of the book are to be respected, if you look at what their practice is across the world, they don't desire to coexist, they desire to conquer.
And to make us submit to their false God, Allah, and their apostate book, the Quran.
And because that world system is comprised of unconverted people, of unregenerate people.
It is, in my estimation, another of the beasts of this earth because it transcends governments.
It transcends nations and even people groups.
The largest Muslim nation in this world used to not be a Muslim nation at all.
That's Indonesia.
Indonesia used to be largely comprised of a mixture of Hindus and Buddhists and other Other like religions.
In 2023, a Pew research study showed the country to be 93% Muslim.
That didn't happen by war or by conquest.
It happened by integration.
The people of Indonesia allowed the Muslims to trade with them, to live among them, to occupy places in their social structure and in their government.
Positions of power and influence.
They didn't see Islam as a beast, but it's just another religion that wants to come in and coexist.
And now they're a country that has Sharia law, some more in more places than others.
There are very few professing Christians in Muslim countries.
They live in fear.
They're scared to bring their religion out in the public because it could cost them their lives or their families' lives.
And while the United States allows the beast of Islam to grow and Muslims to freely worship the God of their choice, the beast of Islam does not return the favor to Christians.
Expecting the freedom to worship the God of their choice here, but you go to any of the Muslims, go to Indonesia and stand in Jakarta, the capital, and say, I'd like to preach the gospel.
On the street, you wouldn't get to preach the gospel on the street, not for very long.
And I'll tell you why that earthly beast has become so widespread and so powerful.
It's from the lack of Bible-believing Christians recognizing Islam for what it is.
Many liberal churches, I don't know how many Bible-believing Christians are in them, but perhaps there are some.
They've embraced Islam rather than preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
Now, lest anybody watching think, boy, Brother Andy just hates anybody who's Muslim.
No, I don't.
I love them.
I love them just like Jesus loved the world that he gave his life for.
And we have gospel tracts translated for Muslims so they may believe and be converted.
But we don't convert them at the tip of a spear.
They're converted at the cross of Calvary.
Same place we were.
But until they recognize their religion is a beast, until a Buddhist recognizes his religion is a beast, or Hindus recognize their religion is a beast.
Beast that offers no hope, then they'll remain in its clutches.
And although our heads may one day roll at the sword of Islam, We should not be afraid of this earthly beast.
We preach Christ and Him crucified, and we know this is foolishness to some, and it's a stumbling block to others.
And the earthly beast of Islam or any other earthly beast, whether it be a religious one or a political one.
May one day take our freedoms, our families, and our very lives.
But as Eliphazd encouraged Job, The God who corrects us from verse 17, the one who keeps us from being afraid of destruction and famine, will keep us.
From being afraid of what the earthly beast may do to us.
Jeremiah chapter 42, verse 11.
Jeremiah 42, verse 11.
Be ye not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid, be not afraid of him, saith the Lord.
For I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.
Now, Babylon was an earthly beast in Daniel's day, wasn't it?
See how these lessons come together.
And in Jeremiah's day.
But the people did not need to be afraid because God was with them.
He said, The reason you don't need to be afraid of this beast, of Babylon.
Of the king of Babylon is because I will save you and deliver you from his hand.
So this ought to be our comfort when the fear of any earthly beast comes upon you.
That our God will save us and deliver us from his hand, doesn't matter which beast it is.
Now, look with me in verse 23.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field Now we learn why we don't have to fear the things in the previous verses.
Eliphaz tells us why.
And he used the word league.
What does it mean to be in league with something or with someone?
You may hear that word used mostly for certain groups of sports teams, the National Football League or the major leagues.
The Hebrew word translated league is normally translated as the word covenant in the Old Testament.
A league is a covenant.
It's a confederacy.
It's an alliance between men or between God and men.
And the first time we see this Hebrew word is in Genesis chapter 6, verse 18.
I'm going to read verses 17 and 18, though.
Genesis 6, 17 through 18.
Where God said, And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh.
Now, you see that?
That word destroy.
Wherein is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die.
But with thee will I establish my covenant.
That's the same word as league in our text.
And thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
God made a covenant with Noah.
He made a league with Noah.
And that league was to save Noah.
And all that came into the ark from that destruction, from the imminent flood, the flood that was coming Eliphaz said, Thou shalt be in league.
Look next, with the stones of the field.
With the stones of the field.
Now, what does this mean?
I'll read to you from a passage where God speaks to Hosea about the sinful nation of Israel.
It's Hosea 2, verses 17 through 18.
Hosea 2, verses 17 through 18.
He said, For I will take away the names of Balaam out of her mouth.
And they shall no more be remembered by their name.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field.
And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground.
And I will break the bow, and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
And then I'll go right to another one, Ezekiel chapter 11, verses 17 through 20.
Ezekiel 11, 17 through 20.
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God: I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered. and I will give you the land of Israel, and they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof. and all the abominations thereof from thence.
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the I underline this stony heart out of their flesh.
And will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
And when we come back next week, we'll look at what the stones of the field are Let's pray.
Father, thank you for all who came.
And Lord, we sure have enjoyed being in your presence this morning and studying your word.
And I pray your spirit would teach us all the truth that we need to know today.
And that you would give our pastor the same grace during the next hour.
And may the singing, the preaching, the encouragement we bring to one another.
And all of that be pleasing to you.
And may you be glorified in your Son and in your Word today.
In Jesus' name, amen.
