Are You Ready? (Walk Thru the Bible Week 10)

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Welcome to Walk Through the Bible, Susan Michael's 12 month journey through the most exciting

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book on the planet.

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It will transform your life one page at a time.

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Be sure to subscribe for future episodes that will ignite your faith and bring your Bible

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to life.

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Now let's join our host, Susan Michael.

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Well, hey there and welcome back.

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This is Walk Through the Bible Week 10 and we are covering today what is in the Daily

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Bible pages 296 to 328 or the dates of March 5 through 11.

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I'm calling today Are You Ready?

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We have finished the law over the last two weeks and we are getting ready to enter the

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land.

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So Are You Ready?

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Let's get started.

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First I want to mention that we are going to be having a first quarter review during

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week 12 or 13 of our study.

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So I encourage you to please let me hear from you.

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I want to know your comments.

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I want to know your questions.

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I want to hear from you to know where you are in our study, how it's going for you.

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And then I'll try to address some of those questions in our first quarter review.

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So please let me hear from you.

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I also hope that you've been enjoying the Going Deeper series that we are releasing

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alongside the Walk Through the Bible.

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We've done some really interesting interviews about the archaeological evidence of the Israelites

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in Egypt, of the evidences of the Exodus and the Red Sea crossing.

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We talked about the Passover and the law with Rabbi Bowman and this week as we begin to

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talk about the entering the land of Canaan, we have another Going Deeper series that I

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will tell you about just a little bit later today.

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So please take advantage of these resources and with that let's get started.

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So today we're going to begin in your reading which is March 7th because March 5th and 6th

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we're wrapping up the law and we covered that last week.

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Beginning here for March the 7th to the 11th, we begin at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy.

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And I tell you I have fallen in love with the Book of Deuteronomy during our time this

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week.

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Such a beautiful book and it's full of God's love for His people.

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And so as I've repeated before Deuteronomy is a renewal of the covenant that God had

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made at Sinai because this is a whole new generation of Israelites.

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And so they began to renew the covenant at the beginning of the book and then Moses reviewed

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all the laws and that's where we went through all of the various laws and how God was revealing

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His character to His people.

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And He was also teaching them about the need for atonement and forgiveness and He provided

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the way for them to have atonement and that He was providing for them the truths and the

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guidance and the instructions that He knew would keep them safe and unto Him once they

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enter the Holy Land and they may be surrounded by pagan peoples.

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And so there was so much that we learned from the law and now the Book of Deuteronomy is

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wrapping up.

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It's doing that final review of the covenant in Deuteronomy 26 through 32.

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I just want to clarify that the Mosaic covenant that God made with His people, among Sinai,

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would not be what we would call a covenant about salvation.

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That came later in the new covenant.

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This covenant was, as I said, a marriage covenant.

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It's where God was forming a relationship with His people and setting the parameters

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for that relationship and how it would work.

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So it was a covenant.

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We often say it's a conditional covenant.

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But I want to be clear, the covenant was not conditional.

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It contained conditions.

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So based on their activities, their behavior, that's what I'm looking for, they would experience

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either great blessings in their life because they're walking in fellowship with their

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God or they would experience what is called curses, that there were inevitable consequences

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of them turning their back on God and that their behavior and their lifestyles would

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not be pleasing unto Him and they would not walk in fellowship with Him.

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So the Bible uses the terms blessing and curses.

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Well we love a God that blesses, but we have a little bit of a problem thinking that God

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would curse.

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So I want to be clear here that the word curse is in no way implying any type of divination

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or that He's speaking this on the people in some kind of spiritual way.

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This was a very common way that treaties were laid out during that time.

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That treaties always listed blessings abiding by the treaty or curses if you broke your

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treaty with this other party.

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So if we go back to Genesis 15 where God made a covenant with Abraham and he had Abraham

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lay out the carcasses on the ground in a certain way.

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Abraham knew how to do it.

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It was a common way of cutting a treaty or a covenant or what we would call an agreement

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with another party.

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And so you lay these dead carcasses out and then the two parties would walk through the

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middle of them repeating the terms of the covenant.

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And the message was that if you broke the terms of this agreement that you were making

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that you would be like the carcasses of the animal on the side, that you would suffer

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the consequences of that.

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And of course what's interesting in Genesis 15 when God makes the covenant with Abraham

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is that he puts Abraham into a deep sleep.

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And Abraham doesn't make the covenant with God.

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Instead we saw two types of light or fire going through the covenant.

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God cut the covenant with himself.

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And we as Christians see Jesus in that story that he was with the Father walking through

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making this covenant.

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And Jesus then later suffered the consequences of the broken covenant by the people in his

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own body.

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So that's the terms of blessing and cursing, very, very common in agreements.

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And that's what we have here in this wording is the use of the term blessing and curses.

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But I hope that little background is helpful to you.

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So we could say the curses were consequences.

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It was a warning of inevitable outcomes of breaking the covenant.

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Now in Deuteronomy 26 the Lord declares that they are his people and then he pronounces

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these blessings of walking with him or the curses for breaking the covenant.

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One of the curses, I want to point out, one of the curses is dispersion.

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And it says here that he would scatter them.

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It says that the Lord will scatter you among all nations from one end of the earth to the

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other.

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So if they break the covenant they will be exiled from the land.

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But then it goes on to say, but if that they will return to the Lord, that the Lord will

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send you back and that he will bring you back to the land.

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So there was always this promise of return.

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So that's why I say the covenant itself is not conditional, like that the covenant could

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be done away with.

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It's that it includes these terms, conditions by which they are to observe or they will

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suffer the consequences of the terms of a covenant that actually is an everlasting covenant.

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And then in another part here he says that, you know, this covenant, it's not hard for

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you.

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It's not like it's in heaven that you need somebody to go get it for you.

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It's not so hard.

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It says that you carry it.

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It's in your mouth and it's in your heart so that you may obey it.

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So God didn't think that the covenant was too hard for man to obey.

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And then in Deuteronomy 30, 19 through 20, he sums it all up and he says, I have set

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before you life and death, blessings and curses.

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Now choose life.

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God wanted life for his people and he was letting them know how to attain it.

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And then he pleads with them almost, choose life.

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A couple of chapters later he says, these are not just idle words.

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They are your life.

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By them you will live long in the land that you were crossing the Jordan to possess.

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So God was instructing them how to live a long and fruitful and blessed life.

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In Deuteronomy 27 verses 9 through 10, it's really very beautiful I think.

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And it says here, let me find it, 27, 9 through 10, he says, then Moses and the Levitical

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priest said to all of Israel, be silent Israel and listen.

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Remember the word Shema, Shema Israel?

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The Lord thy God is one.

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Listen O Israel, be silent and listen.

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You have now become the people of the Lord your God.

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Wow.

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That's like in the marriage ceremony where it says, you I now pronounce you man and

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wife.

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He says, listen O Israel, you have now become the people of the Lord your God.

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Well, if you're one that cries at weddings, this is where you cry.

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This is so beautiful.

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A few chapters later in Deuteronomy 32 verse 10 is the famous scripture where he refers

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to the people as the apple of his eye.

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The word apple there is actually the word for pupil or iris.

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It's the very delicate part, very sensitive part of the eye.

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You do not poke someone in the eye and it's a very sensitive part of the body, very, very

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delicate part of the body protected by the Lord.

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And this is his love for his people and he will surround them and he will protect them.

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Wow.

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Beautiful, right?

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If only we could end the story there.

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God then goes on to give Moses a song about the future unfaithfulness of his people.

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God knew all along he was not called by surprise by the sin of the people of Israel or their

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failure of him.

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He knew all along and he gave Moses a song about it.

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I find that to be so amazing.

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But I want to read to you the very last line of this song as Moses goes through and he's

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all about the unfaithfulness of his people.

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And then at the end he says, but rejoice you nations with his people for he will avenge

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the blood of his servants and he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement

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for his land and his people.

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So God knew that they would be unfaithful.

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He knew that they would suffer because of judgment coming from the nations around him,

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but he ends the song with a warning.

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You nations, even if I use you to judge my people, watch out because I will avenge their

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blood and one day I will make atonement for the land and for the people.

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From there we have Moses goes up on Mount Nebo where his days are going to end and Mount

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Nebo is located in Jordan today, what we call Jordan today.

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So it's on the east side of the Jordan River.

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He didn't enter the land of promise.

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But from Mount Nebo you can look out and see almost all of the land.

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You can see all the way from Mount Hermon in the very north of Israel.

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You can see all of the central hill country.

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You can see the Jordan Valley below you that goes down to the Dead Sea.

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You can see the wilderness.

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You can see the hill country of Jerusalem.

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You can see the southern hill country.

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I'm not entirely sure.

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You can see over the hills to actually see the Mediterranean, but more than likely on

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a clear day you could probably see the waters of the Mediterranean off in the distance.

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It's quite a view.

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I've been up there.

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It's been many years since I was on Mount Nebo.

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That was from my very first trip to Israel back when I was 19 years old.

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So I won't tell you how many years ago that was, but it's a magnificent view that you

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can see from Mount Nebo.

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So God allowed Moses to see the promised land, but he was not the one to lead the people

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into the land.

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And so at this point, Joshua takes leadership.

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Moses before he dies has laid hands on Joshua.

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He has conveyed upon him the leadership of the people and has blessed them.

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And then Moses goes up to them in the mountain where he dies.

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And that's the end of the story for Moses.

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Moses was a very, very great prophet.

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Actually the greatest prophet that all of Old Testament Israel had seen.

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He was a magnificent leader.

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He developed, he was a law giver.

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He was a military leader.

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He was a prophet.

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He saw God face to face.

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He spoke to God.

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He heard from God.

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Very godly man and an amazing leader that God used in mighty, mighty ways.

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But this is the end of the story for Moses and from here Joshua takes the leadership.

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Now when we were reading this week, we saw three or four times God tells Joshua to be

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strong and courageous.

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And I found it kind of funny.

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Why did he keep telling Joshua to be strong and courageous?

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What would so frightening to Joshua?

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Now remember Joshua and Caleb were two of the twelve spies that had gone into the land

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of Canaan and they had seen the giants.

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They had seen the walled cities.

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They knew what they were up against and the people.

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So why did he need courage?

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Well, he had one group of people, the Israelites, but they were up against seven different groups

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of people living in walled cities with militaries and armies and well armed, well fortified.

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Those people were the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Parasites, the Gurgoshites,

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Amorites and Jebusites.

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So all seven against the one Israelites.

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I think that's why God kept telling Joshua, be strong and courageous and I am with you

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and we're going to do this.

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So now the Israelites have camped on the east side of the Jordan River in a plain area there.

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It's a flat area right before you cross the Jordan into Israel.

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And there's a very, very rich significance to this area where they are going to cross

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the Jordan River.

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And so this week we have an interview, another going deeper interview with Dr. Scott McKinney

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and he's going to talk to us about the great significance of a lot of the typology and

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the types and shadows that we see coming together here right in this area of the country.

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So starting with the number 40 that the Israelites have now finished 40 years of wandering in

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the desert.

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They're now ready to enter the land and he talks about the great significance of that

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number and as we see it throughout the Bible.

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And this area right here, they're about to cross, it's another water crossing and he

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talks about the significance of the water crossings and almost like a baptism and the

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significance of baptism and then it's in this area where they cross the Jordan that later

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in the New Testament we have John the Baptist baptizing right here and we have Jesus being

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baptized right here.

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So I invite you to come back later this week for our going deeper series called Crossing

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the Jordan with Dr. Scott McKinney.

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Now let's pick up our story though from here.

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Joshua is in charge.

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So what does he do?

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He sends spies across the Jordan into Jericho.

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Now why is this significant?

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Well the one who had been a spy before now sends the spies into Jericho.

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Now why Jericho?

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You have to understand.

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Jericho was an amazing city.

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Archaeologists say that Jericho had already been there for thousands of years.

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It was so well fortified with humongous walls.

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It was just so such a substantial established city.

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This is the first city they're going to try to take.

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Is Jericho?

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Why not go start with an easier city?

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But Joshua knows the strategy and he obeys the Lord and so he sends the spies into Jericho.

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In Jericho the spies end up being sheltered by a woman named Rahab that in some translations

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is called a prostitute and she had a home in the walls of Jericho and so she sheltered

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the Israelites and she's told them, listen, everybody's afraid of you all.

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We've heard about what God has been doing through you and that your God is with you

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and we're all afraid throughout the land.

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So she's like, she knew what was coming and she said, if I shelter you will you save me?

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And they said yes.

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And the spies go back then and this time though the spies had learned their lesson.

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They knew they had to have faith.

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Otherwise they would be left in the wilderness again but they come back with a report full

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of faith and they said, surely the Lord has given the lands into our hands because fear

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has filled the people.

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So they had learned their lesson.

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They came back with a good report full of faith and they're ready now to enter the land.

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And so Joshua gives them instructions and on the third day the priests come, they take

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the Ark of the Covenant and they began to go to the waters of the Jordan.

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Now remember the Ark of the Covenant was considered the presence of their God.

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The presence of God was there in the Ark of the Covenant and over it in the mercy seat.

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And so this was more than a symbol to them, they felt they were carrying the presence

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of God with them and so he would lead the way for them.

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And when the priests get to the water of Jordan Joshua tells them, step down into the waters.

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Now we know from the story this is springtime, the waters are flooded there, the Jordan is

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much larger than it is today although it was still not a major river.

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It still was kind of a dinky river compared to the Euphrates or the Nile but it was bigger

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than it is now and flood stage made it even larger.

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And so they're here and the instructions are to step into the water.

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That is faith my friends, that you step down into the water.

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This whole story requires faith.

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So if you ever feel like you're standing at the edge of a Jordan, you've got to get

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over to the other side where the blessings of God are, where the provision of God is,

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where he's leading you to go.

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The instructions here is step into the water.

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Only then are you really expressing your faith that God is with you.

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And in this story he blocked the waters farther up the Jordan and the water dried up and they

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crossed on dry ground again.

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So what was God doing here?

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Another generation was having a miraculous water crossing.

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And this is what I find so special in this story is that God met a new generation in

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the wilderness and he renewed the covenant with them and he said, you are my people.

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And then he gives that new generation their own miraculous water crossing that they know

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that their God is with them.

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He did it again.

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Of course the water crossing as we'll talk about later this week on Going Deeper can

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be as a foreshadowing, a type and shadow, a baptism.

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And what we do when we go down into the waters in faith and come up.

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The story continues, they make it through on dry ground and then they go and they're

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to take twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan and to erect them at a place as a memorial

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to what God has done for them.

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And that place is called Gilgal, which in Hebrew means like a circle of stones.

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I think it was named after the fact on behalf of this memorial that was erected there.

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And then this is what I love in the story.

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Then God tells them to do what?

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To be circumcised.

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Now here they are about to go on a military conquest to take the land.

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They're all full of faith.

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They're all excited.

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They're ready to go do it.

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Where God is with them and he tells them basically wound yourselves and be weak and in pain,

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be circumcised.

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But they did it.

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Now what is the significance of the circumcision?

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Back up, back up.

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Me, me, me.

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To Genesis, circumcision is a sign of the Abrahamic covenant in which God promised a

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people and a land.

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Here's the people and they're entering the land.

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They need to renew the Abrahamic covenant and the sign of it is circumcision.

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They had not been circumcised in the wilderness.

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This was the new generation.

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They needed to be circumcised.

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So here very near to where Shechem is and the area where Abraham met with God, very,

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very near to there, his descendants are being circumcised in remembrance of that covenant

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that God cut with him.

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And in the very last verse of this section of the scripture with the story of the circumcision,

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God says this.

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Today, I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.

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You know, there's a saying.

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It says, it took one day to take the Israelite out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to take

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the Egypt out of the Israelites.

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Here through circumcision, they and their in the land, God has pushed the reproach of

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Egypt away from them.

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The next thing they do is they observe the Passover.

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This is how we know it's springtime.

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They are remembering that first great water crossing of their forefathers, the children

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of Israel that left Egypt, and now they've just had their own miraculous water crossing.

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So I'm sure it was a wonderful Passover.

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And after that, then we have this story where the divine commander appears to Joshua and

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he says, take the sandals off your feet for the where you stand is holy ground.

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We're going to leave our story there this week.

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They have entered.

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They're standing on holy ground.

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This is the holy land.

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Why is it holy?

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Because it's God's land.

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He called it.

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He said, it's my land.

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It's holy.

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It's set apart unto me.

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And therefore, when you enter this land, you must enter it in righteousness and in faith.

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And when you live upon this land, you must live righteously and in right relationship

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with me or else you will be kicked out of the land because it's a holy land and it's

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for a holy people.

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So next week, we're going to pick up and talk about the story of Jericho.

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I know you read that this week, but I'm saving it for next week as we continue our story.

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I'll see you back here in a couple of days on our going deeper interview with Dr. Scott

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McKinney on Crossing the Jordan.

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And I'll see you back here then next week on Walk Through the Bible.

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We're going to talk about the amazing story of Jericho.

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I'll see you back here then.

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And until then, God bless.