Episodes
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Video available of this episode! Follow this link: https://youtube.com/live/ye6GWXH564A?feature=share
Why did God want Ezekiel to see this future Millennial Temple of Jesus’ thousand-year kingdom?
Why does it go into such painstakingly precise (and often “boring’) detail?
And how was Antiochus Epiphanes able to charge into God’s Holy of Holies without dying all those years ago?
AND- what does any of this stuff about Ezekiel’s vision of a future temple have to do with our lives today?
You’ll find out the answers to all those questions today on the Cross References podcast!
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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The Final Temple: The Ezekiel series, part 78 (Chapters 40-42)
Video available of this episode! Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/NInu4KGFKs4?si=1f7tgsTj41pYaOOy
Temples are important in Scripture. They are holy. They are sacred. They mark a point of connection between God and man.
Temples were where God would come down and dwell with His people.
The Bible has multiple temples mentioned; seven, by my count.
And Ezekiel’s Temple is the Final Temple. And the Bible tells us A LOT about it, and you’ll find out what it says today on the Cross References podcast.
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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Missing episodes?
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Video available of this episode! Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/Qdg9ONoxKNQ?si=a_J62CCUPq9OfLgp
The way you interpret the Millennium does not just affect how you read Revelation 20.
The way you interpret the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ will affect how you read Isaiah 60 through 66, Ezekiel 40-48, Daniel 2 and 7, Micah 4, Zechariah 14, and virtually every book of the New Testament.
As I said in last week’s study, I take the premillennialism view of the end times. I believe Jesus comes back, and then the Millennium begins, and that it continues for a literal 1000-year period.
But even among us premillennialism Christians, things start to get a little fuzzy after that. What will it be like to live on the earth for a thousand years with Christ as a literal, physical King? Will there still be individual nations, or just one giant nation? Will the world still have wars? Will it be possible to sin when Christ is ruling on the throne?
And what are you and I going to be doing during all that time?
Those are questions that I plan to answer over the next 10 or so weeks of this podcast, but I’m going to give you the big-picture broad-overview of the Millennium today today on the Cross References podcast.
Watch last week’s episode about the 4 Views of the Millennium here: https://www.youtube.com/live/xuwnGPmx_yA?si=ryPO9CiNuV5lrY69
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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Watch a video version of today’s lesson right here!
https://www.youtube.com/live/xuwnGPmx_yA
Eschatology- or the end times- is a controversial topic among Christians. Not just controversial: denominations divide, pastors are kicked out of their churches, and the Twitter wars rage fiercely all because of differing beliefs about how the end times will play out.
And frankly, it’s for good reason. What you believe about things to come plays a big part in how we live our our Christian faith in the present. So we want to make sure we have all our ducks in a row when it comes to eschatology.
So what are the major views about the end times that cause Christians to draw their theological lines in the sand? Well, it all starts with what you think of this thing often called “The Millennium,” or the one-thousand-year reign of Christ talked about in Revelation 20.
Well, we’ve got to get this ironed out because Ezekiel 40 through 48 all take place during the millennium, and that’s what we’ll be studying in 2025 on this podcast.
I want to talk about the four main views of the Millennium today- and where I come down on it, and how I’ll be interpreting these last 9 chapters of Ezekiel- on the Cross References podcast.
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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As I was going through Ezekiel 38 and 39- which were the two chapters on Gog and Magog where we left off in Ezekiel- I was struck by all the 7s that kept coming up.
Like how the weapons were going to be burned for seven years following that conflict.
Or how the bodies would be left untouched for seven months.
One aspect I didn’t comment on in those two chapters is that the verses are divided up into 7 different sections to explain the story of Gog and Magog.
The way some people calculate it, they even believe Israel will be attacked by seven nations in that battle. And those aren’t the only sevens in Ezekiel.
So before we launch into the final section of the book of Ezekiel in 2025, let’s just take a week and talk about a subject that’s a little strange, kind of a diversion, but something that could give us a big tool for our tool belts when it comes to Bible interpretation.
And you’ll find out what it is today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - The Meaning of 7
8:30 - Matthew’s Beginning
18:30 - Mark’s Ending
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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Today, I am sharing an episode from my other podcast, Weird Stuff in the Bible. Each week, I dive into a different weird topic regarding bizarre things in scripture. Hear more by subscribing to this podcast as well!
Most Christians are regularly outwitted by Satan, and most Christians have no idea about his schemes- his devices- his designs.
We like to blame Satan for a lot of problems in life. The degradation of society, the strife in our families, the flat tire I got last Tuesday, whatever happened to Marvel after Endgame…
And I think it’s a fair question to ask: what the heck is this guy’s problem? What’s his deal? How does he expect to possibly defeat God? What’s his master plan?
I find Satan to be weird, and I’d like to understand what he’s doing throughout the Bible.
Turn to Genesis 3, and let’s get weird.
0:00 - Introduction
2:50 - Genesis 3-4
6:50 - Genesis 5-6
11:00 - Genesis 12
15:00 - II Samuel 7
21:30 - Closing Thoughts
If you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected]
Hosted by Luke Taylor
If you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!
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It’s not over until God says it’s over.
And last week, we covered what happens in the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39, when a coalition of nations band together to attack Israel in the last days.
But of all the battles described in the Bible, this is the only one that goes into any detail about the aftermath. Ezekiel 39:9-29 is like that post-credits scene in a Marvel movie. Only the participants of this battle are not sitting around eating schwarma. They ARE the schwarma.
Why does the Bible spend several verses talking about the clean-up after this battle? I think I know why, and you’ll learn it today, too, on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - v9-16, Welcome to the New Age
9:25 - v17-20, The Birds and the Beasts
14:00 - v21-24, That All May Know
18:00 - Next Time?
20:40 - v25-29, Ezekiel and You
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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In 1948, Israel was attacked by a coalition of five nations. The Israelis were outnumbered 2 to 1, outgunned 3 to 1, outclassed in every way, and yet they were victorious against their enemies.
In 1967, Israel was attacked again by another coalition of nations. They again were outnumbered 3 to 1, outgunned 4 to 1, outclassed in every way, and yet they were victorious against their enemies.
In the future- perhaps the near future- Israel is going to suffer another attack: from Russia, Iran, Turkey, and a few nations in Africa. Russia alone is 800 times larger than Israel. We don’t quite yet know how much they will be outnumbered, outgunned and outclassed. But we do know how it’s going to turn out.
And if you don’t know, you’ll find out what happens today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
4:00 - v17-23, A Series of Fortunate Events
11:30 - v1-6, God Retaliates
23:50 - v7-8, Why
30:00 - Closing Thoughts
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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You might think that there’s been a lot of things going on the world this past week, and this month, and this year- but that’s nothing in comparison to what’s coming in the future.
The Bible has a lot to say about the future. In fact, if you added up all the things the Bible says about future things that haven’t even happened yet, there would be more pages about things yet to come than it even said about any other time period- even the time that Jesus spent on this earth in the four Gospels.
And one of the next things we could see happening soon is a coalition of nations who invade Israel in the last days.
We aren’t talking about the timing of this attack; we talked out all those theories last week. Today, the question I want to analyze is “why?”
What is it that drives Russia to partner with Turkey, Libya, Iran and Sudan to eliminate Israel?
Most of those nations are Muslim, and it wouldn’t take much to get them to attack Israel. Some of them are already trying. But how does Russia fit into all this?
You’ll find out today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
1:30 - v10-11, The Land
5:20 - v12-13, The Wealth
14:50 - v14-16, The People
17:25 - The Ukraine War
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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Many Bible prophecy teachers have incorrectly said something about Gog and Magog’s battle in Ezekiel 38, and I might be one of them. We have incorrectly said that Gog and Magog could happen at any moment.
Upon some careful study of the words here, I no longer think it could happen at literally any moment. I believe there are a few things that need to take place before Gog and Magog can come about.
Gog and Magog, at a minimum, is several months away. It could be years. It could even be a thousand years. There’s a lot of possibilities, and we’ll talk about those possibilities today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - v7-11, A Land of Unwalled Villages
11:00 - A Timeline of Things to Come
13:30 - #1, Before the Tribulation
20:00 - #2, At the Beginning of the Tribulation
26:30 - #3, Armageddon
32:00 - #4, End of the Millennium
38:00 - Next Time & Closing Thoughts
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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The Bible has a lot of strange locations thrown at us in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, Meshech, Tubal, Beth-Togarmah, Mos Eisley, Alderaan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’d need a time machine to know where all these places are.
In fact, you’d need a space ship, too, because some of them only exist in a galaxy far, far away.
Since we don’t have time travel technology all figured out yet, we’ll have to rely on history to tell us where all these places are.
But why is knowing all these names important, anyway? Because these are the nations or peoples who are prophesied to come against Israel in an epic battle in the last days. The famous prophecy of Gog and Magog.
And this prophecy’s fulfillment may be close. And it may not. That’s why we have to understand what nations we should be watching closely. Once we’ve established who is who in this biblical drama, we’ll know how to see them coming into alignment with this prophecy- and perhaps be able to track how close we are to Gog and Magog’s battle play out.
I’ll teach you the signs we’re looking for today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
5:00 - Persia
9:50 - Cush
12:50 - Put
14:10 - Gomer and Beth-Togarmah
18:00 - Closing Thoughts
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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We’re finally here, the most famous section of Ezekiel: chapters 38 and 39. The battle of Gog and Magog.
This chapter is about an alliance of nations that band together to attack Israel in the end times. The list of nations includes names like Cush, Put, Togarmah and more, and they’re led by a figure named Gog.
I don’t know about you, but these sound like someone in Scrabble trying to make up words with whatever tiles they have left. In fact, it’s hard to know who all it’s talking about unless we do some historical research to find out what these words meant to Ezekiel’s original audience.
And that’s not difficult to do, except when it comes to the identity of the leader of this alliance: Gog.
Who is Gog? That’s the question we’re going to start this multi week study with, and it all begins today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
4:30 - Meshech and Tubal
14:50 - Magog
18:25 - Gog
28:25 - Is Gog the Antichrist?
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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It was the week before Halloween in the fall of 1988 when Bill Scott picked up the phone at his job at a Christian radio station and his life was never the same.
What follows is a story of demonic possession, deliverance, and a long list of what to do and what NOT to do when standing up to the powers of darkness.
I’ve been doing a series on the abilities of demons here on this podcast. Bill joins me today to share his story with my listeners here. It’s going to add some insight and depth to your understanding of spiritual warfare. But let me warn you: parts of his interview will rock your world, get a little scary, and a lot weird.
So if you’re ready, let’s get weird.
Find Bill's book right here: https://www.amazon.com/Day-Satan-Called-Encounter-Possession/dp/0892968982/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
The Day Satan Called: A True Encounter with Demon Possession and Exorcism. Available in paperback and on Kindle.If you want to get in touch with me (Luke Taylor), my email is [email protected]
Hosted by Luke Taylor
If you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!
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I’m going to give you a great Bible Study tip, because some people have a really hard time figuring out what the Bible is saying. So here’s a little tip that always helps me: when the Bible tells you what it’s saying, then you don’t have to try to figure out what it’s saying. You can just go with what the Bible tells you it’s saying.
Sound good? Great. Now you can throw out half your commentaries on the book of Ezekiel. Or, at least, you can come throw out half of mine, because it’s astounding how many Bible teachers- literal scholars- will totally miss the point of Ezekiel 37.
We talked about it last time, and it’s going to come up in this lesson, too. Now, I don’t want to sound arrogant, or like I’m smarter than all these guys. Why do I say they get it wrong? Well, because they bring all these preconceptions to the table when the crack open their Bibles, and whatever they read in the Bible must always fit the preconceptions they had before they opened it.
And these preconceptions are things like covenant theology or replacement theology. And if you want to make Ezekiel 37 fit replacement theology, you have to ignore what the Bible says when it tells you exactly what it says it means and make words mean things that the Bible never said.
The Book of Ezekiel creates some major headaches for people who want to make the Bible fit their preconceptions rather than letting the Bible mean what it clearly says.
So today, we’re going to leave our preconceptions right here in the intro, and we’ll let Ezekiel 37 tell us exactly what it’s telling us. And you’ll learn what that is today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
2:00 - v15-16, A Tale of Two Sticks
10:50 - v17-21, The Power of One
18:55 - v22-28, Who is David?
25:05 - Debunking Replacement Theology
30:40 - Plans for the Rest of This Year
34:10 - Remembering October 7, 2023
40:45 - The 10 Lost Tribes Myth
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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There are two chapters of the book of Ezekiel that I feel are most abused when it comes to interpretation. Two chapters that people seem to just want to allegorize and make them mean whatever they want. And one of those chapters is right here. Ezekiel 37.
Many Christians try to make this chapter about a future resurrection. That may be the most popular interpretation of this chapter. But Ezekiel 37 has a context, and that’s not it.
Some try to take this passage literally and say it’s about the power of our words. But Ezekiel 37 has a context, and that’s not it.
Some try to make this passage about the origin of the church. But Ezekiel 37 has a context, and that’s not it.
Some try to make this passage about how God can bring life to things that seem dead and revive things that looked long-gone and turn your whole life situation around. And God certainly can do all those things, but Ezekiel 37 is not about you. Ezekiel 37 has a context, and that’s not it.
So today, we’ll talk about the context of Ezekiel 37 to try and understand what it really means. It had a meaning back then, and it also has a meaning for modern times, and you’ll learn it today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
3:20 - v1-6, Death Valley
10:05 - v7-10, Revival
15:25 - v11-14, What It All Means
20:00 - Regathered and Restored
35:40 - Next Time
37:25 - Regenerated
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
If you’re looking for a detailed Ezekiel Bible study, cross-referenced with supporting scripture, this podcast will provide an in-depth look at the prophets of the Bible, with clear Bible prophecy explained. We explore Ezekiel’s visions and other Old Testament Bible study topics through careful Bible exegesis to help you in understanding the Book of Ezekiel in a deeper way. I’m glad you’re here, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
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I can't figure out why I keep making everybody mad at me, so I brought in an expert to explain it. Craig of Awaiting Christ ministry and podcast joins me today to explain dispensationalism and how it relates to the modern state of Israel and rapture theology- both hot button issues in today's political and church climate.
Craig is a seminary student and also a writer for GotQuestions.org. Find out more about him at: https://linktr.ee/AwaitChrist
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There’s a strange contradiction in God’s promises to the Jewish people.
In Genesis 12, God makes a covenant with Abraham to give him the land of Israel. In Genesis 17:7, God told Abraham that His covenant with him and his descendants would be an everlasting covenant.
But then in Leviticus 26, God warns that if the Jewish people break His commandments, He will kick them out of their land.
And then we know from our studies in the book of Ezekiel that that’s exactly what happened. In fact, in Ezekiel 16, God even tells us that the covenant was broken.
This was in the 500s BC. But God had said He was making an everlasting covenant around 2000 BC. So since when does “everlasting” have an expiration date after 1500 years? How can God say that a covenant can ever be broken if God had already promised it was everlasting?
And does this mean that the Jewish people actually have no right to the claim of the land of Israel today?
Now, I actually believe there are NO contradictions in God’s Word, and that when we think we’ve found one, we actually just need to rightly divide the Word of Truth to figure out how it all fits together.
And that’s what we’ll do today as we finish up Ezekiel 36 on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
5:30 - v28-30, The Return
10:35 - v31-32 True Repentance
18:00 - v33-38, The Regrowth of Israel
23:25 - Two Covenants (with Craig from Awaiting Christ)
31:50 - Closing Thoughts
If you want to get in touch with me, send an email to [email protected]
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Trying to figure out the next step in your life's journey? Today, I chat with Chris Pace about his new book Level Up. As I tell the story in this episode, I actually met Chris recently while on vacation, and he gave me a copy of his book. This interview will share several insights with you about discovering God's will. Here is a link where you can find more about Chris' book: https://chrispace.org/
I will also paste my Amazon review below...
I was incredibly blessed to come across this book by Chris Pace! It spoke directly to some issues I have been dealing with in my own life. I really took my time with it because I wanted to soak it all in. Sometimes I didn't even read a full chapter before I put it down because it gave me so much to think about.I highly encourage this book to people who feel "stuck" at their current place in life and want direction on discovering what God may have next for them. If you want encouragement, are feeling aimless in life, or you need a recalibration of your calling, this book can give you the tools you need to reset yourself.
I also encourage you to finish it, because I found that the book became better and better the deeper I got into it. This surprised me because many books try to put its most important information first and then they kind of drag out the rest to increase the page count. Not this one. Every chapter got more engaging and practical, all the way up to the very end. I couldn't believe some of the insights I was still discovering even in the last 10 pages of the book.
I think anyone who reads this book will find something helpful! Easily 5 stars.
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Today, I am sharing an episode from my other podcast, Weird Stuff in the Bible. Each week, I dive into a different weird topic regarding bizarre things in scripture. Hear more by subscribing to this podcast as well! And tune back in on Cross References next week to hear an interview with Chris Pace of Messenger International about his new book, Level Up.
On a recent episode of this podcast, I was discussing a weird story about Moses in Exodus 4, I came across another pretty odd verse that generates some confusion among Christians: Exodus 4:21.
Now, I didn’t want to stop and analyze that verse because it would have taken me on a rabbit trail, and I was already trying to talk about a different weird thing, and I would have had to go down a weird-ception of weird-within-a-weird. So I decided to come back to it this week.
And what does Exodus 4:21 say? Well, it’s as Moses is on his way back to Egypt, and God says
(Exodus 4:21)
“When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
So that’s strange because it raises the question of whether Pharaoh even had a choice about how everything was going to play out. Because if you know the story, Pharaoh doesn’t want to let the people go, and he pays a pretty steep price for it.
And yet Pharaoh never relents. All throughout the story, his heart is harder than your grandma’s fruit cake at Christmas.
But this claim that God would harden Pharaoh’s heart makes it seem like Pharaoh wasn’t even really able to let the people go if he wanted to. So what gives? Did Pharaoh have free will?
And perhaps more importantly to us: do you and I have free will?
I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.
Turn to Exodus 4, and let’s get weird.
0:00 - Introduction
2:40 - What is a Hard Heart?
6:20 - God vs Pharaoh
9:40 - Is Anyone at Fault?
13:40 - Next Time
15:25 - Would God Harden our Hearts?
If you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected]
Hosted by Luke Taylor
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Last week I talked about how I did my parental duty and instilled the love of star wars into my child.
Now let me talk about one of the stupidest things in star wars.
And it comes from the same place that all of the stupidest things in star wars come from: the new Disney movies.
This one is flies right into the face of common sense.
It comes from the inner turmoil experienced by the villain of Episode 7: Kylo Ren.
Kylo is on the dark side. He seeks to prove himself a true, fully committed disciple of the dark side throughout the movie, and throughout the film he makes some comments. One of them is:
Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light.
Throughout the film, Kylo is dealing with this “quote-unquote-temptation” to turn good, and this is one of the lines he uses.
Now, to write a line like that betrays any understanding of how the human heart actually operates. We want to be good, but we wrestle with the temptation to be bad.
Like it says in Galatians 5: the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh…to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
The Bible says we “want” to do good, but it’s our sinful desires that pull us back. But Kylo wants to be bad and wrestles with a temptation to be good. It’s completely backwards. It’s like saying, “Pray for me, I’m really tempted to eat this salad when I know I should order a double cheeseburger.”
There is not something naturally inside of us that pulls us toward righteousness and away from evil. What is inside of us pulls us to the flesh, to our natural instincts, toward selfishness and evil, toward…the dark side.
We aren’t tempted toward the light. The decision to pursue the light does not come from something within us naturally; but something that is given to us by God.
To be drawn toward the light requires God to put a new heart and a new spirit within us.
Which sounds like what we’ve been studying as we go through the book of Ezekiel, and it’s something you’ll find out about today on the Cross References podcast.
0:00 - Introduction
3:00 - The Spirit
11:00 - The Spirit Empowers You
14:15 - The Spirit Seals You
17:30 - The Spirit Guides You
27:00 - The Spirit is a Point of Connection Between You and God
32:00 - Next Time
34:15 - A Note about Hearing from the Spirit
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