Yahweh: The Rock of Life and Redemption

1) "So over and over again in the Exodus, listen, look, and learn. You don't speculate. You actually let Yahweh. He tells you who he is. You see that over and over again. And they realize he's not just Israel's God in Egypt, but he's the God who actually operates in the desert as well. And in the Egyptian worldview, the desert's a place of death. It's represented by the God Seth, the red death, all that kind of thing. You know, when the Nile turns to blood, as it were, all that kind of color imagery from an Egyptian cultural viewpoint. Now, it's easy to miss, I think, the significance of this, and in my work on it, I haven't found a single rabbi who really talks about what to do with this moment. It's quite strange." [00:56] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Don't try and play chess with God. He'll use even our rebellion to get his purposes done. He's going to get this happening. He's the creator. He's not fast, okay? Not a problem. He's the creator. He's going to get us there. We just get to choose if we're going to work with him or not. That's it. That's the extent of our role in all of this. But he's the creator." [04:33] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "And then I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart so that he pursues you and I will gain glory over him. Now a little bit about the hardening. People think, well, that's not really fair. Here's Pharaoh really wanting to, repent and God's saying, no, you die, you dog. That's not what's going on. This is called lex talionis. It's a common idea in the ancient world. The judgment fits the crime. It's Pharaoh who initiated this by hardening his heart against the people who delivered his nation from the famine and actually really strengthened his own power and authority." [05:28] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "So here's Pharaoh. I'm the son of the gods. I'm going to treat these people like this right? Abuse them. He's already hardened his heart. And God just says okay you want to play that game? And if you watch the language, if you track it carefully right? At the beginning there is this interesting interplay where Pharaoh chooses and God chooses but by the end it's God now determining okay we've gone down this road. You've made several decisions. Okay buddy now I'm going to be hardening your heart." [33:23] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "The place is then renamed Massa and Meribah, the place of testing, where they are putting Yahweh on trial. And you know what the real question was? We read through the passage. The real question was, is this Lord present among us or not? That was the question. So what's the sign of God's presence? He's laying down his life for us. That's the sign of his presence. Now, where might you have seen something like that? do notice, by the way, there's no judgment on Israel. Notice that? No judgment on him at this point. It's just Yahweh takes this. I am not those gods. I do not behave like them." [21:46] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "It's not the goodness that earns life, it's the eternal life of God that brings the goodness. Goodness is not the problem. It's the life. And how does that life come? Out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. Who wants to scare you from the Holy Spirit? You should be able to see that now. And we fall for it. Don't do that. Oh God, oh God, I need you. We sang about I need your spirit. We need those rivers of living water flowing up within us." [25:44] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "So here's Pharaoh. I'm the son of the gods. I'm going to treat these people like this right? Abuse them. He's already hardened his heart. And God just says okay you want to play that game? And if you watch the language, if you track it carefully right? At the beginning there is this interesting interplay where Pharaoh chooses and God chooses but by the end it's God now determining okay we've gone down this road. You've made several decisions. Okay buddy now I'm going to be hardening your heart." [33:23] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "So I would just encourage you don't define who you are by dealing with what you think is an error. Focus on the truth. Speak the truth. We don't have to attack people we disagree with. Don't go down that road. I mean if it has to come up because you're confronted but get back onto Jesus. Preach the truth because if you go the other way that's going to end up shaping us and I think that's what Susanna Elms points out about Gregory and Basil." [37:24] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "So because of that assumption they start saying well okay you can't trust the stuff that changes what doesn't change geometry? They start doing that Pythagoras ever wonder where the idea of the Trinity as a triangle comes from? You didn't get that from reading scripture you can tell where that comes from culturally right? Then you end up with theology that kind of becomes the algebra of God because they don't trust history. Well that's not Israel Israel says no we're limited in what we know we have this little bit of stuff and you track that through." [38:53] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10) "So hear the words of the Lord get over yourself pick up your plastic lawnmower and follow him and he's going to take care of the rest of it okay through the work of his spirit is that a good deal and there's eternal life at the end whoo you Katie yes oh we're done okay you Lord thank you Lord" [45:39] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)