Flipped Devotional
review weekly readings from Flipped Devotional the Book with the author and her husband
Flipped Devotional
June 23 - 29
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Here are the scriptures for this week's podcast:
June 23 - Leviticus 11: 45, 19: 2, 1 Peter 1: 15 - 16
June 24 - Isaiah 42: 1 - 4, Matthew 12: 9 - 21
June 25 - Acts 13: 16 - 26
June 26 - Leviticus 10: 1 - 2, Acts 5: 1 - 6
June 27 - Jeremiah 18: 1 - 6, Romans 9: 20 - 21
June 28 - Exodus 31: 12 - 16, John 9: 13 - 16
June 29 - Numbers 21: 4 - 9. John 3: 14 - 15
Welcome to Flip Devotional the Podcast, where each week Martha Shannon, the author of Flip Devotional The Book, and Steve Shannon discuss the readings from the week. If you haven't gotten Flip Devotional The Book, it's available on Amazon and Barnes Noble. It's available as an ebook on Barnes and Noble. The companion verses are available on Flip Devotional Facebook page. And the transcript from each podcast is available on the podcast site. And one last thing, you can send us fan mail.
SPEAKER_00Fan mail. And we have a contest. I want to get more fan mail.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So that reference Steve.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Okay. Well, we'll see how that goes. It'd just be fun to hear from you all, to hear what you like, what you don't like, what you wish we would say or do, or if you have questions or comments about some of the passages or stories, um, that would be awesome. All right.
SPEAKER_00Good. Let's go.
SPEAKER_02All right. So we are finishing up the month of June.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02This week. We actually have one day next week, but more or less will be done. Yeah. And the June theme has been um Old Testament and New Testament scriptures that have something to do with each other. Right.
SPEAKER_00A linkage between the two.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Yes. And and the reasoning behind this is uh you will understand and appreciate the New Testament more if you know the stories in the Old Testament that it comes from.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02That that is my belief.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So June 23rd, first day.
SPEAKER_00And also Jesus knew the Old Testament. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_00That's good enough for me.
SPEAKER_02Um June 23rd is Leviticus chapter 11 and 1 Peter chapter 1. Uh very short passages from each one, but they both say, be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
SPEAKER_00Right. And do you need a better reason?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00You know. It doesn't say be God because I am God. It says be holy.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_02Like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Be holy because I am holy, meaning we want to aspire, right, to be as close to God as possible. So I think God clearly knows we're not going to be as holy as He is. But our X our goal is to be very close to that.
SPEAKER_02Now the the good thing to know and must know is holy does not mean perfect, as I grew up thinking. Right. And you know, I I I don't think anyone taught me that. It was just if you God says be holy because I am holy, um, I feel like that bar is very high. And that because God is perfect. And so in in my mind, I translated it to, oh, God's perfect. Then I need to try to be perfect. And that's really, really hard for me, as Steve can attest. But um holy actually means set apart for a special use.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yep. I have set apart dedicated to God's purpose. So do what God has called you to do.
SPEAKER_02Which is also very good to follow.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Um, you know, whether you know, okay, so we all would love to be, and well, that's not true. A lot of us would love to be the uh singer who puts out thousands of songs every millions of people listen to them. You give a concert and you just sell out crowd and it's like da-da, you know. Um, but some of us are people who clean the bathrooms at church and right, um, take care of teach Sunday school. Um, yeah, teach Sunday school, you supply the paper products for church, or you know, who knows what you do. Um but if it's what God has for you to do, end of subject.
SPEAKER_00Right. Do it. You are set apart and you're doing it because it's dedicated to God's purpose. So that activity, you are holy.
SPEAKER_02In the first Peter passage, it says, Be holy in all you do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then he quotes, it says, For it is written, this is the first Peter passage, for it is written, be holy because I am holy. So you go to Leviticus passage, says, Be holy because I am holy. Okay, that's where it is written.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So Peter is referencing that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I wonder sometimes when people read the New Testament and it says stuff like, uh, as it is written, you know, do they wonder where it was written? Right. Or do they just go, okay, let's move on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's the part that I think is kind of important. And I looked up, Leviticus was written in 1445 BC, 1 Peter 64 AD. So 1,500 years apart. Right. And Peter is is quoting from Leviticus.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So just my point that the Old Testament's important.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And if Peter quoted something that's 1,500 years old, it still has value to us today. Right. Then you lose its value because now it's 3,500 years old.
SPEAKER_02Right. Right. All right, June 24th. Now, if you have the book, it looks a little different because it has the Old Testament reference, but not the scripture. And that's because the actual scripture, word for word, is in the New Testament scripture. So we have Isaiah chapter 42, verses 1 through 4, are at the end of Matthew chapter 12, verses 9 through 21.
SPEAKER_00Much like the 23rds reading, the New Testament is quoting the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. So again, we're quoting it. And it was kind of a long passage, so it was going to take up a lot of space to write it twice. Um, and so I just decided not to write it twice. Not that it wasn't important, but because it's right there for you.
SPEAKER_00Right. You already have it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And it's bolded. So if you're not sure which part of it is the Isaiah part, it's the part that says this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. Bold quotes to June. So this passage is about Jesus healing on the Sabbath, which was a major no-no.
SPEAKER_00Major no-no, right? Sabbath is a day of rest. And over time, the Pharisees became very rigid on what that meant, you know. And it's it's a day of rest. It's again, it's probably you're set apart that day for God, right? But he's at the temple, right? And there's a man there who has a shriveled hand, is what the language is. Um Jesus asks. They ask him, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So they're, I mean, they're provoking him.
SPEAKER_00They're provoking Jesus to do something that is contrary to their rules, is it contrary to the spirit of the Sabbath, right?
SPEAKER_02And Jesus, as he often does when someone poses a question to him, he answers with a question. And he's like, Well, if any of you have sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, are you not going to take it out? Are you going to leave it there till the next day and then take it out? You know? And then he goes, How much more valuable is a person than a sheep?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_02That's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_00Jesus said, so he's saying, you may call it a day of rest, you should do no work. But I'm not doing work, right? It's lawful to do good. So on the Sabbath, you could bring someone who's sick food, because that would be doing good on the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_02Right. So Jesus, you know, I I love this. He says, it's lawful to do good. And he turns to the man, he says, Stretch out your hand. And he heals him. Completely restored.
SPEAKER_00Completely restored. And how did the Pharisees respond to that?
SPEAKER_02They were like, okay, let's figure out how we're gonna kill him. He does something good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And all they can think of is, aha.
SPEAKER_00Gotcha.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um. So we haven't gotten to the Old Testament part yet. Then Jesus says he withdraws from that place because he's aware that they're gonna try to figure out how to kill him. And it's not time yet.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02So um he leaves and it says a large crowd followed him. And he healed all who were ill.
SPEAKER_00Still the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_02Oh, true. I hadn't even thought of that. Still the Sabbath. Um and and he told him, don't tell others about him.
SPEAKER_00But they clearly did.
SPEAKER_02I mean, people do.
SPEAKER_00You have to.
SPEAKER_02How can you not?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, it would be really hard. Someone else with a shriveled hand. Or, you know, blind person can now see, or someone who had leprosy is now healed.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00So I can come in conversation.
SPEAKER_02Right, right. It's like, whoa, weren't you the guy? Aren't you sick?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And like, well, yes, I was, but now I'm well. Well, how did that happen? And mmm, you know. So yeah, they people told.
SPEAKER_00Right. People talk.
SPEAKER_02But it says he warned them not to tell others about him, to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. So then we have the Isaiah passage. It says, Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love in whom I delight. I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. Is some of that justice healing on the Sabbath?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. May very well be, right?
SPEAKER_02I mean, is it not right for people to be well?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. Um And he will not quarrel or cry out. If you read the end of the Gospels during his crucifixion, he didn't quarrel and he didn't cry out.
SPEAKER_02Right. Right. Um there's a typo, if you have the book, um it says a bruised reed, he will not break, and a should be smouldering wick, he will not snuff out. Till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope.
SPEAKER_00And it's justice through to victory. So justice wins, right?
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00You know?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00He will not Bruce Reedy will not break a smoldering wiki, he will not snuff out till he has brought justice through to so justice wins, right? And in his name the nations will put their hope. And the choice of nations is at the twelve tribes. Is it all nations?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00But at some point we will put, you know, we'll put their hope. They will put in his name, they will put their hope. And we can already do that now. Right? So we're part of this, right? But justice through to victory. So justice wins.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Right? Yes. All right, June 25th. Now, again, if you have the book, this day looks different because you may look at it and go, there is no Old Testament passage. It's just Acts chapter 13. Um, the reason is in this passage, Paul is speaking and he summarizes kind of the story of what God did for his people. Um, it's kind of the Cliff Notes version. If you're my age, it's the I think there was something called sparks. I don't know. It's something like that. Just a summary. For the the people who are are younger than us. Um, and then now, of course, it would be AI. AI generated um of what the Old Testament story was. Yeah. So if you don't want to read the whole Old Testament, you can read this and get a good idea.
SPEAKER_00Just gives you an idea what's happening.
SPEAKER_02Of of what was going on. Um, and it will give you some parts that uh you probably wouldn't get if you read the Old Testament. Um, one because it doesn't specifically say it, for example. He's telling the story of the Israelites um when they were in Egypt and then they left Egypt and they wandered through the wilderness for 40 years. Um they overthrew seven nations in Canaan.
SPEAKER_00Um it says he, God, endured their conduct in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00So God tolerated them. Yes, there were things that were going on that he said, All right, you know, I understand, I guess, but he wasn't necessarily pleased by it.
SPEAKER_02Right, right.
SPEAKER_00But he endured their conduct.
SPEAKER_02And he he gave them a lot of things because they're like, Oh, we're such pitiful people, we need this, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, he sent them manna, food from, right? Mm-hmm. I think birds, so they had some meat. At one point, they had no water and they got water, you know. So Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and it says all this took about 450 years. So that that's the part that if you read it in the Old Testament, you would not realize 450 years, people.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_00And that's the to Egypt, out of Egypt, the wilderness, to the seven nations of Canaan was 450 years, right? Because that is a new paragraph where you talk about judges and Samuel and the king, Saul, and right?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Yeah, we have David um becomes their king. Um, and from David was Jesse, and from Jesse came Jesus from the descendants of Jesse. Yeah. Um, so yeah, so he he's kind of summarizing, like I said, the Yeah, David was the son of Jesse.
SPEAKER_00So that from David down. They were, you know. Right. And again, we've talked about this, you know, the Mount Rushmore.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00You know, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, they're if they're on it, they're one, two, and three. So we're really talking four, it'll be five, six, seven. Eight. Five, six, seven. Um, four, five, six, seven. We would then look at David, is he one of those four?
SPEAKER_02I I would put David up there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But yeah. Yeah. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00But that's how important David is, right? And in in this section, you have David mentioned by name, Saul mentioned by name. Say David's more important than Saul. Yeah. Saul was the first king, but David was more important. So Yeah. Yeah. And then we get right to brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. You know, and John preached repentance and baptism. I still who knows more about repentance than Paul.
SPEAKER_02You think?
SPEAKER_00I mean, he was persecuted.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, Jesus was the enemy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02That's true.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Earlier on in Acts, you know, he was going to Damascus to capture followers of the way, right? Take them back to Jerusalem. So he may know more about repentance than everybody. I also like the last sentence in this section. Fellow children of Abraham. So this is Paul talking. So fellow children, fellow children. So Paul still identifies himself as a child of Abraham. If you're a child of Ajaham, you know, eventually you get to the 12 tribes, you get the Israelites, right? Jacob, Israel, all that stuff, right? And you God-fearing Gentiles. So this covers it. Paul interpretation, his understanding, fellow children of Abraham, all the Israelites, and everyone else. Because the God-fearing Gentiles were the non-Israelites.
SPEAKER_02Right. Right. Yeah. Very good.
SPEAKER_00Big deal. Big section. Acts is good, isn't it, really?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It is. All right. June 26th has another passage from Leviticus, which is not a favorite book to read for most people. And another passage from Acts. So lots of connections between Leviticus and Acts. Yeah. This these passages talk about the God that people don't like talking about, really. And the and the reason that a lot of people don't want to read the Old Testament because things happen that seems really harsh.
SPEAKER_00They don't like.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, harsh. Very good word. So the Old Testament, actually, the New Testament passage people are probably pretty familiar with.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Acts chapter 5 is Ananias and his wife.
SPEAKER_00Sapphira.
SPEAKER_02Sapphira. In Acts, this is, you know, after the Holy Spirit has come.
SPEAKER_00This is really the new church. This is just the beginning of what we would consider the church.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. And it's where they are sharing um their belongings with each other. They are kind of coming together and supporting each other.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sharing food, meeting together regularly. Yeah. Sounds like they were Methodists.
SPEAKER_02Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts, broke bread in their homes, and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. So that's the kind of the spirit of what's going on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02There weren't like set rules, um, is my understanding that you have to do it.
SPEAKER_00You didn't have to break, you didn't have to sell your stuff. There was no, you know. But people who had extra did, right?
SPEAKER_02And so Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property. And it it says, with his wife's full knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and laid it at the apostles' feet. And Peter, who is obviously very in touch with God, um said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and you kept for yourself some of the money? Um and and he says it already belonged to you, like you didn't have to give any. And um Ananias heard it and he just fell down and died.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then it's it's not in here, but the the next part of it is his wife came and they said, Is you know, is this how much you sold it for? And oh yes, that was the full price. No, it wasn't.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02And your husband died, and now you're gonna die.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then I was like, then some young man came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. Right. And then when Sapphira comes in and she died right away as well, like these guys just came back from burying, and it's like, go.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, but again, it's it's it's not that they had to, it's that they acted like they did. So they got ten dollars, they kept two, they give eight, and they acted like eight was everything they got. As opposed to just saying, here's eight dollars.
SPEAKER_02Right. Right. So in the Leviticus passage, um, Aaron, who was Moses' brother, has at this time, um he he's kind of like the priest. Kind of and his sons are serve priests.
SPEAKER_00Up and coming. Yeah. Next generation, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So they're serving as well and learning, you know, how to do everything. And two of them, Nadab and Nabihu, um offered unauthorized fire before the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that is contrary to his command, right? So this don't do this. And they had sensors, which is like pots where they would burn stuff in, and you I guess, you know.
SPEAKER_02With the incense.
SPEAKER_00Incense spread it. So they did all that stuff, right? But when they did this, because it was contrary to the Lord's command, right, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Pretty harsh, right? Yeah. And it's hard to understand why. And this is why at one point when our daughter Amy was much younger, she said at a very young age, I love Jesus, I don't know if I like God. Which is really, I think, a great theology, because you know, Jesus is very approachable. Most times, turn over the tables, told this story before. But here, and maybe part of it is God had given the specific directions to Moses and Aaron. So the sons got it from the source, they knew better. And and maybe part of this was a learning moment for everybody. You know, do exactly what I tell you to do, right? Because that's what I want you to have happen. And they didn't, right? Well, still had to be a shocker for Aaron, right?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, it's it's it's kind of a different side, necessarily, of the Lord and the New Testament acts. I mean, Peter and the Holy Spirit, they all you know, Peter didn't kill them, but he wasn't upset that what happened. Or he wasn't visibly reported, right? Right. So, you know, because when the wife came back, Sapphira, asked the same question. You know, it was her chance to tell the truth, right?
SPEAKER_02Right. And I think they both could have not been killed if they just told the truth.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And, you know, he died. I I I don't know if I mean he died. Was he killed or not? I don't know. I mean, yeah, yeah. But I mean he just dropped dead, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Imagine if you're in the room.
SPEAKER_01Like, oh my God.
unknownYou know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Whoa.
SPEAKER_00Peter's asking what you've been doing, you better tell him.
SPEAKER_02So all right, June 27th is Jeremiah chapter 18, verses 1 through 6, and Romans 9, uh, verses 20 and 21. I like this analogy.
SPEAKER_00I know you do. You like the old ham.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I am the potter, you are the clay. Yeah. Yes. Um, so in the Jeremiah passage, uh he's uh what is he saying? This uh so God told Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_00Go to the potter's house, yeah, right, and I will give you a message. So, Jeremiah's credit, what did he do?
SPEAKER_02He went down to the potter's house. And he gets a a a great visual of what God is saying. I mean, that's that's why I like this so much. It's like, oh, it just makes it sink in, helps you understand it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So he's working the wheel, you know, that's what the potter has, big stone wheel that somehow he keeps moving, right? So he's do he's making something, right? And he said he's shaping the clay, right?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. But it said it was marred. Yeah. And so the the potter formed it into another pot.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Shaping it as seemed best to him. And then it says, then the word of the Lord came to me. And he said, Can I not do with Israel as this potter does? Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. So then in Romans it says, But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me like this? It says, Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? I feel like that goes back to the be holy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Right.
SPEAKER_02You know, are you a a pot for some special purpose, or are you a pot for common use? Either way, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00You were made by God to do what you are to do.
SPEAKER_02What do what you were made to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00God calls you in the story. Yeah. We can all be jealous of those people who God calls, you know, to something wonderful. And in the eyes of the everyday man, he that person gets rich and all sorts of things, wonderful things. But the point is, God calls you. All right. Do what that is, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But I do like that because it is a good visual.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And again, helps you kind of understand. Everyone understood the potter's wheel. Because, you know, everyone knew what a potter did. Because if if you had anything that was it was all made out of clay and it was so you understood the potter.
SPEAKER_02Right. Right.
SPEAKER_00Or today, you know, artists have potters. Right. They they they have it. The average person doesn't do that in their home.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00But it was a a good example for the time. People understood it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right. June 28th, we have Exodus chapter 31, 12 through 16, and John chapter 9, 13 through 16. Uh kind of connect with uh story we just talked about when with Isaiah and Matthew. Yeah, when they were talking about the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, do good on the Sabbath. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And this is kind of where it started from. So God said to Moses, You must observe my Sabbaths.
SPEAKER_00And must.
SPEAKER_02Says this will be a sign between me and you for generations to come. So you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. So we got the holy thing again. Um, but yeah, they were supposed to observe the Sabbath, um, which means they they weren't supposed to do work. It says, for six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest, holy to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00And if you did work, you're supposed to be cut off from the people.
SPEAKER_02Well, this also says put to death.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, so we had that, and then the John passage is another Sabbath healing. Um, this time it's a blind man.
SPEAKER_00Right. And it's like T Jesus is trying to teach people about the Sabbath by doing these things. Right. That that this is what God wants you to do, but you're not a hundred percent limited by the current understanding you have, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and this one is when Jesus makes the mud and puts it on the man's eyes to heal him. And the the making of mud was kind of work as well. Right. So my understanding is there we started with observe the Sabbath, you know, rest, don't do work. And then the people probably had a committee meeting and said, okay, so what does that mean? Yeah. And they just went boom, boom, boom, and had all these things. Well, you can't do this, this, this, this, this, this. And one of them was again, my understanding, I've heard this through the years, you couldn't spit on the ground.
SPEAKER_00Supposedly, right.
SPEAKER_02Because that would make mud.
SPEAKER_00Irrigation. Bewatering.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a bit much.
SPEAKER_02And and that was work. So Jesus makes mud, heals the blind man. Um, then the Pharisees ask him, How how did you get to see? He said, He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I see.
SPEAKER_00And which for that man is a very smart answer, because he put mud on my eyes.
SPEAKER_02Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00I washed. I bet washing was okay on the Sabbath. Now I see. So I've I've done nothing wrong. I am I'm I'm with you 100% on the Sabbath rule. Look what I did. I followed it. You know, washing clearly would be okay, I guess, right? And seeing's okay, right? So I didn't do anything. Don't come after me, right? Yeah. And what did the Pharisees say?
SPEAKER_02So they they jump on again. This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. Well, you know, in defense of the Pharisees, if you look back at the Exodus and you look at how they were raised, and you don't do any work how they interpreted it over time.
SPEAKER_00He obviously did work, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay. And you know, I am a rule follower.
SPEAKER_00Right. I'm a rule knower.
SPEAKER_02Pretty much all the time. And if someone doesn't follow the rules, and I'm like, mmm, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's not right. Right. If they can do that, then I should be able to do that, but I can't because there's a rule that says I can't do it. So, you know, I I can be kind of pharisiacal.
SPEAKER_00Pharisical.
SPEAKER_02Let's make that a word.
SPEAKER_00Um and pharassical. Pharisical.
SPEAKER_02And I I could I could feel, although I mean, they were really doing it because they just are just trying to figure out a way to get to Jesus. Right. Um but besides that, I could see them being like, wait.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He knows. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Part of it is God's message was keep the Sabbath holy, right? Keep the Sabbath. That was clear. It's our message to us today. It hadn't changed. Right. Right? Nothing about it has changed. But then it it's it they they developed all these other pieces of what that meant to the point you shouldn't cook. We our stove has a Sabbath feature.
SPEAKER_02It does. We have no idea how use it, but it's there.
SPEAKER_00It's there. Uh there's a gentleman who ran for president. He was a U.S. Senator, Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, Jewish. Um, and he would travel uh and some on and on Sundays he would walk to the airport in Washington, D.C. Because he couldn't drive. I don't know why he couldn't take an Uber, but didn't want to do that. So he and his wife would walk and they would plan for that distance. Someone else who wasn't Jewish would transport their bags to the airport.
SPEAKER_02Um interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that was because the driving, work walking was okay for sure, no doubt. So he would walk, but you know, I don't know how far it was.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_00I would change my travel time, is probably a better answer.
SPEAKER_02All right. June 29th is the last day for this week. Um almost the last day of June. We have a passage from Numbers. Again, another book, not many people read.
SPEAKER_00Correct.
SPEAKER_02Chapter 21, verses four through nine, and then we have John chapter three, fourteen and fifteen. Um, I I really like this one. It's a clear connection. You know, if you felt like some of mine were a stretch connecting them, this one dead on. Yeah, dead on. Yeah. Yes. Um, so let's look at the New Testament one first, because the New Testament is what more people are going to read. And it says, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. How can you read that and not want to go to the Old Testament and see what the snake was lifted up? Yes. Why is Moses holding up a snake?
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02I mean, you're gonna be clueless.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All right. So we go back to the Old Testament. Do you want to tell this story?
SPEAKER_00Sure. Um, again, the people grew impatient, right? They spoke against God, against Moses. Did you bring us out of the wilderness to die, out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, right? We detest this miserable food. That's the manna. We detest the manna. I mean, they got it for nothing. They go out. You know, it's kind of funny. They're supposed to go out Monday to Saturday, the first to sixth day of the week. They first to five days of the week, they collect enough for the next day. And on the day before the Sabbath, they would collect enough for two days. Well, people cheated and collected enough for two days in days one through five of the week. They had it the next day, it was fine. Day after, it was nasty, moldy, maggots. But if you got it the day before the Sabbath, it was okay the next day. But they hated the miserable food, didn't like it, right? So God's had had enough. So he sent venomous snakes among them. So the camp of the Israelites, venomous snakes, many Israelites died, right? God, again, we said it earlier, right? When um Nadab and Abbahu censors, all right? Unauthorized use of the censor, they died. So they're complaining to God, they're dying, right? Moses came and said, We've sinned against the Lord.
SPEAKER_02Well, the people came to Moses. Moses, right. We've sinned, we've sinned.
SPEAKER_00We've sinned, yeah, because they're snakes and they're killing us, right?
SPEAKER_02And so Moses prayed for them, and God gave them a provided a way to live.
SPEAKER_00Make a snake, put it on a pole, so anyone who's bitten can look at it and live, okay? So he did that. Bronze snake. Now, my first question is how long does it take to make a snake and put it on a pole? Good point. I mean, I can imagine when Israel, Moses, what are you doing? I'm making a bronze snake.
SPEAKER_02Well, at least it's a snake. I mean, like play-doh, you just roll it up. Ta-da!
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what color eyes does it gonna have? Moses, Moses, they're everywhere. Do something. So he did that. And if you looked at that, right, you were anywhere bitten and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. So again, you look to God, right? This wasn't God, but it was what God told Moses to do, and they lived, right?
SPEAKER_02Now, something I think is interesting is because this is was all God, you know, God said make a snake and put an odd pole. He could have taken the snakes away.
SPEAKER_00Could have taken the snakes away.
SPEAKER_02But I think he didn't, because as long as the snakes are there, they have to you know look to him. Yeah, they're dependent on him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02When things are going rosy is when we look away. People, yeah, forget about God. And he's you know he's done so much for them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And and they're complaining, and yeah, he's he's fed up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But um I mean, other yeah, you know, did you bring us out of the wood to die in the wilderness? That's why we're here, Moses? God? Is that the deal? Another time I think it was, were there not enough graves in Egypt? You know, at least we had something to eat there. I mean, so it's really um, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, very complainy.
SPEAKER_00And it's also God giving Moses an instruction, and he did it, right? It was a crisis time, there are snakes, right? But Moses obedient, right?
SPEAKER_02And then when you have the John passage, you can see that this was kind of a foreshadowing of Jesus being on the cross.
SPEAKER_00Lifted up. And when Jesus lifted up, it can only be the cross.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you know, in in the John passage, everyone who believes will have eternal life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And if you look at it, if you look to the cross, right, you'll be healed and you'll have eternal life, right? If you look to the snake, you'll be healed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We had a pastor one time who talked about the snake on the back of an ambulance. This symbol.
SPEAKER_02Oh, uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00And he'd wonder if that's where the origin of this was.
SPEAKER_02Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00And I googled it, they had something else. But this was clearly snake.
SPEAKER_02Huh. That would have made sense.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But maybe it was originally, but they had to change it so people weren't offended or whatever. All right. Anything else to do? Oh, thanks for listening to this week's Flip Devotional the podcast. Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, download, share with your friends. Um, send us some fan mail, and we will talk to you next week. Bye.
