 Amen. So Joshua chapter 13. So here we're focusing on, remember in Joshua chapter 12 we kind of wrapped up all the conquests and we talked about all the kings, the 31 kings that had been defeated and it kind of wrapped up the you know the physical battles are over and they're at least they're they're over to the point of the the initial conquest is done. It goes through the 31 kings in Joshua chapter 12 and explains you know who they conquered and who what you know we talked about some conquests and incomplete conquests. There's more of that we'll talk about this evening but Joshua chapter 13 is talking about now we get into basically Joshua chapter 13 through Joshua chapter 22 is basically talking about the land allotments basically the the allotments of land to each tribe of the children of Israel and just who gets what and where the borders are and if they were completely conquered or not and the Joshua chapter 13 is talking about mainly the land on the other side of the Jordan the east side of the Jordan before they came across that's why it says you know Moses gave to them, Moses gave to them because if you remember Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh they basically they got to the Jordan and they were about to cross the Jordan and go fight if you remember and these three tribes said you know we like this land over here they had some battles already because some kings on the other side on the east side of the Jordan had already resisted them so they conquered them and these guys they were they they raised cattle and it was good pasture land and they said you know we'd just be happy with this land and if you remember Moses basically said you know as long as you help us fight you know as long as you help us fight and conquer the promised land on the other side of the West because of course that was the initial concern was though they just want to stay here and take the easy land and not have to go fight for anything but that's not the case they went and they fought and they helped the children of Israel conquer the land and this is the allotment that they get on the east side is what Joshua chapter 13 is talking about I'm not going to just go through every single verse here but what we'll do for the next few chapters is we'll look at some of these allotments some of these tribes and see how they relate to other parts of the Bible and I'll show you kind of that methodology tonight but let's start out in Joshua chapter 13 look at verse number one because all these things correlate somehow and have consequences and things like that other places in the Bible even in the historical context of the Old Testament look at Joshua 13 and verse number one now Joshua was old and stricken in years and the Lord said to him thou art old by the way the Lord is the only one that can say something like that and it not be rude right so you can't really go up to somebody and be like you're old you know but basically the Lord comes out up to Joshua and says you're old he's like you're old and stricken in years and they remain it yet very much land to be possessed so it's not like this was a done deal it's not like this was finished you know and that's kind of that kind you can kind of relate that to the sermon that I preached on Sunday morning it's kind of like these goals in our life are never going to be done you know and that was kind of where they were at with the land they had not conquered everything that they were supposed to have been conquered meaning God had given in them a territory and they had only conquered so much of it is what I'm getting at look at verse number two this is the land that yet remain it so we now we go into the land that basically it remains they haven't even gone in there they haven't even conquered it at all all the borders of the Philistines and if you've read the Bible you know that from this point on even to the time of David and beyond the Philistines are just a thorn in the side of God's people throughout the entire Bible and all guess shuri from seahore which is before Egypt onto the borders of Echron northward which is counted to the Canaanite five lords of the Philistines the gazethites the ashtarites the Esca guess Escalonites the Gittites and the Echronites also the avites turn to first Samuel chapter five first Samuel chapter five so here's the land that I mean look there was very much land to still be possessed so they were they were to possess this land they were supposed to and this was their land and as you can say it's counted to the Canaanite the Canaanites were the people that they were supposed to push out of the land so this land of the Philistines was counted as Canaanite land and that this was part of the promised land that the people of Israel had and these five lords of the Philistines remain there look at first Samuel chapter five hundreds of years later the time of Samuel look what the Bible says and the Philistines in verse number one took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer onto Ashdod so here's two cities that we're going to see here right away the Philistines just defeated the children of Israel in battle and took the Ark this is way into the future from where Joshua was at look at verse number two when the Philistines took the Ark of God they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon so there's still a heathen people it's not like the children of Israel have even come into this area and are living amongst them as the Bible would say and when they have Ashdod arose early on the morrow behold Dagon was fallen on his face before the Ark of the Lord this is this idol this false God and God knocked it over it's kind of a funny story here and they took Dagon and set him in his place again like oh our dumb idol fell over and they set up their idol again when they arose early on the morning on the morrow morning behold Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut upon the threshold only the stump of Dagon was left to him therefore neither the priests of Dagon or any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashdod under this day so they got so scared from this situation that the priests just abandoned the the priesthood of Dagon and Ashdod here they were just afraid of what was going but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod and destroyed them and smote them with emeralds you can look that up yourself if you want to know what that is even Ashdod and the coast thereof and when the man of Ashdod saw that it was so they said the Ark of God of Israel shall not abide with us for his hand to sore upon us and upon Dagon our God lowercase G so here these people of Ashdod have stolen the Ark from the children of Israel hundreds of years later verse number eight therefore they gathered all the Lords of the Philistines under them and said what shall we do with the Ark of God of Israel and they answered let the Ark of God of Israel be carried about unto Gath these are the Getites by the way that live in Gath and they carried the Ark of God of Israel about thither it was so that after they carried it about the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction and he smote them of the city both small and great and they had emeralds and their secret parts therefore they sent the God the Ark of God to Ekron and it came to pass as the Ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites crawled out and saying they brought about the Ark of God of Israel to us to slay us and our people everyone is afraid of the Ark of God at this point turn over to first Samuel chapter six first Samuel chapter six so we see you know some of these same cities that were not conquered in Joshua chapter 13 we see that they're causing trouble for the people of Israel hundreds of years later look at first Samuel chapter six and verse number 16 and when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it here's the same five lords they returned to Ekron the same day and these are the golden emeralds which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord and here's where the Ark caused all the trouble right here Ashdod Gaza Escalon Gath and Ekron the same five places because like the Ark of God is being taken captive into these five cities that are they are basically the Lord cities the Lord has given these cities to the children of Israel they just haven't had the faith to go out and conquer what the Lord has already given them so God's taken things into his own hands here and they were literally afraid to have the Ark of God in any of these five cities and they sent it back to the children of Israel go back to Joshua chapter 13 so the same cities in Joshua 13 are still giving them trouble in the time of Samuel through David you know the stories where was where was Goliath from he was from Gath he was a Getite he was from Gath look at Joshua chapter 13 and verse number 4 the Bible says from the south all the land of the Canaanites that is beside the Sidonians and to affect to the border of the Amorites and the land of the Giblites and all Lebanon toward the Sun rising from Belgad under Mount Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath now skip down to verse number 8 verse number 8 through basically verse number 13 talks about you know just the just the territory on the east of Jordan and I want you to focus let's look at if you remember you know aug in verse 12 all the kingdom of aug in Bayshon this is the the giant which rained in Astoroth and Edry who remained out of the remnant of the giants for these did Moses smite and cast them out nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not now here's another incomplete conquest right here they expelled not the Gesheites nor the Macath the Macathalites but the Gesheites and the Macathalites dwelt among the Israelites unto this day so now we have a situation where it's not that they didn't conquer the place they conquer the place but now they dwelt amongst these people they dwelt amongst them you say it's no big deal right no big deal they do what they still conquered it they're in charge you know what's the big deal turn to 2 Samuel chapter 3 turn to 2 Samuel chapter 3 so they did not expel the Gesheites they're dwelling amongst them they're dwelling amongst them and again hundreds of years later in the time of Saul and in the time of David we see that this causes a major problem in the Bible look at 2 Samuel chapter 3 and look at verse number one look at 2 Samuel chapter 3 and verse number one now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David but David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker verse number two and Dave and unto David there were born there were sons born in Hebron and his first was Amnon of Ahinuam the Jesuitists and his second Shalab of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite and the third Absalom the son of Mecca the daughter of Talmai king of where king of Geshe and the Geshe rights is where they dwelt amongst these people so here's what happened here's what happened hundreds of years later King David marries one of these people he marries one of these people and he has this son and this son's name is Absalom so David marries and she wasn't just any but she wasn't just any Geshe right by the way look at who she was she was a princess of she was a princess of Geshe I mean you ever wonder I mean look here's the thing look at 2 Samuel chapter 13 2 Samuel chapter 13 you say so what's the big deal so David had a few wives and one of his wives was a print princess of Geshe she was the daughter of Talmai king of Geshe so this is a princess this woman that David marries but Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Amahud king of Geshe so this is Absalom Absalom is David's third son who killed Amnon if you remember Amnon of course you know we know the story there he committed a serious sin against his sister and you know Absalom killed him for it and you know I hardly blame Absalom for that but Absalom flees for fear of you know reprisal from his father and other people and look where he goes where does he go Absalom fled and he went to Talmai the son of Amon king of Geshe and David mourned for his son every day he fled to grandpa's house is where Absalom went and he went to he didn't go to the people the children of Israel he went to this king this Geshe right king is where he went Absalom fled and went to Geshe and was there three years and the soul of King David long to go forth unto Absalom but he was comforted concerning Amnon seeing he was dead so David didn't really mind that Amnon was dead I'm sure he found out what he had done that he had forced himself upon his sister but look turn to Deuteronomy chapter 7 Deuteronomy chapter 7 this is why the Bible warned the children of Israel of of doing this very thing and and it's it just has serious consequences in every single time that it happens in the Bible look at Deuteronomy chapter 7 and look at verse number 3 Deuteronomy 7 and verse number 3 the Bible says neither shall thou make marriages with them it's almost like God knew that there would be serious generational consequences if they mixed with these people and married into these people thy daughter shall not give unto his son nor his daughter shall I take unto thy son for they will turn away thy son from following me that they may serve other gods so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy these suddenly go back to 2 Samuel 15 go back to 2 Samuel 15 so basically the the theory is this God says don't marry these don't mix with these people first of all this is like warning B warning a was just get rid of all of them just destroy them all they all needed to be destroyed just like Jericho just like the other cities that were utterly destroyed that's what they were supposed to do but they stopped doing that and some of them they didn't conquer at all some of them they conquered and put them in tribute and they lived they dwelt amongst them as the Bible says which is the case in Geshe they dwelt among them and David marries into them Deuteronomy 7 gives the secondary warning of okay if you're not going to utterly destroy them certainly don't marry into them don't give them your daughters don't take their daughters to your sons why because they will turn your hearts away from me and they will take the hearts of the people and they will they will turn the heart away and look at what happens here look at 2 Samuel chapter 15 Absalom is gone for three years and then David is convinced and David brings Absalom back he's gone for three years he goes to grandpa's house to the king of Geshe and look at he has just come back if you look at the verse before 2 Samuel 15 verse number one the very net previous verse he has just returned and look at verse number one what does he do immediately when he gets back and it came to pass after this after he returned from grandpa's house that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him and Absalom rose early and stood beside the way of the gate and it was so that any man that had controversy came to the king for judgment then Absalom called on to him and said of what city art thou and he said thy servant is one of the tribes of Israel and Absalom said unto him see thy matters are good and right but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee he says he says the king is too busy for you he stops he sits at the gate he sits at the gate of the city why because he wants to be the first one to see people coming so he stands at the door and he just intercepts people and he says hey the king's too busy for you tell me your problem I'm the king's son look at verse number four and Absalom said moreover all that I were made judge in the land that every man which have any suitor case might come unto me and I would do him justice he's like the king the king's just too busy but he's like oh man but if I was the king I would not be too busy I would I would hear every problem that you have and I would look he's he's committing treason immediately when he gets back he's got this huge plan he's got this huge plan he hires all these these men to run before him look he wants to look official he wants to look official he wants to look like he wants to look the part of a king look he didn't just show up and then think of this like this man's been planning this for a while because as soon as he gets back he hits the ground running with this trees in his plan I mean he came back changed is what I'm getting at he came back after his father he came back a traitor so what was going on what was going on in gesher I'm sure grandpa wasn't saying wonderful things about King David I'm sure grandpa wasn't sitting there saying you know hey you know I mean you ought to think about this when you think about who has the opportunity to influence your children by the way we think about oh you know I'm gonna just leave first of all I mean I wouldn't leave your kids with anybody in this day and age relatives anybody anybody so I mean that solves the problem right there but the point is people can influence your kids people can be influenced this boy was influenced and he was turned against his father in this three years that he was gone but look I mean it Deuteronomy 7 came true it all started with David marrying into people that he should not marry into God warned him and who did it affect it affected his son and his son turned against him just like he turned against the me who David was with God David's heart was with God Absalom's heart turned against God turned against David and he turned against his father I mean this is just more trouble from incomplete conquest conquest but we can see the details of how things happen here and it can be a warning for us don't think that people can't influence your kids even in subtle ways by the way and don't you think that you know you're not gonna have people in your lives that are not gonna try to influence your children they're gonna try and you need to make sure that that opportunity can't happen again more trouble from incomplete conquest so you know another lesson is complete the Lord's conquests don't leave incomplete conquest don't leave things that you know you are supposed to complete don't leave those things undone because as time goes on they will become bigger and bigger and bigger problems in your life I mean look I mean a lot of people think you know they have problems and you know I talked about this in a little bit on Sunday morning but like the longer you leave problems in your life David's a great example but the longer you leave problems in your life the more it will affect your children I mean there's a definitely a time variable there there's definitely a time variable I mean look at you you can't have this attitude that I will get it right eventually if you have kids you know because it will just get worse and worse until you don't realize how serious the problem is you know you've heard the saying that sin will keep you longer than you want to stay it'll cost you more than you want to pay the cost is going to be the part of the cost that you don't want to pay is going to be your kids almost every time go back to Joshua chapter 13 Joshua chapter 13 so we see more problems in the Bible with incomplete conquests Joshua chapter 13 look at verse 14 Joshua chapter 13 so verses 14 or 15 or so through 22 is basically Rubens inheritance it's Rubens inheritance but there's an interesting part I want to read verse 22 I'm not going to go through all the cities that they inherited but look at verse number 22 where the Bible says I mean this is just kind of a random verse right in the middle of Joshua chapter 13 where it says Balaam also the son of Bior the soothsayer did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them now that's a huge story and I'm going to preach a whole sermon on that next week so we're not going to touch that this evening you know there's a huge story about this man Balaam and Numbers chapter 22 and elsewhere in the Bible one of the neat things about the story about Balaam and I'll show you that on I'll show you that next week but the neat thing about that story is if you just read it in the Old Testament you know it's it may seem a little confusing but when you we put together some things from the old or from the New Testament that talks about it kind of like unlocks the puzzle for us so it's a really cool example of the Bible kind of you know explaining the whole thing to itself with the New Testament matching the Old Testament so we'll go through that next week but look at verse number 23 look at verse number 23 oh go back to verse 14 I'm sorry I mentioned verse 14 but I didn't read it I'm going to read verse 14 and then we'll talk about it at the end but randomly in the middle of Joshua chapter 13 we're talking about all this land and all this places and the cities and the borders in verse 14 the Bible says only unto the tribes of Levi so we're only talking about Reuben Gad and Manasseh really here in Joshua chapter 13 and then we get this random verse that says only under the tribes of Levi he gave none inheritance the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance as he said unto them so just remember that underline that in your Bible that the sacrifices were their inheritance okay so the children of the the tribe of Levi gets basically two things to inherit and the first one is the sacrifices the Lord God made of Israel by fire okay now go back to verse number 23 verse number 23 through oh verse let me see here first number 23 through it's really 24 through 28 is the children of Gad's inheritance and then we go from 29 through 32 is basically the children of Manasseh but look at verse 23 it says that the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan and the border thereof and this was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families the cities and villages thereof so many borders are rivers just an interesting point there they're natural barriers and God uses natural barriers it's just interesting God's a map maker you can kind of take from this you know that was God's idea you'll see that with many states in the United States kids when you're when you're learning your states in your geography you'll see that many borders are rivers you know the border between North Dakota and Minnesota is the Red River it's a river many states are divided by rivers it just makes sense it's a natural barrier and God uses it as well now go back down to so basically the rest of the chapter from 29 to 32 is Manasseh's inheritance but let's look at the last verse of the chapter where it says but unto the tribe of Levi so here we go again onto the tribe of Levi so in verse number in verse number 14 we saw that he gave none inheritance to Levi except the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire and then in verse number 33 we see that the tribe of Levi Moses gave not an inheritance the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance as he said unto them turn to 1st Peter chapter 2 in verse number 5 so first of all we see we see the the mistakes that the children of Israel made they left a lot of land not conquered they left land incompletely conquered we saw how historically that affects the children of Israel throughout the history of the Bible but then we get these two little morsels about the the tribe of Levi and how they didn't get an inheritance of land they didn't get an inheritance of land look at 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse number 5 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse number 5 we can apply this inheritance of the tribe of Levi directly to us and I'll explain to you why if we look at 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse number 5 the Bible says ye also so the Levites were the priests the Levites were the priests ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood we talked about this in the Baptist basic series the priesthood of the believer we are priests the Bible says you have a priesthood and holy priesthood to offer up what spiritual sacrifices so we are you know we're not sacrificing bulls and goats in a temple like the Levites were but we're offering up spiritual sacrifices well let me ask you I mean are you offering up spiritual sacrifices you know when we go out and we go soul winning and we get somebody saved and we share the gospel that's those are spiritual sacrifices that we're offering to the Lord and the spiritual sacrifices they should be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ you can't just sacrifice anything you have to do like what God tells you to do and that is a spiritual sacrifice that is acceptable to God it's not you can't just make up your own thing I mean that's what everybody's doing right everyone's making up their own spirituality and we'll look at that in a few minutes but you can't just like be like I'm all spiritual I mean how many weird people have you met that have all kinds of weird spiritual things that they do we're talking about that today out soul winning people just they they're in this weird I mean I don't can't remember what brother Matt called it but they're they're in these like weird spiritual realms or something like these if you make up your own weird spirituality that you combine your horoscope and and you know some weird spiritual thing and you're talking to the wall you know that is not acceptable to Jesus Christ so we are priests this can apply directly to us so they don't inherit any land they they get the sacrifices of the offerings of the burnt of offered by fire and their inheritance is literally God it says it says the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance right what what could that mean turn to first turn to Ephesians Ephesians chapter 1 and look at verse number 11 well the Bible says the same thing about us is that we have an inheritance as well I'm gonna show you how the New Testament just matches perfectly to so I mean the person that wrote the New Testament if it was a man he must have been a genius because he matched everything perfectly all these things we see about God's army in the New Testament matching perfectly to God's army in the Old Testament all these things about the priests and their inheritance matching perfectly to us being priests and our inheritance and our sacrifices and you know the things that we're supposed to offer it fits up just perfectly these men must have been geniuses they were fishermen and geniuses right look at verse number 11 of first of Ephesians chapter 1 the Bible says in whom also in Jesus by the way Christ in whom also we have in obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will so we have we have an inheritance in whom it says in whom in Christ so basically our inheritance is Christ is what the Bible is saying which matches up perfectly with what it says that the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance the Levites it matches perfectly go to Colossians Colossians chapter 1 and look at verse number 12 Colossians chapter 1 and look at verse number 12 Colossians chapter 1 and verse number 12 just one a couple chapter a couple of books over in the Bible the Bible says giving thanks unto the Father which had made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light so we have a spiritual inheritance and that inheritance is Christ very exactly the same as the Levites had their inheritance in Joshua chapter 13 so look let's talk about that in a little bit but I want to say a couple things about the land here and I want to say a couple things about just we'll go back to the Levites and I want to apply a couple more things there but we're basically going through and I didn't read every verse because it's just like border here and border there and but the allotment was very specific in the Old Testament in what the children of Israel and each tribe and you're going to see that you're going to see that in chapters 13 through chapters 22 that God is very specific this tribe gets this land and here's the border this river and to the north and to the south and to this side God's very detailed but here's the thing the allotment was very specific God literally gave them this land and I want to point this out because it's going to be important with some of the things that we study in the future at this church this is the only time in history in the hit okay let me rephrase that this is the only time in the history of the world that God has specifically given land to certain people it's not the case in the United States in the foundation of the United States God did not come down from heaven you're not going to find it in the Bible and said you know New York goes to these people and you know Rhode Island goes to this these four families and North Dakota goes to these families because I'm not happy with them but I mean the point is that nobody specifically gave anybody else land in the history of the world except right here they're God I mean didn't give anybody else land this is a very specific case that point will be important that point will be important as like a main focus of this church just as a side note is going to be is going to be education a main focus of this church is going to be education I may not be the most entertaining preacher that you will ever hear but look I want to be super focused on studying the Bible here I want to be super focused on how the Bible relates to us today I mean we're going to go into some deep dives here we're going to find out what the Bible says we're going to find out what man has done throughout history does it match with the Bible does it not match with the Bible what were the consequences what were the consequences either way where I mean where did we come from why were things done the way they were done you know our why are we going the way we're going today all these questions can be answered from the Bible the main focus on this of this church and you know one of the biggest reasons it's the reason that we're homeschooling homeschooling church one of the main focuses of this church is a biblical worldview and in order to have like and look you can have a biblical worldview on you know a surface level or you can have a biblical worldview on a very in-depth level where you can look at everything that's happening around you everything that's happened over the last 50 years 100 years 200 years 300 years and you can look at it you can say yeah can understand why that happened can understand why it went there went there went there it can understand the consequences of where we're headed and you understand everything from the focus of the Bible a biblical worldview and guess what is the kids are raised this way they will understand it as well so when people have all these dumb things and then you'll start to really realize how stupid the philosophies are that are being taught to children today you know whether that just be evolution or secular humanism or whatever I mean these kids by the time kids in this church this is my goal by the time a kid in this church is 12 years old he'll look at all these worldly philosophies and just be and that is dumb like that it's crazy that people do that because it is so that's going to be a main focus just a preview of this church now the Levites let's go back to them God was their inheritance God was their inheritance in Joshua chapter 13 what does this mean here's what this means here's what this means it means think about it everybody else got land everybody else got a hundred acres or a thousand acres or whatever you want to call it they just got God is their inheritance what I take from that is that it means they had to have more faith than everybody else the Levites turn to Nehemiah chapter 13 see everybody else got land they could go out there and they could work they can go out there and they could build they could go out there and they could improve they could go out there but not the Levites not the Levites they had to rely on the tithe from the people number one go to Nehemiah chapter 13 Nehemiah chapter 13 look at verse number 10 so Nehemiah you know he's been gone for a while and Nehemiah comes back and the Levites are there they're nowhere to be seen in the house of God it's like coming into a church and the pastor is just he's not there he's not there he's not he's not coming to work anymore and Nehemiah chapter 10 look at verse Nehemiah chapter 13 verse number 10 and I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them for the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled everyone to his field what in the world they didn't have a field what are they doing out in the field then I contended with the rulers and said why is the house of God forsaken and I gathered them together and set them in their place he dropped the hammer on these people so here you had the Levites the Levites were sitting in the house of God and nobody was taking care of them so they're like we're gonna go work too we're going out we're getting some land and we're gonna go out and we're gonna we're gonna do our thing and he contended with the rulers because they weren't being taken care of in verse number 10 then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries in verse number 12 so he set things right look the priests quit they were out on the land with everyone else so Nehemiah squared things away we'll talk about that in more detail on Sunday night but the main thing was that they were to be taken care of from the tithe number one and and I don't really that's not really the main focus of what I'm getting at but the point is their inheritance was the Lord himself actual land they got never what does that mean what does that mean is that mean blessings on earth does that mean blessings in heaven here here's here's what that means they just had to do what they were supposed to do they were supposed to be taking care of by the people they were supposed to go and do what they were supposed to do and then God would take care of the rest that's what that means and they just that's why they needed x that's why they needed like the Levite had to have more faith than everybody else because when And you can go out, look when you can go out and you can work your land and you can build your business and you can do all these things and you know, look you can see that. You can see those results of your own actions. I mean think about it. You know you go out and you have a chunk of land and say brother Frank has a chunk of land and I have a chunk of land and maybe I have an idea for my chunk of land and he has an idea for his chunk of land. Look is every business idea created equal? I mean can you really say? I mean let's say that brother Frank goes out and he starts a taco truck with a red lobster on the top of it and I start Microsoft. I mean is it the same? Is it the same result? No I mean so you could see the results of what you were doing. The red lobster or the rubber lobster thing that is a great idea though. And now it's going to be out there for everybody. That's fine that's my gift to the world right there. A taco truck with a red rubber lobster on the roof. These big rubber claws flopping around, driving around Fresno. Lobster tacos, there you go. It's out there. But look the bottom line is that you could go out and you could work your own land. You could do your own thing. You could build your own business and you know you could kind of have that assurance of your own success to a degree. The Levites just had to do what they were supposed to do and just trust that God would take care of them. They just had to do their job and have faith that God would take care of them. That's kind of how I feel. That's kind of how I feel. I just have to do what I'm supposed to do and God will take care of everything else. That's kind of how I've always felt since I've been here. So I mean if I have that faith God will take care of the rest. You know others can labor on the land and work you know but the Levite needs the faith to do what he needs to do. You know but look a church just as think about this just as you could have the taco truck on the land and the Microsoft on the land like a really good idea and maybe not so good idea. Look a church can go the same two directions. A church can have the same spectrum. A church can be managed very well. A church can be managed exactly how God wants it to be managed or it can be completely run amuck. I mean that spectrum is there. I mean there could be look there could be just like just like the Microsoft and the taco truck there could be no standards. There could be no order. I'm assuming we have two churches on the spectrum that are you know that have a candlestick and that are you know they have the right gospel by the way. I mean that's what we see everywhere in churches today just no order no standards whatever and anything and everything goes. Even with two churches that have the right gospel they could be managed the way God wants it or not. I mean that spectrum is still there but that's not pleasing to the Lord if it's not run the way the Bible says that it should be run. The inheritance look the inheritance will be doled out accordingly. You have to think about it that way. Look at verse 2 Corinthians chapter 14 or 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Here's the thing as far as order in the church goes and the reason that Nehemiah had a right to be so upset that everybody was gone is because as far as order in the church goes look somebody has to keep order in the church. Somebody has to keep order in the house of God. You say well it's a mess today. It's a mess today and it's just kind of because of the day and age that we live in and you know this it's a new problem it's not a new problem. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Look here's the thing though you have to be present to lead and that's what Nehemiah that's what Nehemiah knew. He knew that these Levites they needed to be not where they were they needed to be in the house of God doing what they're supposed to do. You say maybe order in the church and disorderly churches is a new thing. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Look at I mean it's just Paul dealing with the Corinthians. I mean Jesus has just been here. Look at verse 26. Look what he says he says how is it then brethren when you come together every one of you hath a psalm hath a doctrine hath a tongue hath a revelation hath an interpretation he says let all things be done and edifying look at these people here imagine this church this church is a train wreck everybody's singing their own different types of songs I mean some people want contemporary you know CCM or whatever you call it some people want to sing the old hymns everybody's just kind of doing what they want everybody has their own doctrine some people think the two witnesses are this some people think the gospel is this some people think this and it's just a mess and then it's even crazier they went Pentecostal that everyone hath a tongue look everyone he's he has to literally explain for the next few verses like hey don't just go babbling a bunch of random stuff it's like if nobody can understand what you're saying what's the point it's like everything should be done onto edifying it's like that's not edifying to anybody you know that's you know that's that's not in in less and less you know I'm like and then brother Jeremy gets up and he says he said to follow the word of God and then I'm like he's like he said to read your bible every Tuesday night at six o'clock he said go to church three times a week that's how that's what Paul saying is supposed to happen except it's supposed to be anyway I'm not even meaning to get into the whole tongues thing but the point is this church is a mess this church is a mess everybody's doing crazy stuff and you know why they're doing it by the way they're doing this so they can seem spiritual they're making up their own spiritual sacrifices they're making up their own stuff they're in weird spiritual land like brother Matt said they're just like you know what I'm super spiritual because I go into a trance and drool on myself and fall over in church well you didn't go into you didn't you know go into a coma in church on Wednesday night when are you even saved that's that's where that's at it's about being spiritual or trying to bug these are not spiritual sacrifices that the Lord wants he goes on and look at verse skip down to verse number thirty four he goes on to explain he's like look this church needs order like this church needs order look at verse thirty four then he says even more about order imagine saying imagine saying this today imagine standing up in a church and saying this today let your women keep silent in the churches for it is not permitted under them to speak but they're commanded to be under obedience also say at the law and if they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at home for is a shame for women to speak in the church turn to first Timothy chapter two he's talking about proper order in the church this church is off the rails everybody's doing whatever they want to do whenever they want to do it they're saying crazy things they're preaching crazy doctrines and crazy tongues and languages that nobody understands and it's it's out of control first Timothy chapter two matches up perfectly in verse number twelve it says but I suffer not a woman to teach nor assert authority over the man but to be in silence look that's not a popular thing to say today but again proving why the Levites needed to be in the house of God a church look a church left on its own will just follow the culture right into the toilet that's why the Levites need to be in the house of God the Levite is a force against that the priest the pastor is a force against the the church following the culture but he needs to be present to administer the church we'll talk about you know some of those details in the coming days but all the Levite needs to do all the pastor needs to do of a church it's really pretty simple he needs to know what the Bible says he needs to know what the Bible says and then all he needs to do is just administer the church that way that that's it that's it it's broken down very simply that's what it is even like when it's like really culturally like like I mean like let your women keep silent in the churches like and people would hear that today and they're like would you hate women it's like no but that's what the Bible says so that's the way we run the church you know that's it doesn't mean the women can't talk uh... you know to their husbands and talk normally just like in the church service that's why the men say amen and the women don't because the Bible says and really second Timothy chapter two you just like that's a weird rule but second Timothy chapter two really kind of tells you why that rule is there because of where the church will end up going and it's saying look it's just that the it's the women are not to have authority over the men what this what this rule is really it's a it's a microcosm basically saying that the manner to lead the church the manner to be the leaders why the men to be the leaders are the men better because that's that's the role that that god gave them but there's roles in this life there is roles but an administering anything in managing a project there is roles if you have a hundred million dollar project that you're trying to build everybody can't be the electrician everybody can't be the valve mechanic everybody can't be the boiler maker everybody can't be the millwright you need no rights boiler makers valve guys technicians mechanics welders you need all these people i mean you why do you say that you know you could say that a white shouldn't this person be the welder look that's just who god put in charge to be in these roles it's very simple you know women are to raise the children the keepers at home that's the role that god gave them you know argue with god it's just simple roles and the the leviate the pastor is to just enforce these roles in the church and he has to be there has to be there to do it can't be you know running around you know trying to you know build microsoft like everybody else and that is where the leviate needs his faith because the lord will be his inheritance and whether that means blessings on this earth or blessings in heaven you know i don't know i'll let you know but the main thing is to do things the way god wants them it is more of a responsibility than a searching for blessings i believe that what that means is when it says that god will be your inheritance it's god simply saying to the leviate you do what i told you to do and i will take care of you it's really that simple okay i mean people would just take a statement like that and they will just cut it up and they will make all kinds of weird doctor about it it's like all it's saying is that god is saying to the leviate you do what you're supposed to do and i will take care of everything that that i'll take care of everything for you take care of everything for the church so that's what we'll do that's what we'll do here, you know i will administer this place properly according to what the bible says because i mean that's god commanding me and that's important and then i'll just have faith that god will just take care of everything that's why i don't worry about too many things you know i'm not really too worried about a building because what we have to do is we have to do what we're supposed to do we have to do what we're supposed to do and god can take care of the rest and you know doing what we're supposed to do is putting in our due diligence and looking for a building and soul winning and doing all these things but we're not going to cancel soul winning and go searching for a building we are going to do what we're supposed to do and also do due diligence and be responsible with what the lord has given us and god will take care of everything and have absolute faith in that not worried at all josh watch after thirteen let's bow our heads