0:00:00 - 0:00:28 All right. So, um they record this one on my phone because people are probably sick of the grainy laptop, poor lighting situation. So we'll change it up a little bit. Uh This morning, I got up to lift weights and preach the gospel and I'm all out of weights to lift. So here we go. Um If we were eyewitnesses 0:00:27 - 0:00:59 to jesus' ministry, we would find that he was constantly doing things that if we lived at the time and without the benefit of hindsight, historical hindsight, we would, we would interpret those things to be out of order for someone who um who claim to be a messenger of God, let alone someone who was 0:00:59 - 0:01:31 purported to be the Messiah and the Son of God. So, um I think it's important to realize just how much Jesus did intentionally or at least to approach that. Um because uh everything he did was meant to demonstrate something, if not to outright teach something. And he intentionally contradicted the traditions 0:01:30 - 0:02:08 of the time that were false. And um he did so, uh he did so too catalyze consideration of a different perspective. Um And so when I make videos that are grainy and they're just in a quick moment between sets of working out and I'm dressed in a tank top or something. Um, um, if you find that, that makes 0:02:08 - 0:02:32 it harder to listen to the things that I'm saying or believe the things I'm saying that is intentional and it says more about you than what I'm saying or how I'm saying it. And, um, one of the reasons that Jesus did things like heal people on the Sabbath day or eat things out of a field as they were 0:02:32 - 0:03:01 walking through on a Sabbath day or not washing their hands before they ate like everyone did back then. Um He did those things intentionally to draw attention to the crisscrossed wires of good and evil in the hearts of the people that surrounded him at the time. We all have crisscrossed wires and we 0:03:01 - 0:03:31 will continue to have them until we fully know God and are fully like him. And to the extent that we do not know God and are not fully like him. And so, um today, I want to talk a little bit about um the idea of making a distinction between the sacred and the profane. And um this is an incredibly important 0:03:31 - 0:03:59 topic and I hope that you're not distracted by um by my approach to this is something that's, that's um I, I pulled up five scriptures, but uh I have not written this out. I'm not reading a script, the reason for that is there are many reasons, but one reason is that um I am currently writing these books 0:03:58 - 0:04:16 , much like the people rebuilt Jerusalem and they couldn't come down from what they were doing to worry about things that were less than what they were doing. These are very much crumbs off the table. They're not the children's bread, these videos or the blog posts and uh I am authorized to do certain 0:04:16 - 0:04:54 things um in order to facilitate the echo of the impulse, that's the main impulse, but I can't take away from those things in any way that detracts from the much greater purpose and outcome that goes with that. And um the value of these things though it can be extracted by those who have ears to hear 0:04:53 - 0:05:30 and uh in that way, fulfill the just the just remuneration for their faith even before the um the fuller, um the fuller tools are available to make that happen more readily if that makes sense at all. So, um the idea I want to talk about today is, is holiness. And so what, what does holiness mean is 0:05:29 - 0:05:49 a very simple idea. But uh can you define it right now? So think about how you would define it to someone who wasn't religious, who's never been exposed to that sort of thing. So I'm curious to know what your definition is made right in the comment uh on this video, but pause and do that right? Now because 0:05:49 - 0:06:11 I'm about to tell you what it means. So, holy means different and better. And both of those components are necessary parts of the definition. If it's not different, it's not holy. And if it's not better, it's not holy. So you can be, um, different and not be better and that's not holy. That's just to 0:06:11 - 0:06:35 be worse. Um, you can't actually be better without being different. Um, but it's included in the definition because normally people wouldn't think about being different as part of being better. We have a lot of um uh we have a lot of uh there are a lot of ideas floating around our brains which are actually 0:06:35 - 0:06:58 inconsistent with each other. And um we don't notice those inconsistencies because we're just so familiar with repeating them and living according to them. But uh there's actually no such thing as better if it's not different anyway. Um So I want to read a bunch of scriptures here. So Levi uh Leviticus 0:06:56 - 0:07:27 10 says, uh uh I'm gonna start in verse eight, the Lord Spake unto Aaron saying verse nine, which I'll come back to and then verse 10 says, and that you may put difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. So uh a priest's job includes the task of putting a difference between holy 0:07:26 - 0:07:55 and unholy and between unclean and clean. One of the purposes of our mortal lives is to learn to discern between good and evil or what benefits and what degrades. And um a priest is expected to know that to a greater extent than those the priest teaches and serves. What makes a priest holy is a greater 0:07:54 - 0:08:23 understanding of what is better. And uh because what you understand is completely coupled to what you are and who you are, that priest also has to actually be better than those they serve and those they teach otherwise they don't have anything extra to offer them than what they already have. So all of 0:08:23 - 0:08:53 that is in very simple terms, but the magnitude of the meaning of what I just said is immense and it differs wildly from what people understand and practice today. Christianity in general is sadly lacking, immensely lacking in what uh the fullness of the potential that Jesus provided in his ministry 0:08:52 - 0:09:22 and uh a large portion of that gulf between what is and what could be. It lies in not understanding what I just said. So side note going back to verse nine. So I'll read eight again because who you know, can't retain the context. The Lord Spake unto Aaron saying verse nine, do not drink wine nor strong 0:09:22 - 0:09:45 drink, thou nor thy sons with thee. When you go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. So the priests were not supposed to drink wine or strong drink when they went into their temple. So if they were doing priestly service, they 0:09:45 - 0:10:12 needed to not be drinking. Um And then verse 10 again was in that you may put difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. So when you drink alcohol, you dull your ability to think rationally. And the reason these priests were told, hey, don't be tipsy, let alone drunk when you're 0:10:12 - 0:10:33 serving in your role as a priest was because it would inhibit their ability to put a difference between the holy and unholy and the clean and the unclean. So there's a whole lot of people who are religious who do not drink alcohol because they believe that that's what God wants them to do and whether 0:10:33 - 0:10:58 or not that's what God wants them to do. I want to call attention to the fact that at least a portion of that instruction if it exists today is so that they can put a difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. If you pride yourself on the fact that you abstain from alcohol and 0:10:57 - 0:11:20 yet you regularly engage in things that you know, are unholy and unclean, you're missing the point big time. And in fact, whatever truth might be in that as a commandment of God, your understanding of what God wants you to do and abstaining from alcohol, you're turning it into something that harms you 0:11:20 - 0:11:43 more than helps you because you're making it a token of your, your pretended righteousness while openly sinning against him in other things that frankly are way more important and I don't mean important because some person told you, I mean, they actually have a greater effect on your relationship with 0:11:43 - 0:12:08 God and your fellow men. So think about that. But that's a side note. Let's keep going in the same token though, this is related. Ezekiel 2226 the Lord is criticizing the priests at the time and he says her priests have violated my law and have profaned my holy things. They have put no difference between 0:12:07 - 0:12:30 the holy and the profane. Neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from their eyes, not their eyes have hid their, their eyes from my Sabbath and I am profaned among them. OK? So it's the job of the priest to make a difference or to make more clear 0:12:29 - 0:12:56 or more apparent the difference between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean and what's holy different and better. So a bad priest fails to show what is better. A good priest shows what is better and you can do both of these things by degrees. So, um the Lord was not happy with these priests 0:12:56 - 0:13:22 because they weren't doing their job. Ok? Um So again, from this is Ezekiel 4423. So we have in the revelation to and through Moses, what the priest's job is when ironic priests were initiated. And now we have an echo in Ezekiel. A reminder of what that job is. It says they shall teach my people the 0:13:22 - 0:13:44 difference between the holy and profane and cause them to discern between the unclean and the unclean. Are you, are you getting the pattern here? It's not a once off, this is a, a core function of priests. So the fact that, that there have to be people appointed to and capable of doing this, um It, it 0:13:44 - 0:14:02 just sort of presupposes the fact that we don't naturally know the difference between good and evil. It's something that's not inherent within us. It comes from heaven and it cascades down to us and we have to learn these things as we go. Well, how does that interface with the idea that it's as easy 0:14:01 - 0:14:22 to tell the difference between good and evil as it is darkness and light? These aren't contradictions. Understanding happens on levels, then you start wherever you are. And at that level, there are buckets of good and buckets. Uh There is a bucket of good and there is a bucket of evil and you need to 0:14:21 - 0:14:40 sort out your life and reconcile it to those things. And as you do that, the Lord will bring you up to the next level of understanding and you'll see more of the, the relationship between all things in reality, the true value of things and the true scope of options and you'll be able to reassess those 0:14:40 - 0:14:58 buckets of good and evil and you'll see more things on the list of each. So there's a, there's a changing between buckets and there are new items that have to be put into the buckets. And then there's the dimension of reconciling your life to that understanding because the mapping is an understanding 0:14:57 - 0:15:17 and then you have to actually act that way and then also bring your desires in accordance with that. So it's not enough to know what is good and evil. You also have to do what is good, stop doing what is evil. And then you also have to actually desire what is good and not desire, what is evil and those 0:15:16 - 0:15:51 are all separate things. So I talk a bit about that idea in the glory of God's intelligence and in through faith. So if you want to check those out, um OK, so now I wanna transition into um swords because you can never talk enough about those. Um where to start here. Let's start in Hebrews 412. So, so 0:15:50 - 0:16:10 there are phrases that echo through the scriptures, right? And one of them is on swords and it says something like this. This is a particular uh verse from Hebrews four verse 12. But you'll know of echoes of this throughout for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword 0:16:10 - 0:16:30 piercing, even to the divi dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We could talk about this for like eight hours, but I'm not going to uh because I have other things to do including taking a shower. But um let's zoom 0:16:29 - 0:16:50 into this for a second. Uh Let's talk about the sword being two edged. So why is it two edged? If you have a two edged sword, this is the knife hand. Those of you in military service will know that phrase and this hand because this is what is used when a drill sergeant is telling you what to do and what 0:16:50 - 0:17:16 not to do. So let's do the knife hand. So there's two edges to the sword, right? You cannot point the sword of light and truth towards anyone or anything without pointing the other edge at yourself. So honestly, wielded the sword of light and truth will uh be just as critical um towards yourself as anyone 0:17:15 - 0:17:48 else. So it will call to improvement anything in you just as much as it will anyone or anything else around you. And uh you don't have to listen to that. But when you don't that sword atrophies and the good it can do for others um for a variety of reasons. But um so that's why it's two edged, OK. So 0:17:47 - 0:18:18 a sword can slice and it can stab. So when you stab with the sword, what you're doing is you're taking this unarticulated blob of chaos and you're just reaching right in and you're revealing what is really up in a specific little piece of that. So um we don't perceive it as unarticulated chaos most of 0:18:18 - 0:18:36 the time. So human beings are immensely good at categorizing. And when you categorize something, you put it in a box that has a label. And so that label is like school, everything having to do with school goes in this box. And even though there's some like gnarly things in there that I don't really understand 0:18:35 - 0:18:55 and I haven't fully experienced throwing it in that box makes me feel like I have a handle on it and I don't freak out and you know, fall on the floor in a ball of anxiety or relationships or a specific relationship, right? We throw them in these categories and we pretend that we're done and it's all 0:18:54 - 0:19:11 well known. But the problem is is that everything is continuous and it keeps going. And so we think we have a relationship figured out or a person we think we know who they really are and then they do something that not only surprises us, but it's so different than what we thought they were and who they 0:19:11 - 0:19:35 were that it kind of throws us into a convulsion because, and, and psychologists call this ego death because the, the models that yielded this sense of security in our life are immediately melted into nothing. They just blow away. And it's not just that person in that thing. Although that can be a big 0:19:34 - 0:19:53 deal if your mom or your dad or your husband or your wife or your kid turns out to be radically different than you thought instantly. Like in an instant that will take you for a ride. But there's a deeper problem there, which is everything that you thought was secure in your life might be just as mistaken 0:19:52 - 0:20:15 as that was. And so how do you find security in that situation? This is a big ball of a and I don't want to get into it. We could talk about the differences between salvation and eternal life, but I'm not going to right now. Um But um yeah, so that box you reach right in when you stab it with the sort 0:20:15 - 0:20:33 , sort of truth and you see like one particular thing or one person or one aspect of one person or one aspect of life that really isn't the way you thought it was. And some priest just step right into that and said, nope, not, no, it's not like that. Here it is. And you gotta deal with that now, right 0:20:33 - 0:20:57 . Let's talk about slicing. So, um my favorite story illustrating this, which I had not pulled up is the story of Elijah and the priests of all. I love that story for a lot of reasons. But one particular aspect of that story is that um the most uh the most wicked priests were the ones that they just 0:20:57 - 0:21:17 come to see the show. They were so confident in what they believe that they're willing to go toe to toe with Elijah. And anything anytime, anything like that happens you're in for a show, there's gonna be some fireworks, right? Moses goes toe to toe with the magicians of Pharaoh. When Elijah goes toe 0:21:16 - 0:21:36 to toe with the priests of all, anytime, something like that happens, it's about to go down. And in this case, what happened was the most wicked priests got burned up from the fire. And then everyone else, they chased down and Elijah told them, chase these people down, don't let them get away and they 0:21:36 - 0:21:56 captured them all and they brought them back in. And this is telling Elijah didn't say kill them all. He hacked them to bits himself. And this is one of those stories where uh Christians are like, I don't know about like, let's not talk about that. Let's just pretend it doesn't exist and talk about Buddy 0:21:56 - 0:22:17 Jesus. Well, um the thing about the gospel and reality itself is you can either explain everything or you can't explain anything. So the, the, the degree to which you can explain everything, you know what you're talking about and the degree to which you can't, you don't. And it is a continuum. It's not 0:22:17 - 0:22:40 one or the other, but you got to take the whole thing. Every demonstration of God is all part of the same hole. And if you can't explain a chunk of it. It means you don't understand a much bigger chunk of it because it's all connected anyway. So, one of the reasons that Elijah chopped them to bits was 0:22:40 - 0:23:05 because a priest's job is to chop things to bits. And like we're not talking about going out and actually hacking people to bits at the moment. Uh But what I'm talking about are ideas, consequences, value options, right? What a priest does or what a priest is supposed to do is ascend to a higher level 0:23:04 - 0:23:32 of understanding, perhaps quite literally like um uh I don't wanna go there, I'll go there. Uh If you look through scriptures about a very high mountain upon which I'd never set foot, you know, mount of transfiguration is an example of this Moses going up onto Mount Sinai is an example of this. The elders 0:23:32 - 0:23:52 of Israel getting called to go up there as well. Elijah going into the cave up on the mountain. These are all examples of this. This is a really big topic. I'm just giving you like a little whiff of it. But um priests are expected to ascend to a higher level of experience and understanding. So that what 0:23:52 - 0:24:16 they're doing is they're zooming into the picture so that things that looked like they were the same become separated, right? So um when Jesus comes back to the Mount of Olives, he will physically split that mountain and it will be separated to the north and south and what was once one thing will now 0:24:16 - 0:24:45 be made separate. So aspects of what the Lord does, some things unify and some things divide and the common, the commonality between those things is that God changes things. And uh the way He does this again, like I'm, I'm just tiptoeing around some big things here. The way he does this is you can read 0:24:44 - 0:25:12 in the story of creation. Uh chaos is admitted and then his word is injected and then this unarticulated chaos, it splits apart into light and darkness and this is the way it goes at all scales. Everything is like this. So a priest's job is to spot these little blobs of chaos and then to chop them up 0:25:11 - 0:25:31 . It's like that robot from Wally that just goes around wiping up the marks that they keep making that the priest is just like chop chop, chop, chop, chop chop chop all the time, right? Was he chopped with the sword of truth? The sword of light, right? And a real priest is not immune from that blade 0:25:30 - 0:25:48 . They're able to wield it because not because it doesn't hurt them like it hurts the other things and it's not about harm. It's actually about benefit, it's about making things better. It's not that they're immune from improvement. It's just they've already been through it, right? Because you can't 0:25:47 - 0:26:08 hold on to that sword without instantly getting chopped. You can choose to like go and stab things with it and go and chop things with it. But it will, it, that will only happen as you do it, but it's already chopping you. The second you even look at this thing, it starts chopping you, right? And um 0:26:08 - 0:26:28 that's how it is. When as God reveals more of himself, the instantaneous effect is to reveal to you that there are things so much better than you've ever imagined. And your comeliness turns to corruption from Daniel, right? When He sees Gabriel, your comeliness turns everything you thought was good about 0:26:27 - 0:26:46 . You just goes into turbulence because you really thought that this one thing was exactly what God wanted. And he goes, you know, at the time with your understanding, it's kind of the best you could do. But uh and it was good for the time. It was good, but there's so much more, they're so much better 0:26:45 - 0:27:21 and um most people just get hung up on the uh how can I say this? The A phrase is eluding me at the time at, at, at the present, the robbery of past value. Let's the retroactive robbery of past value. There's your phrase, um All these things that you had value in at the time, a greater exposure to things 0:27:20 - 0:27:41 you weren't previously aware of that robs you from it instantaneously boom gone. Even the things that are still worth something they're worth so much less in the face of something so much greater and if any of you are mums, you know exactly what I'm talking about because the second you had your first 0:27:40 - 0:28:02 baby, everything you thought was astronomically important before got squished down to nothing compared to how you feel about that baby right in that moment. So, yeah, but it, this happens to everybody and that's just like a, a type to show you, well, it shows you many things but everyone can learn a 0:28:02 - 0:28:29 little bit more of what it's like to have a greater revelation of God to thinking about that. Ok. So what's this deal about the, the dividing asunder of? We'll just focus on joints and marrow. So, joints are things that connect bones and marrow is what's inside the bones. And uh anciently marrow was 0:28:29 - 0:28:51 like the best part of the butchered animal. Um in modern times actually, it turns out it's pretty, pretty good for you and we, we don't eat enough of it. Side note. So if you're, if you're struggling with joint issues, um you can get some collagen in your life and it, it peer-reviewed studies showed 0:28:50 - 0:29:11 that uh I don't remember the exact numbers. I think 30% uh reduction in healing time. Anyway, that's a side note. So marrow is good stuff and people get marrow transplants to heal all kinds of diseases and what it's good stuff. But anyway, so the marrow is what people think is the best and the joints 0:29:10 - 0:29:35 are the connections that people think exist between things and between people. What is the word of God and the word of truth? What does it do in the light? It divides the things that we thought were connected, it divides the things we thought were most important and it just slices and dices and what 0:29:35 - 0:30:02 it does is it, it uh elevates your understanding to something that's more correct and more complete and to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. You can only know who you are to the extent that you've become like God is. That's an axiom of truth. The more you become like God, the more you see 0:30:02 - 0:30:26 that everything you ever thought about was incorrect or incomplete and you can't go on that journey. That's the blade facing you without also having a blade that faces every direction it's pointed in. And that is an intentional reference to the the Cherubim that guard the way to the tree of life. I hope 0:30:25 - 0:30:59 that was explicit enough for you. I'll explain more about that God willing later. So Jesus said, ye shall know the truth. This is John 832. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. How does it free you? It cuts the chains off of you and it puts the chains onto the things that would 0:30:59 - 0:31:30 harm you. So the sword of God cuts chains and it also places chains. How is Satan bound with a chain? So I'm intentionally not going into this. It is already half hour long. Most people dip out after like two minutes. So just think about that. But the truth makes you free by cutting you. The truth makes 0:31:29 - 0:31:57 you free by cutting you. And what it does is it guides you to greater strength and goodness. And this is a weird thought that somehow a sword can be additive, but it is because it cuts away the things that impede you from greater things. So it makes you free, not by directly freeing you, but by cutting 0:31:57 - 0:32:30 a path towards greater truth, which makes you free. Because greater truth is what overcomes greater darkness. And I sideways referred to salvation versus eternal life before. And I'll do another little glance, there's a difference between being saved and overcoming those are different things. So they 0:32:30 - 0:32:57 line up with each other, but they're different levels. They're different distances on the same path, which is the way the truth and the life, which is Jesus Christ. So priests chop things, the sword is the sword of truth, the sword of the word of God, the sword of light, holy means better and different 0:00:00 - 0:00:28 All right. So, um they record this one on my phone because people are probably sick of the grainy laptop, poor lighting situation. So we'll change it up a little bit. Uh This morning, I got up to lift weights and preach the gospel and I'm all out of weights to lift. So here we go. Um If we were eyewitnesses 0:00:27 - 0:00:59 to jesus' ministry, we would find that he was constantly doing things that if we lived at the time and without the benefit of hindsight, historical hindsight, we would, we would interpret those things to be out of order for someone who um who claim to be a messenger of God, let alone someone who was 0:00:59 - 0:01:31 purported to be the Messiah and the Son of God. So, um I think it's important to realize just how much Jesus did intentionally or at least to approach that. Um because uh everything he did was meant to demonstrate something, if not to outright teach something. And he intentionally contradicted the traditions 0:01:30 - 0:02:08 of the time that were false. And um he did so, uh he did so too catalyze consideration of a different perspective. Um And so when I make videos that are grainy and they're just in a quick moment between sets of working out and I'm dressed in a tank top or something. Um, um, if you find that, that makes 0:02:08 - 0:02:32 it harder to listen to the things that I'm saying or believe the things I'm saying that is intentional and it says more about you than what I'm saying or how I'm saying it. And, um, one of the reasons that Jesus did things like heal people on the Sabbath day or eat things out of a field as they were 0:02:32 - 0:03:01 walking through on a Sabbath day or not washing their hands before they ate like everyone did back then. Um He did those things intentionally to draw attention to the crisscrossed wires of good and evil in the hearts of the people that surrounded him at the time. We all have crisscrossed wires and we 0:03:01 - 0:03:31 will continue to have them until we fully know God and are fully like him. And to the extent that we do not know God and are not fully like him. And so, um today, I want to talk a little bit about um the idea of making a distinction between the sacred and the profane. And um this is an incredibly important 0:03:31 - 0:03:59 topic and I hope that you're not distracted by um by my approach to this is something that's, that's um I, I pulled up five scriptures, but uh I have not written this out. I'm not reading a script, the reason for that is there are many reasons, but one reason is that um I am currently writing these books 0:03:58 - 0:04:16 , much like the people rebuilt Jerusalem and they couldn't come down from what they were doing to worry about things that were less than what they were doing. These are very much crumbs off the table. They're not the children's bread, these videos or the blog posts and uh I am authorized to do certain 0:04:16 - 0:04:54 things um in order to facilitate the echo of the impulse, that's the main impulse, but I can't take away from those things in any way that detracts from the much greater purpose and outcome that goes with that. And um the value of these things though it can be extracted by those who have ears to hear 0:04:53 - 0:05:30 and uh in that way, fulfill the just the just remuneration for their faith even before the um the fuller, um the fuller tools are available to make that happen more readily if that makes sense at all. So, um the idea I want to talk about today is, is holiness. And so what, what does holiness mean is 0:05:29 - 0:05:49 a very simple idea. But uh can you define it right now? So think about how you would define it to someone who wasn't religious, who's never been exposed to that sort of thing. So I'm curious to know what your definition is made right in the comment uh on this video, but pause and do that right? Now because 0:05:49 - 0:06:11 I'm about to tell you what it means. So, holy means different and better. And both of those components are necessary parts of the definition. If it's not different, it's not holy. And if it's not better, it's not holy. So you can be, um, different and not be better and that's not holy. That's just to 0:06:11 - 0:06:35 be worse. Um, you can't actually be better without being different. Um, but it's included in the definition because normally people wouldn't think about being different as part of being better. We have a lot of um uh we have a lot of uh there are a lot of ideas floating around our brains which are actually 0:06:35 - 0:06:58 inconsistent with each other. And um we don't notice those inconsistencies because we're just so familiar with repeating them and living according to them. But uh there's actually no such thing as better if it's not different anyway. Um So I want to read a bunch of scriptures here. So Levi uh Leviticus 0:06:56 - 0:07:27 10 says, uh uh I'm gonna start in verse eight, the Lord Spake unto Aaron saying verse nine, which I'll come back to and then verse 10 says, and that you may put difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. So uh a priest's job includes the task of putting a difference between holy 0:07:26 - 0:07:55 and unholy and between unclean and clean. One of the purposes of our mortal lives is to learn to discern between good and evil or what benefits and what degrades. And um a priest is expected to know that to a greater extent than those the priest teaches and serves. What makes a priest holy is a greater 0:07:54 - 0:08:23 understanding of what is better. And uh because what you understand is completely coupled to what you are and who you are, that priest also has to actually be better than those they serve and those they teach otherwise they don't have anything extra to offer them than what they already have. So all of 0:08:23 - 0:08:53 that is in very simple terms, but the magnitude of the meaning of what I just said is immense and it differs wildly from what people understand and practice today. Christianity in general is sadly lacking, immensely lacking in what uh the fullness of the potential that Jesus provided in his ministry 0:08:52 - 0:09:22 and uh a large portion of that gulf between what is and what could be. It lies in not understanding what I just said. So side note going back to verse nine. So I'll read eight again because who you know, can't retain the context. The Lord Spake unto Aaron saying verse nine, do not drink wine nor strong 0:09:22 - 0:09:45 drink, thou nor thy sons with thee. When you go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. So the priests were not supposed to drink wine or strong drink when they went into their temple. So if they were doing priestly service, they 0:09:45 - 0:10:12 needed to not be drinking. Um And then verse 10 again was in that you may put difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. So when you drink alcohol, you dull your ability to think rationally. And the reason these priests were told, hey, don't be tipsy, let alone drunk when you're 0:10:12 - 0:10:33 serving in your role as a priest was because it would inhibit their ability to put a difference between the holy and unholy and the clean and the unclean. So there's a whole lot of people who are religious who do not drink alcohol because they believe that that's what God wants them to do and whether 0:10:33 - 0:10:58 or not that's what God wants them to do. I want to call attention to the fact that at least a portion of that instruction if it exists today is so that they can put a difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. If you pride yourself on the fact that you abstain from alcohol and 0:10:57 - 0:11:20 yet you regularly engage in things that you know, are unholy and unclean, you're missing the point big time. And in fact, whatever truth might be in that as a commandment of God, your understanding of what God wants you to do and abstaining from alcohol, you're turning it into something that harms you 0:11:20 - 0:11:43 more than helps you because you're making it a token of your, your pretended righteousness while openly sinning against him in other things that frankly are way more important and I don't mean important because some person told you, I mean, they actually have a greater effect on your relationship with 0:11:43 - 0:12:08 God and your fellow men. So think about that. But that's a side note. Let's keep going in the same token though, this is related. Ezekiel 2226 the Lord is criticizing the priests at the time and he says her priests have violated my law and have profaned my holy things. They have put no difference between 0:12:07 - 0:12:30 the holy and the profane. Neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from their eyes, not their eyes have hid their, their eyes from my Sabbath and I am profaned among them. OK? So it's the job of the priest to make a difference or to make more clear 0:12:29 - 0:12:56 or more apparent the difference between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean and what's holy different and better. So a bad priest fails to show what is better. A good priest shows what is better and you can do both of these things by degrees. So, um the Lord was not happy with these priests 0:12:56 - 0:13:22 because they weren't doing their job. Ok? Um So again, from this is Ezekiel 4423. So we have in the revelation to and through Moses, what the priest's job is when ironic priests were initiated. And now we have an echo in Ezekiel. A reminder of what that job is. It says they shall teach my people the 0:13:22 - 0:13:44 difference between the holy and profane and cause them to discern between the unclean and the unclean. Are you, are you getting the pattern here? It's not a once off, this is a, a core function of priests. So the fact that, that there have to be people appointed to and capable of doing this, um It, it 0:13:44 - 0:14:02 just sort of presupposes the fact that we don't naturally know the difference between good and evil. It's something that's not inherent within us. It comes from heaven and it cascades down to us and we have to learn these things as we go. Well, how does that interface with the idea that it's as easy 0:14:01 - 0:14:22 to tell the difference between good and evil as it is darkness and light? These aren't contradictions. Understanding happens on levels, then you start wherever you are. And at that level, there are buckets of good and buckets. Uh There is a bucket of good and there is a bucket of evil and you need to 0:14:21 - 0:14:40 sort out your life and reconcile it to those things. And as you do that, the Lord will bring you up to the next level of understanding and you'll see more of the, the relationship between all things in reality, the true value of things and the true scope of options and you'll be able to reassess those 0:14:40 - 0:14:58 buckets of good and evil and you'll see more things on the list of each. So there's a, there's a changing between buckets and there are new items that have to be put into the buckets. And then there's the dimension of reconciling your life to that understanding because the mapping is an understanding 0:14:57 - 0:15:17 and then you have to actually act that way and then also bring your desires in accordance with that. So it's not enough to know what is good and evil. You also have to do what is good, stop doing what is evil. And then you also have to actually desire what is good and not desire, what is evil and those 0:15:16 - 0:15:51 are all separate things. So I talk a bit about that idea in the glory of God's intelligence and in through faith. So if you want to check those out, um OK, so now I wanna transition into um swords because you can never talk enough about those. Um where to start here. Let's start in Hebrews 412. So, so 0:15:50 - 0:16:10 there are phrases that echo through the scriptures, right? And one of them is on swords and it says something like this. This is a particular uh verse from Hebrews four verse 12. But you'll know of echoes of this throughout for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword 0:16:10 - 0:16:30 piercing, even to the divi dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We could talk about this for like eight hours, but I'm not going to uh because I have other things to do including taking a shower. But um let's zoom 0:16:29 - 0:16:50 into this for a second. Uh Let's talk about the sword being two edged. So why is it two edged? If you have a two edged sword, this is the knife hand. Those of you in military service will know that phrase and this hand because this is what is used when a drill sergeant is telling you what to do and what 0:16:50 - 0:17:16 not to do. So let's do the knife hand. So there's two edges to the sword, right? You cannot point the sword of light and truth towards anyone or anything without pointing the other edge at yourself. So honestly, wielded the sword of light and truth will uh be just as critical um towards yourself as anyone 0:17:15 - 0:17:48 else. So it will call to improvement anything in you just as much as it will anyone or anything else around you. And uh you don't have to listen to that. But when you don't that sword atrophies and the good it can do for others um for a variety of reasons. But um so that's why it's two edged, OK. So 0:17:47 - 0:18:18 a sword can slice and it can stab. So when you stab with the sword, what you're doing is you're taking this unarticulated blob of chaos and you're just reaching right in and you're revealing what is really up in a specific little piece of that. So um we don't perceive it as unarticulated chaos most of 0:18:18 - 0:18:36 the time. So human beings are immensely good at categorizing. And when you categorize something, you put it in a box that has a label. And so that label is like school, everything having to do with school goes in this box. And even though there's some like gnarly things in there that I don't really understand 0:18:35 - 0:18:55 and I haven't fully experienced throwing it in that box makes me feel like I have a handle on it and I don't freak out and you know, fall on the floor in a ball of anxiety or relationships or a specific relationship, right? We throw them in these categories and we pretend that we're done and it's all 0:18:54 - 0:19:11 well known. But the problem is is that everything is continuous and it keeps going. And so we think we have a relationship figured out or a person we think we know who they really are and then they do something that not only surprises us, but it's so different than what we thought they were and who they 0:19:11 - 0:19:35 were that it kind of throws us into a convulsion because, and, and psychologists call this ego death because the, the models that yielded this sense of security in our life are immediately melted into nothing. They just blow away. And it's not just that person in that thing. Although that can be a big 0:19:34 - 0:19:53 deal if your mom or your dad or your husband or your wife or your kid turns out to be radically different than you thought instantly. Like in an instant that will take you for a ride. But there's a deeper problem there, which is everything that you thought was secure in your life might be just as mistaken 0:19:52 - 0:20:15 as that was. And so how do you find security in that situation? This is a big ball of a and I don't want to get into it. We could talk about the differences between salvation and eternal life, but I'm not going to right now. Um But um yeah, so that box you reach right in when you stab it with the sort 0:20:15 - 0:20:33 , sort of truth and you see like one particular thing or one person or one aspect of one person or one aspect of life that really isn't the way you thought it was. And some priest just step right into that and said, nope, not, no, it's not like that. Here it is. And you gotta deal with that now, right 0:20:33 - 0:20:57 . Let's talk about slicing. So, um my favorite story illustrating this, which I had not pulled up is the story of Elijah and the priests of all. I love that story for a lot of reasons. But one particular aspect of that story is that um the most uh the most wicked priests were the ones that they just 0:20:57 - 0:21:17 come to see the show. They were so confident in what they believe that they're willing to go toe to toe with Elijah. And anything anytime, anything like that happens you're in for a show, there's gonna be some fireworks, right? Moses goes toe to toe with the magicians of Pharaoh. When Elijah goes toe 0:21:16 - 0:21:36 to toe with the priests of all, anytime, something like that happens, it's about to go down. And in this case, what happened was the most wicked priests got burned up from the fire. And then everyone else, they chased down and Elijah told them, chase these people down, don't let them get away and they 0:21:36 - 0:21:56 captured them all and they brought them back in. And this is telling Elijah didn't say kill them all. He hacked them to bits himself. And this is one of those stories where uh Christians are like, I don't know about like, let's not talk about that. Let's just pretend it doesn't exist and talk about Buddy 0:21:56 - 0:22:17 Jesus. Well, um the thing about the gospel and reality itself is you can either explain everything or you can't explain anything. So the, the, the degree to which you can explain everything, you know what you're talking about and the degree to which you can't, you don't. And it is a continuum. It's not 0:22:17 - 0:22:40 one or the other, but you got to take the whole thing. Every demonstration of God is all part of the same hole. And if you can't explain a chunk of it. It means you don't understand a much bigger chunk of it because it's all connected anyway. So, one of the reasons that Elijah chopped them to bits was 0:22:40 - 0:23:05 because a priest's job is to chop things to bits. And like we're not talking about going out and actually hacking people to bits at the moment. Uh But what I'm talking about are ideas, consequences, value options, right? What a priest does or what a priest is supposed to do is ascend to a higher level 0:23:04 - 0:23:32 of understanding, perhaps quite literally like um uh I don't wanna go there, I'll go there. Uh If you look through scriptures about a very high mountain upon which I'd never set foot, you know, mount of transfiguration is an example of this Moses going up onto Mount Sinai is an example of this. The elders 0:23:32 - 0:23:52 of Israel getting called to go up there as well. Elijah going into the cave up on the mountain. These are all examples of this. This is a really big topic. I'm just giving you like a little whiff of it. But um priests are expected to ascend to a higher level of experience and understanding. So that what 0:23:52 - 0:24:16 they're doing is they're zooming into the picture so that things that looked like they were the same become separated, right? So um when Jesus comes back to the Mount of Olives, he will physically split that mountain and it will be separated to the north and south and what was once one thing will now 0:24:16 - 0:24:45 be made separate. So aspects of what the Lord does, some things unify and some things divide and the common, the commonality between those things is that God changes things. And uh the way He does this again, like I'm, I'm just tiptoeing around some big things here. The way he does this is you can read 0:24:44 - 0:25:12 in the story of creation. Uh chaos is admitted and then his word is injected and then this unarticulated chaos, it splits apart into light and darkness and this is the way it goes at all scales. Everything is like this. So a priest's job is to spot these little blobs of chaos and then to chop them up 0:25:11 - 0:25:31 . It's like that robot from Wally that just goes around wiping up the marks that they keep making that the priest is just like chop chop, chop, chop, chop chop chop all the time, right? Was he chopped with the sword of truth? The sword of light, right? And a real priest is not immune from that blade 0:25:30 - 0:25:48 . They're able to wield it because not because it doesn't hurt them like it hurts the other things and it's not about harm. It's actually about benefit, it's about making things better. It's not that they're immune from improvement. It's just they've already been through it, right? Because you can't 0:25:47 - 0:26:08 hold on to that sword without instantly getting chopped. You can choose to like go and stab things with it and go and chop things with it. But it will, it, that will only happen as you do it, but it's already chopping you. The second you even look at this thing, it starts chopping you, right? And um 0:26:08 - 0:26:28 that's how it is. When as God reveals more of himself, the instantaneous effect is to reveal to you that there are things so much better than you've ever imagined. And your comeliness turns to corruption from Daniel, right? When He sees Gabriel, your comeliness turns everything you thought was good about 0:26:27 - 0:26:46 . You just goes into turbulence because you really thought that this one thing was exactly what God wanted. And he goes, you know, at the time with your understanding, it's kind of the best you could do. But uh and it was good for the time. It was good, but there's so much more, they're so much better 0:26:45 - 0:27:21 and um most people just get hung up on the uh how can I say this? The A phrase is eluding me at the time at, at, at the present, the robbery of past value. Let's the retroactive robbery of past value. There's your phrase, um All these things that you had value in at the time, a greater exposure to things 0:27:20 - 0:27:41 you weren't previously aware of that robs you from it instantaneously boom gone. Even the things that are still worth something they're worth so much less in the face of something so much greater and if any of you are mums, you know exactly what I'm talking about because the second you had your first 0:27:40 - 0:28:02 baby, everything you thought was astronomically important before got squished down to nothing compared to how you feel about that baby right in that moment. So, yeah, but it, this happens to everybody and that's just like a, a type to show you, well, it shows you many things but everyone can learn a 0:28:02 - 0:28:29 little bit more of what it's like to have a greater revelation of God to thinking about that. Ok. So what's this deal about the, the dividing asunder of? We'll just focus on joints and marrow. So, joints are things that connect bones and marrow is what's inside the bones. And uh anciently marrow was 0:28:29 - 0:28:51 like the best part of the butchered animal. Um in modern times actually, it turns out it's pretty, pretty good for you and we, we don't eat enough of it. Side note. So if you're, if you're struggling with joint issues, um you can get some collagen in your life and it, it peer-reviewed studies showed 0:28:50 - 0:29:11 that uh I don't remember the exact numbers. I think 30% uh reduction in healing time. Anyway, that's a side note. So marrow is good stuff and people get marrow transplants to heal all kinds of diseases and what it's good stuff. But anyway, so the marrow is what people think is the best and the joints 0:29:10 - 0:29:35 are the connections that people think exist between things and between people. What is the word of God and the word of truth? What does it do in the light? It divides the things that we thought were connected, it divides the things we thought were most important and it just slices and dices and what 0:29:35 - 0:30:02 it does is it, it uh elevates your understanding to something that's more correct and more complete and to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. You can only know who you are to the extent that you've become like God is. That's an axiom of truth. The more you become like God, the more you see 0:30:02 - 0:30:26 that everything you ever thought about was incorrect or incomplete and you can't go on that journey. That's the blade facing you without also having a blade that faces every direction it's pointed in. And that is an intentional reference to the the Cherubim that guard the way to the tree of life. I hope 0:30:25 - 0:30:59 that was explicit enough for you. I'll explain more about that God willing later. So Jesus said, ye shall know the truth. This is John 832. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. How does it free you? It cuts the chains off of you and it puts the chains onto the things that would 0:30:59 - 0:31:30 harm you. So the sword of God cuts chains and it also places chains. How is Satan bound with a chain? So I'm intentionally not going into this. It is already half hour long. Most people dip out after like two minutes. So just think about that. But the truth makes you free by cutting you. The truth makes 0:31:29 - 0:31:57 you free by cutting you. And what it does is it guides you to greater strength and goodness. And this is a weird thought that somehow a sword can be additive, but it is because it cuts away the things that impede you from greater things. So it makes you free, not by directly freeing you, but by cutting 0:31:57 - 0:32:30 a path towards greater truth, which makes you free. Because greater truth is what overcomes greater darkness. And I sideways referred to salvation versus eternal life before. And I'll do another little glance, there's a difference between being saved and overcoming those are different things. So they 0:32:30 - 0:32:57 line up with each other, but they're different levels. They're different distances on the same path, which is the way the truth and the life, which is Jesus Christ. So priests chop things, the sword is the sword of truth, the sword of the word of God, the sword of light, holy means better and different 0:32:56 - 0:33:06 . And maybe that's a good summary. So I hope that that uh gives you some things to chew on.