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InVerse, 3rd Quarter 2019: "The Least of These" : Ministering to Those in Need

Sikhu Daco

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

Jonathan Walter

01-God Created

God created the entire universe and everything in it, and in His creation, He said it and it happened to be.

Was He some kind of bearded stoic with no emotions, or was He an emotive artist?

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

We are starting a new 13-week segment on the concept of justice in the Bible.

So we want to ask you to join us every single week for the next 13 weeks and make a commitment to study this topic throughout the Bible.

We're gonna go through Genesis through Revelation and look at how God and justice and mercy, how these things and persons and us, how it all works together.

Here we have in the studio with us are some of my really good friends.

We have Jonathan, we have Siku and Israel, and we're very blessed to have a wonderful team representing different cultures and people around the world.

And we're gonna get into the Bible, we're gonna pray, and we're gonna have a really exciting time on the concept of justice.

I'm excited always for the first episode because I really have no idea what's going to happen.

And Jonathan, can you pray for us and not just pray for the episode, but actually pray for the entire season?

Father in heaven, we're here again, and we're so excited to dig into the word of God, learn more about you.

And we pray that your Holy Spirit will illuminate our minds over the next couple of weeks as we study the word and justice and mercy.

We just wanna know better how to implement these things in our lives so bless us now as We study and bless all who are watching and studying with us in Jesus name.

Thank you, Jonathan Let's go to our first verse.

We go to Genesis chapter 1 the first chapter of the Bible first book of the Bible and Israel can you read verse 26 to verse 20, just kidding, verse 31.

Let's go from there, 26 to verse 31, please.

Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth.

And God said, See, I have given you every herb that yields seed, which is on the face of the earth, and the tree whose fruit yields seed.

Also to every beast of the earth, every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food and it was so.

Then God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good.

So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis chapter 1, I think we have to suspend the, you know, there's a little bit of like, ah, this is Genesis 1, we read it many single times.

And I mean out there you were like, I want to commit to reading the Bible, and you start reading Genesis 1, and Genesis 1 is very familiar to us.

But it lays the foundation for what we're gonna do for this season, and so Siku, while we suspend that, that, ah, feeling, and we get into the text, this is a really good juicy chunk.

What's happening in verses 26 through 31?

Every time I come to Genesis chapter 1 there's so much richness and depth you know it's the beginning of the entire Bible and it sets a foundation you know the chapter begins with in the beginning God like it doesn't go into a philosophical discussion of how God came to be and etc it just says God, it assumes the existence of God.

And then the picture that we see of God is that God is creator.

And the verses that Israel read, this is the culmination of the creation because in verse 31 it says, then God saw everything that he had made.

And indeed, it wasn't just good that was said, you know, throughout the chapter, it was good, it was good, it was good.

So when God comes to the culmination, the very, the crowning act of his creation, he creates male and female, creates mankind.

And then he commits to them the work of tending the garden, of taking care of this creation of everything that he has already made.

And he sees not just in the creation of humanity, but, and in the creation of all the things that he created, but in the interaction that he has ordained between humanity and his creation, he says, all of these things are very good.

So this is like we are, we're booting a system and we're seeing what operating system is running for the world.

And you're saying, how I take it is, from what you're saying is, everything was running perfectly.

I think that's the repeated word throughout in Genesis.

There's good, good, good, and then very good.

Well yeah, you see, so as God is creating, going through the different days, things are good.

And actually Hebrew word here is also, can also mean it's pleasing, it's delightful.

But now that he's completing it, you know, the sixth day and then the seventh day is resting, it is very good.

It is, God has completed the picture of what He wanted to do.

Well, not go as in goodbye, but as in let life...

So it's just a beautiful picture that God is delighted in his creation and you have this progress.

It starts with the basic elements, but then it grows and grows and then it ends with the image of God.

And the finale is really, you know, man and woman and then the Sabbath with God.

We have a philosophical insight into the mind of God And then we also have a picture of that that that emerges in terms of sense too.

So there is an element of God building something that is sensical.

And so we have an insight first of all into the understanding of God in that how he, how he, or what he believes is, how he believes his image is fulfilled.

So it says in the beginning there in verse 26, and so it says, God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and then notice what it says, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea.

And so he says, let's make man, but then let them have dominion over the fish of the sea." And so he says, let's make man, but then let them have dominion over the fish of the sea.

And so you have a singular and a plural being spoken of, and that singular and plural is speaking about Adam and his wife Eve.

And so it says, so God made man in His own image, in the image of God created He them, right?

Male or Him, male and female, created He them.

And so you have here a philosophical insight into the mind of God.

The reflection of God's image takes place most effectively and most clearly within the marriage context of Adam and Eve and so you have God is God is reflected yes in part through the light God is reflected yes in part through the trees that yield seed God is reflected yes in part through the sky and the earth and whatever but ultimately the image of God is instilled most perfectly and completely in the creation of the human family, which is Adam and Eve.

And so you have this emergence of the image of God that is taking place and this philosophical insight into the mind of God, the creative mind of God.

Callie Williams

02-Blueprint for a Better World

The Hebrew Scriptures have these Old Testament laws that some are very, very old, some are very, very weird.

Should we keep them and what special insights do we have for today?

We're so glad you decided to set some time apart to spend time with us.

And we are so privileged for your presence to be with our conversation here today.

We're looking at the concepts of justice and mercy throughout the Bible.

And last week we looked at the book of, well not really the book of, 1 portion of the book of Genesis.

And we're now gonna look at Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

And we're gonna have a word of prayer to the Lord to give us efficiency.

And so prayer will be given by Israel Ramos for the Old Testament and we'll get into the...

Thank you Father for this time that we have together and for this privilege that we have to study your Word be with us please we ask in Jesus name, Amen.

Our starting verse is in Exodus chapter 3 verse 16 and 17 and Siku can you read that for us?

Exodus chapter 3 verse 17 which is after verse 15 and before verse 18.

We're just waiting for Israel to get to there because he doesn't know his Exodus 12.

Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me saying, I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt.

And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.

We're going to read a lot of other verses in the Old Testament, but Kelly, this particular verse really brings out something, a theme throughout the Old Testament.

Yeah, so well, first is God speaking to Moses and he's calling Moses to go deliver his people out of Egypt and Moses isn't really keen on that.

But anyways, so he's telling Moses how to introduce God back to his people.

And I think the theme that sticks out to me is the end of verse 16.

So he says, I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt.

Because God, it seems like God has been silent for hundreds of years with their sufferings.

Does he have any idea what we're going through?

But his first introduction, before he even says like, I'm gonna deliver you, I'll take you to a better place his first thing is I know what you're going through I've seen you and I visited you this goes this goes right this builds right on last last weeks or last episode in in creation and the creation narrative we have from the very very beginning of time you know God said and God saw so you have this this this picture of God from the very beginning, this introduction of God.

If you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you have an introduction of God as a God who speaks, a God who sees, a God who intervenes.

I mean, just look at all the different actions that God is doing in Genesis chapter 1.

And I think that the reason why that's critical for us is Because from the very beginning of time, God sets the foundation of, I am a God who sees.

All these things, it's like before you even get to Exodus, before you get to slavery, before you get to problems, this is the kind of God who I am in my nature.

And so God answers the problem even before the problem exists.

And that's the foundation that Genesis chapter 1 provides us for Exodus chapter 3.

And I think that I'm putting myself in the shoes of the Israelites hearing this message.

I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt.

There's something about feeling that somebody understands what you're going through, but not just understands, but somebody has a comprehension of the breadth of the situation, of the depth of the situation.

There's something in our humanity that longs to be understood, that longs to be recognized for a situation to be seen.

And the fact that God comes to Israel in this way and says, I have seen, he's speaking to their hearts.

He's saying that I understand what you're going through.

And even though it may seem, you know, in the darkness of your situation, sometimes you may feel alone, you may feel like nobody understands, but I understand and I have seen what you're going through.

Again, philosophy, they have this concept of solipsism, where the idea is that nobody, solipsism, where every human being is an island to themselves, and no 1 can ever really understand what you're going through.

And when you stop and you think too deeply about it, it can be kind of depressing.

Like whatever you're experiencing, no 1 can actually experience the experience that you're experiencing in the way that you're experiencing it because nobody is you and yet God comes to us and in an intimate way he says I am 1 who can understand I'm 1 who has comprehension of the situation that you're in in a way that nobody else can and that's what God says to Israel and not just not just that but also the words that that God uses here he says I have seen and I have said in other words this what I have seen and what I've said this is a journey that we've been on It's not I am now visiting you and I am now speaking to you, but I have been with you through this process.

And this is important to understand in our experience with God.

And then in verse 16, latter part, It says, I have surely visited you.

In other words, there is no doubt that God has been with His people is what He's trying to say.

And this is important because the presence of God or God's experience with us, the fact that my experience can intersect with God's experience, or I should say the opposite way, the fact that God's experience can intersect with my experience, it's crucial when you're going through difficult and challenging times, and it's crucial when you're going through some of the darkest moments of your life.

God has been through us with those moments, and not only that, but it says, I have said.

I have already provided a solution for your problem and your challenge.

There's different reasons why God would speak and would say, I have already said.

Sometimes this could be interpreted to mean that God is not listening and He already says, you know, it's like before you have a problem I already have the solution.

But this is not the experience that God is speaking of here.

What He is speaking of here is the fact that he has already had a solution for our problem which the intended result with that is that there's no need to fear.

God already has a solution, he already knows our problem and because of these 2 things then there's no need to fear for what is in the future.

This picture that's emerging from this text is that God is such a relational entity that because the Israelites are in trouble, God can say, hey, I've got this thing covered, or I'll solve this for you.

He doesn't come from that angle right away.

I'd like to bring your attention to verse 7, where it's kind of a preamble to this passage we just read.

But verse 7 of Exodus 3, the Bible says, the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

There's this dual element of seeing and hearing.

For if every time in the Bible, God says, I see you, and that's kind of a cultural meme today, you know, I see you, God says, I see you and that's kind of a cultural meme today you know I see you God says I see you and I hear you and that foundation is is laid first.

You see all the times in the Old Testament, I'm thinking of Hagar or even Leah, the older sister in their times of injustice.

And then like, I know now that you have heard me.

Or where Leah, when she had her firstborn son, she says, Reuben, which means see, a son.

And her secondborn, Shimeon, like, you have heard me.

There's this kind of like seeing and hearing thing.

And such a relational God, that God doesn't say, maybe it's kind of a male thing for me and in my marriage I'm more of the female and my wife is more the male, but I want to be heard and I want to be seen, I want to, do you understand when I'm saying I want that to be laid first and when my wife is like let's just solve the problem and move on.

And I think a lot of guys out there would identify with that and a lot of ladies would identify with what I'm saying.

But like God is God, both, we see both things.

And then because he sees and because he hears, he knows.

Because of that, then he starts actioning, I have said, and he starts moving things around.

Sebastien Braxton

03-Sabbath: A Day of Freedom

Imagine taking your birthday, your anniversary, Independence Day, and putting it all together.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, Welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

We want to welcome all you guys who are watching in your homes, on your phones, and maybe in your local churches.

And you are with us every Sabbath, every week on Inverse.

We're so happy that you decided to join us again, and we have my friends here, and we're talking about social justice, we're talking about community service, we're talking about mercy, We're talking about a lot of themes we find in the entire book of the Bible.

So today, we're going to go to Exodus 16, verse 16 through 18.

And before we always do so, before we always read the Bible, we're going to have a word of prayer.

Pray for us, asking for the Lord's blessing.

Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you so much for the gift of life.

Thank you for the privilege that we have to study your word.

And we pray that as we explore that this episode, Lord, that we may rest better and that we may enter into your rest is our prayer in Christ's name.

If you have your Bible, let's go to Exodus chapter 16 16 verse 16 and through 18 and Kelly, can you read it for us?

Yes This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.

Let every man gather it according to each one's need, 1 omer for each person according to the number of persons.

Let every man take for those who are in his tent.

Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.

So when they measured it by Omer's, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.

Every man had gathered according to each one's need." Okay, Jonathan, give us the context of this story.

Well, God had just called Moses and the people of Israel to come out of Egypt.

We are in about the second month after that experience, they went through the Red Sea, departed, and now they're in the wilderness.

They are without any opportunity to grow corn and grow anything, because they're in the wilderness, to eat food.

And God recognizes that need and he provides the miracle of manna.

He rains this food from heaven down on them.

And every morning there was just enough for everyone to have enough to eat.

But on the sixth day, God would actually give a double portion so that people can have enough for the Sabbath day so they don't have to go out on the Sabbath morning and get food, they will have enough on Friday night.

So, Sebastian, just to catch you up, we just want to welcome you.

You're here with us in episode 1 and 2, and you'll be in episode 3.

And if you're out there and have missed episodes 1 and 2, go back to our archives and you can watch episodes 1 and 2.

But we looked at the ground principles on justice and mercy.

Episode 1, we looked at Genesis, namely Genesis 1.

And in episode 2, we looked at the Old Testament laws, namely Exodus through Deuteronomy, but really Exodus because we didn't have a lot of time.

And now we are in this Exodus chapter 16, not in the Old Testament laws, but this 1 particular day, which is a birthday, an anniversary, it is a vacation, it is Independence Day, it is Freedom Day, it is all these things together.

And we can talk about the Sabbath, but more than the Sabbath, the Sabbath teaches us how to interact with other people in the way that we interact on Sabbath.

So Jonathan talked about, you know, verse 6, chapter 16 on about manna.

Braxton, what's going on in chapter 16 in terms of how we relate to people?

Well, I think the first thing we notice is God allows a differentiation to happen, right?

So as people are gathering, he says, look, you need to gather according to your tent, you need to gather according to your tent You need to gather according to your tent and some people have greater need than others and God caters to that differentiation of need We shouldn't look, you know unfavorably upon a person has greater need and they're going out and gathering more I said well that guy's being greedy Well, he says no if he needs to gather this 1 omer per person Then he's gonna get exactly what he needs And if you just need 3 Omers, then that's just what you need.

We don't know what an Omer is, but it is a certain portion that's about.

According to my research, it's like equal to the weight of 43.2 eggs.

We'll make sure that we have Old Testament scholars to back you up on that.

And if they don't, you're on your own on that.

But you have to realize that it was supposed to sustain a person for an entire day, right?

So, but I see that with, with, that interaction you have gathering the bread and then with the Sabbath, you have them coming together for worship that this work was not supposed to in gathering demand.

It was not supposed to interfere with their spiritual time together.

So you can be busy the first 6 days, but on the Sabbath, work was never gonna take you away from visiting with your neighbor, praying together, seeking God together.

And so I see that God, through this manna and provision experience, no 1 had to work for anyone else.

There couldn't be any oppression to provide for your family.

It was God directly providing for every single home.

So these are cool principles about justice.

So that God's equality is not human equality.

Yeah, it's not that everyone gets 1, everyone gets 2.

Every child gets their portion to their need and there's no want.

And that's really what humanity yearns for.

I've been in a position of no physical want.

I really like the point that you brought out there, and maybe you didn't intend to, but God provided them with a freedom of time.

By providing enough on Friday, they now have freedom on Sabbath to spend time with each other and with God and worship.

So another principle just that it's connected to justice, the principles of freedom and the ability to connect with the Lord.

We live in society where we want that extra vacation time.

We want to be in a position where we have no wants, but what do we do with that extra time?

We spend some extra money to hang out with people that we don't want to for a long time.

And we try to impress people on social media with these vacations that were really tiring and being jet lagged and red-eyed.

But here, God's like, no, use that time to spend with me.

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Series

InVerse, 3rd Quarter 2019: "The Least of These" : Ministering to Those in Need

09-Ministry in the New Testament Church

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

01-God Created

27m

02-Blueprint for a Better World

27m

03-Sabbath: A Day of Freedom

27m

04-Mercy and Justice in Psalms and Proverbs

27m

05-The Cry of the Prophets

27m

06-Worship the Creator

27m

07-Jesus and Those in Need

27m

08-The Least of These

27m

09-Ministry in the New Testament Church

27m

10-Living the Gospel

27m

11-Living the Advent Hope

27m

12-To Love Mercy

27m

13-A Community of Servants

27m

Sound Doctrine