Jeremiah 26:1-24 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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About the Temple
Comments for Study 20

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Memory Verse: 4-6
Questions
Introduction
Outline
MAPS OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
A MAP OF ASSYRIA
A MAP OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
ISRAEL'S HISTORY
A LIST OF ISRAEL'S KINGS AND PROPHETS
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS TIMELINE
A LIST OF MAJOR EVENTS FROM JEREMIAH'S TIME TO ROMAN TIMES

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I. Jeremiah Proclaims at the Temple (26:1-6)

Judah's Fall Time line

>1. When was this message given? (1)

* Jeremiah 26:1 "Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:"

* "Early in the reign" -Jeremiah had just started his ministry, though he had been called as a young boy in Josiah's reign. Josiah had died while fighting against Egypt. Judah lost the battle and became subject to Egypt. (2 Kings 23:26-30; and 2 Chronicles 35:20-27) Egypt made Jehoiakim king of Judah and subject to a heavy tribute. (2 Kings 23:31-35) Under such circumstanced Jeremiah preached this message.

* "Jehoiakim son of Josiah" -Jehoiakim (609-597 B.C.) was ambitious, cruel and corrupt. (2 Kings 23:36-37; and 2 Chronicles 36:2-8) Egypt's Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Neco the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments. (2 Kings 23:33-34) In the third and fourth years of his reign Babylon defeated Egypt and besieged Jerusalem.

* 2 Chronicles 36:5-8 "Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the LORD and put them in his temple there. The other events of Jehoiakim's reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king."

* Daniel 1:1-3 "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility"

* 2 Chronicles 36:9-10 "Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the LORD, and he made Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem."

* Daniel 1:1 states, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it." This was in 606 B.C. Jeremiah's message in this chapter must have been before Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Since it would have taken several months for his army to arrive in Jerusalem, it is possible he was either gathering his army or on his way west toward the area.

* Babylon and Judah counted king's reigns differently. According to the Babylonian system of computing the years of a king's reign, the third year of Jehoiakim would have been 605 B.C. (Daniel 1:1), since his first full year of kingship begun on New Year's Day after his ascension in 608 B.C. But according to the Judah's system, which counted the year of accession as the first year of reign, this was the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 25:1, 46:2) Also note that the Babylon and Hebrew calendars had different months and began the year at different times.

>Where was Jeremiah given this message? (2)

* Jeremiah 26:2 "This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the LORD's house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word."

* Jeremiah chapters 26 and 7. These chapters record the same event. Chapter 7 records more of Jeremiah's message. Chapter 26 is the response to the message.

King Josiah died in 609 BC when he foolishly attacked Egypt. The people of Judah made his son Jehoahaz king. Egypt quickly made Jehoiakim king, also Josiah's son. This is when the Lord told Jeremiah to stand in front of the temple and pronounce judgments against it and Jerusalem. He gave Shiloh as an example to them. Shiloh was the place where the ark of the covenant rested until King David brought it to Jerusalem. Shilo had been destroyed and the Ark of the Lord captured by the Philistines when Israel sinned. So they should not depend on the temple and the Ark to save them if they continued in sin.

The Lord was hoping that the people would repent. Then he said he would relent and not inflict on them the disaster he was planning. The people rejected Jeremiah's message and at first, they threatened to kill him. When they remembered the prophet Micah's message they decided not to kill Jeremiah.

Jeremiah took a stand for the Lord. He did not sway from doing the right thing. He did what was right even when he was threatened. Publically confessing faith often is hard. Jesus said that if I am ashamed of him before others, then he will be ashamed of me before his father at the resurrection of the righteous.

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>What was the Lord given Judah a chance to do? (3)

* Jeremiah 26:3 "Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done."

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>2. How had the Lord already spoken to Judah? (4-5)

* Jeremiah 26:4-5 "Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened),"

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>If they refused to listen to the Lord what would he do? (6, 7:12-15)

* Jeremiah 26:6 "then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.'"

* Jeremiah 7:12-15 "'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.'"

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>What had been at Shiloh? (Joshua 18:1; Judges 20:26-28a; 1 Samuel 2:9-10, 2:22, 4:10-11, 14:2-3; and 2 Samuel 7:4-7; and 2 Chron. 6:18)

* Joshua 18:1 "The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control,"

* Judges 20:26-28a "Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.)"

* 1 Samuel 2:9-10 "Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD's temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD."

* 1 Samuel 2:22 "Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting."

* 1 Samuel 4:10-11 "So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died."

* 1 Samuel 14:2-3 "Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD's priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left."

* 2 Samuel 7:4-7 "That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"'"

* 1 Kings 8:3-5 "When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted."

* 1 Chronicles 6:31-32 "These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there. They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon built the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them."

* 2 Chronicles 6:18 "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!"

* 1 Samuel 2:9-10 & 22 states that sometime during the time of judges a temple as built at Shiloh having doorposts. Concerning the temple at Shiloh. Tyndale Old testament Commentaries, Joyce G. Baldwin wrote, "The Temple of the Lord was built by Solomon in Jerusalem, as is well known, but the Old Testament provides no explanation of this temple at Shiloh, where the tent of meeting was set up after the conquest of Canaan (Jos. 18:1). Shiloh was the main sanctuary of the Israelites throughout the period of the judges (Jdg, 21:19), but when the wood-frame tent was replaced by a more permanent structure is not known. The word he~iil, 'temple', 'palace', presupposes a building. It is used of the holy place of Solomon's Temple, but not of the corresponding area of the tabernacle. Similarly, the words for 'door' and 'doorpost' (1 Sa. 1 :9; 3: 15) require a solid structure, and not merely a tent with movable curtain.
    "Shiloh was the central shrine, because it housed the ark of the covenant, but it may not have been the only temple of the Lord in Israel during the judges period. The tribe of Dan is recorded as installing a centre for worship (Jdg. 18:30-31) at the city they renamed Dan; it was to be revived as a cultic centre by Jeroboam I, who also refurbished Bethel for worship (1 Ki. 12:28-29). Built at about the same time as Solomon's was the temple at Arad, the only excavated Israelite temple. Yohanan Aharoni is adamant:
    "'There is no doubt that this is an Israelite temple in the full meaning of that word, a house of Yahweh in biblical terms, not just a shrine built in the Israelite period... In the various stages of excavation, there was not found even one object relating to idol worship... Furthermore, there were found in it some inscriptions with the names of known priestly families, such as Pashhur, Meremoth, and the sons of Korah. There is no doubt, therefore, that this is an Israelite temple.' *
    "Its plan was different from that of the Jerusalem Temple in some important respects: it had only one room instead of two, and it was a broad room in contrast to the elongated structure of the Jerusalem Temple. A niche was formed in the long western wall by a recess, a sort of 'holy of holies', while a courtyard outside the long eastern wall contained the altar of sacrifice, constructed of earth and unhewn stone (Ex. 20:24-25). Small rooms round the courtyard would provide accommodation for the duty priests. Similar temples of the Canaanite period, with one broad room and a central niche, have been found also at Hazor, Lachish and Megiddo; it could well be, therefore, that the Shiloh shrine was of the same style, in keeping with the practice of the country.
    "A building of this sort makes good sense of the references in 1 Samuel 1-3. Samuel slept within the temple, 'where the ark of God was', in its niche along the west wall, while Eli had his quarters somewhere in the rooms around the outer court. Plans of the Arad temple even show a bench seat each side of the door, such as Eli may have regularly used (1 Sa. 1:9).** All the sacrificial ritual and the preparation of the meat for the worshippers took place, of course, in the open courtyard.
    "Danish excavators in the 1920s and 1930s failed to find evidence of the Shiloh temple. Excavation of Shiloh was resumed in 1981 as part of a regional study of the territory of Ephraim by Israeli scholars. They opened nine areas of excavation, some of them close to those of the earlier Danish expeditions. Since then, some important conclusions have been reached about the history of Shiloh, though it remains true that no trace of the temple there has come to light, probably because the highest point of the tell, where it was most likely to have been built, has been weathered to bedrock. Nevertheless, from the earliest levels of building onwards, objects used in worship have been found:
    "'There are accumulating indications of cultic continuity at the site - from the Middle Bronze II period onward; that is, the sacral tradition at Shiloh long antedates the Israelites. A sanctuary probably stood here as early as the Middle Bronze Age [1650-1550 BC], and this may have been of central importance to the development of the site. Even after the destruction of the fortified Middle Bronze site... cultic activity continued in the late Bronze Age, despite the absence, as far as can be determined, of any real settlement... The history of Shiloh in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages helps us to understand why Shiloh was chosen as the first Israelite cultic centre.'***
    "Surveys have shown that the territory of Ephraim was inhabited by only a small sedentary population just before the arrival of Israel; and in view of the fact that Shiloh was an old traditional site for worship, it was an obvious choice for the site of the tabernacle.
    "Indications of the date when organization round the sanctuary at Shiloh began are gained from excavated buildings on the western side of the tell, which Israel Finkelstein takes to have been annexes to the cultic complex that stood farther up-hill. Storage vessels abound, indeed 'the Iron Age pottery of Shiloh is one of the richest accumulations of pottery finds at any early Israelite site'.**** These vessels may have been used to store offerings brought by worshippers to the sanctuary (1 Sa. 1:24). The building is dated c. 1200-1000 BC.
    "Within a radius of three to four miles of Shiloh, twenty-two settlements have been found belonging to this period, a higher density of population than anywhere else in Ephraim so far discovered.
    "Evidence of a dramatic destruction of the buildings at Shiloh abounds. The storage vessels mentioned above all bear marks of burning which are visible in Finkelstein's photograph. Charred raisms remained in one of the jars. The building which housed the pottery had collapsed in a fierce fire, dated about the middle of the eleventh century B.C., which would tie up with an attack by the Philistines, after their victory at Ebenezer. Though this event is not recorded in 1 Samuel, it was long remembered, and well served Jeremiah's purpose in warning about the imminent destruction of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 7:12; 26:6; cf. Psalms 78:60-64).

    "* Y. Aharoni, TIu: Archaeology of the Land of Israel (London: 8eM Press, 1982),/. 229.
    "** Ibi ., photograph 31, model of the reconstructed temple at Arad.1 I. Finkelstein,
    "***Shiloh Yields Some, But Not All, of Its Secrets', BAR 12/1 (1986), p. 39.
    "**** Ibid., p. 38, where a photograph shows eight different shapes of jar." This ends the Tyndale quote.

* The tent of meeting is also called the tabernacle. It existed until a temple was built.

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>3. What has been given us? (Luke 8:11)

* Luke 8:11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God."

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>What will happen to those who do not listen to Jesus' words? (Luke 8:12-14)

* Luke 8:12-14 "Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature."

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>And to those who do listen to his words? (Luke 8:15)

* Luke 8:15 "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."

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II. Jeremiah Must Die (26:7-16)

>4. How did the religious leaders receive his word? (7-8)

* Jeremiah 26:7-8 "The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD. But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, 'You must die!'"

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>What did they ask? (9)

* Jeremiah 26:9 "Why do you prophesy in the LORD's name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?" And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD."

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>Had Jeremiah already answer that question?

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>5. Who took notice of what the religious leaders wanted to do to Jeremiah? (10-11)

* Jeremiah 26:10-11 "When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to the house of the LORD and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD's house. Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, "This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!"

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>What did he repeat? (12-13)

* Jeremiah 26:12-13 "Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you."

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>What did Jeremiah warm them that they would be doing if they killed him? (14-15)

* Jeremiah 26:14-15 "As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."

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>Why might the civil leaders feel different about killing Jeremiah?

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III. Did Micah and Uriah Say the Same? (26:17-24)

>6. What did the religious leaders tell the civil leaders? (16)

* Jeremiah 26:16 "Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."

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>What example did the elders give as an example to spare Jeremiah's life? (17-18)

* Jeremiah 26:17-18 "Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: "'Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.'"

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>Refer to Micah 3:11-12, and 2 Chronicles 32:20-21, and 2 Kings 19:1-4.

* Micah 3:11-12 "Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets."

* 2 Chronicles 32:20-21 "King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword."

* 2 Kings 19:1-4 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."

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>7. What did Hezekiah do when he heard the prophecy against the temple? (19)

* Jeremiah 26:19 "Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favor? And did not the LORD relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!"

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>What does this show about him?

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>How is this event similar to Jesus' trial? (Matthew 26:59-63a; John 2:18-22)

* Matthew 26:59-63a "The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" But Jesus remained silent."

* John 2:18-22 "Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."

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>8. Was Jeremiah the only prophet at this time to say these things? (20)

* Jeremiah 26:20 "(Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did."

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>How did the king respond to his words? (21)

* Jeremiah 26:21 "When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt."

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>What finally happened to prophet Uriah? (22-23)

* Jeremiah 26:22-23 "King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt, along with some other men. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)"

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>9. How was Jeremiah's message an act of faith considering what happened to the prophet Uriah?

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>10. Who stood up alone to defend Jeremiah? (24)

* Jeremiah 26:24 "Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death."

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>What can we learn about teaching and preaching the truth?

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