Transcription
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hello this is Mike Felker and we are reviewing the enjoy life publication uh by the Watchtower bible and track Society uh we're doing a review of all of the lessons and we're looking at lesson number two and that's titled the Bible gives hope.
if you have not checked out of the other reviews on this uh definitely check those out especially the introduction where I give you just some different words of advice and some tips on how to go about this study in a productive way. if you're doing this whether you're truly interested in becoming a Jehovah's Witness or you're trying to share your faith with the Jehovah's Witness regardless of what your uh your motivation is hopefully there is something here that will help you.
so this one is about hope that's probably the best way to describe it. they really kind of set the stage to get you really interested in their message and so their message uh usually uh centers around Paradise Earth as a being kind of the final outcome or the final hope it's just what Jehovah's Witnesses uh look forward to. of course if you're not of the great crowd uh if you're one of the anointed class then you're actually looking forward to a Heavenly hope in other words you'll be ruling in heaven with Jesus Christ along with about a hundred and forty four thousand other uh Believers so to class theology we're not getting into that here we'll get into that uh in a later lesson but the primary message of Hope for most Jehovah's Witnesses and as they share it with those who they interact with um it's Paradise Earth. you'll see it all over this particular publication you'll see it in many of the other Watchtower Publications a lot of visual imagery of waterfalls families and friends joining together having picnics um petting lions and holding snakes things like that um so uh that's a really big focus on Jehovah's Witnesses and we'll get into a little bit of that here.
so what is the hope uh that the Bible uh gives us. so in paragraph well yeah I guess it's paragraph one it says people around the world deal with problems that cause them to feel sadness anxiety and even pain. so obviously no one wants those things no one likes to feel sadness or anxiety or pain those aren't things that people like of course and so this is to really prompt you uh to want to accept uh what the Jehovah's Witnesses have to say because they're telling you we have a solution so that you no longer have to experience uh these sorts of things and you know who doesn't want that right. have you ever faced a situation that made you feel those things perhaps you are suffering because of an illness or because someone you love has died you may ask yourself will life ever get better the Bible provides a reassuring answer to that question.
so these things the Watchtower brings out sadness anxiety pain suffering things like that those are of course things that no one wants so they're telling you okay here's the problem and we're about to give you a solution but here's the question here's the question why isn't something else mentioned that probably should be mentioned. well what am I referring to. I am referring to the problem of sin in our Rebellion against God. check out Romans 3 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. so all of sinned and fall short of the glory of God. well okay yeah we've all sinned so um is everything going to be okay. well it really depends um but let's just look at some more of the bad news uh look at Romans 6 23. it says for the wages of sin is death. so we've got sin and we've got death one of course leads to the other. so this is really the biggest problem out of all the things that this this is a bigger problem than any anxiety suffering or pain that you might be feeling right now those things aren't good but the thing that's worse than those things are the fact that you have sinned and you have fallen short that means you aren't Measuring Up in fact the Bible's message is that you can't measure up. look at what Romans and we're sticking in Romans are so much good in Romans I would encourage you uh to read the book of Romans but look at what it says uh let's start in verse 9 of Romans chapter three. what then are we better not at all for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. that includes you right. so um in in Paul's mind in the people of those days the Greek were basically the the non-jews and so you could include uh Gentiles all right so basically all the non-jews everybody this is a universal statement right everybody is is under sin and then Paul says as it is written so how do we know that all are under sin. well as it is written Paul says there is none righteous not even one there is none who understands there is none who seeks for God all have turned aside together they have become worthless there is none who does good not even one. yeah that's that's some that's some really really bad news and it sounds pretty Grim doesn't it uh this should be what the Watchtower is highlighting right off the bat I mean sure we can mention the things like suffering and all that uh yeah there's a there's a there's a solution for that but you've got bigger problems than than suffering anxiety and pain um you've got what the book of Romans says and basically what all of the scriptures testify that we're all a bunch of Sinners and we're all we're all without hope unless something happens.
so we've got the sin problem and so what we want to ask and find out is does the Watchtower provide an answer for the sin problem in other words is there hope for this sin problem that I described. see when you're dead which is the wages of sin yeah you're not going to have any anxiety or pain anymore because you're dead but so that that's a bigger problem right dying being under the Judgment of God the this is this is a judgment the wages of sin. here's another one John 3 36. he who believes in the son has eternal life there's your solution but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of God abides in him. so we're seeing the solution we're starting to see the solution this believing in the Sun and believing in the son you have eternal life but the wrath of God abiding in you you're going to suffer the wages of your sin. so if that's you then you have no hope unless you place that hope in one place in one place only Jesus Christ he's the answer.
so let's read on here how does the bible give hope. the Bible not only explains why the world is filled with problems but also shares the good news that these problems are temporary and will soon be gone. so there we see here the mention of this good news and what I would encourage you to do is to do a search in your Bible for the phrase good news or gospel. so if you just have a physical Bible that may not be super easy to do unless you go to an index maybe you'll have a way of uh looking that up but otherwise all you really need is a concordance like strongs you can kind of look up and see how a word is used all throughout of the scriptures or you know you can use Bible Software biblehub.com that's a good place to go if you want something that's freed where you can easily look words up and see how they're used but it's really as simple as this if you're watching this on my screen so you can just type in the words good and news and you can see all of the Bible verses that use the phrase good news and you can see it uh all all over the place and so I'm not going to do this whole study here but I would encourage you to look at all of the instances of good news. now it could be the word gospel so we'll actually do a Greek search for the Greek word used for good news and you can see here how it's translated uh gospel is translated as good news in some places it's it's uh synonymous but what I would encourage you to do is see if the gospel or the good news is directly related to what the Watchtower says the good news actually is.
first thing is does the good news show us that the world's problems will soon be gone. soon be gone. what what does soon mean. you see for the Watchtower they're going to tell you that we're in the last of the last of the final part of the last days and that's actually what they say they may even say last a couple more times but that is actually what they say you can look this up for yourself okay. so they're regularly telling you that we're in the last days and all of this is soon going to be over. well they've been saying that for a long time for decades and decades and decades and decades that this is all soon going to end. so one thing that you could just ask your study conductor is what does soon mean. well they're not going to put a date on it right. so you're not going to be able to Corner them and ask them to put a date but soon has to be mean something right. they'll soon mean a thousand years and they're probably going to say no it's that no that's not soon. well does it mean 500 years does it mean a hundred years does it mean a decade doesn't mean a month soon has to mean something. so what does it mean. so something that you could uh that you could ask your study conductor but again I would encourage you to look up all of the scriptures for the good news. in fact I'd encourage you to ask your study conductor to look these up and go through them with you. I think that would be a very interesting Bible study to embark on is to go through all of the passages in the Bible uh that used the word for good news or gospel and see what it says and see if it says the same thing the Watchtower says that it is.
continuing on the Bible's promises can give you a future and a hope they say here read Jeremiah 29 11 and 12. so let's do that for I know the plans that I have for you declares Yahweh plans for peace and not for Calamity to give you a future and a hope then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. the Watchtower continues on those promises help us to cope with our present problems to have a positive attitude and to find lasting happiness.
okay so what is this passage in Jeremiah telling us. well you've actually got to look at the previous verse and I see not just Jehovah's Witnesses but I see many other Christians misapplying this verse because look at who this verse is directed towards. of course it's for uh uh Jeremiah he's the he's the prophet here but this is something that Jeremiah is communicating uh to uh to the Jewish people. so look what verse 10 says for this says Yahweh when 70 years have been fulfilled for Babylon I will visit you and establish my good word with you to return you to this place. if you go down to verse 13 reading past what we just read before you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your hearts I will be found by you declares Yahweh and I will return your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have banished you declares Yahweh and I will cause you to return to the place from where I sent you into exile and you can read more of this prophecy I would encourage you to do that actually it's more of a promise than it is uh than it is a prophecy but what is this about. well it's about the Jewish people um who were exiled and held captive um under the Babylonian uh rulership and it's it's it's a 70-year uh judgment upon the people of Israel. so that's what this so when when Yahweh is talking about these plans that he has well these are the plans the ones that we just read that the Jewish people would no longer be banished and they would return back to their land and that is exactly uh what happens at the end of the 70 years. so that's what this prophecy is about but if you're just reading verses 11 and 12 you might think that this is just a general promise for for you and for for me that God has great plans for us and he's going to accomplish those those for us. well it I'm not saying it's not true that God doesn't have plans for us but I don't think this is the right verse because this verse has a specific historical application. now we can draw a principle from this we can draw the principle that when God makes a promise he will fulfill it provided we are faith we are faithful ourselves because many of the promises are are conditional right. so if you fulfill the conditions and you're faithful right then the promise will be will be fulfilled and the Bible's uh just full of examples like that and so why one of those examples uh weren't cited um I don't know um but this is the one they cite because it's the most common one uh that people normally cite for this but I think it's a Mis application.
all right second point I guess it's the third paragraph. the Bible describes a future time when death will be no more neither will morning nor outcry nor pain be any more. the problems that can make life seem hopeless today such as poverty and Justice sickness and death will no longer exist. the bible promises that humans will be able to enjoy life forever in Paradise on Earth.
so let's back up a little bit. so in Revelation 21 4 it does say that the death will be no more no no more crying or pain those things are going to see. so one thing that you could ask your study conductor is when does that take place. well if they're honest with you they'll tell you that that cannot take place until after the Thousand Years and then you can ask them well what are the Thousand Years. what does the Thousand Years entail. all right. well a thousand years is basically a trial period for you and everyone else who is resurrected to prove themselves Worthy. so is there going to be death during the Thousand Years. yes in fact there's going to be sin uh during the Thousand Years. so even after Armageddon even after all that all this stuff in Revelation the Watchtower says is in the future and is going to happen tribulation and all that it's not over yet. You've Got A Thousand Years that you've got to prove yourself worthy prove yourself worthy that's what you have to look forward to within the Jehovah's Witness belief system. now the bible promises that humans will be able to enjoy life in Paradise on Earth. well I'm not going to dispute that point but what we need to also bring in is the fact that the Watchtower has a second class of Jehovah's Witnesses that will go to heaven to rule and reign with Jesus Christ forever and ever and everyone else is left on The Paradise earth that is the system but we'll get more into that in another uh another lesson review.
all right point three how can you build up your trust in the hope the Bible gives. many people hope for good things to happen but they cannot be sure that their hopes will ever be fulfilled. they cannot be sure that their hopes will ever be fulfilled. now one thing I can tell you about the Jehovah's Witness religion is it is a religion that is full of disappointments full of disappointments. well we just read back a few paragraphs ago that there is good news that things are going to soon happen. now in decades past the Watchtower actually predicted that the end was going to come at a certain year the last one being a 1975. so you can imagine when 1975 came and went that people were just maybe at that point not sure that their hopes are going to be fulfilled because of what happened they were massively disappointed and people really altered their lives in a profound way as they awaited 1975. for example selling their home putting off College putting off having kids making life-altering decisions because the end was going to come soon that was their hope right that was going to be that was going to be the end. in fact the Watchtower commended people for doing those things for selling their homes and getting themselves ready for 1975. so that resulted in disappointment but that disappointment was not because of something God did and it's also not something that the Bible did. the Bible never predicted or never predicts when the end is going to come it just doesn't do that. so people who have a lost hope they were putting their hope in the wrong place. do not put your hope in men do not put your hope in organizations of men especially follow the scriptures if it says something different than what man says reject what man says. look what we see here what the bible promises is different. we can build up our trust in what it says by carefully Examining the Scriptures acts 17 11 yes and amen carefully examine the scriptures but look at what acts 17 11 says specifically they didn't cite the whole thing. let's go back and read verse 10 and the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas Away by night to Berea and when they arrived they went into the synagogue of the Jews now these were more noble-minded than those in thessalonica now why were they more noble-minded for they received the word with great eagerness Examining the Scriptures Daily to see whether these things were so in other words they didn't just take Paul and silas's word for it they looked at the scriptures to examine what was said. they're actually another parallel scripture we could look at first Thessalonians 5 21 says examine all things hold fast to that which is good. so examine it all what the Watchtower says what I say what anyone else says if the scriptures disagree with what they say hold to the scriptures and also don't just throw the baby out with the bath water maybe the Watchtower does say some things that are good and that's why Paul says here hold fast to that which is good and what they say here in the end is very important as you study the Bible you will be able to decide for yourself whether you can believe what it says about the future decide for yourself and study it for yourself. I totally agree with what they're saying here totally agree decide for yourself and study it for yourself. don't take their word for it. in fact I would recommend and we'll see this more and more as we go through these lessons hold on to to point three here and be ready to to pull this out.
0.4 the Bible offers the hope of everlasting life and perfect conditions. so they say here to read these different scriptures in these two different columns and they're asking questions do you feel that these scriptures give hope. could they give hope to your family and friends. picture living in a world where no one will feel pain weakened with age or have to die get sick or live with a disability experience Injustice suffer as a result of War be plagued by troubling thoughts or memories. so that's great right. I mean we don't no one wants a world with those things so to have a world where none of those things happen I mean who who who wouldn't want that right. but again what's missing. we set the stage early on why does it say here no one will sin. the sin problem is the biggest problem but it's not mentioned. I think that's noteworthy. now sin could could result in war it could result in Injustice so we see that but we have to see the part where we're a sinner before God and we deserve we deserve justice and what is justice. Justice served to those who sin is is is death. it's the wrath of God remember what we read in John 3 36 the wrath of God abides in him those who don't obey Jesus. so we've got a big big problem and that problem should trouble you and that's that's a good thing that a problem like our sin before God troubles you you should be troubled by that because it would make you want to find a solution. okay and what is the solution. the solution is Jesus Christ who can give you eternal life read that also in John 3 36. but check this out check out this last point. no one will be played by troubling thoughts or memories. say cite here Isaiah 65 7 and I always think it's interesting when the Watchtower cites this passage it says for behold I'm creating a new heavens and a new Earth the former things will not be remembered or come upon the heart. so the form of things not be remembered will come upon the heart but go down to verse 20 and look what it says. no longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not fulfill his days for the Youth will die at the age of 100 and the one who does not reach the age of 100 will thought to be accursed. but it says here that there's not going to be any death and when you say here Isaiah 65 17. so if Isaiah 65 17 is true of this time then why would verse 20 not also be true of this time that there is going to be death. so that's a really important question that you could ask your study conductor is well verse 17 is about this time that we should look forward to should we look forward to verse 20 as well. interesting.
now over on the other column where everyone will it says everyone will see dead loved ones resurrected brought back to life on Earth enjoy good health and Youthful energy have plenty to eat a comfortable home and satisfying work experience complete peace experience complete peace. that's really interesting because what about peace with God. Romans 5 1 says therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. the kind of piece that we want is not just peace that we have one another first and foremost it should be about having peace with God because remember if you don't obey the Sun the wrath of God obeys in you you're under the wrath of God you've fallen short you've sinned you don't have peace with God apart from Jesus Christ nothing could be more important than having peace with God. this should be what you want right here. all of those other things that are mentioned by the Watchtower those are icing on the cake those are icing on the cake but the most important thing is right here peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ being justified by faith. you know what Justified means. it means being declared righteous by faith. so your sins are forgiven you have a righteousness that's not of your own it's a righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ because he lived a perfect life and he lived that life for those who would believe in him.
now look at what is said here in John 5 28-29. so you could ask a Jehovah's Witness or your study conductor who is going to get resurrected. well they're going to tell you that the righteous and the unrighteous are going to get resurrected so that you'll be able to see your loved ones again. well a question that you can ask your conductor is which loved ones am I going to get to see. look they're probably going to answer well probably most of them but what about those texts and John that we read or Romans that all have fallen short in the wrath of God abides in you if you don't have Jesus and I have family members who don't believe in Jesus the wrath of God abides in them they have sinned just like I have but I have Jesus and they and they and they don't am I going to get to see them. well look at what John 5 28 and 29 says do not Marvel at this for an hour's coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth. so we have a Resurrection being spoken about here. so yeah a resurrection for sure those who did Good Deeds to a resurrection of life those who committed the evil Deeds to a resurrection of judgment. so yes it is true that all of your dead loved ones will be resurrected in fact literally everybody is going to get Resurrected but only some get the life Resurrection whereas if you didn't obey the Sun or as it says here in John if you committed the evil Deeds and you committed evil Deeds that's held against you if you don't have Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins those ones get a resurrection of judgment. so that's what would happen to people who don't believe in Jesus Christ. so it's not true that you're going to get to have picnics and pet dangerous formerly dangerous animals with your dead loved ones who didn't know Jesus Christ that's not what the Bible says.
0.5 the Bible's hope can make a difference. many people are discouraged or even angered by the problems they see around them. some fight to try to thing try to change things for the better.
okay so there is a video I'm not going to play the video here. you can definitely go and watch that video if you want to watch the video just go down to the link down in the video description or the show notes and there will be a link to this particular study lesson so you can go down there click on the video link and watch it for yourself. so in the video what Injustice troubled rafika if I'm pronouncing uh her name right uh the Injustice was she saw just the segregation uh that was happening and she didn't she didn't uh she didn't like it it troubled her just praying to God why can't we all just get along and and and and be together. so those are the things that she prayed because she was really troubled by those things. well something else that was troubling her was that she couldn't uh understand the Bible uh she was reading the King James I really found it interesting that she she read the Bible a lot as a child but she didn't understand it so I thought that was that was strange that she was it seemed like she was interested in the Bible but she didn't understand it so that's that's a pretty uh a pretty fascinating uh thing to say nonetheless that's what she said um but what's interesting she said it wasn't until she went to Jamaica that she found a Bible that was written in plain English not I I thought that was rather strange because I'm sure she was in a grown adult by this time but does she think that the King James Bible was all that there was um there's been many many many translations I from what I could tell um this is probably in maybe the 60s or or 70s when she was kind of doing the search just from what I can tell by the way people are addressing and the music in the background and things like that it seemed like maybe 60s and and uh and 70s but does she not know about other Bibles. I mean you can literally go to a library or go just about anywhere and get a non-king James uh version like any bookstore. so okay maybe maybe you shouldn't know but only until she found a new world translation she happened to find that Bible in Jamaica. so I thought that was uh really really interesting. so so the question here in the Watchtower is although the Injustice that she saw did not go away how did the Bible help her. so this is an interesting question because she really didn't say that much about the Bible itself it seemed that the solution to the Injustice was more focused on the Jehovah's Witness organization because that was the first thing that she saw before she started understanding uh what the Bible taught about Injustice she saw she saw these people and she saw the harmony the different skin colors there wasn't this uh segregation or racism or anything like that that seems to be according to the video what she first discovered and so the focus seemed to be on that not so much on what the Bible actually says. there's maybe a tiny there's a tiny little snippet tiny little snippet on what she said about the Bible and I I wrote it out here she says only that God's kingdom would bring peace and unity that's about all she said as it relates to specific content in the Bible that helped her to understand Injustice and what God was going to do about it. so it's interesting to have this video here about how the Bible's hope can make a difference when there wasn't really that much about what the Bible actually says in this video. the hope that the Bible offers for the future can help us to battle discouragement and cope with our problems successfully. they ask you to read Proverbs 17 22 and Romans 12 12 and then discuss this these questions.
so the question is do you think that the message of Hope found in the Bible could make a difference in your life. now great question but it could yes but aren't the promises in the Bible specifically for those who have believed in Jesus Christ especially the Christian scriptures. the the parts that apply most directly to us because a lot of the uh the Hebrew scriptures is is for the people of Israel and not that you can't find application or principles and those things but the Christian scriptures would include both Jews and Gentiles and it's for everybody right. but the promises would be for those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I'll show you an example of what I mean and this verse is often miscited I'm not saying the walk Tower Miss cites it I just hear people misciding it. it says and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. now some translations don't put the for those who love God first and so what it'll say is all things work together for good for those who love God so they put the first part after and what they end up doing is they only quote the part that says all things work together for good as if that just applies to to everybody it's a promise for god. well no look at the part that says for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. we'll continue reading the rest of the passage because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son that means they're going to start living like Jesus until they're finally glorified in a resurrection body in which they'll be perfect and never sinned again so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and Those whom he predestined he also called and Those whom he called he also Justified and Those whom he justified he also glorified. so these promises are for Christians not for anybody. so we have to be very careful that when we're looking at this question that the Watchtower asks us on on page 11 on on 0.5 yes they can make a difference in your life now but for believers and some people unfortunately just use the Bible as like a good guidebook for life now it is that but it's not just that the Bible's primary message is our sin and our need for a savior and how to find Hope In Our Savior Jesus Christ primary message of the scriptures and there's a lot of other things to help you with your family your life your job how to interact with people how to how to love people when you know they're mistreating you how to love your enemy all of that's in there and great and well but it's primarily concerned with those who are following Jesus Christ.
now down at the bottom here and this is the last Point. some people say the Bible's promises for the future are too good to be true why do you think it is important to examine the evidence. great great question here's a question that you could ask your study conductor. what evidence should I the student be free to examine. because if you're going through this publication let's say because you actually are interested in Jehovah's Witnesses maybe you're curious about them you want to hear what they have to say so you're going through this this study what evidence should you examine. should you only examine the Watchtower or the Watchtower Publications or is it okay to read other Publications that others who claim to be Christians right. should we look at all of the the evidence. in fact could you ask your study conductor hey if I have this this book written by another Christian and they're saying something different than what you're saying could we check it out and examine it together. ask him that see what he says. now if you want to be really bold you could ask him if you can read if you're it says here can you is it important to examine the evidence. could you look at literature written by an ex Jehovah's Witness. now you can only say this if you're very very bold and it may not go over well but if anything it's something that you could think about because why wouldn't that be okay. why wouldn't that be okay. so if I was going to study Mormonism let's say I met some Mormon missionaries tomorrow and they want to study the Bible with me and I decide to go and do it and I find that wow this Mormonism stuff they're saying some really great stuff and it's a really fascinating religion I think I'm going to continue my study with them. if you were to ask your study conductor hey I'm studying with the Mormons and I'm really interested in what they have to say and I want to I think I might even start attending their uh their Church but do you think maybe I should read The Works of some ex-mormons to see what they have to say because maybe they have some insights about that religion that the missionaries aren't telling me do you think I should do that. I don't know what your study conductor is going to say to that but I think it's a thought-provoking question because what I'll tell you is that when you become a Jehovah's Witness you are absolutely forbidden for reading what they call apostate literature which is literature written by ex-members and your study conductor what they're probably going to say to you and you're not a baptize a witness by this point I don't think what they're probably going to say to you is don't check that stuff out these are disgruntled ex-members they say a lot of lies it's full of propaganda don't read what they have to say that's probably what he or she is going to say but why if it's okay to read the perspective of an ex-mormon to get some insights about that church why wouldn't it be okay to read the insights of an ex-witness is there do they have something to hide do they have something to hide. you see for me I have nothing to hide if you want to read an ex-christian atheist who writes about his experiences and contradictions in the Bible and things like that by all means go for it go for it but if you're going to read that read something else that's in response to it read both sides and come to your own conclusion on the matter. so yes it is so important to examine the evidence don't just examine what the Watchtower says test it against the scriptures and don't be afraid from looking at literature from ex-members and it's not just a bunch of disgruntled ex-witnesses. so if you want some recommendations uh to some of those ones those Publications from ex-witnesses I can even get you Publications from X governing body members let me know I would be happy to share that to you at no cost.
so we'll wrap it up there. if you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to reach out to me. if you go down to the video description or the show notes you'll see a number of ways for you to contact me privately of course you can leave comments in the video or if you're listening to this or on my website you can certainly leave your comments uh there publicly and I will address those but if you want to contact me privately now we can talk via phone text Skype WhatsApp whatever's convenient for you email. don't hesitate to reach out to me I would love to speak with you. so we'll leave it there and look forward to lesson three and that is titled can you trust the Bible. thank you for more information about Jehovah's Witnesses and other topics please visit michaeljfilker.com there you can also reach me directly to submit questions or comments to be covered on the JW review to subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and search for the JW review.
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