Resound Missions Base Podcast with Leah Ramirez

I.  JUST AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH…

 

Matthew 24

36"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

 

A.   We’ve covered this in brief during our Matthew 24 overview.  Jesus is detailing the tribulation and persecution and many of the deceptions that will be coming on the earth in the last days.  He then points us to a very particular time in history:  The days of Noah. 

 

B.    The days of Noah were remarkable.  We know that whatever was happening in the earth in those days was significant enough to warrant a flood.  God was literally cleansing the earth!  This is no children’s story.  This is a mass genocide of the highest order.  Just because we’ve turned it into felt cut-outs for Sunday school, and made paper maché boats, doesn’t make this story suitable for nursery rhymes.  This was violent!

 

Genesis 6

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

 

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

 

C.    Why did the Lord send the flood?  Because He’s good!  Because He’s good!

 

D.   When we started this series I talked a lot about DNA.  This battle between heaven and hell has been, and will be, fought out through genetics.

 

Genesis 3

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

 

E.    This is all about the SEED.  The seed of God verses the seed of the snake, that nachash.  The plan of God would come through the woman!  Do you see this!  At the very beginning, in what we would call the “Fall of Man,” is the first preaching of the Gospel, if you will.

 

In Christian theology, the Protevangelium is God's statement to the Serpent in the Garden of Eden about how the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head:

 

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15, KJV)

 

F.    So, Noah was found “perfect” in his generation.  This speaks to the purity of bloodline issue.  Ever wonder why there seem to be endless genealogies in the Bible?  This answers that question once and for all.  The devil would seek to destroy the plan of salvation by corrupting the “Seed of the woman.”  More on this in future weeks!

 

II.  SO WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

 

A.   Jesus refers to Himself by one title more than any other, and considering who He is as King of all kings, Lord of all lords, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Captain of the Hosts, the I AM, the Son of God… and yet his preferred title as the “Son of Man” is humble to be sure.  It appears 81 times throughout the Gospels.  But is it something else?  Is it a prophetic key?  Is it a holy boundary?  More on this in later weeks!

 

B.    The “days of Noah” were about a corruption of DNA.  The flood was God’s loving response toward saving man.  There was something else… some “enhancement”… something that had been added to man that God would not redeem.  Jesus was THE plan to save humanity.  He was the plan from before the foundation of the world.  Is it possible that there is some future enhancement, some future alteration that would altar us so utterly that we would no longer be considered fully human? 

 

C.    God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He sent the flood as a mercy, the wiping out of entire populations that we see all through the Old Testament by the command of God was a mercy, and I believe the coming judgment recorded for us in the New Testament is also mercy.  There is something unfolding in our day that has been impossible since the days of the flood.  It’s the same story line we see in Genesis 6, but this time the world will not be washed clean with water, it will be purified with fire.  (2 Peter 3:11)

 

III.  WATER THEN FIRE

 

Matthew 3

11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

 

A.   We often think of John as the “baptizer.”  And he was!  But John came to baptize with water.  Jesus comes with another baptism:  the Holy Spirit and fire.  We need to know this Man.  We need to regard His baptism.

2 Peter 3

1This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 

8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

 

IV.  THE MARK OF THE BEAST

 

A.   Many people talk about the New Testament God as being somehow different from our Old Testament texts.  I disagree.  Our God, even Jesus, is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!  He has not changed.  The cross didn’t change or nullify anything in Jesus, the cross changes us!

 

B.    What was unredeemable in the OT, is also unredeemable in the New Testament.  We know a couple of things about whatever this New Testament marker will be like from the texts in the Book of the Revelation. 

 

Revelation 13

16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

 

C.    This mark, otherwise known as the “mark of the beast,” is completely and utterly linked to commerce.  If we do not take the mark, we will not be able to buy or sell.  That means no provision to feed your families.  This is extreme.  So if you take this mark, you will be able to buy and sell.  BUT….

 

Revelation 14

9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

 

12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

 

D.   If you take this mark, you may be able to buy and sell…but you won’t be able to be redeemed.  There is a story that caught my eye last year when I was teaching Bible to Judah and Juniah.  It’s another early story in Genesis that I think deals more with end-times than maybe we have understood.

 

Genesis 25

29Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.^e) 31Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

 

E.    Esau is utterly consumed with the moment.  He had no regard for anything future.  This disregard is the equal to a “despising” of his birthright!  He despised it by not regarding it.

 

Hebrews 12

15See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

 

F.    This story is an end-time story.  We don’t want to despise our birthright for a bowl of soup!  We don’t want to lose sight of the age to come… our inheritance in Christ!  All our tears will amount to nothing if we disregard Jesus.  Through Him we have been given the “right to become sons.” 

 

John 1

11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

V.  WHERE ARE WE IN THIS PROPHETIC COUNTDOWN?

 

A.   We are told that the day of Jesus’s return to the earth will be like the “days of Noah.”  Last week we talked in depth about what Genesis 6, along with 3 other historical, extra-biblical, parallel texts said about this same time period.  We talked at length about the Nephalim, and the hybridization of human DNA, namely the female egg crossed with the seed of fallen angels. 

 

B.    We talked in depth about the corruption of “all flesh,” from human DNA corruption, to animal hybrids, and even GMOs in agriculture.  “All flesh” was corrupt.  In God’s mercy He sent the flood. 

 

C.    For the first time since the flood, we are crossing over the precipice once again.  With the emergence of Transhumanism, Human+, Human 2.0, Supersoldiers, Chimera’s (human/animal hybrids), GMO’s, we are on the fast track to a place we’ve been before.  Are we sure we want to cross this line?

 

Many ACHM models, such as transgenic rodents each containing one (or a few) human genes, and animals with human tissue grafts, have a long history of research use without major ethical or regulatory difficulties. However, technologies are advancing rapidly; more extensive sections of DNA can be manipulated, and methods using human stem cells to replace parts of tissue, or even whole organs, are becoming increasingly refined. By enabling progressively more extensive, and precise, substitution of human material in animals, these approaches may soon enable us to modify animals to an extent that might challenge social, ethical, or regulatory boundaries. Based on the evidence we received, the published literature, our public dialogue, and our own discussions, we identified areas which might merit special consideration, including:

·      Extensive modification of the brain of
an animal, by implantation of human- derived cells, which might result in altered cognitive capacity approaching human ‘consciousness’ or ‘sentience’ or ‘human- like’ behavioural capabilities. 


 

·      Situations where functional human gametes (eggs, sperm) might develop from precursor cell-types in an animal; and where fertilisation between either human (or human-derived) gametes and animal gametes might then occur. 


 

·       Cellular or genetic modifications which could result in animals with aspects of human-
like appearance (skin type, limb or facial structure) or characteristics, such as speech. 


(Taken from the website of The Academy of of Medical Sciences, out of London, England,

the USA’s equivalent of the FDA)

 

VIDEO LINKS:

 

Transhumanism:  Tom Horn on the Sid Roth Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_DZdIHkjdg

 

Crispr-CAS9:

https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/genome-editing/geneart-crispr.html

 

 

 

 

Well… we’re at a pivotal crossroads.  Once we cross over there will be no going back.  I’ve delayed this teaching for several years, but now feel compelled to press forward.  I’ve been a diligent student of the Word for the last 19 years.  I’ve studied end-times as a good Berean for the last 9.  It is my hope that your hearts would burn for Jesus.  Surely He will come again, quite possibly…maybe even quite probably in our lifetime. 

 

I have counted the cost of what I am about to preach.  Like teaching anything from the scriptures, it will be controversial.  I am unashamedly a Bible literalist.  I believe the scriptures are the inerrant Word of God.  It is with fear and trembling that I preach every week. 

 

My hope for this teaching (as with all others) is that your heart would burn for Jesus; that you would glory in His incredible wisdom and leadership.  That through the declaring of truth I would destroy every hidden accusation that still may remain hidden in your heart towards the Lord.  That seeing the manifold wisdom of God, you would eagerly and quickly throw off every sin and every weight of distraction that could so easily entangle you.  And finally, that you would be prepared in whatever comes, rooted in the unshakeable love of Jesus.   From this place of ultimate security, that you would count the cost, pick up your cross today and follow Jesus… to the end. 

 

So without further adieu… let’s dive in!

 

I.  MATTHEW 24 – IN THE END JESUS POINTS US TO THE BEGINNING

 

Matthew 24

36"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

 

A.   We’ve covered this in brief during our Matthew 24 overview.  Jesus is detailing the tribulation and persecution and many of the deceptions that will be coming on the earth in the last days.  He then points us to a very particular time in history:  The days of Noah. 

 

B.    The days of Noah were remarkable.  We know that whatever was happening in the earth in those days was significant enough to warrant a flood.  God was literally cleansing the earth!  This is no children’s story.  This is a mass genocide of the highest order.  Just because we’ve turned it into felt cut-outs for Sunday school, and made paper maché boats, doesn’t make this story suitable for nursery rhymes.  This was violent!

 

Genesis 6

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

 

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

 

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

 

14Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." 22Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

 

C.    Here are some questions that may have come up while we were reading over this text:

·      Who are the sons of God who are taking woman to be their wives?

·      Why does God change man’s lifespan in response to this?

·      Who/what are the Nephalim?

·      What does it mean that they are the offspring of this union (sons of God x daughters of man)?

·      How are they around after the flood?

·      What does it mean to have only evil thoughts continually?

·      How was Noah blameless?

·      Who whole earth was corrupt?  All flesh was corrupt?

 

D.   We’re going to look at some other historical texts to see if there is more understanding, but before you do I want to talk about the canon of scripture.

 

E.    The word "canon" comes from the Greek κανών, meaning "rule" or "measuring stick.”

F.    It may come as a surprise to you that Jewish texts weren’t canonized until up to 200 A.D. and our Christian texts we’re canonized until the mid 1500’s though the 1670’s.  Why does this matter?  Because there are texts that were considered holy and were even common knowledge hundreds of years ago that we have never read.  Now I believe that God brooded over these councils where such matters were regarded and disputed.  I also believe that there is much we can glean from looking into historical texts. 

 

G.   I’m going to put several of these texts before you today.  By do so, I am not placing them as the same weight as the canonized scripture that we have today, but I place it before you as I would any historical document.  Can it verify the scripture?  Can it give us insight into what was happening?

 

H.   For me, the answer is yes.  I submit this for you to consider and weigh. 

 

II.  THE BOOK OF ENOCH

 

A.   The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, although modern scholars estimate the older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) to date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to the first century BC.^[2]

 

B.    It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest, but they generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired.^[3] It is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churchand Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, but not by any other Christian groups.

 

C.    The Book of Enoch was considered as scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas (16:4)^[24] and by many of the early Church Fathers, such as Athenagoras,^[25] Clement of Alexandria,^[26] Irenaeus^[27] and Tertullian,^[28] who wrote c. 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies pertaining to Christ.^[29] However, later Fathers denied the canonicity of the book, and some even considered the Epistle of Jude uncanonical because it refers to an "apocryphal" work. (Wikipedia)

ENOCH

6.1 And it came to pass, when the sons of men had increased, that in those days there were born to them fair and beautiful daughters.
6.2 And the Angels, the sons of Heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another: "Come, let us choose for ourselves wives, from the children of men, and let us beget, for ourselves, children." 

6.3 And Semyaza, who was their leader, said to them: "I fear that you may not wish this deed to be done and that I alone will pay for this great sin."
6.4 And they all answered him, and said:  "Let us all swear an oath, and bind one-another with curses, so not to alter this plan, but to carry out this plan effectively."
6.5 Then they all swore together and all bound one another with curses to it.
6.6 And they were, in all, two hundred and they came down on Ardis, which is the summit of Mount Hermon. And they called the mountain Hermon because on it they swore and bound one another with curses.
6.7 And these are the names of their leaders:Semyaza, who was their leader, Urakiba, Ramiel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Daniel, Ezeqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Armaros, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsiel, Satael, Turiel, Yomiel, Araziel.
6.8 These are the leaders of the two hundred Angels and of all the others with them.
7.1 And they took wives for themselves and everyone chose for himself one each. And they began to go into them and were promiscuous with them. And they taught them charms and spells, and they showed them the cutting of roots and trees.
7.2 And they became pregnant and bore large giants. And their height was three thousand cubits.
7.3 These devoured all the toil of men; until men were unable to sustain them.
7.4 And the giants turned against them in order to devour men.
7.5 And they began to sin against birds, and against animals, and against reptiles, and against fish, and they devoured one another's flesh, and drank the blood from it.
7.6 Then the Earth complained about the lawless ones.
8.1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and daggers, and shields, and breastplates. And he showed them the things after these, and the art of making them; bracelets, and ornaments, and the art of making up the eyes, and of beautifying the eyelids, and the most precious stones, and all kinds of coloured dyes. And the world was changed.
8.2 And there was great impiety, and much fornication, and they went astray, and all their ways became corrupt.
8.3 Amezarak taught all those who cast spells and cut roots, Armaros the release of spells, and Baraqiel astrologers, and Kokabiel portents, and Tamiel taught astrology, and Asradel taught the path of the Moon.
8.4 And at the destruction of men they cried out; and their voices reached Heaven.
9.1 And then Michael, Gabriel, Suriel and Uriel, looked down from Heaven and saw the mass of blood that was being shed on the earth and all the iniquity that was being done on the earth.
9.2 And they said to one another: "Let the devastated Earth cry out with the sound of their cries, up to the Gate of Heaven.
9.3 And now to you, Oh Holy Ones of Heaven, the souls of men complain, saying: "Bring our complaint before the Most High."
9.4 And they said to their Lord, the King: "Lord of Lords, God of Gods, King of Kings! Your glorious throne endures for all the generations of the world, and blessed and praised!
9.5 You have made everything, and power over everything is yours. And everything is uncovered, and open, in front of you, and you see everything, and there is nothing that can be hidden from you.
9.6 See then what Azazel has done; how he has taught all iniquity on the earth and revealed the eternal secrets that are made in Heaven.
9.7 And Semyaza has made known spells, he to whom you gave authority to rule over those who are with him.
9.8 And they went into the daughters of men together, lay with those women, became unclean, and revealed to them these sins.
9.9 And the women bore giants, and thereby the whole Earth has been filled with blood and iniquity.
9.10 And now behold the souls which have died cry out and complain unto the Gate of Heaven, and their lament has ascended, and they cannot go out in the face of the iniquity which is being committed on the earth.
9.11 And you know everything, before it happens, and you know this, and what concerns each of them. But you say nothing to us. What ought we to do with them, about this?"

10.1 And then the Most High, the Great and Holy One, spoke and sent Arsyalalyur to the son of Lamech, and said to him:
10.2 "Say to him in my name; hide yourself! And reveal to him the end, which is coming, because the whole earth will be destroyed. A deluge is about to come on all the earth; and all that is in it will be destroyed.

10.3 And now teach him so that he may escape and his offspring may survive for the whole Earth."
10.4 And further the Lord said to Raphael: "Bind Azazel by his hands and his feet and throw him into the darkness. And split open the desert, which is in Dudael, and throw him there.
10.5 And throw on him jagged and sharp stones and cover him with darkness. And let him stay there forever. And cover his face so that he may not see the light.
10.6 And so that, on the Great Day of Judgment, he may be hurled into the fire.
10.7 And restore the Earth which the Angels have ruined. And announce the restoration of the Earth. For I shall restore the Earth so that not all the sons of men shall be destroyed because of the knowledge which the Watchers made known and taught to their sons.
10.8 And the whole Earth has been ruined by the teaching of the works of Azazel; and against him write: ALL SIN."
10.9 And the Lord said to Gabriel: “Proceed against the bastards, and the reprobates, and against the sons of the fornicators. And destroy the sons of the fornicators, and the sons of the Watchers, from amongst men. And send them out, and send them against one another, and let them destroy themselves in battle; for they will not have length of days.
10.10 And they will petition you, but the petitioners will gain nothing in respect of them, for they hope for eternal life, and that each of them will live life for five hundred years."
10.11 And the Lord said to Michael: "Go, inform Semyaza, and the others with him, who have associated with the women to corrupt themselves with them in all their uncleanness.

10.12 When all their sons kill each other, and when they see the destruction of their loved ones, bind them for seventy generations, under the hills of the earth, until the day of their judgment and of their consummation, until the judgment, which is for all eternity, is accomplished.

10.13 And in those days, they will lead them to the Abyss of Fire; in torment, and in prison they will be shut up for all eternity.
10.14 And then Semyaza will be burnt, and from then on destroyed with them; together they will be bound until the end of all generations.

10.15 And destroy all the souls of lust, and the sons of the Watchers, for they have wronged men.
10.16 Destroy all wrong from the face of the Earth and every evil work will cease.

10.17 And now all the righteous will be humble, and will live until they beget thousands. And all the days of their youth, and their sabbaths, they will fulfill in peace.

III.  THE BOOK OF JASHUR

 

A.   The book of Jashur is referenced in Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18; and 2 Timothy 3:8.

 

Jashur 4

16 And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.

17 And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence.

 

18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.

 

19 And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field for I repent that I made them.

 

IV.  THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

 

Jubilees 5

1   And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants.

2   And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth -all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually.

3   And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil before His eyes.

4   And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth which He had created.

5   But Noah found grace before the eyes of the Lord.

6   And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate.

7   And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven.

8   And He said 'My spirit shall not always abide on man; for they also are flesh and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'.

9   And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth.

And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruction), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before the Lord.

 

Why did the Lord send the flood?  Because He’s good!  Because He’s good!

 

A.   When we started this series I talked a lot about DNA.  This battle between heaven and hell has been and will be fought out through genetics.

 

Genesis 3

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel."

 

B.    This is all about the SEED.  The seed of God verses the seed of the snake, that nachash.  The plan of God would come through the woman!  Do you see this!  At the very beginning, in what we would call the “Fall of Man,” is the first preaching of the Gospel, if you will.

 

In Christian theology, the Protevangelium is God's statement to the Serpent in the Garden of Eden about how the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head:

 

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15, KJV)

 

C.    Paul remembers it, and says it this way as he considered Jesus:  God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Romans 16:20)

 

D.   In this proclamation of the Gospel, which was declared at the very fall of man, God’s plan was revealed.  He would crush His adversary through the Seed of the woman.  Isn’t it amazing that the devil immediately sets in motion a plan to corrupt the seed of the woman?  He immediately attacks, via corruption of DNA, the Seed.  Do you see it?

 

1 John 3

8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

 

1 Peter 1

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

 

E.    So, Noah was found “perfect” in his generation.  This speaks to the purity of bloodline issue.  Ever wonder why there seem to be endless genealogies in the Bible?  This answers that question once and for all.  The devil would seek to destroy the plan of salvation by corrupting the “Seed of the woman.”  More on this in future weeks!

 

V.  SO WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

 

A.   Jesus refers to Himself by one title more than any other, and considering who He is as King of all kings, Lord of all lords, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Captain of the Hosts, the I AM, the Son of God… and yet his preferred title as the “Son of Man” is humble to be sure.  It appears 81 times throughout the Gospels.  But is it something else?  Is it a prophetic key?  Is it a holy boundary?  More on this in later weeks!

 

CORRUPT, adjective [Latin] – Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

1. Changed from a sound to a putrid state, as by natural decomposition.

2. Spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound; as corrupt air, or bread.

3. Depraved; vitiated; tainted with wickedness.

They are corrupt; they have done abominable works. Psalms 14:1.

The earth was corrupt before God. Genesis 6:11.

4. Debased; rendered impure; changed to a worse state; as corrupt language.

5. Not genuine; infected with errors or mistakes. The text is corrupt

 

B.    The “days of Noah” were about a corruption of DNA.  The flood was God’s loving response toward saving man.  There was something else… some “enhancement”… something that had been added to man that God would not redeem.  Jesus was THE plan to save humanity.  He was the plan from before the foundation of the world.  Is it possible that there is some future enhancement, some future alteration that would altar us so utterly that we would no longer be considered fully human? 

 

C.    God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He sent the flood as a mercy, the wiping out of entire populations that we see all through the Old Testament by the command of God was a mercy, and I believe the coming judgment recorded for us in the New Testament is also mercy.  There is something unfolding in our day that has been impossible since the days of the flood.  It’s the same story line we see in Genesis 6, but this time the world will not be washed clean with water, it will be purified with fire.  (2 Peter 3:11)

 

Revelation 14

9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

 

D.   Jesus points us back to a very particular and dangerous time in human history.  Noah was building an ark.  God had given him the blueprints to ensure his safety and salvation.  The barge didn’t magically appear!  He believed God and he worked.  Day after day he built.  The scriptures tell us this building project took about 100 years.  It was low and slow.  It was tedious, back-breaking labor.  Sometimes the Good News is like that!  Keep building!!

Last week we covered a lot!  Genesis 1-3, from creation through the fall of man.  C.S. Lewis said this Fall could be understood as a “falling into oneself.”  And I get that!  Don’t you?  It’s hopeless, that kind of fall.  But I also want to remind you of what I am coming to call, the conspiratorial view of our history.  Eve didn’t stumble.  Adam didn’t just get lost.  They were deceived.  They were tricked.  They were lied to.  They were pushed.

 

Our God has an enemy.  And because our Father loves us, His enemy has become our enemy.  It’s because we are the apple of God’s eye, that the devil despises us so.  He wants to corrupt all Good things.  He wants to thwart all wisdom.  He wants to kill all love.  The enemy of God has made himself truly an enemy.  There is nothing neutral about it.

 

I.  CONSPIRATORIAL HISTORY

 

8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 11He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

 

A.   The separation, the distrust, was immediate.  I think this is the real death.  This way of thinking, this way of NOT seeing the Father accurately is the true death.  The accusation of Adam towards the Lord follows his sudden blindness.  In essence, Adam is saying, “You are responsible for this separation.  You did this!”

 

John 17

3And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

 

…14The Lord God said to the serpent,

"Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel."

 

B.    This is all about genetics!  This is all about the Seed of the Nachash/Satan verses the Seed of the Woman.  

 

In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all currently living humans. This is the most recent woman from whom all living humans today descend, in an unbroken line, on their mother’s side, and through the mothers of those mothers, and so on, back until all lines converge on one woman. (Wikipedia)

 

1 Peter 1

20God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. (NLT) 

 

C.    We were part of, and are part of a coup d'é·tat of the Celestial Order.  To the devil we are nothing more than pawns.  Expendable.  His intention was to take out the King. 

 

D.   We were in a sense, kidnapped from the Garden.  We put aside the loving instructions of our Father and were swept up by an enemy we could never have fathomed.  Suddenly we were separated.  Suddenly we were lost.  Suddenly we were cut off. 

 

16To the woman he said,

"I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be for your husband,

and he shall rule over you."

 

17And to Adam he said,

"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

'You shall not eat of it,'

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return."

 

E.    After all of that just transpired, you would think there would be some massive event.  And instead there is this…

 

II.  AND THE ONE BECAME TWO

 

Genesis 3

20The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

 

A.   It’s almost so everyday nothing, that we miss it.  But there’s a whole lot in these two sentences.   This is the first time that woman has been given a name.  I want to submit to you that this was the judgment.  All Eden had ever known was Oneness.  Oneness with God, Oneness with one another, Oneness with all that was created.  There was a harmony in everything created. 

 

B.    The Fall was immediate.  There was distance immediately.  There was discord immediately.  Eve is named accurately, but also separately.  This is the beginning of The Fall.

 

III.  GOD MADE THE FIRST CUT

 

Genesis 3

21And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

 

A.   Can you imagine how traumatic this would have been?  It would have been utterly grotesque I think to witness this death.  The message would have been clear:

·      Only God can cover us.

·      Blood is required in order to cover us.

 

B.    This would not have been something easily forgotten.  It was the last encounter with God before everything changed. 

 

IV.  IN MERCY WE WERE DRIVEN OUT

 

22Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" 23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

A.   The punishment has already happened.  This was mercy!

 

V.  CAIN AND ABEL

 

Genesis 4

1Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord." 2And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

A.   This is not some arbitrary regarding.  God doesn’t just like Abel better.  There is something happening here.  Abel is regarding the stories passed down.  He sacrifices an animal.  He sheds blood, recognizing that last act in Eden.  He’s regarding the Lord!

 

B.    Cain wants to bring a sacrifice, but he doesn’t want to obey.  He wants to worship HIS way.  He wants to honor God HIS way. 

 

C.    This is the same issue we have today. The real issue is about whether we are worshiping (which is always about surrender and obedience), or whether we are sacrificing.  Sacrifice is costly too.  The issue is that it stems from pride. 

 

2 Timothy 2

3For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

 

D.   God wasn’t regarding Abel from a whimsical place.  He was regarding Abel’s regarding!  He asks Cain a question that is still reverberating down through the ages...  “If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  The point is that Cain didn’t want to do well.  He wanted God to bless his disobedience.  He wanted to do what he wanted to do.  This is a heart issue, and it would continue to play out over Cain’s life.

 

8Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

 

Matthew 10

21Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

 

E.    This is not a history lesson only!  This is an end-time story.  Who betrayed Jesus?  One of his own disciples?  Who betrayed Abel?  His own brother.  When Jesus talks about the end-times, which He does often through all of the Gospels, He tells us that this period will be marked by betrayal. 

 

Matthew 24

9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

 

F.    Why does Cain kill his brother?  It was jealousy.  It was about conviction.  He hates that Abel regards the Lord, and that the Lord regards the offering of Abel.  He can’t stand what Abel represents.

 

9Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"

 

G.   No remorse.  No respect.  Disdain and more disdain.  You see this act of murder wasn’t really about Abel at all.  It was about a hatred towards God.  It was an act of rebellion against God!

 

10And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

 

H.   Who is cursing Cain here?  The very ground is cursing him! 

 

12When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." 13Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

 

15Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

 

I.      I don’t know if you see it this way, but it’s the Lord who is reaching out to protect Cain.  Don’t you get the sense of the Lord’s sorrow for Cain?  Don’t you see His love even here in the midst of Cain’s rebellion?

 

16Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

17Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

 

J.     It’s these last verses that just absolutely floor me.  Cain has been told to wander.  He’s been told by the Lord not to settle down.  But what does he do?  Immediately he settles down!  More than that, he begins to actually BUILD a city!  I mean to the very end, he is going to disregard the instruction of the Lord.  He is building a community around his rebellion. 

VI.  THE LINE OF SETH

 

Genesis 4

25And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." 26To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

 

A.   Jesus was the plan from the very beginning!  The Lord’s plan was Jesus through “the seed of the woman.”  The devil tries to thwart his appearing by killing Abel.  Within the very first offspring we see the Devil’s holocaust against the line of Messiah.

 

B.    The line of Seth is now chosen for the lineage of Jesus. Remember, this is all about the plan of God and the Seed of the Woman.  It has always been, and will be, about DNA.

To understand end-times we have to understand our beginning.  He is, after all, the Alpha and the Omega.  He fills all things with Himself.  He holds all things together, and sustains all things.  He is the beginning and the end.  Even from before the foundation of the world, He declares, “I AM.” 

 

I.  BETWEEN 1.1 AND 1.2 … GAP THEORY

 

Genesis 1

1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (ESV)

 

A.   So far, so good! 

 

Genesis 1

2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (ESV)

 

B.    Wait!  Where does this void come from?  Where does this formlessness come from? 

 

Isaiah 55

11  So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (KJB 2000)

 

C.    The "Gap Theory", suggests the angels were created "in the beginning" (Genesis 1:1), rather than during or after the creation week, and that Satan and his angelic (demonic) followers fell prior to Genesis 1:2. Chalmers grounds this theory in the reinterpretation of words used in Genesis 1:2, and their relationship with other passages of scripture.

 

And the earth was without form, and void;

Vav..Erets......hayah..tohu..............bohu;

and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

....choshek...........................tehown

 

D.   The word for "was" - hayah - is the same word used in Genesis 19:26 where Lot's wife was (hayah) turned into a pillar of salt. The implication is that the word hayah is not simply descriptive, but is active. Furthermore, the word "vav" for "and" can also be read as "but" depending on the context. In the Septuagint it has actually been translated this way. Thus Genesis 1:2 could, or should, read;

 

"But the earth became (or "had become") without form, and void".

 

E.    “Without form, and void" has been translated from the Hebrew phrase "tohu vav bohu". The words tohu and bohu are also found in Isaiah 34:11, but is there interpreted differently;

 

Isaiah 34:

11 "But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion (tohu) and the stones of emptiness (bohu)."

F.    Thus “tohu” can also mean "confused", and “bohu” can mean “empty”. "Confused" and "without form" share in common a lack of order, in a place where there should be order. Perhaps, then, the text could be read as follows; "But the earth was in disarray, and empty".

 

G.   Jeremiah 4:23-26 also uses the phrase "tohu vav bohu", as follows:

“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form (tohu), and void (bohu); and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.”

 

H.   You will notice that this verse describes the Earth as it would have been at the time of Genesis 1:2;

1. The Earth is described as "formless and void" (or "in disarray and empty")

2. There was no man

3. There were no birds

 

I.      What is interesting, though, is that it refers to cities, and what's more it seems these cities had received judgment from The Lord - "all the cities thereof were broken down (in disarray) at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger". Perhaps these cities represented the homes of the angels who had fallen.

 

J.     The word "choshek" has been interpreted as "darkness", and when we read it we assume this is a natural darkness (i.e. before the creation of natural light), but the word "choshek" is also used in Exodus 10:21 to describe the darkness The Lord brought upon Egypt, which was so dark it could be felt. The word "tehown" has been translated as "the deep", but is in fact the same word (Greek abussos – abyss) used to refer to the home of demons and evil spirits, the place from which the anti-Christ emerges.

 

K.   Thus, again, Genesis 1:2 could be read:

"But the earth was in disarray, and empty; and spiritual darkness was upon the face of the demonic realm."

(Plaintruth.com)

 

L.    Which brings us to Genesis 1:3  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

 

M.  Prehistory and chaos… Something happened before something happened.  When we study ancient history, there is much that doesn’t fit with the evolutionary theory that we have been force-fed, rather the Bible narrative is proven!

 

II.  IN THE BEGINNING

 

A.   Let’s keep going!  In the beginning, when we read in the Hebrew text, we see that when God created man He also declares a new name.  No longer just known as Elohim “the strong God,” but as YHWH Elohim.

 

B.    The significance of the name Yahweh is that it is confirming God’s existence but most importantly His presence.  Even in Genesis 1 and 2 we see that Lord God, YHWH Elohim, The strong God -I AM -with you is intervening.

C.    John the beloved, was absolutely taken with this!  He sees Jesus in Genesis 1.  John, who was discipled by the Living Torah (Jesus), sees His friend in the story of creation!  How amazing is this?!

 

John 1

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

 

1 John 1

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

 

Revelation 1

8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

 

A.   John was seeing Jesus in Genesis 1.  To understand this we need to understand the beginning from a Hebraic perspective.  In his book, The Shinar Directive, Dr. Michael Lake says this:

 

 

 

Enoch walked with God.  What was between Enoch and Elohim that enabled the walk?  The answer is Aleph-Tav!  The placement of the Aleph-Tav reveals the truth that it is impossible to walk with God without the enabling work of Messiah.  The Shinar Directive, by Dr. Michael Lake, Chapter 2

 

B.    At the creation of man something changes in the text.  God reveals a new name!  We’ve seen that this Aleph-Tav was right there, right next to Elohim, but now he creates man and He releases a new revelation about who He is.  He declares Himself to be Elohim YHWH. 

 

C.    Mark D. Futato, Robert L. Maclellan Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando says this:

 

“In Genesis 1 only Elohim is used to refer to deity. This is no doubt because of the universal perspective of this creation story. In Genesis 2, on the other hand, deity is referred to as YHWH Elohim. These two accounts converge to affirm that YHWH (the God of Israel) and not any other ancient Near Eastern deity is Elohim (the universal God).

 

So then, YHWH Elohim does not mean "Lord of Gods...the one of many," but means that YHWH, the personal God who rules over Israel, is at one and the same time the universal God who rules over all.”

 

(Mark D. Futato, Robert L. Maclellan Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. Dr. Futato received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Semitic Languages from the Catholic University of America. He specializes in Hebrew language and is author of the book Beginning Biblical Hebrew (Eisenbrauns, 2003).

 

D.   If we break down the meaning of the word YHWH letter by letter, we discover something incredible…

 

E.    These letters are pronounced, in Hebrew, "Yod Hey Vav Hey," when you read them in the Hebrew manner from right to left.

 

 

F.    The four letters in God's name in Hebrew have the following meanings:

 

Hey = Behold

Vav = Nail

Yod = Closed Hand

 

G.   When read in English from left to right, it says: 

"BEHOLD THE NAIL, BEHOLD THE HAND!"  Or, "Behold the nailed hand."

 

John 1

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God.

 

H.   Hallelujah!  Jesus was there revealing Himself to man in the beginning.  He was there!!

 

III.  TWO TREES

 

Genesis 2

4 These are the generations

of the heavens and the earth when they were created,

in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

 

7then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

 

A.   I want to point something out here that maybe we have missed.  The Lord never commanded man not to eat from the tree of life!  From the beginning He has loved us and desired our fellowship forever and ever!!

 

B.    Adam was commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… We were always supposed to eat from the Tree of Life!  

 

Revelation 22

1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

 

IV.  THE FALL

 

Genesis 3

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

 

He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

 

8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."

 

A.   Now look at this…”He said to the woman, "Did God actually say..”  the Hebrew word for God here is Elohim.  The Serpent didn’t know the revelation of Elohim YHWH.  He didn’t know the plan.  It was hidden from him!  Don’t you see God had already revealed Himself to man in a way that this fallen seraphim, who had looked into the very glory of God, did not know!  It’s glorious!!

 

B.    As we’ve discussed, the words and translations here are important.  The Hebrew word for serpent is Nachash. This creature is not a reptile from the animal kingdom being possessed by the devil, but rather is the devil himself. “Nachash” describes a shining being, a seraphim/serpentine- Satan or the Devil, for in the story he accuses (devil) and is the adversary of God and man (satan).

 

C.    What we need to understand is that this is not some barnyard animal story, this was a extra-dimensional (or extra-terrestrial) conspiracy against God.  This was a planned assault against the government of God and His creation. 

 

D.   If you study ancient history, from all over the world there are creation accounts that verify the Biblical narrative.  From the American Indians, who have a story of a bearded Creator who came and created all that was good, followed shortly therafter by a plumed serpant, or brilliant (shiny) serpentine figure who corrupted the earth.  There was human sacrifice and every vile thing, until finally the earth was laid waste by a flood. 

 

E.    Asian ancient history tells the same story, as does Puru, Mexico, Central America… Even the Alaskan Eskimo has a similar creation story.  A plumed  (feathered) serpent, or a fiery dragon, or a shiny reptilian creature comes and deceives.  The Indians call this time period, “the time when we lost our way.”

 

F.    Ancient history doesn’t destroy our faith.  Ancient history confirms the story of our faith!

 

V.  THE CURSE/ THE PROMISE (depending on your perspective)

Genesis 3

11He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

 

14The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

A.   In his ‘The Serpent and the Seed,’ Charles Missler said, “The curse says that the Nachash will be cursed above all livestock, above the beasts of the field. Or, to put it another way, he will be made lower than the livestock and beasts of the field. Based on the second part of the verse, “...on your belly you shall walk, and dust you shall devour all the days of your life,” many people read this spatially or physically. That is, he will be shorter than all other animals. Indeed, he will no longer have legs and feet, but will have to slither along the ground, the lowest of all animals. This is not the meaning.

B.    Instead of seeing God taking away the limbs of snakes (and how does this punishment even fit the crime using God’s own measuring stick of judgment: an eye for an eye?), it is better to see snakes as having always looked like they look now. They have always slithered; they have never had feet. This was an image God built into creation to display and personify coming evil. This curse consists of two parts. The first is a being brought low. The second is a judicial sentence to die.

C.    The idea here is that if Satan finds it this important to interfere in our realm, because all that he had been given in the heavenly realm was not enough, then fine. He will be forced to deal with our planet for all time. But he will now be given a position so low that even the beasts of the field will be considered more important, more authoritative than him. The other part of the verse is that Satan is being sentenced to die. It is the opposite of 1 Cor 15:53. Here, the immortal puts on mortality. This is the meaning of the image of eating the dust all the days of your life.”

D.   All of this pertains to our understanding of verse 14, but it’s verse 15 that we are waiting nearly with baited breath.  You see it’s here in verse 15, that the first Gospel is preached, and it’s declared by Elohim YHWH Himself! 

 

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

 

E.    This is known as Proto-Evangelium (or First Gospel).  It is the first telling of the victory of Jesus in the midst of a great war.  This war was and is about genetics, both spiritual and physical.  It is about the seed.  The seed of the devil verses the seed of God.  The seed of the devil verses the seed of the woman!  Though hidden, it is the first glimpse we have of the baby who would be born the virgin Mary… literally fathered by God, and born of the seed a woman.

 

20The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

 

F.    Here again, we see the first shedding of blood for the covering of sin.  And it is God who makes Adam and Eve their covering!  Do you see it!!?

 

22Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" 23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

G.   We have considered this cutting off as a punishment, but if you can see take just a step to the right, maybe you will see that this is not judgment but rather mercy.  In His love for us, the Lord separated the dimensions so that we could not eat of the Tree of Life in a fallen state, breaking our fellowship forever.  No!  For a time we were cut off, but there would be another tree provided, this one would look like a cross.  His own Son would make way for us, opening a door once again into the reality of heaven.  His own blood would be our covering.  Jesus, the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, the One with the nailed hands, is our reconciliation.

There are so many questions concerning the end-times…but for our purposes, we are not trying to enter into a debate, but prepare our hearts to endure and be faithful to Jesus until He comes.  There is more written about the final generation than any generation in the history of man.  Prophets saw and recorded events from a great distance and trembled before God saying, “Who can endure the Great and Terrible day of the Lord.”  These were men of the faith…men who entered the lions den rather than show disloyalty to God.  And these men trembled when God revealed the plan of His salvation.  This should bring sobriety to our hearts. 

 

I.  THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

 

Matthew 24

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

 

A.   Jesus validates the testimony of Daniel, and this is huge.  He declares that Daniel saw ahead.  This is our cue to study out Daniel as of utmost importance to our readiness for the days ahead.  Jesus releases a warning.  When you see the abomination of desolation…flee.  Don’t look back.  Don’t delay.  Flee.

 

B.    There are a few key things to keep in mind when interpreting scripture…Primarily, that Jerusalem is the centerpiece of the story. We are looking to events unfolding in the Middle East. 

 

C.    Secondly, that history always repeats itself. Every story is the same story.  God loves man.  God makes a covenant.  Man forgets God.  God raises up a witness, a reminder of the covenant.  Man hardens his heart.  God releases judgment/discipline.  Man remembers God. 

 

D.   The abomination of desolation in the holy place (the temple) is the absolute marking of the Great Tribulation.  This is THE SIGN.  This is the marker of the Great Tribulation…the greatest distress the earth has ever known.  This is the death spiral of the world…

 

E.    This occurs when the Antichrist stands in the Jerusalem temple and declares himself to be God by setting up an idol in the temple and then seeking to force all who are on earth to worship him (Dan. 11:31-32; Mt. 24:15; 2 Thes. 2:4; Rev. 13:14-17). The Antichrist’s statue or image will be the greatest abomination to God in history, because the Antichrist will demand to be worshiped as God and many will fully respond to this demand.

 

II.  LET SCRIPTURE INTERPRET SCRIPTURE

 

Daniel 9

24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

 

A.   Daniel’s seventy weeks (Dan. 9:24-27):

The angel Gabriel revealed to Daniel that God’s purpose for Israel involved a prophetic period of seventy weeks. In the modern world a week speaks of a period of seven days. However, in the ancient world a week represented a period of seven years. Gabriel spoke to Daniel about a prophetic period in which God would deal with Israel’s salvation over seventy weeks or 490 years (70 x 7 years = 490 years). However, after the initial sixty-nine weeks (69 x 7 years = 483 years), a “pause” was put on the prophetic calendar when Jesus the Messiah was “cut off” or crucified. There is one week or seven years left in God’s prophetic calendar and plan in bringing Israel to salvation. The first sixty-nine weeks of the “seventy weeks” prophecy of Daniel 9:24-26 have been fulfilled beginning from Nehemiah’s command to rebuild the city of Jerusalem in 445 BC (Neh. 2:1) to the time of Jesus’ first triumphal entry into Jerusalem to be crucified (Dan. 9:25).

 

B.    The first 49 years (7 weeks) are the time during which the city was being rebuilt. These were the “times of trouble” mentioned in Daniel 9:25 and recorded in Nehemiah 2-7 as consisting of constant efforts by Israel’s enemies to prevent them from completing the project.  Nehemiah tells of workmen building with one hand while holding a sword in the other, and sleeping on site in their clothes, for fear of a surprise attack. The remaining 434 years (62 weeks) began when the city and its walls were complete and ran to the time of the first Palm Sunday when Jesus presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah.

 

Daniel 9

27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.

 

C.    This man, the antichrist will make a 7 year peace treaty with Israel and the surrounding nations.  What is called a ‘peace treaty,’ God calls a covenant with death.  What looks like a peace treaty in the beginning, ends up being a treaty with death.  In the middle of the week… at the 3.5 year mark, everything changes.

 

Isaiah 28

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid [3] as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.

 

D.   This “peace agreement” will be the very thing that beats the nation down. 

 

Daniel 11

31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. 32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.

36 “And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.

 

E.    So before the antichrist can appear the temple needs to be rebuilt.  And then the offerings are established. 

 

F.    As part of its ongoing effort to prepare for a future rebuilt Temple, the Temple Institute has been preparing ritual objects suitable for Temple use. Many of the over ninety ritual items to be used in the Temple have been made by the Temple Institute.

 

G.   As of June 2008, a major current project of the Temple Institute is the creation of the sacred uniform of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, and the ordinary priests. This project, the culmination of years of study and research, has been underway for several years. The High Priest's Hoshen (breastplate) and Ephod have already been completed. The Tzitz, the golden crown of the High Priest, was completed in 2007. [1] The Temple Institute is designing the garments for the lay priests intended for purchase by Kohanim who can verify their lineage.   

 

H.   The temple will be rebuilt and the regular offerings will be reestablished.  Animal sacrifices will again be offered.  Since 70a.d., all sacrifices have ceased. 

 

Daniel 12

11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.

 

I.      When the antichrist sets himself up in the temple and demands to be worshiped…there are 3.5 years to go. There is a seven year peace treaty with many nations, the rebuilding of the temple, regular animal sacrifice is resumed, and then the antichrist defiles the Temple…the Great Tribulation begins…3.5 years pass and Jesus comes again.

 

J.     Read Revelation 13.  The words antichrist come from the root words meaning not only “against” and “opposite” but also “in place of.”  He will be an end-time leader resembling the Christ with a false peace, but not finally able to deliver salvation.

III.  ISRAEL AND THE REMNANT SAVED

Ezekiel 9

9:1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.

 

A.   God will place a divine seal upon those who mourn for the land.  There is a mark of the beast, but there is also the seal of the Lord!  He searches the earth.  He looks for those who mourn for justice.  And He marks these. 

 

Revelation 7

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

 

B.    There is a remnant of Israel that is protected.  They have mourned the covenant with death.  They have mourned injustice.  They have grieved, although they do not recognize Jesus yet…they have languished over the land. 

 

Ezekiel 12

15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. 16 But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the Lord.”

 

C.    Even in their sin, they are a witness to the nations.  They declare to the nations that their transgression has brought judgment upon Israel.  Even in the scattering they declare the greatness of God!

 

IV.  THE GENTILES

 

2 Corinthians 1

21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

 

A.   We are standing firm.  We are sealed.  There is for sure trouble coming on the entire earth, but there is also Divine protection to withstand the day of trouble.  We are already sealed with the person of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Ephesians 1

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee [4] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, [5] to the praise of his glory.

 

V.  STANDING FIRM AND TAKING ACTION

 

Daniel 11

32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.

 

A.   We are here making many understand the Word and the mystery of God unfolding.  How?  We are standing firm and taking action.  This is the call to stand in the wall.  This is the call to be loyal to Jesus.  There is no more spectator Christianity.  It’s either ALL in or ALL out.  Why?  Because it will be costly to stand with the Lord in that final hour.  Of course, it will be eternally costly to side against Him. 

 

Hebrews 12

15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

 

B.    Esau sold his inheritance for a bowl of soup.  There will be those who sell their soul for 3.5 years of false peace.  We must value the Lord above temporary security.

 

C.    There are things that Daniel saw and was not allowed to record…and there are things thunders that John heard and was not allowed to write…these things have been reserved for the final generation.

 

Daniel 12

12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;  and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”…8 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

 

D.   Daniel wrote for another generation.  I believe he wrote for ours.  The last generation is promised understanding.  We are promised wisdom.  We are promised to make many understand.  Although Daniel saw it, he did not understand.  This is our inheritance:  to understand.

 

Revelation 10

10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants [1] the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

 

E.    There are things that have been sealed up for us to search out.  There is a call to eat the scroll.  We are being called to participate with the realm of heaven.  It wasn’t enough to watch the events…the call was to come up “here” and take hold of the word and eat it. 

 

F.    We have been called to take hold of something.  To digest it.  We have been called to come up into the glory of the thing.  The angel doesn’t stoop down to John…John is called to ‘come up here.’

 

VI.  WHAT GOD CONSIDERS AN ABOMINATION

 

Leviticus 18

21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them [2] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

 

Deuteronomy 7

25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction [3] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

 

Deuteronomy 17

17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.

 

2 Kings 23

24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

 

Proverbs 6

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.

 

Isaiah 66

3 “He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood;
he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;
4 I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring their fears upon them,
because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did what was evil in my eyes
and chose that in which I did not delight.”

 

Jeremiah 13

27 I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings,
on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be before you are made clean?”

 

Jeremiah 32

34 They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

 

 

 

Our nation is in a crisis of the faith…but I believe we can raise up intercession and push back the tide of darkness and lawlessness that is pressing in on all sides.  We can search out the ancient ways, bend our hearts to obey, raise our voices to proclaim and take our place on the wall.  God is looking for a man who will stand in the gap of the wall on behalf of the land. 

 

I. HERESY: AND THE DIVINE SET UP

 

Matthew 24

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

 

A.   Previously, we talked about the false messengers that will arise.  There will be false christs, false teachers and false prophets.  There will be a gradual, but substantial moving away from the faith.  Instead of the Word, there will be preaching about positive thinking.  Instead of deliverance, we will hear preaching of tolerance.  These are the gradual, but eternally destructive heresies that Jesus and the apostles of the faith warned us about. 

 

2 Timothy 4

4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

 

B.    When we have messages with no truth…when we have services and never point people to the way of obedience, then we have entered into a famine.  When we have prophecy but no weight, no condition to enter into…then this is the false message. 

 

C.    There is a famine coming…not first of bread, but of the Word of the Lord.  There is a famine coming, when sound teaching is so rare we will search but not be able to find it.

 

Amos 8

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.

 

John 14

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

D.   Messengers must reprove, rebuke, and exhort in all patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2).  Messengers must direct the hearer to Jesus…the way of the cross, the truth and the life.  This is relevant. 

 

2 Peter 3

16 … There are some things in them (Paul’s letters) that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 

 

E.    We are called to bend to the will of the Lord…if something is going to bend, or twist it needs to be our own hearts.  We should never allow the Word of the Lord to be twisted to appease our complacency or sin.  If we remain bendable and pliable in the Lord’s hand, we will be saved.  If we read the Word, and our heart cry is, “God show me,” then we will be found faithful in the end. 

 

F.    This gradual moving away from the faith is the set up for the tribulation and hatred of the church: those IN the faith. 

 

II.  HATED BY ALL

 

Matthew 24

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

 

A.   After the false message infiltrates the land, after the wars and rumors of wars comes…THEN comes tribulation.  Jesus was very plain in giving us the order of events.  We can trust Him. 

 

The government considers you a terrorist threat if you oppose abortion, own a gun or are a returning war veteran.  That's what House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Wednesday in response to a Department of Homeland Security report warning of the rise of right-wing extremist groups.  (Fox News, blog, April 14, 2009)

 

B.    Maine:  Historic vote.  Anyone who preaches the standard of the Bible may be liable and punishable for hate crimes!  Hastings v. Christian Legal Society (June, 2010)…

 

Matthew 5

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

C.    This is not about being persecuted on account of not paying your parking tickets, or being unwise in business.  This is about standing with the Lord in obedience and truth.  This is about being loyal to Him. 

 

John 15

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

 

D.   Have we considered what it will mean to hated by all nations…?  Meaning the standard of God will come against an assault from the entire globe.  Have we considered this?

 

2 Timothy 3

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

 

E.    ALL means all.  Have we considered this?  Does this line up with our thinking about blessing?  Does this line up with the faith we have believed?  Have we prepared our hearts for this?

 

III.  FALLING AWAY

 

Matthew 24

10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another

 

A.   The order of events is signifigant.  False messengers, national/global hatred and tribulation for those who remain in the faith….and then many will fall away.  The pressure from the media, and the false message that many sit under week after week…is and will do something in the heart of man.  It will create the set up for an all out walking away from the faith. 

 

B.    “Jesus came to bring peace, right…” will be the argument given for renouncing the faith.  It will seem unreasonable to be a Christian.  It will seem intolerant.  Many will say to us, “Just leave them alone…let them be in their choices.” 

 

C.    But in that hour, and it’s closer than we think…God will raise up a witness that refuses to the let the people alone.  Although hated, they will release the standard of the Lord with great power and fire and unction.  This will be our hardest hour, but our most glorious hour. 

 

Luke 12

49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

 

 

Luke 21

16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers [3] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

 

IV. LAWLESSNESS AND THE COLD HEART

 

Matthew 24

12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

 

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

LAWLESS a. 1. Not subject to law; unrestrained by law; as a lawless tyrant; lawless men. 2. Contrary to law; illegal; unauthorized; as a lawless claim. 3. Not subject to the ordinary laws of nature; uncontrolled.   LAWLESSNESS n. The quality or state of being unrestrained by law; disorder.

A.   There is a twisting of scripture where we throw off restraint in the name of grace.  This has nothing to do with grace.  Grace is not lawlessness…In fact, obtaining grace means that we have received the Divine empowerment of God to fulfull the law.  To walk in grace is to walk in obedience. 

 

John 6

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

B.    This is grace.  To do the will of the Father.  There is nothing wrong with restraint.  In fact, we are to be a restrained and directed people.  Not living out of carnal impulse…but directed by the very word of God.  Not living by feelings, but ruled by God.  This is grace.  This is maturity.

 

Proverbs 29

18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law.

 

C.    In this season, let’s prepare our hearts by searching out the scripture.  Let’s cling to the Lord.  Let’s raise our voices.  Let’s live the standard.  Let’s cry out for mercy.  Let us become that corporate ‘man’ God is searching for. 

 

Matthew 5

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

We have been commanded by Jesus to know the signs of His return.  As sure as the heavens and the earth will stand, the prophetic Word of Jesus will come to pass just as He said it would.  As we study the end-times, it is imperative to let scripture interpret scripture.  This takes time.  But rather than dissect half of a verse, we should see the Word of the Lord directing us from the beginning.  Every story is His story. 

 

I.  FALSE CHRISTS

 

Matthew 24

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away [1] and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

 

A.   The very first warning we have from Jesus is concerning false Christ’s.  Those who proclaim and direct the hearts of the church toward themselves without regard to loyalty to Jesus.  This is the first warning of Jesus.  What does that look like? 

 

B.    These false messengers will come “in the name of Jesus.”  They will come declaring the endorsement of heaven without loyalty to the scripture or the faith.  They will pull the hearts of the church towards themselves.  They will sit in the place of Jesus.

 

C.    I believe we have entered into this season is such a widespread way we can barely discern our error.  When we have men and women who are more than all right being called “God’s anointed oracle,” and “God’s man or woman of the hour,” we have entered into error.  Where are the friends of the Bridegroom? 

 

D.   There is a falseness that has crept in unnoticed.  Deception has blinded the church.  We have stopped teaching and instructing the saints in the standard of the Lord.  We have a new standard…do they leave happy?  As if that has anything to do with releasing the Word of the Lord.  It effects our services, our worship… When we are more concerned if the song choice has enough dynamics to move the crowd, and not at all concerned with whether the worship is actually worship, then we have not only been deceived, but are partnering in the deception. 

 

Matthew 7

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 

E.    The issue here isn’t about works.  These people are doing ministry in the name of Jesus.  There is just one problem, they were not sent ones.  They were doing ministry and yet not doing the will of the Father.

 

F.    Have we understood this?  Have we comprehended that we can be in the middle of ministry and completely out of the will of God?  We have so many things that have been produced out of the realm of our own soul.  Can we actually discern what a true move of the Spirit is? 

 

1 Corinthians 2

2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, [1] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony [2] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

 

G.   Would we be able to discern a man of the Spirit like Paul today?  Would we give credence to a man or ministry that was marked with fear (of God), trembling and weakness?  Would we?  What about our nation?  What about our region?  The demonstration of the cross is trembling and weakness, even death.

 

H.   The false Christ will proclaim a resurrection without the death.  The false Christ will declare authority without the fruit of submission.  This is exactly what Jesus warns His disciples about.

 

II.  FALSE TEACHERS

 

2 Peter 2

2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greedthey will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

 

A.   Is this not timeless?  It sounds as if Peter were writing in the year 2009!  It’s a subtle shift from the centrality of the Living One, Jesus.  Instead of Jesus our Teacher, we have settled for a man/woman telling us what the Word of the Lord is.  If the veil has been torn, why have we put up our own sheet?  It’s been said that churches often pay their preachers to protect them from God. 

 

B.    A true teacher will direct you to The Teacher.  Not protect you from Him.  A true teacher will desire the “unity of the faith,” not accolades and immaturity.

 

C.    A false teacher is marked with three primary things:  Denying Jesus, sensuality, and greed. 

 

Philippians 3

18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

 

D.   The false messenger has their mind set on earthly things.  This is the root of the problem. 

 

10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.  Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,

 

E.    Though these false messengers claim to have authority, they in fact despise authority.  They do not tremble.  What a statement!  They do not tremble.  They stand as ambassadors of another reality and yet they do not tremble.  This alone is the height of presumption and arrogance.

 

James 3

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

 

13…They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

 

F.    Unsteady souls are drawn into their ways.  Here’s a good marker for the spirituality of the teacher/ minister… are those around them maturing?  Are those around them humble?  Are those around them trembling with the fear of the Lord?  This is the true condition of the leader/teacher.

 

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves  of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

 

G.   They will get darkness because they loved their darkness more than light.  This is what they desired.  They promise what they cannot deliver.

Matthew 12

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

 

H.   Considering the warning, and whom it comes from, we should be careful to inspect the fruit.  Signs can be deceiving.  What is the fruit of the life?  This is godly.  This is right.  And this is our job as the church.  There is nothing wrong with looking at the manner of life.  Does it line with scripture?  With meekness?  With trembling and weakness?

 

2 Thess 3

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you,

 

III.  FALSE PROPHETS

 

Jeremiah 23

15 for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

 

A.   This statement is so profound and weighty.  To come to terms with this…that the state of the land is the statement of the spiritual condition of the church.  The land languishes because the sons of God have not been revealed!!!!

 

Romans 8

19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

 

B.    The land is subjected to bondage because the sons have not been revealed. 

 

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

 

C.    There is so much at stake for playing at this…not only our own soul, but also our family…our entire generation.  This passage seems to be timeless.  And why, because it is truly the Word of the Lord!  He speaks out of time.  He speaks to every generation.  Every culture.  To think that we have conferences designed around the ridiculous question of how to make God relevant.  This is a statement of our falseness.  This is a statement of our falseness.  God is relevant!

 

18 For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

 

D.   The awakened church will be prophetic.  After all, what have they been awakened to but the Word of the Lord?  Is it possible that Joel 2/ Acts 2 have to so with this passage?  All flesh.  The wicked will connect with the Spirit of the Lord on all flesh, but what does that look like? 

 

E.    It seems that God’s wrath is directed to the false prophetic movement.  When we think of the wicked, is the first thing that comes to mind the false prophetic movement or the pimp? 

 

21 “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.


 

F.    It’s arrogance and a presumption that marks this false movement.  Have we trembled at the Word we’ve been given to speak?  Is it a good idea?  Or is it a Word from the Lord?

 

1 Corinthians 2

2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, [1] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony [2] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

 

G.   If we have not understood this then we have not begun to hear the Word of the Lord.  If there is no fear, no comprehension of weakness, no trembling…then it is not a Word from the Lord.  We have asked for the power of God, but have we said yes to weakness, fear and trembling.

 

2 Corinthians 4

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

 

H.   If we would only say yes to the trembling…the responsibility of the Word, not just the momentary high of delivering the thing… the elation of being used by God, then we would surely tremble.  Because whatever we are given we will be held accountable for.  This is weighty.

 

22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

 

I.      This promise is so sure and so simple.  We have only one need…to hear the Word of the Lord.

 

23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

 

J.     The Word of the Lord is a fire.  It cannot be handled.  It cannot be touched.  It cannot be manipulated.  It is a fire. The Word of the Lord is like a hammer.  When the Word of the Lord has been released the landscape of our hearts is altered.  The lofty places are brought to nothing.  Our good ideas are laid flat.

 

2 Corinthians 10

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.