1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,720 Let's open in prayer and we'll get started. 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:18,100 Father, like we always do, we just take a moment to pause and acknowledge the presence 3 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:23,280 of God the Holy Spirit among us and we welcome your ministry. 4 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,320 We just pray that we would help us to yield our minds and hearts to you during this hour. 5 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,320 We pray that you bless our conversations. 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,160 Father, we pray for a spirit of openness and freedom. 7 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:40,520 This is a venue where we retain some of our United Methodist heritage. 8 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,240 Open hearts, open doors, open minds. 9 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:50,600 And so we just pray that you bless us and help us to explore the mysteries and the things 10 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:51,960 of God together. 11 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:52,960 We love you. 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:53,960 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 13 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:55,960 And everybody said, Amen. 14 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,880 All right. 15 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:08,560 Now so as we go through the class, so what I've handed out to you is additional reading. 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,240 This is just like Revelation. 17 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:18,120 I like to choose the most controversial topics to talk about in my first year at a church. 18 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,160 But this is important information. 19 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:29,680 So the entire Bible is predicated on what's written in these chapters. 20 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:34,120 And so much in the Bible depends on the events that are recorded there. 21 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:42,800 And so it's really important that we learn to think about them in more advanced kinds 22 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,120 of ways. 23 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:50,560 So what I've handed out to you, so two things that people really get triggered on is whether 24 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,480 or not you're a literal seven day creationist or not. 25 00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:06,000 Anybody want to take a guess as to where I'm going to land on that topic? 26 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:13,360 I am not, but I am also not our Darwinian evolutionist. 27 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,380 So I don't think those are the only two options. 28 00:02:16,380 --> 00:02:22,240 So anybody that thinks that the earth was created out of this primordial soup and everything 29 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:27,000 randomly evolved from a single cell amoeba and you think the resurrection from the dead 30 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,440 is crazy? 31 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,040 Come on. 32 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:37,040 So I am a Job 39 creationist. 33 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:38,680 Anybody here ever read Job 39? 34 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:45,800 It's the one where God is scolding Job because Job's been questioning God this whole time. 35 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,360 And God says, Hey little guy, gird up your loins. 36 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,920 Let me tell you something. 37 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,280 Where were you whenever I XYZ? 38 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:01,560 So my position is I don't know how God created the earth and neither do you. 39 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:02,920 Right? 40 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:08,760 But I want us to guard against people who think that if I'm not a literal seven day 41 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,000 creationist, I must be a liberal. 42 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:17,200 You know, or if I don't necessarily think the flood of Noah was a global flood, there 43 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,760 are good reasons for thinking that, you know, now if you think the earth was created in 44 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:23,640 seven days, great. 45 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:26,160 I have no problem with that. 46 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,280 If you believe in random evolution from a single cell amoeba, amoeba. 47 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,560 Okay, great. 48 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,600 Really at the end of the day, none of us knows what we're talking about. 49 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:36,600 Right? 50 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,840 When it comes to these things. 51 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:47,720 And so my point would be all of those conversations are asking questions of the text that it was 52 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,120 never intended to address. 53 00:03:50,120 --> 00:04:03,360 So you think about this Genesis chapters one through 11, who was it written to? 54 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,960 It would have been quite a while after Abraham. 55 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:19,880 Moses is attributed as the author, the children of Israel, but it was also a witness to a 56 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:26,360 pagan world that worshiped other gods. 57 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:27,860 Right? 58 00:04:27,860 --> 00:04:35,360 So this book was not written to 21st century secular Western culture. 59 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:44,880 It was written to an ancient mythological world culture. 60 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:50,400 Now it was written for us, but it was not written to us. 61 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:51,960 You understand the difference? 62 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,200 And so if we're going to understand the text, that's one of the things we need to keep in 63 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:56,480 mind. 64 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,880 That's who the text is addressing. 65 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:06,120 A world that was riddled with people who worshiped pagan gods. 66 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:14,640 Now what you're going to find as you go through the course with me, that whenever we get into 67 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:22,520 the contents of the text and it begins to talk about these other beings, I don't believe 68 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:27,000 that the ancient world that worshiped pagan gods were complete idiots. 69 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,640 I don't think the Greco-Roman world was stupid because they worshiped pagan gods. 70 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:37,480 I believe those gods are real. 71 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:43,600 I believe there was a point in time in history where they had a much stronger interaction 72 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:48,960 with humanity than what we know and enjoy today, which is not having to interact with 73 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,840 those beings in a direct kind of a way. 74 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:59,000 But what the Bible is going to describe is where fallen angels come from, where demons 75 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:04,680 come from, why people worshiped these beings, the types of things these beings did as they 76 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:06,320 interacted with human beings. 77 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,400 I believe that was all real. 78 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:14,260 I believe that ancient mythology is based upon those interactions. 79 00:06:14,260 --> 00:06:19,560 That ancient mythology was something that those people actually believed was true. 80 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:20,840 It wasn't myth to them. 81 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:23,160 That was their religion. 82 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:32,800 And so it wasn't until much later that people began probably what around, let's say, I'm 83 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,640 just going to guess at a number, between 200 and 500 BC is when people began abandoning 84 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,600 these stories as mythology. 85 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,960 But here's why it's so important. 86 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:51,880 As we learn from Revelation, there's coming a time at some point in the future where these 87 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,040 things will begin to manifest themselves again. 88 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,360 And this is why we study this material is because we don't, we're not going to be caught 89 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:06,200 off guard and duped by the coming great deception that is the number one thing Jesus warns us 90 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:07,800 about in the end times. 91 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,320 We're not going to be caught off guard and duped. 92 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:17,320 We're going to know what's going on and we'll know to stay out of the trap that is going 93 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,280 to be laid for the whole world to worship these things. 94 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:29,640 So let me start off with a little bit of a, any questions about any of that? 95 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:30,640 Points of conversation? 96 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:36,640 The earth was created in six days. 97 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:37,640 That is correct. 98 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,400 That is correct, Dandy. 99 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,120 You get up anytime you correct me, you get a, like a bonus mark for the day. 100 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,120 You'll get a gold star. 101 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,120 Yeah. 102 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,960 I'll make mistakes on purpose if you'll share the biscuits with me. 103 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:55,960 Okay. 104 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:57,560 Genesis one through 11. 105 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,200 Here's why we saw the chapter 11 Genesis one through 11 is a section of Genesis we 106 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:07,040 call primeval history and they call it primeval history because these things happened thousands 107 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:15,760 of years before they were ever recorded. 108 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,520 Now most of the things you're going to find in Genesis, you can find an ancient near Eastern 109 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:28,520 pagan literature and that was recorded before Genesis was according to the archeologists 110 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:33,840 and scholars. 111 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:41,240 Now let's say that's true because they like to say that Genesis borrowed from say Babylonian 112 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:49,040 or Acadian or Sumerian stories, creation accounts. 113 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:54,040 Just because they had the technology to write it down before the people of God did doesn't 114 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,700 mean they came up with it and we borrowed it from them. 115 00:08:57,700 --> 00:08:59,400 You understand? 116 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:05,360 So this was reflects what most people speculate is oral tradition. 117 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,560 Now this is like standard academia. 118 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,600 I don't actually believe that. 119 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:18,240 I don't believe it's just based upon oral tradition because in the Dead Sea Scrolls 120 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:26,720 we have accounts of books that were handed down from the Patriot. 121 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:31,600 Well the, what would we call them? 122 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:39,160 Adam and his sons that were handed down and passed through the generations. 123 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:46,280 So one of these things from the Dead Sea Scrolls is referred to as the Book of Noah. 124 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,760 Now does everybody know what the Dead Sea Scrolls are? 125 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:54,080 I need to explain that just real briefly. 126 00:09:54,080 --> 00:10:01,560 They were found in caves in Qumran, they're dated anywhere between 200 and 500 BC and the 127 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:07,360 testimony is that they were documents from the Old Testament Temple Library that were 128 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:15,200 taken by the Zadok priests so that they could preserve the information held by the Jewish 129 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:16,200 people. 130 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:26,120 So these are ancient sources and while we do not have a Book of Noah in existence today, 131 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:35,080 written material ascribed to Noah is mentioned in two books of Old Testament books that were 132 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,640 found with the Dead Sea Scrolls. 133 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:47,320 And so you would find that in the Book of Jubilees and I'm not finding the other one 134 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:51,340 off the top of my head, it's not important, in the Book of Enoch. 135 00:10:51,340 --> 00:10:56,080 So it refers to a book of Noah. 136 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:02,200 And so I believe that there were writings, so the, whenever we talk about authorship 137 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:09,320 of Genesis, Moses is credited not as being the author but the editor and compiler of 138 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,200 various Jewish traditions. 139 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:17,720 So the word that was thrown around when I was in Bible college was JEDP. 140 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:23,360 These are the four different sources they identify in the first five books of the Bible. 141 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:31,040 And Moses took this Jewish tradition and he edited it into an accurate reflection of what 142 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,360 actually happened. 143 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,800 And so I believe he probably was just having sources and whenever he edited it down, some 144 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,840 of this other stuff just got lost because what Moses handed this is what's really important 145 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:44,420 and authoritative. 146 00:11:44,420 --> 00:11:54,440 So I don't buy that the stories in the Bible were borrowed from Sumeria or the Akkadians. 147 00:11:54,440 --> 00:12:00,520 Or you could also say it like this, there was a flood, everyone experienced it, everyone 148 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,160 told their version of the story of what happened and why it happened. 149 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,840 Because it really happened. 150 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:17,800 So I think these stories are important and what we have in primeval history are a very 151 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:29,080 condensed version, now hear me on this, a very condensed version of massive events that 152 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:36,980 shaped the world that people were trying to figure out at the time of Moses. 153 00:12:36,980 --> 00:12:41,120 Massive events condensed down into very simple stories. 154 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:47,400 So it's a very complex what happened and we're condensing it down into some very simple stories 155 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:54,520 because a lot of the detail just can't be recorded over thousands of years. 156 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:03,400 Now I say all that to say this and I don't want anybody to get triggered when I say this. 157 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:08,640 Right? 158 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:13,080 Because we've already used the word mythology. 159 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:19,000 I don't believe the ancient Greco-Roman record of their gods and how they came about and 160 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:20,000 what they did. 161 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,720 I don't believe it was fabricated or made up. 162 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:30,680 I believe these are real stories that took on a mythological character. 163 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:32,200 I'm going to quote C.S. Lewis. 164 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:36,760 Anytime I'm going to say something that might trigger someone I just bring up C.S. Lewis. 165 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:37,760 Right? 166 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:44,760 If you want to criticize C.S. Lewis good luck with that. 167 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:49,600 Here's what C.S. Lewis would say. 168 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:57,560 Now as myth transcends thought, incarnation transcends myth. 169 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:04,040 The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. 170 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:09,640 The old myth of the dying god without ceasing to be a myth comes down from the heaven of 171 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,200 legend and imagination to the earth of history. 172 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:19,520 It happens at a particular date in a particular place followed by definable historical consequences 173 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:28,040 – we pass from a Balder or an Osiris, these are ancient gods, dying, nobody knows when 174 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:32,420 or where, to a historical person crucified. 175 00:14:32,420 --> 00:14:37,340 It is all in order under Pontius Pilate. 176 00:14:37,340 --> 00:14:42,200 By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth. 177 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:46,600 That is the miracle. 178 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,960 We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance resting on our theology. 179 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,880 We must not be nervous about parallels and a pagan Christ. 180 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,200 They ought to be there. 181 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:57,880 It would be a stumbling block if they weren't. 182 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:04,240 In other words, these stories are so big and so ingrained in the image of God that we carry 183 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,960 as human beings, they have to be given expression to somehow even if we don't have the literal 184 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:10,640 thing yet. 185 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:15,020 You understand? 186 00:15:15,020 --> 00:15:16,040 They ought to be there. 187 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,160 It would be a stumbling block if they weren't. 188 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:26,520 We must not, in false spirituality, withhold our imaginative welcome. 189 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:34,140 If God chooses to be mytho-poic and it is not the sky itself a myth, shall we refuse 190 00:15:34,140 --> 00:15:35,880 to be mythopathic? 191 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,680 It's kind of hard to say. 192 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,120 For this is the marriage of heaven and earth. 193 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,880 Perfect myth and perfect fact. 194 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:51,680 Claiming not only our love and our obedience, but also our wonder and delight. 195 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:57,760 Addressed to the savage, the child, the poet, and each of us, no less than the moralist, 196 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:07,600 the scholar, and the philosopher. 197 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:08,600 We still good? 198 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:13,120 We still good, everybody? 199 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:23,640 Okay. 200 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:29,320 Let's talk about the word mystery. 201 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,640 The word mysterious is used 27 times in the New Testament. 202 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:41,400 It denotes not so much the meaning of the modern English term mystery, but rather something 203 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,360 that is mystical. 204 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:50,140 The term refers to that which awaits disclosure or interpretation. 205 00:16:50,140 --> 00:16:59,000 In the Catholic Church, the Latin term is mysterium fidei, mystery of the faith. 206 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:05,960 To mean a mystery hidden in God, which can never be known unless it is revealed by God. 207 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:10,960 And so the mysteries of God are intended to arouse in us a sense of wonder, awe, curiosity, 208 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:19,080 delight, fascination, all ultimately leading to our ever increasing pleasure found in worship 209 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:25,280 of the uncreated being disclosed to us. 210 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:32,760 For the first time, with accurate precision, you know, God's trying to reveal himself 211 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:38,360 to everyone all the time, but here we have God revealing himself in an accurate, in a 212 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:42,320 clear, in a specific way. 213 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:52,000 And it is a pleasure and a delight to have these things disclosed to our minds and hearts. 214 00:17:52,000 --> 00:18:13,680 So that being said, I want you guys, if you brought your Bible, to turn to the book of 215 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:15,880 Joshua with me. 216 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:21,280 Now we're going to get into the text, Genesis chapter one next week. 217 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,200 Here's going to be your study guide. 218 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,920 Last year, last semester we had my Revelation study guide. 219 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,720 This semester our study guide is going to be my podcast. 220 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:38,780 If you go to the foundrypress.org, it's called the Primeval podcast. 221 00:18:38,780 --> 00:18:40,280 It's about 22 episodes. 222 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,320 They're about 20 to 30 minutes a piece. 223 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,720 I could just come in here and regurgitate this, that information, but I'd rather discuss 224 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:52,000 it with you, have you listen to it and discuss it with you. 225 00:18:52,000 --> 00:19:01,960 So you can find it on pretty much any podcast outlet, but mine is so obscured, it'd probably 226 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,200 be buried in about a hundred other podcasts. 227 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:10,040 So if you just go to the foundrypress.org, search for primeval. 228 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,200 That's prime, P-R-I-M-E-V-A-L. 229 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:27,520 It's not prime-e-vil, primeval, A-L. P-R-I-M-E-V-A-L. 230 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:32,800 And that way you guys can maybe even do some research of your own. 231 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:39,800 And we come to class and we have some really cool conversations about what you've learned. 232 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,760 I think there's like 22 podcasts. 233 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,040 All before next week, didn't you? 234 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:48,680 No, no, no. 235 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,000 So if you look in the description, it'll tell you what the podcast is covering. 236 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:58,400 So I think probably maybe the first five episodes are just on chapter one. 237 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:05,040 Now I don't expect you to listen to all five of those episodes because some information 238 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:09,280 will really dig into, some information will kind of skip past. 239 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:17,280 But I'll tell you one of the interesting things you'll learn in that podcast. 240 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:25,400 This is kind of like a teaser for the whole, so you guys stick with me because I'm going 241 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:31,120 to tell you some crazy stuff. 242 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:47,960 Some of the books found with the Dead Sea Scrolls describe things like, what's the word? 243 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,360 Minotaurs? 244 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:54,520 Like the half goat, half man thing? 245 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,720 You know? 246 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:04,480 And when we read Genesis chapter six and it talks about hybrid beings that are created 247 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:12,400 because gods have in marital intercourse with women and they come up with these genetically 248 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:17,520 modified things that are not a part of God's good creation. 249 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:27,000 And the flood is in response to this corruption of the created order that God created, right? 250 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,200 When you talk about genetic manipulation of ancient people, well they built the Great 251 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,520 Pyramid of Giza, can you do that? 252 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,320 You know? 253 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,400 Have you ever heard of Gobekke Tepe? 254 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:48,680 You know the biblical timeline is, this is old, they traced it back, it's about a 6,000 255 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:49,680 year timeline. 256 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:51,400 Well that's biblical history. 257 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:57,640 Then you've got sites like Gobekke Tepe found in Turkey that are dated to around 10,000 258 00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:58,640 BC. 259 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,880 Well what's up with that? 260 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:03,700 You know? 261 00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:10,280 So there's a lot to this story and these are like really impressive structures that are 262 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:20,880 built by people that should be communicating in grunts and driving carts with square wheels. 263 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:22,240 You know? 264 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:23,240 What's up with that? 265 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,560 How do you explain that? 266 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:26,740 You know? 267 00:22:26,740 --> 00:22:30,880 So it's interesting, there's this thing called the I Ching. 268 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,160 Have you ever heard of the I Ching? 269 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:39,080 This is an ancient Chinese calendar system I believe. 270 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:40,840 Thousands of years old. 271 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,440 The I Ching. 272 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:53,280 Modern geneticists will look at that and say it's an exact replica of human DNA. 273 00:22:53,280 --> 00:23:01,360 We just mapped human DNA in like 2000 and here thousands of years ago you have these 274 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,080 ancient people with an exact replica of human DNA. 275 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,920 How do you give an account for that? 276 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:08,920 You know? 277 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:15,440 So there are just strange things that we're going to be discussing through the course 278 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:16,440 of this class. 279 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:18,360 So buckle your seatbelts. 280 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:19,360 Okay. 281 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:25,600 I'm going to read through Joshua chapter 24. 282 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,600 I'm reading from the NIV because my ESV Bible I left in the sanctuary and I didn't feel 283 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:38,760 like going and getting it. 284 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:43,520 When Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, he summoned the elders, leaders, 285 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:49,240 judges, officials of Israel and they presented themselves before God. 286 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:56,820 Now there's two words in general used for God in the Old Testament. 287 00:23:56,820 --> 00:24:05,240 You have Yahweh, which is the name for the God of Israel and you have Elohim. 288 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,240 So that's why J-E-D-P I mentioned, they're tracing two different sources. 289 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,560 Well, this author uses Yahweh for God. 290 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,240 This author uses Elohim for God. 291 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,160 J-E-D-P. 292 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,960 So now Yahweh is used exclusively of the God of Israel. 293 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:30,200 The word Elohim is simply a word that refers to any disembodied sentient spirit. 294 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,960 So it is not unique to the God of Israel. 295 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:43,240 For instance, whenever the ghost of Samuel is brought up from the dead and Saul, King 296 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,900 Saul says, I saw a ghost. 297 00:24:45,900 --> 00:24:53,080 With the original Greek says, I saw an Elohim, a disembodied sentient spirit. 298 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,540 So it can refer to angels. 299 00:24:54,540 --> 00:24:58,520 It can refer to the uncreated God because God is a spirit and those who worship him 300 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,540 must worship him in spirit and truth. 301 00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:08,960 So and you're going to see that word used here as we go on in Joshua applying to different 302 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:09,960 beings. 303 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:10,960 Okay. 304 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:20,320 So there's only one uncreated God and that God has created a very diverse universe of 305 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:27,100 creatures that are only in existence as a consequence of his creative activity. 306 00:25:27,100 --> 00:25:28,880 You understand? 307 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:34,120 So if we use the word God's plural, we're not saying there are other uncreated gods 308 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:35,700 that are equal with God. 309 00:25:35,700 --> 00:25:41,520 There's just other beings that are much higher than humans, much more intelligent, much more 310 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,840 powerful that are like a God's in comparison to us. 311 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,720 They're not like God in comparison to the uncreated God. 312 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:49,720 Okay. 313 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,440 Verse two. 314 00:25:53,440 --> 00:26:01,440 Joshua said to all the people, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says long ago, 315 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:11,080 your forefathers, including Tara, the father of Abraham and Nahor lived beyond the river 316 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:18,300 and worshiped other gods. 317 00:26:18,300 --> 00:26:26,600 Now that story is expanded upon in, I think maybe the book of Jubilees. 318 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:34,480 We get more detail about that story about how Tara actually served a character called 319 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:39,120 Nimrod we'll read about in Genesis chapter 10. 320 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:46,420 And Abraham did not go along with the political agenda of Nimrod and actually wound up going 321 00:26:46,420 --> 00:26:47,760 to war against Nimrod. 322 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:55,160 You find that about that in other books, but here it is kind of referenced in Joshua. 323 00:26:55,160 --> 00:27:00,840 Verse number three, but I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the river and 324 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,280 led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. 325 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,640 I gave him Isaac and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. 326 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:14,160 I assigned the hill country of Sayir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 327 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,980 Then I sent Moses and Aaron and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there. 328 00:27:18,980 --> 00:27:20,280 And I brought you out. 329 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,360 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea and the Egyptians pursued 330 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:27,760 them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. 331 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,100 But they cried to the Lord for help and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians. 332 00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:34,460 He brought the sea over them and covered them. 333 00:27:34,460 --> 00:27:41,840 You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. 334 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,360 Then you lived in the desert for a long time. 335 00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:48,360 I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. 336 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:50,640 They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. 337 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,240 I destroyed them from before you and you took possession of their land. 338 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:58,200 When Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he 339 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,760 sent for Balaam the son of Bajor to put a curse on you, but I would not listen to Balaam. 340 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,520 And so he blessed you. 341 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,600 And so he he's just going on to point out. 342 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,760 Let's get down to verse 14. 343 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:19,760 Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. 344 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:25,440 Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the 345 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,400 Lord. 346 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,880 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day 347 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:36,560 whom you will serve, whether the gods of your forefathers. 348 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:41,200 They serve beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. 349 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:42,500 But it's for me and my household. 350 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:46,720 We will serve the Lord. 351 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:51,400 Then the people answered, far be it from us to forsake the Lord and serve other gods. 352 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:57,200 So when we talk about what's the point behind Genesis chapters one through 11 in the entire 353 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,740 Bible, it's about telling the story. 354 00:29:02,740 --> 00:29:09,640 These other gods that people worship and if if you really kind of got the picture, we're 355 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:14,440 not talking about weird demons with fangs and horns. 356 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:21,480 You know, we're talking about angels that rebelled and these beings. 357 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,840 Whenever they appeared to someone even like the apostle John, when he is 90 years old, 358 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:26,920 you heard me talk about this in the Revelation class. 359 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:31,820 One of these beings appears and manifest to a 90 year old John who seen Jesus shining 360 00:29:31,820 --> 00:29:34,600 like the sun on the Mount of Transfiguration. 361 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:35,920 He seen the dead raised. 362 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,920 He seen all kinds of amazing things. 363 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:45,320 He could not resist the urge to bow down and worship these things. 364 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:52,440 And so the Bible is trying to provide people with this perspective and the psychological 365 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:58,800 strength to resist the temptation to worship these other beings and to worship the one 366 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,060 true God. 367 00:30:01,060 --> 00:30:09,160 So it's a narrative that is addressed to the entire world because remember God called Abraham 368 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:10,840 not just to bless Israel. 369 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,800 He said through you, I will bless all nations. 370 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:20,560 God wanted all the nations to turn from these practices and realize who alone is worthy 371 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:21,560 of worship. 372 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:26,480 And so these are the kinds of things we keep in our head as we read through Genesis chapters 373 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:27,860 one through 11. 374 00:30:27,860 --> 00:30:35,080 These are the types of as we read through Genesis one through 11, isn't history like 375 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,760 we think of history. 376 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,800 You have to use your imagination. 377 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:50,100 You have to think about how these stories are much bigger and more complex than what's 378 00:30:50,100 --> 00:30:51,480 actually recorded for us. 379 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:53,820 We know what we need to know. 380 00:30:53,820 --> 00:31:00,720 But there's way more going on in this world than what we're just given in the text. 381 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:07,160 So okay, that's my that's my my rant over. 382 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,240 Any questions? 383 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:12,760 Now you realize I could probably do this for another two hours. 384 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:17,120 So if you guys don't pipe up and have something to say, I'll just I'll just keep going. 385 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:18,120 Vicki. 386 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:24,120 So a fellow was talking to me just today and he said like there's one third of the angels 387 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,480 who came down on Satan's side. 388 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,920 And you know, that is like, that's, that's true. 389 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,640 That's a that's a true statement. 390 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,680 But the Bible says the name that the angels are innumerable. 391 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:39,460 So that's a huge number. 392 00:31:39,460 --> 00:31:42,880 You know, that's a huge number. 393 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:48,200 And then to go even further than that, demons aren't fallen angels. 394 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:53,320 According to the Book of Enoch, demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim, which 395 00:31:53,320 --> 00:32:01,240 were the hybrid things that were created from the the fallen angels and the daughters of 396 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:02,240 men. 397 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,560 So they are ugly, nasty looking creatures. 398 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:13,400 So where are these books you're talking about, the Book of Noah, the Jubilee and another 399 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:14,400 thing? 400 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,000 OK, so the Book of Noah does not exist. 401 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:18,640 They have fragments. 402 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:23,680 It's only referred to in other Dead Sea Scrolls as having existed. 403 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,400 Now the Book of Enoch does exist. 404 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:26,720 We have that in its entirety. 405 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,440 It was also found with the Dead Sea Scrolls. 406 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,840 So we know it's ancient. 407 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,720 The Book of Enoch is referenced three times. 408 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,160 It's quoted once in the New Testament. 409 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,080 That doesn't mean it's that it's canonical. 410 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,080 It just shows that it was important. 411 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,800 You know, somebody is in the Catholic Bible. 412 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:46,800 Yeah. 413 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:57,320 And the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has the Book of Jubilees in their canon. 414 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:58,320 So yeah. 415 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:05,320 When you're saying like these beings that came, they came down, well that's not when 416 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:13,320 they went inside the women and the animals and they created these half animal half humans. 417 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,000 That's where they kind of came from. 418 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,000 Genesis chapter six tells that story. 419 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,160 The Book of Enoch tells that story with more detail. 420 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,880 Now what you're going to notice as you read through Genesis, that's not the only rebellion. 421 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:33,200 The first rebellion is in Genesis chapter three, where the serpent, which we'll show 422 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:38,200 you is not a talking snake, okay. 423 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:43,200 The serpent engages in the first rebellion. 424 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,080 Genesis chapter six is the second one. 425 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:47,640 You'll see another one. 426 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,480 It's not explicitly stated in the Tower of Babel story. 427 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:57,740 I will show you how likely that is a similar type of incursion of these beings. 428 00:33:57,740 --> 00:33:58,980 And then you'll read about it also. 429 00:33:58,980 --> 00:34:07,560 We won't get to Deuteronomy 32, but it's also discussed in Deuteronomy 32, how there's 430 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:13,120 just kind of an ongoing battle or a war going on. 431 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:18,840 So yes, that's where the flood story starts. 432 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:25,480 But right before the flood story starts, it talks about the, the, the, on the earth, the 433 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,800 thoughts of the hearts of man was only evil all the time. 434 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,800 You know, so, yeah. 435 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:37,600 Are we going to get to Genesis today? 436 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:42,320 I want to kind of get you guys in the right frame of mind before we actually start reading 437 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,680 the text and to let you know where I'm coming from. 438 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,720 And if I say something weird, why it doesn't sound right to you. 439 00:34:49,720 --> 00:34:55,920 You know, if I'm talking about it like it's, if I were talking about, like we got to the 440 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:01,240 Garden of Eden story and the snake and I started saying, now it's not really a snake. 441 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:07,480 You understand why it's a metaphor for something that that's much more complex that really 442 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:11,320 can't adequately be described with precision. 443 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,960 You know, like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 444 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:18,480 And you see Thielot, well, that was it, was it an apple tree or an orange tree? 445 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:23,000 And it completely, those kinds of things completely missed the point because all it represents 446 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,280 is a choice. 447 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:30,280 It's a, it's a figure, a metaphor that represents a choice. 448 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:34,760 You can be obedient to God or you can go and follow your own will. 449 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:40,880 You know, so as I get, if I start saying things like that and I have people get, I've had 450 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:44,880 people get triggered when I say that it wasn't a literal snake. 451 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:52,560 You know, people think it was a person like standing up and down until God made him crawl 452 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:53,560 in the belly. 453 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:54,560 Yeah. 454 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,240 But it was all simple. 455 00:35:57,240 --> 00:35:58,240 That's right. 456 00:35:58,240 --> 00:35:59,240 That's right. 457 00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:00,240 Nandy. 458 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:01,240 Yeah. 459 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:02,240 So what else? 460 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:05,240 What else you guys want to discuss? 461 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:10,040 So let's go change. 462 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,800 This is going to be fun. 463 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,120 I'm so glad we've got Shannon in this class. 464 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:21,640 In Genesis when it talks about who created Adam and Eve, it says we will create them 465 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:22,640 in our image. 466 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:28,080 So does that mean the uncreated God didn't create humans, that these other gods created 467 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:29,080 humans? 468 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:31,200 See, okay, I'll tell you the options. 469 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,760 Now most of the time I'll tell you my opinion. 470 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,600 I'm going to tell you the options. 471 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:43,480 That is the royal language kings used to speak of themselves in the ancient world. 472 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:47,640 So the king would speak of himself in the royal eye because he represented the whole 473 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:48,640 kingdom. 474 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:49,640 Right? 475 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:50,640 That's one option. 476 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:57,640 The other option is it's God giving his first expression of his Trinitarian nature. 477 00:36:57,640 --> 00:36:59,680 Okay. 478 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:05,840 Now the option that I prefer, that I get from, now if you guys have never heard of Michael 479 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,240 Heiser, he died recently. 480 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:10,240 I was a big fan of his work. 481 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:15,480 So I would highly recommend his book, The Unseen Realm. 482 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:23,320 The other option is that God administers the affairs of the universe from what is called 483 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:25,680 the divine council. 484 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,000 So let me, I'll just read this real quick. 485 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,000 Psalm 82. 486 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:49,760 If you want to read, go to Psalm 82 with me. 487 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:59,680 Psalm 82 verse one. 488 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:00,880 Okay. 489 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,000 God presides in the great assembly. 490 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,600 He gives judgment among the gods. 491 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:13,040 How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked, defend the cause 492 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,360 of the weak and the fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor oppressed, rescue the weak 493 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,240 in need, deliver them from the hand of the wicked? 494 00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:20,440 They know nothing. 495 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:21,640 They understand nothing. 496 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:22,820 They walk about in darkness. 497 00:38:22,820 --> 00:38:24,280 All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 498 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,840 I said, you are gods. 499 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,080 You are all sons of the most high. 500 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:33,080 Whenever you see sons of God in the Old Testament, that's almost always referring to angels. 501 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:35,240 Not always, but almost always. 502 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,960 But you will die like mere men. 503 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:48,240 See, this is God judging these beings who are said to populate his great assembly. 504 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:50,280 You will fall like every other ruler. 505 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:55,000 Rise up, O God, judge the earth for all the nations are your inheritance. 506 00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:01,480 So this is what Dr. Heiser refers, I think the Bible refers to as the divine counsel. 507 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:07,480 So whenever you see the scene in Isaiah where God is wanting to pronounce judgment on King 508 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:17,800 Ahab and he's consulting with the royal court, what should we do about King Ahab and his 509 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,520 filthy evil? 510 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:22,520 And this spirit comes up and says, I think we should do this and this, I think we should 511 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:23,520 do this. 512 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:27,120 And then the lying spirit comes up and says, I'll be a lying spirit in the mouth of his 513 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:28,120 prophets. 514 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:29,440 And God says, that's a good idea. 515 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,480 Go with that. 516 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:38,760 So you see these evidence of God making decision in counsel with other beings. 517 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,520 Now that's important when it comes to the book like Revelation, because it tells us 518 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:49,440 our future is to participate in ruling the earth as kind of like that's his heavenly 519 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,240 counsel where his earthly counsel, you know, 520 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:53,240 Go ahead. 521 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:59,240 It also says we enter into his courts and that there is a host of witnesses and he says 522 00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:01,280 as it is in heaven, so as it is in us. 523 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:04,080 And there's no barrier to keep us from that. 524 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,520 Once you break through that realm that you're talking about. 525 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:08,400 I've been seated in heavenly places. 526 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:09,400 Amen. 527 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:10,400 Right? 528 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:23,720 So the we is referring to the divine counsel, according to Dr. Heiser. 529 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:31,280 And so that's, I think all of those are good explanations to be honest with you. 530 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,240 But I think that's probably the best. 531 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:40,840 So these sub gods created by the creator, how many were there? 532 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:41,840 It says they're innumerable. 533 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:42,840 Yeah. 534 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:50,800 So it also says, if I might add, that is in the days of old, it shall be again. 535 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:54,120 So there's nothing new under gods, under the sun. 536 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:59,320 And these same deities, because they're not the deity of Christ, these same deities are 537 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,560 coming back in full force now, because that's part of the word revelations, which we're 538 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:04,560 fixing to experience. 539 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:09,080 So with this information, this man has given us, you're going to be equipped to kick some 540 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:12,080 of the things. 541 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:13,080 Okay, so I'll say this. 542 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:17,080 Now, I don't think this is a good interpretation, but I kind of, I want to support what you're 543 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:18,080 saying. 544 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:23,560 Jesus is teaching about the end times in Matthew chapter 24. 545 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:30,200 And he makes the statement as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days coming 546 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:31,200 of the son of man. 547 00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:35,800 Now, he goes on to explain that men will be given to women in marriage. 548 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:39,080 People will go on about their normal lives, just like it was in Noah's day. 549 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:40,280 And then the flood came. 550 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:45,280 So really the proper interpretation is that everybody's going to be going on with life 551 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:49,560 as usual, and they're going to be completely shocked when Jesus appears in the sky, just 552 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:51,440 like it was in Noah's day. 553 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,080 But I'm not going to rule out it might mean something else too. 554 00:41:55,080 --> 00:42:01,200 Well, let me say it, that he was not pleased with Noah's day, the days of Noah, Jesus 555 00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,200 was not pleased. 556 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,200 It really hurt his heart. 557 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:11,880 That things that were going on, like Sodom and Gomorrah. 558 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:12,880 Yes ma'am. 559 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:19,880 Okay, let me see where we're at time-wise. 560 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:31,320 See, you take something like the Tower of Babel, which almost everyone agrees was a 561 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:38,080 Mesopotamian ziggurat, which was nothing more than a giant temple, right? 562 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,020 And so the symbology is like a mountain. 563 00:42:40,020 --> 00:42:44,000 The gods came down to meet with humans on the mountain, so they built an artificial 564 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,000 mountain to meet with their gods. 565 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:52,400 And at the top of these, and you guys realize pyramids are a worldwide phenomenon, it wasn't 566 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:57,880 just something that happened in Egypt or Babylon or Mexico for that matter, these are found 567 00:42:57,880 --> 00:42:59,360 all over the world. 568 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:03,400 And they're usually based on the constellation Orion. 569 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:05,400 What's up with that? 570 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,960 Straight eagle. 571 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:11,800 Yeah. 572 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:19,720 And so the priest would ascend and there would be, usually the signs of the zodiac were in 573 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:24,480 the domed top of the ziggurat. 574 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:30,540 And that was where humans would go and meet with their gods. 575 00:43:30,540 --> 00:43:35,480 And I would suspect, so if you look at the story of Genesis, you've got the original 576 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:36,480 fall. 577 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:42,040 God wants to stop human beings from advancing in evil, so it kicks them out of the garden 578 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:44,540 of Eden. 579 00:43:44,540 --> 00:43:48,140 They continue their relationship with these rebellious angels. 580 00:43:48,140 --> 00:43:52,000 God sends the flood to try and stop the advancement of evil. 581 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:58,480 All of these are acts of mercy for God to stop the evil from progressing. 582 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:02,200 After the flood of Noah, you're going to see something weird goes on with the created order 583 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:06,840 because all of a sudden human beings are told they can eat meat now. 584 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,680 In Genesis 1, they're just given vegetables to eat after the flood of Noah. 585 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:15,880 Now you guys need to eat meat now and by the way, you're only going to live 120 years now. 586 00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:22,040 He's trying to stop human beings from becoming sophisticated in evil. 587 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,240 And so their response to that is the Tower of Babel. 588 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:30,460 God has kind of placed this separation between the natural and the supernatural world. 589 00:44:30,460 --> 00:44:35,160 Some people would say there's a veil between, a veil of separation between the supernatural 590 00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,920 and the natural world to keep these beings from corrupting humanity. 591 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:44,400 And humanity tries to overcome that by building a mountain where they can go and reconnect 592 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:45,840 with these gods. 593 00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:49,480 And they were probably successful. 594 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:59,200 Human beings were probably capable of manifesting these beings, which is what led to the next 595 00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:00,200 step. 596 00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:03,480 Now here's why I say this is important. 597 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:05,280 You guys know I ain't scared. 598 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:09,240 I'll say it. 599 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:18,880 Let's talk about aliens and UFOs for a minute. 600 00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:24,160 If you are not aware of how this narrative is progressing in our culture, you've been 601 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:27,240 living under a rock. 602 00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:39,640 Okay, especially in the past two or three years, they keep ratcheting up. 603 00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:46,440 We have military personnel coming out and saying things like this. 604 00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:47,920 Now we're not talking about crazy people. 605 00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:56,660 We're talking about very high ranking, high classification, PhD people. 606 00:45:56,660 --> 00:46:06,920 They were a part of special operations where they used their consciousness to manifest 607 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:10,760 these crafts. 608 00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:14,440 And they even documented on video. 609 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:16,160 Okay? 610 00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:29,320 Now I don't know what to think about that, but I do know that the best thinking on this 611 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:40,240 is that these things function outside of the boundaries of what we know of physics. 612 00:46:40,240 --> 00:46:49,360 But it's more like paranormal activity than it is extraterrestrial activity. 613 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:53,760 And I would suspect it is going to have something to do with the great deception that Jesus 614 00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,280 talks about. 615 00:46:56,280 --> 00:47:00,760 And so you're going to see, this is why people have predicted that paganism is going to grow 616 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:07,680 because secularism has left people hollow and empty, but it's also carved out Christianity 617 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:14,640 and it's left this space that people are going to fill with the scientific religion. 618 00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:18,400 And the UFO narrative is going to be the perfect thing to do it. 619 00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:22,300 So I'll say this, you guys know who Werner von Braun is? 620 00:47:22,300 --> 00:47:27,240 He was a part of a project paperclip where all the Nazi scientists came to the United 621 00:47:27,240 --> 00:47:28,240 States. 622 00:47:28,240 --> 00:47:31,800 And so he was one of those Nazis that started, he ran the NASA space program for us. 623 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:33,960 He built the NASA space program. 624 00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:36,040 Nazi did that. 625 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:44,240 A Nazi landed us on the moon, if you believe that happened. 626 00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:52,800 He had a secretary, Dr. Carol Rosen, R-O-S-E-N, so you can Google this for yourself. 627 00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:58,280 And Dr. Carol Rosen is still alive and she tells this story of when Werner von Braun 628 00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:05,280 was nearing death, he told her, Carol, you need to remember this. 629 00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:13,080 They're going to try and establish a global government and they're going to use, I'm not 630 00:48:13,080 --> 00:48:18,360 going to get this perfectly right, five key steps to accomplish it. 631 00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:22,680 First it's going to be the threat of a nuclear war. 632 00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:27,320 Then it's going to be nations of concern, like terrorist nations. 633 00:48:27,320 --> 00:48:32,280 Then it's going to be like asteroids. 634 00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:38,680 And the last thing, Carol, remember this, the last thing is they're going to warn us 635 00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:49,200 about a coming alien invasion and it's all going to be a lie. 636 00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:54,840 That's a thing that people speculate about. 637 00:48:54,840 --> 00:49:01,360 They can use holographic images to dupe troops and stuff. 638 00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:03,920 But it could be a part of this thing, I don't know. 639 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:08,880 I'm just saying that these beings are real. 640 00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:14,080 The Bible predicts they're going to manifest again and I believe they are going to be intent 641 00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:22,960 upon a massive deception that they are going to garnish the loyalty of masses of people 642 00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:28,320 who are, and Jesus warns in Matthew 24, if possible, even the elect are going to be deceived 643 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:29,320 by it. 644 00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:33,880 There are many sitting duck Christians that are half-hearted, lukewarm and lazy in their 645 00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:35,640 faith that are going to buy into it. 646 00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:39,680 I told you guys Sunday about a friend of mine that I went to high school with him. 647 00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:41,440 He was always a real faithful Christian. 648 00:49:41,440 --> 00:49:43,760 I painted with him for four years. 649 00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:46,760 We talked about Jesus all day. 650 00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:55,280 And he's went off the deep end with this internet gobbledygook, you know, because of you've got 651 00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:59,040 things like this that people don't know what to make of it. 652 00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:02,520 They've been shamed into not talking about it or thinking about it. 653 00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:03,520 And so... 654 00:50:03,520 --> 00:50:04,520 Well, I went to Roswell. 655 00:50:04,520 --> 00:50:05,520 I believed in three figures they had in that museum. 656 00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:06,520 The little people. 657 00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:07,520 That's why they got D2. 658 00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:08,520 R2D2? 659 00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:25,600 Well, that's why it's just important to understand. 660 00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:35,880 God talks about things that are hard for us to wrap our mind around based upon our reality. 661 00:50:35,880 --> 00:50:40,600 You know, and most people throughout all of history have lived very normal, mundane lives. 662 00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:46,960 But every once in a while in history, something really wild happens that completely changes 663 00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:51,920 things and people aren't prepared for it and don't know what to make of it. 664 00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:55,680 And so God has given us a record of all of these things that is accurate. 665 00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:58,440 It's not telling us fairy tales. 666 00:50:58,440 --> 00:50:59,920 Right? 667 00:50:59,920 --> 00:51:01,360 These are real beings. 668 00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:02,600 These are real stories. 669 00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:09,640 We need to take them seriously and be prepared to not be surprised. 670 00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:13,280 So, okay, any other questions? 671 00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:15,280 I think I've killed almost all of our time. 672 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:24,920 Do you think we're the only universe? 673 00:51:24,920 --> 00:51:27,280 I don't know. 674 00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:31,520 If there were other universes, it wouldn't surprise me. 675 00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:35,000 It wouldn't disrupt my faith any whatsoever. 676 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:40,300 But I do get the sense from scripture that the earth is special to God. 677 00:51:40,300 --> 00:51:41,800 The earth is special. 678 00:51:41,800 --> 00:51:43,200 Human beings are special. 679 00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:45,600 We are created in the image and likeness of God. 680 00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:47,840 Now the angels are as well. 681 00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:52,320 The angels are the sons of God and we are the sons of God. 682 00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:54,720 You know? 683 00:51:54,720 --> 00:52:02,520 But we are, what makes humans unique in comparison with angels is that we are evolving. 684 00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:04,800 That's what sanctification is all about. 685 00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:06,320 You know? 686 00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:11,040 And we have the capacity to grow in the image and likeness of God, whereas angels are kind 687 00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:12,420 of static. 688 00:52:12,420 --> 00:52:19,040 And so if God is infinite in being, how much growth potential do we have as human beings? 689 00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:29,680 That's why, well, I'll just say it. 690 00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:34,160 The ancient fathers had this saying, I'm not talking about one of them, I'm talking about 691 00:52:34,160 --> 00:52:37,960 they were consistent in saying this. 692 00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:44,880 God became a man so that man might become. 693 00:52:44,880 --> 00:52:48,800 Now this is what the Eastern Orthodox Church refers to as theosis. 694 00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:52,680 So they have an entire theology developed around this concept. 695 00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:56,940 In Methodist churches we call it Christian perfection, it's the same thing. 696 00:52:56,940 --> 00:53:04,120 Christian perfection is about having the image of God fully restored and repaired in us. 697 00:53:04,120 --> 00:53:07,960 When we say that we're Christians, what are we saying? 698 00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:10,880 We are like Christ. 699 00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:20,040 And so there is infinite growth capacity in human beings to look more and more and more 700 00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:21,040 like their dad. 701 00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:23,000 That's all we're saying. 702 00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:27,880 Look and act and give expression to the image of God. 703 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:30,400 So and that's going to be a big part of Genesis chapter one. 704 00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:33,200 So okay, good talk. 705 00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:40,200 Any other questions? 706 00:53:40,200 --> 00:53:43,120 Does somebody want to volunteer to pray us out of here? 707 00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:44,120 Okay. 708 00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:47,120 Father, thank you for today. 709 00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:52,800 Thank you for the food that we received and the fellowship that we had and Lord thank 710 00:53:52,800 --> 00:53:55,000 you for your word that you have given us. 711 00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:58,920 Thank you for the pastor and the wisdom that you've given us Father God and thank you for 712 00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:01,760 putting it in our hearts to want to learn more. 713 00:54:01,760 --> 00:54:05,880 I pray that as we go through this father that you will just continue to reveal your truths 714 00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:12,520 to us or that you will help us to be open to receive your word Father God and just grow 715 00:54:12,520 --> 00:54:15,040 closer to you and closer and understanding Father God. 716 00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:18,360 And I just ask that you bless these sessions that we have. 717 00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:20,360 In Jesus name we pray. 718 00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:21,360 Amen. 719 00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:24,360 How many weeks is this class? 720 00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:25,360 13. 721 00:54:25,360 --> 00:54:36,000 That's not 10. 722 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:51,460 13.