WEBVTT 00:00:01.239 --> 00:00:04.500 Welcome to Journey from Jacob. From our first 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:07.419 breath to our last heartbeat, we are all on a 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:10.660 journey. Jacob was a biblical character whose 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:14.140 journey is documented for our benefit. Like all 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.579 of us, there were unforgettable moments along 00:00:16.579 --> 00:00:20.359 the way which required decisiveness. One of those 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:24.140 decisions determined his destination. We will 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:27.160 not only discuss Jacob's journey, but Israel's 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.399 as well, right up to date. May this podcast inspire 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.380 you to make choices along your way that will 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:37.359 benefit others and guide you to the destination 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:47.280 we all long for. My name is Paul again. This 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:50.640 is Comfort My People's podcast called Journey 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:53.000 From Jacob. I want to address something that 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.079 a lot of people are concerned about. It's like 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:57.380 we have so many Bible studies. Why do we need 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:00.579 another one? And I understand that too. But the 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:03.200 Bible is so important that people are drawn to 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.439 it and a lot of people leave frustrated very 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:08.840 quickly. And I think one of the keys is to study 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.519 it sequentially. I think that's a major key because 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.280 it's a sealed book from start to finish. It never 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.620 should have interrupted with an Old and New Testament. 00:01:17.140 --> 00:01:19.219 There's different stories I understand that, 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:22.459 but to consider one old and one new, the new 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:24.799 one's actually quite old too. It's 2 ,000 years 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:28.260 old almost. So... The names don't work, but mentally 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:30.799 we're prepared for something that's really not 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:32.959 that important when we're studying the Old Testament, 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:35.939 which is so contrary to God's will because He's 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:39.719 the Author. So, in this case we're moving back 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:43.760 from where Jacob was in his journey. He became 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:47.420 Israel. He was named Israel from God, which became 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.840 a new identity, which we will explore more as 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.640 time goes on. But it's real important to do sort 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.379 of a Star War thing, which I don't think Star 00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:58.040 Wars invented it, but it's starting a story kind 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:00.439 of at the end. We started it kind of in the middle 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.920 and we're moving back to the beginning because 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:06.840 we have to see why Jacob was actually the man 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:09.819 that he was before he became Israel. Because 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:12.300 these are dysfunctional families and there's 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:14.960 reason for it. And one of the main reasons I 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.620 think that we can identify with is that God was 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:20.139 never looking for people that were superheroes. 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:24.080 They were not movie stars. They were people and 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.740 in their day they had a whole lot of baggage 00:02:26.740 --> 00:02:29.439 to carry even though it seemed like such a simple 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.879 life. So you got to think in terms of civilizations 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:37.620 which were very, very crude and wicked and vile 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.360 practices that surrounded Israel, all around 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:44.560 Israel. And so in order for us to be able to 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.539 understand some of the issues that Jacob specifically 00:02:47.539 --> 00:02:50.580 went through, we need to follow how it started 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:52.599 from the beginning. So we already started in 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:55.400 the garden. We talked about the fall of man and 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:57.860 how the serpent was cursed, the land was cursed, 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:00.500 but Adam and Eve were not. But their lives seemed 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:02.460 like they were cursed because of the way things 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:05.259 turned. They were exiled from the garden and 00:03:05.259 --> 00:03:08.919 they started to have family. And Cain was the 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:12.520 firstborn. And Eve said, God has given me a man. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.560 Now that's an exciting statement she made. We 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.199 just read those words. But it was exciting because 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:22.039 God said that from her would come the seed, which 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:24.520 is the woman. She's the woman that talks about 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.759 in Genesis chapter 3. And that seed will one 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:30.560 day, God never said when and which one, but one 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:34.259 day crush the head of the serpent. And so many 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:37.139 Christian scholars or Bible teachers will jump 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:40.259 from there all the way into Matthew chapter 1, 00:03:40.340 --> 00:03:43.719 where Jesus shows up as the seed of the woman. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.699 Well, that doesn't really work. So we've missed 00:03:46.699 --> 00:03:49.479 so much on the way there, because there's this 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:52.680 anticipation that started in the minds of those, 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:55.240 beginning with Adam and Eve, who are going to 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:58.259 be key players in this story until their time 00:03:58.259 --> 00:04:00.280 is over, and then it goes to the next generation, 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:02.860 the next generation. And this is, in Hebrew, 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:06.900 the word for generation or seed is zera. And 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:09.259 that word is first used in the garden, the seed 00:04:09.259 --> 00:04:11.300 of the woman, and the seed of the serpent, both 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:15.000 zera. One is a physical seed and the other is 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:18.079 a spiritual seed. Satan had no children. The 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.040 seed of Satan was those who complied with him, 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.579 those that followed him, those that bought into 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:27.079 his protocol and his agenda and followed him 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:29.220 willingly. That's the seed of the serpent. We 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:31.939 see it all throughout human history. But the 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:35.040 seed of the... The woman is a literal physical 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:39.399 genealogy line that starts with Cain. But Cain 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.220 killed his brother Abel. So the two of them were 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:44.980 the seed of the woman. She was anticipating one 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:47.839 of them, at least, first it was Cain, to be the 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:49.420 one that would crush the serpent's head, because 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:51.819 she didn't like the idea of the curse, nor did 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:54.199 her husband Adam. By the way, we don't hear from 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:56.899 Adam after that. And I think there's a real important 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:00.699 reason to consider, is that her first son, firstborn 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:03.120 son, kills her second son. Now we're not going 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.000 to go into that in detail, except to acknowledge 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.019 that God tried to stop Cain from doing what he 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:11.990 was... he knew he was going to do. He said, sin 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:15.329 crouches at the door and longs to get you, Cain. 00:05:15.410 --> 00:05:18.389 Don't do it. And yet we know what Cain did. He 00:05:18.389 --> 00:05:23.329 did it. And then Cain is exiled. So here is Adam 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:26.170 and Eve. They lose their firstborn son to his 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:29.790 exile and the secondborn son is dead. So the 00:05:29.790 --> 00:05:32.889 first human event, this activity outside of the 00:05:32.889 --> 00:05:35.970 garden is a murder. It's a murder trial and God 00:05:35.970 --> 00:05:39.040 is the judge. And so these two characters are 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.360 no longer there. Unfortunately, Abel, maybe he 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:44.339 could have been the one. So we don't know these 00:05:44.339 --> 00:05:46.420 stories. And here's why people kind of give up 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:48.259 on the Bible. They think, oh, this is confusing 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:50.279 right away. I don't get it. I don't know why 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.180 God does this. Why this happened? Why couldn't 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:54.699 he stop? And we start thinking like, oh, you 00:05:54.699 --> 00:05:56.680 know, God is not to be trusted. The book's not 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.180 to be trusted. It's got so many flaws. And before 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:02.399 you know it, the Bible goes on the wayside. But 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.480 this is the key, that the Bible is a book of 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:10.399 faith. And we see that in Eve, because she trusted 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:13.699 God at His word. Now, the Bible is also a book 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:17.100 of promises. And promises are somewhat equal 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:20.800 to prophecy, because a true prophet will speak 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.899 according to God's word, and it'll always be 00:06:22.899 --> 00:06:25.120 true. It'll come to pass, whether it's in his 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.120 day or later in time. It will come to pass if 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.399 it's one of those things that thus sayeth the 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.060 Lord. That's an expression in King James. So, 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:35.399 if we don't believe that, then we don't have 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:37.379 the faith to continue. And I'm not saying drop 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:39.939 the Bible. I'm saying, God, I need to understand 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:41.939 this. And I know it comes through faith. It's 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:44.160 spiritually discerned. But these are human people. 00:06:44.300 --> 00:06:46.899 These are human beings. It's a history of humanity 00:06:46.899 --> 00:06:49.740 at the same time. It's a history of God and His 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:52.860 interaction with man. So don't throw things out 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:55.560 that you don't understand. One of the most important 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:57.600 verses in the Bible is from Proverbs chapter 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:01.399 3 verse 5 is, To lean not on your own understanding, 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:04.240 but in all your ways acknowledge Him. Put your 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.360 trust in Him, but lean not on your own understanding. 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:09.500 It's actually a command, very strong command. 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:12.180 Because our tendency is to say, I don't understand 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:13.939 this, but what you're really doing is you're 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:16.560 leaning on what you don't understand, rather 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:18.939 than believing what is being presented to you. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:20.779 Because we don't get the full picture. We don't 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:23.240 get every jot and tittle of every story, and 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.399 we don't get the whys and the wherefores, but 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:28.139 we're called to trust. So it's a book of faith. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.500 It has to be read from that perspective. By faith, 00:07:31.579 --> 00:07:34.279 it says later on in Hebrews, many things happened, 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:37.000 one after one of these characters within the 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:39.319 Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. did all these 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:42.120 different things by faith, in chapter 11 of Hebrews. 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:44.399 But it's also the only thing that pleases God. 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:48.420 So living by faith is a matter of trusting God 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:51.939 for the seen, but more so the unseen. Jesus would 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.800 repeat this over and over again. So we don't 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.660 want to just give up on things we don't understand. 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.759 I believe that if you take this Bible sequentially, 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:04.120 you're going to find out that's true. And it's 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:07.089 powerful and it's empowering. for you and your 00:08:07.089 --> 00:08:09.589 spiritual life and your walk, and your walk with 00:08:09.589 --> 00:08:12.269 mankind. You'll be able to do things you never 00:08:12.269 --> 00:08:15.029 would have done if it wasn't for faith. Now faith, 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:18.050 we're going to go a fast way forward. Our faith 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:20.930 is not faith in faith, it's not faith in ourselves. 00:08:21.269 --> 00:08:24.129 It's faith in God, but it's the faith of the 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:27.649 Son of God that we inherit in the new creation, 00:08:27.910 --> 00:08:30.889 which is critical. So from there, we're going 00:08:30.889 --> 00:08:34.200 to kind of skirt through the genealogy But it's 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.879 not Cain. It's not Abel. And then she has a son 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:40.980 named Seth. She calls him Seth. Seth means appointed 00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:44.779 one. And literally what she's saying is perhaps 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:47.500 he is the one. So she's still believing. This 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:50.360 woman is incredible with all the crushing emotional 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.879 blows. Just try to imagine. She only had two 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:55.899 sons and both of them are gone. And Adam, I believe 00:08:55.899 --> 00:08:58.639 that's why he's silent. He just can't do it because 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:02.860 he knows that this is on him. He did it. So these 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:05.460 fruit that they weren't supposed to eat, he chose 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:07.480 to be more important than the fruit they were 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:10.139 allowed to eat, and he went ahead and listened 00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:14.159 to the one he should have ignored or rebuked. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.179 So that's the serpent. So we move forward in 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:20.279 the genealogy, and we're really skipping a lot, 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:23.679 but we go from Cain and Abel are gone. Seth is 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.980 the new son. His name is Appointed One. Very 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:30.159 applicable. And so he moves on. We see Enoch 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.620 walking with God. He's in the line of Seth. Seth's 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:35.840 firstborn is Enosh, and it's the first time that 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.080 men begin to call on the name of the Lord. And 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.039 that's crazy because they were like a hundred 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.100 years into the garden by the time Seth was born, 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:47.299 I believe. And it seems like why didn't Adam 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:49.860 talk about God in all this time? You'd think 00:09:49.860 --> 00:09:51.620 that men were calling on him, but they weren't. 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:54.600 And I think it's because Adam was just so blown 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:58.129 away. Maybe he never recovered. I'm sure He's 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:00.409 in heaven. I'm sure he got redeemed. He lived 00:10:00.409 --> 00:10:03.850 for another 700 years or so. So he had plenty 00:10:03.850 --> 00:10:07.190 of time to get it right with God. But in the 00:10:07.190 --> 00:10:10.669 meantime, there was not much going on spiritually. 00:10:11.309 --> 00:10:14.809 And so we move forward. We keep going. We come 00:10:14.809 --> 00:10:18.230 to Lamech, who's the father of Noah. Lamech calls 00:10:18.230 --> 00:10:22.750 his son Noah because that means comfort. So comfort... 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:25.580 is that, according to Lamak, Lamak was, he was 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:27.860 a man, and he was tilling the earth, and the 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:31.220 earth was not too easy to get food from if you 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:33.980 had to work with the sweat of your brow, and 00:10:33.980 --> 00:10:35.960 there were thorns and thistles and mosquitoes 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.000 biting and such. And so he wanted his son to 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:42.440 end this affliction that he was experiencing 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.860 after the curse of the ground. And so he named 00:10:45.860 --> 00:10:48.299 him Comfort. Maybe he will relieve us of our 00:10:48.299 --> 00:10:50.700 toils, but it wasn't Noah. But we're still following 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:53.230 the seed, so we pass through Noah and he has 00:10:53.230 --> 00:10:56.269 three sons, and Shem is the third son, and we 00:10:56.269 --> 00:10:59.529 see that out of Shem came the knowledge of God 00:10:59.529 --> 00:11:02.950 continued. So his two brothers came to his tent 00:11:02.950 --> 00:11:07.370 to learn, and I'm speculating somewhat, of what's 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:09.730 God doing? What's happening here? What's spiritually 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:12.929 going on? Give us the rundown. And so the history 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:15.870 of, you know, from the Garden On is being passed 00:11:15.870 --> 00:11:18.049 down generation to generation, and they're very 00:11:18.049 --> 00:11:20.730 acutely aware of their beginnings. So we keep 00:11:20.730 --> 00:11:23.539 going from Shem, he has a grandson named Terah 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:26.460 who has a son named Abram. He names him. And 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:28.659 Abraham is where we're going to focus on now. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:30.960 We're going to jump into the story in Genesis 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.779 chapter 12. Now I would recommend that if you 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:36.700 have a Bible you'd kind of open it up if you'd 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:38.820 like. You could always write down these verses 00:11:38.820 --> 00:11:41.220 and come back to them. He's the first one that's 00:11:41.220 --> 00:11:44.240 been called. Abraham is called to follow him. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:47.720 So it says here in verse 1 of chapter 12, Go 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:49.659 from your country, your kindred, your father's 00:11:49.659 --> 00:11:52.259 house, to the land that I will show you. So there's 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:55.000 a specific place he wants to show him. And I 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.639 will make you a great nation. I will bless you 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.399 and make your name great so that you will be 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:04.000 a blessing. I will bless those who bless you 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.639 and curse those who curse you. In some versions 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:10.480 they dishonor those who curse you. And in you 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.080 all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:16.179 This is an incredible prophecy that God makes 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:20.340 and he's promising Abraham. So promise and prophecy 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:23.629 are one and the same. So Abraham went. Now, what 00:12:23.629 --> 00:12:25.730 does it mean? He doesn't know. God just said 00:12:25.730 --> 00:12:27.250 that, I'm going to bless you. He doesn't know 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:30.149 what he means. Now, bless literally means to 00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:32.470 kneel before. And God is really blessing him. 00:12:32.629 --> 00:12:35.309 He's actually, the picture is that he's kneeling 00:12:35.309 --> 00:12:37.629 before Abraham and saying, Abraham, I'm going 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:39.590 to bless you. There's a purpose for this, Abraham. 00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:41.929 I want you, yes, to be blessed. I want you to 00:12:41.929 --> 00:12:44.309 have a good life. Yes, I do. I want you to have 00:12:44.309 --> 00:12:46.409 descendants because you have none now. And you 00:12:46.409 --> 00:12:48.950 will, Abraham. You will. And I'm going to bless 00:12:48.950 --> 00:12:51.509 you. and I'm going to make you great, not great 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:53.570 for the sake of being great, because of what 00:12:53.570 --> 00:12:56.309 you're going to do out of your greatness. So 00:12:56.309 --> 00:12:58.289 this is a blessing. It's for all the families 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:00.809 of the earth. It's universal right from this 00:13:00.809 --> 00:13:04.090 point on. So Abraham went, as the Lord told him, 00:13:04.269 --> 00:13:07.149 and he departed. It's a wonderful story and I 00:13:07.149 --> 00:13:09.470 just encourage you to read it from start to finish, 00:13:09.830 --> 00:13:13.009 but we're going to be moving through it to Abraham's 00:13:13.009 --> 00:13:15.570 moving into the promised land that God promised 00:13:15.570 --> 00:13:19.179 him, it's Canaan, and then he's... finds that 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:22.940 he's got a problem, where he had moved towards. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:25.360 Now was Abraham moving where he wanted? God didn't 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:27.539 say exactly where to go. He just said, I'm going 00:13:27.539 --> 00:13:29.620 to show you the land. You're going to take possession 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.080 of it because it's going to be yours. So he moved 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:34.279 from verse 8 to the hill country on the east 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.360 of Bethel and pitched his tent. Bethel means 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:38.399 the house of God. So we don't know when it was 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.080 called that, but somehow it's in the Bible at 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:44.259 the time of Abraham's movement. And he stopped 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:47.149 there and he built an altar to God. and he called 00:13:47.149 --> 00:13:49.210 on the name of the Lord. But then he continued 00:13:49.210 --> 00:13:53.210 to journey. Now, as he did, he moved south. Now, 00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:55.409 the question is, why would he move south? He's 00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:57.889 already in the southern portion of Israel, this 00:13:57.889 --> 00:14:01.789 beautiful fertile land, and he'd walked it, or 00:14:01.789 --> 00:14:04.690 cameled on it. But why is he going towards Egypt? 00:14:04.990 --> 00:14:08.149 And then, as he's going, he discovers that there's 00:14:08.149 --> 00:14:11.269 a famine in the land of Canaan. And it was severe. 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:15.429 So, Abraham went down to Egypt. Now, here's what's 00:14:15.429 --> 00:14:17.970 interesting. He goes down into Egypt and he tells 00:14:17.970 --> 00:14:22.190 his wife, don't tell him you're my wife, otherwise 00:14:22.190 --> 00:14:24.370 it's going to go wrong for me. They'll kill me. 00:14:24.610 --> 00:14:27.029 So how does he know all that? We don't know. 00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:30.049 But we do know that the information of what was 00:14:30.049 --> 00:14:33.970 going on in Egypt land was run by this pharaoh 00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:39.779 guy who was mean and he was controlling. The 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:42.159 only reason that Abraham was going down there 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:44.000 was because there was a famine and he heard that 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.940 there was plenty in Egypt. So he went down there 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:49.720 and it wasn't a good idea. It wasn't the right 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:51.679 idea, I'm sure, but he went down there and God 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:54.700 didn't stop him. So he goes down there and it 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:58.679 goes wrong for the pharaoh, because the pharaoh 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:02.539 sees Sarah, his wife, takes him into his harem 00:15:02.539 --> 00:15:06.019 probably, and then he's cursed. Everything goes 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:08.529 bad for the pharaoh. Why is that? Because he 00:15:08.529 --> 00:15:11.889 didn't bless the one who he was called to bless. 00:15:11.950 --> 00:15:14.490 He didn't necessarily know that. I'm sure Abraham 00:15:14.490 --> 00:15:16.629 didn't get close enough to tell him that. But 00:15:16.629 --> 00:15:18.710 Abraham was trying to be a blessing there, no 00:15:18.710 --> 00:15:21.230 doubt. I have no doubt of that. That he was doing 00:15:21.230 --> 00:15:24.889 as God told him. He was joining God in the promise 00:15:24.889 --> 00:15:27.169 that he made for him. That's a critical thing. 00:15:27.549 --> 00:15:29.710 So anyway, things are going wrong with Pharaoh, 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:34.289 and he realizes that it's because he took Abram's 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:37.620 wife as his own. He was a sister, a distant sister, 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:41.059 but it was kind of deceiving. So anyway, there's 00:15:41.059 --> 00:15:44.179 great plagues that happen in the king's quarters, 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:47.960 Spharo, and he moves Abraham out of the land. 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:50.940 But he moves him out of the land, and in the 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:54.200 meantime Abraham had become wealthy, very, very 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:58.159 wealthy. In fact, as we go on, we see that in 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.139 Chapter 13 he was very rich in livestock, silver, 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:05.379 and gold. So we see this blessing now. Even though 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:08.379 Abram probably made the wrong decision, probably 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:11.759 God was going to do it in a different way, because 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:15.139 God's not into this violence thing, and yet he 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:18.080 had to scare Pharaoh out of his seat so that 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.159 he would release Abram. Abram becomes a type 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:25.179 of the people of Israel because they also came 00:16:25.179 --> 00:16:28.500 out of Egypt, out of slavery, from a ruthless 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:31.600 Pharaoh. But they also came out with silver and 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.299 gold, which we're going to see much later. Anyway, 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:37.940 so he moves and now he's back at Bethel, but 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:41.000 this time he puts his tent there and he makes 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:43.620 an altar and he calls upon the name of the Lord. 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:47.799 And he and Lot part company because they're both 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:50.419 so rich, have so much livestock that the land 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:53.279 can't handle both of them. So Lot moves towards 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:56.480 Sodom, which was not a good idea, but we're not 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.000 following Lot's story. We're following Abram's 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.519 story. And Abram, he offered Lot first choice 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.680 wherever you go. I'll honor that choice and Lot 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.160 chose that because it looked good. It was good 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.279 to the eyes. Remember that problem? So Abram 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:16.420 settles in the land of Canaan and Lot just nears 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:19.400 outside of Sodom and that was a wicked place. 00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:21.759 It was known for its wickedness. It said great 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.279 sinners, the wicked, were against the Lord that 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:28.039 lived there. So they separated and then God has 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:30.140 Abram by himself and he tells them to lift up 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:31.839 your eyes and look from the place where you are. 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:34.859 north, south, east and west, for the land that 00:17:34.859 --> 00:17:38.140 you see I will give to you and your offspring 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:41.980 forever." So he's repeating the promise, but 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:44.440 he's even making it more specific. Everything 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:47.539 you can see is going to be yours and your offspring. 00:17:47.660 --> 00:17:49.680 It's so important to understand that this is 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:51.859 not just Abraham, it's your offspring. So we 00:17:51.859 --> 00:17:54.680 have to follow the line of Abraham because offspring 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:57.759 is Zerah. And we're not done with Zerah. This 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.720 continues through the entire Old Testament into 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.180 the New Testament, this concept of descendancy 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:08.319 from Adam, and now we're focusing, we're singling 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:10.680 out other children that were born, other sons 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:13.160 that were born, and we're focusing on specific 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:16.859 ones, because it's through Abraham, it's going 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:19.640 to be Isaac, but we haven't gotten there yet. 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:22.779 So, and then he tells him this, I will make your 00:18:22.779 --> 00:18:25.200 offspring as the dust of the earth so that if 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.819 one could count the dust, your offspring also 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:29.839 could be counted, which is obviously impossible. 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:33.059 So he doesn't have any kids yet, but Abraham's 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:35.799 believing, and he keeps moving, he keeps listening 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.619 to God. Then we move on to a very interesting 00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:41.980 chapter, chapter 14. So there's a bit of time 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:44.740 that took place between the time he was in Egypt 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:46.859 to this point, and there's this war that took 00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:49.359 place. We won't go into the details. But it's 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.160 four kings against five kings. One of those kings 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.059 is the king of Sodom. And one is the king of 00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:57.500 Gomorrah. One is the king of the Goyim, which 00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:01.440 means nations. The word Gentiles comes out of 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.160 the Hebrew word Goyim. And that doesn't mean 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.259 they're bad. It just means they're not Jewish. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:08.839 They're Gentile nations. By the way, Abraham 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:11.400 wasn't Jewish. His descendants become that way. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.039 That's another story. So, anyway, this kings, 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:16.480 four kings against five kings, and it's a bloody 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.640 mess, and I think it was the five succeeded, 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.119 and then something happened that got Abraham's 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:26.160 attention, that he was told, he got this messenger 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.400 came to his house and said that the enemy has 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:31.720 taken all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:35.619 and they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother. 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:37.700 It was his nephew, but he's basically raised 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:42.180 him. So from Sodom Lot was taken exile, and his 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:45.660 possessions, and his family. So he's gone, and 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:48.180 Abram's concerned. So when he heard this, it 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:52.160 says in verse 14 that his kinsman has been taken. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.759 That's literally his nephew. He got his trained 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:00.779 men who were born in his house, 318 of them, 00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:04.539 and they went in pursuit of Lot, his family, 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.779 and his possessions. Now this is separate from 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:10.640 these kings warring against each other. And so 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.759 he brought them all back. So this is the thing. 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:15.400 This was not around the corner. He went from 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:18.900 the southern part of Israel, like in the Negev, 00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:21.720 all the way up to where the tribe of Dan is, 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.480 which is way far north. And there they camped 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.039 out. And they came up with a strategy. And then 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:31.039 from there they kept going north into Damascus. 00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:34.779 It's a long journey. And this was just to rescue 00:20:34.779 --> 00:20:38.059 his son. his step -son, or his nephew, I mean, 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:40.579 who became his son, and his family and their 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:42.799 possessions. Now, I mean, what are the odds? 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:45.279 Well, when God's on your side, apparently, the 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.759 odds are pretty much in your favor. And so he 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.319 defeated them. He defeated these kings who were 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.440 there with all their bounty, probably getting 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:55.619 drunk and having orgies and whatnot. And he interrupted 00:20:55.619 --> 00:20:57.839 them. It doesn't say how many were killed or 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.460 anything like that. He just defeated them. And 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:04.079 then he brought back all the possessions. and 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:06.559 Lot, his kinsman, along with his possessions, 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:09.480 and the women and the people, which would be 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.980 his wife and daughters. Lot's. So after his return, 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:16.779 though, something interesting happens. He's coming 00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:19.920 back to where he lived, and he meets two very 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.720 interesting characters. The first one is Melchizedek. 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:26.039 Now, if you're a Bible reader, you know that 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.759 Melchizedek is an important name. in the Bible. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.900 It's mentioned in the New Testament as well as 00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:34.920 a few other places in the Old, mostly in the 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.240 Psalms, but then in the New Testament as well, 00:21:37.299 --> 00:21:40.240 especially in the book of Hebrews. So he's a 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:42.519 strange character because he has no beginnings 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:45.119 and no ends. We don't know where he came from, 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:47.299 where he's going, where he was born. He's not 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:50.400 in the line of Abram, but he's called the Priest 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:55.680 of God Most High. Salem means peace and Melchizedek 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.420 means king, so he's literally the king of righteousness, 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:03.059 the king of peace. Melchizedek, king of righteousness, 00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:06.200 king of Salem, king of peace. And yet we know 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:08.799 nothing else about him. And he sees Abraham and 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.059 he says this, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:15.460 possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:18.380 God Most High, who has delivered your enemies 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:21.579 into your hand. And Abram turned around and gave 00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:25.160 him a tenth of everything. Tenth. That's like, 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:27.420 that's the first time we see this concept of 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:30.900 tithe. So, why did Abraham do this? There's no 00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:33.160 priesthood, there's no law of Moses telling you 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:36.240 you have to do this, but it was in him, he had 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:38.839 knowledge of, foreknowledge of what this meant, 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:41.720 but it was, he was giving him something. Now, 00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:44.960 many scholars, if not most, and I'm not a scholar, 00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:47.839 but I go along with what I believe is true, is 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.660 that Melchizedek, at least all Bible teachers 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:53.880 would say that he is a type of Jesus, But is 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:55.859 he actually Jesus? Well, there are times when 00:22:55.859 --> 00:22:59.299 Jesus shows up before his incarnation in the 00:22:59.299 --> 00:23:02.079 book of Matthew and Luke. So what do we mean 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.680 by that? Well, he was born, he is the seed of 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.819 not the woman, he is the seed of God. So he has 00:23:08.819 --> 00:23:12.319 no sin in him, but he is the seed of the woman, 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:16.039 which is very strange. So here he is, Jesus. 00:23:16.329 --> 00:23:19.109 the descendant, if you follow this genealogy, 00:23:19.390 --> 00:23:23.849 of Abraham. Abraham, in a sense, is giving to 00:23:23.849 --> 00:23:27.210 Melchizedek, who he's a priest that has no beginning 00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:31.269 and no end. And in Hebrews it refers to him much 00:23:31.269 --> 00:23:34.509 more clearly, and as well as in the Psalms, that 00:23:34.509 --> 00:23:37.670 he's not just a man, he's not just a king. So 00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:39.710 if he's just a type of Jesus, well then this 00:23:39.710 --> 00:23:43.779 is really not a person. You know, it's a king 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:46.140 that's kind of strange, but why would he show 00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:49.160 up? And why would Abram give about 10 % of all 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:51.240 his possessions? Well, I believe he was actually 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:54.019 Jesus. They call that a pre -incarnate theophany 00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:56.440 of Jesus, that God shows up. And we'll see this, 00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:58.700 that Jesus does show up throughout the Bible 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.140 in the Old Testament before he's actually literally 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:04.519 born from Mary. Don't get confused by that. It's 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:07.039 really, it's in the supernatural because, let's 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.859 put it this way, Jesus is all God and all man. 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:12.509 How does that work? So it's not all logical, 00:24:12.529 --> 00:24:14.069 that's what I'm trying to say. This is why it's 00:24:14.069 --> 00:24:16.809 a book of faith. But this is written so that 00:24:16.809 --> 00:24:18.869 we would believe. John said at the end of his 00:24:18.869 --> 00:24:21.269 book, and there's reason to believe, because 00:24:21.269 --> 00:24:23.269 it's what we're intended for, we're designed 00:24:23.269 --> 00:24:27.930 for, for faith. So we continue the story, and 00:24:27.930 --> 00:24:32.250 we are left with the King of Sodom shows up now. 00:24:32.369 --> 00:24:36.730 As soon as the Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness, 00:24:36.890 --> 00:24:40.750 King of Peace, takes the tenth that Abraham offered, 00:24:41.109 --> 00:24:44.210 and then Abraham is confronted by the king of 00:24:44.210 --> 00:24:46.750 Sodom. And he also wants to have a conversation 00:24:46.750 --> 00:24:49.650 with him. So before we do, I want to go over 00:24:49.650 --> 00:24:53.210 to the next chapter, chapter 15, which we were 00:24:53.210 --> 00:24:58.029 going to end pretty soon. But God is further 00:24:58.029 --> 00:25:01.470 giving Abraham the confidence he needs, that 00:25:01.470 --> 00:25:04.450 what I'm telling you is true. But there's a lot 00:25:04.450 --> 00:25:07.049 of opposition, Abraham, that you have to understand. 00:25:07.269 --> 00:25:10.150 And this is what life's like now. going back 00:25:10.150 --> 00:25:12.970 to, you know, that God blesses him, and the next 00:25:12.970 --> 00:25:16.029 scene he has this little altar he builds, but 00:25:16.029 --> 00:25:18.109 then after that he goes down to Egypt, which 00:25:18.109 --> 00:25:20.789 was the wrong move, and it seemed like it was 00:25:20.789 --> 00:25:23.109 going to go bad, specifically for Sarah, his 00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:25.329 wife, and Abraham, why did you do this? And he 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:27.529 was there for a long enough time to become wealthy, 00:25:27.829 --> 00:25:30.569 but everyone left safely and actually in better 00:25:30.569 --> 00:25:33.269 shape. So God redeemed, I'm sure Abraham was 00:25:33.269 --> 00:25:36.089 sorry for what he did. So he repented by it, 00:25:36.089 --> 00:25:38.440 that's... That's not written in, but it seems 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:41.900 very obvious. And life got better. But then he's 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:45.339 also, you know, he's on the awareness now that 00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:47.359 there's some spiritual things going on that he 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:50.259 has to be very mindful of. And he learned that, 00:25:50.259 --> 00:25:53.460 I'm sure, a long lesson in Egypt, which was filled 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:56.180 with idolatry. And so were all the Canaanites 00:25:56.180 --> 00:25:59.200 as well. But Abraham is singled out to believe, 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:01.740 to live a different kind of life with the one 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:05.279 and only true God. So chapter 14 opens up. After 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:07.779 these things, which was what we just read, and 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:09.660 we're going to go back to that. After these things, 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:12.380 the Word of God came to Abram in a vision, Fear 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.619 not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall 00:26:15.619 --> 00:26:17.839 be very great. But Abram said, Oh Lord, what 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:20.119 will you give for me? I don't have an heir. I 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:23.359 don't have any sons. This is what I want, a son. 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:27.019 And so he tells him, you know, behold, you're 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:29.160 going to have a son. The Word of the Lord came 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:31.680 to him and said, This man, Eliezer, who's your 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:34.339 servant, he's not your son. He will have a son. 00:26:34.509 --> 00:26:36.569 and he will be your heir." And he brought him 00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:38.690 outside and he said, look to the heavens, number 00:26:38.690 --> 00:26:41.349 the stars, before it was the sand. Number the 00:26:41.349 --> 00:26:43.789 stars now. If you're able to number them, so 00:26:43.789 --> 00:26:46.109 shall your offspring be. And you know what Abraham 00:26:46.109 --> 00:26:48.970 did? It said he believed the Lord and he counted 00:26:48.970 --> 00:26:53.309 it to him as righteousness. So my question though, 00:26:53.490 --> 00:26:56.170 I kind of ran through this. It said, after these 00:26:56.170 --> 00:26:58.549 things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham 00:26:58.549 --> 00:27:02.190 in a vision. Fear not, Abraham. I am your shield. 00:27:02.630 --> 00:27:05.269 Your reward shall be great. Well, we went from 00:27:05.269 --> 00:27:08.990 that scene where Abram took 318 men that were 00:27:08.990 --> 00:27:13.329 in his house, and he took them to save his nephew, 00:27:13.650 --> 00:27:16.390 he conquered these kings, he came back with his 00:27:16.390 --> 00:27:19.369 nephew and all his nephew's possessions, and 00:27:19.369 --> 00:27:22.950 his wife and children, and then he meets Melchizedek. 00:27:23.150 --> 00:27:25.309 Melchizedek recognizes him, he blesses him, he 00:27:25.309 --> 00:27:27.890 brings out wine and bread. Isn't that interesting 00:27:27.890 --> 00:27:31.549 too, that this is so typical of Jesus and the 00:27:31.549 --> 00:27:35.089 New Covenant? So to me it can't be more clear 00:27:35.089 --> 00:27:38.089 that this is Jesus that he gave his tenth to. 00:27:38.470 --> 00:27:41.309 But then right after that it says the King of 00:27:41.309 --> 00:27:44.650 Sodom said to Abram, give me the persons, but 00:27:44.650 --> 00:27:46.970 take the goods for yourself. Now what kind of 00:27:46.970 --> 00:27:49.230 statement is that? The King of Sodom was not 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:51.430 on the winning side. He didn't fight this battle 00:27:51.430 --> 00:27:55.250 up there in the north to get back Lot and his 00:27:55.250 --> 00:27:57.710 possessions and his family. So what does he have 00:27:57.710 --> 00:28:00.799 to do with Abram here? And so obviously he was 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.380 a man to be feared, the king of Sodom. He was 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:06.599 the king of this wicked land, where wickedness 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:09.640 was prevalent and identified and horrifying. 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:12.960 And I'm sure that it was very fearful to actually 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:16.460 live in that city, as we'll see in Lot's life. 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:21.000 But he says to him as a commandment. Now, Melchizedek 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:24.519 did not tell Abraham to give him anything. He 00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:27.559 gave him what he had, the wine and the bread, 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:30.690 and fellowship. Abraham gave him a tenth of everything, 00:28:30.829 --> 00:28:33.049 along with his fellowship, and they had this 00:28:33.049 --> 00:28:35.730 relationship developing. And then the king of 00:28:35.730 --> 00:28:38.230 Sodom shows up, give me the persons, but take 00:28:38.230 --> 00:28:40.029 the goods for yourself, as if he's doing them 00:28:40.029 --> 00:28:42.950 a favor. But probably, in a sense, this guy was 00:28:42.950 --> 00:28:46.009 very fearsome, you know, like I mean bloodthirsty, 00:28:46.269 --> 00:28:48.109 like I mean having a knife in your teeth kind 00:28:48.109 --> 00:28:51.170 of thirsty. And Abraham, though, courageously 00:28:51.170 --> 00:28:54.000 said this, To the King of Sodom he spoke truth 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:56.299 to power. He said, I have lifted my hand to the 00:28:56.299 --> 00:28:59.380 Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:03.420 earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:06.480 strap or anything that is yours, lest you should 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:10.119 say, I have made Abram rich. I will take nothing 00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:12.599 but what the young men have eaten and the share 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.740 of the men who went with me. So he's just taking 00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:18.799 the bare bones, basics for the men who were soldiers 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:21.730 they fought. in battle and lots of possessions. 00:29:22.109 --> 00:29:24.289 And the family. There's no way I'm giving you 00:29:24.289 --> 00:29:27.430 the people. So this is what Sodom wanted. The 00:29:27.430 --> 00:29:29.789 King of Sodom wanted. He wanted the persons. 00:29:30.230 --> 00:29:32.630 This is what Satan always wants. He doesn't want 00:29:32.630 --> 00:29:35.849 your money. He wants you. And so why do I say 00:29:35.849 --> 00:29:38.609 Satan? It says King of Sodom, Paul. How can you 00:29:38.609 --> 00:29:42.470 say Satan? Well, we're reading a book that has 00:29:42.470 --> 00:29:46.529 real people, real places, but that's also typical. 00:29:46.670 --> 00:29:49.829 They're symbolic of other concepts and other 00:29:49.829 --> 00:29:52.829 people, like the king Melchizedek, whether or 00:29:52.829 --> 00:29:57.029 not he was Jesus. No one said he was Jesus. He 00:29:57.029 --> 00:30:00.769 didn't say he was Jesus. I'd be Yeshua. But he 00:30:00.769 --> 00:30:04.349 is certainly a type of Yeshua, as well as, I 00:30:04.349 --> 00:30:08.829 believe, Yeshua Himself. But if this is the height 00:30:08.829 --> 00:30:10.950 of what's going on, if you picture this, Abram 00:30:10.950 --> 00:30:16.259 is having a meal with Jesus in this valley. And 00:30:16.259 --> 00:30:19.180 then comes the King of Sodom. He's totally opposite 00:30:19.180 --> 00:30:21.839 of Melchizedek at the very least. Why couldn't 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.339 he be a type of Satan, if not Satan himself? 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:28.599 If Satan could show up on earth at different 00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:31.160 times when he did, when he tempted Jesus, why 00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:33.440 couldn't he show up at this time, in the beginning 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:35.940 of this redemptive story, in the beginning of 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:38.380 the most, some would say the most important verse 00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:41.660 in the Old Testament, which is, I'm going to 00:30:41.660 --> 00:30:43.779 make you a blessing to all the families of the 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:46.259 earth. Why couldn't this be the King of Sodom 00:30:46.259 --> 00:30:48.900 who steps in to interrupt this process right 00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:52.599 before takeoff, and he wants the people? He wants 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:54.740 the people. Why? And then he's going to give, 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:57.539 literally giving what's not his, is the goods. 00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:00.839 I'll let you have the goods, as if he owns them. 00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:04.359 But he was a threat to Abraham. And that is why, 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:06.920 I believe, when we open up the next chapter, 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:10.940 chapter 15, which we're going to see is an incredibly 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:14.470 super supernatural charged chapter, The chapter 00:31:14.470 --> 00:31:17.930 opens up and Abraham is afraid. He's afraid. 00:31:18.809 --> 00:31:21.009 And really, the question should be asked immediately 00:31:21.009 --> 00:31:23.809 if we're reading carefully. Why would God tell 00:31:23.809 --> 00:31:27.009 him not to fear? What's he afraid of? But God 00:31:27.009 --> 00:31:30.490 reminds him that, I am your shield, Abraham, 00:31:30.769 --> 00:31:34.430 and I am your reward. And it is very great. And 00:31:34.430 --> 00:31:36.569 he has to calm him down because what he's about 00:31:36.569 --> 00:31:40.589 to tell him is so beyond real, he's going to 00:31:40.589 --> 00:31:43.089 give him descendants that are as many as the 00:31:43.089 --> 00:31:45.029 stars in the sky. Can you imagine what the sky 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:46.950 looked like when there was no pollution in the 00:31:46.950 --> 00:31:49.109 air? And he's telling them to count the stars 00:31:49.109 --> 00:31:51.769 if you can. He can't count them because they 00:31:51.769 --> 00:31:54.170 appear to be infinite in number. They're countless. 00:31:55.269 --> 00:31:57.750 And God said, the Bible says, then he said to 00:31:57.750 --> 00:32:00.869 him, so shall your offspring be, just like that. 00:32:01.230 --> 00:32:03.670 And the weird thing, it's not weird if you have 00:32:03.670 --> 00:32:06.509 faith, but the weird thing, if you don't, is 00:32:06.509 --> 00:32:09.089 that he believed the Lord. He had no kids yet, 00:32:09.329 --> 00:32:12.460 remember? And God counted it to him as righteousness. 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:15.440 What does that mean? That God saw that Abraham, 00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:18.579 it wasn't called Abraham yet, he gets it, he 00:32:18.579 --> 00:32:22.740 gets it. That I Am his all in all. I Am the great 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:25.039 I Am. All these things have not been discussed 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:27.599 yet. God was not given all these names yet. But 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:30.420 he's revealing himself to this one man, Abram. 00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:33.559 And Abram's believing him against all the odds. 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:37.740 And so his fear was very real. But God came in 00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:42.000 and broke the fear. Don't be alarmed by fear, 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:44.700 because we live in a spiritually charged world, 00:32:45.059 --> 00:32:47.839 not as charged as it was in the night that God 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:51.640 confronted him after his episode with the King 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:53.980 of Sodom, who very well might have been Satan 00:32:53.980 --> 00:32:57.519 himself. But this is how cunning he is. So we're 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:00.339 seeing him act in the garden. We saw what he 00:33:00.339 --> 00:33:03.220 did. He forced the exile of the only two people 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:05.240 in the world who were living under the greatest 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:08.900 place ever, and then he... was behind the murder 00:33:08.900 --> 00:33:12.140 of the second -born son from his brother, because 00:33:12.140 --> 00:33:15.019 he came to it and I said, don't do it. Don't 00:33:15.019 --> 00:33:18.200 do it, Cain. Sin crouches at the door. You know, 00:33:18.420 --> 00:33:22.500 sin is its embodiment of who Satan is. And that's 00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:24.259 what he's saying. He's crouching. You may not 00:33:24.259 --> 00:33:26.920 see him, but he's crouching at the door. So this 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:30.420 is the story that we have inherited, and it takes 00:33:30.420 --> 00:33:32.819 faith to believe it so that we can continue on, 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:35.380 because this thing moves forward. All of this 00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:38.599 stuff that we've read so far, there has to be 00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:40.980 an end to it. And it has to be a good ending, 00:33:41.079 --> 00:33:43.740 because as we're walking with God, as Enoch did 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:46.339 in the garden, we're recognizing that He's good. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:48.859 He's good. He's not causing these problems. He's 00:33:48.859 --> 00:33:51.799 redeeming them as they show up, but He's allowing 00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:54.880 the consequences to unfold. So I hope that's 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:57.420 going to help you to continue on. It's a remarkable 00:33:57.420 --> 00:34:01.619 story, but it takes faith to believe it for this 00:34:01.619 --> 00:34:04.460 journey that we are now taking. from the garden 00:34:04.460 --> 00:34:07.960 into the future, along with Israel, whom he left 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:12.860 off on his way back from kingly. So, shalom and 00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:15.699 blessings and lehit rot. Hope to see you soon. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:19.380 We bless you for taking the time to consider 00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:22.260 this message. May it cause you to be fruitful 00:34:22.260 --> 00:34:25.079 and effective and lead others along the way with 00:34:25.079 --> 00:34:28.880 confidence and determination. Check out our website 00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:32.139 at comfortmypeople .com to become better informed 00:34:32.139 --> 00:34:35.099 and equipped to restore righteousness to the 00:34:35.099 --> 00:34:38.719 people of Israel, America, and beyond. Please 00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:41.239 consider sharing this and visit us on social 00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:43.800 media. Shalom and blessings.