1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,440 I am Pastor Nathan and today we are going to be looking at the ceremonial 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:10,220 ratification of what's called the Abrahamic covenant. Now a covenant, a lot 3 00:00:10,220 --> 00:00:14,420 of people hear the word covenant and they go, oh it's a promise. And there's 4 00:00:14,420 --> 00:00:18,480 actually a subtle difference between the two. You know a covenant by definition is 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:24,160 a binding agreement between two parties. Some would say it's a legally binding 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,400 agreement. Like if you do a business deal with somebody and you sign a contract, 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:33,440 it's a covenant. When two nations make a treaty with each other, it's a covenant. 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,200 When a ruler makes an agreement with their subjects or a government makes an 9 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,220 agreement with their citizens, it's often called a constitution. Now the binding 10 00:00:43,220 --> 00:00:48,800 part of a covenant is the fact that there's a strength behind it where it 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:54,940 can be legally enforced. That a covenant often appeals to an outside third party 12 00:00:54,940 --> 00:01:01,920 that says you can enforce this or one party could force another party to do 13 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,720 what they committed to in the covenant. You can't just walk away from a covenant. 14 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:10,280 You can't break it without consequence, with contracts and such. We're familiar 15 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,920 with this right? You break your contract, you can get sued, you know. And so that's 16 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:19,920 different than a promise. A promise by definition is simply a commitment to do 17 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,720 something but it's typically one-sided, meaning I promise to do something for 18 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:31,080 you and you're under no obligations to do anything back to me. But a promise in 19 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,800 that commitment is something that you can't really enforce, right? You can't 20 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,200 take someone to court for breaking a promise even though that would be nice 21 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:44,240 at times. You have to depend on the character of the person with a 22 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,200 promise because the execution of that promise will depend on that. If they're a 23 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,280 good person, you could trust them to fulfill the promise. If they're a bad 24 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:56,600 person, well if they're dishonest they can just lie and change their mind or 25 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:02,640 not fulfill it and there's really not a whole lot you can do. And so the primary 26 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:07,640 difference between this word covenant and promise is really that legally 27 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,880 binding status. That's what makes a covenant special. Well in the Word of 28 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:18,800 God, God makes hundreds of promises, hundreds of promises. But there are some 29 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,480 very special promises, very special commitments that he makes that are 30 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:29,320 biblically called covenants. Now God is faithful to both obviously. God is true, 31 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:35,040 God is honest. But there is a reason why the Bible calls some of these special 32 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:40,680 promises by God covenants. And one of those things is that a promise can often 33 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:46,040 be conditional. And God does make some conditional promises in his word. For 34 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:51,280 example in Proverbs 3 verse 5 and 6 we read it and says, trust in the Lord with 35 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,440 all your heart. Do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways 36 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:01,160 acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. So there's a conditional 37 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:06,200 element there right? You can't expect your paths to be guided straight if you 38 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,280 are not trusting the Lord with all your heart. If you're leaning on your own 39 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,880 understanding and we're gonna see some of that today. But the covenants that God 40 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:21,520 makes with us through his word are unconditional. They don't require action 41 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,120 and activity from us the other party. They're an unconditional thing and 42 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:31,240 they're often unilateral. Unilateral means that God's commitments to keep 43 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,840 these promises in a covenant, he makes those commitments to keep the promise 44 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:41,640 regardless of what we do. It's God saying I'm gonna do this and you can 45 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,120 count on it because of my character. But it's not so much a you do these things 46 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,400 then I'll do these things and that type of arrangement. There are no conditions 47 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:55,800 by which a covenant promise can be an old. And they're typically made by some 48 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:00,920 type of oath or ceremony. We would call that like signing the contract and you 49 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:06,200 get it notarized right? Marriage contracts we would call that. The whole 50 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,680 marriage ceremony. You're making this entire ceremony around making this 51 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:17,440 legally binding arrangement that we call marriage. Now God's making covenants with 52 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:23,560 us in no way implies that God might renege on a commitment that God might 53 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,680 change his mind or back out of a commitment. God puts these certain 54 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:34,680 promises in covenant form for our sake. It's so that we understand the 55 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:41,680 very serious solemn nature of what it is God is covenanting to do. It's so that 56 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:47,800 we understand that because it's a covenant and we understand this legal 57 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,240 arrangement of a covenant that God is saying I want you to be sure beyond a 58 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,080 shadow of a doubt that when it comes to this promise I'm making I will not 59 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,440 change my mind. And in a sense he's saying I cannot change my mind because I 60 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,680 am binding myself legally to this promise. This is what we're gonna see 61 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:08,040 today as God confirms the covenant that he has made with Abram through a 62 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:13,880 ceremony that reads very strange to us. But when we get there and look at that 63 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,920 we'll see that this ceremony was something very very significant and the 64 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,680 people of Abram's day clearly understood what the point was and we'll be talking 65 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,200 about that as well. But covenants in general they're a very important thing 66 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:34,920 to understand biblically because covenants tell us what God will do 67 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,800 regardless of what we do. They tell us what God's gonna do regardless of us and 68 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:46,720 these special promises that he has made to us and confirmed with oaths they 69 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:51,520 don't depend on us it is all a work of God. In these covenants often we're in 70 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,200 the place of just simply having to believe and trust the Lord. God makes a 71 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:00,720 covenant to himself to do what he covenants to do no matter what and 72 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,640 that's what we're gonna see today with Abram but first we're gonna open up 73 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,880 with worship. You guys want to worship the Lord? Absolutely. Worshipping God is 74 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:13,760 is so great because I mean he's so great. He's done so much for us and as we're 75 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:18,320 gonna see in the covenants today God is just so trustworthy so faithful and he 76 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:23,960 just is everything. He is the one and only thing that you could depend on and 77 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:29,880 trust your life with and be sure that what he says will come of that is gonna 78 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:35,640 come. Let's pray. Father we love you so much. We're so grateful God that you sent 79 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,880 your son Jesus Christ to come to this earth and to die on the cross for us. 80 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,080 Lord we we're so thankful for the promises you make through your word 81 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,960 cover to cover and God yet there's these special promises that that you use this 82 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:54,520 word covenant to describe and Lord I pray today that as we see this this 83 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,440 covenant you're making with Abram that we would understand why it's a covenant 84 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,640 not just a promise. We would understand the gravity. We would understand the 85 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,920 commitment being made. We would understand what this commitment is being 86 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:12,440 oathed to so that Lord when we come all the way forward in our lives 87 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,800 understanding the new covenant the covenant that says believe and you shall 88 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,000 be saved that we would know that once we've put our faith in you we have no 89 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,400 reason to doubt. Lord that there's never a reason to think that I've lost my 90 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:32,240 salvation because God you made a covenant and it is sure to happen. So 91 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,700 Lord speak to us today bless us today Lord we pray that you are blessed as we 92 00:07:36,700 --> 00:07:40,560 praise your holy name lift up your name on high we love you so much it's in 93 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:45,240 Jesus name we pray amen. Alright Genesis 15 we we are looking at this covenant 94 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,560 that that God is making with Abraham and this is all based upon his great 95 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,720 promises that he has made to Abram starting in the very beginning. This 96 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:58,800 Abrahamic covenant that we're looking at actually is was was spoken to Abram in 97 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:04,840 Genesis chapter 12 and 13 and then here in Genesis 15 we see the ceremony that 98 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:11,160 ratifies that covenant and then in Genesis 17 is when God establishes the 99 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,880 sign of the covenant the the sign of circumcision with Abram and his people 100 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,680 but I want to just read over a couple of those real quick to kind of remind us 101 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:26,280 on what God had said in Genesis 12 verses 1 through 3 it says this the Lord 102 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,440 said to Abram go from your land your relatives in your father's house to the 103 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:35,440 land that I will show you I will make you a great nation I will bless you I 104 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:40,560 will make your name great and you will be a blessing I will bless those who 105 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:45,040 bless you I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt and all the peoples on 106 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:50,360 the earth will be blessed through you and then in Genesis 13 starting in verse 107 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:56,720 14 God kind of expanded on the land grant the make you a great nation and 108 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,320 give you a land kind of idea where he says after Lot had separated from him 109 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:05,840 the Lord said to Abram look from the place where you are look north and south 110 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,400 east and west for I will give you in your offspring forever all the land 111 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,480 that you see I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth so that if 112 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:20,080 anyone could count the dust of the earth then your offspring could be counted 113 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:25,280 and so when you look at this covenant that's these promises God is making to 114 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:30,560 Abram here there's really two main parts there's the promise of the people and 115 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:35,400 there's the promise of the land now if you were with us last week we looked at 116 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:41,920 the first six verses of Genesis 15 where God restates and clarifies the the 117 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,840 promise he's making to Abram about a people that a people would come from his 118 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:52,040 own body and when Abram responded to that if you remember his response was a 119 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:58,000 little combative it was a little almost exasperated sounding because Abram 120 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:04,680 responded through the lens of his own understanding where he's like God what 121 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,040 can you give me what can you do and then he made this conclusion on his own a 122 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,040 slave from my house is going to be my be my heir and I want to read that to you 123 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:18,960 just so we have the proper language here Genesis 15 verses 2 & 3 but Abram said 124 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:26,560 Lord God so I still believe you are God I'm still respectfully believing in who 125 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:31,040 you are what can you give me since I'm childless in the air of my house is 126 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:39,280 alias or of Damascus now verse 3 shows us that this is a rhetorical question 127 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:44,400 rhetorical question is a question you ask not expecting an answer because you 128 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:49,640 already know the answer right there's all kinds of different ways people ask 129 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,680 rhetorical questions but verse 3 shows us that Abraham had already decided in 130 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:58,680 his own mind what the conclusion was so he says what can you give me since I'm 131 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:04,000 childless right and then verse 3 Abram continued look you've given me no 132 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:10,480 offspring so a slave born in my house will be my heir so Abram is is not real 133 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,480 confident right here that God can do what he said he was gonna do and so we 134 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,720 read how God patiently responded to him and said no your conclusions wrong and 135 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,600 then it's like really like I already told you the dust of the earth right okay 136 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,160 maybe that wasn't clear let's go outside and look up at the stars of the sky 137 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:33,860 your offspring will be that numerous and and then Abrams response to that we 138 00:11:33,860 --> 00:11:38,320 read in verse 6 was that he believed right and and we talked all about that 139 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:43,240 really the foundation of what faith is all about he believed and God credited 140 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,880 that to him or counted that as righteousness and that was given to 141 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:53,320 Abram so we just read in the beginning of this chapter that Abram was made 142 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:59,000 right before God because he had faith in what God would do he just he just said 143 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,360 here's my objection God's like come on bro and he's like alright right that's 144 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:12,560 my Nathan translation and Abram was full of faith now Abram was looking forward 145 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:17,680 to what God would do right started in Genesis that there's gonna be a seed 146 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:22,200 and we were studied back there an offspring and the word is singular one 147 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:27,160 offspring is gonna come through Abram is now being told that there's a people 148 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,720 gonna come through you there's a land and a nation and in other places it 149 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:35,520 tells them kings and leaders will come from you and Abrams believing that that 150 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,640 that this is gonna happen that this offspring is gonna come now but still as 151 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:46,240 he was trusting in what God would do and was counted as righteousness we 152 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:52,440 similarly have faith in what God already did which was the Messiah the Bible 153 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,280 tells us in other places that what Abram was looking forward to is he knew that 154 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,600 it was gonna be one of his offspring that would be the Savior of the entire 155 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:05,640 world and that is Jesus Christ and so here Abram believed that he would father 156 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:11,160 a people and through them an offspring would come that would save everybody 157 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:15,720 from sin it's actually in Galatians 3 16 if you want to take note where Paul 158 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:23,400 says the seed singular the offspring singular is Jesus Christ and so Abram 159 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:28,760 saving faith was in the Messiah to come our saving faith is in the Messiah who 160 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:34,440 already came guys get that all right so now starting in verse 7 where we're 161 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,320 gonna pick up the story today God proceeds to further encourage Abram's 162 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,080 heart and faith by now raising the issue of the land right he just dealt with the 163 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:46,240 issue of the people now he's raising the issue of the land in verse 7 he also 164 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:51,040 said to him I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give 165 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:56,080 you this land to possess now chronologically if you're worried about 166 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,840 that this is probably a conversation taking place the next day because as 167 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:02,880 we're gonna read through this story Abram does a whole lot of work to prepare 168 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,520 for this ceremony and so he also said to him and what he's telling him here is 169 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,560 Abram I want you to remember something very important I am the same God who 170 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:18,160 called you out of her I'm still the same God that's a very important premise for 171 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:23,400 us to understand when we're wrestling with God's promises you see one of the 172 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,960 best things to do when you're going God are you gonna be faithful to this 173 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:32,120 promise is look back and remember how many times God has been faithful to his 174 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:37,080 promise and what God says to us is I'm still the same God I was back there 175 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:42,840 today so I'm no different if I was faithful then I'm gonna be faithful now 176 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,680 that's something important for us to understand and so God is reminding Abram 177 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:54,280 I am the Lord who brought you out of your homeland so and he's telling them 178 00:14:54,280 --> 00:15:01,120 by by way of reference to that remember what I told you like he we read all 179 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,640 those things in Genesis 12 and 13 but he's like remember I told you that I 180 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:10,680 would lead you to a land that you didn't know and then he's like this is the land 181 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,480 you're in it you're currently standing here in this land that I told you I was 182 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:20,320 gonna bring you to but he uses this really interesting word here possess all 183 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:26,840 right this is the land that I'm gonna give you to possess in the Hebrew this 184 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:33,120 word possess means to gain control of something through means other than 185 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:41,160 purchase or exchange the idea of gaining control is to legally own 186 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:49,080 something not by purchasing it not by trading for it but by ways of 187 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:54,720 inheritance someone bequeathing it to you or in those days it was by taking it 188 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:59,760 by conquest like if one people invaded another people and they fought and they 189 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:05,840 battled the winner by right owned whatever they took the spoils they owned 190 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,360 the land and then it was up to them to defend it right that was kind of how 191 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:14,160 invasion and nation growth and all that happened back then but what he's telling 192 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:22,680 Abram here is this is the land that I'm giving you legally to own and it's not 193 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,800 gonna be through purchasing it it's not gonna be through trading for it it has 194 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,920 to be through one of these other means that you inherit it or that you take it 195 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:36,280 by conquest now having just believed God about his child right Abram believed 196 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,800 and it was accounted for righteousness Abram's response to this statement about 197 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:46,600 the land is very interesting verse 8 he said Lord God how can I know that I will 198 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:54,000 possess it now some of us read that question and we go Abram dude two whole 199 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:59,080 verses ago you believed and it was credit to you for righteousness two 200 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:05,200 verses how can you go back to questioning so fast but there's some 201 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:11,320 nuances here that I want to point out notice here the question is not 202 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:17,000 rhetorical it's no longer rhetorical it's not a question that Abram had 203 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,120 already decided to answer in his own heart and we know that because we're 204 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:24,960 there's nothing written here where Abraham was like how can I know that I'm 205 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,440 gonna possess land because blah blah blah question question detail so this is 206 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,400 what's already gonna happen it tells us here that this question from 207 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,680 Abram is sincere it's genuine it's not pre-answered by Abram's own 208 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:43,000 understanding earlier Abram's problem with God revolved around the fact that 209 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:50,720 that I don't believe you can do that God you're gonna have a child what can you 210 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,880 give me I have no you've given me no offspring right he was wrestling with 211 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,920 the fact that whether God could or couldn't do something but in verse 6 212 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:05,680 Abram gets past that it's like okay God you're God I believe you I believe you 213 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:10,760 created all that I get it you're telling me your word I have faith in that but 214 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,120 just because he came to that place doesn't mean that his faith was perfect 215 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:21,280 right I'm sure we would all love to be in a place of perfect faith God jumps 216 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,560 and we just go yes sir I don't even have to think about the the challenges to 217 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:30,160 that but we don't have a perfect faith and neither did Abraham it wasn't that 218 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:36,520 he no longer had questions it was that his questions now were not based on 219 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:40,960 whether God could or couldn't do something that was settled God I believe 220 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:48,120 you can I just don't understand how can you help me what can you show me that 221 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:53,080 will help me to understand that I will possess it and so his question now was 222 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:58,760 based on a proper understanding of himself right God I know you know how I 223 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:05,880 believe that but how can I know please help my faith is what he's saying here 224 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,360 this kind of place to be is perfectly acceptable we see numerous times 225 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:15,720 throughout scripture where people are like okay God I believe in you can you 226 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:21,560 show me something and in those stories we don't read God going you faithless 227 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:28,880 punk boom lightning bolt you're dead what he does is knowing our weakness he 228 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:35,320 provides things Gideon right that's the most famous story God I believe you but 229 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:42,400 can you do this thing with the fleece and God does it there's a story in Mark 230 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:48,360 chapter 9 about about a man dealing with the interaction between faith and doubt 231 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:53,120 right it's in Mark chapter 9 verse 20 and it says this so they brought the boy 232 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:58,040 to him and when the spirit saw him it immediately saw him speaking of Jesus 233 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,080 immediately threw the boy into convulsions he fell to the ground and 234 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:06,720 rolled around foaming at the mouth how long has this been happening to him 235 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:11,920 Jesus asked the father from childhood he said and many times it has thrown him 236 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:17,680 into fire or water to destroy him but if you can do anything have compassion on 237 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:29,080 us and help us I love Jesus's response if I can did did you do you realize who 238 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:35,360 you're talking to did you just say if you can everything is possible for one 239 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:40,280 who believes and then what does the father say immediately the father of the 240 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:47,640 boy cried out and he goes I do believe but help my unbelief that is a place 241 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:55,280 that most of us dwell in for a very long time I do have faith I believe in you 242 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:00,320 God but I also recognize that my faith is limited I recognize it's it's not as 243 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:05,120 strong as I would like it to be or as it should be so so I believe but please 244 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:13,440 help my unbelief this is both a statement of faith not doubting but an 245 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,400 admission that my faith is far from perfect and that's what Abram is doing 246 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:25,200 here in response to the land and so what he says is Lord God how can I know 247 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,280 that word no is another very important piece to understand Abram's question 248 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:34,400 here because that word no in the in the Hebrew it's to perceive something 249 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:40,720 meaning to be aware of the presence of something or the reality of something by 250 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:50,120 eyes or by touch so what he's saying here is what can I what can I what can I 251 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:56,400 see or touch Lord that will help me internalize that I will indeed gain 252 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:01,640 legal possession of this land in a sense what he's doing is God can you give me a 253 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:08,680 sign have you ever asked for that do you feel guilty when you do it oh I should 254 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:16,480 have faith maybe we should but I love the fact that God knows our weak frame 255 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:22,480 and he says you're my kid all right let me help you out sometimes he doesn't 256 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,440 give us a sign and that's his prerogative but the asking isn't a 257 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:32,040 sinful thing right it's simply an admission that God I'm just not where I 258 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:37,000 want to be with my faith this one is hard to believe in yes the goal is to be 259 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,720 able to believe God period but I think most of us many of us have things in our 260 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,400 lives where we're already there right oh I just believe you God I don't even 261 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,920 think about the what-ifs anymore I don't even think about the the but it's just 262 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:55,560 yeah there's things in my life and I'm like of course God 100% no question but 263 00:22:55,560 --> 00:23:00,080 then there are other things in our life where our faith isn't quite strong 264 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,280 enough like that it's not the same strength of faith and so like the father 265 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:12,960 in Mark 9 what we say to those things is God I do believe but help my unbelief so 266 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,640 Abram here is like all right God I believe you I'm gonna have a kid that 267 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:23,440 kid's gonna grow up into many many people and nation kings and leaders will 268 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:28,160 come from that you brought me to the land yep we're here I see it I'm standing 269 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:36,080 on it I've walked the land Lord I've built altars but my question Lord is how 270 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:42,640 can I know that I will gain legal control legal possession over this land 271 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:51,200 how can I know that and and I think this is born of of what Abraham is seen in 272 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:57,760 the land right this land that is currently occupied by all the aides all 273 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:02,600 the aides this this land already seems to belong to other people you know who 274 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:08,160 the aides are right it's in verse 19 through 21 the Kenites the Kenizites 275 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,480 the Cabanites the Hethites the Perizzites the Raphael the Giants the 276 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:19,240 Amorites the Canaanites the Girgashites the Jebusites the aides they're all here 277 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:24,800 already Lord I mean they were here when I got here so it kind of feels like it's 278 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:30,720 theirs so this is speculation on my part but I imagine what might have been going 279 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,720 through Abram's mind is like if I'm not gonna possess this land through purchase 280 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:42,120 or trade and as I look around I don't see anybody here that's gonna leave the 281 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:48,000 land to me so I'm not gonna get it by inheritance so does that mean conquest 282 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,360 is that what you're saying Lord I mean I just defeated the army of four kings so 283 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:59,280 I get that but what are you saying verse 9 he said to him bring me a three-year 284 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:04,320 old cow a three-year-old female goat a three-year-old ram a turtle dove and a 285 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:09,560 young pigeon so he brought all these to him cut them in half and laid the pieces 286 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:15,360 opposite each other but he did not cut the birds in half so we read this and we 287 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:21,540 go what Lord how can I know I will legally possess this land or my offspring 288 00:25:21,540 --> 00:25:30,000 will go butcher a bunch of animals all right what does that do that's how we 289 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:35,520 read this but we have to understand that that in the time Abram would have 290 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,280 understood exactly what God was asking him to do see in in Mesopotamia of 291 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,800 Abram's time that's where err was that's where Abram's homeland was it was very 292 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:50,240 common that when two parties were gonna make a promise to each other and not 293 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:55,040 just oh I promise this but they wanted to seal that to make a covenant out of 294 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,520 something or or sign the contract and have it notarized as we might say today 295 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,160 what they would do is they would slaughter these animals and lay them in 296 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:07,360 two halves and then what they would do is they would walk between the two halves 297 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:11,840 of these animals now you might go you know notarizing is much cleaner than 298 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:19,480 that and I agree but the idea of that ceremony was if either of us violate the 299 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:26,000 terms of this covenant maybe what happened to these animals happened to us 300 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:34,480 like it's going I'm I'm that serious I'm putting my life on this that that I'm 301 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:38,320 not just make it a promise I'm I'm I'm putting us in a situation where this is 302 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:44,680 legally enforceable in the sense where an outside party might be able to say 303 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,960 well yeah you broke the covenant here's the consequences and and people would 304 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:54,080 call this a blood covenant right blood was was shed to establish the covenant 305 00:26:54,080 --> 00:27:00,800 and blood will be demanded if the covenant is violated now verse 11 birds 306 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:05,200 of prey came down on the carcass but Abram drove them away as the Sun was 307 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,240 setting a deep sleep came over Abram and suddenly great terror and darkness 308 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:17,840 descended upon him now this could be simply that fresh dead animal birds of 309 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:22,200 birds of prey I want to eat it right it just could be that but there are some 310 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,080 people that that see symbolism in this because the covenant that's being 311 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:32,040 established here is very particular about the land and Israel right about 312 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:37,200 the ownership of this land and so what they see here is symbolism that as these 313 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:42,320 birds of prey come down and try and devour the carcasses that's much like 314 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:47,360 how the enemies of Israel would constantly come down and attack Abram's 315 00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:52,360 offspring as they're trying to occupy their land and we've seen that you know 316 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,240 ever since Israel became a nation again that they're just constantly under siege 317 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,360 they're constantly dealing with people that say no it's not your land it's ours 318 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:08,800 and that's what this is all about it belongs to Israel now he drives them 319 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,160 away and that's another part of the symbolism people see because they're 320 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,720 like you know how many people have attacked Israel and Israel keeps 321 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,760 driving them away and Abram being the father of Israel and da da da da and you 322 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,520 know that could be a thing and a needle connection there but I'm not gonna make 323 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,640 a whole big thing about it so what it tells us is these birds of prey came 324 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,680 down he drove them away and then the end of the day came the Sun started to set 325 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:36,760 and Abram was just waiting he was he was waiting for for the covenant 326 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:42,160 ceremony to commence he I believe he understood God said do this he goes oh 327 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:47,880 I see what's about to happen but he's waiting and he's waiting and the Sun 328 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:54,120 finally goes down and it says that a deep sleep came over him have you ever 329 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,600 had one of those sleeps where you wake up and you don't even know your own name 330 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:08,440 that's a good sleep right last Sunday my alarm didn't go off and I woke up I was 331 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:14,360 like what day is it what planet are we on and the Lord said it's Sunday I was 332 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:19,040 like ah get up you know but but you know deep sleep it's it's that kind of like 333 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:26,160 just you're out and so he fell into this deep sleep and great terror and darkness 334 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:30,720 descended upon him now the Hebrew word for terror there is often used to 335 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:37,520 describe the human emotion that happens when when we're in the presence of 336 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:41,760 Almighty God like when God appears there's these theophanies in the Old 337 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:46,600 Testament and people's response that their emotional responses is terror it's 338 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:52,320 this overwhelming awe that this this infinite being is I'm in their presence 339 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:59,440 and in our state in our sinful state it's a terrifying thing to be in God's 340 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:06,120 presence and then darkness in the Old Testament is often associated with God's 341 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:11,200 almighty presence right or it's associated when God is present when 342 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:16,280 something significant is happening or being said for example in Exodus 20 I 343 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,440 believe it's 22 I wrote the wrong reference up there did you get the right 344 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:24,000 one on the screen oh no that one doesn't go on the screen okay great doesn't 345 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:29,880 matter in Exodus 20 it says Moses approached the total darkness where God 346 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:36,880 was in first Kings 812 it tells us the Lord said that he would dwell in total 347 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:44,080 darkness so that phrase that God lives in the darkness that's biblical you go 348 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:51,120 how does God live in the darkness well if God is light is light then outside of 349 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:57,720 God is no light because he is light so he dwells in the darkness I think that's 350 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,720 an important one to share with your children when they're afraid of the dark 351 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:07,760 so you know God's here he's with you so darkness it's associated with God's 352 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:12,040 presence and then of course we remember that when Jesus was crucified on the 353 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:16,160 cross what happened darkness covered the whole land because something 354 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:22,080 significant was happening and so Abrams in this deep sleep and then God proceeds 355 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,960 to give him some of the details that he was asking for likely in a dream right 356 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:31,880 because he's sleeping but regardless this is these are the details of how him 357 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,720 and his offspring might legally come to possess the land so verse 13 he says then 358 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:42,720 the Lord said to Abram know this for certain your offspring will be resident 359 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:48,800 aliens for 400 years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved 360 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,880 and oppressed however I will judge the nation they serve and afterwards they 361 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:57,920 will go out with many possessions but you will go to your ancestors in peace 362 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:03,520 and be buried at a good old age in the fourth generation they will return here 363 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:09,680 for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure so if 364 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,680 you're a Bible student you should understand that this is this is a 365 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:17,440 prophecy about Israel's time in Egypt which we're gonna read about later in 366 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:23,800 Genesis now when Israel first got to Egypt it was a peaceful thing but then 367 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,920 a the leader died and a new leader came in and he didn't like the Jews and then 368 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:32,960 they were enslaved and they were heavily heavily oppressed and so again some 369 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,360 people see the fulfillment of the birds of prey symbolism here because the 370 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:44,320 Egyptian God Horus was a Falcon was a bird of prey so some people go connection 371 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:50,760 have fun with that but they're gonna be in a land that they do not possess a 372 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:55,680 land that is not theirs and they're gonna be oppressed and then but they're 373 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:00,000 gonna leave with many possessions and we of course know that from Exodus chapter 374 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,960 12 where where when they were leaving Moses said hey go ask all the Egyptians 375 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:08,040 for silver and gold and stuff it's almost like hey go to 7-eleven and get 376 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,960 some snacks for the journey right and and they go and there's like hey can you 377 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,400 give us silver and gold and all the Egyptian people were like we want you 378 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:19,840 out of here so bad take everything we have and it tells us in Exodus 12 thus 379 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:25,960 they plundered the Egyptians so they leave there with just insane riches and 380 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:30,800 God is telling him that this is what's going to happen before your people 381 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:36,200 actually occupy this land legally so God says as I'm about to make this binding 382 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,120 covenant with you regarding the land regarding your offspring I want you to 383 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:45,840 know something very important I'm not gonna deed it to you in your lifetime 384 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:55,280 why because the Amorites have not reached the full measure of their sin 385 00:33:55,280 --> 00:34:03,200 that's interesting I'm waiting on the Amorites to get it together you know the 386 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,400 Amorites were one of the major populations of people in Canaan at this 387 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:12,280 time we read about that right all the aites and what we see here is God is 388 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:18,280 giving them time to repent now of course from God's perspective being outside of 389 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:22,120 time he already knows they're not but within our understanding of linear time 390 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:30,440 he's he's waiting for them to repent he's so patient but they wouldn't repent 391 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:35,840 and in fact the Amorites got terribly terribly corrupted got really bad to the 392 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,240 point where God was like they need to be wiped out they are so hopelessly lost 393 00:34:39,240 --> 00:34:43,400 the Amorites had three primary gods and we see these throughout the Old 394 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:49,040 Testament Ashtaroth, Anath and Asherah these are the three primary gods of the 395 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:53,760 Amorites in the land of Canaan and worship of these gods solely revolved 396 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:59,840 around two things sex and war and so in Leviticus chapter 18 they're they're 397 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:04,280 given this long list of things that that these people were doing in Canaan so 398 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,840 that they could be instructed don't do all that stuff and you know when we get 399 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,160 to Leviticus some people read through Leviticus and you see these lists of 400 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,440 things they go why is this in the Bible why is God having to tell people to not 401 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:20,240 do certain perverse things it's because they were doing them there's 12 402 00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:26,080 variations of incest that they were partaking in there's adultery child 403 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:31,560 sacrifice other perversions like bestiality he lists all these things and 404 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:36,360 then in verse 24 of Leviticus 18 Israel is told do not defile yourself by any of 405 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:40,320 these practices for the nations I'm driving out before you have defiled 406 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:43,880 themselves by all these things and so we see that the degradation of the 407 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:50,920 Amorites was around sexual perversion was around just gruesome things right 408 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:55,160 there was there was no holiness to marriage kids were sacrificed it was 409 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:59,560 just it was a terrible time and so what God is saying here in this vision to 410 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:06,920 Abram is like look the day is gonna come when when they're gonna reach the point 411 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:14,560 of no return when it reaches its full measure and we know that happened 412 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:18,600 eventually the Amorites reached the full measure of their sin it was so bad that 413 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:25,320 God would then unleash a flood of Israelites a huge nation that had grown 414 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:33,120 in Egypt come across the Jordan and conquer the land it would be God using 415 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:37,360 Israel to drive out all these pagan people and and they would conquer they 416 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,680 would conquer led by Joshua we're gonna study that when we get to the book of 417 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:47,560 Joshua and they would take the land that God has promised to them they would take 418 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:54,840 the land through conquest and therefore legally possess it and some people go 419 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:59,680 how is that how is that legal possession didn't they just steal it from them 420 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:05,320 well you have to understand something that the land doesn't really belong to 421 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:11,000 anybody but God because he created it God created the earth God created the 422 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,640 heavens it's his it all belongs to him and everything in it the scripture says 423 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,920 so the Amorites and all the aites who are living in that land didn't mean that 424 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:27,040 they legally possessed it they were just occupying for a time and then Israel 425 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:34,040 came in and conquered and took that land but from God's point of view he had 426 00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:38,640 promised it to Israel that they were gonna take it it was gonna be theirs and 427 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,840 that promise went through the line back through Jacob Isaac and all the way to 428 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:47,160 Abraham so the covenants that God makes throughout scripture that understanding 429 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,640 the covenants are important because they always show us a lot about God they 430 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:56,320 teach us important things about who he is here specifically we see how patient 431 00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:02,880 God is with all people giving them time and opportunity to repent did he know 432 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:08,360 they weren't going to of course he did but that's the thing we wrestle is when 433 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:13,760 we know somebody we're like oh why is God letting them live why is God letting 434 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:20,280 that wicked person continue doing wicked things and we have to understand that 435 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:26,320 that God patiently waits before he drops judgment and that when judgment does 436 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:32,760 fall it is right and proper legal we have to remember his patience when the 437 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,120 wicked flourish and when the wicked prosper because their sin hasn't reached 438 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:41,820 its full measure yet but we also have to understand that that patience of God 439 00:38:41,820 --> 00:38:44,840 won't last forever we know that through our study of 440 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:49,840 revelation in this world God right now is patient and long suffering that that 441 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:53,040 people would get saved that are gonna get saved and that's why if you don't 442 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,480 know Jesus today you need to get saved now because you have no idea if your 443 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:02,200 sin has reached its full measure yet you need to know Jesus Christ now for 444 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:08,320 salvation today is the day of salvation the Bible says and if you delay and you 445 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:13,000 delay and you delay well God has been gracious enough to give you a picture 446 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:18,040 of the future in the book of Revelation to say the time is going to come where 447 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:25,320 I'm done I'm done with waiting on this earth that those who are gonna be saved 448 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:32,000 are saved and the rest are gonna perish in judgment and so Abram as he's living 449 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,240 in the land for the rest of his long life God said look you're not gonna get 450 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,300 it in your lifetime but you're gonna live a lifetime in peace and then you're 451 00:39:38,300 --> 00:39:43,640 gonna die and it's gonna be great and for that whole time Abraham still living 452 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,640 in the land that he didn't yet legally possess is watching the degradation of 453 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:53,240 all these people he's in a land where he's observing the Amorites and whoever 454 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:59,520 else they're doing these gross things and I just cannot help but see the 455 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:04,680 parallel to our world today as we are Christians in this world and we watch 456 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:09,200 the world getting darker and darker and we watch the perverse things getting 457 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:14,840 more perverse and more perverse and and and we go God why are you allowing these 458 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:24,360 things to happen but God's timing is always perfect and so we have to trust 459 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,760 in that and say while we are here it is not for us to know when and why it is 460 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:33,280 for us to go into those places and say you need to get saved your wickedness is 461 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:41,680 going to destroy you so these covenants they teach us so much about God Psalm 462 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:45,680 103 verse 8 it says the Lord is compassionate and gracious slow to anger 463 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:52,320 and abounding in faithful love I personally am very thankful God waited 464 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:58,480 until I got saved are you thankful for that right like what if like right 465 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:05,040 before you got saved God's like that's it you're like wait hold on I am so glad 466 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:11,160 he waited and and that's why we extend that same patience to people we don't 467 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,560 like the the sin and evil we pray against it but but we don't come to the 468 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:21,000 place of questioning God God what's wrong with you because all you got to do is 469 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:24,960 look at yourself and someone else I'm sure was going God what's wrong with you 470 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:28,960 that you waited for Nathan it's all my high school friends when they find out 471 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:33,680 what I do for a living now what I have any proof God's real I don't know what 472 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:41,920 it is so Abram would would remember this lesson over his long life watching the 473 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:47,000 degradation these people knowing that I could just patiently endure because what 474 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:52,520 God has told me but I have hope and what is to come and so verse 17 says when the 475 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:56,240 Sun had set and it was dark a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared 476 00:41:56,240 --> 00:42:00,480 and passed between the divided animals on that day the Lord made a covenant 477 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:06,560 with Abram saying I give this land to your offspring from the brook of Egypt 478 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:11,280 to the great river the Euphrates the land of the Kenites and the Kenanites 479 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,520 and the Kadminites and the Hethites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim and the 480 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:21,360 Amorites Canaanites Grigishites and Jebusites so Abram is still sleeping 481 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:26,520 here it doesn't say that he was awake and God physically appears this is what 482 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:32,080 we call a theophany right God physically manifests upon the earth in a way and 483 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:39,080 here it happens to be this smoking fire pot and the flaming torch and I kid you 484 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:45,480 not I was really going what is the symbolism of that and I dug like why is 485 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:53,000 he appearing as an oven you know these are things I get to do during the week 486 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:57,640 so I could share them with you it's not about the oven and the torch it's about 487 00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:03,760 the fire and the flame you see there's a biblical motif that we that we see very 488 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:10,880 often to express the zeal the passion the the fact that God means business 489 00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:17,280 that he ain't playing around and that motif is fire and flame every time we 490 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:21,560 see that fire and flame in Scripture and relate in relation to God's presence 491 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:30,040 it's saying this is serious God's not playing listen up what he's about to say 492 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:35,440 is serious and that's what we see here now of course fire also is symbolic of 493 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:41,000 judgment in other places but that's just another form of God's zealousness right 494 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:45,960 that where he says I'm making a covenant and you could count on it he also says 495 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:52,960 you deny me judgment will come upon you and so we see this fire pot and this 496 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:57,160 torch up here it says they passed between the animals and so passing 497 00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:00,880 between the animals as I said earlier the covenant is sealed the contract is 498 00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:05,200 signed the commitment is made but wait a second 499 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:15,040 Abram's sleeping Abram didn't pass through the animals only God did that's 500 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:19,920 what tells us that this covenant is unilateral unilateral meaning it's an 501 00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:23,880 agreement between two parties but only one of the parties is required to do 502 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:30,360 anything and only one will suffer the consequences if they break the covenant 503 00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:35,480 nothing is required of the other party no consequences on the other party if 504 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:40,800 the covenant is broken what does that tell us that this covenant is a promise 505 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:49,400 by God that he binds himself to and only himself to it and Hebrews chapter 6 it 506 00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:54,840 tells us that that when God swore an oath to Abram talking about this 507 00:44:54,840 --> 00:45:00,040 covenant it said he swore by himself because there was nothing greater to 508 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:05,120 swear by what does that mean as I said earlier a covenant is legally binding 509 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:08,560 that means when you're legally bound to this there's an outside party there's a 510 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,360 greater authority there's a court there's a judge or something you could 511 00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:18,320 say hey enforce this make them do what they're supposed to do or hold them 512 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:26,400 responsible right is there a higher authority outside of God no so God said 513 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:33,480 I swear by myself now a lot of people will say I swear to God and say that 514 00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:37,160 phrase today and they just mean it blasphemy I know Gen Z one of the thing 515 00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:43,600 or even Gen Alpha now is on God on God on God right they use that to say I'm 516 00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:51,760 serious to which I respond be very careful invoking God in your I'm being 517 00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:56,720 serious here don't swear to that authority because he'll come back and 518 00:45:56,720 --> 00:46:00,760 enforce you know promises in that sense but here God's going there's no outside 519 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:06,960 party for me to appeal to I'm appealing to me my character who I am I'm the 520 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:10,880 greatest authority in the universe and I am swearing upon myself I'm saying I 521 00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:15,640 swear on me that this is gonna happen no matter what that's the covenant that God 522 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:21,200 is making requiring the land or in regards to the land here he's saying 523 00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:28,380 this whole thing is on me in a sense what he is saying is Abram you will get 524 00:46:28,380 --> 00:46:38,880 the land or I will die and God can't die so do you see how concrete the covenant 525 00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:44,920 is regarding the legal ownership of this land what's taking place here is the 526 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:48,680 true honor of the land is contractually binding himself to give the land to 527 00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:53,800 Abrams offspring and like a title deed we have the description of the land 528 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:56,820 there if you've ever been involved in those types of transactions there's 529 00:46:56,820 --> 00:47:02,280 always this one page it says it's lot this and parcel that and because they 530 00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:05,920 got to describe the land very specifically say this is what you own 531 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:10,080 and so God goes on to say look it's gonna be from this the brook of Egypt 532 00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:15,000 which is a river down on the eastern border of Egypt down in Sinai and then 533 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:18,720 it either goes all the way up to the Euphrates or some people go from the 534 00:47:18,720 --> 00:47:23,820 brook straight across Saudi Arabia to the base of the Euphrates and then they 535 00:47:23,820 --> 00:47:27,400 go up and they say all of that is the promised land there's some debate on 536 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:32,200 that but the point being is God knew what he was giving him in Abram 537 00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:38,360 understood and this takes us back to a very important thing that's like the 538 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:44,840 basis of all the unrest in the Middle East the Palestinians it's not Israel's 539 00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:49,240 land give it back to us these people it's not your land it's not your land 540 00:47:49,240 --> 00:47:55,040 everybody around Israel wants to say that's not your land it's Israel's land 541 00:47:55,040 --> 00:48:04,680 it's theirs it belongs to them God gave it to them they didn't purchase it they 542 00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:09,360 didn't trade for it it was freely given freely promised to them by the one who 543 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:15,600 had the authority to do that and it was based upon ratified by more than just 544 00:48:15,600 --> 00:48:21,000 God's Word now as I said earlier right that should be enough for us God you 545 00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:27,120 said it I believe it but at times our faith is weak and here Abraham's faith 546 00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:30,760 is weak I'm no longer questioning whether you can God but how am I gonna 547 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:36,880 know so God signs the paperwork he binds himself to legal consequence if he would 548 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:43,320 go back on his word and then in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8 it tells us that this 549 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:51,760 land was indeed an inheritance to Abraham so in a sense when God used this 550 00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:56,560 word possess you're not gonna buy it you're not gonna get it by trade he did 551 00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:59,720 indeed bequeath it to them as an inheritance and they did indeed take it 552 00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:06,560 by conquest so when Abraham asked how can I know that I will legally possess 553 00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:13,880 this land without purchase without trade God said let's do this covenant 554 00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:20,280 ceremony the ceremony that that you understand is a binding thing that when 555 00:49:20,280 --> 00:49:27,280 somebody does this it's pain of death to break this covenant now sadly even today 556 00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:32,120 Israel has never possessed the entire promised land whether regardless of what 557 00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:37,760 definition you you think it is and a lot of that is because of their sin and 558 00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:40,680 their disobedience you know times where God said hey go in and take it wipe 559 00:49:40,680 --> 00:49:44,180 everybody out and they didn't wipe everybody out and then those people came 560 00:49:44,180 --> 00:49:49,360 back to be a thorn in their side later on and there's still problems today and 561 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,040 then of course now you got world governments are like oh no this is 562 00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:57,680 their land and done but guess what one day as Revelation tells us in the 563 00:49:57,680 --> 00:50:02,200 millennial kingdom Israel will have all the land that was promised to them 564 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:11,360 granted to them by God so when God covenants it's unconditional it's 565 00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:17,520 unilateral it's about him and what he is promising to do with no influence from 566 00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:23,360 us no input by us the dependability on these covenants depends on the fact that 567 00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:29,200 he is both parties in that covenant he is the one making the blood covenant he 568 00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:32,920 is the one making the oath he's swearing by himself because there's no authority 569 00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:38,880 greater this shows us God's heart it shows us God's intent it shows us God's 570 00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:42,960 faithfulness it shows us his reliability and it's an important to 571 00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:50,120 understand this about covenants why because there was a day long after 572 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:56,160 Abraham he became Abraham Abraham then there was a David and there was a 573 00:50:56,160 --> 00:50:58,800 covenant there and there was these covenants all the way through but one 574 00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:05,600 day God came to the earth born as a man lived as a man to fulfill promises and 575 00:51:05,600 --> 00:51:11,440 covenants made by God but also to establish a new one in Luke 22 it says 576 00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:15,120 and he took the bread and he gave thanks and he broke it and he gave it to them 577 00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:20,080 and said this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me 578 00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:24,320 and in the same way he also took the cup after supper and said this cup is the 579 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:33,720 new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you understanding covenants 580 00:51:33,720 --> 00:51:39,240 helps us understand the new covenant and the gravity of it and the truth of it 581 00:51:39,240 --> 00:51:44,320 because the new covenant is this God has promised to forgive all of our sins to 582 00:51:44,320 --> 00:51:48,740 grant us new life to give us the future hope of eternal life to give us a new 583 00:51:48,740 --> 00:51:54,200 heart a board against spirit the Holy Spirit living within us he's promised to 584 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:58,240 set us free from the bondage of sin and death while living in this world looking 585 00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:03,320 forward to the city that has foundations whose architect and builder is God that 586 00:52:03,320 --> 00:52:12,280 is the covenant he said I'm going to do this and you don't have to do this 50 587 00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:18,960 Hail Marys visit so many doors and hand out you know a hundred magazines just 588 00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:29,960 belief just believe don't question whether I can get past that that's when 589 00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:35,120 your faith is credited as righteousness for us he already died on the cross the 590 00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:39,640 blood was already shed so when we put faith in that it's not us looking 591 00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:43,480 forward to the blood being shed it's us being cleansed by the blood that was 592 00:52:43,480 --> 00:52:51,520 already shed and in that covenant he says you are my child okay God well what 593 00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:59,840 do I got to do to to keep the covenant going nothing I made the covenant well 594 00:52:59,840 --> 00:53:07,320 God how can I know that I will possess it how can I know that what what can I 595 00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:11,400 see that will confirm that I have legal ownership of these promises of new 596 00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:17,880 life and the promise of a land to come in heaven how can I know and the Father 597 00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:23,120 points to the Son on the cross Jesus hanging there for you providing his body 598 00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:27,440 and shedding his blood as a solemn legally binding oath that whoever 599 00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:35,200 believes in him would not die but have everlasting life God sealed the covenant 600 00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:44,440 in his blood he did all the work all we have to do is believe when we 601 00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:50,720 understand how serious and binding covenants are this should do away with 602 00:53:50,720 --> 00:53:57,720 us going am I still saved do it am I still saved today because I did a bad 603 00:53:57,720 --> 00:54:03,800 thing and a lot of Christians deal with that and that's incidentally one of the 604 00:54:03,800 --> 00:54:14,000 the tactics of the devil but God made a new covenant and that covenant is 605 00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:18,120 binding and it is true and if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ you are 606 00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:22,080 saved now and you are saved forever because it wasn't based on you it was 607 00:54:22,080 --> 00:54:28,920 based on bomb what he did that's how strong a covenant is now if you don't 608 00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:32,760 know Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior you're not in the covenant you're 609 00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:39,200 outside the covenant what he promised to do doesn't apply to you because you're 610 00:54:39,200 --> 00:54:48,160 outside of it how do you become part of the covenant belief you believe that 611 00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:54,280 Jesus is God you believe that he as God died for your sins you believe that his 612 00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:58,360 shed blood paid the price for every sin you'll ever do ever commit ever have 613 00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:06,200 done you believe that by faith in that you are saved you are forgiven you are 614 00:55:06,200 --> 00:55:10,880 adopted as a child in the family of God and you hang on to that because it is a 615 00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:18,880 covenant he made with you God is trustworthy we're the ones who aren't 616 00:55:18,880 --> 00:55:24,360 that's why we depend on him in his work and what he did because it is true and 617 00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:32,560 it is binding let's pray father we thank you God for who you are we thank you God 618 00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:43,360 for your covenants thank you God for your promises but Lord you know our 619 00:55:43,360 --> 00:55:48,160 frame you know our weakness you know that outside of you we are we are we are 620 00:55:48,160 --> 00:56:03,160 bound to sin that we we can't not sin there is no one good not even one and so 621 00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:07,600 God way back in the beginning you made promises that you didn't then ratified 622 00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:11,360 with covenants to come all the way through that when you were born in this 623 00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:16,000 world as a human that we would know that it is you it is the Messiah the Savior 624 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:23,960 who came for us that when you said this is this is the blood of the new covenant 625 00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:28,120 that we wouldn't be wondering is that binding is it not binding but we would 626 00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:37,840 understand that when you make a covenant it is the most sure thing that exists so 627 00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:42,400 God for any that may be here or watching online that are believers Lord that have 628 00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:50,400 are struggling am I saved do I even know God am I really his God if they're 629 00:56:50,400 --> 00:56:56,520 thinking that because of things they have done Lord I pray that today you 630 00:56:56,520 --> 00:56:59,920 have reminded them that the covenant was not based on what they did or didn't do 631 00:56:59,920 --> 00:57:04,400 it was based on you your promise your work what you did sealed in your blood 632 00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:12,520 and that the only part that was on us was to believe and Lord when the devil 633 00:57:12,520 --> 00:57:15,600 comes into our lives and says well if you really believed you your faith would 634 00:57:15,600 --> 00:57:21,520 be perfect God may we just be reminded of Abram that God we come to that place of 635 00:57:21,520 --> 00:57:28,440 believing just just your God you can but Lord in our sad weakness Lord there are 636 00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:32,600 times where our faith just simply isn't strong enough to to understand how and 637 00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:39,680 Lord we're so grateful that you're patient with us in that God you love us 638 00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:45,440 so much and we so don't deserve it and Lord there may be people in this room 639 00:57:45,440 --> 00:57:48,520 today are watching online that have never entered into that covenant with 640 00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:54,360 you God I pray for them I pray Lord that you have spoken to them about about the 641 00:57:54,360 --> 00:57:59,800 gravity of your covenants the surety of your promises Lord that these things 642 00:57:59,800 --> 00:58:06,880 that you call covenants are unquestionable and that God is today they 643 00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:11,640 have seen the covenant you made that if they put their faith in you that they 644 00:58:11,640 --> 00:58:16,120 would be saved God that they would hear the truth of that and understand the 645 00:58:16,120 --> 00:58:20,680 truth of that and receive the truth of that as well we're praying today if 646 00:58:20,680 --> 00:58:23,560 you're in here and you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior I 647 00:58:23,560 --> 00:58:26,440 just want you to raise your hand where you're seated and let me pray with you 648 00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:30,760 if you're watching online and Jesus has spoken to your heart today just let us 649 00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:34,160 know in chat that I want to receive Christ and pray this prayer with me in a 650 00:58:34,160 --> 00:58:39,280 moment but I know Jesus is speaking he is always speaking and he will continue 651 00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:43,440 to speak and if the Holy Spirit is knocking on your heart today saying look 652 00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:50,240 believe I want to save you I love you I forgive you but you don't enter in 653 00:58:50,240 --> 00:58:55,440 unless you put your faith in that if God is telling you that today just raise 654 00:58:55,440 --> 00:58:59,440 your hand let me pray with you if you're online again just put it in chat and I 655 00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:08,920 will pray with you all right let's pray father God Lord I pray for those that 656 00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:14,200 that don't know you that they would come to know you God I pray Lord that even in 657 00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,880 the quietness of their own spirit if they come to that place of saying I 658 00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:22,960 believe that Lord your word doesn't say they have to raise a hand or go forward 659 00:59:22,960 --> 00:59:27,840 in an altar call it simply says believe and that Lord in that moment they would 660 00:59:27,840 --> 00:59:33,600 know that they are saved I pray God that that you would lead people to that and 661 00:59:33,600 --> 00:59:37,240 if you're here and you want to receive Christ you just say Jesus I know I've 662 00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:46,880 sinned but I put my faith in you today save my soul I want to be a part of the 663 00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:54,960 new covenant I believe you died for me and I receive all that that means thank 664 00:59:54,960 --> 01:00:00,920 you for loving me so much God I pray for any who pray that prayer that Lord as 665 01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:04,040 your spirit fills them even in this moment as they've prayed that prayer that 666 01:00:04,040 --> 01:00:08,440 they would know your presence among them they would feel the love and the warmth 667 01:00:08,440 --> 01:00:12,320 that you have for them that Lord they would know that they are forever set 668 01:00:12,320 --> 01:00:19,080 free from the bondage of sin and death because you said so and Lord for the 669 01:00:19,080 --> 01:00:22,880 rest of us God let us be people who understanding the gravity of this 670 01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:27,400 covenant go out and share that with people Lord your word of salvation the 671 01:00:27,400 --> 01:00:33,160 gospel is not a well try it and see well maybe it'll work for you no Lord it is a 672 01:00:33,160 --> 01:00:38,360 truth it is a truth truer than every other truth that's ever been God that 673 01:00:38,360 --> 01:00:45,040 that if we believe in you we shall be saved and that applies to whoever God 674 01:00:45,040 --> 01:00:49,880 and so while we are patiently waiting in this world while we are looking around 675 01:00:49,880 --> 01:00:54,600 us God and even when we don't understand Lord may we just trust you knowing that 676 01:00:54,600 --> 01:00:58,280 when the full measure of time comes you will judge according to your word but in 677 01:00:58,280 --> 01:01:03,880 the interim we have a call to share the truth of salvation with as many as 678 01:01:03,880 --> 01:01:11,920 possible Lord we love you we thank you Lord we believe but help our unbelief 679 01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:34,640 it's in Jesus name we pray amen well God bless you guys let's let's worship