Abraham
Father of Faith P-3
When
we left off in part two Abram had separated from Lot. And at that time we mentioned that when the bible was written there
were no chapter divisions, nor were there any verse divisions.
These chapter and verse divisions were put in the books of the
bible during the “dark ages” by Roman Catholic monks. For the
most part they seem to have done a fair job, but in several
places in the bible the chapter divisions break up what God
was saying and obscures what would have plainly been seen if
they had not been inserted. The scripture below is one of those
places.
This
is a very pivotal time in Abram’s life. I need to remind you
that every time previously cited in part two when Abram built
and altar, made sacrifices and called upon the name of the Lord
– the Lord did not come. He did not manifest himself physically
to Abram. It is only after Abram was finally fully obedient
to what God had spoken to him (Approximately
30 years later) that Abram obtains favor of
God.
I
have over the years been part of more than one movement and
one set of doctrines. When I went to bible school we were taught
that if we “Build God a house of devotion He will build you
a house of ministry.” We were taught the value of prayer, waiting
on God, and spiritual worship. So that many a graduate from this school left
with the impression that they could curry favor with God with
their words, and that their congregations would by giving forth
words of praise and worship alone enter into the depths of God.
Building God a house of devotion does not mask over the sin
and corruption in one’s heart. Being in prayer and waiting on
God from dawn to dusk does not give one special graces that
allow one to be willfully disobedient in other areas of their
life. And spiritual worship is not a divine sacrifice, that
is it is not a silver bullet when used to be able to get out
of God what you want. And we need to say here that spiritual
worship will not improve your personal standing with God one
iota, if you are not actively seeking to live a pleasing life
before the Lord.
And
yet to the complete detriment of the body of Christ in ministry
after ministry I have seen and heard that: If we build God that
house of devotion, If we would just spend that time in prayer,
If we would fill ourselves with the written word of God, If
we would partake of spiritual worship, that anyone of these
or all of these in combination would be a part of our lives,
that it would be the end all and cure all for "our
wound that will not heal."
These things are simply not so, they are
lies, they are based on the patterns of men, that crave
to make the access to God and the power of God their own, for
their own evil and perverse desires.
Hosea
5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian,
and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure
you of your wound.
The
reality is that all of this is done as part of a form, it is
a pattern devised by men as a better mousetrap with which they
suppose they can snare God either into winking at their sins,
or getting God to bow down to their wants and desires. Ultimately
thist is the reason that there is no growth in belivers lives,
this is the reason that there is no substantive change in the
people that belong to these so-called “enlightened” congregations.
Understand
that I am not speaking against any of these things, Prayer,
Worship, Reading the bible and Waiting upon the Lord are all
vitally important to our growth, but unless they are coupled
with our individually and personally falling upon the rock,
and our individually and personally being broken before God.
Unless they are mixed with our individually and personally coming
daily to Christ’s feet and becoming His disciple alone day in
and day out they are in and of themselves a meaningless exercise.
This is why so many believers live the disobedient faithless
life of Abram that was up to this point, and or they live the
selfish and worldly life of the disciples before Christ’s death
on the cross. In these
there is never change. Or to use Christ words: They
were called, but never became converted. They never
were able to cross from being part of the Klesia into being
part of the Ek-Klesia.
Genesis 14:18 –15:1
Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain
of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto
the LORD. (Abram here
made an animal sacrifice, the burnt offering, and then he called
upon the name of the Lord) After these things the word of the LORD
came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
So now when Abram called upon the Lord came unto Abram. We note there
that this was only after Abram become fully obedient to God's
call and demands unto him from the beginning. This is the passage
where to prophets and Christ and the Apostles quote from citing:
Obedience is better than sacrifice. We see that Abram was justified by works, by doing,
by the obediance of doing (This
is cited by the apostle James) but not by just
any works, it is the works of obedience to the Word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Father -- the Sola Dictum Dei.
We see that faith was something that Abram saw by the Spirit in Jehovah,
something that Abram had apprehended and touched in God. It
was not that Abram willed something or confessed something that
he pleased God. It was not that Abram acquired a set of beliefs
or what we would call doctrines that he pleased God. It was
not that Abram hoped in God that by building a memorial unto
the Lord, or building a memorial for something that God had
done in times past, or that Abram built God the proverbial house
of devotion that he was finally able to lay hold upon God. No
none of these were the case at all. It was that Abram saw that
his only hope of fulfilling God’s promise of bringing forth the coming one was that it was in Jehovah not in Abram
or in the "Church" he belonged to. And so now when
Abram build this altar and made the sacrifices prescribed in
the Sola Scriptura and he called upon the name of the Lord that
God came and visited Abram.
And howbeit the Lord made himself known only to Abram,
even while the others are with him? They
saw no visions, heard no voice from the heavens, they were only
witnesses of Abram's acts -- But Abram saw the ways of God.
Genesis 15:1-5 After these things the
word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt
thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house
is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou
hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This
shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of
thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth
abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars,
if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall
thy seed be.
As
we stated above because of Abram’s obedience, and the overwhelming act of selflessness
from
Abram God now takes respect of Abram’s offering and his calling
unto Him and appears in open vision to Abram. And God tells
the father of Faith to: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” To which the Father of faith
does not respond with what we would call faith, belief, hope,
or confess his trust in God.
Instead Abram responds: what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, Abram then says: Behold you have given me no seed. (Shall it be by) The
steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus (That) one born in my house is mine heir? So Abram struggles with this and in his natural
mind he says: God will you make me the father of many nations
by those in my household, and he names Eliezer his steward who
apparently has had a son recently, Abram suggests that by someone
else’s son he might be able to inherit the promise of God.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall
not be thine heir.
But he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir
The Lord corrects Abram’s wavering heart and tells Abram that the
son of promise that shall come forth shall be from Abram’s own
bowels, and that one alone shall be his heir.
Genesis 13:15 To thee will I give it, and to thy
seed forever. And I
will make thy seed as the dust of the earth:
Genesis 12:7
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and
said, Unto thy seed will I give this land:
We see that on at least two occasions God told Abram that Abram’s
seed would inherit the promise. Now we have so look at this
and ask: “Did the father of faith believe God’s word to him
in Genesis 12:7 and Genesis 13:15? The answer has to be no.
Was Abram unwavering
in his faith in God? The answer has to be no. Did Abram confess
this as truth? No Abram did not. He did not say: I know thy
word is truth. Instead Abram says: What will you give me, seeing
I go childless? Behold you have given me no seed, Sarai is still
as barren as the first day I met her. So I give up, I see Sarai
and I are never going to have children. So why don’t you pick
Eliezar my steward in my stead, he has a son – and you call
him my seed. This is
not right confession as taught. This is not white knuckle faith
as taught, this is not unwavering faith. – what we see here
is doubt and unbelief.
If Abram would have walked into Kenneth Hagan’s prayer line and confessed
these things before brother Hagan according to the faith teacher’s
own words Hagan would have rebuked Abram and sent Abram packing.
In Hagan's own words: There would be nothing that I could do
for one as faithless and wavering as Abram. I say these things
because I want you to take pause here. I want you to consider
the faith of Abram as opposed to the faith that Hagan so vociferously
stated in his books, that he has preached and defended. According
the the word of God Kenneth Hagan’s faith and faith teachings
come from Abram the Father of faith and not visa versa. (This
must be considered, the must be weighed, against what is being
preached. Is this indeed the faith of Abraham that Christ and
the Apostles laud?)
So if this man’s (Kenneth Hagan's)
doctrines are shown to be false as to "faith’s" origin,
and faith’s definition as it is spelled out in the life of Abram,
and faith’s function as lived by Abram which I trust you can
now plainly see. Then the doctrines and teachings of Kenneth
Hagain and all these hyper-faith preachers are also patently
false. Therefore, (Faith in the
New Covenant being based upon Abraham's obedience and faithfulness)
in the Gospels, and Epistles we can not find these hyper faith
preachers definitions and functions of faith as they have defined
them, Rather faith in the Gospels and Epistles as we are told
over and over again by the apostles are defined by Abram the
father of faith. Not by these modern preachers and evanglelists
chopping and cutting and splicing and a bunch of verses together
to suit themselves, and their own carnal purposes for money
and power.
And if we have enough grace to be able to admit that what the bible
is saying here of Abram is true, and that these events really
took place in Abram’s faith walk, can we then find the grace
then also to admit that the current Word of Faith Message is
diametrically opposed to what is taught in Genesis Chapters
11 – 22 regarding faith and the father of faith?
One may well ask, How can this be, I thought Kenneth Hagan was a
man of the word? I thought that Kenneth Hagan heard everything
he spoke directly from the throne of God? These things are so
because Hagan and his disciples are carnal men, and as carnal
and corrupt men they have gone and redefined terms in the word
of God to suit themselves and their ministries. And when we
parrot these redefined terms of men once a day, five times a
day or even twenty times a day -- it does not make it so. No
more than by Eve wanting the fruit of the knowledge of good
and evil was able to make that which was sinful, acceptable
before God. We can call a carrot an orange all day long
but carrot is still a carrot and will continue be and to taste
like a carrot.
And the Lord
brought Abram forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And the Lord brought Abram forth Abroad – God caught Abram up. God
carried Abram away and said now look at the stars in heaven.
See how many thy seed shall be.
And
now Abram in an instant is changed, and he becomes converted
Genesis 15:6 And
Abraham believed in the Lord; and (The
Lord) counted it to (Abram)
for righteousness.
In
the Greek Septuagint the two key words “For Righteousness” in the Greek that is Dikaio-sunen -- which means: “An investiture with the attribute of righteousness”
It means that the righteousness that Abram received was imparted
to him.
The
second word in Septuagint that we want to focus on is “believed
in” Epi-steusen The Greek is Epi = Proceed
from – Pistis = Faith
Galatians 3:6 is quoted directly from the Septuagint the words are in the exact
same tense.
However
if we look into the Hebrew we see something different.
In
the Hebrew the word “Believed” is Aman = To build up
or support, to foster or nurse. – So the word is translated
to believe. In the Hebrew we see that believing or faith is
our being built up, our being supported our being fostered,
our being nursed.
So
we need to ask what did Abram believe that caused him to have
righteousness imparted to him? In the Hebrew it says he believed
(in) Beth- Jehovah and that was what accounted unto him as righteousness
What
do I mean by beth-Jehovah.
In the Hebrew the name of God was too holy to say so
it was represented by what is called the tetragrameton, which
we know as JHVH. Well in this passage unlike anything else in
the entire book of Genesis there is a 5th letter
added to the name of Jehovah -- the letter Beth which generally
would mean by itself house so this reads Abram believed Beth-Jehovah
Now
in Hebrew when a “b” is used as a prefix it means the word “in”
In
the Greek it says in epi - Faith the faith proceeding from Theos
In
the Hebrew is says Beth-Jehovah.
Abram believed in what proceeded from Jehovah and that
was accounted to him for righteousness
Just
as the word Faith is integral to our understanding the New Covenant
This word “in” in King James or the Word “Epi” in the New Testament is key to us understanding the faith that Paul
writes of in the Epistles.
For Paul uses the words In
Christ, In
Him, In Faith and other similar terms
probably one hundred times and I believe Paul is referring to
the Abram having righteousness imparted to him in every one
of those.
The
righteousness that Abram received was not from works of his
own making to please God. It was not this white knuckled faith
and belief that is preached today, it was that Abram realized
for all time that he in and of himself could not fulfill his
calling. And that Abram saw at that moment in the spirit that
the coming one, the messiah was in Beth- Jehovah He saw that
the one who made the promise was also the guarantor and in this
case was the fulfillment.
And Abram reckoned it (The promise
of his seed) in (Beth)-Jehovah and he believed And
God impugned it unto Abram for Righteousness
And so in the Epistles
Paul while quoting the Greek tells us the Hebrew in every possible
way telling us that faith proceeds forth from Him that it is
in Christ, in God, and in faith,
We are told here that Faith in fact
is revelatory in nature. We are told here that Faith is a prophetic
operation. We are told in the Hebrew that faith
is something that proceeds from God. And
in I Corinthians we read that Faith is listed among the gifts
of the Spirit. Oddly enough if were care to
look the men of faith in the Old Testament are primarily prophets
or men who God intervenes with.
So now some may attempt to argue that Abram was only imbued with
faith in Genesis 15:6 and that everything that occurred earlier
was not of faith because he didn’t have any. This is a horrible
argument in light of the many scriptures already posed but if
we really want to consider such a sham of an argument we need
only go up two verses to see that this supposition is not at
all the case.
Genesis 15:7-8 And he said unto him, I am the LORD
that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this
land to inherit it. And
Abram said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
it?
The importance of this cannot be minimized in regard to the discussion
of what faith is. Here now within two verses of the most important
scripture regarding faith and righteousness, the verse upon
which the whole of Judaism and Christianity is founded.
This state by which Abram by faith sees that the promise of the coming
one in Jehovah and by which God declared Abram righteous, and
the subsequent change that came upon Abram in a moment of time,
did it (This righteousness of
God) now suddenly depart from Abram as quick
as it came?
In almost his next breath the father of faith looks back at God with
doubt flickering in his eyes and says: “So God how do
I really know that I will inherit all this?” How do
I know God that you are good for what you have promised? What
sign will you now give me as proof that you will do what you
have said? I don’t know how to express the doubt, the unbelief,
and the lack of any discernible laying hold of the words proceeding
from the mouth of God on the part of Abram here.
This should give the reader a clue that what we have been force fed
as the definition of faith
is not faith at all. For what Abram ascertained moments before
and was imputed to him for righteousness did not change. This may be hard to hear and hard to understand
but belief is not faith. (Years
after I first wrote this article God opened to me the meaning
of the word Pistis and Pistos which are translated as "faith"
in the New Testament. one should read this article on Faith
and Faithfulness.) We will discuss this in more
detail shortly.
We need at this moment to add to the discussion of what faith is.
There is a notion in the hyper faith camp a doctrine of men
that states that: Just the act of asking God a question is sin.
Or as it has been preached in my hearing: “To ask God is to
find fault with Him.”
This is the third time in less than a dozen verses where Abram asks
God a question that has at the very least some highly negative
undertones.
1) What wilt
thou give me, seeing I go childless?
2) Behold you have given me no seed
(Shall it be that by) The steward of my house is this
Eliezer of Damascus (That) one born in my house is mine heir?
3) LORD God,
whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
In response
to the first two questions God was pleased to impugn righteousness
to Abram.
To The third
question God was pleased to make a blood covenant with Abram.
From the first two questions we must them come to a different answer
than what has been commonly taught in faith circles. For in
Abrams first two questions it would seem that God was pleased
with Abram admitting his lack
of understanding in the matter and seeking the counsel of God.(Leaning
instead upon the Lord for his answer. This goes a long way to
express an underlying factor not spoken of in this article,
that of Abram's deep abiding personal relationship and personal
devotion towards God. That over time drew him closer and closer
to the Lord and His purposes for Abram's life.)
Abram’s doubts and unbelief aside, we might well ask how is this
different than when Christ walked with his doubting unbelieving
and carnal disciples? When Simon Peter answered and said thou
art the Christ the son of the living God. And Christ responded
blessed art thou Simon Peter for flesh and blood hath not revealed
this to you but me father, which is in heaven. I find this strikingly
similar to what has transpired with Abram.
And so when Abram saw the Coming One in Jehovah and somehow articulated
it – God was pleased and said blessed art thou oh Abram for
flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you . . .
And likewise when Abram asks this third doubt filled question: “How
shall I know.” We see
once again the Lord was not only well pleased answer Abram’s
question but the Lord goes more than the second mile to demonstrate
His affection for Abram with tokens of His love.(So
denoting also Abram's love and devotion for the Lord.)
And later we see in Christ’s ministry another incident where Christ’s
disciples are again filled with doubts and ask:
John 14:22- 26 Lord,
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my
words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him,
and make our abode with him. – (In
the person of ) the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name.
Notice
that Christ does not call them faithless or rebuke them. But
Jesus is pleased to more than answer this question by promising
to give the disciples tokens of his affection that they would
not be feel that they were left alone.
Genesis
15:9-18 And He said unto him, Take Me an heifer of
three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram
of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And
he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and
laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he
not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove
them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and,
lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Since I spent some time working on the above passage in the Greek
Septuagint some time ago I will include what I found in translating
it.
Genesis 15:12
Peri de eliou dusmas ekstasis epepese to Abram
kai Idou phobos skoteinos megas epipiptai auto (The Greek)
Genesis 15:12
And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram and lo! A great gloomy
terror falls upon him (Interlinear margin)
Peri(Around or about) de (and/also)
eliou (The sun) dusmas (the
Setting [of the sun]) ekstasis (Hebrew the Nabu spirit of God --
Literally Ecstasy To be beside oneself – One that has been separated that is full
of God's Spirit, Inspired or gifted with power.) epepese (to fall upon) to (Yet)
Abram kai (and)
Idou
(Lo!) phobos (Fear/Terror) skoteinos (a shroud of darkness) megas (wonderful/powerful)
epipiptai (To fall upon) auto (moved upon)
Genesis 15:12
Greek Translation: And about the setting of the sun a prophetic
ecstasy fell upon Abram along with the likeness of a terrifying
great veil of darkness.
Genesis 15:
13-17 And the Lord said unto Abram, Know
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict
them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall
serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with
great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace;
thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
So while Abram is engulfed with the Nabu spirit of God (Ekstasis: Prophetic Ecstasy) a dark veil of fearful
darkness comes over Abram and God begins to speak what was to
befall the Children of Israel.
As it was with Abram so is was to be with his children. Abram was called to be a stranger and a sojourner
in the land, and so shall they be. And even when Abram went
down to Egypt because of famine in a faithless act, so too later
this would befall the children of Israel. And even as God had
bailed out Abram from bondage and death from pharaoh, so God
in the future would bail out Israel from bondage and death from
Pharoah. And as God
lead Abram out of Egypt with spoils, so God also led Israel
out with spoils. Now do you suppose that there is no relationship
between what Abram did and what happened to his family several
generations later? And
if Abram did not know it already, he would have had no doubt
by the end of vision that the price of his sins of faithlessness
would be transferred to his seed.
Do you suppose that what happened to Adam and Eve in the garden had
any bearing on what happened later with Cain and Able? Adam
and Eve would have had little doubt that their sins had not
only followed them out of the garden, but in fact their sins
the price of the effects of the parents were also transferred
to their seed.
Just three generations later the Children of Israel were drawn to
Egypt by their faithlessness like their father had been. But they had not been left without any witness
of what was to come. You had better believe that Abram made
known the word of the Lord to Isaac and even to Jacob when he
was still a small child. And if Abram cared for his children,
I am sure he gave them repeated warnings with the sternest admonitions
that whatever they did, that they were in no wise to go down
to Egypt. Not for flood, not for fire, and not for famine. Do
not do it!
If God warned Adam and Eve in the garden “For in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.” Adam and Eve had prophecy; they had a prophetic warning in the sternest
terms, which they did not heed. They probably felt pretty special
in the garden, after all they were children of the king. And
they may have felt that if they did so, that God would wink
at their sin.
And maybe Abram was feeling pretty good with God showing up and promising
him a kingdom, wealth, divine protection, and as many decedents
as the sand of the sea. And
maybe Abram felt so special and that if he did sin God would
wink at it.
I’m here to tell you that there are a lot of Christians in this day
that are feeling pretty special. Not because they have had dreams
and visions of God promising them personally gifts and ministries.
Nor are they feeling special because an angel of the Lord appeared
to them and told them that they have been chosen for some special
task. – These people have had no signs in the heavens, no wonders,
no voice from heaven.
They feel special and privileged because any one or more of the 10,000
corrupt preachers, teachers and evangelists of our day
like the 10,000 prophets of Baal in the days of Elijah
have been telling these foolish believers that they can
have and need to love the things of the world and that Jesus
Christ with open arms is just waiting to give it all to you.
They have been told they can have and need to love mammon and
Jesus Christ with open arms will make you rich beyond your wildest
dreams. – and they are told that God above all really wants
to do these things for you too. They have been told that they
can have and need to make themselves disciples of any man or
denomination for the covering that Jesus Christ can provide
alone for His people. They have been told that bad old conviction
of sins is only for ungodly sinners, and that any fear even
the fear of God is of the devil. And best of all they are told
in effect that our drinking buddy Jesus Christ has got us all
covered, wink wink so what is there for us to fear?
Jesus prophesied against every one of these very things – He warned
us against partaking of any of this, and yet we take the persuasive
words of carnal and corrupt men over even the very words of
Jesus Christ, that purchased us with His blood and death on
the cross.
And so too it was with the Children of Abram, for even upon their
hearing this prophecy of what shall befall them if they went
down to partake of the wealth of Egypt, they did so anyway,
because the call of Egypt was too strong in their souls. Like
Eve they were drawn away by their own lusts, the desire to g4o
to Egypt was in them long before they were taken by it and appeared
at Pharaoh’s doorstep.
Lets go a step farther and speak of Joseph who his ten other brothers
hated and wanted to kill and instead they sold him in bondage
and Joseph ended up in Egypt yet without the law, without sacrifices
and offerings, however he was
found to be righteous in that Joseph feared the Lord and obeyed
Him even to speaking of His name preaching the name of Jehovah
to the gentiles. And Joseph the slave was offered
freedom wealth and power by Potiphar’s wife if only he would
defile himself with her. Joseph unsaved unbaptized unfilled
with the Spirit and without having partaken of daily communion
– does in his flesh not only the demands of God in the Law of
Moses that does not exist at that time, but Joseph obeys the
demands of God in Law of the Spirit for the church.
And this same quality was found in Joshua the servant of Moses some
700 years later, a man who did
not lift his voice on his behalf. Joseph the
slave and does not seek his own. Joseph was not a man of ambition.
– Ambitious Christians have always been a detriment
to themselves and the Church. – Lot was a man
of ambition, Saul was a man of ambition, but Abram
and Joseph, and Moses were not. Abram was a man that was content
to be a wanderer and sojourner a stranger in a strange land.
And likewise Joseph was content in whatsoever state he was in
whether he as abased or abounded he was content. Most of us
in this hour are not so. We
confess one thing while giving with our eyes full service to
the lust of the flesh, and the love of the world.
Joseph the slave did not seek the lust of the flesh and the lust
of the eyes, Joseph is not taken with the wealth of the world
or the desire for power and to exchange his slave shackle for
a whip. Is this not the temptation of Eve for knowledge and
all the power wealth and authority that it will give. This thing
that was in Abram, and Joseph and Moses was the same thing as
when Solomon was asked what he desired, and he turned away from
wealth, riches, long life, and a mighty kingdom, and God was
pleased – Solomon found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Solomon
was justified because he asked humbly of God for wisdom that
can come from God alone, and he humbled himself confessing that
he Solomon was bankrupt to be king. (Unfortunately
Solomon became lifted up and taken with wealth power and strange
women, and he departed from the Lord and lost his salvation.
Yes I mean he lost his justification and his grace in they eyes
of the Lord and the kingdom was torn assuder from under him
for his sins.)
The temptation of potifer’s wife is also similar to the offers that
satan made to Christ in the wilderness. In each of these cases
if Joseph, Moses, or Jesus had succumbed to the tempter there
would have been consequences not only to themselves but also
to the people of God that would come after them.
I remind you now that for 1800 years the church has had neither Apostle
nor Prophet I can not help but wonder how many deliverers God
raised up to guide his people who were overthrown by their lusts,
and defiled themselves and then became castaways?
Genesis 15:16-17 But in the fourth generation they
shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites
is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,
behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between
those pieces.
We have already elsewhere addressed the meaning of the fullness of
the Jews, and the fullness of the gentiles. But here we see
God speak of the fullness of the Amorites. As spoken of before
""the fullness" in each of these is not speaking
of their entering in to the blessing and the joy of the Lord,
no "The fullness" God is speaking of is a very bad
thing, it is a people or nation coming into terminal sin before
God.
The generation in the wilderness also reached their "fullness"
a state of terminal sin and corruption before God and for this
every single one of them perished and were barred from entering
into the promise. In the time since Christ’s death and resurrection
I will tell you that for 66 generation including the one we
are in have been found wanting before the Lord and have been
rejected from entering into the promise.
66 generations have not entered into the promise and
have according to the words of the writer of the book of Hebrew
have perished in the wilderness. Can we afford to keep on doing what our fathers
have done before us reading from their sermons, quoting from
their comentaries, poring over their books, tapes, and videos?
Can we afford to partake of the faithlessness and corruption
of our fathers before us? No we cannot, if we ever expect to
enter into the promise Paul spoke of, we will have to press
in and seek the Lord during the whole of our lives even as Abram
so did.
Genesis 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and
it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that
passed between those pieces.
Genesis 15:17 Epei (As soon as) de
(and, also) O (The) elios
(Sun) egeneto (To appear or be created) pros
(By the side of) dusmas (the setting [of the sun]) phloz (a flame) (egeneto (To appear or be created) kai (and) idou (Lo!)
klibanos (an furnace Hebrew a portabe fire pot for cooking bread) kapnu
(Thick dark smoke) zomenos(living dwell kai (And) lampades (Lamps) puros (Fiery) ai dinlthov (to pass over or to cross over) ani
(to
loose) meson (between) ton (certain one) dichotomematon (that which was cut asunder)
Genesis 15:17 (Margin
Interlinear) And when the sun
was about to set there was a flame, a smoking furnace and lamps
of fire which passed between these divided pieces.
Genesis 15:17
(A better
rendering) As soon as the setting sun appeared
there also appeared a flame in the likeness of a firepot with
thick dark living smoke that dwelled around it, and fiery lamps
and they crossed over and between the pieces that were cut asunder.
I will not ascribe any meaning to this passage as the Lord has not
at this time seen fit to show me the meaning of the firepot,
the living smoke and fiery lamps (Plural.) So I will leave this
as is.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant
with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from
the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Last summer in a local meeting here in Interior
Alaska, an Evangelist gave the most masterful communion message
I had ever heard. It was in regards to the “Seven Steps of Old
Testament Covenants.” (The Evangelist was a disciple of Kenneth
Hagan and attended Rhema) The Evangelist went into great detail
on how the people who wanted to make a covenant did so in biblical
times. (Note that there is little
in the way of details written of how covenants were to be preformed
in the word of God.)
How they sacrificed an animal or group of animals, how
they had to lay out the animal parts and animal blood in a certain
way on the ground. How they would take off their robes and exchanged
swords as part of the ceremony, and how they did various other
things to seal that covenant. But you see God is not a man,
and God didn’t strip down or hand his sword to anyone regardless
of what Kenneth Hagan’s disciples say or think.
The truth of the covenant with Abraham is that God covenanted
with Himself on the behalf of Abraham. (As
Abraham himself was not worthy to stand and make such a covenant
with God even though he had been declared righteous by God and
was the father of faith. What a thing to consider, what a thing
to meditate upon to derive meaning. Abraham was still flesh,
and had to in the covenant be recognized as such and treated
as such)
And as to pertaining to covenants the writer
of Hebrews said that God when he made his Covenant with Abraham,
that God could swear by none greater than himself.
Hebrews 6:13 For
when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by
no greater, he sware by himself,
Even though Abraham was called the friend of
God, and even though Abram had been justified by faith, God
did not find in Abraham one that was worthy to stand with him
and make the covenant. So God did it by himself.
And likewise when Christ was on earth, He found
none worthy to covenant with. Not Peter, not James, not even
John the beloved of the Lord.
So Christ could swear by none greater than himself, So
Christ did his act on the cross and in the resurrection alone.
The truth of the New Covenant is that Christ covenanted
with himself on the behalf of us.
So
in light of Hebrews 6:13 we have to conclude
that the supposed great and weighty extra-biblical truths regarding
the making of Old Testament blood covenants as wonderful as
they have been crafted to sound, fall woefully short of the
truth in God’s word regarding what Jesus did in His death on
the cross, in His burial and in His resurrection. I need to
mention that these pernicious teachings and corrupt traditions
of men regarding blood covenants only to obscure what was going
on between Abram and God. And if that is not bad enough when these corrupt teachers then apply
their extra-biblical teachings to the New Covenant and Holy
Communion which I have recently heard preached with my own ears -- they are altering God’s word and
teaching others to falsely partake of the Communion of the Body
of Christ and the Communion of the Blood of Christ.
Once
again this is very damning stuff according to God’s word. And
I personally would be terrified to knowingly do such. Paul the
Apostle spoke of these people when he said:
1 Timothy 4:2 Speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot
iron;
These
preachers respect neither the written word of God, nor the testimony
of Christ and the Apostles contained therein. Preferring instead
the words of dead men and bygone ministries to serve as their
door, their shepherd, and their light. There is nothing left
within their soul that can feel any conviction. So they become
a law unto themselves, and as such present a grave danger to
all whom they come in contact to with.
Genesis 16
1-3 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no
children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was
Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath
restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid;
it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened
to the voice of Sarai. -And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her
maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land
of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
By
Chapter 16 we can now start to see patterns of behavior in Abraham’s
life. When Abram was called out from Babylon (Ur
of Chaldees) God said to Abraham to leave father
mother sister brother houses lands and reputation. And Abraham
brought his father and Lot with him to Haran. God again spoke,
and Abraham separated from his father but took Lot with him.
God spoke a third time, and Abraham finally separated with Lot.
This commandment took three decades for Abraham to accomplish.
We
move on now to God’s promise that Abraham’s seed inherit the
land. And after a time Abraham gives up and tells
God that he will accept the son of his house steward
Eliezer of Damascus as his seed to fulfill that promise. And
God said no, that he and Sarah shall have a son.
And
here now after several years, Sarah now gives gives up, she
now loses all hope and begs Abraham to go on without her and
fulfill the promise of God with Hagar her slave and handmaid. Just to complete this thought, after Ishmael is born God rejects
him and says to Abraham again
you shall have a son with Sarah. And Abraham
them implores God to accept Ishmael. And then after several
more years Abraham and Sarah finally do have the son of promise,
Isaac.
As stated previously, today’s abusive, and prideful faith preachers
would have nothing to do with this man Abraham. Abraham would
be maligned from the podium as a worthless, faithless, and exceedingly
sinful man and his wife Sarah along with him. They would preach
and have indeed preached that this only took this long because
of Abraham’s unbelief. And that God could do nothing for this
man Abraham until he was able to believe, until he was able to make a right confession, and he was able seize upon the promise of God. And according to their corrupt
words then and only then did the promise become manifest.
And this is the reason that the sin of these blind guides and hypocrites
remains. For these sayings and teaching have caused millions
to err and commit grevious grevious sin before the Lord, in
teaching the clay to cry out against the potter, and rail against
and demand of him.
Wherein was Abraham justified and
righteousness imputed unto him? Was it that Abrahm saw in himself
that if he believed and confessed the promise and by his physical
prowess, he mental ability to marshal God’s promises or his
strength of will in demanding day and night that God fulfill
his word until God would come and act as Abraham’s servant and
fulfill his wants and desires? No this is utterly false, yet
this is the core of the "Word of Faith" message. The
core of this message is one of reliance on one’s self, reliance
on a church or a ministry – this is all the reliance on man
to fulfill the promise of God. And is sin before the Lord.
They are teaching and preaching for their followers to do exactly
what Sarah did. We could
well say that the modern faith message is the “Sin of Sarah”
that is she gives up on God himself being able to do this thing
and reaches into her bag of tricks and pulls out Hagar and says,
going to Egypt, and relying on ones strength is all that they
can do in and of themselves so as to further the gospel or the
promise of God. And this today is the only way these ministries
and their disciples perceive that God’s promises can be fulfilled.
Over the years I have
heard many cry out, many expressing the desire that God meet
someone else, that God make and mold someone else. and that
upon that other man or woman's coat tails they can soothingly
and in all comfort coast into the promises of God for their
own lives. These are beleivers are barnacles, they are leeches,
they are hitchhikers all looking for a free ride or a host which
they can slowly bleed for their own needs and comfort. (Shocking as this may
sound. This game of finding others to be one's surrogates to
the Lord, and declaring that doing this is somehow fulfilling
the promises of God in one's personal life is damnable Heresy.
The Gospel always needs to first work in us, not in others for
us, we either have a personal relationship with God and His
Son Jesis Christ or we do not. We are either Christ's disciple
alone or we are not. There is no middle ground afforded to Christians.)
The missions programs of virtually every church on earth that have
been put forth are the sin of Sarah. Is God’s arm too short
today has He run out of power on the throne? Does God indeed
need the corrupt mammon of the god of this world to fulfill
His promises – the people who preach the pseudo-faith message
say yes. And the people pasturing (This
is not a spelling error) virtually every church
in the land say yes, and those in the missions programs say
yes. But I say unto you that God’s arm is not short,
His power is not diminished what God is looking for is worthy
vessels, a people of great selflessness like Abraham, like Joseph,
like Moses like Daniel, like Jesus Christ and God will move
through and use such a people, individually and personally.
He is seeking those that will not touch the gold nor His glory,
and for these very reasons the Lord has passed by, has rejected
those of the Word of Faith movement, and He has passed by this
exceedingly corrupt generation and has looked unto another.
Abraham was justified because
he saw by revelation that the fulfillment of the son of promise
was in Beth-Jehovah not in himself. And God
imputed righteousness unto Abraham for his prophetically seeing
this. In case you have not seen it yet, Faith is a gift and
Paul tells us that. Faith is a revelation, It is not a revelation
of an act. It is a revelation of God and God’s nature. The faith
of God does not work apart from God or work independent of God
as these corrupt evangelists and teachers would have you to
believe. It is based on personal relationship and personal
revelation of God and that is what is lacking in this
entire movement.
Kenneth Hagan did not know or walk with God despite all his say so.
Likewise Kenneth Copeland does not know or walk with God, they
were and are independent agents self appointed self anointed
mouth pieces that say they are working for God but of a truth
they seek only their own. They have touched the gold and the
glory.
John 5:33-44 Ye sent unto John, (A
man) and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from
man: but these things I say, that ye might
be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were
willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater
witness than that of John: (Men, and anointed preachers) for the
works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works
that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness
of me. Ye (This
is a the rebuke to every preacher and ministry of our day) have neither
heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye (This
a the rebuke to every preacher and ministry of our day)
have not
his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe
not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: (This
a the rebuke to the entire word or faith movement and the entire
fundamentalist movement upon which they were founded.)
and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me,
that ye might have life. I receive not honor from men. But I
know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. (Need
I comment on this?) I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another
shall come in his own name, (All the ministries
of our day come in their own name and herald themselves) him ye will receive. 44How can ye believe, which receive
honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from
God only? How
can you call what is currently preached faith when this message
has its origin in man? That is the message is based upon men’s
belief, men’s confessions and professions, men laying hold on
God. It is a message that receives its witness from men. It
is a message that receives its honor from men – it is not a
message that receives its honor only from God.
How
about: I do not know if God will deliver me and if I perish
then I perish, but I shall not bow the knee to thee oh king?
How about that God sent His Son to die for me, and the salvation,
the eternal life that He purchased me to partake of is in and
of itself enough. I do not know whether God will heal or deliver
me but I will not make demands of God and tempt the Lord as
the children of Israel did in the wilderness, for I have found
my peace and contentment in knowing and walking with Jesus?
Let
us now deal with the question of why it took so long for the
son of promise to come forth? Was it indeed a problem with Abraham
and his unbelief? Was it that God had to wait for Abraham to
come to a certain place before He could move? These are things
that are all commonly preached as men have sought answers to
why God does not heal, why God does not deliver, and why God
does not dance when we play the pipes for Him to do so?
What
are we really saying? God owes me! God owes me big time and
unless he coughs up that _____________ (healing, deliverance,
corrupt mammon) when and how I want it, I am so out of here!
But
the Evangelists and Teachers can’t quite preach that from the
pulpit because, try as they might it would not fly with their
hearers. So instead they say it like this: God can not do for
you what he has already given to the church – He can not heal
you, He can not deliver you, He can not provide you the corrupt
mammon you lust for? So,
you need to demand of God day and night that he give you what
Christ paid for on Calvary, You need to confess every waking
moment what ever promises you chose for yourself in order to
receive them. You need to lay hold on God, storm the gates of
heaven until you are given what you want.
If
God has given all this to the church and God can not do what
he has already given to the Church (the Klesia)– If this were
true which it is not, then why do you pray to God when He can
not grant it or do it? Why do you not pray, confess, lay hold,
and storm the church (Klesia) for what they alone have been
given? (Hit up Hagan, Copeland,
Crefo Dollar, and Benny Hinn with their hundreds of millions
to get them to foot your own selfish wants and needs.)
Instead these fat cats instruct you to nag God, chide God and
tempt God because these lying preachers know that the church
of this hour (The vast multitudes
belonging to the Klesia) have not been granted
any keys or any special powers by God to be able to grant anyone
anything. And that if you are to receive anything at all these
lying deceitful preachers know that it will come from God aloneand
not them.
The next issue, what did Christ purchase on
Calvary? We are told
he paid for our sicknesses, our diseases, our deliverance from
demons, our deleiverance from any type of suffering, or persecution
(Sorry Apostles and Prophets
need not apply.) We are told that he paid to
make you filthy rich, and that you can enjoy all the pleasures
of this life and you can have all the things of this world (Sorry
Apostles and Prophets need not apply.)
I will ask again, What did Christ purchase?
Ephesians
1:14 Which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory.
What is the purchased possession that is to later be redeemed?
1
Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye
are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
You are the servant, a slave that has been
redeemed , purchased by Christ. Therefore do not make yourself
a servant, a disciple or slave of men. Even of seemingly “spiritual
men..”
2
Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
When
these hyper-faith preachers preach that Jesus in His salvation
paid for all your sicknesses and diseases they are no longer
preaching scripture. And they are no longer preaching Christ
purchased you. They are not preaching Christ redeemed you (Redeem
means purchase.)
So what are they really preaching? They are preaching
that we are independent agents and that we can loan ourselves
out in some fashion to God. They are preaching salvation is
a two way street and if God will qualify for us, we will be
happy to serve him. That is not the same as: Ye were bought
with a price. That is not the same as Christ has redeemed you
from the curse of the law. That is not the same as we in Christ
being His purchased possession.
Recently
I spoke you a young Korea woman who has been completely taken
in by the teachings of Kenneth Copeland. I had been asked to
speak to her in behalf of a friend who was greatly concerned
about the path she had taken.
I read
to her Luke 6:20-26 And he (Jesus)
lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be
ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed
are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are
ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men
shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their
company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil,
for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap
for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in
the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe
unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you
that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when
all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to
the false prophets.
Immediately
she hit me with the all too familiar words of Kenneth Hagan
and Kenneth Copeland “It is NOT the will of God that any believer
should be poor.” They then rattle on about how Christ bought
all of that on the cross. And they then quote Christ was poor
that we might become rich.
So
she asked me point blank, Did I believe that it was God’s will
for Christians to be poor? I responded by reading Luke 6:20
again And he (Jesus)
lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours
is the kingdom of God.
She
said on the sermon of the mount Jesus said blessed are the poor
in spirit and that this passage in Luke is the sermon on the
mount. She then without a brath explained how humble she was
and how well she was serving God mentioning in particular that
she was tithing and God was blessing her.
I responded
that this was not the Sermon on the Mount – Luke 6 was not on
any mount, Christ in Luke 6 was not speaking to the multitudes,
and Christ in Luke was speaking to his disciples.
Luke
6 begins with: Now Jesus said
to the disciples blessed be ye poor. Now if
Jesus said these things to his disciples. it would seem self-evident
that it was not only His will but that he
was blessing those that were his disciples, and followers that
were and remained financially poor. There is no place
in the New Testament that Christ says blessed be ye rich.
Matthew 19:23-25 Then said Jesus
unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall
hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again
I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying,
Who then can be saved?
This
particular pasage came under assault in the 1970’s and some
corrupt preacher decided to make this more palatable for himself
and his wealthy hearers. So he said Christ was actually speaking
about one of the gates around the city of Jerusalem that was
called the eye of the needle where a camel had to stoop and
crawl on his hands and knees to get though the eye of the needle
gate – and so if a rich man will humble himself Go will accept
him. That is not at all what Christ said. Look now at the words
of the disciples, they grasped the gravity of Christ’s words
and it struck them with fear (The word Amazed in King James
is fear in the Greek. This saying filled them with fear.
Why, because they wanted and were desirous to be wealthy.
Consider now
Peter’s words.
1 Peter 4:18-20 And
if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the
ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto
a faithful Creator.
This does not sound like a good
eternal security verse. This not sound like good
verse for those who want to live in careless ease in
Zion. This not sound like a good verse for those who preach
that it is not the will of God for a Christian to be poor. This
does not sound like a good verse for those who preach that is
not the will of God for us to suffer.
1 Peter 3:17 For
it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well
doing, than for evil doing.
It is better
to suffer the momentary in this life for doing the will of God
than to suffer eternal damnation for following after the pleasures
and riches of this life.
I want for
a moment to consider not only when but to whom Peter wrote these
words. From what I have read the letter appears to have been
written in 65-67 AD Paul the Apostle been slain for the Gospel
in Rome 3-4 years earlier.
And now Peter was possibly in Rome working his way through the
Roman judicial system to his death. So this puts this letter
as having been written about 30 years after Christ death and
resurrection. The audience to whom Peter is writing this letter
are all churches that were not only founded by the Apostles
themselves, but these were churches that the Apostles had repeatedly
visited and had taught not only the Gospel of Christ but the
Doctrine of Christ as well. So these people were under the best
possible conditions, not only to hear, to get saved, to get
baptized in water and to get baptized in the Spirit but then
to follow on after Christ.
What then is my point?
My point is that if in the best possible conditions,
with the best foundation, and the best possible teaching, Peter
tells us that among those believers the
righteous are scarcely saved. Then we
should be asking ourselves were does that leave us some 1940
years later in a church that has little or no foundation, a
church that has more in common with the Roman Catholic Church,
Menno Simons, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, than with Christ
and the Apostles?
Luke 16:19-25 There was a certain rich man,
which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously
every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which
was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed
with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover
the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that
the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he
(The rich man) lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and
said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that
he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue;
for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
What
was the rich man’s sin? Did Jesus say he was evil? Did Christ say he was
unjust? No Jesus said he was wealthy and ate sumptuously every
day. -- Look back now at Luke chapter 6: But
woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you
that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
What
did Lazarus do to earn a spot in Abraham’s bosom? Did Christ
say he was righteous? Did Christ say he prayed morning noon
and night? No Jesus said he was a beggar that laid at the gates
of the rich man desiring the crumbs that fell from his table
and the dogs licked the man’s sores. Look again at Luke chapter
6: Blessed be ye poor:
for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger
now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for
ye shall laugh.
This
should send a chill up your spine because the parable of the
rich man and Lazarus shows that Jesus meant exactly what he
said in Luke chapter 6.
When John the Baptist was in
prison and he knew he was to die he sent his remaining disciples
to Christ to ask if He was indeed the Messiah. And Jesus responded:
Luke 7:22 Then
Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what
things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
to the poor the gospel is preached.
Why did
Christ add to the list of signs that the Gospel was preached
to the poor? Consider that the Church made a conscious decision
in the latter half of the twentieth century to preach the Gospel
to the rich, and have missions for the poor. The reason is that
in the 1970’s the preachers and missionaries cast of the yolk
of Christ and declared they would no longer live in poverty
or by faith by praying for their daily bread. They wanted cold
hard cash in their pocket and in the bank. They wanted houses
and lands, and a loaded Lincoln in the garage. The didn’t want
so old ratty shanty on the low side of town – they wanted a
church that was an imperial palace that was on Park Place and
Boardwalk.
Moving back
now to Abraham and the question as to why it took so long between
when the promise was given and the promise was fulfilled in
Isaac. Let us examine
a passage of scripture in the book of Judges.
Judges
7:1-7 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all
the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside
the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on
the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee
are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands,
lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand
hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of
the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him
return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned
of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten
thousand. And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet
too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them
for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee,
This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of
whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the
same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water:
and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the
water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set
by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees
to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their
hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest
of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And
the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped
will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand:
and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
We see in this passage that God wanted to deliver his people.
God wanted his people to know without a shadow of doubt that
they had been delivered by God and God alone. God wanted to
receive the glory and praise and He was not going to share that
with another. So God began by doing away with those that were wise, those that
possessed power, those that were mighty and he selected Gideon
a man of no reputation. He then set about to gather an army.
God ordered that the fearful could go home he reduced and reduced
the number and then God ordered that only those that lap up
water like a dog – the poorest people, probably with the least
level of skill, and the most uncouth manners would be the deliverers
of Israel 300 in number. So
now with Abraham for God to deliver the child of promise it
was not enough that Sarah be barren, it was that everyone would
see that she was so far up in age that it was everyone would
know that this child was an act of God alone and that all the
glory and praise would go to God not Sarah or Abraham.
Romans 4:19-21 And (Abraham) being not weak in faith, he considered not his
own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief;
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully
persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
The coming of the nation of Israel was important and God wanted the
nation of Israel not to come forth commonly but they were to
be a supernatural intervention, the nation of Israel was to
speak of the miraculous power of God in the earth
-- they were called to be a kingdom of priests unto God
and to make this apparent for generations to come that they
were not only the chosen of God but that without the finger
of God they would have never come into being. So also it is
with the Ek-klesia they were not just called to be a kingdom
of priests unto God but God made it apparent through the virgin
birth of Christ that without the finger of God the Ek-klesia
would have never come into being.
This
will conclude our discussion of Abraham the Father of Faith.
I trust this has been enlightening. And I hope that this will
help bring you into a closer and deeper personal relationship
with Jesus.
