Audio Tapes # 41,    Sept 3, 2000       (Notes Updated August 22, 2000)

Don't miss the pictures of the zoo days. The Lord willing, Creation Creature Features soon.

Review: (Gen 1-11) See the notes on the Web -
Creation - Rebellion - Global Greenhouse Canopy - Violence - Flood - Noah's Ark - Tower of Babel
     Remember that God's primary punishment in Gen 3, and all throughout History (His Story) is that He withdraws His Hand that holds all things in order. The rebellion of Adam (Gen 3) and the subsequent escalation of "entropy" (disorder, death, & decay - dysfunctional 2nd law of thermodynamics) is the reason for imperfections as well as the selfish competition, violence, pain, suffering, fear, and death we see in the "wild kingdom" now.  *  The second law of thermodynamics was functional before Adam sinned, such as in the process of digestion, chemical processes, etc., but death and disease were not.

Yet God's sovereign mercy and grace always makes a way to fulfill His plan and its promise (Rom 8:28-29)! God will bring out of this dying world, a remnant of followers, by grace alone through faith alone in the person and sufficient work of Messiah, the seed of a woman.

The Text: Genesis 12:1-9; 18:19 (emphasis added in bold)

^{Gen 12:1 "}Now the Lord had said to Abram:
'Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
² I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

⁴So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 

⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. ⁹So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

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Acts 7:^{2 "}And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, ³"and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴"Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵"And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶"But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ⁷‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ⁸"Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs."

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Brief Exposition and Commentary - (Gen 12:1-9)

Genesis 12:1-3  A Three Dimensional Command, with a Seven Dimensional Promise!

A 3-D Command to get out: (Note the contrast to Jesus command to go out to Jerusalem, Judea, Gentiles)

Acts 1:⁸ "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

- Country  The command of God to go out from among them (the world system) consist of three dimensions or subcommands, each of which emphasizes a closer level of relationships.  Each level of leaving was more emotionally difficult and therefore a greater temptation to disobey as Terah had done.  To follow the LORD, required stepping out in submissive faith.  The first step was for Abram to leave his birth country.  Abram could not allow his national citizenship to override his loyalty to the LORD.
     *  Are you willing to pick up and leave America to serve God, wherever He might lead you?

- Family  The second subcommand is for Abram to choose to place the LORD as priority even over his "cultural", "racial" heritage.
     *  Do you still see yourself and others from the perspective of "race" or "culture"?  Which is more important to you, the fact that you are from Scotland, Africa, or Asia, or the fact that you are a child of God through Jesus Christ His Son?

- Father's House  The final dimension of God's command is always the most difficult for anyone.  It was for Abram to leave his immediate family of origin, his father's house.  He was to leave and cleave to a new family unit in order to establish a better picture of God's family image to the world.
He was to resocialize His new family according God's image, not that of his father Terah.

Luke 14:^{25  "}Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— . . . "

*  Is your desire for approval and intimacy with your parents and family holding you back from being totally sold out to the LORD?  Are you afraid to speak up at family gatherings when the subject of evolution, abortion, and racism come up?  Do you talk negatively about your spouse to your relatives, in order to try and get support in times of marital struggle?  Who are you closer to:  your biological family or your spiritual brother and sisters in the church?  If you don't know your church family as you know God desires, could it be that you have not tried hard enough to prove your love to them?

". . . to a land that I will show you."

     One of the most awesome aspects of God's call and subsequent covenant with Abram is the fact that God gave him a specific piece of land, which is the center stage for all of history (his-story).  That land is the land of Israel, and is today the central focus of the entire world.  Hundreds of prophecies in the Bible speak of the role which Israel (especially Jerusalem) would play in God's sovereign plan to display His glory (that the world may know).  The majority of those prophecies have been fulfilled down to the smallest detail.  Those that have already been fulfilled were for the most part fulfilled literally, according to the normal reading of language.  This fact makes it clear that God's intent is for those prophecies still waiting to be fulfilled, is that they also will be fulfilled in the same literal, normal manner.  
     Preterists' allegorical and spiritualized interpretations of the prophecies for Israel are not supported by Scripture or history.  God's prophecies are plain and simple, pieces of beautiful jigsaw puzzle.  It's not complicated to put together a jigsaw puzzle.  It just takes time and hard work.  The work pays off and produces a clear picture of literal fulfillment, proving the sovereign hand of our transcendent God, who proclaims the future and then bring it to pass (Isa 41-48).
King Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, will one day rule the world from His throne in the physical city of Jerusalem (the city of peace, Jeru-shalom).

Note:  The following web links will illustrate the amazing parallels between prophecy and the current realities in Jerusalem.  While the world cries out for "peace, peace", they are obsessively focused on Jerusalem, and trying to take it away from Israel.

September 2000 - The push for global governance and universal religion escalates exponentially:

Dalai Lama's Message Read at U.N.  
          http://www.newsmax.com/articles/print.shtml?a=2000/8/29/215238
Turner Attacks Christianity at U.N. 'Peace Summit' 
       http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/8/29/192330
  Three U.N. Summits Alarm Conservatives
       http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/8/28/193748

But please remember, as ambassadors of Jesus' Kingdom, we are not to battle with the civil authorities. We are actually commanded by our King, Jesus, to "obey" and show "honor" to all civil authorities (Mat 22:16; Rom 13; Titus 3:1-8; 1 Pet 2:13-17; Jude 8-9). [An excellent tape sermon by Dr. John MacArthur is available for FREE (only to first timers)
by email request to: Email address = letters@gty.org Tape Title = "Obeying Civil Authorities"
Also, John's new book, Why Government Can't Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism, will challenge you to choose a truly biblical response as the world turns toward global governance and universal spirituality.

Seven Dimensions to God's Promise: God's command to leave and cleave was accompanied by a gracious promise in seven dimensions.  God did not call Abram completely out of the earth physically, which would have removed his witness to the unsaved world (1 Cor 5:9-13).  God called him to spiritually come completely out of the world system, and to physically adjust his position and participation in the world.  He was as we say, to live in the world but not of the world (1 John 2:15-17).  In an indirect way, these promises apply spiritually to you as well.

- Nation:  God promised to make Abram ("exalted father") a great nation of people.  "Great" refers not only to quantity of people (Abraham = father of a multitude), but also to the quality of their character.  They were to be a holy people, according to the holiness of God.  Note that God would do the "making", not man.  God will accomplish His plan for the holiness of Abram's nation (Rom 11).  * All believers are a part of Abram's faithful nation spiritually, and will be forever.
- You:  God promised to bless Abram personally. * God will bless and reward (1 Cor 3) your submissive faith as well.
- Name:  God promised to build a good reputation for Abram across the world and throughout history.  * 1 Cor 11:7 carries forward the principle that as you walk in step with God's will, His reputation (glory) will be and should be reflected through you, to the world around you.
- Be:  God not only promised that Abram, himself, would actually be a blessing to others, but the Hebrew language here is a command.  God reminds Abram of his rank, role, and responsibility.  He is to be the head, the authority of a huge family.  He was to rule over them (Gen 18:19) in order to socialize them toward the glory of God's character.  * You and I have an awesome responsibility and a wonderful privilege to BE a blessing to others.
- Those:  God promised that "those" who blessed Abram and his seed, God would bless.  This promise is also a prophecy that many would bless Abram and his seed.  * In Mat 18, Jesus makes it clear that whoever treats one of His little brothers or sisters with kindness, will be blessed.
- Him:  God promised that "him" who curses Abram and his seed would be cursed by God.  This statement focuses in on a singular individual.  Who might he be?  Satan in and through the anti-christ.  * In Mat 5, Jesus said you will be cursed and persecuted for your love and faith toward Him, the seed of Abraham, the Messiah.  But Revelation reveals that on the final day of judgment, the evil one will be cast out into the lake of fire.

Gen 3 prophesies that the seed of the serpent would battle with the seed of a virgin woman.  Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness to tempt Him out of blessing into the curse of sin, but Satan failed.  Dan 11-12; Mat 24; 2 Thes 2; and the Revelation all give prophecies of the coming anti-christ who will curse the ethnic descendants of Abram (Israel) and persecute them mercilessly.  Jesus said in the model prayer, "Lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

- All Families:  God promises that all families will be blessed "in" Abram.  What does the phrase "in thee" mean?  The Scripture often refers to descendants as coming from within the genetic loins of their ancestors.  This is a messianic prophecy of the seed of the virgin woman, Jesus, whose genes originated in the loins of Abram.  The promised deliverer who would crush the serpent's head and end the curse that covers the world, was "in" Abram's loins genetically.

Gen 22:¹⁸  "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
(see also 18:18; 26:4; 28:14)

The phrase "in Christ" in the New Testament, similarly refers to those who by faith are called out (ekklesia) of the world and into God's church.  When we studied Noah, we saw that his family being in the Ark above the flood, pictured being saved "in Christ".

* Isa 11 & 65; Rom 8 all portray a future time when the seed of the woman will rule the earth, and the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.  Sin will be subdued, violence will be ended, and even the wolf will lay down with the lamb.  All the families of the earth will experience the blessings of Messiah's peace and love for 1,000 years.

Genesis 12:4-6  "went forth . . . they arrived in the land of Canaan"

Abram's father, Terah, disobeyed the Lord by trusting in idols (Josh 24:2), and by settling in Haran.  
But Abram walked in submissive faith, into the promised land.  Abram was a rich man, blessed by God, who had many employees who followed him.  

Note that Abram "took" them with him.  He exercised the delegated authority of God as the head of his household, and as pointman, lead them into the green pastures promised by his LORD.

*  What about you?  Are you the pointman God's has called you to be?

Genesis 12:7-9 "YAHWEH appeared to Abram . . . . and he built an altar to Him"

God, the I AM, manifested Himself to Abram in some personal and intimate way.  As James says, "draw near to God, and He will draw near to you".  God, in essence, personally welcomes Abram and his huge family to the promised land.

"the Canaanites were in the land"  Why did God choose to replace the Canaanites with the descendants of Abram?  God's purpose in creation (Eph 3:10) is to reveal His glory, His goodness.  The Canaanites were known for their demonic rituals, which included the sacrifice of children, and through homosexuality they mocked  God's husband/wife design for family values.  These sins are the very opposite of God's nature, which is self-sacrificial love.  God will not tolerate sin, and when sin escalates to the point of such hideous levels, God's wrath sends severe consequences.  

* Could it be that homosexuality and abortion in America are leading us into the mouth of the lion?  What about your own life and family?  God will not be mocked.  What you plant you will reap.  You are always leading, one way or another.

How does all of this apply to you: Are you, your family, and your church walking in submissive faith like Abram and his family? Are your relationships socializing others to become disciplined disciples or dysfunctionally dishonoring rebels? 
Please take time to examine your life, and write down what you see in God's light:

* Yourself?

* Your Family?

* Your Church?
 Do you genuinely L.E.A.D. your sheep toward restoration and maturity in Christ?

Use the following chart to examine yourself, and change by putting off habit patterns of attitude, behavior, & countenance.