Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP220019S
|
00:01 Hello Friends, it's about time
00:02 for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:04 If you do not have a Lesson, you can go to: 00:06 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 00:08 and get a lesson there. 00:10 Join us... Lesson Number 6: The Roots of Abraham. 00:14 Music... 00:45 Dinzey: Hello and welcome once again 00:46 to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:48 My name is John Dinzey 00:49 and it's a pleasure for me to be with you during this hour 00:51 and we have part of the 3ABN Family here 00:54 as we go through this Lesson Number 6... 00:57 a very important lesson as well 00:59 and we want to present to you 01:01 the members of the family that are here 01:03 to study with you... Pastor James Rafferty. 01:05 James: Good to be here John 01:06 I'm going to be covering: The Temptation of Egypt. 01:08 Dinzey: Excellent... we have Pastor Terry Shelton. 01:10 Terry: Thank you John, it's pleasure to be here 01:12 among these very special lady and gentlemen 01:16 that I'm glad to be a part of. 01:18 Dinzey: Excellent... we have Pastor John Lomacang, 01:20 what day do you have... what's your title? 01:22 Lomacang: Wednesday... I'm going to be talking about 01:24 The Babel Coalition. 01:25 Dinzey: The Babel Coalition... 01:27 and we have Ms. Shelley Quinn. 01:29 Shelley: It's a pleasure to be here. 01:31 My day is: The Tithe of Melchizedek. 01:33 Dinzey: Amen... amen... 01:35 well, before we begin, 01:36 we are going to go to the Lord in prayer 01:38 and I'm asking Sister Shelley Quinn 01:40 if you'll lead us in prayer please. 01:41 Shelley: Absolutely... 01:42 "Our loving Holy and Righteous Heavenly Father, 01:45 we come before You in the name of Jesus... 01:47 approaching Your throne of grace, Lord, 01:51 to ask that... we know we are but dust 01:54 and Your words are spiritual... 01:56 they're spiritually discerned... 01:58 we pray for the anointing of Your Holy Spirit now. 02:02 May Your Holy Spirit come and be our teacher. 02:05 Give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say. 02:08 In Jesus' name, amen. " 02:10 Panel: Amen... amen... amen. 02:11 Dinzey: Yes, we depend on God's blessing... 02:14 God's Holy Spirit as we study and share. 02:17 The lesson is... the title: The Roots of Abraham 02:21 and the Memory Text as we have it in the lesson 02:25 is from the New King James Version, Hebrews chapter 11 02:29 and verse 8 and this is what we have, 02:31 "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called 02:35 to go out to the place 02:36 which he would receive as an inheritance. 02:39 And he went out, 02:40 not knowing where he was going. " 02:43 I don't know if you have ever done that... go out... 02:46 you don't know where you're going... 02:48 but Abraham was called by God to do this 02:50 and by this time that we are in Lesson Number 6, 02:54 we have reached what is called the middle section 02:58 of the book of Genesis covering chapters 12 through 22 03:01 and here in this section 03:04 you're going to see where Abraham is called 03:07 and you will notice that Abraham is a migrant... 03:10 he's always moving from one place to another 03:12 and really the Bible calls him a stranger 03:15 and one of the things that we see as we look in the lesson 03:20 is that God calls out to Abraham 03:22 and in Genesis chapter 15, verse 1, 03:25 this is the message the Lord said to him. 03:27 "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abraham 03:32 in a vision saying, 'Fear not, Abram: 03:36 I am thy shield, 03:38 and thy exceeding great reward. '" 03:40 Panel: Amen. 03:42 Dinzey: What a message of hope... 03:43 what a message to encourage Abraham 03:45 as he was called by God 03:48 and, you know, Abraham is considered and recognized 03:52 as the father of the faithful. 03:53 Panel: Yes. 03:54 Dinzey: And even today, the Jews have high regard for Abraham 03:58 and you can see in the New Testament 04:00 when the Jews were talking to Jesus, 04:01 they would say, "We are Abraham's children... " 04:03 and so... a lot of pride because Abraham is really the beginning 04:09 of the... let's call it the Jewish Nation 04:12 and wonderful promises were made by God to Abraham 04:17 and we're going to look at that now as we move 04:19 into Sunday's portion of the lesson. 04:22 The lesson is entitled... for Sunday: Abram's Departure. 04:26 Abram's Departure... 04:27 we're covering Genesis chapter 12 verses 1-9, 04:30 let's go to verse 1. 04:32 "Now the Lord had said to Abram, 04:35 'Get out of your country, 04:37 from your family and from your father's house, 04:40 to a land that I will show you. '" 04:44 Now, notice here that Abram is his name at this time... 04:49 later his name is changed and we're... 04:52 that would be covered later on. 04:54 When you see here this particular verse, 04:58 you see that Abraham... Abram is receiving a covenant 05:03 promise by God Himself 05:06 and so, the message to Abram was, 05:10 "Get out of your country... " 05:12 and... it starts with that it says... 05:14 when you say, "Get out of your country" 05:16 you say, "Don't move to the next city... 05:19 don't move to another portion of the city... 05:21 get out of your country... " 05:23 and God is familiar with Abraham 05:25 and He is clear about it, you know, 05:28 the way it is expressed... "From your family... 05:32 and from your father's house 05:34 to a land that I will show you. " 05:35 In other words, he was going to go to a place 05:38 where no one knew him. 05:39 He could not rely on anybody... 05:42 brothers or sisters or uncles or whoever was left, 05:44 to ask for advice... to ask for comfort... 05:48 Abram was chosen to leave because even in his family, 05:52 already they were beginning to mingle 05:56 the worship of the true God with worshipping idols 06:00 and the Lord called Abram to separate him from this situation 06:07 that was beginning to take place. 06:08 Now, notice that he is told that I will show you... 06:14 Abram left... not knowing where he was going 06:17 but we can understand that Abraham knew the voice of God. 06:23 Panel: Amen. 06:24 Dinzey: Remember that Jesus says, 06:26 "My sheep hear my voice and they know me 06:29 and they follow. " 06:31 So, when God calls to Abram... 06:34 Abram is familiar with God's voice, 06:37 he knew it was a message from God 06:39 and he moved... went immediately to action. 06:43 Now, we understand as we go on to verse 2 06:48 that he did not leave alone. 06:50 Verse two and onward... but notice the promises 06:53 that God makes to Abram. 06:55 "I will make you a great nation. " 06:59 Question: Can God do that? 07:00 Yes He can... "I will bless you, and make your name great; 07:04 and you shall be a blessing. " 07:06 Not only this, "I will bless those who bless you, 07:10 and I will curse him who curses you: 07:13 and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. " 07:18 What an amazing future God lays out before Abram! 07:23 And notice the different aspects of the blessings 07:27 that God was presenting to him. 07:30 "You're going to be a great nation... 07:33 I will bless you... make your name great... 07:36 and not only that... 07:38 you shall be a blessing. " 07:40 And notice that He says, 07:42 "I will bless those who bless you... " 07:43 and I believe that this is something that God does 07:45 for all of His children. " 07:47 He will bless those who bless you... 07:48 He will curse those who curse you. " 07:50 You know, God... like... does a hedge of protection 07:55 about His children... He protects them. 07:57 And you can see that in Job chapter 1 07:59 when Satan is told by God, 08:03 "Have you considered my servant Job 08:05 that there's none like him. " 08:07 And... and Satan seems to respond, 08:10 "Well, you have set a hedge of protection... " 08:13 it's... apparently he tried to get to him 08:15 but the Lord was protecting Job just as He protects us. 08:20 Now, let's consider... 08:21 notice in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, 08:25 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him" 08:29 that is... God... "for he that cometh to God 08:32 must believe that He is, 08:34 and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. " 08:39 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:40 Dinzey: Now, this is a... a... 08:42 something that will help us understand 08:44 why God chose Abram. 08:46 Why? Because Abram was faithful... 08:49 Abram obeyed God... 08:51 Abram was worshipping the true God according to the way 08:54 he knew that God wanted him to serve Him. 08:58 And you will notice that wherever Abram went, 09:01 what did he do? 09:03 He set up an altar to worship the true God. 09:05 And where Abram went, 09:07 people knew that he worshipped the true God. 09:09 He was a witness. 09:11 Now, one of the things that I want to bring out 09:14 is that there are principles laid out in the Scriptures 09:17 and Abraham followed these principles. 09:21 In Deuteronomy chapter 11:13, 14 and 15, 09:24 God speaking... 09:26 or Moses speaking a message from the Lord 09:29 to the people of Israel, it says, 09:31 "And it shall come to pass, 09:32 if you shall hearken diligently unto My commandments 09:35 which I command you this day, 09:37 to love the Lord your God, 09:38 and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 09:42 that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, 09:45 the first rain and the latter rain, 09:48 that thou mayest gather in thy corn, 09:50 and they wine, and thine oil. 09:52 And I will send grass in they fields for thy cattle, 09:54 that thou mayest eat and be full. " 09:56 And that is what Abram followed, he followed the Lord... 10:02 he was diligent to keep God's commandments 10:04 and I'm going to read to you Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 29, 10:07 "O that there were such an heart in them, 10:10 that they should fear me, 10:12 and keep all my commandments always, 10:14 that it might be well with them, and with their children... " 10:18 Abraham's faithfulness was a blessing to his family 10:21 and eventually to his children 10:23 and in the same way, 10:25 God has this message for us. 10:27 If we are faithful... the Lord will bless us as well. 10:31 This is a promise He made to the people of Israel. 10:33 This is a promise such as He would make to His children today 10:37 "If you diligently obey My Commandments, 10:39 I will bless the work of your hands... 10:41 I will bless you so that you will not lack any good thing. " 10:44 So, we can praise the Lord 10:46 that His promises apply unto us as well. 10:49 Now, let's take a look at 1st Corinthians chapter 12, 10:52 in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7, 10:54 I want to bring out this principle 10:56 and I'm going to share another one, 10:58 Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 11:00 and I want to ask one of the kind wonderful people 11:01 on the Panel to read Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 and 12, 11:05 I'm going to read 1st Corinthians chapter 12 11:07 verse 7, notice, "But the manifestation of the Spirit 11:11 is given to each one for the profit of all. " 11:15 In other words, the blessings that God gives to an individual 11:18 is not just for the individual, the individual is blessed 11:22 but it's for others to be blessed as well. 11:25 Now, Ephesians chapter 4 11:27 verses 11 and 12 Shelley Quinn please. 11:29 Shelley: Yes... "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, 11:33 some prophets, some evangelists, 11:35 and some pastors and teachers, for this purpose, 11:39 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, 11:43 for the edifying of the body of Christ. " 11:45 Dinzey: Amen, so you see, 11:47 the blessings that Abraham would receive... 11:49 receive would be for the edifying of the body of Christ 11:54 and this is why when you look at the promises 11:57 that God made to Abraham, 11:58 at the end... notice that it says, 12:01 "All the families of the earth shall be blessed. " 12:06 Wow! If Abraham was faithful, 12:08 all the families of the earth would be blessed. 12:11 Now, why would that be? 12:12 It is because through Abraham would come the Messiah. 12:18 Yes, the Bible lays out a very, very strict to the... 12:23 "And so and so begat so and so 12:25 and so and so begat so and so... " 12:28 to show us the lineage that would lead 12:30 to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ... our Savior 12:34 and through Jesus, all the families of the earth 12:38 have been blessed. 12:40 Panel: Amen. 12:42 Dinzey: And can be blessed 12:43 if we allow Jesus to enter into our lives. 12:46 So, through Abraham obeying God, 12:49 the whole world would be blessed. 12:51 And now, this is very, very interesting because 12:54 sadly enough, 12:56 it seems to me like the Jews did not fully understand 12:59 that their father that they called "Abraham" 13:01 through him... all the families of the earth will be blessed 13:05 not just the people of Israel 13:06 but all the families of the earth are to be blessed 13:10 and this is why you hear Jesus when He's speaking, 13:13 He says such things, "And this gospel of the kingdom 13:16 shall be preached in all the world... 13:18 all the world for a witness unto all nations 13:21 and then the end shall come. " 13:23 This is a message of the Lord for each and every one of us. 13:26 Now, let's move quickly... you know when this happened... 13:30 when God called Abram... 13:32 this is a message for us that are getting gray hair, 13:34 by the way... it says, 13:36 "So, Abram departed as the Lord has spoken to him, 13:38 and Lot went with him. 13:40 And Abram was seventy-five years old 13:42 when he departed from Haran. " 13:44 He was not a young man but he obeyed the voice of the Lord. 13:47 You too may be called by the Lord to do something... 13:50 obey and be blessed. 13:51 Panel: Amen... amen... amen... amen. 13:53 James: Thank you John, my name is James Rafferty 13:56 and I have Monday's lesson which is entitled: 13:59 The Temptation of Egypt 14:01 and it's quite a turnaround from what we've just looked at, John, 14:03 in the first part of Genesis chapter 12. 14:06 We're going to begin in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 10, 14:10 "And there was a famine in the land... " 14:11 where Abraham was dwelling as God had called him out... 14:15 "And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there... 14:19 and... for the famine was great or grievous in the land. 14:22 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt" 14:27 verse 11,"that he said unto Sarai his wife, 'Behold now, 14:31 I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 14:34 therefore it shall come to pass, 14:35 when the Egyptians shall see thee, they shall say, 14:38 "This is his wife... " 14:40 and they shall kill me, but they will save thee alive. 14:43 say, I pray thee... '" verse 13, 14:46 "thou my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; 14:50 and my soul shall live because of thee. 14:53 And it came to pass... " verse 14, 14:55 "That when Abram was come into Egypt, 14:57 they Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 14:59 And the princes also of Pharaoh saw her, 15:02 and commended her before Pharaoh: 15:05 and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 15:08 And he entreated Abram well... " verse 16, "for her sake: 15:13 and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, 15:17 and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. 15:19 And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues 15:24 because of Sarai Abram's wife. 15:26 And Pharaoh called upon Abram and said, 15:28 'What is this that thou hast done unto me? 15:30 why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 15:33 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? 15:36 so I might have taken her to me to wife: 15:40 now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. ' 15:42 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: 15:44 and they sent him away, and his wife, 15:47 and all that he had. " 15:50 So, this is quite a contrast, 15:51 you know, the first part of the chapter talks about 15:54 how Abraham heard the voice of God 15:57 and God told him to depart and he departed. 16:00 The second part of the chapter says 16:02 that there was a famine in the land, you know, 16:04 the Quarterly asks the question, 16:05 "Why did Abraham leave the Promised Land 16:07 to go to Egypt? 16:09 And how did Pharaoh behave in comparison to Abraham?" 16:12 Well, Abraham left the Promised Land to go to Egypt 16:15 because there was a famine in the land... 16:17 a great famine in the land. 16:18 Abraham didn't leave the Promised Land to go to Egypt 16:22 because God told him to leave the Promised Land 16:23 to go to Egypt. 16:25 Abraham wasn't listening to the voice of God... 16:26 he wasn't obeying the voice of God and going to Egypt. 16:28 And then the second thing we find is, 16:31 Abraham goes to Egypt with a lie. 16:35 He doesn't go to Egypt to be a witness... 16:37 he goes to Egypt with a lie 16:39 and he tells his wife, 16:40 "Don't tell Pharaoh you're my wife, 16:44 tell him you're my sister. " 16:46 Which is a half lie. 16:49 You know, I love this story because it reminds us 16:54 of how important it is for us to be honest and true. 16:57 In the book of Revelation, 16:58 we're told that liars are going to be outside the City 17:01 and we're also told that the people... 17:03 in the context of the Mark of the Beast 17:05 are people who have no guile in their mouths. 17:08 Revelation 14:5. 17:09 Guile is something that is, I think, many times 17:15 unnoticeable to us. 17:16 Shelley: Hmmm... 17:18 James: You know, I don't know that Abraham's lie was... 17:19 was noticeable to him 17:21 because it was a half-truth. 17:24 Sarah was kind of related to him. 17:27 In a sense, he wasn't lying and he was protecting himself 17:31 but here we go again, right John, 17:32 self-preservation... 17:33 trying to save ourselves by our works... 17:36 by what we can do 17:37 rather than trusting fully in God... 17:39 listening to the voice of God and letting God lead us. 17:41 Now, the reason why I think this story is so significant for us 17:44 is because Abraham... Abram is us... we are Abram. 17:49 We are the ones depicted in the story. 17:52 We tell our half-truths... 17:53 we call them half-truths not half lies, right? 17:57 To protect ourselves... 17:58 we're worried about our future... 18:00 we're worried about what's going on... 18:01 we listen to the voice of God guiding us to one place 18:04 but we're not so willing to listen to Him guiding us 18:06 to another place or telling us to stay 18:08 where the trouble seems to be. 18:10 This was Abraham's situation and this is our situation... 18:13 speaks to us today. 18:14 Now, what's really interesting is okay, 18:16 so, Abraham goes through all of this gymnastics 18:18 to try to protect himself... preserve himself 18:20 from the danger of the famine 18:22 and from the potential danger of Pharaoh with Sarai 18:25 and then... we have Pharaoh... now, Pharaoh is a heathen, 18:29 Pharaoh isn't a follower of God... 18:30 Pharaoh hasn't been, you know, listening to the voice of God 18:32 or worshipping God. 18:33 God hasn't promised to bless him 18:35 but Pharaoh hears God's voice 18:37 and immediately, what does he do? 18:40 He obeys Him. 18:41 He obeys God and he goes right to him and he says, 18:44 "Wait a minute... Abraham... God just told me 18:46 that Sarai is your wife... 18:48 why did you tell me she was your sister?" 18:51 Right? 18:52 "Now, Abraham, you need to go 18:54 and I'm just going to let you go... 18:55 I'm going to... in a sense through, you know, 18:57 the... the grace of God you're going to be blessed... 18:59 God is going to bless you through me. " 19:01 Here is God using a heathen leader 19:04 to bless the one that He's called to be His light 19:09 because His light... Abraham... 19:11 isn't shining as he's supposed to shine 19:13 and I can't think of how many times, perhaps, 19:16 God has done that in my life and perhaps in your life... 19:18 and all of our lives 19:19 where we can see that God has blessed others 19:22 when He should have been using... to bless us... 19:25 used us to bless us 19:27 when He should have been using us to bless others 19:29 especially people who are not familiar with God. 19:31 The thing is... is that we recognize 19:35 in Abraham's actions here our own failures 19:37 or we should recognize our own failures. 19:40 And this doesn't happen once, 19:41 this happens the second time with Abimelech 19:43 the Philistine leader... 19:44 he does it again later in chapter 20, he does... 19:47 he goes through the whole process again 19:49 but what I love about this is God steps in. 19:52 You know, God steps in to override... 19:54 to overrule our failures. 19:56 God steps in to overrule the decisions we make 19:59 that are not necessarily in harmony with His call for us. 20:02 God steps in and sometimes uses heathen people... 20:05 people who don't know Him... 20:07 people who don't worship Him... 20:08 people who don't attribute their lives to Him... 20:11 uses them to speak to us 20:13 and to get us back on the right track. 20:14 The Quarterly talks about this 20:16 in the context of Abraham's experience. 20:19 It says, "The temptation of Egypt was often 20:21 a problem for ancient Israelites. 20:23 Egypt thus became a symbol of humans trusting in humans 20:27 rather than in God. " 20:28 Again, the same situation with the Tower of Babel. 20:30 "We're going to Egypt because we want to protect ourselves... 20:33 we want to... 20:34 we want to trust in what we can do and how God can... 20:38 we can preserve ourselves 20:39 rather than trusting in God. " 20:41 "In Egypt, where water could be seen on a daily basis, 20:43 faith was not necessary, 20:45 for the promise of the land was immediately visible. 20:47 Compared to the land of famine, 20:49 Egypt sounded like a good place to be, 20:51 despite what God had said to him... that is Abraham. " 20:54 The Quarterly goes on, 20:55 "The Abram who now leaves Canaan 20:58 contrasts with the Abram who left Ur. 21:00 Before, Abram was portrayed as a man of faith 21:04 who left Ur in response to God's call; 21:06 now, Abram leaves the Promised Land by himself, 21:10 of his own volition. 21:12 Before, Abram relied on God, 21:14 and now he behaves like a manipulative 21:17 and unethical politician who counts only on himself. " 21:20 Shelley: Hmmm... 21:22 James: Did you catch the words of the Quarterly shared here? 21:24 "A manipulative unethical politician" 21:27 and, you know, as Christians a lot of times we... 21:29 we kind of poke fun at our political leaders at times, 21:32 you know, the Bible tells us 21:33 we should be praying for our political leaders 21:35 in 1st Timothy chapter 2, 21:36 and for all men in positions of responsibility... 21:38 but we ourselves... 21:39 those leaders are simply the outworking of us 21:42 left to ourselves. 21:44 When we don't listen to the voice of God... 21:45 when we don't heed the voice of God, 21:48 we will be just like Abraham was. 21:50 Patriarchs and Prophets page 130 says, 21:53 "During his stay in Egypt, 21:55 Abraham gave evidence that he was not free from human weakness 21:58 and imperfection. 21:59 In concealing the fact that Sarah was his wife, 22:01 he betrayed a distrust of the divine care, 22:04 a lack of that lofty faith and courage 22:06 so often and nobly exemplified in his life. " 22:09 Now, again I want to emphasize 22:11 what brings me hope in this story 22:13 is not so much that Abraham failed God 22:18 but that Abraham failed God 22:20 in the sense that he still remained faithful to God... 22:23 God still brought him through all of this... 22:25 all of the failures... 22:27 all of the imperfections 22:29 and not just here but later on... 22:31 just a few chapters later, 22:32 eight chapters later, he does it again. 22:34 God brings him through that 22:35 and God can bring us through that also. 22:38 We need to have that hope... 22:39 we need to have that belief. 22:41 If the Bible were full of perfect people, 22:42 we'd be in trouble. 22:43 So, we don't want to overemphasize 22:45 the failures of Abraham. 22:46 So, what should this story teach us 22:48 about how easy it is even for faithful Christians 22:50 to stray from the correct path. 22:52 The Quarterly asks, 22:53 "Why is disobedience never a good choice?" 22:56 And going even further, 22:58 for further discussions, 22:59 what was wrong in Abraham's half-truths 23:02 regarding his sister's wife. 23:03 Was it worse lying or saying some truth 23:08 while still at the same time technically lying? 23:11 Excuse me... "What is worth, lying or saying some truth 23:14 while still at the same time, technically lying?" 23:16 Now, I love this question, 23:18 I really believe it's an important question for us 23:21 because we are coming down to the time in history 23:23 when God is calling us to stand without guile, 23:25 we looked at that verse... or mentioned that verse 23:27 in Revelation 14. 23:28 What is worth... worse... lying or telling the truth 23:33 when we're technically lying? 23:35 Because a lot of times, I find myself in situations 23:39 where I have to make a choice 23:40 about whether I'm just going to be truthful 23:43 or whether my truthfulness 23:45 is actually going to be a lie in disguise 23:47 and God is calling us higher than that... 23:50 higher than the call that Abraham had 23:52 as he wandered into Egypt on this half lie. 23:56 He's calling us to follow the Lamb wherever He goes 23:58 and to stand without guile before his presence. 24:01 Shelley: Amen. Dinzey: Thank you Pastor James. 24:04 Well, this lesson is a blessing already 24:06 and we hope that you will stay tuned... 24:09 we'll be right back in just a moment. 24:11 Music... 24:16 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again 24:19 or share it on Facebook... 24:21 Instagram... or Twitter? 24:22 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 24:27 A clean design makes it easy 24:30 to find the Program you are looking for. 24:32 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:35 so you can follow along. 24:37 Sharing is easy... 24:38 just click "Share" and choose your favorite Social Media. 24:42 Share a Link... Save a Life for Eternity. 24:45 Pause... 24:47 Welcome back, the blessings continue now... 24:49 we move to Pastor Terry Shelton. 24:51 Terry: Well, thank you John. 24:53 I was really excited whenever I saw that I had this lesson, 24:57 Tuesday's Lesson... Abram and Lot. 24:59 Now, the story of Abram and Lot 25:02 takes us through the entire chapter of Genesis chapter 13 25:07 and we're not going to read that 25:08 but we're going to pick up the highlights. 25:11 I want to thank Pastor James for that good exposition 25:14 about the story into Egypt. 25:15 That leads us into this next part. 25:17 You know, chapter 12... we had this unfortunate incident 25:21 of Abraham taking his... his tribe down into Egypt 25:25 and it was not God's will for him to do so 25:28 and it seems that while he started up in Canaan 25:31 and after this... his lack of faith 25:34 in going down into Egypt... 25:35 then he winds back up in Canaan again. 25:37 If you read the book, Patriarchs and Prophets, 25:40 it tells us that this famine was a test 25:43 that God allowed to come upon Abram and his tribe 25:48 to see if he really trusted God 25:50 and see if he was really going... 25:53 and even when it seems there's no food... no water... whatever, 25:55 is he going to trust God and stay where God had led him 25:59 but unfortunately, he went down into... down into Egypt 26:03 so, he winds up back near Bethel once again 26:06 and, you know, I believe that... 26:08 I believe that Abram repented... repented of that... 26:11 as, you know, he must have said, 26:13 "Lord, I'm sorry I didn't trust you... 26:15 it didn't go the way I planned" you know, 26:17 "please help me get back on track... " 26:19 and I have no doubt that God forgave him for that 26:23 but as we open chapter 13, 26:28 we find that Lot and Abram's men... 26:31 there is some contention going on... 26:34 there's not enough natural resources in... in the land 26:37 and... and we can see... we can almost picture how... 26:40 let's say that the herdsmen of... of Lot 26:42 would come to a nice fertile pasture 26:45 and then, the herdsmen of Abram would come 26:47 and they say, "Hey, we were here first... " 26:49 "No... " you know, 26:50 "We have authority and blah... blah... blah... " 26:52 and... who's... who is to choose... 26:55 so, Abram recognized that 26:57 and I love how the fact that Abram steps forward 27:02 to be a peacemaker. 27:03 It says... it says that he basically gave Lot the choice... 27:09 whatever... "You choose where you want to go 27:12 and I will take the other one. " 27:14 He steps forward to be this... this peacemaker. 27:17 it made me think of Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9 27:20 which says, "Blessed are the peacemakers: 27:23 for they shall be called the sons of God. " 27:25 I think Abram was trying to... to... to squelch the division 27:29 and the strife going on there, 27:31 "It's not... we shouldn't be this way. " 27:32 Now, if you think of it, 27:34 by all rights, Abram was the elder 27:38 and he had every right to... to choose which direction 27:43 he was going to go. 27:44 But in effect, by letting... by letting Lot choose, 27:49 I... I... I believe that he was letting God choose 27:53 and He was letting God... allowing God to direct him 27:57 in the way that he would go. 27:59 Abraham... or Abram showed humility in this... 28:03 in this venture. 28:04 It made me think of 1st Peter chapter 5 and verse 6. 28:06 "Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, 28:10 that He may exalt you in due time. " 28:12 What we're speaking about here is character. 28:15 What was the character of Abram? 28:18 He... he didn't want this strife he doesn't want this... 28:21 and I think maybe he was even exercising some faith 28:24 and letting God direct the situation 28:26 and, of course, God did direct him to the... the right area. 28:31 Someone once said that character is not developed 28:36 during times of crisis. 28:38 Character is revealed during times of crisis 28:42 and it is during this time that Abraham... even though his... 28:46 his relationship with God was a little rocky 28:49 and he had come through this major test that he... 28:50 that he failed, 28:52 he still had a connection with God 28:53 and his connection with God showed forth in his life 28:57 in trying to be a peacemaker here. 29:00 However, Lot... Lot showed a... a very selfish nature 29:07 when he... because in verse 11 it says, 29:10 "Lot chose for himself... " you know, 29:13 "What can I get out of this?" 29:15 without any regard to the people that lived there... 29:18 or what he might encounter in this land... 29:21 he just saw those fertile lands and he said, "I want that... 29:24 that's... I'll take that... " 29:26 and Abraham... just graciously, 29:28 "Okay, fine, if you want to go that way... 29:30 you know, okay... then I'm going to go this way. " 29:32 Letting... letting God actually directing the situation 29:39 and then I like it, it says... 29:40 and to demonstrate his faith, God asked Abraham to arise 29:45 and walk in the land just like he owns it, you know, 29:49 "walk there and even though 29:51 you don't have full possession of the land... 29:53 walk there because I'm going to give you this land... 29:56 I'm giving you this land. " 29:58 In fact in... in... I forget which verse it is, 30:02 I didn't annotate it in my notes here, 30:04 but there's one passage that says, "I give it to you. " 30:08 The New King James Version says, "I give... " 30:11 the King James Version says, "I will give... " 30:15 but sometimes God says... I will do something 30:19 and then sometimes God says, "I do something... 30:23 I am doing something. " 30:25 You see Friends, one of the things I love about God 30:28 is that He exists in the past... 30:30 in the present... in the future 30:32 and even outside of the past, present and future. 30:34 Panel: Amen. 30:35 Terry: He is eternal... He never changes... 30:37 He is always the same. 30:39 It makes me think of this passage, 30:40 Pastor John, I know that you love this passage, 30:43 Isaiah 43 verse 1, 30:44 "But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, 30:48 and He who formed you, O Israel: 30:50 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; 30:52 I have called you by your name; You are Mine. '" 30:55 Panel: Amen. 30:57 Terry: That's today... that's now... "You are Mine... " 30:59 and I love that passage. 31:01 God speaks... when God speaks something, 31:04 it is so and it will be so 31:06 and it is so and it has been so... 31:08 all of the above 31:10 and then it says in Genesis 13 and verse 8, 31:13 it says, "Then Abram moved his tent, 31:16 and he went and he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, 31:18 which are in Hebron, 31:20 and he built an altar there to the Lord. " 31:23 What have we learned about the altar in the past? 31:25 The altar is about worship... it's about thanksgiving... 31:29 it's about sacrifice... 31:31 did Abraham have complete control of the land yet? No... 31:33 but he thanked God in advance 31:36 and by faith he took hold of that promise 31:39 that God had made to him. 31:41 Years ago, I remember reading a book entitled: 31:44 The ABC's of Bible Prayer 31:46 and it talks about: ask and believe and claim 31:50 and when I think of that... that mode of thinking, 31:53 it reminds me of Mark 11 and verse 24, 31:55 Jesus says, "Therefore I say to you, 31:58 whatever things you ask when you pray, 32:00 believe that you receive them, 32:02 and you will have them. " 32:05 I love that promise. 32:06 So... so, what do we learn from the story of Abram and Lot? 32:11 We learn that we can choose whether we're going to be kind 32:17 and generous to others 32:19 even if there's contention... if there's strife... 32:22 sometimes, you know, they talk about taking the high road... 32:25 sometimes we have to do that 32:26 especially if we are walking with Christ on a daily basis. 32:31 Maybe those that we have problems with... 32:33 it is our responsibility and really our privilege 32:37 to... to take the high road and do like Abraham... 32:41 like Abraham did and... and... and try to keep the peace. 32:44 I don't know... some families... 32:46 in some families, there's always a peacemaker, right, 32:48 there's somebody who just doesn't like strife... 32:50 always trying to bring sides together, 32:52 I kind of feel like... in this situation, 32:54 that Abram was a little like that 32:56 and it reminded me of this passage from 32:59 Proverbs chapter 25 verses 21 and 22 33:03 where the wise man says, 33:05 "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; 33:09 and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 33:12 for so you will heap coals of fire on his head, 33:16 and the LORD will reward you. " 33:19 I think that's beautiful... it's beautiful... 33:21 now, we're not saying Abram and Lot were necessarily enemies 33:24 in this case... but in this situation, there was strife... 33:28 there was conflict... 33:29 and Abram... he decided to let God drive on this one. 33:34 He decided to let God direct 33:36 and let's face it, it came up better 33:37 as we know the story goes on... 33:39 it came up better for Abraham in the end. 33:42 So, I... I love this story because it shows 33:45 Abram's humility and... and... and... and willing to let God 33:50 lead in this situation... 33:52 even though we know that... we've read all the stories 33:54 and we know that there's some failures still yet to come, 33:57 but in this time, Abram decided to let God lead and guide 34:00 in this situation 34:02 and it ended up being good for him. 34:04 Panel: That's right... amen... 34:06 Lomacang: Thank you for that lesson... 34:07 when God leads, it's always good 34:09 and the outcome is always going to glorify God. 34:12 Let's go to Genesis chapter 14, 34:14 we're going to talk about the Babel Coalition. 34:17 Now, sometimes the size of the enemy 34:19 or the size of those who are standing against us 34:23 tend to affect our way that we think about God. 34:26 Sometimes we say, "Lord, this is not a situation 34:30 that's going to turn out well for me... " 34:31 and this is one of the reasons I believe the story was put here. 34:34 Now, there's some words in here 34:36 that will choke the average human 34:39 but I'm going to try to be a little more than average 34:42 and ask the Lord to give me the... the ability 34:44 to enunciate these words. 34:45 Genesis 14 verse 1 to 17, 34:47 "And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, 34:52 Arioch king of Ellasar, and Chedorlaomer king of Elam, 34:57 and Tidal king of nations, 34:59 that they made war with Bera King of Sodom, 35:02 Birsha king of Gomorrah, 35:04 Shinab king of Admah, 35:06 and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, 35:10 and the king of Bela... that is Zoar. 35:13 All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim... 35:16 that is the Salt Sea. 35:17 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, 35:21 and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 35:23 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer 35:26 and the kings that were with him 35:28 came and attacked Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, 35:33 and Zuzim in Ham, 35:35 the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 35:39 and the Horites in their mountains of Seir, 35:42 as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 35:45 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat... 35:50 that is, Kadesh, 35:51 and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, 35:53 and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar. 36:01 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, 36:04 and the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, 36:08 and the king of Bela... that is Zoar... 36:10 went out and joined together in the battle 36:12 in the Valley of Siddim against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, 36:17 Tidal king of nations, 36:19 Amraphel king of Shinar, 36:23 and Arioch king of Ellasar... four kings against five. " 36:27 Look at the size of the battle. 36:28 "Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; 36:32 and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; 36:34 some fell there, 36:35 and the remainder fled to the mountains. 36:38 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, 36:42 and all their provisions, and went their way. 36:44 They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son 36:47 who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 36:51 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, 36:56 for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, 37:01 brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; 37:05 and they were allies with Abram. 37:09 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, 37:12 he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants 37:16 who were born in his house, 37:19 and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 37:22 He divided his forces against them by night, 37:25 and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them 37:28 as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 37:32 So he brought back all the goods, 37:34 and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, 37:37 as well as the women and the people. 37:41 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him 37:45 in the Valley of Shaveh... that is, the King's Valley, 37:48 after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer 37:53 and the kings who were with him. " 37:56 What a tongue twister! 37:58 Shelley: I'm glad you got that one. 38:00 Lomacang: Yeah, it's a... it's a... 38:03 it's amazing how we look at these Bible characters. 38:07 Now, I believe the reason why the Lord 38:09 wanted this story included... 38:10 is... He could have easily said, 38:12 "Abraham had to face a large army. " 38:15 But if you take each one of the components mentioned here, 38:20 you find... this is the first war narrated in Scripture 38:24 where all the adversaries were named. 38:26 You had the coalition of the four armies of the Mesopotamians 38:30 and Mesopotamia and Persia 38:32 against the other coalition of five Canaanite armies, 38:36 including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. 38:39 So, this was a large contingency... 38:41 this is a huge battle 38:42 but sometimes, you could get lost 38:45 in the size of the opposition and forget the size of God. 38:50 Panel: Hmmm... 38:51 Lomacang: And Abram didn't do that. 38:53 Abram decided that I don't need to fight against all 38:57 of the Coalition that is armed against me... 39:01 my focal point simply needs to be... 39:04 "I need to rescue my nephew and his household... " 39:08 and when you look at the battle, 39:09 the timing of this entire thing suggests that 39:12 this was a global skirmish 39:15 for the size of the world at that time 39:17 and it focused on interrupting the plans that God had 39:20 for Abram and his nephew Lot. 39:23 So, what did Abram do? 39:25 You notice, Abram gathered his army together 39:27 but when he went... he didn't go to defeat all the... 39:30 he didn't go to defeat all the battles, 39:32 he went by twilight. 39:34 He didn't go at a time that they could see him, 39:36 he went during the night 39:37 and he focused on just capturing his nephew. 39:40 Let's look at verse 12 and 13 of Genesis chapter 14. 39:44 Once again, notice what he did. 39:46 "They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son 39:51 who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. " 39:54 So, that was the focal point of Abram's rescue. 39:59 He was not focusing on defeating the enemy... 40:03 he was focusing simply on rescuing a family member 40:07 that had been taken captive and all of his household 40:10 and Ellen White says in the book: Patriarchs and Prophets, 40:13 she says, "Abram dwelling in peace 40:17 in the oaks of Mamre, learned from one of the fugitives 40:22 the story of the battle 40:23 and the calamity that had befallen his nephew. 40:26 He had cherished no unkind memories of Lot's ingratitude. " 40:30 Even though Lot was not gracious to him, 40:34 he still sought to rescue him. 40:35 "After his affection for him... all his affection for him 40:41 was awakened when he heard about Lot's dilemma. 40:44 and he determined that he should be rescued. 40:46 Seeking, first of all, divine counsel, 40:50 Abraham prepared for battle. " 40:53 Now, this story is significant 40:55 because it brought out some components 40:57 that I like what James brought out, 40:58 sometimes we tend to deal half-heartedly 41:04 either in the things we say 41:06 or the way that people are represented. 41:08 In this situation, Abraham put aside his feelings about Lot 41:13 and thought about the outcome... 41:15 how this could impact his family at large, 41:18 so, he decided... "Let me go ahead and rescue my nephew 41:22 and we could work out the family squabbles later on... " 41:26 and I think John Dinzey pointed out how he gave Lot the choice, 41:30 "You go one way... I go the other... " 41:32 and... that was what Terry said, 41:35 "You go one way... I go the other... " 41:37 and the way that Lot chose 41:39 didn't really turn out that well for him 41:41 but the way that Abram chose 41:43 turned out much better for him because he chose God's counsel. 41:47 Well, there are stories in the Bible 41:49 that have similar scenarios 41:51 and the lessons that we could learn from this 41:53 as in the example of Elisha 41:54 when the Syrians came and surrounded his army... 41:57 surrounded his home... 41:58 and his servant thought that his end had come, 42:01 he said, "Alas Master, what shall we do?" 42:03 And Elisha prayed for the Lord to open the eyes of his servants 42:06 and then, we know the story, he saw chariots of fire 42:09 and instead of destroying the Syrian army, 42:12 as Terry pointed out... 42:14 and they fed them instead 42:16 and they were so kind to their enemy 42:19 that the enemy decided, 42:20 "We're not messing with them any longer... " 42:23 but as time came, then Hadad forgot the lessons of the past. 42:26 We also find the example of Peter being thrown in prison 42:29 by Herod. 42:30 Once again, a large Roman contingency against one man 42:34 but God was with him. 42:37 Now, one of the lessons we could learn from Lot and Abram... 42:40 from Elisha and his servant... 42:43 from Peter and his... 42:45 and his incarceration for doing God's will, 42:49 here are the lessons we can learn. 42:50 Psalm 34 verse 19, 42:53 I brought out two major lessons. 42:55 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 42:58 but the LORD delivers him out of them all. " 43:02 So, once again I'm going to say what I did in the very beginning 43:05 sometimes, we could focus on the size of our adversary 43:08 and forget the size of our God. 43:10 Panel: Hmmm... 43:12 Lomacang: There are afflictions that many of us will experience 43:13 in our walk as Christians. 43:15 Also, remember these afflictions are not as great 43:18 as they could have been because the Lord is on your side. 43:20 2nd Corinthians 4 verses 17 and 18, 43:23 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 43:28 is working for us a far more 43:31 exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 43:33 while we do not look at the things which are seen... " 43:37 a huge army... 43:38 "but at the things which are not seen. 43:41 For the things which are seen are temporary, 43:43 but the things which are not seen are eternal. " 43:46 Here's my point as I transition and give it to Shelley. 43:49 When you face skirmishes in life... 43:51 when you are surrounded by enemies 43:54 that seem too numerous to count or too numerous to defeat, 43:58 remember, if God before you... no one can be against you. 44:02 Don't focus on the size of the adversary... 44:04 keep your focus on the size of your God. 44:07 Shelley: Thank you John, 44:09 I'm sure glad I didn't have to read those... all those names. 44:13 I'm Shelley Quinn... I have Thursday 44:15 and it is: The Tithe of Melchizedek. 44:18 Let's look at Genesis chapter 14 and we'll start with verse 17, 44:23 "The king of Sodom went out to meet him 44:26 at the Valley of Shaveh... " 44:28 he's going out to meet Abram... 44:29 "that is, the King's Valley, 44:31 "after his... after Abram's return 44:34 from the defeat of Chedorlaomer 44:37 and the kings who were with him... " 44:40 and Melchizedek... is the king of Salem... 44:43 he brings bread and wine and he's... it says, 44:50 "he was the priest of the Most High God. " 44:51 We're going to look into this mysterious Melchizedek 44:55 but here is the point of our lesson. 44:58 Melchizedek... this king of Salem... 45:01 this king of righteousness... 45:03 he blesses Abraham and he says in verse 18, 45:08 "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, 45:10 possessor of heaven and earth... " 45:13 that's God Most High... "Possessor of heaven and earth; 45:15 and blessed be God Most High, 45:18 who has delivered your servant... 45:21 your enemies into your hand. " 45:24 And he, Abram, gave him a tenth which is a tithe 45:30 of all... is what the verse 20... that's how it ends. 45:36 So, this is the most mysterious person in the Bible 45:42 but he's not that mysterious. 45:44 Melchizedek... he's introduced here in Genesis 14... 45:48 he's only mentioned one other time in the Old Testament, 45:52 that's Psalm 110 45:54 and then we don't find him again till Hebrews in 5, 6 and 7... 45:59 those chapters start talking about him. 46:01 But who is this Melchizedek? 46:04 He's both king of Salem... 46:07 that's another name for Jerusalem... 46:09 he is the priest of the Most High God... 46:11 he is the only human being 46:14 other than the person of Jesus Christ 46:18 who is ever a King and a Priest... 46:22 holding both offices. 46:24 Now, it's interesting... 46:26 his name is translated... king of righteousness... 46:29 king of peace... Jerusalem is peace 46:33 but in Hebrews 7:3... 46:36 this is what everybody gets mixed up with Melchizedek. 46:40 It says, "He... being without father, 46:42 without mother, without genealogy, 46:45 having neither beginning of days nor end of life, 46:48 but made like the Son of God... " 46:51 in other words... Melchizedek is going to resemble Jesus 46:56 in some way "remains a priest continually. " 46:59 Now, here's the point... 47:01 when the Bible says that he was without genealogy, 47:06 if we look at the ancient Syriac Peshitta, 47:10 there's a much better translation 47:13 and here's what it says, 47:15 when it... when he says it's without genealogy 47:19 having neither father or mother, 47:22 what this accurate translation says is: 47:27 whose father and mother are not written in the genealogies. 47:31 His ancestry didn't matter 47:34 because he was of the order of priesthood... 47:38 it wasn't like the Levitical Priesthood... 47:40 he was a priest forever. 47:42 So, his ancestry was irrelevant to his priesthood 47:46 and it was not recorded. 47:49 So, I just want to make a couple of points 47:53 before we get to the tithing part... I've got to hurry. 47:56 In Hebrews 7:15... or first, Hebrews 5:6, 48:01 says that Jesus' priesthood was in the "order of Melchizedek" 48:08 as opposed to being in the order of Aaron... the Levitical order. 48:12 Christ's priesthood was superior to the Levitical... 48:17 and chapter 7 and verse 15 of Hebrews 48:21 explains that Jesus was a priest in that same order... 48:27 the likeness of Melchizedek. 48:30 Melchizedek resembled Jesus 48:33 but that means he was different than Jesus. 48:37 He was not a heavenly being 48:40 as so many people try to make him out 48:42 because if he was without parentage... 48:44 if he didn't have a mother or father... 48:46 beginning or the end... 48:48 he'd be God himself 48:50 and there would have been no reason 48:52 for God to have to come down 48:55 and become the person of Jesus Christ 48:57 to be our new High Priest. 48:59 There would have been no reason for another priesthood. 49:02 So, Jesus was not a successor to Melchizedek... 49:06 just the priesthoods were similar. 49:08 So, let's talk about the practice of biblical tithing. 49:15 This story shows that Abraham recognizes Melchizedek 49:21 is a priest of the Most High God 49:24 and he gives him a tenth of all of his war booty 49:30 in response to God who is possessor of heaven and earth... 49:36 who has given everything to Abraham... 49:39 delivered his enemies into his hand. 49:42 Then, Abraham is going to return a tithe... 49:48 a tenth of everything that God has just given him. 49:53 Now, this is interesting... 49:55 we see Abraham practicing the tithe 49:58 then we get to Jacob who is the son of Isaac... 50:01 the grandson of Abraham 50:03 and as he... he's in exile... he's a fugitive 50:08 and he pledges to God to return a tenth or a tithe 50:14 of all of his possessions upon his safe return. 50:19 That's Genesis 28:22. 50:22 He... Jacob says, "Of all that You give me... " 50:26 he's speaking to God... 50:27 "I will surely give a tenth to You. " 50:30 Now, when Israel was established as a nation 50:33 after their exodus from Egypt, 50:36 God reaffirmed tithing as a divine institution. 50:40 It's clearly laid out in Genesis 50:43 but God tells them... their prosperity depends upon it. 50:46 Let me give you a few Scriptures if you're taking notes. 50:50 Leviticus 27:30 through 32... 50:53 Numbers 18:24, 26, 28... 50:57 Deuteronomy 12:6, 11 and 17... 51:01 so, returning tithe has always been an important part 51:07 of worship... 51:09 it is something in 2nd Chronicles... 51:12 what we see is during the reign of King Hezekiah, 51:16 he brings about this great reformation 51:19 and in 2nd Chronicles 31:5 and 6, 51:22 one of the first things they do in this religious reformation 51:28 is the people eagerly bring their tithes 51:32 so, the New Testament assumes the validity of tithing 51:36 by setting forth Abraham as our example. 51:40 You know, Jesus even said to the... the Pharisees... 51:44 in... He shows that he approved of tithing. 51:48 Matthew 23:23, He says, 51:51 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! 51:55 For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, 52:00 and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: 52:04 which are justice, mercy and faith. " 52:07 "These you ought to have done... " 52:10 talking about their tithing 52:13 "without leaving the others undone. " 52:15 So, here it describes... meticulously tithe everything... 52:21 but they didn't have the Spirit of God's love in them 52:24 and Jesus says, "Hey, yeah, you should be tithing 52:28 but don't leave out justice, 52:30 mercy and compassion and faith. " 52:32 Romans 4:16... I want to read that to you. 52:38 Romans 4:16 tells us the Patriarch Abraham 52:44 is the father of us all. 52:46 and listen to what it says, 52:49 "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, 52:51 so that the promise might be sure to all the seed... " 52:56 because now, we are the seed too... 52:58 "not only to those who are the law, 53:00 but to those who are of the faith of Abraham, 53:05 who is the father of us all. " 53:09 So, as the father of all believers... 53:14 Abraham is set forth in the New Testament as our model 53:19 for Christians to return the tithe 53:22 just as he tithed to Melchizedek 53:24 acknowledging his priesthood, 53:27 we're supposed to be returning what God gives to us 53:30 to acknowledge the priesthood of Jesus 53:34 and here's something that is amazing to me. 53:37 When you get to Hebrews chapter 7 53:41 and it's repeating the story of Melchizedek 53:44 is such a casual reference to tithing 53:48 that you realize... it indicates that tithing was already 53:54 an established principle... a custom in the Christian church 54:00 even at that early date. 54:02 James: That's right, thank you Shelley. 54:04 Dinzey: Thank you so much... 54:05 well, this has been an interesting lesson 54:06 and time has seemed to fly, 54:08 we like to give each one of you... 54:11 probably have about a minute each almost... 54:12 to give a summary or a final thought. 54:15 James: Well, when you look at the story of Abraham 54:18 and you realize that in the first part of chapter 12, 54:21 he does great... following God's voice 54:24 and coming out of Ur 54:26 and then in the second part of chapter 12, 54:27 he falls on his face... 54:29 you... you recognize that this is a continuum with Abraham, 54:32 in other words... he does really well in relation to Lot... 54:36 he does really well in relation to rescuing his cousin 54:39 and giving tithes to Melchizedek et cetera 54:43 but there are times like with Abimelech when he... 54:45 again tells a falsehood... 54:47 there are times when he distrusts God 54:50 and gets together with Hagar 54:51 and hoping to fulfill the promise, 54:53 it's not the occasional deeds or misdeeds 54:57 but it's the general tendency of the life... 55:00 Abraham keeps his focus on Jesus 55:02 and he lets Jesus lift him up from all of his failures 55:05 and we can do the same thing. 55:06 Panel: Amen... amen.. amen. 55:08 Terry: You know, I was thinking that 55:09 in the failure of Abraham going into Egypt, right after that... 55:14 the repentance I'm sure that came from him, 55:19 and letting God direct 55:20 and in the story with himself and... and Lot 55:24 and I go back to that... that passage that I read before, 55:28 1st Peter 5:6, "Therefore humble yourselves 55:31 under the mighty hand of God, 55:32 that He may exalt you in due time. " 55:34 I'm looking forward to the day when God exalts His people 55:38 and He seemingly parades him in front of the universe 55:42 and says, "These are the ones who humbled themselves 55:45 and... and even, you know, crucified themselves every day 55:50 died daily... and I want to lift them up... " 55:53 and I hope and pray that each one of you 55:55 will be among that number. 55:57 Lomacang: That's right and the story of Abram and Lot 56:00 was amazing when it came to the coalition of Babylon. 56:03 We're going to be facing a coalition of symbolic Babylon 56:06 in the near... not to distant future, 56:09 and as Abram did, we must also do... 56:11 focus on delivering our relatives... 56:14 those who may have been bound by 56:16 the captivity that Babylon represents 56:19 and so, I would encourage you 56:21 not to be focusing on the size of the coalition 56:24 because all the nations that stand against the 56:27 principles of God will unite themselves with Babylon 56:31 and remember this text, 56:32 the Lord is on your side... 1st Corinthians 15 verse 57, 56:36 "But thanks be to God, 56:37 who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. " 56:40 We will win because we're on the right side. 56:43 Shelley: Amen and amen... 56:44 you know, I just want to say one thing, 56:46 I love now that we are getting into the patriarchal history 56:49 of Genesis. 56:51 Remember this, Genesis covers 2300 years of history... 56:55 2,000 in the first 11 56:57 and in the last 39... 56:58 we're looking at several hundred more years. 57:00 Sometimes people will say, 57:02 "Oh, Genesis doesn't lay out God's commandments... 57:06 that didn't come along till Exodus. " 57:08 That's not true, you find all of these Biblical principles 57:12 all throughout the history of Abraham's life. 57:16 He obeyed God 57:18 but Abraham also knew that a principle of worship 57:23 was to return a tithe 57:25 and we are encouraged to do the same. 57:28 Dinzey: Thank you so much... 57:30 thank you Pastor James Rafferty... 57:31 Pastor Terry Shelton... 57:32 Pastor John Lomacang 57:34 and Sister Shelley Quinn 57:35 and we want to thank you for joining us. 57:37 Remember that 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 57:39 will be back next week with Lesson Number 7. 57:42 Lesson Number 7... the title is: The Covenant with Abraham 57:46 and if you missed any of the lessons, 57:49 you can go to the 3ABN YouTube Channel... 57:51 3ABN Plus also on your phones... 57:53 you can also watch them there. 57:55 Thank you for joining us... 57:57 we hope that next time you will be with us 57:59 and join us on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 58:01 to continue studying God's Word together. 58:03 We'll see you next time. 58:05 Shelley: Amen. |
Revised 2022-04-25